Camera Obscura "Serenity"

Went to the free screening of the movie "Serenity" Tuesday night, big thank you to Glenn at Instapundit and Mr. Silence at No Silence Here for making that possible. If you go to the Domestic Psychology blog, you can see me in the back row of her picture from the screening (way in back with a cap and a weird reflection on my glasses -- am I famous now??) And another shout out to marketing blogger Shel Holz for poking fun at me for my plea for tickets to the screening. Thanks for sending readers my way.

So this post is a Wednesday edition of my Friday film review, but don't miss Friday -- I'll have a special report on blues master Wallace Coleman -- yes I added him to the link list too.

I tried to nab a "Serenity" ballcap from a woman who was taking a head-count of attendees. She said "You have to know the right people to get one of these hats", so I said "I'm Joe, what's your name?" That's when she confessed she stole it from her hubby's stash, so no hat for me.

My review comes with some up front confessions -- I am a major fan of writer/director/producer Joss Whedon and his lists of writing awards ranges from an Oscar nod for "Toy Story" and an ANNIE as composer for "Lion King 2", and he has a reputation as The Go-To Man in Hollywood to polish a movie script. Most recently, he's been writing for "Astounding X-Men" for Marvel and is in pre-production for "Wonder Woman." Add to that the "Buffy The Vampire Slayer" series and "Angel," and it's plain the man loves stories about heroes. Yes, yes, I was also a fan of the abruptly cancelled science fiction TV series "Firefly," which is the basis of "Serenity" -- that's the name of the heroes' spaceship. And say this part LOUD -- STUPID FOX NETWORK. The movie would have to be a major-league mess for me not to enjoy it and a mess it wasn't. And I think anyone not familiar with the show will still enjoy the movie -- Whedon keeps humanity, with its frailties and flaws in the foreground as the world explodes around them.

One fact I know for sure -- if Mr. Whedon is given the job of telling an audience a story, whether it be drama or comedy or tragedy or fantasy or even sitcom, about 90% of the audience will get it right down to their bones. With a family history of writing for TV dating back to "Leave It To Beaver," he has a real knack for knowing how to invoke the conventions of a genre and how to revoke them.
George Lucas could take many lessons from Whedon about character, plot and storytelling. Many lessons.

Whedon has a gift for writing strong characters, showing their relationships and their humor and their wisdom and their loss. In most all his work, he creates that unique slang and short-hand communication that a group of friends will create. Even if those friends are in a far-distant future or just a local band of high school vampire slayers.

The setting is a post-civil war universe, where a former Rebel leader, Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) has moved past his losses and is now Captain of his own ship, working with an oddball crew on the edges of "civilization" with both legal and illegal business. Mal and his crew pick up a pair of fugitives - a young girl named River and her brother Simon - and the story of the movie begins with them and focuses on the Big Mystery from the TV series -- River. She has been undergoing cruel brain experiments under the evil empire of The Alliance, winners of the civil war, and Simon helps her escape. From the opening scenes on, you are dropped into this world and get some hilarious introductions to all the other characters onboard Serenity, and the story is off and running.

Whedon's brain must have a massive Melting Pot of Media, because he easily draws from it for all his work. "Serenity" has traces of the anime series "Cowboy Bebop", and "Star Wars" (uh, the first one, Part Four?), and even a whiff of "Gunsmoke". And he has a cast providing excellent performances. I'd bet cash money many viewers will leave the movie and buy the DVD collection of the series "Firefly," because these are interesting characters. They trail backstory like phermones and this is a vast world they inhabit. Whedon compresses it all into one movie much like Ridley Scott coalesced writer Phillip K. Dick's writings into "Blade Runner." Sadly, a few characters from the show slip into the background to keep the story steamrolling ahead, and the married couple aboard the ship, Zoe (Gina Torres) and Wash (Alan Tudyk) are more of a couple in the series versus the film. Again, it has to do with keeping the momentum rolling. Adam Baldwin, as Jayne, is a real standout here. The cast all have a vivid chemistry as the crew aboard Serenity, where calmness is fleeting.

I think Whedon has a solid entry here in his bow as feature film director. "Serenity" is at heart a tale about heroes. And heroes in the Whedonverse always have much to learn about what price it can exact. As one character says, "You know what a hero is don't you? It's someone that gets people killed." 'Nuff said.

Some Other Flavors or Tuesday At Last

We is past the Monday -- well it is evening, and that's close enough. Scanning back thru some of the recent posts here I know it seems as if Gloom were my only clothing and it ain't. I like to point to some of the absurd horror the good ole U S of A churns out like some 24-hour Slurpee machine, but they is other flavors and I know I'd like some so I know yer prolly hankering fer some too. (yep, been readin some old Pogo comics and I start talking like this). Sometimes the Absurd is sweet, like pie on yer birthday with ho-made ice cream (ya want cake, get it, i like pie on my birthday). Sometimes, the taste of the Absurd would elude even a description by Proust. (I saw an old Cagney move the other day, "Boy Meets Girl", 1938, and he was this movie scriptwriter who spoke so fast I wondered if he was mainlining coffee er something. Anyway, in the midst of this slapstick comedy he throws out a Proust reference and I wondered what in Sam Hill did the audience make of that in 1938. It's a dang funny movie though, especially if yer like me and up at 4 am and wondering what ever happened to sleep.)

Where was I? Oh yes ...here I is. Allow me to introduce you to a Web Stop I love to make, called "blogjam dot cow". It's from "across the pond" as they say, and the post of Sept. 20th has something anyone could like -- how to make the perfect chip -- which means French Fries here, unless The Gov made it illegal to say it. Man, oh man, do they look good!! The dude here has some serious zeal in the kitchen. Once he had a wild game cookout and posted all the details and I was slobberin' fer some grilled zebra and spicy locust chow. (Jes' say the phrase blogjam dot cow and you'll smile some).

He also is The Brain behind one of the most omni-present items to be found on the Web: Cat Pictures. He has a great site called the Random Kitten Generator, which means lots of cat pics. And so far, it has passed over 100,000,000 page impressions. And check out his Cats In Sinks -- yep, jes' like the name says it is. There's also his Animal Portal, which is great for kids and also includes the sounds each animal makes. I never knew what a lemur from Madagascar looked liked much less how it sounded, so I loved clicking on that one over and over. My neighbors musta loved that. Little bugger can really howl and hoot. And if you do nothing else, you'll find his short film of what Neil Armstrong really said when he landed on the moon some of the filthiest stuff a NASA man ever said.

Here's two of the 100 quotes from the profile of blogjam dot cow's creator:
26. My first proper job was working at McDonalds on Saturdays. I was fired before my trial period had expired for shooting the manager in the face with a mayonnaise gun. It was not an accident.
AND
28. I was once given a morphine suppository.

Since we are on the Other Continent, why just looky here at what has happened in the old Soviet Union -- they've discovered that sex makes ya feel "healthy, cheerful, strong, and beautiful. In other words - pretty dang good. Why, that could be the tag line fer Gold Bond Medicated Powder. Pravda has the story, so there is some kind of changes a'happenin in the ol' Russky-land. (Though I'm sure since I've linked to this page I'll end up on another watch list.)

Two more to go: This next one is courtesy of The Rodeo Monkey, who has found a vast compendium of knowledge about Sock Monkeys and Space Monkeys and even, yes, a Space Sock Monkey. There's pages of stuff here to read while yer boss ain't looking, from the Able to Zira and beyond.

