national dialogue

Xark! reacts to the candidates at the alternative Presidential debate last night at Vandy:

I’d really hoped the tragic shootings in Knoxville would have led to some kind of national dialogue about the inflammatory rhetoric that dominates our national discourse, primarily talk radio, and primarily on the conservative side, though I'd place some liberal talkers in that class as well.

Thanks to Tennessee Congressman David Davis for his efforts!

From Media Research Center:

The National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship reports on the findings of a long-term study to spur entrepreneurial growth in Appalachia.

American politicians are talking about higher tax rates, bigger government, and intervention by bureaucrats in markets to pick winners and losers (what I call socialized entrepreneurship). As the US drifts toward socialism, could we see our neighbors to the north passing by us heading away from such policies?

The Brookings Institution has been busy pushing forward on an agenda for socialized entrepreneurship.

Two items from the National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship this week caught my eye (and raised the hair on the back of my neck).

First:

One of the myths about entrepreneurship is that high growth, high potential ventures (some call them gazelles) are the main driver of economic growth.

The right to vote is a fundamental right which belongs to all Americans. Unfortunately the justice system has made it very difficult for some five million Americans who are no longer incarcerated but have previous felony convictions to exercise that right. This is an unreasonable limitation on the rights of those who have served their time and has an enormous impact on the national dialogue, limiting the rights of potential voters and skewing the results of elections.

This week, The Village Voice’s Pazz & Jop 2007 poll was released. Like most of the Scene’s fine music writers, I voted in the poll, which involved dividing 100 points among 10 albums and crafting a list of 10 favorite songs.

I’ve read a ton of beautiful and well-thought out tributes to Martin Luther King Jr this morning.

I can’t really add to any of them other than to say next time you are in Memphis, go to the National Civil Rights Museum. For me, it was eye-opening.

We owe a lot to Rev. King. He created a national dialogue on civil rights and the power of the hu