As the state circles around and around real reform for Ethics or Lobbyists or TennCare, the finger-pointing continues -- "He/She is worse than I am!" Truth is, all legislators are suffering from a lack of public confidence and an over-abundance of influence of Lobbyists. Take the following from the state Democratic Party newsletter:
"The Tennessee Republican Party shot itself in the foot last week with a clumsy attack on State House Majority Leader Kim McMillan. The story goes like this: GOP Chairman Bob Davis sent a letter to McMillan, a Clarksville Democrat, alleging a conflict of interest because the law firm where she works represents an East Tennessee utility seeking state regulatory approval. Aside from the fact that no conflict exists, Davis failed to take into account that a hostof Republican lawmakers have day jobs that actually do pose potential conflicts with their legislative duties.
-- Among them: State Senator Mark Norris, a Collierville attorney who represents hospitals before the state Health Services and Development Agency.
--State Representative Glen Casada, of Franklin, who introduced legislation to benefit his employer, a unit of drug maker Schering-Plough Corp;
-- and State Representative Joey Hensley, a Hohenwald doctor who filed a bill to put more TennCare money in the pockets of physicians despite the fact that his medical practice collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from the program over the years. Norris, in a report by the Commercial Appeal, seemed perturbed by Davis'attack and acknowledged some legislators' day jobs will intersect with government from time to time. Unless the state wants to shift from a citizen legislature to a professional legislature, well have to continue to deal with these issues, Norris said."
I love that last sentece -- "Unless the state wants to shift from a citizen legislature to a professional legislature ...." Sure seems like the Professional Politicians are what Tennessee has and the concept of a "citizen legislature" is scoffed and derided. "Why, Joe, imagine how much a new member would have to learn about how business is done?"
Newsflash - the public does know about how business is done -- the so-called "Tennessee Waltz" FBI probe is one of several on-going into business-as-usual in government, linking with the FBI probe of law enforcement statewide called "Operation Tarnished Shield" and the on-going FBI probe into the former Sundquist Administration.
It DOES NOT matter which party has members under review, and sadly, I don't think the voters give one hairy rat-tail of the outcome. Voters know their voices are ignored and unwanted. The ever-decreasing voter turnout shows they understand their votes soon do not matter.
Somehow, the notion that a Campaign Contribution is an act of exercising the Rights of Free Speech has taken root and is flowering across the country. It's a critical mistake.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Hamblen Taxpayers Lose In Media Spin - Again
Hamblen County taxpayers got stuck once again with a new and ever-expanding schools funding bill, though the local media cheered the barely-approved costs by a razor thin margin. The spin says the state gives all and Hamblen taxpayers don't give enough. The spin says costs are matched by donations for three years. But what that means is after this short period, the full funding costs will fall squarely on the local taxpayers.
Commissioner Linda Noe pegs the problem in her web log. Here is an excerpt from her post about this issue:
"There will be, and has been, "spin" galore about the ELL teacher situation. As Commissioner Phillips pointed out yesterday, if the school system had followed the BEP funding guidelines in this area (11.5 teachers), we would only be 2.5 teachers short of the 14 that will be required for ELL students in 2006-2007 instead of being 6 short! Another item that the Board likes to "spin" is to say that the state/local BEP funding doesn't cover the full costs of these ELL teachers in Hamblen County.
Well, the fact is that the state provides 62.7% of the BEP funding for these teachers and Hamblen County provides the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. The school system says that this level of state/local BEP funding doesn't cover its teacher and benefit costs. What is not mentioned is that Hamblen County provides additional funding over and above the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. Hamblen County provides approximately $5 million dollars in additional funding above the required match and has done so for several years through maintenance of effort provisions. And on top of the $5 million provided above BEP local match requirements, Hamblen County also provides additional money to the schools every year through the payment of school construction debt on behalf of the school system---principal and interest payments that are paid from the county's debt service fund. (If you hear it said that the school system helps pay the school construction debt, that is correct but only to a small degree. The school system agreed years ago to contribute $500,000 of its BEP money to help in the payment of the huge school construction debt that was incurred by the county with the recently completed $35 million school building program--this $500,000, however, does not begin to cover the principal and interest costs that the county incurs and pays each year for school debt outside of the BEP and school budget.)
There will be a dozen different and carefully worded explanations for the current "crisis" and shortage of ELL teachers. Putting all this "spin" aside, the simple fact is that the school system shorted this program area for at least two years and has now put together a plan to start a brand new school for "newcomers" --a plan that will involve bussing 120 students from all over the county to and from a site at Walters State with loss of instructional time and ever-rising costs to the local taxpayers in future years."
The bottom line is, a handful of long-time commissioners approved a funding nightmare, which will only continue to grow the county's budget woes and sticking it to taxpayers. With the current priority the county had previously given Education Costs - providing over 85% of the county's entire budget alloted to one agency - it is never ever, ever enough. As Superintendent Dr. Dale Lynch likes to say "Let me assure you" .... however to me this cost to the county taxpayers continues to soar higher and higher.
Commissioner Linda Noe pegs the problem in her web log. Here is an excerpt from her post about this issue:
"There will be, and has been, "spin" galore about the ELL teacher situation. As Commissioner Phillips pointed out yesterday, if the school system had followed the BEP funding guidelines in this area (11.5 teachers), we would only be 2.5 teachers short of the 14 that will be required for ELL students in 2006-2007 instead of being 6 short! Another item that the Board likes to "spin" is to say that the state/local BEP funding doesn't cover the full costs of these ELL teachers in Hamblen County.
Well, the fact is that the state provides 62.7% of the BEP funding for these teachers and Hamblen County provides the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. The school system says that this level of state/local BEP funding doesn't cover its teacher and benefit costs. What is not mentioned is that Hamblen County provides additional funding over and above the required BEP local funding match of 37.3%. Hamblen County provides approximately $5 million dollars in additional funding above the required match and has done so for several years through maintenance of effort provisions. And on top of the $5 million provided above BEP local match requirements, Hamblen County also provides additional money to the schools every year through the payment of school construction debt on behalf of the school system---principal and interest payments that are paid from the county's debt service fund. (If you hear it said that the school system helps pay the school construction debt, that is correct but only to a small degree. The school system agreed years ago to contribute $500,000 of its BEP money to help in the payment of the huge school construction debt that was incurred by the county with the recently completed $35 million school building program--this $500,000, however, does not begin to cover the principal and interest costs that the county incurs and pays each year for school debt outside of the BEP and school budget.)
There will be a dozen different and carefully worded explanations for the current "crisis" and shortage of ELL teachers. Putting all this "spin" aside, the simple fact is that the school system shorted this program area for at least two years and has now put together a plan to start a brand new school for "newcomers" --a plan that will involve bussing 120 students from all over the county to and from a site at Walters State with loss of instructional time and ever-rising costs to the local taxpayers in future years."
The bottom line is, a handful of long-time commissioners approved a funding nightmare, which will only continue to grow the county's budget woes and sticking it to taxpayers. With the current priority the county had previously given Education Costs - providing over 85% of the county's entire budget alloted to one agency - it is never ever, ever enough. As Superintendent Dr. Dale Lynch likes to say "Let me assure you" .... however to me this cost to the county taxpayers continues to soar higher and higher.
Monday, October 24, 2005
American Troops, Not War, Supported
I'm sure you've noticed them, those magnetic yellow ribbons stuck on the backs and sides of cars and SUVs and trucks, which read "Support Our Troops." It seems a significant precision of phrasing that Americans have found - these ribbons do not say they "Support The War In Iraq" or "Support The War in Afghanistan". Certainly Congress has given approval for the war in it's constant funding of the war's cost, regardless of any public posing they may take with the media. But Americans have chosen their words wisely, it seems, and carefully.