(Oh and since I did not add this note before, I will add it here -- the new Masthead at the top of the page was created by The Editor, that saucy wench, whose patience and skill about computers I can nearly eliminate in seconds flat, so thanks fer the banner, Editor)

And jes' cause I asked him, Tennessee Jed made up one of those photos that jes' make me laugh. Jed says there's half a bajillion like 'em on Google if ya go searchin', but this one here is pure, Grade-A Jed-Made. I like this picture, cause when I was a kid, this feller was jes' a goofball inside MAD Magazine -- and hey, looky, he grew up and became President!!

Pictures Tell The Story

Tennessee blogger 10,000 Monkeys and a Camera has a knack for images and facts that can make an strong impression. Such as the one titled Where Was George? Even a casual observer of news reporting would remember the W.'s constant rollout of supplies and assistance in Florida during a re-election year. And the massive federal effort ahead of Hurricane Rita. However, casual observers also know where he was when Katrina hit - pickin' and grinnin'.

Bending The Laws And Other News

Approaching the end of his Senate term, TN Sen. Bill Frist suddenly decides to dump stock in his family's company HCA -- just weeks before the stock value plummeted. His office says the Senator talked to no "HCA officials" just before the sale, but he certainly talked to someone. In year 11 of his 12-year term he is NOW concerned about not having a conflict of interest? In fact HCA, the nation's largest for-profit hospital company, has had a vast number of insiders selling their stock like mad in recent months and the timing here is more than coincidence. Will it be a whitewash? More than likely. Details are here and here and here.

Hurricane news has pushed aside other news, especially the reports regarding our military's actions and resulting trials after the Military Intelligence and others high-ranking officials tossed aside the Geneva Conventions. Now, a file clerk, who was dating a commanding officer and now carries that man's child is facing a harsh sentence. At least her trial allows for much-suppressed evidence to be brought forward. Perhaps you believe guards take orders from file clerks. More on the story here.

Real pictures from the Iraq and Afghanistan battlefields are available on a U.S. porn site, submitted by soldiers. Yeah, they are disturbing and the following story has some very adult language, so be warned. A majority of the subscribers to the site are from the military, according to the story in The Nation.

Wars always create hellish conditions, realities few of us experience, and I am grateful for those who serve, and astonished by those whose sacrifices are known and those which often go unknown. After 55 years of requests, one North Korean vet, who was also a POW during World War 2, was given the Medal of Honor on Friday. The story of Tibor Rubin, told in this NPR report, is hard to even conceive -- he joined the U.S. military after he was freed and saved many lives in a Korean POW camp. Much more detail is here at The Mudville Gazette, and thanks to Instapundit for the link.

Camera Obscura/Battle Royale

Gird your loins, dear reader. The Camera is On. Ready?

One thing I like about the website Crooks and Liars is they serve up television in short bites, showcasing (sur)real moments. And if I'm not watching a movie or a fictional show, or jes' cruisin' the surf made by the wake of talking heads who want to sell me a spin point, a doormat, a diet, a scheme, or a disaster, then I'm here doing the Web-Walk. and the television is off.

Crooks and Liars gets me the highlights reel. If I'm in front of the television for long, it puts me to sleep. Save yourself some time and check them out.

That said, here's the movie pick of the week. It's an import, which was a box office bonanza until government officials made distributors yank it out of the theatres. It falls in the genre of the Teens Gone Wild with a disturbing and shocking satire, merging with movies like "Lord of the Flies," "Blackboard Jungle," and "A Clockwork Orange." The genre is really large and includes some old favorites of mine like "Wild In The Streets," (1968) where the voting age is lowered to 15 and adults are hustled into LSD camps for some re-grooving, baby. I also must mention another fave, Lindsay Anderson's "If..." also from 1968, the movie that brought Malcolm McDowell to the screen and revolution to the room.

The pick is the "Battle Royale" (Japanese, 2000), based on the novel and the manga of the same name. Tip of the hat to my brother David for pointing this one out to me -- thanks DP. The novel is as stark and terrifying a story as I've ever read. The movie captures some of the crazy manga style and stays close to novel, written by Koushun Takami.

Its set in a Japan collapsing from an economic crisis and a social one as well. The school system is overrun with chaos and the adults have no authority. So the government creates a new law, in hopes of bringing discipline -- each year, a class of high schoolers is selected for battle of survival, taken to an isolated and evacuated island, given random weapons and explosive neck collars. The rules give the kids three days to fight to the death until only one is alive - if they don't fight they all die by collar detonation, even if there are only two or three left, the detonation threat remains to urge them to kill to the last boy or girl. Yeah, you thought the social order at your school was tough.

I'm not going to say much more about it -- suffice to note it is a brutal battle with graphic violence. Friends and cliques can bring hope or death. So no, it isn't for every taste, but for the Teens Gone Wild genre, it is an impressive entry for the 21st Century. The downside here is that even the Special Edition DVD available in the U.S. has some truly funky sub-title problems, but it isn't too distracting.

And it is loaded with Japanese stars, like Kitano Takeshi (Kitano), you have seen him before. This is the actor that plays as "Vic Ramono" on MXC on Spike TV. The rest of the cast is comprised of Japanese teen pop idols. Most notably, the gorgeous Chiaki Kuriyama (Chigusa), who was Gogo Yubari in "Kill Bill Vol 1."

The director is the late Kinji Fukasuka, a prolific director who died in 2003, and was the director of countless Yakuza gang thrillers and utterly hilarious science fiction movies like the 1968 "The Green Slime" and the 1978 bizzare "Star Wars" imitation, "Message From Space" with Sonny Chiba and Vic Morrow. "Battle Royale" has a strong Kubrick style in both composition and music.

Next week, I'm headed to a Tuesday night screening of writer/director Joss Whedon's "Serenity" based on his cancelled-too-quick TV series "Firefly". The screening is courtesy of Glenn Reynolds and Michael Silence and I groveled loudly on No Silence Here for tickets. The review will be here next Friday.

Here's your movie quote of the week:
"Show me an American that can keep his mouth shut and I'll eat him!"
Meet John Doe, 1941

The End is Nigh For Old Journalism

Once again, SKB (R. Neal) has a great post about how strong and vigorous the Internet and the Riders on the Blog have become. The collapse of the Old Media is continuing and technology has created an excellent way for people to talk to each other again, without censorship. The downside is that not everyone yet has access to the Web. That is changing rapidly, however, and the Truth is spilling out everywhere and cannot be ignored.

Are there biased reports and opinions? Yes -- that's another plus though -- as this returns Thought and Participation to active duty by readers worldwide.

East Tennessee in the News

The workers in East TN and elsewhere are waiting for FEMA to respond so they can get to work on making mobile homes for the devastated Gulf Coast according to this news report. An increase production line at the White Pine facility will likely be adding workers ASAP.

James Bryant, of Rutledge, Tenn., was a very sick man, with a hereditary bleeding disorder similar to hemophilia, hepatitis C from blood transfusions, heart problems, diabetes and cirrhosis of the liver, according to the Tennessean report. When his medications were cut back due to TennCare, says his angry wife, he fell ill and then died just after being released from the hospital. This case is deeply disturbing and many folks fear it won't be the only incident.

The Hamblen Co. School Board, begging for more money, has voted to increase their Superintendent's salary to $98,310, plus expenses and benefits. His two Assistant Superintendents' salaries and perks are also on the rise (positions the current Superintendent created). The totals for their offices alone are staggering. And they also expect the city and the county to issue even more money for a segregated "international school" which will require shuffling students back and forth from their normal schools twice a day. The costs of adding yet another facility is enormous as well, though the board also claims they cannot fund enough teaching jobs now at existing facilities. Expect them to blame the city and county officials for funding problems the school board itself creates. The county's budget currently is consumed by the school system, with over 85% of their total operating budget going to one agency - schools. But MORE is the only word in their vocabulary. And they will wail and complain that this community FAILS to support education. The plan will be promoted with the typical media bias. Maybe the school board needs MORE residents to focus on their poor management abilities and quit playing the Blame Game. With the Superintendent now a board member on the Chamber of Commerce, the deck is stacked against the taxpayers. The state Dept. of Economic and Community Development shows the median income in the county is hovering at $24,000. The community is left with far more questions than solutions and some true leadership is desperately needed.

