Congressman Davis On His Support for War in Iraq

Speaking to a receptive audience, 1st District Congressman David Davis explains his agreement with President Bush to reject Congressional bills regarding the war in Iraq:

"Applause broke out when Davis told the retired veterans that he was at the White House this past Thursday morning for prayer, and noted, “President Bush says he will veto” the timeline bill, and veto the “pork” that had to be added to it to get the minimum number of votes needed for passage.

“The national media wants us to believe this is President Bush’s war,” Davis said.

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In this war, he said, our enemies want to “convert us or kill us — that’s them talking — and pulling troops out of Iraq doesn’t change their stated goal.”

Davis said he believes that the global war on terror will continue to be fought “long term, either there or here.”

Is it really a simple matter of letiing the President wage war? Doesn't the law provide that Congress does indeed have the authority to decide when and where the U.S. can wage war?

Are the majority of Americans "sleeping" through this conflict as Rep. Davis says?

"On Sept. 11, “the alarm sounded,” Davis said, but too much of America has since the “rolled over and gone back to sleep.”

Full story here in the Greeneville Sun, As Rep. Davis explains his views on how Walter Reed Hospital is "in great shape ", immigration, and more.

Camera Obscura - 'Lookout'; Neo-Noir; and 'X-Files 2'

I've got a stack of good movies to recommend this week - since last week was all whiney-ranting on a movie I hated. It's far more fun to share the good stuff with you, and there's some to pick from in the theatres and on DVD, much of it based on top-notch writing.

Opening today is the directorial debut of Scott Frank, "The Lookout". Some big-name directors were up for this project, like David Fincher, Michael Mann and Sam Mendes, but writer Frank got to take the reins himself and that was a smart move. This crime-thriller is centered on a young man whose mind has been almost washed away following an accidental brain injury. By the time you follow the damaged and lost Chris Pratt (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) to a bank robbery, you're already deeply interested in these characters. Frank is an expert at making fascinating characters and at making solid thrillers.

His past work is part of the best in Neo-Noir thrillers - crime stories grounded in strong characters - such as "Get Shorty", the short-lived TV series "Karen Sisco", and "Out of Sight," all movies based on the writings of one of the best crime writers in America, Elmore Leonard.

Critics agree that in addition to the script and deft direction, the lead as played by Gordon-Levitt is worth the price of admission. He's been turning in gutsy performances in movies like "Brick" and "Mysterious Skin".


The character of US Marshal Karen Sisco created by Leonard and featured in the TV series (played by Carla Gugino) and the movie "Out of Sight" (played by Jennifer Lopez) surely gave Frank good ideas in building and developing stories. "Out of Sight" is a minor-classic -- often funny, filled with realistic and oddball criminals, danger lurking close by which is just as real.

If you haven't seen it - do so. In addition to Lopez, the movie stars George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn and others who all create vivid characters.

Another book turned into a movie worth repeated viewings is "Children of Men", now available on DVD. Based rather loosely on P.D. James book, the movie is set in London in the year 2027, in a world which has fallen apart, ravaged by terrorism, disease and corruption and where no human child has been born in nearly 20 years. The reason why - or the lack of a reason - shapes the lives of everyone.

Director and screenwriter Alfonso Cuaron fills every frame with society worn down and wasting away, from hatred, from fear, from religious strife, and everyone seems to move in dull inertia. Without children, the world is without hope. The movie has echoes of earlier apocalyptic cinema, like "Soylent Green", but Cuaron and the cast (Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore) have made something very new and very topical.

There's a scene early in the film between the estranged couple of Owen and Moore, just after Owen's character has barely escaped a deadly suicide bomb attack. He complains of a constant ringing in his ears, and she tells him that sound is the sound of cells dying, a frequency he will never hear again. A bit later in the movie, an explosion brings about yet another ringing in Owen's ears, and he and the audience understand he has lost something even more valuable than part of his hearing range. It's a sharp script and another excellent movie from Cuaron.

By sheer accident this week I watched a film I had seen on video shelves for some time, never giving it a chance. Big mistake. So I'm also urging you to seek it out as well. The movie is based on the novel "Doctor Sleep", by Tennessee native Madison Smartt Bell, and retitled "Close Your Eyes."

Bell's story slyly and expertly draws you into a crime scene via the life of Michael Strother, played by Goran Visnjic, working in London as a hypnotist who helps people quit smoking. But his skill includes a more occult ability to see what others see in their own mind. When he counsels a woman who has an image of a drowning child in her mind, he learns she is a policewoman working a case involving children who are kidnapped and murdered in a ritualistic nightmare. Reluctantly, he agrees to help her work the case.

There are many layers of story here, blending crime drama with eldritch religious groups. Bell, in an interview, remarked that "Doctor Sleep" was a culmination of work for him. Much of his previous work used the noirish world of crime and led the reader somewhere else:

"To my mind, Dr. Sleep was the end of a whole trend in my work. The book is basically structured as a prayer, and Stother's internal monologue drives the story. After I had finished it, I realized in a way I hadn't before that all the novels I had written up to that time were spiritual pilgrimages of one kind or another. Though they are by and large couched in the form of thrillers, they're essentially experiments in religion. My model for that is Dostoyevsky, who was basically a thriller writer with a lot of religious obsessions that he was trying to work out. I wasn't completely aware of this strain in my own work until I'd finished Dr. Sleep, or was well on the way to finishing it."

The movie has real scares and chills, created by your own connections to the characters and the maze of storytelling which easily twists you around. A very surprising find -- too bad the project was shelved for some years, barely marketed and dumped without notice onto DVD.

Finally, I have this bit of news for fans of "The X-Files" show and movie. Star David Duchovny says the project for a sequel is almost set and filming will begin soon .... he hopes,

From Vice-President to Charlie's Angel

Boy, when the day turns bad, it really turns bad:

"STRATFORD — A man claiming to be Vice President Dick Cheney led authorities on a high-speed chase through town Monday night, colliding with a patrol car before he was shocked with a stun gun and arrested, police said.

John Spernak, 42, of Meadow Street, claimed during his arrest to be the vice president as well as the husband of Nicky Hilton, sister of pop celebrity Paris Hilton, police said. He was charged with attempted first-degree assault, engaging police in a pursuit, reckless driving, criminal mischief, interfering with police and being in a town park after dark.

While in custody, police said, Spernak admitted he wasn't Cheney, but rather Jaclyn Smith, former star of the television show "Charlie's Angels." He was taken to Bridgeport Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Police said officers were patrolling Long Beach after 10 p.m. when they spotted Spernak parked in a 1994 Cadillac Eldorado. Officers approached the car when it suddenly took off at high speed, police said. The car traveled along Main Street, exceeding 90 mph. At Blakeman Place, the Cadillac crashed into the driver's side of a patrol car, and then kept going, police said.

Police said Spernak eventually pulled into his own driveway on Meadow Street. But even then, they said, he refused to get out of the car, forcing an officer to shock him with a stun gun so that he could be placed in handcuffs."

via The Connecticut Post

The Tortured Media

Maybe we need a new catchphrase for it, some word-bundling which easily fits into headlines and ad copy and gives the buzz of it's discussion an easily identified handle.

