WikiLeaks Outrage, Episode Number 137

image via http://www.designfloat.com

Some recent articles and comments on Julian Assange and WikiLeaks -

Glenn Greenwald:

"Whatever you think of WikiLeaks, they have not been charged with a crime, let alone indicted or convicted. Yet look what has happened to them. They have been removed from Internet ... their funds have been frozen ... media figures and politicians have called for their assassination and to be labeled a terrorist organization. What is really going on here is a war over control of the Internet, and whether or not the Internet can actually serve its ultimate purpose - which is to allow citizens to band together and democratize the checks on the world's most powerful factions."

Ron Paul:

"In a free society we're supposed to know the truth," Paul insisted. "In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it."

Rush Limbaugh:

"Where are the WikiLeaks cables proving that the CIA invented AIDS? Where is Obama's birth certificate? Where's the real good stuff? And how about all the hundreds of other left-wing lies we've been hearing about for years? [Is] WikiLeaks covering up for the United States?"

Oh and Twitter says the First Rule of WikiLeaks is you don't Tweet WikiLeaks tags.

Another viewpoint via James Moore:

"I want information so that I can hold my government accountable. If my country acts improperly and in my name, I want the proof. I want to know if there actually is no evidence proving weapons of mass destruction. I want to know if America is working with Israel to overthrow Iran's leadership. I want data that has not been spun by reporters that work for publishers and broadcasters with political and business goals that conflict with the facts.

And Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann claims President Obama does not say the word "God" enough.

In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s novel "Breakfast of Champions", a character named Kilgore Trout, a sci-fi writer who claims that a "leak" or "taking a leak" actually means the speaker is about to steal a mirror, as mirrors are portals to other worlds. If nothing else, the WikiLeaks hysteria is aiming a mirror at the modern world revealing a most unflattering reflection.

Republican Senate Logic

Camera Obscura: Twin Peaks Reunion; Jeff Bridges As John Wayne; Fulci's 'The Beyond'

For one hour this week immense joy was created by television, as the great "Twin Peaks" show got a most entertaining reunion of sorts thanks to the USA Network series "Psych". Cast members from Peaks assembled for a comic poke at their iconic work, with plenty of references to pie and coffee. Oh, television, will you ever make something as good as "Twin Peaks" again?

NOTE: details about the episode, a commentary and more are here, and kudos to series star James Roday for writing this episode and gathering all the Peaks actors he could. Have a slab of pie James, you deserve it.

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Jeff Bridges storms the cinemas this month with two movies which are both re-inventions of previous movies, one in which he starred he some 30 years ago and one where he takes on John Wayne.

I'm a bit more keen to see the second one, a remake of Wayne's Oscar-winner "True Grit" since it is the newest work from James and Ethan Coen, two of the best filmmakers in America. The Coen's version follows the novel by Charles Portis more closely, making better use of Portis' dialog. The way people speak is always a central feature in the Coen brothers films. And while many films have been made over the years aiming to mimic a John Wayne movie, as best I can tell this is the first time someone has done a straight-up remake. (Well, other than a very, very bad TV movie from 1978 called "True Grit" with Warren Oates in the Rooster Cogburn role in a sort of "continuing adventures of" story which is far worse than it sounds.)

Early reviews are quite tantalizing - "Let's get this out of the way right now: Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld own this film, every inch of it. The entire cast is fantastic, with special kudos to Josh Brolin and an unrecognizable Barry Pepper (see if you can spot him), but there's not a moment that goes by in the film when you're not itching to see Bridges' Marshal Reuben J. Cogburn and Steinfeld's Mattie Ross share the screen. The two make up the most memorable on-screen duo we've seen all year -- a beaten-up, smelly, drunken U.S. Marshal and a whip-smart 14-year-old negotiator -- and every scene they share is one you're going to want to watch again. One particular scene early in the film, which sees young Mattie Ross trying to sell back the horses her recently-assassinated father bought, is flawlessly executed and effortlessly charming."