U.S. Troops are also leaning on that support, though their morale seems to be in an ever-weakening state, some due to the usual military confusion and incompetence, but they have also taken to the blogging world and their stories provide intimate details and a picture of a military campaign that seems to be losing traction.
Operation Truth has been a firm chronicler of the experiences of vets from Iraq and Afghanistan and has detailed information about the slipping morale.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff at the State Department, in a speech last Wednesday, noted the harmful nature of a "secret cabal" making foreign policy decisions at the White House and the dangerous nature of American's secret or "flummoxed" strategy in the war.
"....my army right now is truly in bad shape – truly in bad shape. And I’m not talking about the billions and billions of dollars of equipment it’s burning up in Iraq at a rate 10 or 15 times the rate its life cycle said it should be burned up at, but I’m also talking about when you have officers who have to hedge the truth, NCOs who have to hedge the truth. They start voting with their feet, as they did in Vietnam, my war. They come home and they tell their wife they’ve got to go back for the third tour and the fourth tour and the wife says, uh-uh, or the husband says, uh-uh, and all of a sudden your military begins to unravel. And the signs are very concrete right now that the Army and the Marine Corps – to a lesser extent the other services because they’re not quite as involved in the deployments that we’re talking about here and the frequency thereof, the op tempo as we say it – problems are brewing."
Also worth noting is Brent Scowcraft's scathing view of our lack of military strategy:
"The neoconservatives -- the Republicans who argued most fervently for the second Gulf war -- believe in the export of democracy, by violence if that is required, Scowcroft said. "How do the neocons bring democracy to Iraq? You invade, you threaten and pressure, you evangelize." And now, Scowcroft said, America is suffering from the consequences of that brand of revolutionary utopianism. "This was said to be part of the war on terror, but Iraq feeds terrorism," he said."
And most assessors see the U.S. stepping now into yet another country, Syria.
U.S. Troops are also leaning on that support, though their morale seems to be in an ever-weakening state, some due to the usual military confusion and incompetence, but they have also taken to the blogging world and their stories provide intimate details and a picture of a military campaign that seems to be losing traction.
Operation Truth has been a firm chronicler of the experiences of vets from Iraq and Afghanistan and has detailed information about the slipping morale.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff at the State Department, in a speech last Wednesday, noted the harmful nature of a "secret cabal" making foreign policy decisions at the White House and the dangerous nature of American's secret or "flummoxed" strategy in the war.
"....my army right now is truly in bad shape – truly in bad shape. And I’m not talking about the billions and billions of dollars of equipment it’s burning up in Iraq at a rate 10 or 15 times the rate its life cycle said it should be burned up at, but I’m also talking about when you have officers who have to hedge the truth, NCOs who have to hedge the truth. They start voting with their feet, as they did in Vietnam, my war. They come home and they tell their wife they’ve got to go back for the third tour and the fourth tour and the wife says, uh-uh, or the husband says, uh-uh, and all of a sudden your military begins to unravel. And the signs are very concrete right now that the Army and the Marine Corps – to a lesser extent the other services because they’re not quite as involved in the deployments that we’re talking about here and the frequency thereof, the op tempo as we say it – problems are brewing."
Also worth noting is Brent Scowcraft's scathing view of our lack of military strategy:
"The neoconservatives -- the Republicans who argued most fervently for the second Gulf war -- believe in the export of democracy, by violence if that is required, Scowcroft said. "How do the neocons bring democracy to Iraq? You invade, you threaten and pressure, you evangelize." And now, Scowcroft said, America is suffering from the consequences of that brand of revolutionary utopianism. "This was said to be part of the war on terror, but Iraq feeds terrorism," he said."
And most assessors see the U.S. stepping now into yet another country, Syria.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
How Much Is This Blog Worth?
I linked to this post via Crooks and Liars, submitted the URL and lo and behold, this Cup Of Joe Powell has cash value!
After only some three months, and over 6,000 page views, I'm glad to mark this a decent start.
Thanks to all of you for reading along! And get ready to see some ads and donation opportunities!
My blog is worth $6,774.48.
How much is your blog worth?
After only some three months, and over 6,000 page views, I'm glad to mark this a decent start.
Thanks to all of you for reading along! And get ready to see some ads and donation opportunities!
Friday, October 21, 2005
Camera Obscura - Name Your Favorite Horror Film
NOTE: The Editor graciously created the masthead for this post and for Halloween, and I cannot express enough gratitude for her time and her work. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Now: you got some readin' to do!! UPDATE: Fear not if you missed the special Halloween Masthead -- it will return later this week!!
What terrifies you? Is it something flickering past your vision at about 24 frames-per-second? A tale of horror made into a movie? Then you are in the right place and you have a job here. Since the Halloween holiday is approaching, I want you to tell me the movie you rate as The Scariest.
I understand that in these times, horror may appear in the form of a liberal-media, or the skull-faced grin of Tom DeLay's booking photo, or what your children really think of you. However, this place is for movies and I dare you to think of it - what story, what movie has permanently inked itself into your brain.
I am a bona-fide, deep-dyed fan of horror movies. When I was a wee lad, perhaps 4 years old or so, a neighbor near our home kept a pet crow which was almost as tall as I was, jet black feathers and empty, shining black eyes, and clawed feet that seemed like the fingers of death. Said crow and said clawed feet often decided my wee 4-year-old head had something it wanted. It got so every time I went out to play, this violent, flapping shadow fell from the sky and began pecking and digging at my skull. Why? I really don't know. My mother tells me she "had a talk" with the neighbor about it, but my only memories are of the nightmare thing on my head and deafening flapping of its wings.
About two years later, I watched my first Hitchcock movie - yes, "The Birds". It was on television for the first time and I had no notion of how Hitchcock could make a movie crawl into your mind and your fears and scare the bejesus out of you. I remember watching that movie between the quivering wee fingers of my hand -- but once I started, I could not stop. Lucky I didn't soil my garments. But that heart-pounding fear I realized after a day or so was somehow "contained" by the movie frame. I could be there at the very edge of pure horror - but I was really safe. The 'bird apocalypse" was real in the movie - and nowhere else. But I had been transformed into a creature who loved scary movies.
I grew up near Nashville, where a scary movie show would play hosted by a fellow named "The Phantom of the Opry" called Sir Cecil Creape and Sir Cecil and I became pals of that horror movie experience. Many of the movies I could easily laugh away, but not all. One of my early favorites which just got to me was the black and white thriller "Fiend Without A Face," where aliens have some hapless humans trapped in a house and the aliens are invisible. Yet when they do finally appear, they are brains with twisted spinal cords attached that could leap huge distances and strangle you to death. They break through the boarded-up windows and go after said hapless humans. More than once, the Hero takes a small hand-axe to these puppies and black goo spurted out -- years later these images re-appeared in movies like the original "Night of the Living Dead" and even "Eraserhead."
Weaned on 50s horror and sci-fi, the 1960s my were macabre childhood - enriched by the classic Roger Corman stories of Edgar Allan Poe, by the Hammer studios brilliant casting of Peter Cushing and Christopher in almost every movie they made, then there were the Italians, Mario Bava and Dario Argento. And George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead" introduced me to a whole new concept - the Dead rising in endless numbers to feed on the Living. Zombies. Ahhh, zombies. Romero brilliantly exploited the undercurrent of the world as it was - one culture or society rising up to consume and eliminate another society.
The 1970s were a heaven. No remake can ever have the insanely, heart-stopping, inescapable terror of his "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Unlike the pitiful remake, director Tobe Hooper made the normal humans utterly unlikeable and the audience was manipulated into feeling kinship with Leatherface and his family. Family terror was all the rage in the 70s. This low-budget hit, and a few others, got their attention in Hollywood and "The Exorcist" had folks lined up for blocks and blocks around theatres (back before they were tucked snugly into shopping malls). And for the record, DO NOT watch the re-edited version issued a few years ago -- it is the original, tightly-edited movie that will scare you. The re-edits destroyed that one.
