Aging workers, fewer skilled workers, and a growing demand for nuclear facilities has led the company to start an apprenticeship program.

The starting rate of pay is $19.30 per hour, and current plans call for the hiring of 50 apprentices per year.

Over 2,600 people have already applied for the 50 openings. They may still be looking for good people.

Howard Dean is taking a bus trip of the South. His focus will be "on winning over people who are struggling economically".

The DNC has announced stops in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Hey, Howard, here we are! Don't forget about us! We have a Democratic governor. Al Gore is from Tennessee. It could happen.

Kraft Foods has a free gas card offer for Publix shoppers. Buy $50 of groceries, include 4 Kraft items (approx. 17 different brands included), and get a mail-order form for a $10 ExxonMobile Cash Card.

Limit of 3 cards. Offer good through July 27, 2008.

Publix is located in certain areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

I think Publix is great. The Central Florida stores have great Cuban sandwiches. I would jump on this offer if Publix had stores in East Tennessee.

What can you say?

A data center in Tennessee that may be located in the worse spot in America for a data center -- on an unstable landfill, next to a railroad and a river and downstream from a large dam that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says has a risk of failing -- is getting relocated, at least partially.

The building foundation is cracking, part of it is sinking, and they have to be careful to not add more weight in certain areas. Taxpayer dollars at work.

Well I'll be.

The unemployment rate soared from 5 percent in April to 5.5 percent in May. That was the biggest one-month jump in the rate since February 1986. The increase left the jobless rate at its highest since October 2004.
...
A year ago, the number of unemployed stood at 6.9 million and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent.
...
the unemployment rate is expected to climb to 6 percent or higher early next year.

We have about eight months until someone new is in the President's seat. How bad can it get in eight months? I don't know. When are the Republicans going to learn how to manage the economy? When are they going to learn they can't keep saying just spend more money. It's not working!

After dropping out of high school in the 9th grade, Gretchen Wilson (at 34 years old) passed her GED exam in April.

I'm not sure what she means by this statement:

Wilson told The Tennessean that her 7-year-old daughter was the big reason to finally finish, saying, "I certainly don't want her to think you can be this successful without an education."

I'm pretty sure she already proved you can be very successful without an education.

The State of Tennessee House Budget subcommittee of the Finance, Ways,and Means Committee has HB1256 on their April 30, 2008 agenda.

HB1256:

Election Laws - Requires any voting system purchased after the effective date of this act to provide the ballot of record be a paper ballot marked by the voter with appropriate accommodation for persons with disabilities; requires such ballot to be available to voter to verify the vote; requires that secrecy of the voter's choice be maintained. - Amends TCA Title 2.

Sharon Cobb has a list of the House Budget subcommittee memeber to contact in support of the bill.

Tennessee cities please take note,

Free bus rides on the MAX system will begin Thursday and end Sept. 1, Chris Hartsell, chief of operations for Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford, said Thursday.

What a great way to increase ridership and help people avoid high gas prices.

Tennessee is considering supplementing its revenue shortfall with a tax on digital downloads. The state's Digital Products/iPOD Tax, which is part of the "Technical Corrections" bill, is still in preliminary stages and plans to include nearly any type of digital media download.

This, I would think, may cause an uproar.

Oh, by the way, when did Bill Hobbs become the "state communications director"?

"Most states do not tax digitally-deliverd products," said state communications director Bill Hobbs. "

The law would only allow the sale of cigarettes made with paper that self-extinguishes if left untouched by the smoker. Supporters say they reduce the risk of accidental fires.

Um, thank you for caring?

According to a recent article in the KNS,

High school students who participate in voluntary extracurricular activities could be randomly drug tested under legislation advancing in the Senate.

The amendment is sponsored by TN Repub. Sen. Jim Tracy, Shelbyville. The original TN Code 49-6-4213, testing of students for drugs, can be found here, then search for the section number 49-6-4213.

Is this any way to treat teenagers? I cannot imagine having to take a drug test to participate in sports, band or the chess club. Why is it that so many people think random drug testing is okay?

Television station WSMV in Nashville did some investigative reporting on State of Tennessee employees and their usage of Wikipedia.

