It was reported yesterday that Exxon Mobil has beaten the record for highest quarterly profit in United States history...again. It's net profit totals $11.68 billion. The title holder for the fourth quarter, which was in December of last year, was...yep, you guessed it: Exxon Mobil with $11.66 billion.

That's funny. I seem to remember not so long ago that the Supreme Court ordered Exxon's punitive damages for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill (the largest environemental disaster in U.S. history, mind you) be reduced down to $500 million, or 1/10th of the original jury's ruling of $5 billion. Score another point for corporate America.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/31/news/companies/exxon_profits/index.htm?cnn=yes

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=75029288

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/6/26/supreme_court_slashes_exxon_valdez_oil

Learn how to fight high gas prices.

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         vs.            

Surfing the Internet this morning I came across the music blog of Carrie Brownstein, former guitarist for Sleater-Kinney. In her weekly blog post Monitor Mix on NPR.org, she's posted a survey entitled "The 2008 Election: Politicians as Rock Stars." It asks readers this: Who is Barrack Obama?" From a list of twenty or so musicians, you are instructed to click on the band or singer you feel most represents the Democratic candidate. Then you do the same for John McCain. You also get to choose each candidate's running mate based on the artist line-up you previously selected. For instance, I chose Wilco for Barack and Bruce Springsteen as the supporting act a.k.a. "running mate" and for McCain it had to be Lawrence Welk and Ricky Martin. Guess who I'm voting for in November? 

Take it for yourself at the following link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2008/06/politicans_as_rock_stars_1.html

Hamilton County Superintendent Jim Scales’ contract was renewed early by a 5-4 vote last Thursday, thanks to the Hamilton County Board of Education. No stranger to controversy, Rhonda Thurman, the outspoken hairdresser who disagreed with the decision to allow an East Ridge student to wear a religious head scarf (hijab) to school, strongly disagreed with the outcome.

School Board members Chester Bankston, Everett Fairchild and Kenny Smith also voted against the early contract decision.

According to the Chattanoogan.com, Rhonda “the Hairdresser” Thurman told the Pachyderm Club on Monday that the decision “exhibited arrogance, disregard for the public, deceit, and abuse of power.”

Why the upheaval? Apparently, Dr. Scales’ contract with the Hamilton County Department of Education wasn’t set to expire until 2010. But with the recent vote by the Board of Education, his contract will not expire until 2012. This means that Jim Scales’ job will be secure despite the election of new school board members, most importantly, those new board members who oppose the job that Scales is doing with Hamilton County Schools.

An article written in the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that Rhonda Thurman accused Scales of taking credit “for many school board initiatives and other programs that he could not have spearheaded in his two years as superintendent.” She also denounced the five school board members who voted for his early contract extension for manipulating the vote without knowledge from the other members. She even accused the approving board members of hiding the news release announcing the contract.

While I do disagree with many of Rhonda Thurman’s opinions regarding what is best for our public schools, I have to hand it to her for standing up for those of us who do not have a voice in the way our schools are run. I applaud her actions and though these are only allegations at this point, I believe they are strong enough statements to initiate some sort of movement that forces those in power to re-evaluate the decisions they make regarding the people of Chattanooga and how they make them.

It is essential to note that Thurman also voted against hiring Jim Scales for the role of superintendent in the first place. Actually, she was the only one.

What do you think about the accusations Rhonda Thurman is making toward other members of the Board of Education? Do you agree? Disagree? Do you think she is crazy? What about our seemingly fearless Superintendent? Just how good of a job do you think he is doing regarding Hamilton County Schools? Post your opinion. C’mon… I dare you!

In case you need some ammunition, here are some links related to the topic:

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_130287.asp
http://www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8520621
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jun/23/hamilton-county-school-board-member-criticizes-ok-/?breakingnews

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_82104.asp

I've always liked Coldplay in the sense that their music was nice to listen to. When I say "nice to listen to," I mean it was good background music that didn't require much concentration...kinda like the music you hear at the dentist's office. This viral video for "Violet Hill" from their new album Viva La Vida, thankfully, is not. It's harsh, controversial and haunting with electric guitar-driven licks and bashing drum beats. It makes me want to bang my head and curse my government.