Another fourth Thursday, another fun Nashville Geek Breakfast. Here are a few things I didn’t know before I darkened the door at Noshville this morning:

• Marcus owns what appeared to be a vintage “Yo! MTV Raps” T-shirt. (Wow.)
• Mitch is a new dad. (Congrats!)
• Jackson’s Statzen made TechCrunch’s top 150 out of 1,000 competing startups. (Nice work.)
• Chuck and I run in the same online circles, but not in the same direction, until now.
• Paul’s resume is better suited for a Twitter update than a resume, or so he claims.
• One way to make the trip from Alabama to Tennessee is via Arkansas, Ireland and Los Angeles. (Welcome, Ben.)
• BarCamp Nashville’s Web site is up and running. (Go register.)

Check out the photos from today’s breakfast. It was good to see everyone. See y’all next time.

The LPGA is getting into the intolerance act by requiring its golfers to communicate only in English. It may or may not have the intended effect:

Effectively what the LPGA is doing by implementing this policy is buying a lawsuit. Because it will be challenged and it will take forever to wind through the court system. The players who are challenging the ruling will probably receive an injunction which allows them to continue on tour until the policy runs the course in the legal system. After every court ruling the same headlines will recur, the same issues will be discussed, and the same bad publicity will ensue. Eventually, after six or seven years, the LPGA’s policy will be deemed legal or illegal. (See Martin, Casey). Is this contentious path really worth it to the LPGA?

Predictably, the LPGA is already backpedaling from their public relations mess. Noting that their attorney’s vetted the proposal before it was announced. Which is always the refuge of the idiots. Because the LPGA’s policy may very well be legal. The LPGA’s true issue isn’t with the legality of the proposed policy, but with the public reaction to that policy. Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s smart.

I originally picked the headline for this post as a parody of the tired fashion expression, “pink is the new black.” The idea had nothing to do with race, but then I realized the unintended pun I had created by using the word “black.” (All of my funniest puns are unplanned.) Maybe there’s truth in that play on words, though: Is racism being replaced by cultural discrimination? It’s starting to seem that way.

So say the backers of English Only:

Attorneys supporting English Only will file a lawsuit in Chancery Court this afternoon challenging the Davidson County Election Commission’s vote to keep the charter amendment off the November ballot. Jonathan Crisp, an English Only supporter, said attorney Jim Roberts planned to file today and would seek an expedited ruling so the proposed charter amendment could still appear on the Nov. 4 ballot … Crisp vowed to take the legal challenge to the Tennessee Supreme Court if necessary.

Imagine what English Only supporters might accomplish if they directed their time, energy and money toward positive outcomes, such as outreach to immigrants regarding the benefits of learning English and developing ways that make it easier for them to do so. What a novel concept: Welcoming people to our community rather than kicking them in the teeth for having the gall to choose to live in Nashville.

I thought this news about new Vanderbilt University Chancellor Nick Zeppos was refreshing:

A university spokesperson confirms to Rex that Zeppos has opted to stay at the home in Cherokee Park where he and his family have lived since 1989, when he came to Vanderbilt as a law professor. He will use Braeburn, the Belle Meade mansion that VU renovated at a cost of $6 million during the tenure of Chancellor Gordon Gee, for ceremonial and entertainment purposes only.

There is one small difference in how Zeppos and Bredesen have each chosen to live. The Zeppos’ property is appraised for taxes at a $527,000 — a modest sum for the home of a man occupying such an august position. Bredesen’s Chickering Drive home and surrounding land holdings, on the other hand, have a total tax-appraised value of nearly $12.3 million.

I think it’s admirable that Zeppos has lived in the same house for nearly 20 years. Since it’s in Cherokee Park,his home likely isn’t a McMansion. I find it encouraging that someone working in such a visible capacity is choosing to live in a modest home (albeit one that has appreciated considerably while Zeppos has owned it). It also means that we’re neighbors, since I live on the side of Sylvan Park closest to his neighborhood.

I don’t fault Governor Bredesen for choosing to live in his more expensive home, either, though: Keep in mind that Bredesen is voluntarily accepting only $1 as salary during his time as governor (not that he would need the money). I’m sure Zeppos is still taking full paychecks from Vanderbilt, though they may pale in comparison to the $1.1 million that former Chancellor Gordon Gee reportedly received.

Our dog Sonora, who is about 17 months old, is one of the sweetest and most tender dogs I’ve ever been around. We named her after the heroine in the film Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. Like that character, Sonora can be shy and tentative, but her hesitation belies a kindness and a depth to her personality that defies description. We’re lucky to have her and her sister as part of our pack, even if she acts a little strange (above) whenever I give her a dog biscuit. She usually hides while she eats it so her sister, Layla, a rambunctious sweetheart named after Muhammad Ali’s prize-fighting daughter, doesn’t come after it. Good call, Sonora.

It may be a technicality, and it may be short-lived, but anything that makes English Only less likely to become law is a good thing, in my opinion:

[Metro legal director Sue] Cain’s Monday ruling said petition-driven charter amendments can only be submitted every two years. Cain’s ruling interprets the word “submitted” to mean when the voters weigh in on the proposed charter amendment. Davidson County voters approved the charter amendment requiring voter approval for property tax increases on Nov. 7, 2006. The English Only amendment proposal would be on the Nov. 4 ballot, which according to Cain means it falls short of the two-year waiting period by three days.

Maybe this will buy time for a stronger opposition to what I think is shortsighted and intolerant legislation that will do little else beyond serving as a lightning rod, and maybe it will energize an apathetic electorate. I’m not really sure, but I’m glad that, at least for now, this wrongheaded amendment will not be on the ballot this November.

