Memphasis > Getting Over It
February 17th, 2011
GETTING OVER THE BIG DIVIDEOutside, it was a beautiful spring day. Inside, it was a dark afternoon in engineering science lab. In front of me was a pile of balsa wood, popsicle sticks, string, rubber bands and a slide rule. The assignment – design and build a bridge. At that moment – while I was trying to figure out whether the number on my slide rule was 10,000, 100,000 or ten ...
Memphasis > Power Trumps People
February 10th, 2011
IN THE NEW MATH, 30% IS MORE THAN 70%Fellow I know who worked for S.C. Toof & Co. back in the sixties told a good story about the use of power. Then the company was family owned and the largest printing operation around these parts. Mr. Toof fancied himself a broad-minded leader, open to suggestion and reform. The company's leadership would meet weekly to discuss issues and vote on ...
Memphasis > An Uncommon Man In Common
February 3rd, 2011
AN UNCOMMON MAN IN COMMONThe first one was in the former Barksdale police station, a mounted police station complete with a stable and cells. Kids playing horse replaced the horses. Cells became offices, and the squad room turned into a classroom. A pool table took the place of the sergeant's desk, kids doing homework replaced cops doing paperwork, and those with nowhere to go and nothing ...
Memphasis > The Right Call
January 27th, 2011
AN EASY CALL TO MAKE.Howard took his phone out on his porch overlooking the Little Red River in Arkansas and called me. "The band wants to throw Jimmy a party," he said. "Can we make that happen?"A few months ago, I wrote a column about a friend with cancer and the comfort of cheeseburgers. A couple of weeks ago, just before he left town to have major surgery, we had a helluva ...
Memphasis > The No Voting Machine
January 20th, 2011
THANKS, GUYS, BUT WE'LL TAKE IT FROM HERE.For the first half of the 20th century, one political machine with one man firmly at the controls ran Memphis. Not only did Boss Crump decide who got elected, appointed, fired and indicted around here, he pretty much did that for the whole state, and wielded considerable influence in the national Democratic Party. Memphis Mayor for six years and ...
Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 Next