Romero today is still the best at the zombie game, and all his sequels, including this year's "Land of the Dead", are top-notch fear-fests. Through the 70s and 80s and even now, some of the best horror filmmakers remain - Wes Craven, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter.
In recent years, audiences have been jolted by all the horror sub-genres: vampires, werewolves, slashers, gore-fests, ghosts-who-don't-know-their-dead, more zombies (go Sam Raimi!!), and endless serial killer movies -- though they always seem lately to star Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd.
So the gauntlet of death is thrown, dear reader -- I want to know your favorites, no matter what year they are made -- but you must confess your fears and add them in the comments here. I'll tell you which ones got the most attention or which choices seemed most interesting.
Just one more thought for you to consider - TRUE or FALSE: the best horror movies are made when a Republican is president.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Tim Chavez Reads His Cup Of Joe
Tim Chavez, a columnist for "The Tennessean" featured my blog in his column for today, regarding the idea that more discussion is needed for TennCare and my recent post about the Hamblen Democrat Party chairman Joe Moore daring to hold that very debate on the Hamblen Democrat blog.
Like more and more readers are discovering, having a Cup of Joe is always eye-opening.
Chavez has been a frequent critic of Governor Bredesen, though after the governor appeared on my radio talk show several times and our numerous follow-up discussions, I found him to be an extremely intelligent and responsive elected representative. He simply inherited a gigantic mess after eight years of irresponsible actions by the 1990s-era state legislature and former governor, Don Sundquist -- though the Bushies made him a chairman of a federal committee probing for changes to Medicare. That appointment makes zero sense.
In another column by Chavez from September 23, he notes the most vile comments regarding TennCare have come from conservatives: "Critical e-mails about my columns seeking relief for the suffering and now even deaths of disenrolled or cut back TennCare recipients have mostly come from conservatives. One reader wrote: Don't interfere with the cycle of life; people have to die."
Health care is not only a major problem in Tennessee, it is consuming the contents of everyone's wallets nationwide. And it is not an issue about which political party to blame. Too many lobbyists and lawyers are making a fortune by clouding the issues and obscuring public thought.
As I have said many, many times - the public discussion on issues in government has been cut off at the ankles here in the 21st century. The radio show I hosted on WMTN-AM was a wide-open forum for all kinds of discussion and debatewith bothe lected and appointed officials in Morristown and surrounding communities, and the listeners in East Tennessee made it an enormous success. That was until May of this year, when a new owner bought the station and yanked me off the air in mid-sentence, though this owner never once bothered to talk with me about my show or it's future goals -- all I know of this owner is he is named Fink. Really. Fink.
As of October of this year, Fink successfully dismantled the station and moved his sales staff back to his Sevierville offices -- voices silenced in Morristown and job done.
Statewide and nationwide, residents must have open and free discussion about issues or we will all suffer by its absence. I never thought I would live to see so much repressed speech and abridged rights to voice opinion in America. And the more you are intimidated into silence, the worse it will become.
Like more and more readers are discovering, having a Cup of Joe is always eye-opening.
Chavez has been a frequent critic of Governor Bredesen, though after the governor appeared on my radio talk show several times and our numerous follow-up discussions, I found him to be an extremely intelligent and responsive elected representative. He simply inherited a gigantic mess after eight years of irresponsible actions by the 1990s-era state legislature and former governor, Don Sundquist -- though the Bushies made him a chairman of a federal committee probing for changes to Medicare. That appointment makes zero sense.
In another column by Chavez from September 23, he notes the most vile comments regarding TennCare have come from conservatives: "Critical e-mails about my columns seeking relief for the suffering and now even deaths of disenrolled or cut back TennCare recipients have mostly come from conservatives. One reader wrote: Don't interfere with the cycle of life; people have to die."
Health care is not only a major problem in Tennessee, it is consuming the contents of everyone's wallets nationwide. And it is not an issue about which political party to blame. Too many lobbyists and lawyers are making a fortune by clouding the issues and obscuring public thought.
As I have said many, many times - the public discussion on issues in government has been cut off at the ankles here in the 21st century. The radio show I hosted on WMTN-AM was a wide-open forum for all kinds of discussion and debatewith bothe lected and appointed officials in Morristown and surrounding communities, and the listeners in East Tennessee made it an enormous success. That was until May of this year, when a new owner bought the station and yanked me off the air in mid-sentence, though this owner never once bothered to talk with me about my show or it's future goals -- all I know of this owner is he is named Fink. Really. Fink.
As of October of this year, Fink successfully dismantled the station and moved his sales staff back to his Sevierville offices -- voices silenced in Morristown and job done.
Statewide and nationwide, residents must have open and free discussion about issues or we will all suffer by its absence. I never thought I would live to see so much repressed speech and abridged rights to voice opinion in America. And the more you are intimidated into silence, the worse it will become.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
The Drinks Heard 'Round the World
I was happy to note a new book available which shows the liquids we consume throughout the world and in nearly every home are truly benchmarks of civilization itself. Obviously, I have a love for the dark brown brew of coffee and how the marvelous elixir is the most healthful drink imaginable.
It's too easy to forget that the discoveries of past generations fill our lives today. Reading history is rarely an empty experience. While this book is light-hearted, it does highlight that what we drink and eat can provide an enormous entry-point for historical discovery.
The new book "A History of the World in 6 Glasses" by Tom Standage is highlighted in this National Geographic article. This story stretches from the ancient Sumerian world to America's cola drinks. As for coffee itself, here is just a sample sentence:
"Coffee also fuelled commerce and had strong links to the rituals of business that remain to the present day. Lloyds of London and the London Stock Exchange were both originally coffeehouses."
It's too easy to forget that the discoveries of past generations fill our lives today. Reading history is rarely an empty experience. While this book is light-hearted, it does highlight that what we drink and eat can provide an enormous entry-point for historical discovery.
The new book "A History of the World in 6 Glasses" by Tom Standage is highlighted in this National Geographic article. This story stretches from the ancient Sumerian world to America's cola drinks. As for coffee itself, here is just a sample sentence:
"Coffee also fuelled commerce and had strong links to the rituals of business that remain to the present day. Lloyds of London and the London Stock Exchange were both originally coffeehouses."
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Ethics Must Be Priority In Tennessee
Serious efforts to create laws governing Ethics in the state legislature have finally gotten into some critical specifics, although there are some obvious political party disputes at work and their fears about how to conduct fundraising activities. Some of the proposals the current committee working in Nashville are long, long overdue and all lawmakers need to keep in mind that the public good is the most important aspect and political party worries are the least important.
Not only has the federal probe, dubbed the "Tennessee Waltz", brought accusations against state lawmakers, but also county officials have accused as well. When you link to this the statewide "Tarnished Shield" probe into corruption in law enforcement, citing crimes ranging from illegal drug distribution to money laundering, then our state's safety is clearly at stake.
Here are some of my suggestions for real change.
1.) One committee recommendation that should be made law is plain: elected officials (state and I would also add local officeholders, too) should not be receiving or accepting gifts, travel, free meals and entertainment. If a paid lobbyist or party official cannot use the power of logical or sound business ideas to urge support for an issue before the state, then tough. This would not prevent an elected official from speaking to a Kiwanis Club or other group, as long as no pay and yes, no meal, is a part of their appearance.
2.) All votes in the state legislative meetings and committees must be recorded and votes posted for public view. How can any resident of the state expect honesty and accountability when committees can meet in secret sessions where no vote is officially recorded? As Sen. Rosalind Kurita, D-Clarksville said, "I was disappointed that they [the ethics committee] did not address secret meetings or the legislative work schedule. And we need online access for all votes. The panel did some good work, but I believe Tennessee deserves better."
