Republicans Blocking Jobs and Economic Growth

Let's take a break from the Spooky Happenings at Frightmare Manor (search the keyword "halloween" for those tales).

Escpecially since weird and oddly convoluted tactics from Republicans seems to be hellbent on scaring voters, especially when it comes to our economy and on job creation.

"So where are the jobs? Republicans have been working hard to block them."

Why anyone in East TN or beyond would support the Republican candidates who back them is a pure mystery to me ... maybe folks need to stop swilling down Tea Party Koolaid and stop watching Beck, Hannity and that whole deranged crew ... read on:

Conservatives will predictably spin these newest numbers into attacks on Democrats, but in reality, the GOP's policies would be a disaster for the American people.

On September 15th, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) unveiled a two-point plan to maintain George W. Bush's tax rates for two years and return spending to 2008 levels. Despite his claim that returning to Bush's economic policies would "create jobs," analysis finds that it would actually kill over a million of them.

The GOP's "Jobs Plan" Would Kill Over 1 Million Jobs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, "The adverse impact of the spending cuts, meanwhile, would overwhelm the limited growth impact associated with the tax cuts, substantially decreasing output on net. Using a rule of thumb for the impact of government spending on employment, we estimate that this loss of GDP will correspond to a loss of roughly 1.1 million jobs, relative to a fiscal path that maintains spending at the president's proposed 2011 levels and a tax policy that did not extend tax cuts for upper-income taxpayers." [Economic Policy Institute, 9/23/10; emphasis added]

As Boehner's plan touches on and the Pledge to America reiterates, the party's main proposal to boost the economy is to make President George W. Bush's income tax rates permanent. While this is apparently the best the GOP can do, the Congressional Budget Office says it is the worst way to grow the economy.

CBO: Among Eleven Proposals To Spur Economic Growth, Cutting Income Taxes Ranks Last. Below is a chart created by the Congressional Budget Office to show the "cumulative effects of policy options on employment in 2010 and 2011":

[Congressional Budget Office, 9/28/10]

The Pledge to America indicates that Republicans will help small businesses to spark job creation. Unfortunately for the GOP, though, their plan doesn't actually help small businesses.

CAP: The Pledge To America Does Not Help American Small Businesses. According to the Center for American Progress, "The proposal is an 'upside-down' tax break that gives the largest benefits to those who already have the highest incomes. A deduction reduces the taxable income and thus the taxes that somebody has to pay. A business owner with lots of business and other income will thus get a government subsidy of 35 cents for each dollar in deduction, while a small business owner in the 15 percent tax bracket will get 15 cents for each dollar in deductions... Larger businesses already enjoy advantage over smaller businesses in terms of access to credit markets. And smaller businesses have greater needs to invest and to hire than larger, well-established businesses. The GOP proposal, though, shovels the money where it is not needed and thus exacerbates the advantages of large over small." [Center for American Progress, 9/27/10; emphasis added]

When it came time to offer a helping hand to those hit hardest by the recession, Republicans simply said "no." The GOP refused to renew unemployment benefits, allowing them to lapse, which left thousands of America's jobless alone in the dark for six weeks. Republican candidates across the country have declared war on unemployment benefits, saying they are unconstitutional and the jobless are "spoiled."

Not only do unemployment benefits help the very people who need it, but they are also the most effective way to stimulate economic growth.

CBO: Extending Unemployment Benefits Is "Both Timely And Cost-Effective In Spurring Economic Activity And Employment." According to the Congressional Budget Office: "Extending additional unemployment benefits would directly help those who would otherwise exhaust their unemployment benefits between March and December of this year. Households receiving unemployment benefits tend to spend the additional benefits quickly, making this option both timely and cost-effective in spurring economic activity and employment. A variant of this option would extend assistance with paying health insurance premiums, which would allow some recipients to maintain health insurance coverage they would otherwise have dropped." [Congressional Budget Office, 2/23/10]

CBO: Unemployment Benefits Are The Most Effective Way To Boost The Economy. Below is a chart created by the Congressional Budget Office to show the "cumulative effects of policy options on employment in 2010 and 2011":

[Congressional Budget Office, 9/28/10]

And worst of all, Republicans have fallen down on the job when Americans needed them most. During the worst of the recession, as progressives fought to create jobs and help those who were hurting, Republicans failed to act.

Republicans Opposed The Recovery Act, Which Provided Up To 3.3 Million American Jobs. Republicans opposed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. According to the Congressional Budget Office, "CBO estimates that ARRA's policies had the following effects in the second quarter of calendar year 2010... Increased the number of people employed by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million." [HR 1, Vote #46, 1/28/09; Congressional Budget Office, August 2010]

Republicans Fought Increased Investment In Clean Energy Technology, Which Would Create Up To 1.9 Million American Jobs. Republicans fought bills to increase America's investment in clean energy technology and reduce carbon pollution. According to the University of California-Berkeley, "new analysis by the University of California shows conclusively that climate policy will strengthen the U.S. economy as a whole. Full adoption of the ACES package of pollution reduction and energy efficiency measures would create between 918,000 and 1.9 million new jobs." [HR 2454, Vote #477, 6/26/09; UC Berkeley, accessed 1/22/10]

Republicans Opposed Health Care Reform, Which Will Create Up To 4 Million American Jobs In The Next Decade. Republicans voted en masse against the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform bill signed into law. According to the Center for American Progress, "Relative to baseline employment forecasts from the Employment Projections Program at the U.S. Department of Labor, we estimate that moderate medical savings from health care modernization as envisioned under the legislation now before Congress would lead to an average of 250,000 additional jobs created annually. Under the larger assumption about savings due to health care reform, 400,000 new jobs a year would be created on average." [HR 3590, Vote #165, 3/21/10; Center for American Progress, New Jobs Through Better Health Care, January 2010]

Republicans Blocked Program That Supports 250,000 Jobs. Republicans have repeatedly blocked the extension of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, supports "jobs for some 250,000 parents and youth who are otherwise unemployed, many of whom have been without work for some time." [Huffington Post, 9/29/10; CBPP, 9/2/10]

In Memoriam - John Lennon

Some Secrets of Frightmare Manor

This is another in a continuing series of posts this month as I write about being a performer in the immensely popular Frightmare Manor here in East Tennessee and I'm telling some of the secrets and the behind-the-scenes events at the Manor. (UPDATE - go here to learn about Frightmare Manor 2011!)

