The Pits

Styrofeen has asked me to house sit for 2 days. So here is my feeble attempt as a guest blogger.

After reading the Knoxville News Sentinel this morning, I feel the Pit Bull story is quite disturbing and worth discussing. It's hard to believe that a pet loving "mile high city" like Denver, CO would ban and dispose of pit bulls. Are they onto something?

Some “Dog Stats” from Dog Bite:

1. Pit bulls, Rottweilers, Presa Canarios and their mixes are responsible for 74% of attacks

2. Dog attack victims in the US suffer over $1 billion in monetary losses every year. ("Take the bite out of man's best friend." State Farm Times, 1998;3(5):2.) That $1 billion estimate might be low -- an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that, in 1995, State Farm paid $70 million on 11,000 claims and estimated that the total annual insurance cost for dog bites was about $2 billion. (Voelker R. "Dog bites recognized as public health problem." JAMA 1997;277:278,280.)

3. Estimated that the direct medical costs of dog bites per year equal $164.9 million in the USA. Quinlan KP, Sacks JJ

Lead Based Toy Testing Not a Priority for CPSC Chairwoman

With an abundance of toy recalls striking the nation due to lead paint, the Consumer Product Safety Commission's chairwoman asked Congress not to increase her agency's budget. Such a bold move considering the data The Board posted today regarding the commission's staffing levels. I guess they expect the 1 full time employee to test the million's of toys that come into this country each year. I hope that 1 person is geared up for some overtime.

Value of all consumer product imports under agency’s supervision: $614 billion

Number of inspectors assigned to police those imports: 15

Number of full time employees to test toys: 1

Photo by mikaplexus

What Do You Stand for Chattanooga?

Yet another example of not standing for a damn thing has surfaced in Chattanooga. The Chattanooga Downtown Partnership has reported that they will 86 the annual live Nativity scene all because "several people complained". Obviously, Chattanooga needs to grow some balls and stand for something. A few always ruin the party for many.

Newt Gingrich Predicts Win By Hillary Clinton

Unless I'm missing something I'd say that New Gingrich, in an interview with a New York Times blog, is predicting a presidential win by Hillary Clinton. It doesn't look good when a Republican predicts a Democratic win.

Al Gore Good on Theory, Bad on Solution

I can't help but agree with The American on their latest piece regarding Al Gore's solution to global warming. We can all agree it is hotter than ever but what do we do about it? Read Nobel in Alarm, Ignoble in Solution for a different perspective.

And here is more on the global warming solution debate from The New Republic.

Lawmakers Seeking to Curb Cigarette Spies

As I reported yesterday, transporting a certain amount of cigarettes across state lines is now being monitored by the government. But there could be some relief in sight thanks to Hendersonville Rep. Debra Maggart and Jonesborough Rep. Matthew Hill. Maggart and Hill believe that receiving a ticket for carrying two or more cartons is absurd and that you should only be fined if your quantity exceeds 25 cartons. 25 cartons screams resell but 2 only says lung cancer.

UPDATE: Take the poll on how many cartons of cigarettes you think constitute a felony.

Would You Like a Ticket with Your Beer & Cigarette?

It is sad when you have to warn your parents, who live less than a mile from the TN/VA border, about the legal risk they incur when purchasing products from a bordering state. With a possible budget surplus, why doesn't Tennessee focus on their tax problem rather than their residents seeking tax relief?

Downtown Knoxville Too Expensive to Inhabit

Jack Neely of the Metro Pulse wrote a great piece on the expensive price of living in downtown Knoxville. For the past year and a half I have founded and developed the Young Professionals of Knoxville and during that time myself along with my co-founder have met with many Knoxville leaders. One recurring theme in those discussions is developing downtown to become a hub for young professionals (YP's).

About 9 months ago my wife and I looked at purchasing one of the lofts (Gallery Lofts) mentioned in Jack's article. At nearly $200/sq ft the property was clearly out of our reach. We quickly turned our focus to West Knoxville.

If many of the leaders in this community want my age demographic to inhabit the downtown area, why are they not doing something about the pricing hike?

My recommendation would be for Mayor Haslam and Mayor Ragsdale to look into a subsidy program similar to that in Denver, Colorado. If there is a true desire for the up-and-comers in Knoxville to live and play in the downtown area then I say it is time for the government to get involved.

Stay Gay San Francisco

San Francisco blocked the Marine's from shooting a new commercial today. And I thought banning Segways was nuts. At least they can say they're still the gayest city in the country.

Knox County Commission Wall Décor

'Virtual Border' Headed In Wrong Direction

We can track a package any time of the day in any country in the world yet after 3 months we still can't get our 28 miles of virtual fence to work. Sorry for the immigration rants today.