Republican Hamblen County Commissioner Linda Noe, and a few other commissioners, has kept up a steady drumbeat on the issue of Openness and Accountability in her commission votes and on her web log, and the public response has been quite positive.
State Representative Frank Buck echoes those very sentiments, noting in his essay printed in "The Tennessean" : AccountabilityA record of legislative votes should be readily available to all voters. On voice votes in committees, legislators have the choice of voting contrary to the call of the chair.
3.) End the special privileges and secrecy surrounding lobbyists. There are a few simple rules that would bring major changes. While the current Ethic Committee suggestions call for a one-year ban on moving from elected office to a lobbyist job, I say say make it longer. Make it a four-year ban, which would prevent them from having access to the legislature and their business until at least the end of one gubernatorial term. The committee also had two other suggestions that would aid in making the lobbyist influence transparent to voters and the press alike.
First, Require lobbyists to disclose any family members in state government.
And Second, Require lobbyists and their employers to disclose payments for lobbying and money spent on lobbying.
The residents of this state, whether in a business organization, a political party organization, or just a private citizen would then know how many untold thousands and thousands of dollars are being heaped upon lawmakers to influence legislation.
4.) The Ethics Committee still has much work to do, but I think they are missing a golden opportunity to enact changes that include the participation of the public in general -- a committee to review any questions of ethics violations seems appropriate, HOWEVER, this panel needs to also include two or more average residents -- not a CEO, not a state employee, not another private business club member and not someone who has already served in some elected office. A private citizen is a must, someone who would bring eyes to this process not already tinted by the view of "that's just how we have been doing business."
I'll have more later this week on the issue of the endless political party fundraising in Tennessee and how that money needs to be tracked.
Your comments and suggestions on this are most welcome here. This is YOUR state and without your voice, true change will never take place.
Not only has the federal probe, dubbed the "Tennessee Waltz", brought accusations against state lawmakers, but also county officials have accused as well. When you link to this the statewide "Tarnished Shield" probe into corruption in law enforcement, citing crimes ranging from illegal drug distribution to money laundering, then our state's safety is clearly at stake.
Here are some of my suggestions for real change.
1.) One committee recommendation that should be made law is plain: elected officials (state and I would also add local officeholders, too) should not be receiving or accepting gifts, travel, free meals and entertainment. If a paid lobbyist or party official cannot use the power of logical or sound business ideas to urge support for an issue before the state, then tough. This would not prevent an elected official from speaking to a Kiwanis Club or other group, as long as no pay and yes, no meal, is a part of their appearance.
2.) All votes in the state legislative meetings and committees must be recorded and votes posted for public view. How can any resident of the state expect honesty and accountability when committees can meet in secret sessions where no vote is officially recorded? As Sen. Rosalind Kurita, D-Clarksville said, "I was disappointed that they [the ethics committee] did not address secret meetings or the legislative work schedule. And we need online access for all votes. The panel did some good work, but I believe Tennessee deserves better."
Republican Hamblen County Commissioner Linda Noe, and a few other commissioners, has kept up a steady drumbeat on the issue of Openness and Accountability in her commission votes and on her web log, and the public response has been quite positive.
State Representative Frank Buck echoes those very sentiments, noting in his essay printed in "The Tennessean" : AccountabilityA record of legislative votes should be readily available to all voters. On voice votes in committees, legislators have the choice of voting contrary to the call of the chair.
3.) End the special privileges and secrecy surrounding lobbyists. There are a few simple rules that would bring major changes. While the current Ethic Committee suggestions call for a one-year ban on moving from elected office to a lobbyist job, I say say make it longer. Make it a four-year ban, which would prevent them from having access to the legislature and their business until at least the end of one gubernatorial term. The committee also had two other suggestions that would aid in making the lobbyist influence transparent to voters and the press alike.
First, Require lobbyists to disclose any family members in state government.
And Second, Require lobbyists and their employers to disclose payments for lobbying and money spent on lobbying.
The residents of this state, whether in a business organization, a political party organization, or just a private citizen would then know how many untold thousands and thousands of dollars are being heaped upon lawmakers to influence legislation.
4.) The Ethics Committee still has much work to do, but I think they are missing a golden opportunity to enact changes that include the participation of the public in general -- a committee to review any questions of ethics violations seems appropriate, HOWEVER, this panel needs to also include two or more average residents -- not a CEO, not a state employee, not another private business club member and not someone who has already served in some elected office. A private citizen is a must, someone who would bring eyes to this process not already tinted by the view of "that's just how we have been doing business."
I'll have more later this week on the issue of the endless political party fundraising in Tennessee and how that money needs to be tracked.
Your comments and suggestions on this are most welcome here. This is YOUR state and without your voice, true change will never take place.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Camera Obscura - Now Playing
Let's hit the good news first - of all the movies currently available in theatres right now, the best-reviewed, most audience pleasing movie to watch remains the action-comedy-sci-fi adventure "Serenity" by writer/director Joss Whedon. My previous review is here, and add another fine American endorsement from Stephen King. Go see it, or you will regret missing a marvelous adventure on the big screen.
If the kids are clamoring for a movie, you can't go wrong with the clay-mation comedy adventure of "Wallace and Grommit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit." The hilariously funny duo have been stars of several short films and the arrival of their big-screen epic is a first-rate movie for everyone. It is one of the few movies of the year that is earning nationwide praise from critics and audiences. I mean, c'mon -- there's a Were-Rabbit in it!!
A new arrival this week is from writer Richard Kelly ("Donnie Darko") and the hit-and-miss director Tony Scott. Kelly's writing is the definition of quirky and Scott, the director, is the definition of "hold the damn camera still, would ya!!! Please, pick a shot!!!" Their collaboration is based on the real-life female bounty hunter, "Domino." The cast includes Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Lucy Liu and Christopher Walken and that means plenty to oddities will get trotted out in a fictional story about a real-life person. It seems like it should be a lot better than it finally appears. I blame Tony Scott,, who seems to have attention deficit disorder.
Much to my surprise, Scott has made some excellent movies in the past and some real junk too. Of his most recent, I have found the grim story of a soldier of fortune seeking to find a reason to live in the very underrated "Man on Fire." Here, the jumpy Scott camera helps blend the past and present in a psychological fable held together solidly in place by Denzel Washington and the young Dakota Fanning. This revenge tale is at times brutal and bloody, but a very human story is the heart of this movie.
As for "Donnie Darko," it is one of my favorite movies of the last 10 years. Ignore the Director's Cut version now on DVD and go for the original version. The movie is a real shape-shifter, crammed with hilarious cameos by Patrick Swayze and Drew Barrymore and will keep you guessing from beginning to end. All the performances, the music, and the emerging examination of a wealthy suburb's strange and dark underbelly make this a must-see.
Why did I like the original better than the re-edited "director's cut" -- simple -- the original doesn't spoon-feed the audience with over-explanations of all the mystery and oddity inherent in the film. I enjoyed taking part in the effort to make the movie fit into one single complete explanation. The remake just gives away too much of those moments best left to mystery, so that is truly becomes a haunting tale you'll find yourself wondering about long after it ends.
Do you have a favorite movie you'd like to mention for future reviews? Is there a movie you can't find but want to locate? Just add your comments here and I'll be glad to help - it's what I do.
If the kids are clamoring for a movie, you can't go wrong with the clay-mation comedy adventure of "Wallace and Grommit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit." The hilariously funny duo have been stars of several short films and the arrival of their big-screen epic is a first-rate movie for everyone. It is one of the few movies of the year that is earning nationwide praise from critics and audiences. I mean, c'mon -- there's a Were-Rabbit in it!!