The other new Bridges movie is a sequel to his 1982 Disney film "Tron", titled "Tron Legacy". The first film was pretty weak overall, but for myself (and for many others) the ideas in the movie were always quite inventive - a hacker is physically transported inside to the inside of a computer. The tech just did not exist in 1982 to bring the story the wow factor it needed, and the script was weak, but it has remained a sci-fi touchstone ever since.

In 2010, filmmakers have the wow factor down. And the sequel gets a great boost from the techno music throbbing rhythms of Daft Punk. Director Joseph Kosinski is also working on a remake of Disney's terrible space adventure "The Black Hole", so he surely has much riding on these two films.

Speaking of Bridges though, I did watch his Oscar-winning role from last year as an aging, drunken country music singer in "Crazy Heart" and was not very impressed. The story is a paint-by-numbers tale with little originality, and such half-heartedness really doesn't give Bridges much to work with. However, I give him much credit for making the most of it. He has such natural style and talent, he often makes silk purses from sow's ears.

The Dude abides.
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Now let's get really obscure. Tonight/tomorrow at 2 a.m. Turner Classic Movies will air director Lucio Fulci's "The Beyond".

Fulci made some really cheesy and wonderful horror stories during his career, and many consider "The Beyond" to be his best. Director Quentin Tarantino helped revive the movie some years back and sent it round for midnight movies across the country and It arrives on TCM in all it's cheesy gory ... I mean glory.

Film critic Roger Ebert has the last word on this movie, which is about a woman who gets ownership of a New Orleans hotel only to find the basement is a doorway to hell. (And no, Lucio, there just are not any basements in New Orleans) Anyway, take it away Roger:

"The Beyond'' does not disappoint. I have already mentioned the scene where the tarantulas eat eyeballs and lips. As the tarantulas tear away each morsel, we can clearly see the strands of latex and glue holding it to the model of a corpse's head. Strictly speaking, it is a scene of tarantulas eating makeup.

In a film filled with bad dialogue, it is hard to choose the most quotable line, but I think it may occur in Liza's conversations with Martin, the architect hired to renovate the hotel. ``You have carte blanche,'' she tells him, ``but not a blank check!''

Fiscal Reform Commission FAIL

The panel has such a lofty title - the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform - but it's proposals seems mostly irresponsible.

A hodgepodge of limp proposals, including tax increases on gasoline, raising the retirement age, eliminating tax deductions for charities and mortgage interest, and many others all ignore the basic problems in the nation's financial structure.

Back in June, economist James K. Galbraith spoke about the inherent flaws in the entire project:

"The President created the Commission while pressing for a stronger growth strategy, and has sent every discreet signal (notably in the commission’s minuscule operating budget) that the exercise should not be taken seriously.

Nevertheless, there is a danger that the Commission will take a path — “stimulate now but austerity later” – that will lead to unnecessary, economically-damaging and socially destructive cuts in Social Security and Medicare. And there is a danger that such cuts will be stampeded through Congress in the months immediately following the 2010 elections.

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"Overwhelmingly, the present deficits are caused by the financial crisis. The financial crisis, the fall in asset (especially housing) values, and withdrawal of bank lending to business and households has meant a sharp decline in economic activity, and therefore a sharp decrease in tax revenues and an increase in automatic payments for unemployment insurance and the like. According to a new IMF staff analysis, fully half of the large increase in budget deficits in major economies around the world is due to collapsing tax revenues, and a further large share to low (often negative) growth in relation to interest payments on existing debt. Less than ten percent is due to increased discretionary public expenditure, as in stimulus packages.

This point is important because it shows that the claim that deficits have resulted from “overspending” is false, both in the United States and abroad."

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"You are plainly not equipped by disposition or resources to take on the true cause of deficits now and in the future: the financial crisis. Recommendations based on CBO’s unrealistic budget and economic outlooks are destined to collapse in failure. Specifically, if cuts are proposed and enacted in Social Security and Medicare, they will hurt millions, weaken the economy, and the deficits will not decline. It’s a lose-lose proposition, with no gainers except a few predatory funds, insurance companies and such who would profit, for some time, from a chaotic private marketplace.

Thus the interesting twist in your situation is that the Republic would be better served by advancing no proposals at all."

Metro Pulse Says I'm Worth Reading - And They're Right

Chalk up another instance of media attention for this blog -- this time from the latest issue of Metro Pulse.