The Real National Disaster

It is obscene. The leaders in Washington and their mealy-mouthed toadies and spin-doctors/lobbyists fitfully try and hide the horrendous failures of the Federal response to the disaster in the Gulf Coast. It reveals a systemic failure, from the Congress who blithely appointed a former Bush campaign worker to head FEMA to yet another round of corporate gorging at taxpayer expense.

Facing South notes the reports on massive mismanagement of FEMA, prior to the Katrina disaster. FEMA lawyers are now refusing to make public documentation about he millions of dollars given out in Florida alone. Florida's Sun-Sentinel investigation into allegations about FEMA are simply shocking.

The wagons now circled around these failures sounding a cry of blame for the Mayor of New Orleans and the Louisiana Governor is idiotic at best.

And speaking of the hollow noises, Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist could not appear more out of touch given his recent statements that "The investment at the federal level will be huge, but it will even be larger by several fold by the private sector, adding "Tax incentives for businesses and lowered regulatory burdens for builders will be key to the recovery."

Oh, does he mean the billions spent on no-bid contracts to the vice-president's company, Halliburton?

Maybe he means the mismanagement and goldrush mentality overwhelming the Gulf Coast.

Maybe he was thinking of the tax-breaks for the Fluor Corporation, which, in 1994, Fluor paid a $3.2 million fine for "submitting heavily padded repair bills for work on Navy bases after hurricane Hugo. And according to this press report::
"While Fluor bills itself as an "environmental services company" environmentalists might differ. Fluor manages the government's Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington, one of the most heavily polluted sites in North America. Since Fluor took over the site in the mid-1990s, workers and local citizens have charged the company with cost cutting measures that have created potential environmental and health concerns. The company responded by firing whistleblowers and shutting down the Hanford Joint Council, a public forum established eight years ago to air employee and local government concerns over plant safety. (Ref: Gov. Accountability Project)

Noteworthy: On March 10 of this year, the United States Supreme Court rebuffed an effort by Fluor to block a suit by eleven Hanford pipe fitters who claimed they were either terminated or harassed for complaining about safety issues. The pipe fitters worked at the high-level nuclear waste tank farms at the Hanford Nuclear Site.

Fluor's Hanford contract was set to expire at the end of 2001 but the Department of Energy has extended Fluor Hanford's contract through 2006. The six-year contract is worth approximately $3.8 billion, with incentives for Fluor to earn up to about $168 million in profit.

Tip of the hat to Facing South for much of the info cited here.

And Sen. Frist, we know your plan is for the taxpayers to get the shaft again. I guess he hasn't noticed the millions and millions of dollars Americans have BEEN donating and the tens of thousands of volunteers who are also on the scene lending any help they can. It's this Spirit of America that Washington needs to model.

Talk Like A Pirate Day!!

This here post today be part of an International Day, it be. Some year back, no man knows the full history save one or two, September 19 be now known as International Talk Like A Pirate Day. You can drop anchor here at the official port.

Me own first encounter with swashbucklin' and adventure and the search for treasure, like most, came from Mr Robert L. Stevenson, in "Treasure Island." The story moves with waves of adventure and terror and the names Admiral Benbow Inn, Billy Bones be carved into the spars o' my imagination. I knew I never wanted no man, sailor or no, to place a bit of paper in me hand, a paper simply known as The Black Spot. Cap'n Disney cleaned up the tale, but you can read every last word of it yerself online if ya go to this location here.

And don't be thinkin' this here day be fer tales of terror nor deadly coves. Hit be fer you to say words like "Aaaaarrrrrgggh" and "peg-leg" and such. You can even make a donation fer the victims of Katrina at the home page. At that marina location mentioned above, there is plenty to give ya a smile and to help ya make the most of the day. Old fashioned nonsense ya say? Then cast yer eyes onward and read from the site Cap'n Slappy's Pirate Rap:

The Slappy Rap

I'm a pirate - a pirate I be
and just like Johnny Depp it is a pirate's life for me.
I sail upon the oceans and I take the seven seas
and I scoff at false authority and bring it to its knees!

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOOOooooooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

Aye-aye!

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOOOooooooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

I kick it with my crew yeah we kick it at our leisure
we're lookin' for adventure but we really want some treasure
and if we swash our buckle - yeah we're doin' that for pleasure
Aye, we'll talk alot like Shakespeare and his play Measure for Measure

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOOoooooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

Off the mizzenmast!

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOOoooooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

Some people think we're nasty and we're horrible and horrid
fightin' battles on the beaches and we always leave the shore red
with the blood nameless rabble and we're taken what they store-ed
while we pummel the resistors with our savage fists and forehead!

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOoooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

With me Blunderbuss

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOoooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

Shake your booty!

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOoooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

Avast!

Yo Yo Yo HOOOOoooo!
Yo Yo Yo HO!

Residents Must Demand Representation

As I told you on Wednesday, the State Attorney General had twice notified local Sessions Judge Bacon and the local utility board that it was illegal for him to serve on the utility board. Today, the local paper "announced" the Judge's resignation from the board. How long would he have served if the news had not been reported here? How many other problems go ignored?

An examination of several government appointed positions and boards throughout the city and county should be demanded by residents. A quick look would show the residents and the State AG that only a handful of people get appointed to most jobs. This handful gets passed around from job to job and have been for decades. How many other conflicts of interest would be revealed?

Why are the local residents excluded on a constant basis? A voter turn-out in the last city elections of 7% shows zero confidence in leadership, and zero belief that the voting process works.

Can it be that elected officials want to keep the public as ill-informed as possible?
After years of failed promises from other bodies, the County government is still the ONLY elected body to broadcast their public meeting.

Why is the investigation into using city vehicles by police officers as they make jaunts out to a Memphis strip joint being swept aside? Why would an investigation into promotion practices by MPD he held behind closed doors of the Civil Service board? Why wouldn't those elected to serve as city officials hold public hearings? Isn't that a powerful way to show they will not tolerate inappropriate behavior? Thank goodness there are members of the MPD who are concerned, and there are also several elected officials and government employees who are willing to raise these questions. They know a few bad apples can have a devastating effect. They know, as do most citizens, those in positions in government must be held to a higher standard. Those who serve with distinction are surely troubled by the actions of those who seem to have lower standards.

Why is the brand new county jail annex already failing to meet the goals of its creation, holding fewer inmates than county commissioners were told? Are there efforts underway to create a regional prison in Hamblen County to 'correct' the massive overcrowding, especially since several area counties have had their jails decertified?

The conflicts of interest appear to be common as ice in the Arctic.

Where's The Movie Review?

The normal schedule here on yer Cup Of Joe is a movie feature and recommendations, but oh faithful readers, not this weekend. I've been a wee bit sick and haven't the energy.

Let me substitute with a few links to More News Ignored by the local and even state media. For instance, a big hullabaloo was made when protestors againts TennCare cuts ended the round-the-clock presence, which 'news' groups reported. But it's only half-true. They no longer sleep in the Capitol Building, but the protesters are there every day. Sept. 18th is day 90.

In the midst of the disaster in the Gulf Coast, V.P. Cheney made sure the "oil kept flowing". So why did much of the South, including Tennessee see gas prices jump a dollar higher for almost a week??