I've been one of those creepy fans horror movies and books and stories for as long as I can remember. And I've been a part of haunted houses and shows, and even put on a few of those myself, also for as long as I can remember. And I have a few insights which I'm happy to share - but just a few, since some secrets must be kept. But feel free to ask questions in the comments section below.

Here's one thing I do know - once a person or a group go into a haunted attraction, like Frightmare Manor, just walking thru the dark, creaky house sets the heart to pounding and the imagination tells us this darkness is home to an Un-nameable Horror, concealing those things which always are with us, buried just below the senses. But you know it's there. So when something - a shape, a cold hand, a voice - starts moving out of the dark and toward you, the un-named becomes real.

So what scares you most?

It's not to hard to thing of some very real fears humans have - we live in a time of economic uncertainty, a time of terrorist warnings, and being fearful of strangers and worries about 'secure' schools and borders and homes seem to surround the nation.

But that's not the type of fear or scares I mean. And even if you can't identify that thing which frightens you, we at Frightmare know ... and know how to make it come to life.

Here's some background on what it takes to be one of the insiders at Frightmare - I was one of over 300 applicants for acting jobs. And honestly, some of the folks I met during the application process were plenty scary already. And we all love our jobs - which is bad news for you!

Chris and his hard-working crew have taken almost a year to take an old house and the surrounding woods and other locations and transform it all into a nasty stew of scary, creepy, crawly things. Several performers arrived with their own costumes and masks and other ideas too. One of my favorites is this wee lad who haunts a room full of discarded and dirty toys. That boy is mighty freaky.

From my location, I can tell when a new group is moving thru the Manor because I hear the screams. The howls and pure girly screams (from men, women and children) are always louder than anything else, even though there are many strange sounds filling the Manor already. Then there's the trail thru the woods outside. But more on that later.

Frightmare also offers a money-back event - if you can endure the intense and spectral special scares, you'll get your money back. What is the challenge? Well, I'm sworn to secrecy on that, and really only a few people know exactly what happens during the challenge. The best answer I can give you is that you'll have to sign a waiver first, you must endure it all alone and you'll have to eat something, drink something and do something ... none of it simple or easy. On opening night this past Friday, some 40 brave souls signed up for the challenge ... only one succeeded and got their money back.

Heh heh.

We know what scares you, even if you don't.

We're open again this Friday and Saturday night from 7 p.m til midnight - you can get tickets right now at the main website. If you dare.

A Month of Fear at Frightmare Manor

UPDATE: Find out about Frightmare Manor 2011 here!!

Here in East Tennessee, there is already a chill in the air. October always brings a month of madness and mirth and your Cup of Joe Powell is marking Halloween 2010 with a special insiders view of fears and frights and all things creepy and spooky.

I've taken a job for the month to terrify (even more than usual) all souls brave enough to experience Frightmare Manor in Talbott, TN. This haunted attraction opens tonite and should you have the courage to venture into the dark, I'll be there.

This annual event provides several different attractions and offers an experience you won't forget. So I'll be posting often this month on what it's like to work in a place meant to make you scream and shiver. Myself and some 60 other folks from East TN will emerge from of the shadows, shuffling towards you - it might be some undead thing, or some deranged madman, or something even worse.

As we Frightmare Folk say - this is like Christmas for Crazy People. Last year, crowds of people lined up until one or two in the morning to take this freaky ride. This year, I'm onboard - which means just when you think you might make it through ... something wrong is going to happen.

I won't say just where or when you might encounter me - but I can tell you that all your senses will be assaulted, there will be chainsaws, splattered nastiness all over, a graveyard, some undead children, and much more.

Here's a commercial to make you curious:




And here's the main website where you can learn more and get tickets.

And you are invited to join us.

We know what scares you.

I will be happy to answer any questions you might have about this dark and dreadful event ... yes, any question.
Frightmare Manor is open Oct 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 and Nov. 5 and 6.

The Perfect Slice

A blogger has taken up the challenge of eating and review-blogging of every slice pizza place in Manhattan called Slice Harvester. He's just passed the year mark.

Me, I am a pizza-holic. If it's near me, I've probably already eaten it. I'm a pizza snob too, real pizza too, not this dessert/haute cuisine stuff either. I completely agree with the blogger, who writes in his first post:

"I am going to eat a slice of pizza at every pizzeria in New York City. I'm going by neighborhood, starting in Manhattan, getting a plain slice at every place. I am fucking sick of the current trend in Pizza Journalism that's all ... artichoke guacamole tahini pizza on rice dough. That shit isn't pizza. Sorry. The only instances where "not pizza" actually is pizza are Zante's in San Francisco on like, 27th and Mission that makes Indian Pizza, and the Turkish Pizza places in Berlin. The rest of it, not pizza. Brie cheese with prosciutto bits and a horseradish mustard, cooked to perfection on flat dough in a hot oven? Sounds delicious, not pizza."

I'm always questing for a good slice, and I loved their gigantic selection and the massive size of some slices. And take a look at this map and see Manhattan is in this incredible pizza joint trifecta of Long Island and New Jersey.

So far he's tracked only two 'perfect slices'

Another recent post features a recounting of a tale from the blogger about touring in Alabama with a rock band and a place called The Hot Spot. His bandmate is stopped by police in 'bama, but walks away with this tale, which prompts a real test of perception too.

"So we were like, "WHAT HAPPENED?!"
And he goes, "Well, he asked for my ID, and I handed it to him and said, 'yessir,' and he goes, 'I didn't know you Maryland boys had an accent?' And I said, 'well I'm a Southern man just like yourself.' And he says, 'Well what're you doin' drivin' around in a New York van?' and I told him I was on tour with a rock'n'roll band and I had moved up to New York cause there ain't much rock'n'roll in Maryland. And he asked what we sing about and I said, 'you know, rock'n'roll things. Fallin' in love... hatin' your boss... America.' And he said I seemed like a nice boy and got the judge on the phone and told him I shouldn't get charged with the full felony hit and run because it was all obviously a big mistake and that I should probably just do something I could settle up over the phone or through the mail because I had a rock'n'roll tour to finish."

