Recent Articles
- CGW’s North Service Center remains closed for building maintenance
- Transitioning to the role of a stay at home mom
- APSU’s Downtown Art Gallery opening was the highlight of November’s Art Walk
- Blue Star Memorial marker dedication Monday
- Clarksville Dental Center hosting candy buy back to benefit the United Way
- APSU to celebrate National Distance Learning Week with several events
- Odom: ‘The court has ruled. Goins, Hargett do your job!’
- Patton to be portrayed at APSU library Athenaeum
- WKAG disputes Charter’s attempted justification for their removal of Channel 3
- Businesses in Historic Downtown Clarksville to hold Holiday open house
- Sluggish APSU Governors ease past Oakland City
- Home-Canned Apple Pie Filling
- APSU student Costello debuts photography and collage exhibit at Trahern
- Clarksville radio personality Hank Bonecutter performs at Zanies
- Friday night pay what you can to see ‘A streetcar named Desire’ at the Roxy Theatre
Official Sites
- City of Clarksville, TN
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- Clarksville Montgomery County School System
- Clarksville Police Department
- Clarksville, Montgomery County Economic Development Council
- Clarksville, TN Ordinances
- Fort Campbell, Ky
- Montgomery County, Tennessee
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About: Blayne Clements 
- Secretary of State – Tre Hargett (formerly Riley Darnell)
- Treasurer – David Lilliard (formerly Dale Sims)
- Comptroller – Justin Wilson (formerly John Morgan)
- Receiving and disbursing public funds.
- Managing all State investments, including the pension fund (at June 30, 2007 the value of the pension plans was over $32 billion dollars with over 322,000 participants).
- Administering three major employee benefit programs, including the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, the Deferred Compensation Program, and the Flexible Benefits Plan.
- Operating the Unclaimed Property, College Savings (Section 529 Plans), and Small and Minority-Owned Business programs.
- Overseeing the risk management program and handling and adjudicating all claims made against the State.
- Seats as an advisor on numerous state boards «Read the rest of this article»
I am a 30 something graduate from Austin Peay State University, where I graduated in 1997 with two majors (Accounting and Finance). I am a very happily married man, with no kids, that really enjoys a professional life of public service and a personal life of travel, reading, music, and always trying to learn from others.
Web Site: http://
Email:
climbingpossum@yahoo.com
Blayne Clements's Articles:
Traffic why we drive the way we do (and what it says about us) by Tom Vanderbilt
By Vanderbilt’s definition, I am an “extreme commuter”. I commute 2 hours, everyday, for over 12 years. That’s roughly 6,000 hours or the equivalent of 3 years of 40 hours work weeks battling traffic and sitting in traffic jams. Naturally, I was drawn to this book.
I did have concerns that the book could be dreadfully boring. However, I was pleasantly surprised at how Vanderbilt kept my interest; I couldn’t put the book down. He does a stunning job of reducing decades of research into a 286 page book.
The book is not just on traffic congestion. It discusses at length issues of engineering, driver psychology, and traffic issues world wide. Instead of summarizing what the book is about, it may be better to list some of the questions/topics addressed by Vanderbilt: «Read the rest of this article»
Radio Talk Show Hosts Vs. Common Sense – Alexander Hamilton
Last week a radio political talk show host said the following (as always I am paraphrasing):
“The federal government is too big. Our founding fathers would be appalled at the size and scope of our current federal government. Even Alexander Hamilton (a Federalist), who preferred a strong central government would be appalled that the federal government is considering banning texting while driving – that should be a state rights issue, like speed limits.”
In an attempt to justify their viewpoints both conservative and progressive talk show hosts commonly claim a ideological lineage back to the founding fathers. The hope is to connect their line of thinking to the line of thinking that birthed this great country. I have always been particularly interested in the attempt to link the current conservative philosophy with that of the Federalist. And the most famous federalist is Alexander Hamilton. «Read the rest of this article»
Radio Talk Shows Hosts vs. Common Sense: Britons receive worse health care than we do
This week on the third most listened to conservative radio show, the host said the following, and I am paraphrasing here:
“30,000 Britons die annually from staph infections contracted in a hospital. The per capita equivalent in the US would translate into 150,000 Americans dying of staph infections annually. The actual number of Americans dying of staph infection is much lower than that, therefore, our for-profit healthcare system in the US is much better than the taxpayer funded health care system in the UK.” «Read the rest of this article»
Book Review: “How We Decide” by Jonah Lehrer
So you think you are in control and make rational decisions? Think again. Scientists have only recently started to see how the brain works when we make decisions. Lehrer does a great job of communicating science’s most recent studies on decision making and the brain….and get this, he does it in layman’s terms and makes it interesting. I could not put the book down and at 265 pages, it’s a fast paced and cram packed read.
