Fearful Blogging Days Returns!

As always, Halloween brings the Night of the Living Cup of Joe Powell.

And I'm also directing the spooky, thriller production of a world classic of mystery and mayhem for the Morristown Theatre Guild -- Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None" - which runs Nov. 11-20th at Rose Center in Morristown. The show is her script, based on her novel, which is the number one best-selling mystery novel ever published.

10 people are stranded on an island estate off the coast of England, trapped there by a diabolical killer, and none is likely to survive. Adding to the madness - each of the 10 guests are themselves accused of murder. We are performing the show 'in the round' so that the audience will experience the show as if they are in the isolated estate themselves.

The show was last produced by the Guild in 1983 and was the first show I ever saw them do - here's a shot of the cast from that production, which includes Tim Smith, David Green, David Horton, Hillary Faith Gerson-Krohn, Rohead Rex, Rodney R Oswald and Linda Dietrich.

In coming days I'll have some new pics about this newest production, and the cast for this edition is  Eric McDowell, Tana McClain, Kylian Andrew, Autumn Leming, John Carpenter, Larry Glover, Mitzi Akins, Hobart Smith, Dale Stanton, myself and the stage manager is Olivia Fee.

I will share one more thing about this show - as in the 1983 version, we too are tweaking the story so that the ending will be different depending on which night you see the show.

I do love a good mystery and this one is the mother of them all!

Tickets are on sale now via the Guild's website or call 423-586-9260 for more info.

Topeka, Kansas Repeals Domestic Violence Law

Idiocy in Kansas government now means the lives of women, children and all victims of domestic violence have no value - a budget dispute between the city of Topeka and Shawnee County has caused the D.A. to say he won't investigate or prosecute such cases and the city has repealed their law against domestic violence.

Elected and appointed officials in the state's capital city say it's because of budget cuts, which won't take effect until 2012. The city did not vote to repeal other misdemeanor crimes - shoplifting is still a crime, for instance.

D.A. Chad Taylor publicly announced his decision not to prosecute domestic violence due to county budget cuts, and the city feared it might have to pay for the court and jail costs, and by repealing the law, they say it is still against a state law - so everything is still jes' fine.

For residents of Topeka, a lesson is presented - crimes of violence won't be prosecuted unless money changes hands.

County officials have so far refused to increase any tax rates to insure crimes are prosecuted. Another ten cents on the property tax rate, for instance, is too high a price for public safety.

And so idiocy and pathetic leadership in one Kansas county has created public policy which will likely lead to third world physical brutality. Classy.

District Attorney Chad Taylor

Police To Decide Who Is A Journalist?

Press credentials apparently are no longer valid on Wall Street unless police issue them.

"John Farley, a reporter with WNET/Thirteen’s MetroFocus, was standing on the sidewalk interviewing two women who had been pepper sprayed during the Occupy Wall Street protest when it happened to him.

For Natasha Lennard, a freelancer for The New York Times’s City Blog, it happened as she live-tweeted events while walking alongside the crowd of protestors “taking” the Brooklyn Bridge.

And for Alternet freelancer Kristen Gwynne, who was among the bridge crowd, it happened while she was talking with protest participants.
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"The New York Press Club unequivocally supports the right of legitimate working journalists, credentialed by NYPD or not, to freely report on events and issues of interest and value to the public without fear of arrest, detention or prosecution. A free press is a fundamental American principle. Upholding that principle is a core mission of the New York Press Club."

More here at the Columbia Journalism Review.

Occupy Wall Street Protest Grows

A brief look at some images and descriptions of the Occupy Wall Street protests - solidarity with these protests are taking place in towns and cities all over America. (Be sure to read this report from Knoxville's event.)