My humble - cough, cough - efforts here have been cited by the newspaper as local political blog of note. I've been fortunate to have several news media sites in Tennessee and beyond pay attention to this blog, to be supportive and encouraging, and most importantly, to share my work with their audiences.

I thank Coury Turczyn and the MP staff for their interest. You can read their article online here, as I respond to some questions they asked. The article says:

"A new blog’s life expectancy is sadly short; it begins with earnest intentions to strike a bold path of self-expression, and usually ends with a death knell of ennui. They die by the thousands each week. But even in this age of tweets, there are old-fashioned blogs worth seeking out—especially local ones."

Old-fashioned, eh? Well, yes, I suppose five years in Internet time is probably 100 years. So be it. Like I said in my answers to the MP's questions, I'm still here and I try to make this blog better every day.

They likewise note several other "blogs worth bookmarking" here, and it includes a few I had not heard about but will now begin to read.

Exposing Secrets the WikiLeaks Way

Some ludicrous, hysterical and poorly informed rantings and ravings have been made about the massive dump of U.S. diplomatic communications via the WikiLeaks organization. Reading and close examination of these documents has been taking place for some time by several news organizations - and while I (like you dear readers who might be interested in such matters) have barely begun to explore the information, there are some folks who are screaming for execution and murder even though these folks have not a clue and have not had anywhere near the time to explore what these documents reveal (and don't reveal).

Americans, by and large, are more concerned with issues close to home. Most of us cognizant of history and government know that diplomats and spies have been partners as long as there have been diplomats and spies. In essence, these leaks pose two very challenging questions -- Do you know what your government does? and Do you even care?


A most illuminating discussion of these documents and their impact is here, between reporter Amy Goodman and Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg; Greg Mitchell, who writes the Media Fix blog at The Nation; Carne Ross, a British diplomat for 15 years who resigned before the Iraq war; and As’ad AbuKhalil, a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus.

Some excerpts:

Daniel Ellsberg: "So it’s very early to judge, really, the value or the dangers, if any, of releasing that. Back in October when we were releasing or when he was releasing I think it was the Afghan documents at that point, they were still new to the process, and I think they made some mistakes in terms of releasing some names that they shouldn’t have released at that time and were properly criticized for that. As a result, it appears that the last batch before this one was redacted fairly heavily by Assange- by WikiLeaks- with the result that when the Pentagon said that there were 300 names that were endangered by that release, they said right away, based on their own files and their own knowledge of the cables, it turned out within a couple of days that WikiLeaks had released none of those names, that none of those had been redacted. They were not endangered. The upshot right now appears to be that as of now, with the hundreds of thousands of documents that WikiLeaks has put out, the Pentagon has had to acknowledge that not one single informant or soldier has been endangered. In fact, they have not even felt the need to protect one or inform one that he or she was in danger. So that risk, which we’re hearing again, now, right now has obviously been very largely overblown and is a lot of blather."
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Carne Ross: "The trouble with all of this is we tend to place government in this sort of superior, elite position; that they know things we do not know; that governments are entitled to know things that the public do not know. I think the balance is way too far in the government’s favor. Far more information should be released and made transparent. I’m not sure, however, that the way WikiLeaks has done this is the right way. This is a very random, blunt instrument to attack the problem of a lack of transparency of government. This should ideally be done through the mechanisms of democratic accountability. Of course, it’s not been done that way so far. Hence, WikiLeaks."

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As'ad Abu Kahalill: "Yesterday, the main Saudi news organization, Arabia, kept promising viewers the leak of the document was imminent: "Ten minutes from now, we’re going to see all these documents!" And then once the documents were out, there was complete silence in that news organization. They figured that all these documentations are, in fact, an utter embarrassment to the image of their ruler the they try so hard to prop up in the eyes of the public. I think the Arab public today woke up wiser than before, more cynical than before, and certainly more critical of the government."

There is so very much to consider, obviously. And yet, hysterics, not surprisingly, flow from some corners of the Right. Sarah "I read everything I can get my hands on" Palin (ha!!), who, I promise you, has not read any of these documents, opines, as do others, some completely reckless reactions.