Oh, but the best is for last here. Former TN Gov. Don Sundquist, whose 1990s administration is still undergoing federal investigation, who handed multi-million dollar contracts to his pals who then invented companies just to get contracts, and who oversaw the budget of TnCare run to the tens of billions is chairman of the Federal committe studying Medicaid -- and how to dismantle it. No, that last line is not in their charter, but that is obviously "Sindquist's" duty here. On Sept. 1, his panel issued the first of its two reports due -- the first idea is to cut $10 billion nationwide from Medicaid. I hate to even think what "Sindquist" offers up next.

Recommended Reading

Several items in the news -- though not to be found in your local media - have my attention as we head into the weekend. First, Hamblen County Commissioner Linda Noe has info about the 'minute clinics' which are handling patients quickly, about 15 minutes of wating time and charges averaging $69 at middle-Tennessee CVS pharmacies.
Another of her fact-checking efforts locally are mentioned further below, which saved Hamblen County taxpayers $1.2 million. Commissoner Noe writes:

"I just read an interesting article in the Tennessean about health clinics that are operating out of CVS pharmacies in the Nashville area. They are designed to provide fast healthcare service at a low price.

These CVS pharmacy clinics are called "Minute Clinics" with nurse practitioners available to treat and even prescribe medications for minor illnesses. Among the illnesses they can treat are strep, mono, ear infections, and bladder infections."

In a later post this week she noted, that YEARS AFTER the full Commission requested documentation regarding an annual inventory of county vehicles, she finds more delays. Although most department heads have quickly supplied the info at her request, she writes:

"Based on the track record of the County Mayor's Office and over three years of vicious personal attacks in response to financial and audit questions, I had no reason to expect at any time that either Finance Director Nicole Epps or David Purkey would help me get the [county vehicle] mileage information. Co-operation and a positive response when questions are asked would be appreciated instead of belated efforts to look co-operative after-the-fact.

But there is good news on the accountability front:

In my September 13 post, I mentioned that most elected officials and department heads are responsive and willing to share information about county (taxpayer) property."

In fact, Commissioner Noe refers to a quick response to her questions two months ago by County Tax Assessor Keith Ely which helped lead to a discovery of a rather large error by the state which "reduced the new property tax rate for Hamblen County taxpayers by 11 cents. That 11 cents meant a total savings to county taxpayers of nearly $1.2 million dollars, and it was all taken care of in one day."

Her weblog is recommended reading, especially for Hamblen County taxpayers.

An ET Soldier's First Person Account of Iraq

I'd like to urge you to read the web postings for East Tennessean Travis Stuart in Iraq, who just received a promotion. Congrats, my friend!!

I had a brief chance to know and work some with Travis at the Radio Station I refuse to name, since they yanked my show off in mid-sentence so the locals can now hear the "doubtful wisdom" of Sean Hannity and R. Limbaugh. The residents here in Hamblen Co. are left without a local voice, but I believe that was the owners goal.

That rant aside, Travis is a talented fellow, with a fine gift for words as well as music. I see our duty as his supporters at home to keep in touch with him and to learn from his experiences. Godspeed, Travis. His post on September 11, 2005 alone is worth the read.

I know he as well as other good friends and my own family members are daily facing situations we can barely imagine. You can link to his blog in my Links section, and or you can link here. I know he'd love to hear from folks and friends back here in TN. As with all the others I know (and those I don't know) who are serving, we all hope for your safety and look forward with much anticipation for his speedy and safe return.

State AG Again Says Local Board In The Wrong

The State's Attorney General has twice now issued rulings showing it is illegal for Sessions Court Judge Herbert Bacon to hold a board seat on the Morristown Utilities Commission, the latest issue on Sept 12, 2005. The first time was in April of this year, but an appeal was filed citing that Judge Bacon was merely a "part-time" judge. Great work if you can get it.

Here's a thought - why not include a board member who isn't already on any of a dozen other boards, isn't a corporate chief. Why not -gasp! - a customer representative?

Will the MUC even bother to change given these two opinions? Since no local media covers the story, I have my doubts.

The AG's opinion in part reads:

OPINION
Article VI, Section 7, of the Tennessee Constitution prohibits the judge of an
inferior court from holding any other office of trust or profit. For the reasons discussed in Op. Tenn.
Att’y Gen. 05-064 (April 27, 2005), this Office has concluded that membership on the Morristown
Utilities Commission is an office of trust or profit within the meaning of this provision. The
Constitution contains no exception for an inferior court judge whose position is part-time. The fact
that a continuing part-time judge is not subject to compliance with Canon 4C(2) prohibiting service
on governmental committees does not change the constitutional prohibition.
ANALYSIS
This opinion responds to a request to clarify Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 05-064 (April 27,
2005). That opinion concludes that a general sessions judge is prohibited from serving as a member
of the Morristown Utilities Commission. The request asks if this rationale applies to a part-time
general sessions judge, particularly since part-time judges are expressly exempted from Supreme
Court Rule 10, Canon 4C(2).
Article VI, Section 7, of the Tennessee Constitution provides:
The Judges of the Supreme or Inferior Courts, shall,
at stated times, receive a compensation for their
services, to be ascertained by law, which shall not be
increased or diminished during the time for which
they are elected. They shall not be allowed any fees or
perquisites of office nor hold any other office of trust
or profit under this State or the United States.

The Opinon concludes:
Since, for the reasons discussed in Op. Tenn. Att’y Gen. 05-064, membership
on the Morristown Utilities Commission is an “office of trust or
profit” within the meaning of Article VI, Section 7, of the Tennessee Constitution, a part-time
general sessions judge may not serve as a Commission member during his or her term in judicial
office.....

The full opinion can be found on this page, labled Opinion OPO140.

Unknown and Known News

No details yet, but the Koch Foods plant workers voted successfully to create a union for workers this weekend. Still no mention of this in the local media, but Kim Miller says more info is on the way. The rumors (and that is all I have at this point), say the facilities owners did nothing to block this vote, deciding that if it did pass, they would simply work on relocating the plant somewhere else rather than deal with Labor Union concerns. If true, expect an major change by year's end. And other than Kim's reports and those on this humble-yet-loveable blog, the local press has reported zero on these events.

Reports do abound in the press about the anti-tanning bed actions for 911 office in Rogersville. Yeah, that's a front page story.

One woman, says WBIR, has been busted for impersonating a Katrina victim. At least it is only one and not 100. There are growing concerns too about how Katrina victims may get TennCare while residents still search for assistance. With the vigil at the State Capitol now ended, tens of thousands struggling to make a way to pay for medical needs far beyond their ability to pay, the rumblings of healthcare may become a bona fide storm. Local and state officials I've talked with are reaching the breaking point from frustration and the public outcries are growing. Sadly, we are likely to see the issue become a political punching bag stuffed with campaign promises, which will provide no solutions.

And the AP is reporting on the 123 Tennessee residents who got 47.6 million dollars from the Small Business Administration in a program meant to help businesses impacted by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Among the highlights of the story:

"Motels, restaurants, travel agencies and tour guides and all businesses that might reasonably have been hurt by declines in travel after the jetliner hijackings benefited from the program in Tennessee.

But so did a chiropractor in Cordova, a dentist in Goodlettsville, a jeweler in Chattanooga, a tobacco shop in Memphis, a Baskin-Robbins in Brentwood and a boat builder in Spring Hill.

A review by the Associated Press found that $5 billion in loans was distributed nationally through a program so loosely run that some companies at New York's ground zero were turned down while others qualified that didn't need terrorism aid or didn't even know that was the loans' purpose.

"I was not aware of any 9/11 (connection)," said David Horner, owner of Classy Lady Inc., a Knoxville women's clothing store that got a $998,000 loan. The company used the loan to move out of a mall and into its own building."

