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It’s time to extend unemployment benefits

By Chris Lugo | June 24, 2008 |

America is in the midst of a recession largely attributable to the economic policies of the Bush administration and the Republican party. As a result of this recession, millions of hard working Americans have been put out of work. Almost every family in this country has been touched by the current recession. On top of this, consumers are being forced to pay record high gas prices and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes due to foreclosure. Now is not the time to cut tax paying American citizens off of their unemployment benefits.

Since the beginning of this year nearly 325,000 people have lost their jobs and the unemployment rate is rising. As of May the unemployment rate stands at 5.5%, up nine percent just since April. With the cost of gas, food and medicine many families are suffering.

As a candidate for federal office I support House Resolution 5749, the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act, which will provide an additional thirteen weeks of extended unemployment benefits in most states. This means that 3.8 million citizens will continue to receive benefits through March of 2009. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Business, Events, Issues, Opinion, Politics, Spirituality, Technology | 1 Comment »

AARP: A resource for seniors, ‘boomers

By Rev. Charles Moreland | June 22, 2008 |

AARP (American Association of retired Persons) is a national organization dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for senior citizens. Clarksville has a dynamic AARP chapter where an enthusiastic groups of people age 50 and meet socially and serve the community with a variety of social actions.

AARP is political but non-partisan, and wields considerable influence on state and federal legislation, serving as the voice of their demographics. They do so without endorsing specific candidates and they remain issue oriented.

To educate and inform their membership. AARP publishes a monthly magazine with the largest circulation in America. the March/April edition got my attention with the cover photo of a smiling Jack Nicholson, one of the outstanding actors of our generation.

Besides an insightful article on him, the magazine from cover to cover offers articles with practical information. Two articles in particular that apply to many of us involve dealing with stress: “Riding Out a Recession” and “Finding Faith” (a search for spiritual peace). «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Education, Events, Issues, Opinion | 1 Comment »

Hulk 2: Now that’s more like it!

By David W. Shelton | June 21, 2008 |

The Incredible Hulk (hereafter Hulk 2) is the second of the big Marvel Comics adaptations for this year, following closely on the heels of the wildly successful (and far better) Iron Man. The filmmakers would love for us to forget a few things, though—namely the 2003 Ang Lee film, Hulk. For me, that’s not too difficult a task.

Marvel Studios is clearly in the process of establishing something never before attempted in major blockbusters, the creation of a Marvel Universe similar to their comics—er—graphic novels that have been in print for generations. But enough for fanboy mindtwists for now.

Hulk 2’s opening credits present a re-telling of the origins of the big green guy, but it bears little resemblance to the last film. Indeed, it looks a lot more like the opening credits of the megahit 1970’s TV series. I suppose this is the first indication that director Louis Leterrier was actually going to tell a story that would be fun, a trait that was seriously lacking in Lee’s film. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure, Opinion | No Comments

‘Abstinence Only’ is government censorship

By Chris Lugo | June 20, 2008 |

Chris Lugo, author of this position statement, is the Green party Candidate for the Tennessee State Senate.

According to a recent report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at least one in four teenage girls nationwide have a sexually transmitted disease. Clearly abstinence only school programs do not deter young people from sexual activity, but in fact this direction actually deters young adults from access to information that they need to make responsible and safe choices. We must act immediately to withdraw funding for this program and allow teachers to present sensible sexual education curriculum.

As a candidate for federal office I believe that young people must be presented with all the facts available to them. Instead of relying on religious rhetoric and the value system of a fundamentalist minority, I believe that we must look clearly at human behavior as biological fact. The school system is not an avenue for proselytizing about various belief systems. Sexual activity is a fact of life, much like any other human activity and young people need to know the facts before it is too late. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Education, Issues, Opinion | 2 Comments

Mixed Martial Arts: More than just a fad

By Terry McMoore | June 19, 2008 |

Critics of mixed martial arts fighting might say that Fort Campbell and Clarksville are not ready for this type of event! Well, try telling that to the 600 plus spectators that showed up at Froggy’s Fight Night on the Fort Campbell army base in Kentucky for a invitational tournament held by the Scientific Street Fighting (SSF) Submission Academy.