Tennessee radio shock talker Steve Gill says kill the leakers.

Tennessee blogger Doug McCaughan urges people to think before they advocate killing.

The Non-Existent Hamblen Co. Ethics Committee Guilty of Violations

It's far too easy to be cynical about the verdict handed down in the case of Hamblen County government's Ethics Committee, as they were found guilty of violating the Tennessee Open Meetings Act.

On one hand, it is encouraging to see the court recognize and rule against such violations. Yet, on the other hand, the county's Ethics Committee was dissolved during the course of the lawsuit filed by a local resident. It doesn't exist anymore (most likely due to the fact is was the subject of a lawsuit). So the ruling from Judge included this odd admonition:

"Should the Hamblen County Ethics Committee be re-constituted, it shall abide by all requirements of the Tennessee Open Meetings Act, T.C.A. 8-44-101 et seq, including providing adequate notice of all public meetings in accordance with T.C.A. 8-44-101, including the time, place, and purpose of each meeting."


So while I'm glad to see the system work, the system is a very clunky machine.

Attorney and blogger Linda Noe has more details on the case and the ruling.

SEE ALSO: Plans are being made by some Tennessee legislators to confuse laws even more when it comes to public records - seems e-mails from government computers need their own legislative control.

Strange Moments In Thanksgiving History

Is is possible to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal using an Easy-Bake oven? I doubt it - however it has been attempted at least once. See what happens here.

Dinosaurs, Wayne Newton and Soupy Sales were featured in the 1966 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, all captured on Super8 film. Is it just me or do the people on these rickety floats look like they are about to fall down?

I learned this year that cranberry sauce and Thanksgiving got together thanks to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and the Civil War.

What happens when you ask a science fiction writer to say Grace on Thanksgiving:

"We also thank you for the world and that in your wisdom you have not stopped the Earth's core from rotating, collapsing our planet's magnetic field and causing microwaves from the sun to fry whole cities, requiring a plucky band of scientists to drill down through the mantle and start the core's rotation with nuclear bombs. That seems like a lot of work, so we are pleased you've kept the Earth's core as it is.

We also thank you for once again not allowing our technology to gain sentience, to launch our own missiles at us, to send a robot back in time to kill the mother of the human resistance, to enslave us all, and finally to use our bodies as batteries. That doesn't even make sense from an energy-management point of view, Lord, and you'd think the robots would know that. But in your wisdom, you haven't made it an issue yet, so thank you."

Here's hoping your holiday is bountiful, thankful and has no strange moments.

Kids Re-enact First Thanksgiving

Some kids re-enact the first Thanksgiving.

Katie Learns Star Wars Fans Have Her Covered

I'm really jammed for time right now, but this was such an interesting moment of solidarity I had to share it.

A young Chicago girl named Katie got intimidated and bullied by some boys at her school because she brought a Star Wars water bottle to school with her. Fearful of being an outsider and of being taunted, she began to hide from the problem, but her fearless mom took the problem in hand and the result was a galaxy of support for Katie and an online avalanche of appreciation.

Her mom posted:

"Katie loves Star Wars, and she was very excited about her new items. For the first few months of school, she proudly filled her water bottle herself and helped me pack her lunch each morning.

But a week ago, as we were packing her lunch, Katie said, "My Star Wars water bottle is too small. It doesn't hold enough water. Can I take a different one?" She searched through the cupboard until she found a pink water bottle and said, "I'll bring this.

"I was perplexed. "Katie, that water bottle is no bigger than your Star Wars one. I think it is actually smaller."

"It's fine, I'll just take it," she insisted.

I kept pushing the issue, because it didn't make sense to me. Suddenly, Katie burst into tears.

She wailed, "The first grade boys are teasing me at lunch because I have a Star Wars water bottle. They say it's only for boys. Every day they make fun of me for drinking out of it. I want them to stop, so I'll just bring a pink water bottle."

I hugged her hard and felt my heart sink. Such a tender young age, and already she is embarrassed about the water bottle that brought her so much excitement and joy a few months ago.

"Katie, it is okay to be different. Not all girls need to drink out of pink water bottles," I told her.

