One Blogger Posts From Life and Death Struggle

However icy or "soggy-bottomed" your heart and soul might be, I dare you to take a few minutes and walk into the world of an East Tennessee blogger who has been posting about something amazing and terrifying - his 29-year-old wife's life and death struggle in the hospital, and his effort to somehow grasp what is happening and what might happen.

The events which have taken place over the course of a few days to blogger Atomic Tumor and his wife, who goes by the name Golden Apple Corp, will dwarf most any problem you have been having. To say it briefly, GAC became ill for some unknown reason and has remained critically ill. She remains so this morning. Many other bloggers in the state have already mentioned this, asking for your best thoughts and prayers and hopes.

I'll happily add my voice to theirs.

Even though AT and GAC and I have never met face to face, we are fine friends - that's what happens when you begin to make daily contact with someone who writes online about themselves and their thoughts. I may only visit online, but I stop there more than once a day, I add my comments, and I discover the world through the eyes of another person.

I know the pain and the worry and the fear devour whole galaxies of thought and emotion for families whose members fill hospitals across the world. These Oak Ridge folks are most fortunate they have many members of family and friends to help them now. But I also know it doesn't seem like Fortune is being their ally at this time.

It takes some kind of unknown ability to do what AT has been doing - not just the minute to minute and hour to hour courage to cope with a critical illness which has ravaged the one he loves - but to write about it so openly, so honestly and with such joy and pain, I know that takes something truly unique.

I've had to deal with it myself recently and here's what I learned: pouring your hurts into an online blog is beyond difficult. To do it at all, much less to do it well, that takes great strength.

You can begin the storyline here - from taking her to the hospital to AT's most recent post. I hope you take the time to read all of the posts of this dire event. That you meet them and their friends at Team AT - Bosphorus, Mrs. Eaves, and many others like me who stop and visit there.

What is being shared is rare and powerful and will take you straight into this struggle. You cannot emerge untouched. You'll meet some amazing people, and adding your hopes can only help.

A few excerpts from a variety of posts:

"She'’s responding again. She hasn'’t opened her eyes, but she squeezed my hand. She raised her eyebrows. She got onto me for self depreciating humor.

I no longer have any doubt that she'’s in there communicating with me. Well, not that I did, based on the last post, but things like this are so hard. I don'’t like not understanding things, and the world that she is in now I don'’t understand.

I hate to leave her. I hate to see her that way. God, I love her."
-----
"I want to tell you guys stories about her, about GAC, but I can'’t think of any. I want to say something that will touch you, something that will make you think of the person in your life, and how things happen out of nowhere, how tennis turns into praying for your wife'’s heathen soul to be allowed into heaven, because I can'’t bear the idea of being separated from her, and because I was sure that her end was imminent.

Guys, this is hard. I'’m too drained to think of any of these stories, and I really want to. I want to for myself.

And I want to cuddle her. I want to breath in the scent of her hair. I want to kiss the back of her neck, and tickle the tiny hairs back there. I want to rub her feet. I want to hear her voice."
-----
"At night, if GAC is sick, it gets a little worse. I hear thats normal, to some extent. Maybe the pull of the sun does something to our cells. I was outside earlier, looking at the sky, and the stars, and the significant things, and thinking about the cells in her body. Thinking about the world in her head. A world bigger than the sun, and the stars.

Somebody once told me that Stephen Hawking said that he believed when you die, you become as a god, because the energy that consciousness is turns inward, or something like that. Maybe it was that because of the whole matter/energy thing. I don'’t remember.

How many days can be like today? How many people go through this, silently, in the next car. When the world is normal, and you'’re worried about getting to work on time, or realized you forgot a dental appointment, or just mad at your wife for something stupid that you don'’t remember, how many people around you are feeling this?"

-----
"At night, when everybody else is asleep, I'’m going to let the gravity of this hit me, and I'’ll write posts like I did. Tonight I want to tell you how we met. I have a lot of stories, and I want to share them, if you'’ll listen. Or if not, don'’t really matter. I like writing.

Ironically, writing is easy. A few weeks ago I was in a bit of a funk, and couldn'’t write much. Now I can'’t stop my fingers."

"Thanks for being there. I can feel you, peering through the 1s and 0s into my grief and my terror.

GAC will read this, right?"

Again, I hope you take some time to read all of his posts and the comments from around the Web.

I hope most of all that GAC gets all her health and strength back soon, that she is in the arms of the man who loves her, surrounded by her children and her family and friends who value her above all the wealth in the world.

UPDATE: The latest post for this Monday morning is here. AT updates often , so please add your hopes and prayers just as often.

Haggard's 'Prick and Anguish'

As I told some friends recently, the only Haggard I have ever liked was named Merle.

So this Ted Haggard - a political evangelical who met with the President on Mondays to make sure the Conservatives had the votes from the megachurch madness crowd - is yet another gay-basher who is apparently gay. Or wrestling with the question of being gay or not, while campaigning the government for ways to stop gays from being married.

Yes, the jokes were all over the Web yesterday and will be for some time. In some of the back and forth laughter at a Fallen Neo-Con Angel, I made the comment that I think many church folk secretly wish for a flawed, hypocritical pastor. It humanizes the pastor and makes the membership rest a little easier with their own Sin.

Just recall the sexcapades of Bakker, Swaggart, etc etc.

And then I was presented this fine excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter:

". . . the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale had achieved a brilliant popularity in his sacred office. He won it, indeed, in great part, by his sorrows. His . . . power of experiencing and communicating emotion, were kept in a state of preternatural activity by the prick and anguish of his daily life."

See, even the earliest Americans knew about the dangers of a political "moral majority" (which isn't either one).

Camera Obscura - Simspons Horror; Feast; Slither

Come this way, down thru the lowest section of the basement where the lights sputter and grow dim, the steps leading down turn slightly slimy and slippery, where the hand-rail disappears. It's all old down here and it's all new, too.

Shhhh .... don't be afraid. It is possible for just about anything to survive.

This is one of the oldest parts of the house, and I can often be found here, relaxing and watching movies. See, it's more dry here. There are some very comfortable chairs. What? Oh, no, don't worry about finding your way back. Sit, please, sit down. I have some leftover Halloween candy if you.... no?

We'll find our way back out soon enough.

Now let's see... ah yes, first at little comedy, a little laugh to put you more at ease, yes?

Sunday marks the 17th time that "The Simpsons" provides their annual Halloween "Treehouse of Horror" episode. Of course, due to football and baseball, this Halloween event usually takes place in November. Sort of spooky time-traveling, I suppose. This year offers you a chance to make a Simpsons video clip.

And you can win some prizes too - decide which clips to use, which sound effects and music to add at this site, where you can make your own Treehouse of Horror clip. Try it, you'll find out just how easy it is to make a little horror tale. Kang and Kodos will help you!

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A new movie is on DVD which was actually the third in the "Project Greenlight" series, a lame event meant to give new directors a chance to work their movie magic. Not one of them has done well, and this last one is easily the best of the bunch. It's a plain and simple horror genre movie called "Feast."

It almost plays out like a comedy/video game. The movie starts and you are introduced to the characters when the camera freezes on them, gives you some snarky titles cards with info on who they are and what their chances are of surviving this movie -- most fare quite badly in that category.

They are all in a run-down and seedy bar one night when two people rush inside, freaking out. They speak weird warnings of strange things attacking them. And then the 'things' attack. There are no real reasons offered as to what these things are, why the couple is being chased, what is happening at all -- characters are lined up and taken out in, as I said, a video game-style shootout. The filmmaking is very much on the cheap, so there are lots of Sam Raimi styled shaky camera shots and buckets of gore and blood.