"It" is a topic I've been writing some about recently, mostly in entertainment posts or film reviews. But a couple of stories I've seen in the last week has nudged my thoughts on it again. "It" is the fairly recent trend of horror/thriller movies and television shows where torture and it's every agonizing detail is prominent - and more important - financially rewarding for the makers and distributors.

In the last few weeks some billboards advertising a movie called "Captivity" from Lionsgate Films appeared in NY and LA that started a firestorm of anger at the way actress Elisha Cuthbert was shown under headings like Capture, Confinement, Torture and Termination. Jill Soloway wrote about her shock and disgust and her actions to get the billboards removed in this piece at Huffington Post. She and others were successful in getting the billboards removed and the film is now using it's "banned billboard" incident as part of the film's advertising.

Last week, a TV Guide blog reported the National Organization of Women was complaining about an episode of a "reality" show, "America's Next Top Model" for making a competition for the would-be models by having them pose as semi-naked corpses in fake crime scene photos. You can, if you wish, take a peek at the NSFW pics via this LiveJournal page where fans/detractors discuss and debate the show, just scroll to the top of the page for the images.

Now let me explain something here -- you can do your own searches for the "Captivity" billboard if you wish, but I decided to include the link to the ANTM pics since they were featured nationwide, not just a few billboards in two cities. This show was available to any home with a cable TV connection. So it isn't as if the images are obscurities --though, no, I don't think this ANTM show is very highly rated. But it's been on for years and makes lots of cash for Tyra Banks. It's a show focusing on what it takes to reach the heights of Fashion.

And for me, it shows what has been a constant theme in film and TV (and some books too), violence and women and sexuality all stirred together in a strange psychobabble language. There is an inherent oddness of Voyeurism in TV and movies, the topic of endless thesis papers and master's degrees and semiotic/cinematic studies. Yet, it seems of late the imagery is "fashioned" more starkly and more grim.

How can you help but notice the large presence in TV and films for deeply detailed forensics/crime stories and graphic torture? But the themes extend far beyond such graphic images from a modeling shoot or the latest episode of "24."

I'm perplexed that people tune in to watch something like "The Apprentice", eliciting drama/comedy from wondering who's the next to get fired, who'll fail the popularity poll of "American Idol," who will fail on "Survivor", who will be "The Weakest Link", who will fail in "The Amazing Race," and on and on the list goes. I'm sure you'll say most people are tuning in to see who wins, but all the weeks of watching which occur and sustain these shows concern those who fail.

It's a tough, tough world, yep. But entertaining myself in the evening watching someone struggle to get a job, become a chef, a model, a pop singer, or the no-longer-popular performers who try and lose weight, get off drugs, learn a dance step, check into rehab - whatever - watching such stuff is not on my list of things to do.

And for any regular reader here, I've confessed it before, many times - I am a horror movie/fiction fan. I have been reading Poe and Lovecraft and watching vampires and monsters and all the things that bump you into the world of fantasy or dystopia for most of my life. I just see a difference between those manufactured works and the manufactured "realities" of what's often on television. The difference would take me far too long to explain, though I'll try.

It's kind of like this -- I've taught classes on horror films, researched and studied them and written them for years. I've learned there are easy ways to make an audience frightened or uncomfortable and there are subtle and more complex ways to achieve that as well. There are constants in the struggle of Life and Death, sometimes told in a story very well, sometimes clumsily hurled at you in hopes of making a quick profit. Sometimes imagery emerges in the media that seem to appear as if from nowhere, as if some mad thing has gotten hold of the image-making machinery with nothing in it's cold heart but cruel exploitation.

However ....

There is the reality today in this country of such struggles taking place on a global scale. All day, for many years now, the imagery and the language of our society is fused with references to torture, to cruelty, to despotism. It's natural, I think, for the collective American mind to start displaying similar images via a movie or TV show or even a billboard. We observe the imagery, we perhaps say "this crosses the line we should not cross." It's far simpler to identify and excoriate a billboard than to identify the real life line-crossing actions conjuring with torture, endless or secret imprisonment, and the nefarious secret plots of cults to dismantle and destroy a place, a people or a policy.

So I'm not really surprised our media culture continues to mirror bizarre horrors. It's one, albeit murky, way to talk about the things we fumble to understand.

400 Nashville Students Are Fashionably Challenged

Wonder how much educational time, resources and money were wasted by herding 400 students in Nashville high schools into detention in a single day for violating dress code policies?

The Tennessean report says about "200 students at Overton High and 200 at Antioch High were removed from class and given in-school suspension. They sat in a large group in the auditorium or gym, according to school officials."

All this occurs as the Metro board considers whether or not or how mandatory school uniforms should be used. I've seen plenty of anecdotal reports from parents and others who claim that just by having kids dress uniformly improves everything at a school.

Empirical data says ... no evidence of a correlation between uniforms and behavior or achievement in academics exists.

A 2005 report in Education Week says:

"Despite the media coverage,” David Brunsma writes in The School Uniform Movement and What It Tells Us About American Education, “despite the anecdotal meanderings of politicians, community members, educators, board members, parents, and students, uniforms have not been effective at attacking the very outcomes and issues they were assumed to aid.”

That means, he says, that uniform policies don’t curb violence or behavioral problems in schools. They don’t cultivate student self-esteem and motivation. They don’t balance the social-status differences that often separate students. And they don’t improve academic achievement. (In fact, uniforms may even be associated with a small detrimental effect on achievement in reading, his research shows.)

"In conducting hundreds of analyses, Brunsma looks for effects among individual students and entire schools, and among younger children and teenagers. He also controls for differences that might also account for varying test scores, such as the socioeconomic status or race of students. And, for the most part, he continues to come up empty-handed on any evidence that school uniform policies are effective."

But what about those studies which do show huge changes once uniforms are require? Turns out the studies were sponsored by a company called French Toast, which makes, no, not breakfast -- they make and sell school uniforms.

"Brunsma says newer case studies looking at uniform-adoption efforts in schools in Baltimore, Denver, and Aldine, Texas, a suburban Houston district—all of which also point to positive effects—have an additional shortcoming. Besides being largely anecdotal, they were sponsored by French Toast, a leading manufacturer of school uniforms based in Martinsville, Va.

“If you look at the published stuff on this, the ones that conclude positive results, by and large come from clothiers,” he says, noting that school uniforms have grown into a multimillion-dollar industry. Another study of school uniforms was financed by Dodgeville, Wis.-based Lands’ End Inc., which started its school uniform division in 1997."

Most studies and cases indicate one clear result of requiring uniforms -- parents and others "perceived" a change took place and therefore believed all was made well.

Fashionable fixes and fads are easy. Education is hard.

Shut Down the Plan to End Local Control of Cable Franchises

I'm encouraging all readers of this page and residents statewide to voice a loud opposition to a bill before the legislature which drains funds away from cities and counties, removes local control over cable franchise rights, and essentially hands the telephone companies both an unfair advantage and reduces existing standards of service.

It's worth noting that for the first time, federal taxpayers have a chance to get a small refund from from the telecoms for a tax first added to telephone service in the 1800s, money they've collected for decades and are only refunding now after the government intervened.

It's also worth noting that in the early days of Internet usage, the vast majority of users had to use a dial-up service and pay a per-minute fee for access. Thankfully, technology made such high prices outmoded.

And if the state does approve the end of locally created franchise agreements, the cities and counties will be looking for new ways to replace that lost income - more taxation.