So anyway, I have something of an affinity for places called the Hot Spot. I also realize typing it out that more than anything this story just highlights what kind of shit you can get away with if you have white skin privilege in our racist society. I don't think that it cheapens the story or the moment or the cool and clever way my buddy talked his way out of a jam, but I do think it's too glaring not to at least mention. I don't want to be the kind of person that just coasts through the world with no acknowledgment of the privileges I benefit from. Maybe for homework all my readers can think about a way they've benefited from privilege at some point, whether it be class privilege, gender privilege, skin privilege, and just reflect on what that says about the world."

Special Blogging Announcement

On Friday, expect some changes on this blog. It looks like these changes will be a little scary for many readers.

Stink Bug Legislation and Other Oddities

The arrival of a wee insect, the Stink Bug, means ... federal government action?

"15 lawmakers are eyeing a proposal to reclassify the species under federal guidelines to expand regulatory authority over the bugs.

In other words, faced with a environmental problem, the first instinct from conservative Republican politicians is to ask the federal government to do something. Indeed, they're specifically asking for federal bureaucrats to sweep into action and use expanded federal regulations to help people."

But the Republicans do not want to update food safety laws, because that's just more meddling government.

"The legislation, which seeks to update food safety laws nearly a century old, passed the House in July 2009 and will die if it does not clear the Senate by the end of the Congress."

Across the ocean, Great Britain's police are pondering using small unmanned drones to watch over the public. Now, if we could just use such drones to target dubious insects.

Republicans Trash and Cash Strategy

I was speaking briefly yesterday with an elderly fellow about our soured economy and he said "Boy, some change we got", which was meant to be a bite at President Obama. It isn't like he voted for him, or ever liked him at all.

The narrative many follow now is that everything was hunky dory until Jan. 2009 when Obama was sworn into office, neatly avoiding all reality, ignoring the crisis craziness about our tanking economy in 2008 when Republican candidate for prez John McCain held a press conference saying the presidential debate should be canceled so politicos could rally in Washington for an emergency meeting (which never really happened). But now, of course, all changes enacted to stop the battering of our economy are horrible, evil failures from an evil Marxist dictator.

Republicans hunt out cameras like they're supermodels, trash all policy plans from Democrats in Congress and from President Obama's administration, then run home, checks in hand from those same policies, and claim success for saving jobs. And not just a few of them - the list is long and part of the public record.



Rep. Phil Roe here in East Tennessee did it too.

And Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander did the same, as they arrived to cheer the re-opening of a Tennessee auto plant, thanks to a plan they called evil.

The crowd of employees booed them.

"At a ceremony to celebrate the news on Friday, Tennessee politicians flocked to get a piece of the happy action, including Republican Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, along with Rep. Marsha Blackburn -- all three of whom voted against the auto bailout. The UAW employees in attendance booed lustily, saving their strongest scorn for Corker, who made no friends in union ranks two years ago when he argued that no federal aid should go to American car companies until and unless worker wages and benefits were reduced to levels "competitive" with foreign labor.

GM's employees did end up taking a hit in the managed bankruptcy organized by the Obama administration. But it wasn't as brutal a blow as southern Republicans representing work-for-hire states like Tennessee would have preferred. And since it was a Democratic administration that ultimately came to the rescue of the auto industry, the auto-bailout immediately had to be dubbed "a major power grab." Socialism! Or Fascism! Whatever -- it was bad, bad, bad!"

19th Century Pulp Fiction

Emory University has launched a huge online library of books known as Yellowback Novels, which were marketed mostly at railway travelers in Great Britain in the late 19th century. The books were digitized with a new scanner system, so even the ads for unusual products of the era are included in many of the books.

Emory has placed 1,200 of these novels as PDF files online:

"Yellowbacks were cheap, 19th century British literature sold at railway book stalls, with colorful, sensational covers to attract buyers. While some were well-known books such as “Sense and Sensibility,” many of the yellowbacks were obscure titles by authors unknown nowadays. “They were the equivalent of a popular novel you’d read on a plane today,” says David Faulds, MARBL’s rare book librarian.

"The genres and topics include romance, detective fiction, war, biography, medicine, horse racing, hunting and fishing. “Some of these books are so rare that they’ve been lost to history,” Faulds says. “Scholars and casual readers can now discover these works. There may be aspects of them that are of interest not only to literary researchers but also social historians looking at Britain or America in the 19th century or women’s lives in this period – what they were reading, how they are portrayed or what they wrote.”

You’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader. To access the yellowbacks:

1. Click here http://bit.ly/bPUGd4 for a preloaded search of "Emory digital library" yellowbacks, or search for a yellowback title or author of your choice.

2. Click on the selection you wish to read, or click on the green "online access" link next to the entry. (Or scroll down under details, and at the second blue arrow, right-click on "PDF version," then click on "open in new window.")

3. The yellowback will load; note the first page is usually blank. You can then save the novel to your desktop or a flash drive and read it at your leisure."

Rebuilding At World Trade Center Site

Some blog writers were moaning and wailing this past weekend that the site of the demolished World Trade Centers remain an empty blighted hole. But that isn't really true at all.

"But nine years after the September 11 attacks, there finally are tangible signs of progress. A memorial and a tree-filled plaza will be completed next year, in time for the 10th anniversary. The museum will open in 2012. And the steel framing of One World Trade Center—now at 36 stories—is clearly visible above the fence."

--

"The officials spoke on the 10th floor of what is perhaps Ground Zero’s biggest success story so far: Seven World Trade, a 52-story Skidmore Owings & Merrill-designed office building that opened in 2006. And while all the speakers praised what construction they could see outside the floor’s tall windows, many also acknowledged the start-stop nature of the process thus far."

A fairly thorough description of all the construction underway can be found at the Architectural Record blog.

And two related stories

-- some of those killed that terrible day were Muslims gathered in the prayer room in the South Tower.

-- former "Nightline" host (a TV show dedicated originally to following every detail of Americans held hostage in Iran in the late 1970s and perpetuated and endlessly imitated as daily and often hourly 'fearcasts') Ted Koppel, thinks the press and the public and the government are playing by bin Laden's rules.

Songs For September Nights

Moronic Inferno

A word of advice for the TN pastor wants some of that book- burning publicity, to go along with the media frenzy for one alleged pastor Terry Jones.

"Those who don't build must burn." -- Ray Bradbury

TVA's Millions for Toxic Ash Spill Finds Odd Uses

The Knoxville News Sentinel details some true oddities as TVA attempts to "repair" the massive damage from their horrific ash spill to local communities. The KNS reports, among other things:

"After months of talks, a deal had been struck for TVA to give Roane County governments $43 million to help offset the effects of the Dec. 22, 2008, ash spill.