The movie stars Balthazar Getty, Henry Rollins, Jason Mewes and Krista Allen.

Don't expect much, and you may just enjoy this one.
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Another new one for DVD has arrived as one of the best-reviewed films of the year and yes, of course, it is a grim and grisly gallows-humored entry called "Slither". How do I say this next part? How about this -- this is one of those movies where "people blow up real good."

A meteorite falls to other with a gooey thing inside of it. Director/writer James Gunn, who made the very fine remake of "Dawn of the Dead" has made an explosive (really) salute to B-movies and horror films from several decades. Actor Michael Rooker gets some kind of infected alien dart-dealie in his neck and turns murderous and ... horrifically obese.

Simple-minded folk face off against slugs by the thousands which turn everyone into zombiefied, tentacled and pregnant time-bombs. A little bit of "The Blob" and "Alien" and some of Cronenberg's cult-classic "They Came From Within" and again, buckets of gore and blood are here. Actor Nathan Fillion ("Firefly") takes the lead and has a great time as does the rest of the cast.

"Don't let 'em in yer mouth!!"
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What? You want to leave?

Okay by me. You can find your own way out, can't you? I've got a few more movies to watch here. I hope you don't mind making your own way back.

Here, take this before you leave -- it's a little preview of a movie called "The Invisible." It's by David Goyer ("Blade", "Batman Begins") and the producers of "The Sixth Sense." Just a little ghost story. I do like the main character's name.

You be careful and I'll see you again.

Soon.

UPDATE: Told you I'd be back!

I was just reading a story that Newscoma had on her blog about asshat Bill O'Reilly trying to use the popularity of a horror movie like the "Saw" series to boost his over-inflated ego.

Check out her post here and you can also read the thoughts I had about the story on her comments. I'm not giving the asshat the satisfaction of saying what I think twice. Plus, Newscoma has a great photo from the horror movie "The Head That Would Not Die" which you should see.

Six Words Make Science Fiction Story

Wired magazine puts together an impressive collection of short stories -- very short stories. All six words long. All science fiction. I sent this to some friends via email, but thought, why not share it here too?

Some samples and their authors:

Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.
- William Shatner

Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

Kirby had never eaten toes before.
- Kevin Smith

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
- William Gibson

Tick tock tick tock tick tick.
- Neal Stephenson

Read the whole collection here. (And be sure to read the six-word Hemingway story mentioned in the article.)

Nielsens Say GOP Dominates Internet

The ratings company used to gauge television is now examining the internet and their report from yesterday says Republicans dominate the online community - declaring that of all those online, 36.6 percent are Republican, 30.8 percent are Democrats and 17.3 percent Independents.

More on the issue of Nielsen ratings for online users in a moment - first, though, whatever the report may declare I see something much different. Their own numbers show 48.1 percent of those online are not Republicans. And yet add all the politicized numbers of adults online and you get a total of 84.7 percent. That leaves 15.3 percent.

More number fun -- add 15.3 percent to the 48.1 percent not Republican and you have 63.4 percent. So the Nielsen headline is "Republicans Outnumber Democrats Online." True, but non-Republicans outnumber the GOP 63.4 percent to 36.6 percent.

I loved this paragraph in the report:

" Perhaps contrary to assumptions about who's a Democrat and who's a Republican, neither party seemed to favor a particular gender or age group. Among racial groups, African Americans skewed Democratic; with a composition index of 231, they were over twice as likely to be Democratic as the average Web user. Asians were 36 percent more likely than the average Web user to be Democratic, and Hispanics were 28 percent more likely. White people were slightly more likely to be Republican."

If asked, I would respond that I am an Independent - I don't belong to a Party. I do know the Party that has controlled the House and Senate for the last 12 years and all 3 branches of government for the last 6 years have failed at the job of representation. I've not seen the country this forced into divisive camps since about 1968 when American cities were on fire and assassinations were all over the news.

As for politicizing the Internet, I told a friend recently what I enjoyed most on the Web were all the varied political opinions and expressions being presented. For the first time in my lifetime, I can see/read/hear opinion that is not filtered through television or radio programming distortions or newspaper control of information.

And I think that scares the bejesus out of media conglomerates and government. Free expression is a wild and untamed thing, but without it this is not truly a free country. It's a controlled and caged beast looking for ways to run free again.

My friend reminded me of the early days of our nation, when "pamphleteers" shared information about the world and the events around us. Men like Thomas Paine, and yes, there is a website named for him which I often read and urge others to do as well.

And just this week, the Pentagon announced they are working 24-7 to observe and create information for the internet:

"The Pentagon press secretary, Eric Ruff, says part of the new effort will focus on getting the Defense Department'’s viewpoint into new media, such as Internet blogs and podcasts, and also to provide department officials for more radio and television programs. At a briefing, he denied a reporter'’s suggestion that the department is trying to go around reporters for major news organizations who cover the Pentagon on a regular basis."

So there is much emphasis for the Nielsen Media Reasearch Company to corral the World Wild Web -- control is the goal, not observation. Make no mistake, the web is a media that is manipulated -- but almost anyone can do it, you don't have to be a publisher or a broadcaster. You just need a computer and an internet connection and you're off to pretty much define your own worldview.

Tens of thousands of Bloggers are daily and hourly providing information, opinion and debate. I think an America with literate and computer literate writers have already helped improve our country and that should be allowed to flourish and grow and not be subjected to the needs of any one or half-dozen media manipulators.

Having started web surfing in 1992 and working on this wee page for some 15 months, I have barely scratched the surface of all that is possible, seen only an infinitely small portion of the immense world of wired residents. I'm very much a clumsy infant in this world, but for the most part, I still am allowed the freedom to explore as I wish.

Write like ya mean it. It is a rare time and who knows how long it will run free?

Praying For A Senate Seat

Laura Bush campaigned for Bob Corker in Kingsport this week and spoke in glowing generalized terms of what a fine Senator he would be. Given the event was held on very GOP-friendly ground, nothing need be said to convince anyone to vote for Corker -- it was more of a photo op and fundraising event. Ford has had his events as well.

But this comment from Corker in the Kingsport-Times News report did get my attention:

"The FEC (Federal Election Commission) makes you say that thing ‘I'm Bob Corker, and I approved this message.'" Corker told Republicans. "In fact what I'm hearing all across the state of Tennessee is that parents and grandparents tell me they will ask Johnny or Sally or whoever the young person is to say the blessing. They will say ‘Please bless this food. Please bless our family. Please keep us safe and secure. (Then they will say) I'm Bob Corker, and I approved this message.'"

Perhaps the kids have a better handle on government and religion than given credit for.

And as Tom Humphrey noted, Corker says he's been praying a lot.

"Corker also stopped in Wilson County, just east of Nashville, to support an elementary school that faces a lawsuit for allowing a group called Praying Parents to meet there.

"I think any school would be so pleased to have parents who gather once a month - not in the presence of students - praying to give the faculty and students strength and guidance," Corker said.

"We all know the strength that comes from prayer; I pray 10-12 times a day on the campaign trail," Corker said.

At the time Corker met with that group, Ford was holding a meeting with "Faith Night At The Polls."

I suppose it's time to tweak to the old adage - "There are no atheists in voting booths".

Military Standards for Service Lower Than Ever

So just how miniscule and short is the attention of the national press? The hysteria over what Senator Kerry said about being "stuck in Iraq" is getting more press than the war itself. I expect the knee-jerk reactions of ReBlogLicans to squeal out in angry agony.

However --

Last week, the press and even the military itself, was expressing grave concerns over the lowering of standards used to reach military recruitment goals. Here's an article from The Marine Corps Times:

"They’re meeting their numbers in the short term, but doing it in a way that doesn’t bode well for the future,” said Peter Singer, a senior fellow in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, an independent research and policy institute.