The bills under review are currently headed into committees for debate in early April, but the time to speak out is now, before it's too late.

Taking a cue from this post at KnoxViews, simply send an email to your representative and senator, such as the one below, mentioned at KV. A link to the Senate directory is here. A link to the House directory is here.

Dear Rep. ____________
Dear Sen. ____________

I urge you to vote against and actively oppose SB1933/HB1421, which eliminates local control of cable franchises, regulates local franchise fees, restricts or eliminates customer service and quality standards, provides state regulation of local public right of way for the benefit of cable companies, restricts or eliminates local build-out requirements, and allows cable companies to create statewide franchises.

Contrary to claims of the lobbyists who wrote it, this legislation is not good for consumers or for local governments who know best what is needed in their communities and which areas are undeserved. Local governments have a duty to maintain infrastructure rights of way for the benefit of all citizens and taxpayers in their communities.

I urge you to vote for and actively support the following three bills that would help expand broadband access in Tennessee. Broadband access, and particularly rural broadband access, is vital to our economy in terms of availability for businesses relocating here and maintaining a qualified workforce, and will also help cure the "digital divide" between poor working people and the more affluent.

HB2100/SB1572 would establish a non-profit "Tennessee Broadband Access Corporation to facilitate the deployment of broadband technologies across the state."

HB2103/SB1716 requires "the department of economic and community development to establish a ConnectTN program to bring statewide broadband expansion."

HB2099/SB1580 "Expands the membership of the Tennessee Broadband Task Force to include a representative of the department of education and requires the task force to submit an assessment of the state of broadband deployment on an annual basis.

Thank you.

Presenting .... iRack

Irack
Uploaded by tcmagnet

via MAD TV and sent to me by The Editor for display on this humble page and your enjoyment.

The New Tennessee-Style Ethics

A new Ethics Reform law now required by county governments in Tennessee seems to offer little to deter elected officials or employees from worrying too much about conflicts of interest and ethical standards in general.

Case in point - a report in the March 24, 2006 Greeneville Sun about a county commissioner, Hilton Seay, who is also chairman of their newly created Ethics Committee. When a vote concerning an attorney Seay does business with was presented, Seay never mentioned his business relationship, claiming he simply forgot.

Now there are a few prominent failures, in my opinion, of this Ethics Reform Act, chiefly, that if an official does in fact announce he/she may or has a "conflict of interest" in a pending vote, the act approved by the state does not actually require the official to recuse themselves from the vote. Seems a rather toothless law. But more on that in a moment.

Take a read of the story and the players according the the Sun's report:

"County Commissioner Hilton Seay, chairman of the Greene County Commission’s Ethics Committee, said Monday that he did not think of mentioning his personal attorney-client relationship with Greeneville lawyer Robert Foster when a vote about Foster came before the Ethics Committee in January.

According to records filed in Claiborne County Chancery Court, Foster has represented Seay in a probate matter in Claiborne County since March 2006. That case is continuing. The probate matter was brought to the newspaper’s attention by an anonymous letter that was apparently also sent to several Greene County commissioners a few days ago.

“I never even thought about it,” Seay told The Greeneville Sun when asked Monday about his Ethics Committee vote and his failure to mention that Foster was representing him in a matter of personal business.

On Jan. 10, the Ethics Committee narrowly defeated two measures concerning Foster, each time by 4-to-3 votes. Seay voted on the side most favorable to Foster in each instance.

[snip]

County Commissioner Tim White had asked the committee to reprimand County Mayor Alan Broyles for hiring Foster part-time to handle duties in the county’s Building and Zoning Office without consulting the County Commission.

White also asked the committee to recommend that the County Commission terminate Foster’s employment.

In each instance, Seay, who is the committee chairman and also the chairman of the commission’s Republican caucus, voted against the proposed action.

White and others said then that they believe Foster was hired as a reward for work he did in Broyles’ election campaign last summer.

Foster was vice chairman of the Greene County Republican Party at that time, and is now county chairman of the party.

Asked Monday about his votes and his client-attorney relationship with Foster, Commissioner Seay said that, in hindsight, he wishes that he had remembered that Foster was working for him in the probate matter.

Had he remembered, Seay said, he would have told the committee before the vote that he had retained Foster almost a year earlier, and that Foster was still representing him.

However, Seay said, although he would have made the disclosure if it had occurred to him, “It wouldn’t have changed the way I voted.”

CTAS, an advisory service for county government, offered this comment to the newspaper:

"Rick Hall, a CTAS county government consultant based in Johnson City, said he talked with David Conner, a CTAS legal consultant, after being asked about Commissioner Seay’s Ethics Committee votes at a time when Seay was using Foster’s services in a probate case unrelated to the county.

According to Hall, Conner “does not see any conflict-of-interest here whatsoever".

The entire article is worth a read, if only to reveal how Ethics Committees in the state's counties operate.

Also of note is the suggested Ethics Policy Resolution via CTAS offered to counties, available online here.

It should be noted that the state law which requires all counties to create a "local ethics policy" by June 30th 2007. If a county creates such a policy on it's own, it must send a copy to the state's Ethics Commission. However, if a county simply adopts the Resolution offered by CTAS, all that is needed is a letter of notification that a county has voted to adopt a policy.

From what I've been reading, most counties are adopting the CTAS model, which requires simply a statement from an official or employee that a conflict may or does exist, but that the individual is free to vote on that very issue.

The state's Ethics Reform Act, according to CTAS, also offers this nugget of information on just how toothless or meaningless this Act :

"The Ethics Reform Act does not contain any provisions regarding enforcement of the ethical standards or specific penalties, but instead provides that violations of ethical standards are to be enforced under existing law. While it is not required under the Ethics Reform Act, the model policy creates a local ethics committee as a mechanism for filing complaints of violations of the policy and maintenance of records. Although the CTAS model policy provides for the creation of a local ethics committee, the Ethics Reform Act does not mandate the creation of an ethics committee or the designation of any other local office to receive complaints."

I'm not claiming that Commissioner Seay is guilty of some wrong-doing. But for a chair of an Ethics Committee to forget to follow the tenets of his own commission is a dubious beginning for affirmative change. And the overall impact of this "reform act" will be minimal at best and likely require a citizen take action, such as a lawsuit, to investigate any potential problems.

The End of Internet Radio?

Thanks to a new ruling from The Copyright Board at the Library of Congress, which was made public on March 6, a new tenfold increase in royalties must now be paid for streaming songs on the internet. And the payments are the same, whether the web site is commercial or non-commercial and is retroactive to 2006 as well.

A filing was made March 19 to make the Library of Congress review the ruling, but if unchanged, it will likely be the end of internet radio for both small and large web sites. In one article via the L.A. City Beat, the new costs are beyond astronomical:

"Up until March 6, webcasters figured their royalty payments as an affordable percentage of total revenues. In the case of KCRW, that was a negligible number for [general manager Ruth] Seymour, since the entire NPR network had negotiated a flat fee and it was paid by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Maybe not anymore. Under the new system, which requires that Internet broadcasters pay per performance – meaning each time one person listens to one song – her new bill for 2006 went from essentially zero to about $350,000. And it’s going up. For each of the next four years, the rate goes up at least 30 percent every year."

An additional report was made on the change and the challenge to it via WKRN recently as well.