A new arrival this week is from writer Richard Kelly ("Donnie Darko") and the hit-and-miss director Tony Scott. Kelly's writing is the definition of quirky and Scott, the director, is the definition of "hold the damn camera still, would ya!!! Please, pick a shot!!!" Their collaboration is based on the real-life female bounty hunter, "Domino." The cast includes Keira Knightley, Mickey Rourke, Lucy Liu and Christopher Walken and that means plenty to oddities will get trotted out in a fictional story about a real-life person. It seems like it should be a lot better than it finally appears. I blame Tony Scott,, who seems to have attention deficit disorder.
Much to my surprise, Scott has made some excellent movies in the past and some real junk too. Of his most recent, I have found the grim story of a soldier of fortune seeking to find a reason to live in the very underrated "Man on Fire." Here, the jumpy Scott camera helps blend the past and present in a psychological fable held together solidly in place by Denzel Washington and the young Dakota Fanning. This revenge tale is at times brutal and bloody, but a very human story is the heart of this movie.
As for "Donnie Darko," it is one of my favorite movies of the last 10 years. Ignore the Director's Cut version now on DVD and go for the original version. The movie is a real shape-shifter, crammed with hilarious cameos by Patrick Swayze and Drew Barrymore and will keep you guessing from beginning to end. All the performances, the music, and the emerging examination of a wealthy suburb's strange and dark underbelly make this a must-see.
Why did I like the original better than the re-edited "director's cut" -- simple -- the original doesn't spoon-feed the audience with over-explanations of all the mystery and oddity inherent in the film. I enjoyed taking part in the effort to make the movie fit into one single complete explanation. The remake just gives away too much of those moments best left to mystery, so that is truly becomes a haunting tale you'll find yourself wondering about long after it ends.
Do you have a favorite movie you'd like to mention for future reviews? Is there a movie you can't find but want to locate? Just add your comments here and I'll be glad to help - it's what I do.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
High Gear and In Reverse
About two years ago the writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. came to the University of Tennessee and for a few days I was very excited about the idea of seeing him in person and listening to his comments. However, by the time the day of the even actually arrived, I decided to stay away. This may be hard to explain, but I'll try.
The thing is - I treasure his words and his writing. In retrospect, maybe I should have gone. But there's the real person of Vonnegut but there's another Vonnegut too - the one who has been in my imagination since I first read his books back in the mid-1970s. His work and his words are a major reason I decided it wasn't crazy to want to be a writer (it is crazy, of course, but "so it goes'). I love that in "Breakfast of Champions" he has childishly scrawled drawings to emphasize his words. And he appears as a character in this story and maybe that's another reason I did not want to have to deal with the real-life Vonnegut -- I know and am a lifetime friend of the imaginary Vonnegut in my head and I am loathe to think of tarnishing that Vonnegut with the pesky intrusion of a real-life person. In other words, why fix something that isn't broken.
His books and his essays express something I have seen myself: this country has gone cuckoo. I read recent interview with him in the Globe and Mail as he marks his 82nd birthday, and he still has the skill to express that idea succinctly:
"I have a huge disappointment about what this country might have been instead of what it's become," he says. "You forget there was something great about the Great Depression. The president was Franklin Roosevelt, who cared generally about all of us. And things were getting better -- talk about audacity, giving women the power to vote, in 1919. It took a while for even women to adjust to it. Only now are they really getting the feeling of it. And then after the war when the civil-rights movement came in, that was exciting! So there were these huge improvements, where we were becoming what we always imagined ourselves to be. No shit, becoming that!"
And as always, Time is still playing tricks with him and with all of us:
"Where is home? I've wondered where home is, and I realized, it's not Mars or someplace like that, it's Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there's no way I can get there again."
From the 1930s up until the Nixon presidency, we were a nation compelled to reach beyond our grasp, innovators in both the social and political arena, determined to improve the human condition, confident that the people who called this country home could achieve anything if we worked at it in unison. Like many others, I thought when we spotted the corruption of Nixon's paranoid leadership we could continue. But doubt took root and despair seemed to flower. We seemed to bemoan the loss of a failing set of institutions and by 1980 had traded in self-reliance a pretend nostalgia, for a dream of an imaginary world on some Reagan-government illusion of an ephemeral and unreal "City on a hill."
As Vonnegut might say, we elevated diddley-squat to the top and called it Moral and Just.
Now, poverty is growing faster and faster, mediocrity is championed, and the battered and beaten American spends more time watching the repeat newsreel with pretty flashing lights and constantly moving newstracks that follow the latest celebrity scandals and fads about food and clothes. We are distracted and the ill-thought delusions of our leaders have us focusing on fear and doubt and the idea that the government is the only solution to any issue. Harried by the day to day chase to make ends meet, we are left with surface ideology while those in power make changes to firmly grasp the controls we once kept for ourselves.
Bickering clowns take center stage for our amusement while small cliques of obsessed and wealthy megalomaniacs continue to dismantle hope and reason. We are back to debating issues long since resolved - should the theory of evolution be actually taught in Science classes or should Science be tossed away for Bible stories. Like Vonnegut, I bemoan the loss of an America where students and teachers debated Science and Theory in the schools and students and teachers debated the aspects of Faith and Creation in church.
Is church membership now the priority for Supreme Court Justices?
How is it that the American community now thinks the Constitutional right of Free Speech only occurs on a street corner and employees and writers do not have those rights? Seems just a simple reading of our Constitution shows the right of free speech is applied to every citizen of this country.
But this country seems more confused with every passing day.
"Poo-tee-weet!"
The thing is - I treasure his words and his writing. In retrospect, maybe I should have gone. But there's the real person of Vonnegut but there's another Vonnegut too - the one who has been in my imagination since I first read his books back in the mid-1970s. His work and his words are a major reason I decided it wasn't crazy to want to be a writer (it is crazy, of course, but "so it goes'). I love that in "Breakfast of Champions" he has childishly scrawled drawings to emphasize his words. And he appears as a character in this story and maybe that's another reason I did not want to have to deal with the real-life Vonnegut -- I know and am a lifetime friend of the imaginary Vonnegut in my head and I am loathe to think of tarnishing that Vonnegut with the pesky intrusion of a real-life person. In other words, why fix something that isn't broken.
His books and his essays express something I have seen myself: this country has gone cuckoo. I read recent interview with him in the Globe and Mail as he marks his 82nd birthday, and he still has the skill to express that idea succinctly:
"I have a huge disappointment about what this country might have been instead of what it's become," he says. "You forget there was something great about the Great Depression. The president was Franklin Roosevelt, who cared generally about all of us. And things were getting better -- talk about audacity, giving women the power to vote, in 1919. It took a while for even women to adjust to it. Only now are they really getting the feeling of it. And then after the war when the civil-rights movement came in, that was exciting! So there were these huge improvements, where we were becoming what we always imagined ourselves to be. No shit, becoming that!"
And as always, Time is still playing tricks with him and with all of us:
"Where is home? I've wondered where home is, and I realized, it's not Mars or someplace like that, it's Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there's no way I can get there again."
From the 1930s up until the Nixon presidency, we were a nation compelled to reach beyond our grasp, innovators in both the social and political arena, determined to improve the human condition, confident that the people who called this country home could achieve anything if we worked at it in unison. Like many others, I thought when we spotted the corruption of Nixon's paranoid leadership we could continue. But doubt took root and despair seemed to flower. We seemed to bemoan the loss of a failing set of institutions and by 1980 had traded in self-reliance a pretend nostalgia, for a dream of an imaginary world on some Reagan-government illusion of an ephemeral and unreal "City on a hill."
As Vonnegut might say, we elevated diddley-squat to the top and called it Moral and Just.