But as the anniversary of that pronouncement looms, questions remain.

The special eight-member Roane County Economic Development Foundation created to approve funding requests has met four times since it organized.

That board - four TVA executives and the mayors of Kingston, Rockwood, Harriman and Roane County - has encumbered all but $900,000 of that payoff in those brief sessions.

Some contend the money was allocated for projects that have nothing to do with the ash spill, including $1.7 million for restoration of an old Harriman movie theater.

Others have questioned if funding those projects is a proper use of TVA ratepayer money.

The foundation's charter states the money is for "economic development projects, including infrastructure capital projects such as school, sewer and water projects, which will contribute to the long-term recovery and success of the communities affected by the ash slide…''

A University of Tennessee professor who studies environmental disasters and the responses to them calls the payment the equivalent of "slush funds that just go to these general purpose needs."

---

The Swan Pond community next to the power plant continues to be affected daily by the disaster, Ellis said.

Residents there "received nothing from the $43 million," he said, and there were no community meetings to ask for citizen input.

Button and Ellis note the foundation doesn't include as members any local citizens hard-hit by the spill.

"I think it was the wrong move to put so many politicians on the foundation," Ellis said. "There should have been some regular people from the community."

---

Roane Views has also been on the story, including the cast sums of money to be spent on PR efforts to bolster TVA's disaster.

Sadly, the EPA had bypassed those in East Tennessee as they held hearings on the dangers/risks/effects of such a massive spill. Finally, the EPA has set a date to hear from the victims of that enormous disaster - Roane Views says a hearing is set in Knoxville.

Camera Obscura: Cuban Zombies; Museum of Uncut Funk; Bruce Campbell Uncensored

Film fans of the world - it's going to get grim and a little funky today.

Usually a movie set in Cuba is a spy-filled moral quagmire, but Argentina-born director Alejandro Brugues has another vision. It's a Cuba overrun by flesh 'n brain eating zombies and the one man who wages his own revolution to reclaim the island nation and preserve it.

The movie aims for comedy, not just horror, right off the mark with the title of the movie now in production "Juan of the Dead" (aka "Juan de los Muertos"). Hipsters have been calling the growth of comedy and zombie blends Zomedy or as I prefer, the Zom-com.

24FramesPerSecond has the details and a few teaser trailers focusing on the film's titular hero, a red-converse-sneakered slacker named Juan who decides to make the horror of the relentless walking dead into a new way to earn a living:

"One day Havana begins to fill with zombies. Juan decides that the best way to cope with it is to prosper. "Juan of the dead, kills your loved ones" is his slogan, and its mission is to help people get rid of those infected around them ... for a price. But the situation gets worse, and while everyone is out to sea to get away, John is left with no choice but to become a hero, staying to defend their country and protect their home from turning into a real bloodbath."

One trailer is below and here is the film's website (note: it's not in English).



And if you have a tough time remembering or learning about the zombie movies you want to see, be sure and check out this Zombie Movie Database.

Worth noting too, the AMC channel will start their new zombie mini-series "The Walking Dead" from director Frank Darabont in October. Though their are just six episodes, AMC has already renewed the series for 12 more.

---

A very funky home for all things superbad and superfly has been made by a college professor, but you can call her Sista ToFunky. She's taken her passion for funky films and funky style to the Internet with The Museum of Uncut Funk.

It's a celebration of the Golden Age of Funk - aka, the 1970s - and hosts a stunningly large collection of movie poster art, comics, broadway shows, funky music, funky history, and much, much more.

Ohhhhh, yeah. It's International and Intergalactic, baby.

---

Actor Bruce Campbell never expected his role as the witless and luckless Ash from the "Evil Dead" movies would make him an icon.

Bruce talks with the L.A. Times about his days with Sam Raimi and crew making those movies and all the fame and fortune (or misfortune) which followed.

"I've met a lot of fathers and their sons who bonded through those movies -- they didn't get along but that those movies were they only thing they liked together. I think it's because Ash is just a regular guy. He's not special forces, he's not Clint Eastwood, he's not a squinty CIA, ex-Navy Seal. He's nothing. He's just a guy. He's a garage mechanic. He's not even that. He works in the housewares department. I think the average audience member goes, "Hey, he's me! Look at him make that stupid mistake, what an idiot!" Because an average guy would make horrible mistakes."

Debates Ahead For Hamblen County State Candidates

The Morristown/Hamblen County chapter of Citizens for Accountability is hosting a candidate debate Sept. 30th in Morristown. (via)

"The first debate will be between State Representative candidates Don Miller (R) and Larry Mullins (D). The second debate will feature State Senate candidates Senator Steve Southerland (R) and challenger Jack West (D).

The debates will take place in the Community Room at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) Post 5266 located at 2503 East Andrew Johnson Highway in Morristown, TN. Attendance is free and open to the public.

The debate for State Representative for Tennessee’s 10th district will begin at 6:00 PM on September 30th. Republican nominee Don Miller and Democrat nominee Larry Mullins will each give an opening statement before fielding questions from the debate moderator. AtCit the conclusion of the debate, each candidate will give a closing statement. Questions will be chosen from those submitted to Citizens for Accountability by the public.

Following a short break, the State Senate candidates will take the stage at approximately 7:15 PM. State Senator Steve Southerland, Republican, is seeking re-election to Tennessee’s 1st district which encompasses Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, and Unicoi Counties. He is being challenged by Jack West, Democrat. The Senate candidates will give an opening statement, field questions from the debate moderator, and give a closing statement.

Residents of Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, and Unicoi Counties may submit debate questions by e-mailing questions to Citizens for Accountability morristownhamblencfa@gmail.com or mailing questions to Debate Questions, P.O. Box 165, Morristown, TN 37815. All submissions are confidential, and selected questions will not be available to the candidates or to the public until the debate."

SHOCKING NEWS UPDATE: Or Not So Shocking -- The state Republican Party puts up a billboard to inform voters that - gasp!! -- Larry Mullins is a Democrat!! A-a-and, on top of that, he's been a Democrat for a long time!! He went to the last Democrat Presidential Convention! So what's next? Maybe the state's Democrats will buy a billboard informing residents that Don Miller works for a church!! OMG!!!

SHOCKING NEWS UPDATE 2: Across Tennessee's political blogosphere, the talk today is Larry Mullins here and here.