Whew. Must be a Monday. So while you are here, allow me to direct you to some friends at my alma mater, Carson-Newman College. From now thru October 12, you can view the works of the very talented faculty and staff, including Mike Alvis, Scott Palmer, David Underwood and William C. Houston. Hey, guys!! Looky here - I gots me a blog!!!

Thoughts On Our Religious War

"The corporate, political and religious right converge here, led by a president who, in his own disdain for science, reason and knowledge, is the most powerful fundamentalist in American history."

The 21st Century America -- a description is elusive. Tolerance, once the hallmark of Democracy, seems to have been erased as we divide and divide along every issue imagineable. War was not part of the vision most of us had as we moved into the year 2000. Long before Sept. 11, 2001, the nation was battered by a religious-political agenda from within, and on that day the homeland felt the horrors of religious warfare that had been raging overseas for decades. In the scope of human history, religious-political warfare has held center stage, dominating our very existence.

I do not have the words or the skills to explain our times, though I have seen and heard and read and wrestled with the conflicts of a nation still trying to fulfill the ideals of the American Revolution which saw the need for equality, liberty, and freedom from oppression. I can point you to an address given to students at Union Theological Seminary this week by Bill Moyers, where the quote above originated. It is a long essay, which will raise many questions. You can read it here, and hopefully you will think for yourself about where we are and what challenges lie ahead.

Oil Companies Drilling The Public

It's not Alaska that's getting drilled in the current Oil Price Madness, not wetlands or parks, and not even the mideast deserts. It's American consumers who are getting drilled hard and fast while the oil companies are making historic profits. Public Citizen notes some fascinating facts about how the record high prices are making the profiteers richer and richer while you pay more and more. Check out these figures:

"Given the oil industry’s exorbitant profits—the five largest oil producers and refiners in America (ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips, BP and Shell) have enjoyed profits of $254 billion since 2001—the U.S. oil industry can easily afford to take a break from profiting from a national crisis and deliver this critical commodity at cost. ....

Consider that the top five oil companies also produce 14 percent of the world’s oil. Combined, these five companies produce 10 million barrels of oil a day—more than Saudi Arabia’s 9 million barrels of oil a day. This extent of market control has reduced competition and makes apparent the need for price caps.

Oil and gasoline prices were rising long before Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc. U.S. gasoline prices jumped 14 percent from July 25 to Aug. 22. Indeed, profits for U.S. oil refiners have been at record highs. In 1999, U.S. oil refiners made 22.6 cents for every gallon of gasoline refined from crude oil. By 2004, they were making 40.8 cents for every gallon of gasoline refined, an 80 percent jump."

The full article is here.

Thanks to Katrina panic, fanned into raging fury by the goofy decisions from the Bush House, gas jumped to 3.50, then "dropped" (ha-ha) to a mere 2.90.

Hey America, havin' fun yet?

Camera Obscura - Life on The Hellmouth

"Bottom line is, even if you see 'em coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? No. The big moments are gonna come, can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that count. That's when you find out who you are."

This Friday's movie post is going to be a little different, given the apocalyptic state of the Gulf Coast and the daily struggle to both cope and understand what is an ongoing crisis. Life during wartime was surely hard enough, and the grisly visions and stories from the southern half of this country have made life even more difficult.

Likewise as grisly are the dueling political fights over responsibilities met and failed, but it is undeniable that the leadership at the national level is floundering like a ship riddled with gaping holes. What has created a flourishing sense of hope, however, are the tens of thousands of volunteers who have been stemming this disaster's tide. When critical care is required, so many people -- none of them elected -- provide comfort, food, shelter, clothing open the doors of their homes to strangers or lost animals, create ways to fund supplies and show a force of compassion which are all part of the best in human nature. They expose themselves to levels of shock and horror which has its own price, but they are willing to pay that cost.

We all saw it during and after the attack on 9-11. Heroic actions from firefighters, police, emergency workers, and much of Manhattan's residents as they fought for life and combated the carnage became an inspiration to many. And the yearning of the nation to bring additional help was also visible. We see it today in the Gulf Coast as Red Cross volunteers rush in food and water, or when a lone 18 year old commandeers a bus and drives survivors to safety, or other stories most of us will never know because we weren't there and often survivors and real leaders go unknown.

At almost any time, each one of us could face events that threaten to throw us to the ground, leave us ragged and beaten. Living in this world often turns to just enduring, and heroes often wonder how they got to be labeled "hero."

Lessons like this, and many others were presented in a television show with the laughable title of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (the quote above is from the episode "Becoming") and most of my friends will tell you they feared for my sanity to hear my fanboy ravings about the show. Yes, it's "just TV for God's sake!" they cried. Yet writer and producer Joss Whedon took the conventions of television and made sharply written commentary on Growing Up American-Style, from high school to college to the burger joint job in a series that had to jump from one network to another and still it plugged along. The typical Jump-The-Shark moment in season six of a musical episode rocked the fans and the critics and inspires public kareoke sing-alongs across the country.

Such a sing-along will occur in Knoxville this weekend as part of Slayercon, a bonafide Fanboy (and Girl) gathering at the Marriott. Details here and in MetroPulse.

Whedon is a third-generation TV writer, from his grandfather (who wrote for "Leave It To Beaver") to his mother and father (who wrote for Dick Cavett and "Benson") and now to him.

I tuned in for episode three in the first season and was amazed at how the metaphors for combating a witch were used to reveal ways parents try and live thru their children. And that same unique style remained, show after show as a teenage girl and her friends discover their town is located over a ''dimensional portal" called the Hellmouth and bad things were always ahead. I watched in secret at first, but soon started drafting others to watch. There was terrific humor, and of course vampires, a literary creation that has been with humans as far back as you care to look thru myths and legends.
And after a short time, the strength of One was shared among many, and yet it still became a burden. The "Scooby-gang", as they called themselves in mocking tones, were valiant but still endured unexpected changes. Villains could become heroes and vice-versa. It was risky for TV to go to philosophy and tragedy and humor in one show. Today, the International Buffy Seminar takes place in Murfreesboro, TN each May and countless conventions take place around the globe. Buffy had stories that resonated with most anyone.

And there was the music too. I learned of some great bands thru the music used in the show, like Ciba Matto, Velvet Chain, The Sundays, The Dandy Warhols, Blur, Lunatic Calm, and of course there were artists I did know -- Alison Krauss and Union Station, Joey Ramone, Amiee Mann. No wonder the cast and Whedon did such a terrific musical episode, "Once More With Feeling." Pop culture references were like popcorn -- it was everywhere. Fairly quickly the fans began to call it "The Whedonverse" because it contained so many different elements.

The spinoff series of "Angel" also became more than just a story of a "vampire in L.A." As the show continued, Angel and his crew battled with the grown up world and eventually the corporate one in the guise of the evil law firm (aren't they all?) of Wolfram and Hart. That show ended too, with the Angel gang in mid-swing during another apocalypse.

That's what they did -- they fought the bad things. As Buffy said "Yeah, sacred duty, yatta, yatta, yatta." Mostly the survivors had no idea a Scooby Gang was fighting for them. But once you become aware of a problem, whether its small or apocalyptic, how can you not stand your ground and fight for a better world?

More Corporate Welfare in Morristown

What to do when an International Corporation may have to actually pay for building a manufacturing plant? Why, get it from taxpayers of course. That's what the Morristown city officials did on Tuesday, after they also annexed even more homes and land the owners wanted to keep OUT of the city. As Alex said in "A Clockwork Orange" - "You sees Pretty Polly, and you takes her." You'd think Kawasaki would want to invest some of their own profits, that city leaders would want them to invest in the community. Oh sure, they'll send 20 school kids to some seminars, or put a float in the Christmas parade sponsored by the local business club. Talk about lining up at the trough and chowing down! This feeding frenzy is standard ops, dictated to an 'elected' council which marches to any tune the piper plays.