Now, poverty is growing faster and faster, mediocrity is championed, and the battered and beaten American spends more time watching the repeat newsreel with pretty flashing lights and constantly moving newstracks that follow the latest celebrity scandals and fads about food and clothes. We are distracted and the ill-thought delusions of our leaders have us focusing on fear and doubt and the idea that the government is the only solution to any issue. Harried by the day to day chase to make ends meet, we are left with surface ideology while those in power make changes to firmly grasp the controls we once kept for ourselves.
Bickering clowns take center stage for our amusement while small cliques of obsessed and wealthy megalomaniacs continue to dismantle hope and reason. We are back to debating issues long since resolved - should the theory of evolution be actually taught in Science classes or should Science be tossed away for Bible stories. Like Vonnegut, I bemoan the loss of an America where students and teachers debated Science and Theory in the schools and students and teachers debated the aspects of Faith and Creation in church.
Is church membership now the priority for Supreme Court Justices?
How is it that the American community now thinks the Constitutional right of Free Speech only occurs on a street corner and employees and writers do not have those rights? Seems just a simple reading of our Constitution shows the right of free speech is applied to every citizen of this country.
But this country seems more confused with every passing day.
"Poo-tee-weet!"
Monday, October 10, 2005
TennCare Debate Needs Open Minds
As shown in the Sunday edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel, some politicians and some newspapers are stunned that people in our state our unhappy with TennCare and the current reforms in place. That's the polite version. More, truthful version: Hamblen County Democrat Party chairman Joe Moore is holding an open debate on TennCare on the party's blog and some are fearful of such debate.
You can link to the Hamblen Democrat blog and the TennCare forum here, which includes the story from the KNS. Or go here for the KNS story. After reading, maybe you'll wonder like me why the newspaper printed this - news value or just a chance to harrass Joe Moore? Is it wrong for a local political party member to voice dissent with his own party?? State Democrat "communications" director Will Pinkston thinks dissent is wrong.
You can link to the Hamblen Democrat blog and the TennCare forum here, which includes the story from the KNS. Or go here for the KNS story. After reading, maybe you'll wonder like me why the newspaper printed this - news value or just a chance to harrass Joe Moore? Is it wrong for a local political party member to voice dissent with his own party?? State Democrat "communications" director Will Pinkston thinks dissent is wrong.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Energy Hog Feeds On You
The GOP muscle in Congress has given the oil companies more tax breaks so they don't have to spend their record profits to invest in the creation of more oil refineries in the U.S. The House vote was supposed to take 5 minutes, but was held open for 50 minutes so they could get passage of a bill, which hopefully the Senate will kill, but more likely they'll just trim the edges. It echoes the rule-twisting vote in July on CAFTA.
"2004 profits for ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips broke records across all industries. In fact, last year, at over $25 billion, ExxonMobil booked the highest profit of any company in any year in history. Yet, oil company memos show that they made part of these profits by constraining refining capacity to drive up prices. These record profits have not only more than doubled CEO salaries, but they have driven up political contributions, a staggering $450 million in the past six years. So, while consumers are paying at the pump, oil companies are getting billions in tax breaks and sweetheart deals from the Bush administration and their congressional allies." via American Progress.
Add to this the most idiotic public service campaign I've ever seen from the Department of Energy, with the stupifying and ridiculous "Energy Hog" as emblem of conservation. It's aimed at children, ages 8 to 13, as if THEY were the ones who are the Real Power behind high energy prices. It is sponsored by the DOE, Home Depot, The North American Insulation Manufacturers, the National Fuel Fund Network, as well as about 20 state energy offices.
The hog is chowing down - on you.
"2004 profits for ExxonMobil, ChevronTexaco, and ConocoPhillips broke records across all industries. In fact, last year, at over $25 billion, ExxonMobil booked the highest profit of any company in any year in history. Yet, oil company memos show that they made part of these profits by constraining refining capacity to drive up prices. These record profits have not only more than doubled CEO salaries, but they have driven up political contributions, a staggering $450 million in the past six years. So, while consumers are paying at the pump, oil companies are getting billions in tax breaks and sweetheart deals from the Bush administration and their congressional allies." via American Progress.
Add to this the most idiotic public service campaign I've ever seen from the Department of Energy, with the stupifying and ridiculous "Energy Hog" as emblem of conservation. It's aimed at children, ages 8 to 13, as if THEY were the ones who are the Real Power behind high energy prices. It is sponsored by the DOE, Home Depot, The North American Insulation Manufacturers, the National Fuel Fund Network, as well as about 20 state energy offices.
The hog is chowing down - on you.
Friday, October 07, 2005
Camera Obscura - And Now, The News
First, the news - "Stately Wayne Manor" is still standing. Early reports cited that the house once used as the home of the 60s TV version of "Batman" had been gutted by fire, but turns out the fire destroyed another house.
In other superhero news, it turns out that Nicolas Cage is Superman's father!! Yes, Kal-El is a member of the Coppola family. I wonder if that means Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes expected child will be named Lex Luthor?
As the current networks struggle to deal with the losses of all its major news anchors - Jennings, Rather, Koppel, Brokaw - and the endless rapid-rerun cable news, Clooney brings a reminder of just how television got it's chops. Comparing the ultra-cool savvy of Murrow to today's crowd of shrill talking-heads reveals a benchmark level of intelligence and truthfulness that has somehow slipped away.
It isn't easy to make a movie about the news biz that has the knack for grabbing and audience, and one of my favorites is the 1931 classic, "Five Star Final." Made in grade-A, Pre-Code style by director Mervyn LeRoy, the movie was nominated for a Best Picture and showcased a new rising star, Edward G. Robinson. With machine-gun dialog and editing, the story follows a rotten newspaper staff as they dish up dirt on a 20-year old murder case to increase sales.
Sordid, tasteless and cruel, the newspaper operations are ghoulish and the shock of this old murder case literally takes lives as the movie unspools. Hollywood has yet to top this one and it has a hard-boiled, gritty and nearly documentary-level reality that can rattle any audience.
In other superhero news, it turns out that Nicolas Cage is Superman's father!! Yes, Kal-El is a member of the Coppola family. I wonder if that means Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes expected child will be named Lex Luthor?
David Straithairn as Edward R. Murrow
Since we're on television topics, one movie on its way to theatres now captures a tense and terrifying time, which echoes our own current plight - a nation terrified and the media's fear to speak opinions outside the approved talking points. "Good Night and Good Luck" is a tour de force based on journalist Edward R. Murrow's volatile collision with a legendary liar, Sen. Joe McCarthy in the early 50s. Actor David Stratharin brings life to Murrow thought McCarthy is instead played by himself via existing TV footage. Smoky, jazzy, and black and white, the movie by director/actor George Clooney has a little budget and rave reviews.As the current networks struggle to deal with the losses of all its major news anchors - Jennings, Rather, Koppel, Brokaw - and the endless rapid-rerun cable news, Clooney brings a reminder of just how television got it's chops. Comparing the ultra-cool savvy of Murrow to today's crowd of shrill talking-heads reveals a benchmark level of intelligence and truthfulness that has somehow slipped away.
It isn't easy to make a movie about the news biz that has the knack for grabbing and audience, and one of my favorites is the 1931 classic, "Five Star Final." Made in grade-A, Pre-Code style by director Mervyn LeRoy, the movie was nominated for a Best Picture and showcased a new rising star, Edward G. Robinson. With machine-gun dialog and editing, the story follows a rotten newspaper staff as they dish up dirt on a 20-year old murder case to increase sales.
Sordid, tasteless and cruel, the newspaper operations are ghoulish and the shock of this old murder case literally takes lives as the movie unspools. Hollywood has yet to top this one and it has a hard-boiled, gritty and nearly documentary-level reality that can rattle any audience.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Job Growth Puts TN 43rd
Tennessee ranks 43rd in the nation when it comes to Job Growth, according to the latest FDIC study, as is noted in Facing South in a post by R. Neal. The state is still tops in the nation (again) when it comes to personal bankruptcy filings. As I reported in earlier posts, the unemployment rate in the surrounding ET counties has been steady at 6 to 7% or higher.