This Dog Dances The Merengue

Check out that smile on the dancing dog - the performance is better than 100 seasons of that "Dancing With The Minor Celebrities" show. (Learn more about this dancin' dog here.)

BP Wants You To Forget About Their Disasters

BP wants you to sleep and forget all their disasters.

BP wants you to forget about their plans to finish capping off the massive oil leak in the Gulf.

BP wants to hurl a few engineers into the BlameThrower Machine.

BP does not want to answer questions.

BP did not even tell anyone this Spring about a gas leak at a plant in Texas which lasted for 40 days until after it was over.

"Rather than taking the costly step of shutting down the refinery to make repairs, the engineers at the plant diverted gases to a smokestack and tried to burn them off, but hundreds of thousands of pounds still escaped into the air, according to state environmental officials.

Neither the state nor the oil company informed neighbors or local officials about the pollutants until two weeks after the release ended, and angry residents of Texas City have signed up in droves to join a $10 billion class-action lawsuit against BP. The state attorney general, Greg Abbott, has also sued the company, seeking fines of about $600,000."

My Time As A Hunter; or, The Days I Carried A Gun

Pardon me if I get a bit jumpy reading headlines like "Saturday Is Free Hunting Day" in Tennessee. No permits or such are needed, and it sort of conjures visions of some unwise folks shooting up the countryside. And the headline is not really accurate either.

This day, meant to encourage hunting, coincides with the beginning of squirrel hunting season, so it's okay to shoot (excuse me, 'hunt") squirrels and a few other critters according to the TWRA:

"In addition to squirrels, those species that have a year-round season will be open as well. The year-round species are armadillo, beaver, coyote, English sparrow, groundhog, nutria, pigeon, starling, and striped skunk."

Way back when I was a young teen, I did plenty of fishing and a small amount of hunting with a friend of our family, a fellow who was in his late 20s, and we had such great times and he was a very smart fellow, teaching me much about how to fish and how to hunt. We only hunted squirrels a few times, and we went frog-gigging many times. I remember one of those nights when I was out much of the night with my friend and I was carrying this plastic bag which was soon holding about 10 pounds (or so it seemed) of frog bodies. I was wearing this white t-shirt, and when I came back home my mom nearly fainted at the sight of me. Seems there was a leak in the bag and I was coated and spattered in frog blood. I thought it was pretty funny, but my mom, not so much.

My friend's wife cooked up a fantastically tasty platter of frog legs after our adventures, and I tried not to think about the frog carnage we created.

Our adventures hunting were a bit ... different. He taught me about how to always be safe while hunting, how to carry and shoot a shotgun (I got the smallish .410, but I have never thought of any shotgun as a "small" weapon.) I recall a few days of practice and such prior to going out, again, proof that my friend was a most wise and conscientious person.

Anyway, my friend said he knew some prime places to hunt and soon we were in some gorgeous woods nearby on a mild and sunny day in early Fall in middle Tennessee. It was so quiet, other than various woodland kinds of sounds, and such a beautiful spot he had found. We separated, maybe 30 yards apart, and he advised to just sit quiet for a bit and the squirrels would soon be all around us. ("Good thing I'm armed" I thought and laughed to myself, "because, you know ... squirrels ...")

I heard my friend firing his shotgun a few times, but I still saw no critters at all. I did as instructed though, simply sitting and waiting. Pretty soon, I noticed a squirrel, maybe 20 feet or so away on the side of a large tree trunk. My heart began to race and I closed the breech quickly and quietly and took a careful aim ... and that wee critter did this crazy squirrely twist and hanging off the side of the trunk turned it's head right toward me. It did a full-on, warm-hearted, Disney-cute pose and looked me dead in the eye as I sighted him with the gun.

But that pose it took stopped me cold. It was too dang cute. Blink, blink went the eyes, the tail swished a little wave at me and I could not have shot that critter no matter what. Would have been like shooting some kid's teddy bear.

It was not like I had (or have) some rare fondness for squirrels. It's just that it was watching me in this weird friendly way.

Ah well, I lowered the gun, the squirrel vanished, and I went back to watching the woods, hoping no one had seen me blow my chance to be a hunter.

Maybe half an hour or so later, my friend walked up and asked how it was going and I totally lied and said I had not seen any. He said the spot seemed to be kind of vacant and we would go to another. Soon, we were strolling back to his truck, both of us had the breeches open, though we still had ammo in the guns.

Suddenly this squirrel was racing over some branches above our heads and the noise made us both jump a bit, and in a nanosecond the breeches were closed and I fired. Sadly I had not calculated the distance between my gun and the critter -- a distance I realized afterward was pretty short -- maybe two feet between the squirrel and the end of my barrel. Yes, I pretty much atomized that squirrel. There were no parts or pieces, it was just ... gone.

"I think you got him," my friend said in that ultra-dry way of talking I love in Tennessee. He finally cracked a smile and I quite shaking and laughed too. He kept up the dry humor all the rest of the way back to the truck. By the day's end, he had bagged the limit and I never fired another shot.

His wife cooked up a mess of squirrel to eat and I remember thinking how nasty it tasted, and I was glad I did not depend on squirrel meat for sustenance. We went hunting a few more times, but as I never shot at anything again, we soon returned to fishing, something I was much better at doing. He and I have remained friends over the years and we always share many laughs and smiles at our adventures.

I did learn so much from him over the years, but one of the things I learned best was that I was a Hiker and not a Hunter.

Cat-Trashing Lady Brings Internet Rage

A woman in England needed police protection once the Internet fired up it's guns over a video purportedly showing the woman placing her neighbor's cat inside a trash bin. The cat's owner had CCTV installed outside his home and took the video footage of the woman hiding the cat and posted it on YouTube. That's when the fur began to fly.



What's truly strange to me is how she pets the cat, looks around and then chunks the kitty into the trash.

A Facebook page calling for her death has been removed, the US press has been following the tale as reported by British tabloids.

Internet watchers via 4chan really are the ones who stoked anger worldwide.

The woman has apologized - but ...

"I cannot explain why I did this, it is completely out of character and I certainly did not intend to cause any distress to Lola or her owners. It was a split second of misjudgment that has got completely out of control.”

Earlier in the day, the British-based Sun newspaper reported that Bale put the cat in the can as “a joke” and didn’t understand what the big deal was. “It’s only a cat,” Bale said, adding that she thought the cat would be able to wiggle its way out.