“They’re lowering their requirements and taking in a greater number of people who would not have made the cut previously,” such as CAT IVs, Singer said.

CAT IVs are potential enlistees who have earned the lowest scores on the aptitude test.

“Studies show that CAT IVs don’t make as good a soldier,” said Singer. They have a harder time shooting straight and succeeding at complicated tasks, he said.

“These are the folks who tend to get into more trouble, as well,” he said. “Pvt. Steven Green is the best example.”

Green, along with four other soldiers, is in federal prison for allegedly raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killing three of her family members. He was a high school dropout with behavioral problems and run-ins with law enforcement before he enlisted in the Army.

“This is a kid who would’ve washed out in the past under the old standards. That raises some concerns.”

Singer said “the wash out” rate for basic training in 2005 was 18.1 percent. In 2006, it dropped to 7.6 percent. That means roughly 10 percent of people who would have washed out before are now in the military, he said.

“The Army also doubled the numbers of non-high school graduates it took this year,” he said.

And the military isn’t just lowering standards, he said.

“They’re dumping an enormous amount of resources and manpower into recruiting. They’re making a greater effort, lowering standards and they’re still just eking it out.”

Marshall, the local Marine Corps recruiting station commander, said his branch is as exclusive as it’s always been.

“We haven’t lowered our ASVAB standards or increased our age limit to foster numbers like the Army has,” he said, as eager teens ran through obstacle course stations around him. “We don’t sell technical skills or college funds — we sell the opportunity to be a Marine.”

However, he did admit concern about the overall quality of the military.

“The lowering of standards is going to lead to a long-term problem in terms of leadership and understanding the mission,” he said. “If you got someone who scored a 21 on the ASVAB, how can he understand our technical manuals or the mission from the commander? We don’t write it in fifth-grade English.”

Eugene White, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served for 24 years, including two tours as a platoon leader in Vietnam, said he was concerned with the number of medical and criminal waivers being issued for enlistees.

“When you talk about people who are obese or have criminal records from my perspective as a platoon leader, they require a higher degree of care and maintenance,” said White, who now works as a military analyst for a private corporation.

He’s less concerned about soldiers who don’t have a high school diploma.

“I’ve met a lot of soldiers with GEDs who are better trained than high school grads,” he said.

Candidate Charges Bush With Treason

Charges of Treason have been brought against President Bush and others by third party candidate for congress Robert Smith here in the 1st District. He promised to do this back at the beginning of the campaign and says on his blog he filed the paperwork in October.

"At noon today I stood inside the federal courthouse here in Greeneville, TN. I made sure the Marshals knew I was charging Treason by the President and his enabelers. I demanded that the specifics be forwarded to where they could be acted upon."

The formal charge (and a press conference, if he can get the press interested) is planned for Nov. 7th in Greeneville, according to this post by Newscoma.

Hispanics Transforming Tennessee

"Blending cultures is an uncomfortable idea for many people here. It's just too new, for one thing. But the number of Hispanic children in the Hamblen County school system is growing dramatically with every passing year, and school is where the blending usually starts.

``We're going to be the group that changes the mentality in our town,'' school district Director Dale Lynch vowed.

In the early 1990s, Hamblen County schools enrolled maybe 35 students a year whose primary language was Spanish. The numbers exploded in the past five years.

This year, 11 percent of the children enrolled districtwide are Hispanic, and about three-quarters of them need help learning English.

Sitting on a table in Lynch's office is the book Help! They Don't Speak English Starter Kit. But he could also use a manual on dealing with parents angry about the extra cost of educating non-English-speaking students.

``We didn't see rebellion from parents until it became an issue with the county commissioners,'' Lynch said.

$6,800 per child

The school district budget is funded by the county, and former Commissioner Tom Lowe stirred up a tempest last year when he began lobbying for the federal government to pay the county's share of educating non-English-speaking students.

Officials said it costs about $6,800 a year to educate a child in the district and that they do not separate into a separate budget category the additional cost of teaching non-English-speaking students. Clearly they're reluctant to display an amount of money that would trigger more hard feelings in the community.

Beginning in December, the district plans to provide half-day intensive language training at an ``International Center'' for about 120 students a day, those with the least-developed English skills."

The above is an excerpt from one of a series of stories on the rise in Hispanic residents in Hamblen County from Houston Chronicle reporter Kim Cobb.

More of that article here, with additional stories here on immigrants and farming In Hamblen County, and other reports here, here and here.

I spoke and emailed with Kim numerous times over the last few months as she worked on putting the series together. It is by far some of the most in-depth examination of legal and illegal immigrants in East Tennessee. She noted the one irony in this cultural change which I have seen as well -- jobs disappeared in the 1990s into Latin America and then in the late 1990s, Latin America began to relocate here - for better pay, better health care, better lives.

There are sadly many misperceptions about immigrant communities, but the fact remains the same - the change has already happened. Some residents are simply angry that change has occurred. Most are adapting to a larger Hispanic community, finding ways to assist them in almost every level of business and culture.

I just wonder why it took a reporter from Texas to find the will to develop and report the issues.

One part of the series discussses the major federal case which East Tennessee media has barely bothered to report - the Garcia Labor indictment.

"But the federal government nabbed a big fish in July, obtaining indictments of the owner of a Morristown-based agency supplying temporary workers to factories and farms throughout the region on charges that he operated a "large-scale illegal-alien-employment and money-laundering scheme."

Prosecutors charged that Garcia Labor Co. Inc. knowingly hired about 1,000 illegal immigrants for an air cargo company in nearby Ohio and brought some of them from Mexico to take the jobs.

Max Garcia and two other company executives pleaded guilty this month, agreed to forfeit $12 million in company earnings and face up to 10 years in prison.

Now there is an obvious question: Did Garcia have a personnel pipeline running between Mexico and Morristown, too?"

Happy Halloween!

I cannot imagine a Halloween without a peek at the handiwork of Tennessee Jed, who carves a sort of Memorial Pumpkin each year. This year's choice is a standout. Check it out.

Next stop is Rex L. Camino, who has details on "How to Build Your Own Bona Fide Real Undead Zombie." As Rex says,

"I should also point out that I’m in no way advocating that you turn another human being into a zombie. Don’t get me wrong, that would totally kick ass, but I’m officially telling you that, although there is no specific law against zombie making, there is probably something illegal within the process."

And until Viacom makes them take away all their products from YouTube, then enjoy:

Losing

For a day or two now I've been trying to find the language to express just how distorted and lost my home has become. My home was once a revolutionary country - one with problems aplenty as history shows. But it was revolutionary because it was a defender of Liberty and Freedom and bound by laws. In the scope of human history, I told myself in search of some comfort, America did much in a very short time.

In civics and history classes, the ideas and ideals which were the bedrock of America were constant. Flaws were found, for they exist in even the best of intentions, but I saw a country moving into such better reckoning, realizing that not just landowners and not just white males had Liberty, Freedom and lawful protection. For a while, it was as if the vast majority of this country both understood that and worked ceaselessly to achieve it.

Now the thoughts in our national capitol and in the minds of too many well-educated citizens are tuned to a single note - Fear.

Leaders locally and nationally have shown contempt for our bedrock ideals. The most unnerving and shocking example of this is tucked away in a bill quietly signed into law by President Bush - a worthy bill containing pay increases for the military, accountability for (some) government contractors, better housing a military bases.

But then there's this section which leaps backwards hundreds of years - a little paragraph which eliminates the rights of states and grants to the President and the President alone authority to send in military troops into any town, city or state, regardless of whether a town city or state requests or requires such might.