A company backing the plan, SoundExchange, claims that revenues for internet radio exploded to a level of $500 million dollars last year. Paul Maloney of RAIN - Radio and Internet Newsletter - says that claim is just false and is seeking support to battle the change:

"Now, what you hear the SoundExchange people saying is, ‘Oh, studies show that the Internet radio industry made $500 million last year in advertising.’ And I’m here to guarantee you that that’s absolutely not true. It’s not even close to being true,” says Maloney. He also points out there’s no hidden money anywhere, as stations they have to submit their financials to SoundExchange."

I wonder if the merger-masters for the combining of XM and Sirius Satellite radio are endorsing this plan?

Certainly the RIAA, which has been forcing colleges to hand over student email and internet accounts so they can threaten lawsuits to collect a few hundred or perhaps thousand of dollars for trading digital sound files, likes the new law.

The claim is that royalty fees alone from internet radio would hit nearly $3 billion in 2008, more than four times the royalties that would be paid by non-web radio.

And despite claims that all the "royalties" will go to artists are smokescreens to the real issue - performers get pennies to the dollars that record company owners receive.

The fight for the existing and potential audiences is fierce, and this ruling will only insure that fewer and fewer web-casters are allowed to participate.

Camera Obscura - 'The Massacre' Massacre; Beatles v. Zombies

I'm pretty sure I haven't ranted much of late about a really crappy movie. Today will change that. Also ahead today, what happens when the Beatles battle Zombies?

But first, a rant.

Even a most casual reader here will know (and close friends will also vow) that I am a bona-fide fan of horror movies. One movie in particular has always been a favorite, even one or two of the sequels were watchable. The original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" earned it's status on many levels - first on sheer suspense. Made on an ultra-low budget and containing a pure sonic attack on the senses with the blood-curdling sound of a raggedy chainsaw, too many myths of the movie claim how bloody and gory it is. But the fact is - the only time the saw cuts the flesh is when the grim character of Leatherface accidentally touches his thigh with the blade. It's always been the viewer's imagination that filled in the rest. Just watch it and see.

More on the sequels that followed in a moment, but first I have to dismember the worthless and tepid remake recently added to the endless volumes of weekly (weakly?) DVD releases, this one titled "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning."

I was reluctant to even watch it, after the likewise tepid and boring "remake" of the original with Jessica Biel from a few years back. Even that movie, as rancid as rotting flesh, stands as a genius-effort compared to the pure awful crap of "The Beginning."

How about some basics - this "beginning" is set in the year 1969, and yet every character, from vile Saw-family folk to the witless victims to even the sets in the movie are all clothed in the trappings of 2007. I halfway expected someone to dig out a cell phone during the movie.

Also, just who the heck are these Saw-family folk in this movie? Grandpa, from the original, is nowhere to be seen. Likewise Leatherface's brother is absent and his uncle too. Actor R. Lee Ermey, who can scare just about anyone and has one or two mildly funny lines, often looks at the camera as if he is considering taking a chainsaw to the filmmakers. I wish he had and stopped the whole deal.

There's not one moment of suspense in the movie - though the makers hurl tubs of blood and body parts across the characters and sets with the talentless glee of those who have never made or even watched a horror movie. And let me be clear - Main Problem Numero Uno is producer Michael Bay. Unless someone has a smoke-spewing, roaring ten-foot chainsaw at my neck, I will never, ever watch another of his movies.

One 1969-era sub-plot offered up is that two of the victims-to-be are arguing over the Vietnam War (at least for perhaps a half-a-dozen lines). One brother is jonesing to go back and the other is about to dodge the draft and burns his draft card. Here, I thought, is a chance to exploit and/or test his war views. Nope. Nothing is made of it. So it isn't really a sub-plot. It's just more sub-par writing.

The original has a mega-creepy and suspenseful scene of madness with a victim sitting at the "dinner table" with the Saw-crazy kin. This "prequel" does have a scene with a victim at the table and NOTHING happens. And of course, she escapes and runs in the dark to flee the scene (or perhaps hopes to flee the movie) and ol' Leatherface goes in chase. In the original, this was a harrowing chase - here, it amounts to nothing, zip, nada, zilch.

Early in the movie, the victims-to-be, get road-riled by a gang of bikers. Later on, the fleeing character contacts one of the bikers, and for a minute, I thought "here's a great chance for a scene!!" Tougher-than-leather bikers riding en masse to challenge the Saw-folk. Could have been the defining moment of the movie. What happens instead? One lone idiot biker guy walks into the Saw-folk house and basically says, "Hey! Anybody home?" and gets chopped up and, in short, NOTHING happens.

This idiotic mess of a movie is, at best, yet more evidence that filmmakers are replacing suspense, terror, and horror with endless scenes of gory torture whose outcome is as predictable as the eventual Beaver-Gets-A-Lecture-And-Learns-A-Lesson from 1950s tv and is ultimately as boring as that show. The episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" where Howard Sprague gets his own apartment has more terror and suspense than this dreck.


If you wish to see a sequel to the excellent original, the check out "TCM Part 2", which is a very underrated bit of madness, a Saw massacre imagined as a Looney Tunes cartoon. It is both suspenseful and very funny, and that opening scene on the bridge where the tune "No One Lives Forever" by Oingo Boingo is featured will (literally) take off the top of your head. Avoid all other TCM-titled movies.
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OK, some movie goodness.

First I loved "300" though I find it endlessly amusing that some critics consider all the he-men dudes in the movie walking around in "man-thongs and red cloaks" is homo-erotic. People - the images were all taken from the drawings of Lynn Varley --- and she's female! So maybe she likes looking at he-men in man-thongs and cloaks.

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The not-such-a-secret news was made much of this week that Stephen King's son is Joe Hill, an award-winning writer. His recently published novel, "Heart Shaped Box" is now on sale and film rights have already been purchased. The story concerns a fellow who discovers a ghost is for sale on the internets and he wants to buy it. A link to the novel's website is here. And you can read Joe Hill's bio here. (Great picture, by the way!)

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Speaking of biographies, a new look at the life of Bela Lugosi is on sale, which includes information from the files compiled on the actor by the OSS and J.Edgar Hoover and his G-Men. More details here.

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Wonder Triplet and fellow blogger Newscoma has a post worth noting, Proof That Vampires Don't Exist. She reports that some scientists use some rather dubious math to prove that if Vamps did exist, they would have long-ago depopulated the planet. All I can say to that notion is - human body farms. But, she also writes that some folks of the vampiric type can sure suck all the fun out of a room and that is indeed one sure way to depopulate a party!

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And, as promised at the beginning ... what happens when you mix together The Beatles and Zombies? You get "Hard Day's Night of the Living Dead":

Staking Out My Domain (Name)

Expanding my influence even further into the Interweb Tubes, a new domain has been claimed. Let the whole world know it -- all one needs do is type CupOfJoePowell.com into yer search bar and you will be brought to this humble and loveable page.

Much thanks are due again, to The Editor, who likewise made the header image now visible atop this page. The Editor whips thru the tech world in ways which I cannot. (Rumor says she has an entire world of tech-created people and neighborhoods who must follow her every whim, though she just calls them Sims.)

Now I do not know if the various aggregators which many readers use to find the latest posts here are yet in fact able to catch the newest posts or not. But if not, that too, dear reader, will be fixed ASAP.