Too bad the dog killers Newscoma reported about in West TN were not captured on video.

Miss Universe Lands Hard In Tennessee

My attempt to lighten the mood a bit with this most recent post is a big FAIL.

An East TN couple apparently decided watching the Miss Universe Pageant was a doorway to Hell.

Or at least a doorway to jail.

"Shortly after Jimena Navarrete was crowned Miss Universe on Monday night, a Bristol woman was arrested for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend and calling him, "a Mexican lover."

Smell Like Lando, Drink Buffy, and Nations as Dresses

A company will allow you the chance to buy some Star Wars Perfume so you could smell like Princess Leia (slave princess that is) or you could go for the Eau Lando Cologne and smell like Lando - it even has it's own cape.



Or, as offered at the recent San Diego Comic-Con, drink some sodas named for Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters. They really sound awful and even I don't want one.

Apparently, a common thread to the Miss Universe competition is a parade of contestants wearing dresses designed to represent their home nations. Looks like Switzerland is ready to stop being neutral:

And I'll let the ... um ... "fabulous bloggers" at Tom and Lorenzo provide their own caption below for the ... dress?? worn by Miss USA, Rima Fakih:

EAT IT, WORLD! IN AMERICA, OUR STRIPPERS CAN FLY!

Using Fear To Crush America

I do not like having to write some things I've posted here - I spent days trying to put my thoughts together over the madness in America about religious buildings, and I very nearly deleted the whole thing. Why bother? With 145 bajillion blogs to read, it's like scratching at Mt. Everest with a toothpick.

Most people around me seem to be hellbent on vengeance and anger at Others. I don't really want or need any more anger aimed at me. I'm a very creaky construction of ideas, full of doubts, seldom as wise as I wish to be, and like most everyone else I know, it's a real struggle, this journey we all share. I don't want trouble.

But I posted my thoughts anyway. And today I read another bit of writing at Obsidian Wings which I think is worth sharing:

"Whatever some rabble-raising politicians say about one mosque doesn't trump what America really stands for--the values enshrined by our constitution that guarantee equality and freedom for all, whatever your race, religion or creed.

And the Republican Party is almost uniformly against it. And its opposition is manifesting in ways that are as vile as they are counterproductive in terms of keeping us safe.

That's really quite remarkable. The GOP is willing to risk American lives in order to sow hatred and bigotry for a short term boost to electoral prospects."

POSTSCRIPT:
For the next few days, I'm vowing to work harder to write about our world without hand-wringing and worries. Rather than stare right at some horrible thing headed toward my personal vehicle, I'm going to focus on the part of the road I want to be on instead. It can't hurt to try and studies show my vehicle will likely avoid that horrible thing.

The Constant Demonizing

Ir's pretty disgusting to witness the constant demonization of some "Other", which masquerades as social and political debate. The world seldom gets down to the Either/Or state of life, and when a person's world (or a group's) perspective is down to just two options, then one is surely in a battle royale.

The demonizations now seem to be the sole purpose of so-called cable news and talk radio, and yes, giant chunks of the Internet too have been swallowed up on the road to nowhere.

Like you, dear reader, I have been most recently bombarded with righteous and furious anger over the building of a religious center in Manhattan.

Truth is, religious buildings govern much in America -- one can't build an establishment where alcohol is sold unless a certain distance from religious buildings is maintained, a distance which in Tennessee which varies from town to town. 300 feet is too close, 301 feet is fine.

Truth is, some 80 feet away from where a crazed, radical group of terrorists slammed a fully loaded passenger plane into the Pentagon, Islamic services are held daily and have been since just after the horror of the Sept. 11th attacks. And those attacks were made possible by deeply deranged people who demonized all of America for ... well, for everything wrong in the world, I suppose.

And there are two mosques already quite near the site of the fallen twin towers - just blocks away. The one being planned now is meant to house the spillover of members, there isn't enough room for those who wish to attend. More hysteria is taking place here in Tennessee, in Murfreesboro, for a proposed expansion of a mosque and religious center, even though the group has been in Murfreesboro for decades.

Truth is, it is far easier to terrify and frighten people than it is to educate and illuminate them. Mark me down as someone who refuses to give power to those who want to terrify.

Today, I read about many celebrations marking the adoption of the 90th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote. A Tennessee fellow named Harry T. Burn cast the vote leading to victory for the movement, in part because his mother (Mrs. J. L. Burn (Phoebe "Febb" Ensminger) of Niota, Tennessee) admonished him to "be a good boy".

The state's archives notes:

"The nineteenth century witnessed the birth of two monumental movements in American history: abolition of slavery and women’s suffrage. While the two movements appeared to be distinct, both sought to secure the American promise of Liberty and equality for all people. Abolition was the mother of the suffrage movement and growing numbers of people actively supported both reforms.

A large number of women supported abolition and most men believed it was because of women’s high moral standards and their tender hearts. Frederick Douglass himself noted that women were key players in abolition. He believed that the true history of the antislavery cause would one day be written and when it was, women would take up the largest amount of space in that great tome because, “the cause of the slave has been peculiarly woman’s cause.”

During a time when social standing, race, and gender defined a person’s place in society, courageous women were involved in a common cause and dared to take a stand for freedom and equality."

The world is seldom simple. Yes, there are Rights and Wrongs. Knowing which is which, dear reader, demands we all be vigilant and resilient. Constant, bitter, hateful demonization only fuels ignorance and despair.

See Also:
Don't Follow The Terrorists' Script

Indentured Servitude via TDOT Part 2

The Vanderbilt Landscaping company, awarded contracts by the Tennessee Dept of Transportation using money from the federal Stimulus programs and other programs, accused of making legal migrant workers live and work in vile conditions akin to indentured servitude has offered a response to the claims (original post here and on KnoxViews).

Channel 5 News reports:

"Joffery and Larry Vanderbilt said they could not believe the accusations when Hilario Jimenez and a group of protesters from the New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice started protesting outside the company Thursday.

"All the allegations that they were stirring up were just -- it was crazy," said Larry Vanderbilt

They believe Jimenez was trying to retaliate for discipline he received at the end of June.

Vanderbilt Landscaping employs 60 people. The company has several contracts with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to cut grass along highways and interstates.

The H-2B program lets American companies bring people into the country as guest workers if they can't find Americans to fill the jobs.

Jimenez was one of them. Among his accusations -- Vanderbilt Landscaping doesn't pay overtime.