Decades of recruiting manufacturing has also meant decades of seizing property, usually on inferior sites near property owned by friends of the recruiters and often by city officials, and fleecing the local and state population by using tax dollars to pay for any and everything related to construction costs. Naturally, those millions of dollars offset the tax payments they might make. All the toxic waste the industry creates is cleaned up using your tax dollars. When employees get laid off, they get tax dollar payments to go to schools operated by many of the same recruiters.

Decades of protests by locals are demonized. If an elected official does raise questions, they are smeared with lies and hand-picked replacements take over. Plans and pleas by residents to create non-industrial jobs lay gathering dust on the shelf. Temp agencies make sure salaries and benefits are minimal compared to national statistics. This year alone, unemployment in the county has been steady at 6.5 to 7.5% compared to a national average of 5%. Taxpayers get saddled with massive debts to build and maintain international companies, cable TV, sewer systems, etc etc. And city coffers bulge with profits which seldom are applied to local businesses or community projects, and they refuse to even provide crossing guards at schools in the city limits. But any hint of complaint is dealt harsh, swift rebukes by local media -- whose owners are also recruiters.

What does the community do? They quit voting -- the most recent city elections saw 93% of registered voters NOT voting. Sadly, it's all they can do to avoid vicious recrimination, threats, and publicized name-calling. Residents know their voices are reviled, ignored, and stolen.

Your taxes, your voices, your choices are NOT yours. They've been yanked out from under you.

Morristown Workers Fight For Rights

Last month, I told you about efforts of workers at Koch Foods to create a union to gain some rights as employees, and today the NY Times picks up the story.

"Hour after hour, Antonia Lopez Paz said, her supervisor at the Koch Foods poultry plant here told women on the deboning line that production demands were so great that they could not go to the bathroom."

"What I didn't like is they would yell at us and tell us we're good for nothing and we didn't know how to work, and sometimes they wouldn't even let us leave to go home when we were sick," Ms. Lopez said as she nursed her month-old son. "We need to convince people to join the union, that they shouldn't be afraid because the union is the only way to make things better and stop them from mistreating at us."

Even though no one from Koch would answer reporters' questions, they are not trying to fight this campaign. Perhaps they see the handwriting on the wall with policies that put the highest pay at $7.55 an hour even if you have been employed for as a long as a decade.

The full article is here. (reg. required) Also Kim Miller at Tennessee Independent Media Center has been working this story.

7th Day Of Hell

From the New Orleans Times Picayune. Be sure to read their Open Letter to The President.

And don't be distracted by our failure, says Homeland Security. Also in that article you can read just what local leaders have been experiencing when asking for Federal aid:

"It was not until Saturday, six days after Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast, that federal assistance finally arrived in Plaquemines Parish, a community of 27,000 southeast of New Orleans, said Amos Cormier, chairman of the Plaquemines Parish Council.

Asked what kind of assistance the Federal Emergency Management Agency brought Saturday, Cormier said, "They were two guys in a car."

He said the National Guard also arrived Saturday, even though their presence was requested Wednesday. The parish had to deputize dozens of firefighters and parish workers, giving them weapons to maintain order and prevent looting.

"Bureaucracy has committed murder here," Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, said on Meet the Press yesterday. "Whoever is at the top of this totem pole, that totem pole needs to be chain-sawed off, and we've got to start with some new leadership."

Then was this observation over the staged phot-op by Pres. Bush.

So many people here in ET are searching for ways to help, both for right now and for in the long days ahead. But also remember the amazing efforts to document the lives lost and the search for people taking place thru on-line journals, message boards, and traditional news sources are vital. Ways for you to help are all around -- just look.

And me, I think it is important to keep refering to "Refugees" and not "evacuees". Don't window dress the horrors.

"I don't feel like I'm in the U.S.," says Scott. Lovett, 22, said. "I feel like I'm in a war. All the guns, the chaos."

Ignored Details of Development

Hopefully, even a novice would know how easily facts are lost in Time -- whether it's poorly kept minutes of the Hamblen County Commission, or the ravaging of wetlands around the Gulf Coast. Recent or ancient, there are always many versions of events.

Take the story from National Geographic from 2004:

"Louisiana has the hardest working wetlands in America, a watery world of bayous, marshes, and barrier islands that either produces or transports more than a third of the nation's oil and a quarter of its natural gas, and ranks second only to Alaska in commercial fish landings. As wildlife habitat, it makes Florida's Everglades look like a petting zoo by comparison.

Such high stakes compelled a host of unlikely bedfellows—scientists, environmental groups, business leaders, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers—to forge a radical plan to protect what's left. Drafted by the Corps a year ago, the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) project was initially estimated to cost up to 14 billion dollars over 30 years, almost twice as much as current efforts to save the Everglades. But the Bush Administration balked at the price tag, supporting instead a plan to spend up to two billion dollars over the next ten years to fund the most promising projects. Either way, Congress must authorize the money before work can begin."

Read the full story here.

Not many news reports have noted another interesting change in Lousiana, that they farmed out the preparations for evacuations to a consulting company. They have so far evaded any blame in the breakdown of support and aid following Katrina.

And at least one person claims our knowledge of "Gulliver's Travels" by Swift are just wrong. Who knew it was all about sex?

Get That Cup Of Joe Delivered!!

As of today, you can have a piping-hot, fresh Cup of Joe delivered to your email -- just use the form in the Links section and that's all there is to it. Many thanks to The Editor for the much-needed info on how to add this service. The Ed. has been working hard to make sure this site meets my goals and is easily accessible for all of you. Learning to write computer codes, adding and creating new items for this page are ongoing and will continue.

With shattering aftermath of the hurricane in the Gulf Coast, there have been some odds and ends in the news I have held onto -- here's yer News.

The short American attention span regarding Media Mogul Pat Robertson -- presidential candidate/diamond mine magnate/banker/faith healer/CIA advisor -- sadly gives him the chance to spew inane and unsane ramblings between commercials and fundraising. In this story from 1999, Robertson's tattered past got some much-deserved attention.
Even with his recent high-profile status, most news agencies still ignore the man's wacky behavior.

In China, they ARE prepared for a massive typhoon. They evacuated nearly one million people (if you believe their press reports.)

Reporters on the scene in the South appear to be finding some much needed outrage regarding the same old cheerleading comments from elected/appointed officials, via Slate.

And there is much outrage to report over the societal breakdowns in New Orleans, with reports of children being raped to death.

And the nation's largest-of-its-kind program to use satellites to track sex offenders in Tennessee will begin next week.

More later.

Gas Price Checker

ANOTHER UPDATE -- Checking gas prices online is useless right now, but I will leave this post in place for the other comments I made. Also, if you suspect (as I do) that consumers are being blasted by price gouging at the pumps, you can call this number to report it in Tennessee: 800-342-8385 or 615-741-4737.

UPDATE -- This price checker is still days behind, but I am leaving it in place for now. Prices are about one dollar higher than they were on Monday here in ET. Back when prices only changed once a week, it was more useful in helping you find the lowest prices. Low prices are part of the past.

Just one more note -- I've noticed wide-spread denials already about the dire warnings from the last 2 years concerning much-needed safety improvements in the Gulf Coast requested from FEMA and the U.S. Army Coprs of Engineers. Read the posts from Wednesday to see some of those reports.

I received a link from Mr. Smith down Georgia way a few days ago which can give you info on the prices at the gas pumps near you. Click here. But one note -- they currently show the prices as of Wednesday nite and today those prices are about 50 cents higher or more. It shows you where we were but it is updated overnight and checks some 90,000 stations nationwide.