Still, the important news here is that I am continuing, leisurely, to gain a massive media mogul empire. This blog does actually Go Into Space, too, ya know.

Blog 'Rasslin

For the last 24 hours or so I have been locked in mortal combat with Blogger Beta, mainly with the site feed info and the RSS. For some reason, this new version isn't cooperating with various aggregators and so posts aren't showing up.

A shame really, cause the last month has been chock full of darned timely and expertly rendered opinions, stories and must-read links and other vital bits of interweb ephemera.

However today, at least, thanks to the tireless efforts of The Editor, I did get a new masthead installed for the page here, which I think is darn fine new look. And not only is your Cup of Joe "Open All Night", it's a location offering 24-hour respite from the world. And everyone gets a "bottomless cup of joe" for free, no cash transactions needed. It's always fresh and always hot.

And if you too are one of the bloggers who has been forced into the Beta mode, do you have any suggestions on why the site feeds and aggregators are getting fried or how to repair it? All useful info appreciated.

I know many bloggers are migrating to other services and I too am considering it. Thoughts on such migrations are appreciated too.

In the meantime, bask in the glow of the new neon sign, enjoy your free coffee and there's always a booth or a seat at the counter available here for anyone, anytime.

UPDATE: I have tinkered some more with the page and hopefully resolved the problem ... thanks for any and all information and suggestions though!!! Keep 'em coming!

Tigger, The ACLU and Ken Starr

With endless accounts that students in America's schools just can't make the cut when it comes to excellence in studies of math or science or reading and writing, the following report indicates our schools are mastering absurdity.

Seems a young student went to school and mocked all authority by wearing a pair of socks that showed the character Tigger from Winnie-The-Pooh. Yes, Tigger. Maybe it's all the bouncing he does or that he likes to have fun, fun, fun. Reports say she was then forced to an in-school suspension program called "Students With Attitude Problems."

Well, to be honest, it wasn't only the socks. She also wore a brown shirt with a pink border and a denim skirt. The school does have a 'dress code' which says the "policy requires students to wear clothes with solid colors in blue, white, green, yellow, khaki, gray, brown and black. Permitted fabrics are cotton twill, corduroy and chino. No denim is allowed."

Thos darn anti-authoritarian colors are ruining Amurica!!

The Florida school is now being sued by the seventh-grader on the basis that the policy is unconstitutionally vague and restrictive. I suppose suing on the grounds that a policy is silly won't hold much weight in court. And yes, a school certainly has the right to create and enforce a dress code. I just can't imagine denim being banned.

Which reveals, of course, that my mind was rotted with filth, degradation and snarky attitude problems as I attended school wearing denim jeans. No cartoon socks, no. But I did have a couple of Mickey Mouse shirts.

I would call this event "Goofy" but that could be misconstrued as a cartoon reference.

Is it any wonder that the United States Supreme Court this week heard a case involving the suspension of a student who carried a silly sign outside school property and was suspended by a principal who saw the sign as a flagrant assault on the "mission of the school"?

Even stranger, groups ranging from Pat Robertson's Law Center and the ACLU are supporting the student's case and the U.S. attorney arguing the case for the government is ... wait for it .. Kenneth Starr.

Money Trumps Traffic Camera Changes

Despite evidence that lengthening the time a traffic light is yellow reduces accidents, the TN legislature has decided to support the tactic of using automatic cameras. So more tickets and more revenue win the day.

The bill from Rep. Joe McCord essentially died in committee Tuesday. Also in the KNS report was this oddity - efforts to exempt some cities from the changes if it were adopted:

"The subcommittee session also included moves by several legislators to exempt their home counties from coverage by McCord's bill. Rep. Ben West, D-Nashville, proposed first that Davidson County be exempt.

After the Nashville amendment was adopted, West then proposed to exempt Knox County from coverage by the bill - over objections from McCord that the law needs to be consistent statewide."

And, as mentioned in yesterday's post, the proposed bill would forbid local governments from contracting with private companies to operate the red light camera systems. As I understand it, those companies get the bulk of the revenue and send a portion back to the city. But the entire bill is pretty much dead in the water.

Other cities are debating this use (or abuse) of raising revenues based on tickets issued with no chance for the accused to confront their accuser. In Georgia, the legislature has passed a law demanding the monies raised would go (for the most part) ito the state and not to cities:

"Under House Bill 77, which passed 110-60, 75 percent of the profits cities and counties would otherwise make off the cameras would go to the state. The money would go to the general fund "with the intent" that it be used to improve trauma care in the state, the bill states.

"There's no guarantee that it will go to the trauma network," state Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, D-Atlanta, said in arguing against the bill.

But state legislators, and even the governor, have been looking for new funding sources for trauma care - the catch-all name for emergency room care for the most serious injuries. State officials say the trauma system needs major upgrades.

The red light bill also contains other provisions. It states that local governments can't tinker with the timing of a red light to decrease the yellow time before installing a camera. It requires a traffic engineering study before a camera is installed. It states that a motorist can't get a ticket from a police officer, then get another one because of the camera.

House Bill 77's initial intent was to outlaw red light cameras. Some legislators believe the rewritten bill will accomplish a similar goal, since cities and counties will be less likely to install them if they can't keep most of the profits."

I would imagine future changes (if any) will depend on the outcomes of Supreme Court cases in other states. But again, for now, the claim that cameras are all about saving lives pales when the discussion turns so quickly on who gets the money from these tickets, which cannot be appealed short of lawsuits.

The Redflex company, which pockets a percentage of all fines issued, says this is just all part of the modern world, where we are watched in ubiquitous fashion. In a USA Today story from 2006, the company explains they plan to expand their surveillance to roads as well as intersections. There are some key detractors to these camera programs according to the USA Today story:

"Perhaps the toughest critic of the cameras is the National Motorists Association. It's a driver advocacy group bent on keeping traffic flowing. It says that re-timing yellow lights — for one extra second — is more effective than installing traffic cameras.

"Putting up a camera only rewards a city for poor engineering," spokesman Eric Skrum says.

[Redflex CEO Karen] Finley is unmoved. "People who obey the law never have to deal with us," she says.

Soon, Redflex may seek more serious lawbreakers than those who run red lights. The company has just begun to look into potential for growth in the homeland security business, Finley says.

Redflex and its competitors are frequently criticized as invading personal privacy. Such criticism may get more vocal as the industry looks to expand the uses of its technology.

"If you take it to its logical extreme," says Beth Givens, director of Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, an advocacy group, "we could become a society where automated systems are enforcing the law — a system of ubiquitous monitoring."

But Finley points out that cameras already "watch" people at ATMs. And at many convenience stores. And in offices all over the country. And in transit stations, airports and many other public spaces.

Security cameras are part of our culture, she says. Besides, she says, "When you use a public roadway, you give up your right to privacy."

The Failure of Traffic Cameras

Driving under watchful camera eyes has provided government with endless supplies of cash and those ticketed have little ability to challenge the charge. And that is bringing lawsuits and challenges that due process is being ignored.

Ohio and Minnesota are just two states whose court's are reviewing the use of such cameras. Claims are often made that the presence of the camera is enough to warrant their use. But what of the right of one accused to face their accuser in court? And once courts hold the tickets issued via camera technology illegal, how will they refund the money seized from fines?