Public Law 109-364, in Section 333 states:

"The President may employ the armed forces, including the National Guard in Federal service, to--

`(A) restore public order and enforce the laws of the United States when, as a result of a natural disaster, epidemic, or other serious public health emergency, terrorist attack or incident, or other condition in any State or possession of the United States, the President determines that--

`(i) domestic violence has occurred to such an extent that the constituted authorities of the State or possession are incapable of maintaining public order; and

`(ii) such violence results in a condition described in paragraph (2); or

`(B) suppress, in a State, any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy if such insurrection, violation, combination, or conspiracy results in a condition described in paragraph (2).

`(2) A condition described in this paragraph is a condition that--

`(A) so hinders the execution of the laws of a State or possession, as applicable, and of the United States within that State or possession, that any part or class of its people is deprived of a right, privilege, immunity, or protection named in the Constitution and secured by law, and the constituted authorities of that State or possession are unable, fail, or refuse to protect that right, privilege, or immunity, or to give that protection; or

`(B) opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws.

`(3) In any situation covered by paragraph (1)(B), the State shall be considered to have denied the equal protection of the laws secured by the Constitution.

The Senate passed this unanimously. 23 members of Congress voted against it. Since the bill contains regulations on hundreds of changes, I'm sure some would say that "overall, this is a good bill." That is a sheer lie:

"On September 19th, a lone Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) noted that 2007's Defense Authorization Act contained a "widely opposed provision to allow the President more control over the National Guard [adopting] changes to the Insurrection Act, which will make it easier for this or any future President to use the military to restore domestic order WITHOUT the consent of the nation's governors."

Senator Leahy went on to stress that, "we certainly do not need to make it easier for Presidents to declare martial law. Invoking the Insurrection Act and using the military for law enforcement activities goes against some of the central tenets of our democracy. One can easily envision governors and mayors in charge of an emergency having to constantly look over their shoulders while someone who has never visited their communities gives the orders."

A few weeks later, on the 29th of September, Leahy entered into the Congressional Record that he had "grave reservations about certain provisions of the fiscal Year 2007 Defense Authorization Bill Conference Report," the language of which, he said, "subverts solid, longstanding posse comitatus statutes that limit the military's involvement in law enforcement, thereby making it easier for the President to declare martial law." This had been "slipped in," Leahy said, "as a rider with little study," while "other congressional committees with jurisdiction over these matters had no chance to comment, let alone hold hearings on, these proposals."

More here.

I know some may argue that the failure of the Federal response to Hurricane Katrina makes such changes necessary. But let's remember that this president staffed FEMA's leadership with idiots who had zero working knowledge of responding to natural disaster. Hundreds of long-time FEMA staffers quit their jobs in disgust and, no surprise, the argument was then made that FEMA should just be a part of Homeland Security -- which is now responsible for flu vaccines and responses to tornadoes and ... what was that other thing?? Oh, yeah, Terrorism.

My home, my country, was once known as the "home of the brave."

Today, it is home of the terrified.

So terrified, that both leaders and citizens are willing to abandon any belief or any law if they feel, for the moment, it might provide an illusion of safety. They have abandoned reason.

I do understand know why so many voices on Right-Wing Radio and Newspapers and Cable networks and Blogs all sound as if they are shrieks of fear. They are fearful. And they appear to fear everything.

They have no confidence in themselves, their country, in Liberty or Freedom or Law. In their hearts, they feel only loss and terror.

Such people are like those who are drowning, and when a rescuer appears to help them, they will likely attempt to drown that person as well due to their relentless panic.

YouTube Yanks Comedy Central Clips

It really isn't a surprise to me that video clips are being yanked off YouTube within days of their purchase by Google. One can imagine Google's attorneys wailing and warning about copyright lawsuits -- something I'm sure they did before the purchase. And I imagine the meetings ended with "we'll deal with that AFTER we buy them."

Via Digg today, reports claim YouTube is yanking clips from Comedy Central's "The Daily Show", The Colbert Report" and "South Park."

I did a bit of checking today and found that many older clips are currently available, but many recent clips are now gone. Given that thousands and thousands of clips are available, it may take them some time to remove them all.

Lawyers cited the dreaded Digital Millenium Copyright Act as justification for the removal. The far-reaching law can also prevent industry professionals from even speaking at conferences about issues related to digital research. More here.

So until the clips are all gone, here is a fine conversation between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert of the Real Threat in America - bloggers:

Camera Obscura - Top Funny Horror Movies

When the holiday of Halloween occurs so close to an election day, it's rather difficult to conjure creeps and shivers which could compete with candidates and nefarious unnamed committees

Given the surreal absurdity of politics and the dread of the voter, it seems a fine time to offer a list of some of the Funniest Horror Movies. Please feel free to add your favorites. Oh, and just because the movies mentioned here do have humorous qualities - some can still scare you witless.

THE TOP TEN

10. PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE -- I never tire of watching this aberrant attempt at filmmaking. It truly is so awful it is completely hilarious. The writing, the acting, the sets, the narration, the plot, just every thing about it will make anyone laugh. Can anyone even understand a word that Tor Johnson says? Rumor has it that the TV host Vampira spoke no words in the movie because she said the writing was so bad it could ruin her career to utter the lines. Like many a classic comedy, it gets funnier every time you watch it. The pie-plate flying saucers on strings wiggling across the tiny sets, the shower curtain that serves as a doorway to an airplane cockpit and lines like:

"Colonel Tom Edwards: Why is it so important that you want to contact the governments of our earth?
Eros: Because of death. Because all you of Earth are idiots.
Jeff Trent: Now you just hold on, Buster "

Sheer genius.

9. BEETLEJUICE - A box office hit with bona fide stars, directed by Tim Burton, this movie has much in it's favor - like The Handbook For The Recently Deceased, which reads like "stereo instructions." I also liked the football team killed in a crash who just can't fathom that they are dead. Great satire on many levels, and the scabby, crusty Beetlejuice performance from Michael Keaton: "I got demons runnin' alll through me!!"

8. RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD - This movie's ending gets really scary, but what fun to be had along the way! Start with the medical warehouse where the movie is set as actor James Karen goes into a screaming panic when he realizes a canister containing a zombie has broken open. Karen nearly steals this movie, closely followed by actor Don Calfa as a mortician who reluctantly agrees to help burn the pieces of a zombie in his crematory - which creates an instant rainstorm which brings even more zombies back to life. Famous for the introduction of the line "Braaaaaaains" from a zombie, and my favorite, when a zombie gets on the radio from an ambulance and says "Send more paramedics!"

7. EVIL DEAD 2 - Yes, numbers 7 and 6 are pretty much a tie for Sam Raimi's hilarious antics of poor Ash (Bruce Campbell) fighting off demons from some comedy one-liner Hell. Make no mistake, Campbell turns in a performance worthy of Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton or any comic legend. He cuts off his demon-possessed hand, then has to chase it all over the house as it taunts him and makes goofy noises. Prior to cutting it off, the hand proceeds to bash the hell out of Ash's head with so many dinner plates you'd think this cabin he's in is a warehouse for a restaurant. Gory and comedy non-stop.

6. ARMY OF DARKNESS - And Campbell and director Raimi don't stop - poor Ash is sucked into a demon dimension and of course Prophecy says he will save the medieval world he is trapped in. He is attacked by tiny two-inch high Ash-clones, has his faced nearly sucked into a demon vortex and has a shotgun on one hand and a chainsaw welded to the other. Plus, he wows the crowds with lines like:

"Now listen up, you primitive screwheads. See this? This... is my boomstick! The 12-gauge double-barreled Remington. S-Mart's top of the line. You can find this in the sporting goods department. That's right, this sweet baby was made in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Retails for about $109.95. It's got a walnut stock, cobalt blue steel, and a hair trigger. That's right. Shop smart. Shop S-Mart. You *got* that?"