Not far from me, an independent station and market on Kidwell's Ridge Road, had up a sign a week or so ago that said - "Price of Gas - An Arm and A Leg". Today it reads - "An Arm and A Leg and Your 1st Born." At least we have some humor to go with this enormous increase. Several people I talked to today all say they had gas in the tank, but they 'topped off" just to be sure, which is bound to take a bite out of current supplies.

Camera Obscura

September will see a massive 3 and a half hour documentary by Martin Scorsese on Bob Dylan which goes on sale Sept. 20th and will air on the American Masters series on PBS later in the month. A new bootleg compilation CD goes along with the movie and it sounds most impressive. A concert review last month noted how much more relaxed Bob is on stage these days. The documentary tracks that volatile time in the early 60s when Bob moved from acoustic folk to electrified rock and roll, a change that still generates arguments and debates. I could not name a time when I did not like Dylan's music (well, maybe that gospel period).

Another lost gem from Bob is the movie "Masked And Anonymous," from 2003, which got lousy reviews but holds some fantastic musical numbers. Most critics and fans were befuddled by this one, with Bob as Jack Fate, who is released from a nameless prison in a nameless country engaged in a nameless (and seeminlgy endless) war. A concert-benefit (benefitting who?) is the reason Jack gets out, but he is a stranger in an even stranger land. Pop culture, old hippie culture, celebrity culture all get zapped here. The real meat is served up when Tom Friend (Jeff Bridges), the Eternal Rock and Roll Journalist, gets mean and nasty with Jack about -- well, about Bob Dylan's career. The way Jack/Bob handles Friend is a very telling, autobiographical event. Most viewers will not enjoy it, but for those who know -- it is a fine satire. And a great chance to show off tunes like "Cold Irons Bound."

Strange events are also on hand as Pulitzer-prize winner Sam Shepard continues to make bizarre film appearances (such as this summer's god-awful "Stealth"). Latest news says Sam is co-starring in a new Jesse James pic with Brad Pitt, "The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford", and the so-far untitled thriller with Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy rules!!), and "Bandidas" with Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek. In October, "Don't Come Knocking", a film Shepard wrote, directed by Wim Wenders, is set for release.

Looking at Shepard in a cowboy hat reminds me of some reading I've been doing this week, as I have finally started the massive "Dark Tower" series by Stephen King, with the first volume, "The Gunslinger." In the newest edition of the paperback, King intros the story with references to a movie that I'd rank among the best ever made - "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly." King talks about his first viewing and I remember mine - the enormous landscape of a drive-in theatre welcomed this Sergio Leone movie like a favorite lover. A shoestring-budget, an unforgettable music score, those close-ups on the filthy faces, the epic-scope of a simple treasure-hunt story -- Leone blends all these elements into cinema history. You can taste the sand and smell the tang of gunpowder in the air all thru this bona-fide opera about Greed. Lee Van Cleef is a casual, brutal killer in a way that still shocks audiences. Eli Wallach gives one of his best performances - "When you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk." (And if you didn't know, Eastwood's character does have a name - Joe.)

Reading King's introduction also reminded me of one of his best works and one of the best books about movies ever published, "Danse Macabre." It's a history of movies and American culture covering about 30 years, from the 50s to the 80s. King takes the reader thru a thrill-ride of horror movies in this excellent volume which should be on every movie lover's shelf.

If you have a movie you'd like to see discussed here, or maybe recommend one for me to review, add it to the comments section. A weekly movie contest on Fridays will begin very soon.

Money Diverted From Disaster Preparations

In 2001, FEMA warned about the reality of weakness in preparation for hurricane damage, especially in New Orleans, ranking it among the three most likely, most catastrophic disasters facing the United States.

Consecutive years of record cuts to programs promoted by the Bush administration which meant full funding of efforts geared for improving levees, and the operations of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would not occur. The Louisiana probelms were reported.

"Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA (Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project) dropped to a trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control dollars."

Additional cuts threaten Tennessee's Nickajack aging dam and lock systems for managing river traffic in the state, which leads to tens of thousands of new 18-wheeler transports annually.

UPDATE: More and more news sites are reprinting and reminding Americans about the steady dismantling of FEMA by the Bush administration. Not to say Bush's policies led to a Hurricane, but programs meant to handle disaster-response and informed development plans in the Gulf coast were abandoned. Now that this lack of planning is helping create gas shortages, I wonder (paranoid me) if this was incompetence or part of a larger effort to destabilize a secure oil industry.

Tennessee's Lyin' Dance

Today's Memphis Commercial Appeal notes the FBI investigation of state government is spreading to the County government level. Can any resident who has followed the state's government be surprised by this? Al least the Memphis paper has been reporting the story!

"In an Aug. 9 interview with The Commercial Appeal,[County Commission Chairman] Hooks was asked at least seven times, in a variety of phrasings, if he'd taken money in the E-Cycle sting.
He called the questions "bizarre'' and "ridiculous'' but never denied taking money, and at times, pumped a reporter for details.
"If you know something I don't, you want to tell me?'' he asked."

Maybe we should start calling this TN Waltz investigation the Official State Lyin' Dance.

Between this investigation, the 3 to 4 year investigation into drug trafficking and money laundering by County law enforcement and Police from Putnam to Cocke County dubbed Operation Tarnished Shield, one has to wonder how deep the infection runs thru this state.

FEMA. SKB and Underplanning

Tons of information about relief for victims of this week's Hurricane are concisely provided by R. Neal, aka SKB, at Facing South. Neal points out the valuable Jimmy Carter creation of FEMA in 1979.

"President Carter's 1979 executive order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other agencies, FEMA absorbed: the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities from HUD. Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency from the Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency."

Much of FEMA today has been side-tracked by Homeland Security issues. However, how the coastlines of the South have never considered major storm damage in their lust for development is just sad. Other stories at Facing South show how Poverty is the constant theme in Southern Economic Development.

Speak Out on TennCare

I noticed on Monday the Hamblen Democrats web page indicates their is to be a public meeting at Rose Center in Morristown on Sept. 1 to address issues regarding TennCare. The link will take you to their web site and then to the announcement itself. The meeting says it is for Hamblen and surrounding counties.

The Show That Never Ends

A new study shows that even a single Cup of Joe benefits your brain and your body, with more antioxidants than anything else in the American diet. Gotta get more Joe in your world, no doubt.
Be warned -- there are attempts underway to imitate yours truly on the local radio station which gave me the boot back in May and boy, will it suck.
Accept no imitations for the Real Cup of Joe.

Nice roundup of the news from RTB member Whites Creek Journal, from the Green Day boys to the Lies of Limbaugh. How do you tell if Limbaugh is lying?? He is speaking. (And coming back to a radio dial near you!)

The constant news of corruption in TN government is no news to the residents of the state, according to one casual survey. Later this week, I'll have more information about just how local politics in East TN is just as conflicted. The information is there for most anyone to notice, too bad the local "so-called media" simply kisses ass and ignores the Truth. Economic Development in Hamblen County?? You got a billboard that says it's all great, what else did you want? Jobs???

Tennesseans and Southern folk in general already knew it, but statistics show the South is front, center and the majority when it comes to the War In Iraq or most any other conflict.

Stay tuned -- and welcome to the Show That Never Ends.

UPDATE -- And how about that new masthead?? I now have a choice of fine art and design to choose from, with the latest created by Reenie Mooney. Thanks for all your help with this web log.

American Idiots

When I interviewed Ann Coulter some years ago it was quickly clear the woman had zero interest in talking about anything she had said or written. The only thing she emphasized were sales. She wants money and loads of it. Who doesn't, right? But would you sacrifice Beliefs for Bucks? She could write a book called "Ninja Crop Circle Da Vinci Code Ghost Huntin' Time!!" and still make big sales and make the Talking Head Media Roundup and still puke up her idiotic theories. But then you'd know she was a smokin' monkey circus act instead of her Tom Cruise-crazy notions that she is serious.