I had read recently of several studies which showed that a much greater effectiveness of reducing accidents at intersections is achieved with two simple acts: clearer markings at intersections and longer times for a yellow light. A Popular Mechanics article by Glenn Reynolds mentions those studies:

"But if the emphasis is on safety--rather than on revenue--there are better ways of dealing with the problem. A recent study done by the University of Central Florida for the Florida Department of Transportation found that improving intersection markings in a driving simulator reduced red-light running by 74 percent without increasing the number of rear-end collisions. Likewise, a Texas Transportation Institute study found that lengthening yellow-light times cut down dramatically on red-light running. It also found that most traffic-camera violations occurred within the first second after the light turned red (the average was just one-half second after the light change), while most T-bone collisions occurred 5 or more seconds after the light change. If there's a problem, cameras aren't really addressing it."

BUt it seems evident that given the option of simple engineering changes or of just taking money, it's all about the money.

UPDATE: There was a massive response to the issue of cameras and traffic lights at KnoxViews which is well worth the read. Just wish I had read if before I posted my views about cameras and traffic lights today.

Camera Obscura - My Cat Does The Reviews Today

I can hear the cat snoring rather loudly as she sleeps away this cool afternoon and I sit here pecking away at the keyboard. The sound is most seductive, though oddly loud for such a wee critter. I have never, ever heard a cat snore prior to this cat. What might a cat dream about? I'm going to guess the dreams are about movies, spy movies in fact. Sneaky-peteing about on soft cat feet, intense focus, and a cold-blooded detachment seem exactly right for cat and spy.

This week the cat and I watched the latest James Bond film, "Casino Royale." We both agreed that it was the best Bond movie since Sean Connery played the British agent and was a fine adaptation of Ian Fleming's book and his dark-hearted hero.

In the books, and in the first few films with Connery, Bond is not a nice person. He's deceptive and cruel, a bit hedonistic and given to petty acts of revenge. And he enjoys that whole "license to kill" aspect of his job. All those elements are expertly played by Daniel Craig, who was born in 1968, long after Connery broke out in a series of hit movies.

One slightly funny thing the cat and I noticed about this new Bond movie -- a lack of high-tech gadgets in this movie (thank god for that) with one exception. There's a scene about two-thirds through the movie where Bond has to dash to his car and hook himself up to a defibrillator. I think that is most appropriate for a character some 50-plus years old.

There was no snoring from the cat during this movie, which we both recommend for viewing. And while I have mentioned it before, I'm going to mention it again. A movie worth seeking out which also stars Craig is "Layer Cake." He plays a criminal who is caught in a maze of low-rent thugs and twisted schemes, and shows off the acting chops he used with great success as Bond.

On the other hand, the cat DID snore through two pitiful movies I watched on cable this week. The horror movie "Stay Alive" and the new Steve Martin version of "The Pink Panther." Both were just awful. However the cat did wake up for one scene in the new Panther movie, where Martin is attempting to take lessons from a dialect coach so he can speak English. The phrase "I would like to buy a hamburger" has never been funnier.

Large amounts of cat-hisses are evident if by some error the Fox network is onscreen when "American Idol" airs. Catty and sneaky behavior, however, are evident at the web site "Vote For The Worst," which has for the last few years urged readers to call in and vote for the worst Idol contestants. This week, they claimed they were responsible for keeping the untalented competitor named Sanjaya on the show.

I will place a phone at the cat's disposal next week when voting is offered should she wish to dial in and vote for the worst contestant. Well, I may help her dial just a little bit.

Bush Veto Ahead for Information Access?

A series of bills aimed at improving access to public records was overwhelmingly approved by representatives in Washington, D.C. yesterday.

However President Bush has vowed to veto the measures. Welcome to Sunshine Week 2007.

The Gonzales Dance

Juggling language and side-stepping reality, the nation's Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is under withering heat for a first-of-its-kind firing of US attorneys.

It's unique since it's the first time the firings and replacements have occurred under the rules of The Patriot Act - which means the Senate does not have to confirm any choices made. Not that any emergency existed to invoke the Patriot Act. It was just handy to avoid Congress.

Also worth noting is how much Gonzales has actively misled the public and congress about the mass firings. It's gone from an episode of "good management" to a mistake-filled process. In January of this year Gonzales said:

"That fact that that happens quite frankly some people should view that as a sign of good management. What we do is make an evaluation about the performance of individuals and I have a responsibiity that we have the best possible people in that position.

"I would never ever make a change in a United States attorney position for political reasons or that in any way would jeopardize an ongoing investigation," Gonzales said. "I just would not do it."

This week he claimed a new stance on the firings:

"Like every CEO of every major organization, I am responsible for what happens at the Department of Justice. I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility and my pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here, to assess accountability, and to make improvements so that the mistakes in this instance do not occur again in the future."

The President says he was aware of complaints about attorneys, but knew no names or specifics, even though his staff was actively campaigning for firing all the previous attorneys he himself approved in his first term. Bush simply says the explanation was mishandled, but the actions themselves were just fine.

The Vampire Candidate and The Catfish Resolution

Some stories are so bizarre they defy description. Just about every sentence of this story is so weird you'd think it was made up by the staff writers at Weekly World News. But nooooooo. The British paper reports that America's (so far) only vampire candidate, Jonathon "The Impaler" Sharkey for president is being investigated for threatening to impale current President Bush --

"But a legal expert is unsure if a case could be made against The Impaler. 'Under the First Amendment, what it boils down to here is whether or not he's a vampire who wants to impale the president,' law professor Neil Richards of Washington University in St. Louis told the Chronicle.

'I guess the question is, if he's a vampire, why is he the one staking people? Shouldn't he want to bite the president and feed on him?' added Richards, describing these questions as 'perhaps further evidence that this is not a true threat."

The whole story (every sentence will make your jaw drop) is here. The vampire is 42 years old and his wife, Spree, is 19. Just ... wow. All it needs is a reference to Bigfoot and a UFO.

In a related bit of strangeness, another story, this one with a much happier ending. I mentioned a few days back that a woman was being sought for attacking a waitress with a catfish dinner. They found the woman, but the waitress and the restaraunt decided not to file charges against her:

"We've had so much publicity over this stuff, they've called us from everywhere," Jenkins told the Times-News Thursday afternoon. "Louisiana, California, ‘The "Jerry Springer Show' - and Channel 5 sat up here for eight hours the other day. It's all over the Internet everywhere.

"We just told them (the sheriff's office) to tell her she wasn't welcome anymore. It's all you can eat, not all you can carry."

I know it's only Tuesday, but surely there won't be any stranger stories this week .... or at least I hope that's true.

"Morristown" The Movie

“We don’t make anything in this country anymore. If they closed the ports, we’d be naked and barefoot.”
- Shirley Reinhardt, former GE worker, Morristown, TN

The quote comes from a new documentary about Morristown and immigration, currently making the rounds at festivals and is also now available on DVD. Filmmaker Anne Lewis spent years on the project, which examines how immigration has changed the city and the city has changed the immigrants.

Lewis began her career as an associate director on the Oscar-winning "Harlan County U.S.A." and has been actively exploriing the lives and the worlds of working men and women ever since. Some info about her is here and here, where she explains her creative vision as a documentary filmmaker.