5. DEAD-ALIVE - Before he fund fame as the director of "Lord of the Rings", Peter Jackson made some very strange, very funny and very gory movies. Bitten by a Giant Rat of Sumatra, the hero's mom turns into a flesh-eating zombie, which our hero tries to protect. Bad idea. Plenty of jokes are here, especially the local preacher, Father McGruder, who fights the zombies with his kung-fu skills. Oh and there is the scene where the hero takes a roaring lawnmower to a room full of zombies. Unforgettable (but be warned - this is a clear-the-room gorefest).

4. HIDE AND CREEP - Made in Alabama a few years ago for about $1.95 and cheered by Kevin Smith, the story presents a simple set-up. What happens when the dead begin to come to life in a town full of dim-witted hicks? Lots of zombie-movie jokes and it may be the first movie to be labeled a "zomcom."

3. GHOSTBUSTERS - Another big box office hit, with a hilarious script ("Here's your mucus, Egon!") and many other quotable lines. It's a modern version of the old Bob Hope horror comedy "Ghostbreakers", plus it spawned a terrible sequel and an animated series. And that song that Would Not Die.

2. SHAUN OF THE DEAD - If you haven't seen this one, run as fast as your feets can go and grab a copy. This British comedy makes it quite clear that it is rather difficult to determine just who a zombie might be as so many people drift so lifelessly thru the day. Once our "heroes" figure out what's happening, their plan is ... well, not so much a plan as a desire to hide out in a pub. And even in the worst of times, there is always time for friends to argue.

1. YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN - A masterwork of moviemaking from Mel Brooks, which makes careful homage to all the old Universal horror movies of the 30s and 40s. And it's "Fronkenstein!" And of course, "Eyegore" and not "Igor."
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If you are rushed for time and don't have the chance to see a full length horror comedy, then try this one out - "Night of the Living Dead" in 30 seconds acted by bunnies.

"Masters of Horror" Back For 2nd Season

Ah, Halloween - the annual return of, as AT said, "the best banner ever!"

Thanks, AT - it was created for just this holiday last year by The Editor.

And it serves to herald the return of an excellent series of one-hour specials on Showtime, which begins again on Friday the 27th of October. I've got a full rundown of episodes and info about each show. And how best to introduce these fright-fests featuring the work of Dario Argento, Tobe Hooper and more? Why, via the pen of William Shakespeare, who wrote:

" 'Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world."




Ok, now the episodes:

Oct. 27th -

“The Damned Thing” by R.C. Matheson. - 10/27/2006

An unknown monstrous force descends upon a small Texas town, turning husband against wife, brother against sister, parent against child. Tortured by his own tragic past, Sheriff Kevin Reddle (SEAN PATRICK FLANERY) must overcome his horrific rage if he is to restore order. MARISA COUGHLAN and TED RAIMI also star in this apocalyptic tale of terror.

Tobe Hooper (“The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” “Poltergeist”) directs.

Nov. 3 -

“Family” by Brent Hanley. - 11/3/2006

The Fullers (MEREDITH MONROE and MATT KEESLAR), a young married couple, move to a new town and discovers that their neighbor, Harold Thompson (GEORGE WENDT), is not what he seems. He putters away at his hobbies; however, his passion is anything but innocent. The Fullers will soon know what evil lurks in the depth of suburban basements.

John Landis (“American Werewolf in London ,” “Thriller”) directs.

Nov. 10 -

“The V Word” by Mick Garris. -11/10/2006

When two teenage boys break into a mortuary in hope of seeing a dead body, the macabre punishment visited upon them will far outweigh their crime. Instead of fulfilling their morbid curiosity, the boys are attacked by a rampaging vampire (MICHAEL IRONSIDE) and must ultimately decide whether to sacrifice themselves or survive as blood-thirsty killers.

Ernest Dickerson (“Bones,” “Demon Knight”) directs.

Nov. 17 -

“Sounds Like" by Brad Anderson- 11/17/2006

Quality control supervisor Larry Pearce (CHRIS BAUER) spends his days monitoring the nuances of his tech support staff's telephone conversations… listening is his life. However, when grief over his son's death leads to a supernaturally heightened sense of sound, Larry is forced to take violent action to silence the horrific cacophony in his head. Its “The Tell-Tale Heart” meets “The Conversation” in this tale of psychological terror based on Mike O'Driscoll's short story. LAURA MARGOLIS also stars.

Brad Anderson (“The Machinist,” “Session 9”) directs.

Nov 24 -

“Pro-Life” by Drew McWeeny & Scott Swan - 11/24/2006

A near-accident on an isolated mountain road lands young Angelique (CAITLIN WACHS) in a nearby women's health clinic. As her fervently anti-abortion father Dwayne (RON PERLMAN) and his well-armed three sons attempt to “liberate” Angelique, she discovers that the only thing more dangerous than her would-be saviors is the demonic seed growing within her. MARK FEUERSTEIN and EMMANUELLE VAUGIER also star.

John Carpenter (“Halloween,” “The Thing”) directs.

Dec. 1 -

“Pelts” by Matt Venne.- 12/1/2006

Fur trader Jake Feldman (MEATLOAF) knows that you can't make a coat without breaking a few animals' necks. In his pursuit to make the perfect fur coat to win over a woman, Feldman steals supernatural raccoon pelts that violently turn against those that covet them. “The skin trade” gets a whole new twist in this Giallo-style adaptation of F. Paul Wilson's short story. JOHN SAXON also stars.

Dario Argento (“Suspiria,” “Terror at the Opera”) directs.

Dec. 8 -

“The Screwfly Solution” by Sam Hamm. - 12/8/2006

Based on the short story by Raccoona Sheldon, a deadly virus infects the nation, transforming men into psychotic killers who attack every woman that crosses their paths. A suburban housewife and her teenage daughter embark on a treacherous journey to survive, but how can they protect themselves from an entire gender gone mad? JASON PRIESTLY and ELLIOT GOULD star.

Joe Dante (“The Howling,” “Gremlins”) directs.

The official link to the Showtime site is here.

Other entries include an adapation of a David Schow story directed by Tom Holland, and Stuart Gordon is adapting Poe's "The Black Cat" which he will also direct.

Ban! You're It!

I imagine in the future a statue will be created (by committee of the self-congratulatory) to honor the parents who decided the childhood game of Tag was The Most Dangerous Game.

Now if we can just create a state or federal law to prevent children from falling down -- and why not a Ban on The Wedgie? Just imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth from lawyers and inattentive parents such an act will provide.

And this whole "recess" idea is surely a commie-liberal plot to enforce class warfare, isn't it?

Studies in early childhood development offer a variety of reasons "recess" provides vital constructive education:


"The delights of the outdoors are among the deepest, most passionate joys of childhood; however increasing demands on parents working outside of the home have resulted in growing numbers of children with less time to play under adult supervision in their neighborhoods or in their yards. Instead, they are spending more time behind locked doors watching television, playing video and computer games, and as recent studies have shown, growing obese. Other children often have afternoon schedules full of structured activities, including music, dance instruction, drama classes, and tennis lessons.

Compounding the dilemma is a trend among many public school districts throughout the United States to eliminate recess in elementary schools. Those doing away with outdoor activity claim that it is a waste of time better spent on academics, that playground injuries promote lawsuits, that children are at an increased risk of coming in contact with threatening strangers while outdoors, and that there is a shortage of teachers and volunteers willing to supervise play activities.