"Hilario made $12.33 an hour. We always pay our guys time and a half, and time and a half equals $18 and something cents an hour," Joffery Vanderbilt said.

The Vanderbilt's showed us Jimenez's last paycheck showing three hours of overtime. They also showed us a payroll journal showing how much he made.

The Vanderbilt's said workers get half hour lunches and two 15 minute breaks in addition to other breaks when they get too hot. As far as the accusation of working at gunpoint, the Vanderbilt's said that too is totally false.

"That is all false. None of us carry guns. That is false," Joffery said.

A Nashville Union leader also brought up the issue of taking jobs from American workers. The Vanderbilt's said they ran ads in newspapers in Nashville and Memphis for three weeks. They said they did 70 interviews, and said most of the applicants decided the work was too hard."

So not one, not one of the applicants accepted the job offered? That seems a real stretch of the imagination, and the firm got numerous contracts from TDOT and more money by claiming no one save migrant workers would take the jobs.

"What you have to understand is that the U.S. guest worker program binds workers to one employer. That means that no matter how badly a company mistreats a guest worker, he or she can't leave to work for anyone else. If they do, they can be arrested and deported back home, where they face crushing debt.

The other thing you have to understand is that Vanderbilt Landscaping got the guest worker visas by claiming to the U.S. Department of Labor that it could not find a single American worker to fill these landscaping jobs. I know a few that would have been interested, but neither Vanderbilt nor the Department of Labor ever gave me a call.

Hiring exploitable guest workers and locking U.S. workers out of jobs let Vanderbilt undercut the competition, and they won $2.48 million in state landscaping contracts paid for with our tax dollars. On top of that, Vanderbilt got $900,000 in guaranteed loans through the federal stimulus program. And instead of putting all that money toward good jobs for struggling Tennesseans, they locked American workers out and locked legal guest workers in.

Why has TDOT not responded to these allegations, or the State of TN? Though complaints have been filed, how long until an actual investigation occurs?

Southern Beale is on the story.

So is Coyote Chronicles.

Indentured Servants via TDOT Contractor

I added the following post at KnoxViews yesterday and am reprinting it here today.

Workers for a Smyrna company TDOT contracted for landscaping say they are being treated to horrible conditions, according to this report from the Daily News Journal. One worker, here on a work visa, was "rescued" this week by a group based in New Orleans. It's a truly grim tale - TDOT is trying to distance itself from the company's actions.

From the report:

A Mexican guest worker says a landscaping company with Tennessee state contracts and a federal stimulus loan guarantee held him and fellow workers like indentured servants, confiscating their passports and subjecting them to constant surveillance by managers who were often armed.
---
At the company housing in Smyrna, 13 or 14 people are lodged in a small house with one bathroom and no beds, Jimenez said. Workers built their own beds, he said. They each pay $100 a month rent, which is deducted from their pay.

They routinely were driven to the office at 6 a.m. and sometimes did not return until 8 p.m., but were not paid for any of the time spent waiting for assignments, going between the office and worksites or cleaning and maintaining the equipment, Jimenez said. Paychecks were often for only about 25 hours of work a week.

TDOT spokeswoman Julie Oaks said in an e-mail that most of the claims made about Vanderbilt Landscaping were outside the purview of the Transportation Department, but it was preparing to review the company’s payroll records

Full story here.

Abbey Faces Criminal Charges For Making Wooden Coffins

Even though St. Joseph's Abbey in Louisiana has been making and selling wooden caskets, by hand, for over 100 years to earn income, the state of Louisiana (at the urging a state board) says they are criminals and are demanding the group must now:

" ... apprentice at a licensed funeral home, learn unnecessary skills and take a funeral industry test. They would also have to convert their monastery into a "funeral establishment" by, among other things, installing equipment for embalming human remains."



Keep in mind, all these monks do is make the caskets and sell them to individuals.

And this LA claim seems to fly against Federal Law:

Before making a trip to a funeral home or casket showroom, you should be aware of the Federal Trade Commissions Funeral Rule. Central to the Funeral Rule is the General Price List (GPL). Directors of funeral homes are required - by this law - to provide a copy of the GPL to anyone who makes a request in person for information about goods and/or services of the establishment. This information is not merely shown to the individual in a bound folder in the office of the funeral home but a GPL copy must be given to the consumer to take home.

Additionally, the funeral home may not refuse to use a casket purchased elsewhere. Nor are they allowed to add a “handling fee” if you order a casket on your own. By Federal Law, you have the right to purchase your casket anywhere you choose. However, it is possible that you will meet with resentment at the funeral home since they will be losing a large percentage of profit on this transaction.

More background here at Institute for Justice.

Tennessee Republicans Vote No on Funding for Teachers, Police, Jobs

All of Tennessee's congressmen and senators voted NO for receiving millions of dollars in funding for Tennessee teachers.

This despite the fact the monies would be taken from a program which eliminates a loophole which allows for U.S. multinational firms to receive foreign tax credits. Some Congressional members called this a 'bailout for special interests'.

Tom Humphrey writes:

"Under a $26 billion "state aid" package given final approval by the U.S. House on Tuesday, Tennessee's share of K-through-12 assistance funding is shown as $195.8 million.

A second part of the package provide money to states based on Medicaid spending. Tennessee's share of that portion is pegged at $240 million and the state budget for the current fiscal year, as enacted, included a "contingent" plan for spending that money. In fact the final figure is less than the $341 million in "contingent" spending envisioned in the Tennessee budget as possible in new federal aid.

The education aid portion was added - and the Medicaid-based portion reduced - after earlier attempts at passage in Congress failed. The final version was opposed by both of Tennessee's Republican U.S. senators and all Republican members of the House who voted. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Nashville, joined the Republicans in voting no.

---

"If $240 million is received, it would apparently cover $100 million for new and improved buildings at community colleges and state technical schools, $9.6 million toward preparation of a West Tennessee industrial megasite, $10 million for "critical access" hospitals, $10 million for a "jobs opportunity fund" and $90 million for a new Highway Patrol radio communications system.