The movie, "Morristown" is described as:

"Working-class people in Mexico and eastern Tenessee are caught in the throes of massive economic change, which challenges their assumptions about work, family, nation and community. This film chronicles nearly a decade of change in Morristown, Tennessee through interviews with displaced or low-wage Southern workers, Mexican immigrants, and workers and families impacted by globalization."

A short clip can seen here via the Austin, TX university website.

The movie was made with the assistance from both the Highlander Center (where you can order a DVD copy of "Morristown Video Letters", an early spin off of the project) in New Market, TN and the Appalshop in Kentucky, where you can pre-order copies of the movie and should have them available for sale in the very near future. Thanks to Anne for the details about the availability of her film.

Part of the movie examines the recent efforts of workers at the Koch Foods chicken processing plant to form a union. Workers overwhelming approved the move to unionize and cameras take you into the plant to witness working conditions there.

And while the movie hasn't gotten much attention in Tennesssee, audiences from Albuquerque to Minnesota are watching the story unfold.

(photo taken from the movie, shows Alfredo and Silvia Perez and their children in Juarez, Mexico)

Cup Of Joe Powell 2.0

So I had to switch to the new Blogger. This is the first post with the new Blogger. Not sure if the world will follow along here or not. Dang well better.

I will start using tags for posts as all the hep cats do.

Sure looks all clean and sparkly in the new digs, but I'm sure that won't last. Why not add a picture here just for good measure? (hmmmm ... not sure where I spotted this picture ... don't sue me.)

Halliburton Leaving U.S.?

I cannot say I am surprised to learn yet another giant corporation is leaving the U.S.

It will likely be a major benefit for stockholders, and may allow them to escape from troubling legal investigations into their practices and avoid taxation too. Halliburton is leaving the U.S. and headed into the Middle East.

The Freedonian has more on the story, noting:

"The Halliburton contracts have to end and end immediately. A company that we know we can't trust has relocated to a nation we know we can't trust. If Iraq had a fraction of the connection to the 9/11 attacks that UAE had, attacking them would have been the right thing to do.

I'm not advocating attacking UAE. But they've already proven their willingness to take any investment we make in them and make it pay dividends in blood. Our government has a responsibility to the American people to not help fund the next attack on them."

Designer Genitals

"It's a ripoff," says University of Tennessee at Memphis medical professor Thomas G Stovall, adding, that there is no scientific literature to back up the claims of a controversial surgical technique. The technique heralded by plastic surgeons and Dr. Stovall's warnings about it were featured in Friday's Washington Post.

The medical procedure is referred to as vaginal reconstruction and is based on a technique of firing a laser into a woman's gentials - Designer Vaginal Lasoplasty. Stovall adds that the claims of the process are more than dubious:

"It's really a heresy promoting this. But sex sells."

Stovall, a former president of the Soceity of Gynecological Surgeons, is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology.

The creator of the technique, Dr. David Matlock, often seen on E! TV on "Dr. 90210" promotes his surgery via the internet and claims he's performed thousands of such procedures and trained about 140 doctors to repeat his success. He says it's what women want, it's safe and it makes him tons of cash. One patient mentioned in the article didn't just have this one surgery - she had a whole series of them, what doctor called a "Wonder Woman Makeover":

"(31-year old single mother Julie Barrigan had) several vaginal procedures, breast implants and a breast lift, abdominal liposuction and a "Brazilian butt augmentation," which involves reshaping the buttocks through a combination of liposuction and fat injections."

The act of intense body re-shaping and sculpting and lasering and injecting is a very personal decision. Maybe it helps and maybe it does not. I do know that surgery to re-shape and re-imagine the body is presented on The Entertainment Channel, which speaks volumes about the processes here. And I'm certain this type of "designer" body enhancements will continue to grow more popular.

Potions and promises to bring a new you into existence have been around as long as there have been people. Give it a science backdrop and a catchy advertisement, and the money follows. Dr. Matlock doesn't just offer a simple surgery - it's an Institute, with a Misson to "empower women with knowledge, choice and alternatives."

Bling Water From Tennessee

The hip-hop culture can now satisfy their thirst with a tasty blast of water from Dandridge, Tennessee. Once the water is placed in a frosted glass bottle and given some other sparkly additions, the Dandridge spring water turns to Bling Water and sells for between 24 and 40 dollars a bottle.

More here and here.

And oh yes, I too wish I'd thought of it first.

Camera Obscura - Miller's '300'; 'Heroes'; 'The Host'

Technical prowess may be the real star in the movie version of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley's "300" opening today in theatres (which I told you in December would be the hot ticket when released). Varley, once wife of Miller, added to Miller's art and design of "300", with great colors and moods.

Imaginative, rough, beautiful - the duo of Miller and Varley jammed together all types of comic art and design in their works and bringing all that to screen takes another type of technical inventiveness, which director Zack Snyder achieved by combining the latest CGI/blue screen effects and good old fashioned 35mm film tech.

"In a dazzling battle sequence, heavily influenced by Snyder and (cinematographer Larry) Fong's work in commercials, the two used a camera technique known as a "lens morph" or a "nested zoom." Basically, three Arriflex cameras were mounted with a wide, a medium and a macro lens that ran at 150 frames per second. When cut together, the action shot moves blazingly fast, in an extreme change of perspective that isn't created purely by either cutting or zooming. "Using two techniques at once is all part of the weirdness," Fong said.

High adrenaline visuals were then underscored by a bold soundtrack.

When you watch this movie, it should be loud. It should hurt your ears, Snyder said."

More on the audio-visual assault is here from the L.A. Times. Fanboys have been awaiting this movie with much glee and anticipation, and the film is getting very high praise from comic afficianados in this spoiler-loaded review:

"The stylized combat of "300" is, as far as I've seen, unparalleled in American filmmaking, and that includes "The Matrix," "The Lord of the Rings," and everything else. In fact, "Rings" devotees may wish to avoid "300," because after seeing Frank Miller's widescreen illustrations come to life and start moving, leaping, hacking, gouging, tearing and bleeding all over their neighborhood IMAX, the Tolkien trilogy will be reduced to little more than the very long story of a schizophrenic Muppet and his curiously affectionate companions. And I love those movies!"

Some fine behind-the-scenes producton blogs about the making of this blood-soaked hyper-epic can be found here.

In the midst of the sculpted abs and ballet of male violence an actress appears as a near-goddess, playing the role of Leonidas' wife Queen Gorgo. Her career has often been lost amid the myths and fantasies of the films she appears in: Lena Headey.


Headey can be seen in another male fantasy, "Twice Upon a Yesterday" (the USA title of the also clumsy title of "The Man With Rain In His Shoes"), which is worth seeking out. A time travel story without gigantic effects or dinosaurs, but relying instead on the ever-changeable human nature for its dramatic core. Other movies with Headey include "The Brothers Grimm," "The Cave", "Ripley's Game," and "Imagine Me & You".

One more thought on "300" -- pre-production plans are underway to bring another of Miller and Varley's cult comics to life, this time "Ronin," which is set in a bizarre nano-bio-tech future which is invaded by a centuries old samaurai battle.
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In limited release today (and headed to DVD later this month) is the Korean creature-feature "The Host." The movie has been compared to "Jaws" and my advice is, if you get a chance to see it on the big screen - do so. Often comic and absurd, the movie still manages to scare the bejesus out of audiences.