While these concerns are valid, school recess is often the only time during the work week that children are able to be carefree--a time when their bodies and voices are not under tight control.

It is a widely held view that unstructured physical play is a developmentally appropriate outlet for reducing stress in children's lives, and research shows that physical activity improves children's attentiveness and decreases restlessness. Following are a few reasons why school administrators should carefully consider the benefits of outdoor play before eliminating recess from their curriculum.

1. Play is an active form of learning that unites the mind, body, and spirit. Until at least the age of nine, children's learning occurs best when the whole self is involved.
2. Play reduces the tension that often comes with having to achieve or needing to learn. In play, adults do not interfere and children relax.
3. Children express and work out emotional aspects of everyday experiences through unstructured play.
4. Children permitted to play freely with peers develop skills for seeing things through another person's point of view--cooperating, helping, sharing, and solving problems.
5. The development of children's perceptual abilities may suffer when so much of their experience is through television, computers, books, worksheets, and media that require only two senses. The senses of smell, touch, and taste, and the sense of motion through space are powerful modes of learning.
6. Children who are less restricted in their access to the outdoors gain competence in moving through the larger world. Developmentally, they should gain the ability to navigate their immediate environs (in safety) and lay the foundation for the courage that will enable them eventually to lead their own lives.

Our society has become increasingly complex, but there remains a need for every child to feel the sun and wind on his cheek and engage in self paced play. Children's attempts to make their way across monkey bars, negotiate the hopscotch course, play jacks, or toss a football require intricate behaviors of planning, balance, and strength--traits we want to encourage in children. Ignoring the developmental functions of unstructured outdoor play denies children the opportunity to expand their imaginations beyond the constraints of the classroom.

Ban the Ban!

Speaker Hastert Gives Davis A Boost

Forget all the scandals, forget the stunts Speaker Hastert made to hide the scandals of poor Mark Foley, forget the failures in Iraq, just ignore all the failures of the GOP and just send GOP Congressional 1st District candidate Davis into office because .... well, he's a Republican.

Given that few if any GOP candidates want Hastert anywhere near their campaigns, Davis cozied up to Davis for one purpose - raise money,

"The Illinois Republican, after speaking to about 500 Northeast Tennessee Republicans on behalf of 1st Congressional District GOP nominee David Davis, said the war and Foley scandal are overshadowing Republicans' good job performance with the economy."But, yeah, I think we can hold on to the majority," said Hastert, who indicated he would like to run for House speaker again.

TN Democrat chairman, Bob Tuke, on the other hand, spoke about the massive failures of the Hastert leadership:

"Hastert has been the guiding hand over a U.S. House that is rank with corruption. From the financial misdeeds of (former lobbyist) Jack Abramoff, (former congressmen) '‘Duke' Cunningham, and Bob Ney to the reprehensible sexual misconduct of Mark Foley, Hastert and his people have run wild," Tuke said. "They thumb their noses at our values, and they have no respect for common decency. ... Do these Republicans believe in honesty and decency in government or do they believe in allowing unscrupulous lobbyists, sexual predators and common criminals to control our Capitol? Only they can tell us."

If it weren't for those pesky reporters, Davis says, why then everything would be hunky dory:

"I'm proud to have a speaker who will stand up and do what's right," Davis said of Hastert. "It amazes me how some of the national media will make an issue. There was a congressman from Florida who did something wrong. I'm proud to have a speaker on my side of the aisle that will stand up and do what's right. ..

Putting Out Fire With Gasoline

I'm stunned by the monumental change in America which has occurred, the fundamentals of Liberty thrown away as if it were a hot coal burning our hands, that we are in such unrelenting fear of the Bogeyman we approve of discarding hundreds of years of legal protection and in return, gain ... what?

Legislation crafted by our own representatives in Congress, eagerly signed by the President, allows for anyone to be held in a prison with no formal charge, no review by any court, only the whim of the president determines your fate.

How long before I too will be considered a threat for asking questions about the legality of these acts, for having doubts, for expressing them out loud, for not thinking in accordance with despotic demands?

It is slightly encouraging to note some Americans, other than wacky folks such as myself, see the critical dangers in what has happened. And they see the "national yawn" as a threat too. Jonathon Turley, Constitutional Law professor at George Washington University spoke with Keith Olberman about this -

"And it'’s a huge sea change for our democracy. The framers created a system where we did not have to rely on the good graces or good mood of the president. In fact, Madison said that he created a system essentially to be run by devils, where they could not do harm, because we didn'’t rely on their good motivations.

Now we must. And people have no idea how significant this is. What, really, a time of shame this is for the American system. What the Congress did and what the president signed today essentially revokes over 200 years of American principles and values.

It couldn'’t be more significant. And the strange thing is, we'’ve become sort of constitutional couch potatoes. I mean, the Congress just gave the president despotic powers, and you could hear the yawn across the country as people turned to, you know, '“Dancing with the Stars.'” I mean, it'’s otherworldly."

-----
"Well, this is going to go down in history as one of our greatest self-inflicted wounds. And I think you can feel the judgment of history. It won'’t be kind to President Bush.

But frankly, I don'’t think that it will be kind to the rest of us. I think that history will ask, Where were you? What did you do when this thing was signed into law? There were people that protested the Japanese concentration camps, there were people that protested these other acts. But we are strangely silent in this national yawn as our rights evaporate."

Senator Russ Feingold was one of the few who spoke to prevent this measure -

At times of great adversity, the strength of a nation'’s convictions is tested and its true character revealed. If we sacrifice or qualify our principles in the face of the tremendous challenge we face from terrorists who want to destroy America, we will be making a terrible mistake. If we cloak cruel or degrading interrogations done in the name of American safety with euphemisms like '“alternative techniques,'” if we create arbitrary dates for when differing degrees of morality will apply, we will have betrayed our principles and ourselves.

Outside the U.S., this overwhelming reversal of Freedom and Liberty is likewise taking place, and fortunately, questions are being raised -

"There will be many reasonable people among you who will argue that the fight against terrorism or some other compelling problem makes the removal of a fragment of liberty the best option available to us. A little bit here, a little bit there doesn't really matter, particularly when it involves somebody else's rights. Without thinking very deeply, we say to ourselves "if you've done nothing wrong you've got nothing to fear from these new laws". Not true. There is something to fear - because someone else's liberty is also your liberty. When it's removed from them, it's taken from you even though you may not be able to conceive of the circumstances when you might need it."

Today, I can freely express my grave concerns. As for tomorrow .....

Camera Obscura - Flags of Iwo Jima, TN Horror Movies, and Super Chicks of "Pussycat"

It makes me mad enough to bite a pig. This week I've learned there are remakes ahead for "The Birds" and the cult classic vampire film "Near Dark", all under the unsteady camera hand of producer Michael Bay. Yeah, take movies that are pitch-perfect and brilliantly made and screw them all up (see Bay's remake of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre.")

I know it's a time-honored Hollywood tradition to remake movies, but there is no way to improve Hitchcock. Period. (For example, Gus Van Sant's remake of "Psycho" was shot-for-shot the same and Van Sant said he remade it just for one reason - so it would be "in color". Lame, lame, lame.) And while "Near Dark" deserves wider audiences, the best way to see both of these movies is too just watch them.

I've got an idea for Bay - remake yer own drivel, like "Armageddon" and try and make it a good movie.

