Sax solos out of style? When did that happen? At least they seem to be coming back in vogue. So I guess my 20 year plus trip off planet Pop Music now is negated. Right? Uh, right??

The final edition of the New York Times.

Slate: The Republican Party, "where magical thinking trumps rationality, and even to acknowledge basic realities about the world we live in runs the risk of damaging one's political future."

Is Tennessee's new "Special Access to Discriminate" law unconstitutional? While I'd like to think so, there are arguments both ways.

UPDATE: Sure enough, it looks like there will be a legal challenge to this odious new law.

"It was stupid of me. I was a dumbass." I love this guy (not). He gets soused at the bar, tells a passel of lies to try to pick up the girl next to him, and then -- if that's not enough -- he says he has weapons on board (knockout gas). I like a good joke as much as the next guy, but even I know not to joke about that kind of thing in an airport or on an airplane. Has this guy been under a rock for the past 10 years?

Knoxville News-Sentinel: "Haslam touted tort reform as a jobs initiative, arguing that companies were reluctant to come to the Volunteer State because they might have to pay damages if found at fault in civil litigation. There was scant evidence that Tennessee juries have been tossing about outrageous awards, however, or that businesses were afraid to move here because of it."

This is what I've been saying. Instead of working to improve our state's economy and generate new jobs, the Governor and Legislature have been taking care of their pals in Big Insurance and Big Business. If you don't like your elected representatives brazenly taking away your rights through the so-called "tort reform (I call it "rights restriction") legislation -- rights you have had for over a century -- then vote them out of office. I'll be right with you there.

Let's be careful out there: One in 14 Downloads is Malicious.

Call her "Your Honor:" Tammy Harrington selected as new Blount County Circuit Court Judge.

Tort "reform:" Legislation by anecdote -- “What I think you are hearing today, is, we’re legislating by anecdote. ‘I once knew of somebody who was sued for this amount, for this reason.’ Legislating by anecdote. That’s not a good way to act."

Translation: Tennesseeans, your state government has just passed a bill that is not based on any proven need. They are moments away from changing over 200 years of established law based on nothing but the greed of Big Insurance and Big Business, and the legislators and governor who are eager to do their bidding.

What have we come to? And, God forbid, where are we going?

Not only does this Republican government not care a whit for the rights of Tennesseans, it's homophobic to boot.

How much is a Tennesseean's life worth? Less than the interests of Big Insurance and Big Business, apparently.

Let us consider what our Legislature is doing. For over 200 years, we have trusted juries to decide the amount of damages in civil cases. Most people don't know that the jury is backstopped by the judge, who can -- and often does -- reduce a jury verdict that he, as the "thirteenth juror," believes to be excessive. There has been no data or statistic presented to the public to support the Republican claim that this rights restriction bill would encourage businesses to come to Tennessee. They are making it up as they go.

If this bill becomes law, then the Legislature and the Governor will have completed their wholesale betrayal of the people of Tennessee, in favor of Big Insurance and Big Business. It will be a sad and catastrophic day.

Tort reform cap plans go against conservative ideals, that is, personal responsibility and limited government. A true statement:

The law of tort is that if someone hurts someone else, they should make up for it. Our smallest children learn this rule along with "do unto others. ..." This is very core of the principle of personal responsibility. It's why we have a tort system.

Also true:

Government telling a jury it may not award a full measure of justice for someone harmed by another — even if the harm is proved — violates the second principle of conservatism. Government imposed limits on general damages is the antithesis of limited government. Government intervention in civil matters shifts the risk of loss from the wrongdoer to the injured at the point where caps apply. Such risk shifting and responsibility forgiving is plainly government meddling in private matters.

Does anyone else wonder at the cynicism of the so-called conservatives running the state -- and the lives of Tennesseeans -- into the ground just to aid Big Insurance and Big Business at the expense of us all?

Hail damage to the Knox County Courthouse: a metaphor for our times?

Knoxville's Stacey Campfield (R) sponsors bill to outlaw reference to the word "gay" in schools prior to ninth grade: Time to Shut Down Legislative Sideshows.

I thought Republicans were for getting government out of peoples' lives. I thought Republicans were for limited government. Well, our state Republican representative is both wasting our time and his, and he is injecting government into places where it doesn't belong.

I guess Republicans are in favor of all that getting government out of peoples' lives philosophy, until they're NOT in favor of them. What's the word for that? Oh, yeah: hypocrisy.

I've always said that mobile homes seem to be a magnet for tornadoes. Now there's statistical proof that I'm right.

"Illogithink" in the Tennessee General Assembly. Here's the takeaway:

[The Republican legislators] ran for office vowing to keep government off your backs and not to stick its nose where it doesn’t belong. But example after example keeps popping up of them doing just the opposite. Local school system control? Forget about it. They know best. The Metro Council deciding local contract requirements? The legislature is on its way to overriding that. Jury control over awarding damages? The legislature knows best, silly jurors.

Kerr recommends adjournment as the cure for "illogithink." But she's wrong there; adjorning the Legislature puts the problem off to another day, instead of solving the problem. Frankly, we Tennesseeans have to actually start paying attention to the representatives we elect, what they stand for, and whether they will serve us, or their own "illogithink" agenda.

Damage caps could lead lawyers to cherry-pick cases. Because the cost of going to trial can be very, very expensive, many lawyers are going to turn down otherwise good cases because, even if they spend, say, $100,000 of their own money to get a case to trial, the potential return is so relatively low that it makes no economic sense to take the case. So, many cases will not be pursued because the expense the defense makes one go through cannot justify even the best possible return.

This state of affairs, by the way, is exactly what Big Insurance and the chambers of commerce want. If they cannot prohibit a person from suing, they'll do the next best thing: make it so difficult, expensive and time-consuming that the lawyers can't take the case.

Can't any of these guys keep it in their pants: "Indy 500" priest accused of abuse in U.S. lawsuit. On the other hand, we shouldn't pre-judge.

Washington Post: How our cars got safer. Quick answer: "History shows that litigation and the civil justice system have served as the most consistent and powerful forces in heightening safety standards, revealing previously concealed defects and regulatory weaknesses and deterring manufacturers from cutting corners on safety for the goal of greater profits."

What I tell clients is this: I cannot make it part of a lawsuit to compel wrongdoers to change their behavior or how they do business. All I can do is sue them for money damages to compensate the client. However, if pursuing a lawsuit gets the wrongdoer to change its behavior to everyone's benefit, well that's all right by me.

Quote of the Day: "Never say a humorous thing to a man who does not possess humor. He will always use it in evidence against you."

--Herbert Beerbohm Tree, British actor