There’s an upside to not having a booming tech industry: not having a busting one, either. Nashville Business Journal editor Lance Williams said that the thing he notices most is that the city has a very broad-based economy.

Like anywhere else, Williams noted, Nashville isn’t recession proof. Nashville’s broad base means Nashville may be in a better position to avoid especially painful bust periods, though. Of course, conversely, it may miss out on the highest of the highs during boom times, too. He said that he thinks Nashville is “poised for nice, steady, strong growth” over the long term and credited the city’s health care and higher education communities as evidence of its well-rounded economy.

Compared to Nashville, Williams said that Austin, where he worked for the Austin Business Journal until a few months ago, is “very up and down” because of its robust technology industry. It operates very cyclically. He arrived in 2003 as the “ashes” of the dot-com bust had mostly disappeared and covered the city during four boom years before taking his new job here in Nashville. He mentioned that layoffs at major players such as Dell and AMD were taking place as he was getting ready to relocate. The Austin economy endures more periods of boom and bust, he said, because of the depth and breadth of its technology industry.

Williams noted that Austin was a “sleepy” town in the 60s and 70s and only began to emerge as a tech leader in the 80s, when some fellow (Michael Dell) started selling computers built in his dorm room and another guy (Whole Foods Market founder John Mackey) got into health food. That worked out pretty well.

Nashville Business Journal editor Lance Williams, who relocated here three months ago following stints in Austin and Cincinnati, was in the office today to talk to our staff.

Williams was honest that a big downside for Nashville, one I’ve heard mentioned elsewhere, is that access to capital for new business ideas is “horrible outside of health care.” I’m aware that the Nashville Technology Council and other organizations in town are working to change that, but in the meantime Williams said that the city isn’t a great place to be a tech company that’s looking for investment dollars.

What advice did Williams offer for changing things? “Continue to be welcoming, because the money is here. It just needs to be better connected.” It sure does.

Alas, Evan Bayh as vice-president wasn’t meant to be, though it may be good news for Barack Obama’s presidential hopes: The presumptive Democratic candidate selected Delaware Senator Joe Biden as his running mate. Though others are already pointing out flaws in Obama’s pick and some are upset that Obama’s promised text message to supporters arrived around 3 a.m. today, I like Biden and think he is a wise choise and a good counterbalance to Obama.

I chose email over text message to receive the news from Obama’s camp. I found out the pick from NPR at 7:30 or so, and my email from Obama arrived shortly after eight. It’s just not that big a deal to me.

I really hope no one decides to name Nashville International Airport after a country music legend:

Would we have bumpy landings at Dolly Parton International Airport? Would you like the all-black décor of the Johnny Cash International Airport? Would the terminal in Al Gore International be unusually warm? Would a few flights be no-shows at George Jones International?

I’ve struggled to reconcile the negative elements of Nashville’s identity as Music City with the emerging reality that we are a growing and progressive city, and I don’t think naming the airport after a country star is a good idea. I have come to respect the incredible amount of talent here in town and to acknowledge that there is a great deal of great music, plenty of it country, written and recorded here.

That said, we are extremely well known for our musical pedigree, and unfortunately that sometimes means that the pejorative pieces of that legacy are what people elsewhere choose to focus on. Naming one of the front doors of our community, the airport, after someone who will only reinforce that image doesn’t help the city in the long run. Let’s name it after Dick Fulton, Phil Bredesen, Bill Purcell or Ross Alderman instead.

[Full disclosure: My employer works on behalf of the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority. I have no involvement with that work; I just think the suggestions referenced above are poor choices for an airport name.]

I’d like to see Alexander Radulov return to Nashville as much as any Preds fan, but the team’s luck in developing Russian players speaks for itself:

Russians drafted by the Predators:
1998 — Denis Arkhipov, C, Four seasons with Preds, five in NHL. Now playing in Russia.
1999 — Yevgeny Pavlov, C, One season in North America, did not reach NHL.
Alexander Krevsun, RW, One season in North America, did not reach NHL.
Konstantin Panov, RW, Five seasons in North America, did not reach NHL.
2001 — Timofei Shishkanov, LW, Two games with Preds, 24 games in NHL. Now playing in Russia.
Denis Platonov, RW, Three games in North America. Did not reach NHL.
Anton Lavrentiev, D, Never played in North America.
2003 —Konstantin Glazachev, LW, Never played in North America.
Grigory Shafigulin, C, Never played in North America.
Rustam Sidikov, G, Never played in North America.
Andrei Mukhachev, D, Never played in North America.
2004 — Alexander Radulov, RW, Two seasons with Preds. Now playing in Russia.
Denis Kulyash, D, Never played in North America.

There’s an inherent risk in selecting any player under any circumstances. When home is half a world away and a competing league is emerging as incentive to stay there to play, it’s just not worth the gamble. This advice may be playing into the KHL’s hands, but it can only help the Preds, who need all the help they can get from the draft.

There will be no abiding Ken Whitehouse now: The same reporter who broke the story that the Nashville Predators might be sold to Blackberry co-founder Jim Balsillie dropped an even bigger bombshell today:

NashvillePost.com has learned that senior campaign officials from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign are being dispatched from various locations around the country and are converging in Indianapolis for a “major event” to take place on Saturday. Saturday is the same day that Obama is expected to make his first public appearance with his yet to be announced vice presidential running mate. Indiana is the home state of Democratic Senator Evan Bayh, widely considered to be on the short list of Democratic vice presidential contenders.

CBS News, among others, is citing Nashville Post as its source for speculation about Obama’s choice for vice president. This is a huge scoop for a local news organization that’s become an invaluable part of Nashville’s local media landscape over the past several years. Way to go, Ken!