Channel 4's Jeremy Finley found some state workers editing sometimes lengthy entries for Web sites that clearly have nothing to do with work. One person took the time to add all the lyrics of the theme song for "All in the Family."
...
The I-Team was able to trace 677 contributions to Wikipedia.com to state office Internet addresses. One of the entries included time spent adding the name of a "Star Trek" role-playing game.

Apparently some of the employees were found to be, what, a little bored on the job. Employees of any large organization, whether it be government or private enterprise, should be aware that just about anything they do when on the job can probably be tracked by someone. I don't necessarily think this is a firing offense, at least the first time. I think there are still some people out there that don't completely understand the rules of the employment game.

Nor will he attend the planned White House dinner in his honor.

It's unclear why the Pope won't be attending the dinner in his honor, but he is expected to touch on issues upon which he and President Bush disagree during the visit, especially the Iraq war.

During his visit to the United Nations a few days later, the Pope will address "the false notion that might makes right," according to a Vatican representative.

H/T ThinkProgress

April 15th is closing in and our 1040 taxes are due. If you want your Economic Stimulus Payment, you must file a tax return.

For those of you filing an extension for your tax reporting, If you file after April 15, with or without a tax-filing extension, your payment will be delayed. If you qualify for a payment, you can insure that you get it by filing your return by Oct. 15, 2008.

Theoretically, it's very simple to receive your payment. Just file a tax return. However, the IRS can make anything appear complex.

IRS Economic Stimulus Payment Information Center
IRS Payment Calculator
IRS Payment Schedule

I don't know if the stimulus payment will help the economy or affect the elections. What do you think? Will the primary result be to put the country further in debt, as with the war and financial institution bailouts, enabling citizens to not worry, spend money?

It is currently a Class C misdemeanor for the driver of a vehicle to possess an open container of alcohol or consume an alcoholic beverage. Apparently passengers are not covered by this law and open containers can be stored in the glove compartment or trunk of your vehicle.

A bill (HB3059) is proposed that "makes it an offense for a person to possess an open container of an alcoholic beverage within the passenger area of a motor vehicle while on a public highway. "Passenger area" would include the driver's and passenger's seats and any area that is readily accessible to the driver and the passengers, including, but not limited to, the glove compartment. Possession of an open container would be a Class C misdemeanor, and consumption while operating a motor vehicle would be a Class B misdemeanor. "

According to Eyewitness News in Memphis (ABC24), "State officials say that about $15 million of road-building money is currently diverted because the state rules don't meet with federal standards. "

I don't really have a problem with passengers not consuming alcoholic beverages in a vehicle. However, I think I need the ability to transport an open container. So, okay, to no open container in the glove compartment. What if I don't have a trunk? Define readily accessible.

In a New York Times Opinion piece recently brought to my attention,

Since the 1980s, pesticide use has increased fivefold in Latin America as countries have expanded their production of nontraditional crops to fuel the demand for fresh produce during winter in North America and Europe. Rice farmers in the region use monocrotophos, methamidophos and carbofuran, all agricultural chemicals that are rated Class I toxins by the World Health Organization, are highly toxic to birds, and are either restricted or banned in the United States. In countries like Guatemala, Honduras and Ecuador, researchers have found that farmers spray their crops heavily and repeatedly with a chemical cocktail of dangerous pesticides.

...

Testing by the United States Food and Drug Administration shows that fruits and vegetables imported from Latin America are three times as likely to violate Environmental Protection Agency standards for pesticide residues as the same foods grown in the United States.

Recommendations? Buy locally. Buy organic. Buy products grown in the US or other countries with the same pesticide restrictions. Push manufacturers and providers to provide safe food products. Do you know that most Green Giant canned/bottled mushrooms are not from the US? Mushrooms? Geez, anybody can grow mushrooms.

Be careful out there (and save the birds in the process).

This article in The Charleston Daily Mail regarding West Virginia's food stamp participation made me curious about Tennessee's numbers.

The State of Tennessee, the 17th largest state in population, is 11th in persons participating in the food stamp program. This is approximately 15.2% of Tennessee's population. Tennessee is 10th in the number of participating households.

Texas is #1 in persons participating, but the number of participants is approx. 11.6% of the state's population. California is #2 in participants. However, the percentage of the population is only 5.6, approx.

The article states: "Last month, 274,487 state residents received food stamps. That's up from 246,890 just five years ago, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Resources."