And whatever you earn now, look for more tax hikes and tax bites out of your pay. The school system wants a segregated "international" school it can't pay for, which shifts the burden to county tax-payers, and the city won't even talk about it unless the county commits to funding it. The city is engaged in a wasteful $20 million creation of a cable, internet, and phone company to be operated by the utility system -- have you seen any ads for those jobs?? Nope. Guess they already know who they plan to hire. The latest stats on Bristol's jump into the media business show it's a huge loss:
"Bristol, Virginia, operates a municipal communications utility that it launched in 2002. It’s had net operating losses and negative free cash flow each year, which isn’t surprising for a start-up.
What is surprising is the utility’s advertising, programming, and finance costs are all rising faster than expected, making it unlikely it will ever achieve positive free cash flow. It was originally funded by a $15 million revenue bond issue, then refunded in 2004 at $27.5 million, it has borrowed $14.9 million from the electric utility, and it has had operating losses (including cost of capital and interest) of $8.6 million so far." via The Heartland Institute.
And before anyone tells you different, let me state is plainly - I do promotional work for Charter Commnunications, hosting a question and answer program with Charter executives about local issues and general questions about their operations. I am not a paid employee. And yes, this blog is monitored by certain local officials who fear the facts.
That said, if anyone wants to hire me, I am available and searching for jobs, like many many others in Tennessee.
And whatever you earn now, look for more tax hikes and tax bites out of your pay. The school system wants a segregated "international" school it can't pay for, which shifts the burden to county tax-payers, and the city won't even talk about it unless the county commits to funding it. The city is engaged in a wasteful $20 million creation of a cable, internet, and phone company to be operated by the utility system -- have you seen any ads for those jobs?? Nope. Guess they already know who they plan to hire. The latest stats on Bristol's jump into the media business show it's a huge loss:
"Bristol, Virginia, operates a municipal communications utility that it launched in 2002. It’s had net operating losses and negative free cash flow each year, which isn’t surprising for a start-up.
What is surprising is the utility’s advertising, programming, and finance costs are all rising faster than expected, making it unlikely it will ever achieve positive free cash flow. It was originally funded by a $15 million revenue bond issue, then refunded in 2004 at $27.5 million, it has borrowed $14.9 million from the electric utility, and it has had operating losses (including cost of capital and interest) of $8.6 million so far." via The Heartland Institute.
And before anyone tells you different, let me state is plainly - I do promotional work for Charter Commnunications, hosting a question and answer program with Charter executives about local issues and general questions about their operations. I am not a paid employee. And yes, this blog is monitored by certain local officials who fear the facts.
That said, if anyone wants to hire me, I am available and searching for jobs, like many many others in Tennessee.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
There's a Bomb in Your Mouth?
I don't know which is stranger -- the idea of telling people you have a bomb in your mouth as you attempt to rob a bank, or the picture with that story of an explosives robot probing that same dude's mouth.
Taxpayers often know their money goes down the drain, but sometimes the drain itself is a tax recipient. That is one expensive pay toilet.
It also appears that the courts are trying to figure out when, if, or how the name Bill Monroe can be used. Maybe there's a bluegrass song that can explain it all.
Since we're on the subject of music, Sen. Bill Frist somehow managed to sell off his shares of the Jim Reeve's Museum just a week before it was demolished. Sen. Frist, under investigation by the SEC for selling stocks in his daddy's company, apparently became a fan of the legendary Reeves in college and even got tagged with the nickname "sweet lips," after a line from the tune "He'll Have To Go", according to the Nashville Scene. (OK, that one is in The Fabricator section, so it's, well, you know, fabricated. But all the other ones today are real.
Taxpayers often know their money goes down the drain, but sometimes the drain itself is a tax recipient. That is one expensive pay toilet.
It also appears that the courts are trying to figure out when, if, or how the name Bill Monroe can be used. Maybe there's a bluegrass song that can explain it all.
Since we're on the subject of music, Sen. Bill Frist somehow managed to sell off his shares of the Jim Reeve's Museum just a week before it was demolished. Sen. Frist, under investigation by the SEC for selling stocks in his daddy's company, apparently became a fan of the legendary Reeves in college and even got tagged with the nickname "sweet lips," after a line from the tune "He'll Have To Go", according to the Nashville Scene. (OK, that one is in The Fabricator section, so it's, well, you know, fabricated. But all the other ones today are real.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Supreme Cronyism
The president's nomination for the next Supreme Court justice has to be a joke, right? Or pure distraction from all the Bad News over the GOP's corrupt leadership? Maybe a distraction from the 2nd indictment against Rep. Tom DeLay?
Other than being an office-bound ally for first Governor and then President Bush, what knowledge does the nominee have about the Constitution? She's been an attorney, head of the Texas Lottery Corp., and a "pit-bull" in the Bush corner. Yeesh.
What has she done with her career?
"Harriet Miers also introduced Bush to Alberto Gonzales, who served as Bush's counsel in Austin and later in Washington, before being named U.S. attorney general.
Other than being an office-bound ally for first Governor and then President Bush, what knowledge does the nominee have about the Constitution? She's been an attorney, head of the Texas Lottery Corp., and a "pit-bull" in the Bush corner. Yeesh.
What has she done with her career?
"Harriet Miers also introduced Bush to Alberto Gonzales, who served as Bush's counsel in Austin and later in Washington, before being named U.S. attorney general.
During Bush's first term as governor, Gonzales used information turned up by Miers to persuade a local judge to excuse Bush from jury duty, a civic task that would have forced him to disclose his 1976 arrest for drunken driving in Maine. The incident was not divulged until the waning days of Bush's 2000 campaign for the White House."
Other than the achievement of knowing President Bush, this attorney isn't exactly setting the world on fire.
Which One Are You?
After the last few weeks and months of constant bickering and whining by the political parties about who is to blame for one issue or another, I think it is more clear than ever that our current two-party domination of politics is broken and can't correct itself. The constant fundraising excludes any participant not a millionaire, million-dollar fundraiser, lobbyist, or large corporate company. Too often the issue gets ignored and the argument is made that a vast right-wing or left-wing conspiracy is the source of the problem and WHOOSH -- the issue disappears as the elusive "wings" take flight.
I know there are centrists and extremists within both parties, and it has become an easy shorthand to say left, right, Democrat, Republican. Any non-party person who seeks office at any level has as much chance as a snowball in hell of just getting on a ballot. The media - large and small - won't give them a sight of their sacred backsides. Ultimately, we are a people without real choice in elections. Some 15 years ago the nation was eyeing a third party and seeing some success, but that has become a joke. The Libertarian Party has been successful in very limited areas. As voters, we are left with a shrill debate that plays more like a Third grade "Did!" and "Did not!" screaming fit.
I have friends in both parties and they too feel these constrictions, and that should concern us all.
Over the weekend, I noticed some blog folks were using a "test" from an online dating company called OkCupid (sorry, no link for you on my site) to discover their political place. Yeah, if they can get you a date then OF COURSE they can help you define your political views. Yeah, sure.
Let's be honest, here. The corruption is thick and reform is a buzz-word signifying nothing. Think I'm wrong? Then look at this page, which though written in humor, reveals the Third grade argument in clear form. And it should tell you we need some fresh options instead of the exact same debates served up again and again and again and again.
