Tennessee Talk http://www.tennesseetalk.com Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:13:10 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.2 en SCOTUS opinion in Heller comes down http://www.tennesseetalk.com/scotus-opinion-in-heller-comes-down/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/scotus-opinion-in-heller-comes-down/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:13:10 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/scotus-opinion-in-heller-comes-down/ You can read the opinion here.  Gun owners everywhere must be stoked right now.  I live in Chicago - which has a handgun ban throughout the city.  How many lawsuits will the NRA be filing today?  Probably, a few.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/scotus-opinion-in-heller-comes-down/feed/ The future of music is piracy http://www.tennesseetalk.com/the-future-of-music-is-piracy/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/the-future-of-music-is-piracy/#comments Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:56:23 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/the-future-of-music-is-piracy/ So, I came across this quote from Joss Stone:

Here’s a refreshing attitude from a musician. TorrentFreak dug up a video where Joss Stone was asked by a reporter about her opinion on piracy. She simply replied “I think it’s great,” adding “Yeah, I love it. I think it’s brilliant and I’ll tell you why. Music should be shared. I believe that this is how music turned into like, some crazy business. The only part about music that I dislike is the business that is attached to it. Now, if music is free, then there is no business, there is just music.”

While many would dismiss such an attitude - even if it’s coming from an established musician - as naive, if not dumb, another sentence from the interview reveals that Joss is not naive at all; she has merely embraced a different business model than most musicians. “As long as you come to my show, and have a great time listening to the live show it’s totally cool, I don’t mind,” she said.

Brilliant.  An artist that “gets it”.  Instead of fighting my fans (like Metallica - which I will never listen to again - due to the fact that they hate their “pirating fans” [a-holes]), I will embrace the reality of technology and learn to make money in the way that musicians should make money.

Kudos to Joss.  She is winning me over as a fan.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/the-future-of-music-is-piracy/feed/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/632/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/632/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:26:49 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/632/ Nashville Personal Injury Lawyer Commercial

A good friend of mine from law school, Jason Nahon, launched his new law firm, via television, in Nashville, today. I got to admit. I have never seen an attorney’s commercial like this. Wow. I would love to hear your comments.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/632/feed/ Fulmer apparently going nowhere http://www.tennesseetalk.com/fulmer-apparently-going-nowhere/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/fulmer-apparently-going-nowhere/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:13:17 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/fulmer-apparently-going-nowhere/ I don’t understand it.  Apparently, we are stuck with Fulmer for a long time.   And, the word on the street is that Fulmer is about to get a 7 year extension.  When you give that guy a 7 year extension, that is like just throwing up your hands and saying… we are cool with mediocrity. 

This program has done nothing but decline since 1998.  Where will the Vols be after a 7 year extension?  How depressing.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/fulmer-apparently-going-nowhere/feed/ Why didn’t we imprison this guy at Guantanamo? http://www.tennesseetalk.com/why-didnt-we-imprison-this-guy-at-guantanamo/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/why-didnt-we-imprison-this-guy-at-guantanamo/#comments Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:31:33 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/why-didnt-we-imprison-this-guy-at-guantanamo/ I came across this today… it just absolutely made me sick….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p-qr64b52k

Sorry, I didn’t hyperlink, because I didn’t want to dignify this video with a text link - and higher rank.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/why-didnt-we-imprison-this-guy-at-guantanamo/feed/ McCain’s recommended lift of the ban on offshore drilling a good move http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move-2/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move-2/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:10:55 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move-2/ It may not be popular among Democrats and environmentalists… but, McCain’s proposed lifting of the ban on offshore drilling is the right move. 

Right now, people in this country are suffering.  This country needs a long-term strategy and a short-term strategy.  Clearly, our long-term strategy should involve a commitment to becoming more reliant on alternative energies, as well as conservation.

But, we should also be thinking about another strategy:  how to get through the next 10 years.  Because, EVEN IF today we had a way to move all of our cars to another fuel source, it would take YEARS for that plan to be implemented.  So, clearly, this is not going to happen any time in the near future.  So, in the alternative, what do you do?