Every state except three (Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Wyoming) had a jump in participants from 2004 to 2005, some quite significant. According to the USDA report, Tennessee actually declined in the number of persons participating from 2006 (870,416) to 2007 (864,80). Sixteen states and the District of Columbia decreased in number of participants from 2006 to 2007 (Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wyoming).

Towns and cities around the world are turning out the lights for an hour to highlight the threat of climate change.

Created by WWF in Sydney, Australia in 2007, Earth Hour has grown from a single event into a global movement. In 2008, millions of people, businesses, governments and civic organizations in nearly 200 cities around the globe will turn out for Earth Hour. More than 35 US cities will participate, including the US flagships--Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix and San Francisco.

On March 29, 2008 at 8 p.m., join millions of people around the world in making a statement about climate change by turning off your lights for Earth Hour, an event created by the World Wildlife Fund.

Great idea. I hope it catches on.

I do wonder about their choice to have it on a Saturday night. Will that deter many people from participating?

Have you heard? It's in the news just today.

Trustees for the government's two biggest benefit programs warned Tuesday that Social Security and Medicare are facing "enormous challenges," with the threat to Medicare's solvency far more severe.

Of course, if they weren't reducing taxes during war time, if they weren't bailing out investment banks to the tune of $30 Billion, if they weren't determined to continue a war that costs around $12 Billion a month, if they weren't determined to not have citizens sacrifice just a little during war time, the challenge might not be so enormous.

The grim milestone came at a time when attacks against the U.S. military are ebbing and officials have claimed significant progress against Iraq's deadly insurgency and sectarian violence. It was reached about 10 p.m. on a day when more than 60 Iraqis were killed and dozens injured in attacks in Baghdad and north of the capital.

Nearly 30,000 US troops have been wounded in the Iraq conflict.

Will they be "drawing down" the troops as indicated earlier? Or, do they need all 160,000 to keep the "peace" in Iraq? I'm sorry to say, but it is an election year.

Spring has arrived and I have heard very little about its arrival.

Does it not feel or look like Spring in Tennessee? Tulips, daffodils, redbuds, bradford pears (pfft)? Aren't we ready? I know I am!

More than 100 guest workers carrying signs that said "I Am a Man" and "Dignity" walked off the job at a Mississippi shipyard last week to protest conditions they liken to slavery.

Shipyard workers from India have filed a lawsuit that says,

"in the wake of Hurricane Katrina more than 500 Indian men were trafficked into the United States through the federal H2B guest worker program to work for Signal at shipyards in Pascagoula and Orange, Texas. Lured by promises of permanent work and a chance at legal immigration, the men gave up their jobs in India and went into debt to finance fees as high as $20,000 each. They then allegedly had their passports and visas held by recruiters who told them that changing their minds about working for Signal could bring legal action and even physical harm."

Katrina? Gulfcoast? Disenfranchised workers? Does anybody know what year it is? Does anybody care?

Wow! I'm not sure I can stand much more excitement.

JP Morgan is buying Bear Stearns for $2 a share. Bear Stearns was selling for $169 a year ago, $50 a week ago, and $30 on Friday. The company survived the Great Depression.

Oil trading at a record high $112 today in Asia.

US dollar falls to a record low against the euro.

The Fed cut its discount rate on Sunday by 25 points to 3.25. They are expected to cut the federal funds rate on Tuesday.

For us ordinary people, savings interest rates have dropped 2-3% in the last month and a half to two months. Washington analysts are asking which bank will be next. Will we know if it's our bank before it's to late?

Everyone knows they come to Tennessee for jobs," said Sen. Joe Haynes, D-Goodlettsville and bill's main sponsor. "If we remove the payment for the jobs, we remove the incentive for them to come to Tennessee."

If the bill becomes law, illegal immigrants caught working in the state could be required to forfeit any earnings, face up to six months in jail and be fined up to $500, Haynes said.
...
Ann Morse, an analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures, said she was unaware of lawmakers in any other state taking a similar approach.

They can't or won't go after employers, so they want to try an easier target. I'm sure this law will solve all of the problems in the State of Tennessee. Sure, u-huh, alrighty then.

