Dude, college is *next* year

Five or ten years ago, Taylor Killian would just be a really foolish high-school senior. Today, he's enjoying his 15 minutes of fame across the country and overseas as far away as Germany:

A Westerville North High School student who stripped naked, lubed his body in oil and ran amok through the school commons during lunch yesterday was arrested after police twice zapped him with a Taser. "It just seemed like a good idea at the time," Taylor C. Killian, 18, told police later, said Westerville Lt. John Petrozzi. It was right about noon when a clothed Killian, who made his school's honor roll in each of three grading periods during the 2005-06 school year, strolled into a bathroom near the crowded commons.

In the past, this prank would have likely resulted in a local newspaper story, a local TV story or two, maybe an AP brief in other newspapers and, if Taylor were lucky, space in an upcoming installment of News of the Weird. Now, it means that his police report is online, anyone can see a live local TV news story about the incident, the local paper's article is online complete with more than 30 comments (as of 7 a.m. Central time), 1,200 people have starred the incident on Digg.com, and we know that Taylor really likes geeking out with his Xbox.

I have a feeling that all of this makes the whole thing more rewarding, somehow, for Taylor, but probably not for his parents. Yikes.

If Karl Dean can keep this pace up...

... he'll have $5,182,000 by Nashville's election day (August 2, 2007). The City Paper just broke the following news about Dean's fundraising success on the campaign trail:

Mayoral candidate Karl Dean, who served as director of the Metro Law Department until January 9, raised $156,450 for his campaign between his departure from the department and mid-January, his campaign said today.

As of mid-January, Dean had $151,448 still on hand. That hopefully means he spent $5,002 on developing a visually pleasing and informative Web site, which his campaign continues to lack at present. Dean's balance is within $80,000 or so of Buck Dozier, who has been raising funds since January 2006. While this may be apples-to-oranges considering that the election is much closer now than when Dozier entered the race, Dean raised more money this month than Dozier did in the last six months of 2006. At the very least, this leaves me curious to see where the other candidates, particularly David Briley, weigh in as the fundraising deadline (Jan. 31) nears.

Let's make this history

Despite all of our complaints and our differences in the United States, we are among the most fortunate people on the planet today. We are among the most fortunate people who have ever lived. I mean all of that to say that, myself included, we are all guilty of taking our welfare and our blessings for granted. Reading a story like this one from CNN reminds me just how much we have to be thankful for and how horrible conditions are for many people in the world even now:

Four Papua New Guinea women, believed by fellow villagers to have used sorcery to cause a fatal road crash, were tortured with hot metal rods to confess, then murdered and buried standing up in a pit, said police. The National newspaper said on Wednesday that police had only just uncovered the grisly murders, which occurred last October near the town of Goroka in the jungle-clad highlands some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Port Moresby. Black magic is widespread in the South Pacific nation where most of the 5.1 million population live subsistence lives. Women suspected of being witches are often hung or burned to death.

I have nothing but sympathy for these women and their families. The idea of living in a culture that would condone this kind of atrocity is so foreign from what the rest of us experience each day that I really can't imagine waking up to find myself in their country. At the same time, this level of thinking is where we as Americans existed a few centuries earlier, and we would have burned or drowned innocent people in similar circumstances. I'm reminded again of the U2 song, "Crumbs From Your Table:"

Where you live should not decide
Whether you live or whether you die

This will never be a perfect world, but it will be that much closer when horrible actions like this no longer take place. I'm relieved only that this kind of tragedy is uncommon enough, at least on our side of the world, to qualify as news. Here's hoping that it qualifies only as history someday soon.

Show us the money

NashvillePost.com is reporting that mayoral candidate Buck Dozier has officially disclosed his campaign fundraising as required by election law:

In the last fundraising quarter, Dozier raised $102,734, bringing his campaign total to $319,300 thus far. Dozier also report that he presently has $228,000 in cash on hand.

