U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen Co-sponsors Federal Marijuana Decriminalization!

Click on the picture to start the video on the C-SPAN site.

Memphis' Fox television affiliate has the AP story on their website: "Cohen Supports Marijuana Legislation."  Click here. 

Boycott the Commercial Appeal Pay Wall

I haven't linked to or shared a New York Times link since they fired up their paywall; and I haven't linked to anything on the Memphis Commercial Appeal website since "Carpetbagger Chris" (Peck, editor-in-chief) announced his out-of-town-owned corporation's maximum-profit-driven rag's website pay wall that is even stricter than the Times'.

Yes, I sometimes click a shortened URL and wind up on the CA site without meaning to; but so I don't max out there, I sought out and added to my newsreader RSS feeds from the websites of every TV station in town with a news operation, to go along with the RSS feeds from Memphis' valuable smaller papers with good local coverage.

I'm going to share those with you now in case you want to join this boycott to any degree.  Just click on any of the links below to see what stories are typical of the feed.  I have chosen, as much as possible, the feeds focusing on local stories, because — let's face it — we can get national and international news from so many sources now, at depths beyond what any Memphis paper does.  Here are the feeds.  I'll start with links to get Google Reader, which I have used for years, and to a Wikipedia article about newsreaders.  You can also read RSS feeds in Internet Explorer and other major browsers and email programs.  You don't have to use a newsreader; it's just handier and less time-consuming than navigating many websites to see what's new.

http://reader.google.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feed_aggregator

ABC 24 Eyewitness News

Local | MyFox Memphis

Memphis Business Journal

Memphis Daily News

The Daily News Blog

Memphis Daily News "Eye on Politics"

Politics, Memphis Flyer

WMC-TV - News

WMC-TV Midtown News - Your source for local news (Look for your neighborhood on the site.)

WREG - News

Kemp Conrad's Budget Plan

(I was privileged to receive an email from Memphis City Councilman Kemp Conrad. I post it here in its entirety. I like most everything about this plan. I encourage Memphis voters to read it and then in turn encourage your Councilpersons to vote for Conrad's plan.)

Dear fellow Memphian:

Due to the lack of the political will over the last ten years for reform, the decision to cut school funding and spend an additional $40mm on city government in 2008 (I was not on the council then), and lack of will by a majority of the council the last two budget cycles to seriously restrain spending, we find ourselves with a structural and recurring $60mm deficit.

This is approximately 10% of the cost of city government and the budget on the table now balances the budget with $60MM of one time money with no plan for next year. In addition, we have almost $1.5BB in unfunded liabilities for retiree pension and healthcare costs.

During his budget presentation, Mayor Wharton asked us for our ideas.

Attached are mine, which I presented to the Council yesterday and I am happy to report it was warmly received. It focuses on spending and structural reform and it is a durable plan that will allow us to grow and invest in the future.

As the facts suggest, we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem thus restructuring is where we should spend our time and effort.

The presentation is a bit long, but it is important to understand the detail and context. A link to the video of the presentation can be viewed here: http://memphistn.gov/pdf_forms/RKC_Reform_Plan_FINAL_060111.pdf

If you agree with me, please call or email my colleagues on the Council as well as Mayor Wharton’s office and tell them we need bold leadership and a durable plan – not one more year of kick the can. Follow these links for contact information for the Council and Mayor:

City Councilman Kemp Conrad Page
http://www.memphistn.gov/framework.aspx?page=690
(actually http://memphistn.gov/framework.aspx?page=707)

City Council Main Page
http://www.memphistn.gov/framework.aspx?page=689

Mayor’s Page
http://www.memphistn.gov/framework.aspx?page=22

Please see below some media stories about my plan that may be of interest:

Fire Union, City At Odds Over Budget and PR Campaign
wreg.com, Bonny Kinney
9:19 p.m. CDT, June 1, 2011
http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-firefighters-budget-concerns,0,229210.story

Memphis City Council's Kemp Conrad proposes privatizing trash pickup
The Commercial Appeal, Amos Maki
Posted June 2, 2011 at midnight
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/jun/02/conrad-carves-austere-budget/

Council at Odds Over Budget Shortfall
myfoxmemphis.com, Tealy Devereaux
Updated: Wednesday, 01 Jun 2011, 10:09 PM CDT
http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/dpp/money/council-at-odds-over-budget-shortfall-rpt-20110601

Conrad’s City Budget Plan Offers Balance
The Daily News, Bill Dries
Updated 2:50PM
http://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2011/jun/3/conrads-city-budget-plan-offers-balance

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,

Kemp Conrad
Super District 9, Position 1

(Feel free to take the Council's invitation on its own website, as follows:)

If you would like to send a message to ALL council members, then Click Here To Email All