Nissan and the Nashville area have worked well together for several (many) years. With Nissan's move of their U.S. Headquarters from California to Tennessee, they are trying to show their appreciation of the environment.

• 1,500 employees
• light harvesting system" automatically dims or turns off interior lights in the 460,000 square feet of offices.
• Sun shades outside — sort of like reflective visors — with computer-designed blades direct sunlight to reduce glare and heat in the Southern summer.
• Air conditioning and heat are controlled through outlets at each work station. "You heat the people and not the space,"
• consume about 35 percent less energy than a traditionally designed building
• restoring a 2 1/2-acre wetland. Tens of thousands of native Tennessee plants, including iris, button bush and rushes, are already growing there.

Nissan is slow to change their vehicles to be more efficient. They do emphasize performance and handling, which can be fun. The Sentra has offered pretty good mileage for years. The new Versa is a good addition to their fleet. They need to get the Altimata Hybrid available to all states.

In The New York Times:

The birds’ touchdown in Middle Tennessee was all the more surprising because the area is the 11th fastest-growing region in the United States, according to a study by the Natural Resources Defense Council, with subdivisions sprouting like weeds in every direction.

...

Tennessee is losing 42,000 acres of farmland each year, much of it to development. The United States Forest Service says one quarter of the state’s 14.4 million acres of forests will be gone in 30 years.

...

“We don’t have suburban sprawl here,” said Barry Sulkin, who lives nearby. “Just farms, forest and open space, and I’m hopeful most people would want to keep it that way.”

Good luck to Mr. West, Mr. Sulkin, and all the other individuals owning large amounts of land in Tennessee and elsewhere.

I frequently travel the blue highways of the South and have many times stopped to just ponder the open land, farms, and forests. I can easily remember the first time we pulled off to pick a branch (stem?) off of a cotton plant. Nearly everyone I showed it to was quite fascinated. I can easily remember the first time I saw a field of sugarcane in rural Louisiana. I had to ask what it was. They laughed and said it was money.

There is still a lot of empty land (farms, forests, and open spaces) in this great country, from New Jersey and New York to Arizona and New Mexico to the big sky country of Montana. I hope and wish this to be one cause we can all work on together to preserve.

Harry, third in line to the British throne, has been serving on the front line with an army unit in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province since mid-December.

...

British officials had hoped to keep Prince Harry's deployment secret until he had safely returned, but they released video of him serving in Helmand Province after the leak appeared on the Drudge Report.

The ministry deplored the leak by "elements of the foreign media."

...

The deployment plan had been disclosed to reporters, with no specific date, but was not reported previously because of an agreement between the Ministry of Defense and all major news organizations operating in Britain, including The Associated Press. The news blackout was intended to reduce the risk to the prince and his regiment.

Such bravery for this young man. It would be almost unheard of, in this day and age, to have the child of the leader of the United States to go into harms way as did Prince Harry. Instead, our press has to report the deployment and put him and his unit in harms way.

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, speaking shortly before Nader's announcement, said Nader's past runs have shown that he usually pulls votes from the Democratic nominee. "So naturally, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race," the former Arkansas governor said on CNN.

Well I'll be.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be in New Orleans Saturday as part of Tavis Smiley's State of the Black Union symposium on education, health, housing and other issues affecting African-Americans.

The State of the Black Union 2008 (SOBU) is held today, Saturday, Feb. 23rd, in New Orleans. SOBU is gathering volunteers to work on six projects in the area, Build a Home, Beautify a City Park, Build a Playground, Demolish a Home, Beautify a School Yard & Donate Books, and Build Shelves for Public Library and Donate Books.

Good for her! Not enough is being said or done to help the Gulf Coast recovery. She needs to keep this issue in front of voters. Good for SOBU for doing good work in New Orleans.

Yeah! Altria, the parent company of Philip Morris (as in cigarettes) is being taken off the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

Dow Jones said Altria is being shed from the index because the company, which makes Marlboro cigarettes through its Philip Morris Cos. unit, has become a "much smaller and more narrowly focused company." Altria has spun off its Kraft Foods Inc. subsidiary as a separate company, and is currently splitting its international business from its U.S. business.

Altria (Philip Morris) and Honeywell are being replaced by Bank of America and Chevron.

Not that it will help Tennessee tobacco farmers if cigarette companies don't do well.