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The hit NBC show "Heroes", which exists both on-screen and in comic books, has had a nice batch of episodes helmed by director Allan Arkush, who also has earned executive producer status on the show.

Arkush, who took Martin Scorsese's film classes in college went on to work for the Roger Corman machine and gave us cult classics like "Rock and Roll High School" and "Get Crazy!".

Arkush has a great touch for comedy, action and drama mixed with comic book/rock and roll madness and his style melds very well with "Heroes". And the show has been very carefully building great stories and characters into a very tense and exciting adventure. Good to see Arkush working again - I may even forgive him for "Caddyshack 2".

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While I'm talking comic books, why on earth was there not more of a publicity push for the first-ever onscreen confrontation between Wolverine and Batman?? Huh? Tell me!

Oh sure, they appeared as other people rather than Logan and Bruce Wayne, but it's a terrific match-up between actors Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in the vastly underrated "The Prestige". Set in the world of magicians at the end of the 19th century, the movie even boasts David Bowie as Nikola Tesla. It's another great film from director Chris Nolan and should be on your list of movies to watch.

Sevierville Paper Drops Coulter

Times are tough for Conservative icon Ann Coulter -- even newspapers in Tennessee are dropping her after her comments from the Conservative Convention:

"However we will not continue to publish the columns of someone who uses people as a punch line to get a cheap laugh and who so freely uses an offensive term to describe another human being.

Other papers nationwide are dropping her. What's unique here is not that these papers are major national outlets, it's that the small town support, from the Conservative base, are dropping her. Mix that with her losses from national sponsors, her tirade continues to make waves. (Thanks to Sande for the tip on the Sevierville news.)

A What Up His Where?

The best news story of the day goes to the man who had a hidden magnet which freaked out the security at LAX. Via Boing Boing.

Pretend You're In 'Blade Runner'

(via)

Who Really Runs Walter Reed?

The government is not running Walter Reed's medical facilities.

It's run by private contractors -- although the key group, IAP Worldwide Services, is actually headed by two former execs with Halliburton's Kellogg, Brown and Root, and includes board members like former VP Dan Quayle.

There is far more informaton about a long battle to privatize Walter Reed and what the results of that have been here at Tom Paine. A sample of the report:

"But this time the privatization game may have backfired in the face of the Bush administration and its friends in the corporate world. It is one thing to screw workers—unfortunately, that’s now considered business as usual—but in the case of Walter Reed the ultimate victims are a much more revered group. The stark evidence that the Bush Administration, for all its rhetoric about supporting the troops, is much more interested in supporting the contractors, could be leading to a political earthquake."

Catfish Dinner Used as Weapon

Has to be one of the funnier headlines I've seen. And this in a year which has already given us headlines about astronauts in love triangles (and diapers) and bald pop singers.

I honestly admit I never even considered that a catfish dinner could be used as a weapon. But that is the claim here: Hawkins deputies look for heavy woman who attacked Bulls Gap restaurant employee with catfish.

In other crime reports and court reports, I was just thinking that going to jail with a name like "Scooter" Libby would not afford much in the sense of personal safety. And it was a strange defense from Libby anyway, against all the charges against him - that he was a fall guy, would not testify and that he was just so darned busy he could not think straight. From Time:

" ...the judge said he felt misled, at least about Libby, and he told Libby's lawyers that they were "playing games with the process." To punish them, he ruled that they could not say in closing arguments that the pressure of national security issues prevented Libby from remembering any conversations about Plame. All the lawyers could say was that Libby "had a lot on his plate."

Perhaps Scooter needed to consider a catfish dinner defense - his plate was so full it was inevitable he would forget he stuffed a catfish dinner in his pocket, a dinner which was part of a large menu of deception concerning war in Iraq.

However, I would not be surprised to see "Scooter" using the system to delay going to jail long enough to get a presidential pardon. I'm fairly sure that when or if caught, the "catfish lady" will be in jail far sooner than "Scooter" will.

Hypocrisy License

Time for some honesty about the Tennessee Driver's License and how people can apply for one - not just for the next year, but in light of federally mandated changes which aims to transform a state's drivers license into a new national identity card.

First, the current debate in the state's legislature ignores the reality of this new application process - tacking a new requirement specifying English only testing ignores the coming change which requires full documentation and verification of said documents from all residents before a license can be issued. Once these new national IDs are in place, an illegal immigrant simply could not obtain one. So the claim the measure is an aide to immigration reform is just false.

More important is how it can be paid for -- as noted in a Tennessean story Friday, the government has decided to delay the change until 2009 instead of the planned May 2008 timetable. However delays are not the goal of the majority of the states and majority of state and economic leaders nationwide who want the measure repealed.

I've mentioned all the problems with this new ID previously. That report also notes that Senator Alexander voted to install this new ID plan and against providing funding to states to pay for the changes necessary in each state. However, in his comment from the Tennessean story, says:

"Alexander blasted Real ID as 'legislation that would require states to turn more than 190 million driver's licenses into de facto national identification cards'."

Then why did the Senator vote in favor of the ID?

He is right though - as was Congressman Duncan, who originally voted against and not for this national ID.

You won't be able to use a bank, or other services, you can't collect Social Security -- In short, the Real I.D. Act states these identity cards will be required not only if one wants to drive, but also if you wish to visit a federal government building, collect Social Security, access a federal government service, or use the services of a private entity, such as a bank or an airline.

"States will be responsible for verifying these documents. That means that, when it comes to birth certificates and other documents, they probably will have to make numerous, onerous confirming calls to state and municipal officials or companies to verify the documents authenticity. (Paperwork can easily be faked.) In addition, they will have to cross-check Social Security numbers, birthdates, and more against federal databases.

Once created, the IDs must include the information that currently appears on state-issued driver's licenses and non-driver ID cards - name, sex, addresses and driver's license or other ID number, and a photo. (Under the Act, that photo must be digital - for it will be inputted into the multi-state database I will discuss below.) But the IDs must also include additional features that drivers' licenses and non-driver ID cards do not currently incorporate.

For instance, the ID must include features designed to thwart counterfeiting and identity theft. Unfortunately, while including such features may sound appealing, on the whole, these IDs may make our identities less safe.

Once Real ID is in effect, all fifty states' DMVs will share their information in a common database - and may also verify information given to them against various federal databases. In addition, it's very possible that such data will be sold to commercial entities: Some states already allow driver's license data to be sold to third parties.

Even with current, unlinked databases, thieves increasingly have turned their attention to DMVs. Once databases are linked, access to the all-state database may turn out to be a bonanza for identity thieves.

Finally, the IDs must include a "common machine-readable technology" that must meet requirements set out by the Department of Homeland Security. And, somewhat ominously, Homeland Security is permitted to add additional requirements--which could include "biometric identifiers" such as our fingerprints or a retinal scan."

Much more on the topic here.

Instead of attempts to stir up immigration anger, the state needs to be honest and address the coming reality of the nation's first ever mandatory ID.

The World Searches For ....

What are just some of the searches made on the internet that brought readers to this page?

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Weightless Wasabi

As of now, the International Space Station has banned wasabi. Weightless wasabi has been deemed too dangerous, but I say we must solve of the problems eating sushi in space someday, so stay at it astronauts! (via Boing Boing)