Mixed martial arts or MMA is a style of fighting that combines a wide variety of fighting techniques; a mixture of Martial Arts traditions, boxing, and wrestling. The sport was made popular in the early 1990’s by the Gracie family of Brazil, who organized some of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bouts in the country. Its popularity had already reached legendary proportions throughout Japan, Europe and the Pacific regions of the world under the name “Vale – Tudos”, or “Anything Goes”. «Read the rest of this article»

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Finding an honest, skilled contractor …

By Rev. Charles Moreland | June 18, 2008 |

As a homeowner, one of my stresses is just when a repair is needed and who to call to make that repair. The tornado-like winds we have here regularly remove shingles from roofs, or a wire is damaged. Electrician? Carpenter? Both? Over the last five years I have developed a list of contractors whom I think are honest and skilled. There are companies and individuals who have dome work for me in the past and in whom I have confidence.

Last year I got “burned” by a person who professed to be a capable contractor. He adroitly gained my confidence on a small job before cheating me out of a significant amount of money. To prevent such a pique for Clarksville Online readers, I’ll offer some guidelines for hiring a contractor. Money Advisor [Apr '08, p3] covers the subject comprehensively in a half page. Household repairs are stressful and costly, more so is the contractor is incompetent or unscrupulous. There are guideline to reduce the tension. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Opinion, Spirituality | No Comments

The tyranny of the majority

By David W. Shelton | June 17, 2008 |

I recently read an article by Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle on Chief Justice Ronald George, who wrote the decision which granted same-sex marriage for California gay couples. It was an in-depth story on the life of this man, and what led to his ultimate belief that equality for all people is a fundamental, constitutional right. One particular segment stood out to me.

In the article, Egelko outlines how George and three other California Supreme Court justices pulled from another marriage quality issue from history, interracial marriage:

George’s same-sex ruling relied heavily on the court’s 1948 decision on interracial marriage, written by a renowned liberal, Justice Roger Traynor. No other state’s court had ever recognized a constitutional right for interracial couples to marry, and the U.S. Supreme Court did not do so until 1967.

A lesson from that case, George said in the interview, was that laws denying “certain basic rights could not be justified just because of history and tradition.”

He recalled a trip with his parents to the still-segregated South as a teenager, when he was shocked to see whites-only signs on drinking fountains and restroom doors.

“It sensitized me to the fact there are minorities of all sorts of types who can be victimized by the majority,” George said. Protecting vulnerable minorities, he said, is “one of the purposes of the courts and of our Constitution.”

«Read the rest of this article»

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Awkward facts about climatic disruption

June 15, 2008 |

Cautionary words on climate from a May 1 statement by George Woodwell, the founder and Director Emeritus of The Woods Hole Research Center.

I explore below paths that might, if followed, lead out of the chaos of an open-ended climatic disruption. Unfortunately the issues are complicated, the time for action is now late, and effective action is growing more difficult daily. Effective action is possible, however….

The changes in climate are far more serious than they may appear…. These changes, the warming of the higher latitudes, the destruction of forests, the accelerated decay of organic matter in forests and tundra soils, the melting of permafrost, the change from a reflective frozen white to black open water in the Arctic Ocean, and the warming of the surface water of the oceans all point to an acceleration of the warming trend. These are “positive feedbacks” which dominate as the earth warms and accelerate the disruption. Despite their importance, they have not been included in appraisals that suggest that a two degree average change in the temperature of the earth might be acceptable. The fact is that the feedbacks will almost certainly take the disruption beyond human control well before the temperature rise is two degrees C. Stopping at 2 degrees will not be possible. «Read the rest of this article»

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