In the Good News Dept., I have really been enjoying the film reviews offered by Jim Ridley for Nashville Scene. His take on this weekend's release of "Flags of Our Fathers" by Clint Eastwood is a fine example, and his headline "Print The Legend", is reference to one of John Ford's best movies about mythmaking, "Man Who Shot Liberty Valence." Ridley writes of "Flags":

"The landing on Iwo Jima is a master class in controlled chaos, as machine-gun bullets stream out of camouflaged Japanese pillboxes and mortar fire turns human bodies into sizzling piles of flesh and bone. But the most surreal, unsettling images in Flags come later, when Bradley, Gagnon and Hayes are pressed into reenacting their storied feat as a vaudeville spectacle -—and when, at a celebratory dinner, they see the huddled likeness of themselves and their fallen brothers transformed into an ice-cream sculpture."

Eastwood once again is offering a serious Oscar contender with this movie, which will once again pit him against Martin Scorsese and "The Departed." These two American legends duked it out at the Oscars with "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Aviator." I was amazed "Baby" won out - until I watched it and was blown away by Eastwood's skillful work. But c'mon - Marty deserves a win and has for some time. Since he is a New Yorker and Eastwood worked his way up in Hollywood, Eastwood has the edge. And if you haven't seen "The Aviator," you've missed a fine feature about movie-making, madness and one of the most interesting bio-pics I've seen in years.

Meanwhile, Ridley has another fine story on the locally made horror film "Blood Oath" and it's upcoming premiere. The movie will unspool as part of the October Comic Horror Fest 2006 which starts tomorrow. AnotherTennesseee-made horror feature "The Deepening," starring Gunnar "Leatherface" Hansen, will also be shown at the Fest. Ridley can tell how you chitlins are a vital part of horror movie effects.

TONIGHT - WELL, EARLY SATURDAY MORNING

Do whatever is necessary to see two movies airing at 2 a.m Saturday morning on Turner Classic Movies, as Rob Zombie hosts Underground, a collection of great American midnight movie style features. Tonight's double bill is cult hit "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!" followed by "Mudhoney", both by Russ Meyer.

I saw "Pussycat" a few years ago in re-release and it is hilarious and innovative and - well, here, let the women who made the movies tell you about it --



ALL TV, ALL ONLINE

TV and Anime fans rejoice. "Lost", "My Name Is Earl" and even two seasons of "Freakazoid" are now yours!!!

Super-toon extraordinaire
Freakazoid! Freakazoid!
Runs around in underwear
Freakazoid! Freakazoid!

Go here for the link to all the shows you can watch online.
UPDATE: Sorry, but that link is now dead and no sign of it anywhere online. Dammit!

Rides around in the Freakmobile
Freakazoid! Freakazoo!
Hopes to make a movie deal
Freaka me! Freaka you!

LEARNING TO WRITE FOR TV

An onlne blog with info on what it's like to write for TV, write a spec script and many insider tips comes from writer Jane Espenson, one of the writers of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", "Gilmore Girls" and much more. Her page is here. And you're welcome.

Scarlett Johansson Does Tom Waits?

Time for some pop culture.

Headlines and rumors are being made about actress Scarlett Johansson taking a turn as a singer, signing a record deal with Rhino Records for an album of tunes by Tom Waits.

Earvolution has some of the details of the story and includes an MP3 link so you can hear Scarlett getting all smoky-voiced in a rendention of the tune "Summertime."

Want this story to get even more weird? FOX News broke the story. Rumors also say she was very much in demand for a restaging of "The Sound of Music." Ugh. Tom Waits is much better.

Dear God, I've written a celebrity gossip post. And a link to FOX. I am going to Blogger Hell for sure now.

Election Time In Tennessee!

Some quick hits on the election now underway --

Enclave picks out a telling Congressional vote cast by Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr.:

"After much thought, I have decided that I cannot in good conscience vote for a man who supports the notion of detaining American citizens without the writ of habeas corpus. My Democratic friends need not bother to tell me how important taking back Congress in November is. Taking back Congress matters little to me when we face a bleak future of omnipotent Bush-picked tribunals declaring anyone an "unlawful enemy combatant." Congress has made itself moot in such a world."

State pundits and bloggers participate in a lively political roundtable about the Tennessee Senate race. Go listen!

From Facing South, R. Neal has a post about the whirlwind Religious Right campaign via the dubious James Dobson to support a referendum on Tennessee's ballot to amend the constitution. The proposed change is totally unwarranted and unnecessary - there's already a law on the books stating that marriage is defined to be between a man and a woman. I see no reason for this referendum other than to scare up some voters who fear "The Gays". So vote no.

The other referendum to amend the constitution is a non-binding change that merely opens up the possibility of freezing property taxes for senior citizens -- which could lead to a different tax structure in every county. What's the point of this referendum? Maybe another effort to get a certain group of voters to the polls??

I was reading some numbers on this year's primary for the US Senate and noted that Harold Ford Jr received over 333,000 votes (total votes in the Democrat primary were 415,900) while Corker received just over 230,000 (total votes in the GOP primary were 481,187). This race is soooo close, but I would imagine keeping an eye on which candidate carries Hamilton County may show who the winner will be .... maybe. Ford's number will certainly increase the farther west you travel in Tennessee.

Your predictions are welcome.

Will the Hard Right Win in ET?

A truly lame endorsement for GOP congressional candidate David Davis was supplied by the Bristol Herald-Courier. It's hard to believe that after compiling some wrong-headed ideas Davis holds, they still decided, "hey he's better 'cause he's a Republican."

Some excerpts from their editorial:

"David Davis isn'’t the perfect choice for Congress.

He pushes a hard-right social agenda that even Republican moderates will find difficult to stomach. He won the Republican primary by the narrowest of margins -– edging out several candidates, who although conservative were closer to the political center."
-----
"We disagree with Davis on some of his most extreme social positions, including his desire to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to recognize the Christian God as '“sovereign source of law, liberty and government'."”

Democrat Rick Trent's failing, according to the paper, is that he isn't a long-time political insider. That's a detriment today??

I've said it before - since the 1st District has been the exclusive home for GOP candidates for over 100 years, I doubt any change will be made this year. Even though it is clear change is truly needed in Congress, this race continues to be the least debated and the least discussed.

Trent did get a brief chance to appear with Davis in public to debate issues -- however the event was only before a Rotary Club. Efforts by Trent to promote a televised or at least a "non-club" debate failed. Since Davis and his supporters already consider the race is his by a wide margin, why bother?

A report on the Rotary appearance, though, shows the two are in agreement on most issues - with some key differences. For example, Davis says a border fence will solve illegal immigration problems and Trent says the focus should be on employers who knowingly hire illegals. Trent also urged for a more comprehensive and strategic effort to resolve the war in Iraq.

So was there a fear in the Davis camp that a debate available to all the District might reveal to voters his weaknesses and Trent's strengths?

Sadly, Trent's chances at victory are slim. Public interest in the congressional race is beyond low. The status quo will limp forward from inertia.

A question to consider -- If Davis is elected but Democrats gain control of the House or Senate - can he work effectively to represent the 1st District or will his "hard right" views keep him out of the loop?

Battle of the Keyboards

Information is a weapon of war. Controlling the flow of battlefront details, propaganda made to elicit patriotic fervor or fear, and many other types of info control have been a part of battle since battles began.

Today the internet is part of that battlefield, part of the weapon of information. Blazing hot words have been searing the internet via the so-called warbloggers and peace-bloggers alike. 40 years ago, the battle of words took place on editorial pages of newspapers and magazines, penned by staffers and by the writers of letters to editors. Television took up the role in the 60s and 70s. By the late 1980s and 1990s, the emerging internet became the newest field of conflict and especially since 2001, Americans have been taking their verbiage to the instant, worldwide forums.