Other mayoral candidates that will be filing by the end of the month are At-large Councilman David Briley, former Congressman Bob Clement, former Metro Law Director Karl Dean, businessman Kenneth Eaton, Vice Mayor Howard Gentry, and community activist Dave Pelton.

That's a significant war chest for a campaign with a full roster of candidates. I am very curious to see how Bob Clement (whom some see as the early frontrunner) and Howard Gentry (whom some are concerned will struggle to raise enough money to remain competitive) report. They are required to do so by January 31. I'm especially curious to see how the two progressive candidates, David Briley and Karl Dean, stack up compared to each other and to the rest of the field.

How you know when you like your pet a little too much

If for no other reason than the resulting back problems, this wearable dog house sure seems like a bad idea to me:

Hey, feeling a bit lonely, need some attention? Well you'll get all the attention you need when you walk through any public place sporting the new, uber attractive Wearable Dog House! It's designed so you can bring your pet to any function and enjoy your dog's company while keeping both hands free for.... whatever. The inventor suggests the WDH's air permeable construction will allow Benji "to view outside events and experience the textures of the outdoors in safety and comfort". And for your own comfort, we're hoping it has an absorbent bottom for when Benji gets all excited and springs a leak.

There are plenty of other reasons why this is just bizarre, even though it is reportedly an authentic patent illustration.

Garrigan (n.): Well-reasoned editorial

Thanks also to Garrigan and the Scene for reviving her weekly editorial. Yes, it’s been adapted into a column headlined “Garrigan” apparently because Scene corporate owner the Village Voice has a no-editorial policy, but it’s still the same good read that is usually my first stop in each week’s issue. Garrigan is a knowledgeable and convincing writer, one who is married to likely incoming deputy mayor Curt Garrigan. It will be a shame if Garrigan (Liz) has to curtail her city politics coverage when her husband assumes the post. Granted, Liz is reportedly expecting soon, so readers can likely anticipate at least a temporary hiatus one way or another.

Vote for mayor like it's 1999

Update: Liz Garrigan's column referenced below is now online.

I’m hoping Nashville Scene editor Liz Garrigan is right in the remarks she wrote for this week’s issue (not online yet). Attempting to forecast the upcoming mayoral race, Garrigan compares Bob Clement in 2007 to Dick Fulton in 1999. Fulton served as Nashville’s mayor from 1975 to 1987 and continues to be a respected figure in the community. Seeking to return to the office twelve years later, Fulton emerged as the frontrunner based on name recognition before placing a distant second to Bill Purcell on Election Day. As Garrigan notes, he humbly conceded the race even though he qualified for a runoff because Purcell was the clear, though not majority, choice of the electorate.

Clement, a career politician looking to make a comeback, may well be in Fulton’s shoes as the next election inches closer. I’ve made it clear in previous posts that I consider Clement – along with Buck Dozier and Howard Gentry – to be less-than-appealing options for the city’s next leader. Garrigan agrees:

Bob Clement is this year’s version of Dick Fulton – a man who has little vision for a city that has changed dramatically over the last decade or two, someone who’s already had a full political career (less distinguished than Fulton’s was, it would be fair to say) and the kind of not-so-fresh candidate we predict will hide behind meaningless press releases and innocuous appearances, instead handling questions in writing rather than handling tough questions live, the way he responded to inquiries from The Nashville Business Journal at the end of the year.

Garrigan is calling for Dozier to face David Briley or Karl Dean (who continues to decline to launch a Web site) in a runoff where “the voters couldn’t have a starker contrast in candidates.” I’m hoping she’s right, and I hope Briley or Dean emerge as Nashville’s next mayor. In the meantime, I hope the two of them will sit down for coffee and figure out which one of them has the better shot at winning and which one ought to run for vice-mayor instead. [Aside to both: I will likely vote for either of you compared to the field, so please stop dividing the progressive vote.]