Steve Benen writes:

"In a statement, DNC Chairman Tim Kaine raises a noteworthy point: "There could not be a better example of the differences in priorities between Republicans and Democrats than this legislation. While Democrats are working to help preserve the jobs of hundreds of thousands of teachers, firefighters, police officers and others, Republicans continue to obstruct legislation while supporting tax cuts that would only benefit Wall Street CEOs and other wealthy Americans. Even after Democrats made every effort to reach out to GOP lawmakers, Republicans fought tooth-and-nail against this critical legislation -- refusing to help those who continue to struggle because of the failed Republican economic policies of the past. This stark difference in priorities could not be more clear to the American people, who now have yet another reminder of which party is on their side."

WVLT has more, including some spread sheets on the program.

UPDATE: My Congressman, Phil Roe, defends his No vote, saying more jobs for teachers and police is an example of wasting money.

Pop-Tart Sushi?

I did not ask for it. Did anyone ask for Pop Tart sushi?

Why not just grab a 5-pound bag o' sugar and chomp into it?

Next Wasilla Mayor - Levi Johnston??

Ah, the Palin Tragi-Comedy Entertainment Machine just never, ever stops.

So what's next for the PTCEM??

Spin-off celebrity Levi Johnston says he wants to run for Mayor of Wasilla, yes, the same town where Sarah herself gained the ability to become a half-term governor and failed V.P. nominee, and it will be a TV show too!!

"Stone and Co., which describes Loving Levi as a "real inside look into who he is as a father, a skilled hunter, an avid dirt biker, and his journey down the road of small-town politics... right after he gets his high school diploma," has already started shooting the pilot, according to Variety.

And though Johnston didn't look as if he was kicking off a political campaign last night at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, he says that he will fulfill his duties as mayor if elected.

"It's hard to figure me out," he said. "You've got to follow me around. I'm very different. I lead a crazy life. But it will basically be both worlds, my life in Hollywood and back home, the real country boy that I am."

Well, you don't have to follow him around, but apparently somebody's going to.

The 22-year-old father of one ... said that he and Bristol were indeed looking for the right reality-show opportunity during the brief time they were back together, but that they "weren't thrilled with any of the ideas. We got a lot of offers. But the fact is we didn't want to do it."

Too bad "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" are off the air ... but I'm kinda thinking none of the PTCEM crew knows that. Or maybe they just think they are all on both shows now.

High School Grad Shreds Public Education System

A valedictorian speech at a New York high school is gaining national attention:

"And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us".

Tea Party 'Refudiated' In TN Elections

Despite hosting 'national tea party conventions' over the last few months in Tennessee, the so-called 'Tea Party' earned blistering losses in the elections and primaries on Thursday.

Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, proud Tea Party candidate, landed a distant 3rd place in the Republican primary, just ahead of Basil Marceaux. Other candidates in the mostly mythical 'tea party' got support from media celebs like Sarah Palin and New Gingrich were also ignored by voters.

"Perhaps also the Tennessee race can put to rest the piece of media conventional wisdom that the Tea Party is a significant political movement. They're going to need to start winning some actual elections for that to be true."

NOTE: "Refudiate" is Palin-speak.

NOTE 2: Tennessee Democrats still could not gain ground among voters despite the splintering of the Republican party.

Rep. Roe's Health Care Plan: 'Heal Yourself'

Busy seeking re-election to Congress, 1st District Republican Phil Roe offers his Health Care Plan to the Johnson City Press -- if you're sick, it's your fault and you should heal yourself.

"He said instead, to lower health care costs, Americans should take more responsibility for their own health by using a health savings account, which would provide care up to a set amount using an individual’s personal savings toward their health care."

Forget health insurance. Just save some money up and spend it yourself. And stay away from a doctor and just don't make the mistake of being sick.

TN Urged To Vote Basil Marceaux Thursday!!

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Republican Gubernatorial Primary Battle Watch '010 - Basil Marceaux.com
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes 2010 Election Fox News

Starting Year 6 of Your Cup of Joe Powell

Five years ago today I started this humble but lovable blog, posting three times that day, which I seldom do these days. My final post that day noted that studies at that time indicated 15,000 web logs were being launched daily. That number has likely fallen too. (Though one poorly designed page I found claims some 35,000 blogs are created each hour as of 2009 but I doubt that.)

The goals from day one remain as the Cup of Joe Powell Guidelines -- writing about news, writing about politics, writing about writing and all of the arts, exploring the Internet, and one more goal: push Joe Powell's views and ideas into the global marketplace. The Internet has allowed me to move far beyond annoying people in my community, and I annoy globally today.

I take much pleasure in the fact that as the years have rolled past, many of the most popular posts I've created have been about movies and entertainment and music. I have a deep passion for movies which has now been shared with almost every nation on the planet. Thanks for visiting and come back often!

I've also been greatly supported by many news outlets, other bloggers and writers, and others who quite often share what I write here and I thank them too. And thanks to each and every reader!!

And I'm pretty confident that today, if you click on any random collection in my Archive list, you'll find a heap of stories worth reading and re-reading, tales which will inform and amuse and capture your imagination.

On to Year 6 and Beyond. And Happy Birthday to Cup of Joe Powell!!

BONUS GIFT: While I remain mostly opposed to offering current images of myself, here's one someone posted to Facebook from sometime in the early 1990s, taken backstage at the Morristown Theatre Guild as I was about to play the role of a 1960s hippie director named Ralph in the play "Butterflies Are Free." I look nothing like this person at all. Nice mustache, too. Enjoy!!

UT Project Turns TN Newspapers Digital

Expected to take 2 years to bring the newspapers online, the project will transfer state archived microfilm to digital files, focusing first on the years 1836-1922.

The Tennessean incorrectly notes that Knoxville was home to the 'first newspaper' in TN, The Knoxville Gazette founded in 1791 (though really it began in Rogersville and did not arrive in Knox-vegas until 1792). (And come on, Tennessean - I found that info in 0.32 seconds via Google.)

On the state's huge library of holdings statewide I discovered there have been at least 19 newspapers in Morristown I had not known about, including The Daily Pilot, also known as The Tennessee Pilot, which described itself as "The Republican Organ of the First Congressional District". Later years brought out The Christian Democrat. Good to know there was never ANY media bias until now.

UT's press release on the project.

National list of newspaper holdings on microfilm.

In Which We Say Goodbye To Pooh and Friends

It's always a bit sad to say farewell to friends -- and the cast for "Winnie The Pooh" has but one more performance -- at 2pm today at Rose Center. But don't tell Eeyore it's almost over. He can be slightly gloomy, you know.

And three giant cheers for a cast of young actors who made my summer so much fun!! Thank you all very, very much!!