I notice it daily, even hourly. Talking points get web placement, and within hours those in support or in opposition repeat or rebuke the information. As Sen. Joe McCarthy proved - all that needs be done to establish credulity is something be said in front of cameras and reporters, fact checking comes much later. As long as it appears somewhere written down some folks take it as gospel truth.

Just last week I was pondering on all the typing at all kinds of blogs about North Korea and their claims of active nuclear programs. All the typing on foreign policy by folks who had an opinion without necessarily having any factual history was rather daunting.

Does all the rhetoric really affect any policy by the U.S. or Korea? I was having much doubt about that and then yesterday I saw some clips from "The War of the Words: The Story of the 101st Fighting Keyboarders" where Paul H. Henry skewers the "courage" and "sacrifice" of bloggers like InstaPundit who advocate war in the mideast. Two clips from the "documentary" are available here.

Or you can watch the first clip below (warning some language is NSFW):



As a longtime journalist who has written both factual reports and opinion pieces, I can assert that caution on the part of the writer is a virtue. Sometimes what you write and the views you promote can really backfire. Hot-blooded emotion has driven much of the writing since 9-11 about foreign policy. As for myself, I tend to wait and process information or learn more on a topic rather than firing off a polemic seconds after some story hits the cable news or the internet. First reports are often shallow and sometimes plain wrong.

But it is plain to me the "fighting keyboarders" are sheer knee-jerk wordsmiths. I see much effort to dredge details after an opinion is offered to shore up credibility. I don't doubt their sincerity, but I hope most readers spend the time to review info from a variety of sources before they worship at some blog altar.

Our government has for many years depended on "propaganda" and a recent creation of "perception management" can be read here in an award-winning report from 2005.

More on this "documentary" can be read here, here and here, where Michael Silence says much with a one-word comment: "Heh!"

Grim Ads In Knoxville Skyline

Anti-abortion protests took to the skies over Knoxville for the last few days with airplanes towing banners with images of a fetus and slogans like "Abortion is Terror." This political advertising has raised some questions in the blog world and this morning was a topic on WNOX-FM as Dave Foulk sat in the chair behind the microphone on the Hallerin Hill show.

Some pertinent questions were raised by the ad - was it appropriate or outside the bounds of taste and decorum? What happens when a young child, uneducated about sex, asks for an explanation of abortion?

Callers to Dave Foulk's show constantly framed their anti-abortion arguments with false language and false arguments, and an eagerness to control human sexuality. When someone calls abortion "killing children" they present a false claim. Children are not aborted. It also isn't "infanticide", as both child and infant are lifeforms outside the womb.

Certainly opponents to legal abortion procedures - and those who made and towed that banner across the sky - have the right to express their opinion. And they also have the right to express it poorly, which they certainly did.

The vast majority of cases involve the aborting of an embryo or a fetus. So I wish these opponents would stick to facts and not fictions like children being aborted. A child could be killed by abuse, but you can't abort a life outside the womb.

Is it or is it not a woman's right to choose? Of course it is - that is the law. And, yes, as some callers noted, is was a choice to have sex to begin with. What amazes me is how little effort is made to promote accurate education about sex, and instead opponents gather at the last stage of a process to demand a different outcome. And as Foulk said, protests outside clinics are rife with vile insults and damnation. Has anyone ever seen a group outside a clinic calmly and clearly informing a potential patient that their group would help find an adoptive home for a newborn? That they weren't there to judge but to help provide a home for a woman and child in great need?

I heard several callers mention "abstinence only" sex education. It is profoundly ignorant to expect humans to abstain from sexual activity. And the results of such activity by those who have never been educated about it clearly leads to not only pregnancy but to disease as well. Groups definitely want to bring images of abortion into the public forum, but no effort is made to insure the public forum includes frank, accurate communication about sex and sexual behavior.

As for the ad itself -- was it too much? If abortion is terror, why is it that the law calls abortion foes who hurl bombs at medical clinics criminals? It's as if they see sex as subversive behavior.

If these foes have the right to take their argument to the skies, then perhaps others should too. I heard several comments today that adults find images of abortion uncomfortable to consider, but that the public needs a non-sanitized perspective.

What then, would be the response if an image of the corpse of an American soldier killed in Iraq were flown in the skies, and the phrase War Is Murder were with it?

George Lucas on The Colbert Report

The best moment on TV this week was on The Colbert Report when George Lucas showed up to show off his entry in The Green Screen Challenge, a set up for viewers to offer their filmmaking skills by including Colbert in a light saber battle against nefarious evils.

George did himself proud and at show's end even battled Colbert mano a mano.

And George's "film" has a hilarious moment when Colbert and Jar Jar talk about politics. Take a look.



And of course, the big news about the internets this week was Google's stock purchase of YouTube. Some, like Atomic Tumor, worry about the course this will take and if it means the death of YouTube.

Since YouTube has recently signed agreements with Universal, Sony, BMG and others to use their materials, and since Google already has similar arrangements with other entertainment companies, I tend to think the average user will benefit from the deal and still be able to access tv and music clips and still upload and enjoy clips of chuckleheads who light their farts.

A interesting debate on the deal can be read at MetaFilter. What surprised me about the deal was that Google, who had enough cash to buy YouTube, decided instead to offer a stock deal. Not so good for current stockholders, great for YouTube's owners.

Also, viewing videos and internet trends can be tracked so well with this new combo, Google appears to have added a massive consumer habits database, which all the companies which hold copyright would dearly love to have. I'd say viral video marketing is going to rise faster than the floodwaters in New Orleans. The New Yorker has more on this ten-month old company.

When Bloggers Gather

What happens when five bloggers from both ends of Tennessee get together?

Amazing times, of course. I had much fun wining and dining with Newscoma, Squirrels on Snark, Juliepatchouli and The Editor. Which means there were often five conversations occurring at once. Strike that, make it five Fascinating conversations at once.

The Editor and I drove up together, and as we were making our way past the County Courthouse in downtown Knoxville, we were stopped at a traffic light and I see this fellow about 50 yards away and I thought "that guy looks like Harold Ford Jr.".

And as we drove past him - it was Harold Ford Jr. I was kinda pleased with myself for being able to recognize him at a distance, made me feel like my keen political senses were operating at a peak efficiency.

And of course, a fine omen of the approval of the Powers That Be for the impending mini-blogfest.

I think I shouted out as we drove past him something like "Harold! Woooooooo!!" to express my political affirmation.

Some highlights of the evening:

- While in the lounge of the hotel we met at, combined Blogging Forces made them to change the bad trapped-in-an-80s-aerobics-class music to jazz. A much needed improvement. Julie said she once worked in that hotel lounge and related an incident involving the purchase of some stereo speakers, which she put in her Ford Escort and which were quite quickly stolen!!

- The lounge was home to a weird collection of books - a novelization of the old TV teen soap opera "Paper Dolls," an action-adventure novelization of the Bobby Sherman TV show "Getting Together", and a comic book adaptation of Dracula by Nestor Redondo. I emphasize was home to such books. (And for the record, I was most interested in the Redondo book.)

- As we headed into Market Square, there were no raids on businesses by the DEA or ATF. That was a little disappointing for us.

- I learned Newscoma used to be called "Tick". Let her explain that one. And I did not know that the late Ann Richards used to date Ned McWherter!

- I learned Pat Summit is currently separated.

- It is good to be the lone male accompanying four women.

- Poop stories were told by one and all at various points in the evening.

- Each of us has been and continue to be frighteningly close to the Seats of Power in Politics, Government, Media, Sports and Entertainment.

- We concluded this blogging thing might catch on.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention some other happy news about a blogger -- Valley Grrrl is about to have a baby, sometime today I think. That will make The Editor an Aunt. Again. Say congats to both. And yeah, that means L.A. Barabbas will be a dad!