The book is reminiscent of Quirkology by Richard Wiseman. Like Quirkology, it is full of odd and interesting science experiments, such as – Why is an experiment with 4 year old child and a single marshmallow, the most accurate indicator of what that child’s IQ will be when they are 18? Except where Quirkology is mostly a collection of various odd scientific studies , Lehrer pinpoints studies done on how the brain makes decisions. «Read the rest of this article»
Radio Talk Shows Vs. Common Sense: The Increase in the Minimum Wage
The other day on the way home from work I heard a right wing radio talk show host say the following, and I am paraphrasing:
“The minimum wage is going up 10%. Therefore, in order for businesses to maintain the same level of profits, we should expect 10% of minimum wage earners to be laid off. This increase in the minimum wage, effectively, increases unemployment, increases the number of people looking for government entitlements, which is exactly the opposite of what this economy currently needs.”
The host cut to a commercial break, and I turned the radio off to think about that statement. It just didn’t sound right to me. It sounded too black and white. Economics is rarely that simple. So I thought about it. «Read the rest of this article»
Website Review: goodreads.com
Last week an online acquaintance and fellow COL contributor, Chris Lugo, emailed me an evitation to join goodreads.com. My first reaction was “Oh no, not another time wasting, social networking site.” But to my surprise, I have found it to be very useful, and most definitely not a waste of time –in fact it saves me time.
Let me give you some back story. When I read a book, I use a blank sheet of paper as the bookmark. As I read, I jot down ideas for what I might want to read next. So by the end of a book, I have a bookmark with scribbles like, the Whiskey Rebellion, Michael Parenti, or The Flying Burrito Brothers (I also jot down artists/songs for further consideration from pandora.com, but that is another review entirely.) I take those scribbles and head to the Clarksville-Montgomery County Public Library’s website and search to see what hits look interesting. So far, this process has been very rewarding, yet somewhat time consuming. «Read the rest of this article»
Orwell – “….I was no good”
George Orwell
I recently read the following George Orwell quote:
In a world where the prime necessities were money, titled relatives, athleticism, tailor-made clothes, neatly brushed hair, a charming smile, I was no good.
My initial impression was just WOW; what a great sentence. My eyes lingered over the last four words, “…I am no good.” The ending conveyed sense of worthlessness and low self esteem. But its Orwell, “1984″ and “Animal Farm” aren’t exactly “feel good” reads. But he “was no good” compared to what? «Read the rest of this article»
New state constitutional officers elected
In a historic vote, in a joint session of the state house and senate, all three sitting Constitutional Officers have been replaced.
In a Republican led move that appears to place more importance on candidate’s party affiliation than actually qualifications, your new Constitutional Officers are as follows:
The press was more interested in the Comptroller and Treasurer candidates, and seemed to give Mr. Hargett a pass. Phil Williams, of News Channel Five ran several special investigative reports on Justin Wilson, David Lilliard, and Ira Brody. Here is a little summary of what Mr. Williams found out about these nominees. «Read the rest of this article»
Constitutional Officers: Secretary of State
This is the final article in a three part series discussing the upcoming election of the State of Tennessee Constitutional Officers.
This year the Republican gained control of the Tennessee House and Senate; the first time in 140 years. Therefore, they have the numbers to replace the current Constitutional Officers (all appointed by Democrats). In Part 1 on this series, I discussed the Constitutional Officer of the Comptroller. Part 2 discussed the position of Treasurer. This article will discuss the duties and candidates of Secretary of State.
Per the Secretary of State website, the Secretary of State is charged with keeping a register of official acts and proceedings of the governor and, when required, the legislature. Like the other two Constitutional officers, the Secretary of State sits on numerous state boards and committees. The most visible duty of the Secretary of State has to do with the fact that the State Election Commission, the Tennessee Ethics Commission and the Tennessee Registry of Election Finance are attached to the Department of State for administrative matters relating to receipts, disbursements, expense accounts, budgets, audits and other related items. The Secretary of State appoints each county’s election officials. «Read the rest of this article»
Constitutional Officers: The Treasurer
This is the second in a three part series discussing the upcoming election of the State of Tennessee Constitutional Officers. The final segment will appear Wednesday, January 7.
This year the Republican gained control of the Tennessee House and Senate: the first time in 140 years.Therefore, they have the numbers to replace the current Constitutional Officers (all appointed by Democrats).
In Part 1 on this series, I discussed the Constitutional Officer of the Comptroller. In this article I will discuss the position of Treasurer, including a description of the Treasurer’s job duties and information on each potential candidate, including the current treasurer, the Honorable Dale Sims.
First, what does the Treasurer do?
Per the Treasurer’s website, the Treasurer is responsible for the following:
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