I know there are centrists and extremists within both parties, and it has become an easy shorthand to say left, right, Democrat, Republican. Any non-party person who seeks office at any level has as much chance as a snowball in hell of just getting on a ballot. The media - large and small - won't give them a sight of their sacred backsides. Ultimately, we are a people without real choice in elections. Some 15 years ago the nation was eyeing a third party and seeing some success, but that has become a joke. The Libertarian Party has been successful in very limited areas. As voters, we are left with a shrill debate that plays more like a Third grade "Did!" and "Did not!" screaming fit.
I have friends in both parties and they too feel these constrictions, and that should concern us all.
Over the weekend, I noticed some blog folks were using a "test" from an online dating company called OkCupid (sorry, no link for you on my site) to discover their political place. Yeah, if they can get you a date then OF COURSE they can help you define your political views. Yeah, sure.
Let's be honest, here. The corruption is thick and reform is a buzz-word signifying nothing. Think I'm wrong? Then look at this page, which though written in humor, reveals the Third grade argument in clear form. And it should tell you we need some fresh options instead of the exact same debates served up again and again and again and again.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
True Real Life Fake People
Some years ago, the late, great Frank Zappa called the cable channel "A&E" the "Arms and Entertainment" channel since they aired much more programming about war than the alleged "Art" in their moniker. However, Executive VP of Programming announced this week they were "the home for character driven docusoaps."
The wha? Oh, the new label for "reality shows"!! Docusoap?? I thought that cut down on bacterial infection and had a lemony scent? Maybe its a question a surgery nurse asks doctors on their way to surgery.
Seems their busting with pride at "A&E" over the success of "Growing Up Gotti", so they've given a new show to the promote the TV barnstorming duo of Jim and Tammy Bakker's son. Should have called the show "Son of PTL Lives!!!". They also plan a show about SWAT teams who do jobs that do not actually require "special weapons" or "tactical" assistance. Daring.
ANOTHER BAD IDEA
Ummm .... so OJ Simpson wants to test the waters of celebrity status, 10 years after his acquittal on murder charges, so he goes to a sign autographs at a horror fan convention called "NecroComicon"?? Should he have waited until PBS aired their retrospective on his career. PBS and fan conventions -- a way do raise tens of dollars.
CHECK OUT HER EVIDENCE
The U.S. Supreme Court decided they will hear the much-debated case of whether or not Anna Nicole Smith should inherit money from her dead, ex-husband. Will Chief Justice Roberts allow cameras for her TV show in the courtroom is my question. Maybe the Justices have a bet running on whether they're real or not. Yeah, those.
THIS CAN'T BE A GOOD SIGN
"These phones are made all wrong!!" If the picture doesn't amuse you, then check out the list of nicknames the President has for all those around him. Do your own imitation President voice as you say each fake name out loud and you'll be amused for .... well, a minute or two. (Yes, it's a PhotoShop picture.)
The wha? Oh, the new label for "reality shows"!! Docusoap?? I thought that cut down on bacterial infection and had a lemony scent? Maybe its a question a surgery nurse asks doctors on their way to surgery.
Seems their busting with pride at "A&E" over the success of "Growing Up Gotti", so they've given a new show to the promote the TV barnstorming duo of Jim and Tammy Bakker's son. Should have called the show "Son of PTL Lives!!!". They also plan a show about SWAT teams who do jobs that do not actually require "special weapons" or "tactical" assistance. Daring.
ANOTHER BAD IDEA
Ummm .... so OJ Simpson wants to test the waters of celebrity status, 10 years after his acquittal on murder charges, so he goes to a sign autographs at a horror fan convention called "NecroComicon"?? Should he have waited until PBS aired their retrospective on his career. PBS and fan conventions -- a way do raise tens of dollars.
CHECK OUT HER EVIDENCE
The U.S. Supreme Court decided they will hear the much-debated case of whether or not Anna Nicole Smith should inherit money from her dead, ex-husband. Will Chief Justice Roberts allow cameras for her TV show in the courtroom is my question. Maybe the Justices have a bet running on whether they're real or not. Yeah, those.
THIS CAN'T BE A GOOD SIGN
"These phones are made all wrong!!" If the picture doesn't amuse you, then check out the list of nicknames the President has for all those around him. Do your own imitation President voice as you say each fake name out loud and you'll be amused for .... well, a minute or two. (Yes, it's a PhotoShop picture.)
Friday, September 30, 2005
A Wallace Coleman Friday
Morristown native and master of the blues, Wallace Coleman, got a true education from a radio station - WLAC - whose musical influence is vast and covers many generations. Wallace plays harmonica and sings with an umistakeable voice. His band and own label, Pinto Blue Music, captures those great sounds live and in the studio. I first heard him about 3 years ago - the picture is from his show at the Rose Center - and I had a chance to interview him in January of this year. He's smooth as silk onstage, and makes that harp talk the blues as good as I've ever heard.
From his website, his bio offers a peek into the making of an artist:
"As a youth in eastern Tennessee where country & western music still prevails, Wallace Coleman was instead captivated by the sounds he heard late at night from Nashville’s WLAC….the Blues.
The sounds haunted him by day where, he says, "I would be sittin’ in class and hear the Howlin’ Wolf singin’ just as clear in my head…" It was on WLAC that Coleman first heard those who would become Blues Legends and greatest musical influences: Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters. Laying the guitar foundation on many of those recordings was Robert Jr. Lockwood – a man who, some 25 years in Coleman’s future, would play a role in his musical career.
Moving to Cleveland in 1956, Wallace caught the ear of Robert Lockwood and joined his band, the only harp player to ever join with Lockwood, and he is featured on the Grammy-nominated CD :I Gotta Find Me A Woman." But by then, Wallace was ready to step out on his own. The first two CDs I heard from him are on his own label, Pinto Blue Music, "Live at Joe's" and "Bad Weather Blues" and are always nearby my CD player. He tells a great story of grabbing a bus in Knoxville, TN on the title track of "Bad Weather Blues", and two tunes on the disc showcase his style and his band's easy grasp of cool licks, on his beautiful instrumentals of "Southern Comfort" and his own composition, "Blue Mist".
You can catch his concert schedule on his website, and keep your eyes peeled for annual concerts in east TN usually in Jan. or Feb. It don't get no better.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Good Thoughts From Iraq
I recently added a link to fine fellow from Dandridge who is serving in Iraq, Travis Stuart, and his most recent posts should make every American proud. I think he has a real understanding of what is at the heart of the nation. His comments on Sunday and Monday were outstanding. Here is a little from Sunday's post:
"I read this morning about the Peace March on Washington yesterday, and I think that is a great thing. That is Democracy at it's greatest. That it is why I am proud to defend freedom and serve in the military. Just because the President and his men say it's right, doesn't mean it is so, and these folks have the freedom to express their beliefs. Hooray for them!
In no way do I feel it is a slap in the face for the American Public to demonstrate against the war in Iraq. As I said, that is freedom, and that is what I protect."
Spend some time reading Travis comments and I think you'll find he has a good insight to our world and he can also be pretty funny too.
"I read this morning about the Peace March on Washington yesterday, and I think that is a great thing. That is Democracy at it's greatest. That it is why I am proud to defend freedom and serve in the military. Just because the President and his men say it's right, doesn't mean it is so, and these folks have the freedom to express their beliefs. Hooray for them!
In no way do I feel it is a slap in the face for the American Public to demonstrate against the war in Iraq. As I said, that is freedom, and that is what I protect."
Spend some time reading Travis comments and I think you'll find he has a good insight to our world and he can also be pretty funny too.
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
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.
Monday, September 26, 2005
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!!
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'.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
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.
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.
Friday, September 23, 2005
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
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
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.
Are there biased reports and opinions? Yes -- that's another plus though -- as this returns Thought and Participation to active duty by readers worldwide.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
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.
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)
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.
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.
Monday, September 19, 2005
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 MeasureYo 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!
Sunday, September 18, 2005
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.
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.
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