By no means is she the only American Idiot (and God bless Green Day). They parade before the ravenous, blind staring eye of the camera and pretty soon it's hard to tell the Mullahs from the Profiteers without a programming guide - "get yer program!!! can't tell the clown from the bareback chuckleheads without a prrrrrrrrrrrrrrooooooooooooooogram!!"

A good mention is made here that we as a nation owe thanks to idiots like Coulter and Robertson.
Coulter urges terrorists to strike in the South, per her comments on the Aug 25th Hannity and Colmes" show "I think I'd rather have them trying to invade Mississippi or Georgia, Alabama, you know, the states where I want Cindy Sheehan's bus tour to go.")

No thanks, Idiot. The South has Idiots already like Fred Phelps and his God Hates America club to prove Idiots are as common as dirt. God doesn't Love anybody, says Fred as he protests the same things he's been protesting for 22 years. God Hates You, says Fred. All of You. Don't ignore these Idiots, please let's make note of them just as surely as you might want to note a landmine or a batch of botulism-filled chicken -- somebody will swallow it if it isn't plainly marked and some will swallow it anyway. Yes, he is headed to TN for some protests at military funerals -- and people need to be WARNED and not to just ignore him. HIs stick-figure buggering page is not one bit different from Coulter's claims and vile, black hatred -- they both love money and attention. But they love money most.

In short, sell any belief to any willing consumer as long as it turns a profit, and Truth can be damned.
It's enough to give smokin' monkey circus acts a bad reputation.

Camera Obscura/At The Movies

It was a movie that looked all to familiar, so I had just let it slide past. But then I started reading about it here and there. Seems there was some debate -- the critics blew it, they said, here is subversive genius. Another said it was like a fun 1970s Saturday morning cartoon. I decided to investigate. That's my job. I'm a film critic. Name's Powell -- Joe Powell.

The movie has a dismissive title, "D.E.B.S." and a poster of girls in school skirts and flashing guns. Yeah, been there, done that. But I had a free rental coupon. So I got it and threw it in the machine and just sat back. Gotta let art just wash over you. Don't judge -- just experience it.


The short version goes something like this -- it's a comedy about a college for female spies in training and the legendary girl spy known as Lucy Diamond is headed for the U.S. in a spy movie spoof, based on a short film by writer/director Angela Robinson.

The more accurate summation reads like this -- Imagine a comic strips which was the collaboration of Nabakov and Anias Nin published in Penthouse magazine, with some special technical advisors like John Woo and John Waters. Sort of grabs your attention. Also a great example of how the mainstream Hollywood movies have taken over the ideas and subversion of film makers like John Waters.

The basic story follows D.E.B.S. agent Amy Bradshaw (Sara Foster from "The Big Bounce") and her crew, which includes Dominique (Devon Aoki from "Sin CIty"), the chain smoker from France (a character who smokes on camera today is politically dangerous, after all), and they are hot on the tail -- er I mean trail -- of the legendary Lucy Diamond (Jordana Brewster, "The Faulty", "Fast and the Furious") who has made her way to the states. No one has ever survived an encounter with Lucy Diamond. Agent Amy's Homeland Security boy-toy (like i kept up with his name) is always around but Amy seems to be in search of something a little more .... female. Throw in some jokes straight out of the old "In Like Flint" days, when satire had political bite, some pop culture jokes -- calling the "Prom" at the D.E.B.S. Academy "Endgame" -- and the movie really takes you somewhere besides the typical.

How this got a PG-13 I'll never know, though some cut scenes on the DVD show a bit of editing when agent Amy Bradshaw and Lucy Diamond are discovered deep inside Lucy's Secret Lair shows how they did tone down the explicit sexual imagery. Turns out, it doesn't matter. This movie is ripe with subversiveness, capturing the ideas of both being in the System and out of it and why there is a conflict between the status quo and the independent American girl. Boy oh boy, salute for Independence!!!

The feature is an expansion of a short made by the director, who also did another short called "Chickula - The Teenage Vampire" and this year director Angela Robinson landed "Herbie Fully Loaded" with Lindsay Lohan (may have to give that a quick look-see after all, now that I see the M.O. at work here.) "D.E.B.S." deserves better than it got on first release -- and it will leave you all tingly.

The other movie mention for today is the nationwide release to theatres of director Terry Gilliam's latest "The Brothers Grimm" starring Matt Damon and Heath Ledger. Set in the world of the Napoleonic war, the folklore-collecting brothers are re-invented thru homages to Hammer Studios and looks more like "Jabberwocky" than say, "Brazil." Bottom line -- Gilliam is a master of cinema and always plays great on the big screen.

I gotta skip outta here -- look for me again, we have a lot left to talk about, kiddo.

The Impact of Stories and Blogs

Below, on a post this week from Katherine, she told students an amazing story which she allowed me to share with you -- but the story grew today to utterly unexpected levels due to a reader's response and an entire family's history has changed. I am speechless.

Read "Do You Want To Hear Some Stories" first --

This is the result of sharing that information which is worthy of this separate post -
Katherine Powell writes -

I checked the Holocaust Memorial archives when I was there in '97, and I also checked Yad Vashem's database a few years ago and turned up nothing. After reading this comment, I checked Yad Vashem again, and found this:
Gisela Herz was born in Koeln, Germany in 1925 to Hermann and Ellen. She was single. Prior to WWII she lived in Koeln, Germany. During the war was in Koeln, Germany. Gisela died in Minsk, Belorussia. This information is based on a Page of Testimony submitted on 27/09/1999 by her researcher, a Shoah survivor.
How amazing to finally have some information. Thanks Joe for posting this story, and thanks anonymous for suggesting another search.
Katherine

Just one more comment --- I must thank my brother David, who sent me the speech to begin with. He showed me a story that needed telling. Thanks, bro -- who knew??

TennCare Protestors Unmoved

Some excellent coverage here of the TEN-WEEKS of constant protest at the State Capitol over TennCare from Facing South. I happened to catch one conversation in a Morristown pharmacy that drug stores have lost hundreds and hundreds of normal daily prescriptions due to the changes, which is likely to end in job cuts to defray lost costs. Too easy to heap blame on Gov. Bredesen who has been the only state politician to even face the failure of the Legislature to provide oversight controls, or admit that former Gov. Sundquist poured money into the medical plan as well has padding pockets of his pals.

Somebody's Watching You

Hidden cameras, hidden agendas, and a real fight for getting the news right -- I have seen a real change in the way ET news coverage has been ramped up and a good example is the discovery of hidden cameras at a Knox. Co. school where cheerleaders were told to go change clothes. There are fascinating conflicts in the info between the coverage found on WATE-TV Channel 6 News and the newscast at WBIR-TV news. (They picked up the story from WATE after WBIR was inundated with phone calls.)

As a somewhat reformed news junkie, I have seen WATE's coverage really "covering" ET and a good example is a look today at the two websites. WATE is loaded upfront with lots of major news stories from our area while WBIR has opted for the warm-fuzzy, as if the chatty, feel-good approach is all the news fit to tell. I read news on 6 and 10 tells me former "Punky Brewster" star has baby.

Knox Blab also tells us that employees were told yet ANOTHER version of all the events, though by far the most thorough coverage is on WATE, no problem. Is it just me, or has WBIR always been the station for people who don't want news stories?

Stories -- UPDATE

I should mention as another fine reason to keep up with the folks at Berry College (see post from Wednesday) is their upcoming Southern Women Writer's Conference Sept 22-24. They boast another great line-up for their 6th event, including a performance by cajun/creole music by the Magnolia Sisters. Check out the web site.