Offshore drilling seems like a good alternative to me - particularly, at a time when increasing prices on food and necessities are driving families into poverty.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move-2/feed/ McCain’s recommended lift of the ban on offshore drilling a good move http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move/#comments Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:10:55 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move/ It may not be popular among Democrats and environmentalists… but, McCain’s proposed lifting of the ban on offshore drilling is the right move. 

Right now, people in this country are suffering.  This country needs a long-term strategy and a short-term strategy.  Clearly, our long-term strategy should involve a commitment to becoming more reliant on alternative energies, as well as conservation.

But, we should also be thinking about another strategy:  how to get through the next 10 years.  Because, EVEN IF today we had a way to move all of our cars to another fuel source, it would take YEARS for that plan to be implemented.  So, clearly, this is not going to happen any time in the near future.  So, in the alternative, what do you do?

Offshore drilling seems like a good alternative to me - particularly, at a time when increasing prices on food and necessities are driving families into poverty.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/mccains-recommended-lift-of-the-ban-on-offshore-drilling-a-good-move/feed/ Tim Russert: what a loss http://www.tennesseetalk.com/tim-russert-what-a-loss/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/tim-russert-what-a-loss/#comments Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:45:42 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/tim-russert-what-a-loss/ I have just been in mourning - since I found out the news, yesterday.  I can’t stop watching the coverage.  I just loved Tim Russert so much:  his passion for politics, his passion for life, passion for the Bills.  If I could describe Tim in one word, it was “passion”.  He brought so much to television.  He brought so much to America.  This election and every other national election will never be the same without him.  This country will miss him so much.  He is one of the all-time greats.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/tim-russert-what-a-loss/feed/ A Geeky look at the Presidential Campaigns http://www.tennesseetalk.com/a-geeky-look-at-the-presidential-campaigns/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/a-geeky-look-at-the-presidential-campaigns/#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:04:06 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/a-geeky-look-at-the-presidential-campaigns/ I came across this post on SearchEngineLand.

Apparently, this person was not happy with the McCain website.

McCain’s home page layout completely breaks when Javascript is disabled, placing the golf gear tab dead nuts at the page’s focal point. McCain’s menus also fail, which probably does not help the search rankings of his inner pages. Those who heard my spiel at SMX Advanced Developer Day know that I browse with Firefox and the NoScript add-on for the sake of security, and to help identify usability problems with websites.

Meanwhile, on Obama’s website…

Barak Obama’s webmaster seems to have done better. Obama’s home page is fully functional with scripts disabled. Even the pop up menus work, because they’re driven by CSS.

Just add these things to the long list of crap that today’s campaigns have to worry about that they didn’t even have to think of 10 years ago.

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]]> http://www.tennesseetalk.com/a-geeky-look-at-the-presidential-campaigns/feed/ Good to see the Democrats are back to their old tricks http://www.tennesseetalk.com/good-to-see-the-democrats-are-back-to-their-old-tricks/ http://www.tennesseetalk.com/good-to-see-the-democrats-are-back-to-their-old-tricks/#comments Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:35:24 +0000 Phil Ayres http://www.tennesseetalk.com/good-to-see-the-democrats-are-back-to-their-old-tricks/ Lately,. I have begun to observe Democrats becoming more bold.  Meaning, I am starting to hear more of them talking like their Dukakis, Mondal”ian” roots.  Flash back to yesterday.  I was watching Meet the Press.  (By the way, Tim Russert conducted a “softball interview” with Jim Webb of VA.  I thought he was going to start asking him challenging questions like “what’s your shoe size?” and “what’s your favorite color?”.  To be expected.  Russert would do anything to see Obama in the White House.)

So, anyway, I really wasn’t all that surprised to hear Jim Webb, one of Obama’s possibilities for VP talk about introducing a graduated tax for capital gains.  That’s right.  That’s really what we need, right?  A more complex tax structure.  Right?  Because, it just wasn’t complicated enough.  And, “let’s punish all of those pesky rich people who are creating the jobs for the rest of Americans and who will ultimately bring this economy out of a recession.”

Anyway, it really is interesting to hear Democrats of today like Jim Webb sound like Mondale, circa 1984. 

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