"I don't want to be too different," Katie lamented. "I'm already different. Nobody else in my class wears glasses or a patch, and nobody else was adopted. Now I'm even more different, because of my Star Wars water bottle."

Over 1,200 comments have been left in support of Katie, to encourage her to be herself and be strong, to realize she's not done anything wrong and to celebrate herself and not fear the witless taunts of foolish boys.

Thousands upon thousands of Twitter folk now rally to her. Many celebrities are picking up the banner too.

A Google blog search today brings some 300,000 hits mentioning her and her defeat of the bullies.

The official Star Wars blog celebrates Katie too:

The Force is strong with Katie.

We got your back, girl!

Obama's Biggest Mistake

Writer and historian Rick Perlstein nails it - Limbaugh uses one tactic, lies, which the Obama camp has failed to challenge, thinking it would be wrong to respond, to "drop to his level of uncivil discourse". But he's very wrong.

"We live in a mendocracy.

As in: rule by liars.

Political scientists are going crazy crunching the numbers to uncover the skeleton key to understanding the Republican victory [in the last primary elections].

But the only number that matters is the one demonstrating that by a two-to-one margin likely voters thought their taxes had gone up, when, for almost all of them, they had actually gone down. Republican politicians, and conservative commentators, told them Barack Obama was a tax-mad lunatic. They lied. The mainstream media did not do their job and correct them. The White House was too polite—"civil," just like Obama promised—to say much. So people believed the lie. From this all else follows.

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"When it becomes "uncivil" to call out liars, lying becomes free.

And dammit, the essence of Obamaism as an ideology is that it is Uncivil to Call Out Liars.

So you find him at a press conference, the day after the midterm elections, saying with all apparent sincerity that he agreed the majority of Americans participated in a "fundamental rejection of his agenda"—who, that is, implicitly believe he raised their taxes.

When he really lowered them."

More here on the needed smackdown of media/political PR liars. And more here.

A stack of media headlines reading: "President Calls Limbaugh A Liar" would be a good start. The cost of doing otherwise should be vividly obvious.

The New E-Tomb

Because I could not Tweet for Death, Death kindly Tweeted me ....

One of the more popular design sites on the internet reports about the E-Tomb, powered by it's own solar panel, in great detail:



Faster and faster, we run to our digital heavens:

"We used to talk about the "digital divide" between rural and underserved communities v. the rest of the broadband-enable world. Now the digital divide is really a generational divide between younger generations raised in an electronic world of interconnected information who have no problem giving up their privacy to stay connected v. us cranky old geezers who just want to be left alone."

Camera Obscura: The Zach Galifianakis Movie You Never Saw

Comedian Zach Galifianakis has been one of the busiest and most sought after actors in movies, turning in work on three different TV series, 8 movies in 2009, and much more on the way. He's hosted SNL after his breakout role in the movie "The Hangover", and has at least 5 more films ready for release next year.

By luck or fate, I saw his fantastically funny film from 2008, which was dumped on DVD last summer, because no one knew how to market this sharp-witted and horrifying dystopian comedy titled "Visioneers".

Zach plays George Washington Winsterhammerman, a numbed employee of the largest company in the world, which apparently runs everything, though we never really find out what they do. The movie has some similarities to Terry Gilliam's "Brazil", but first time filmmakers Jared and Brandon Drake don't go in for huge and crazy effects, they use the numb and understated world George inhabits to create their satire. And it is a brilliant satire touched with melancholy. "Visioneers" also shows off just how good an actor Zach can be. George may be dull, but we empathize with his search for meaning and the absurdity of a very sad nation. A growing cult of fans of his work will love this movie.

These drones of corporate living of the Jeffers Corporation in the movie are suffering a new and unexplainable epidemic - people are suddenly exploding. One of the symptoms, say doctors, is having dreams. Poor George has started to have them - and fears he too might explode. His wife, played by Judy Greer, blithely endures her dullness by shopping or putting butter on everything they eat or reading the self-help book "10,000 Things To Be Happy About."

But no one is happy - attempts to locate or feel such a thing, or to feel anything, is a near-criminal act. The corporate mindset so controls the world, all greetings are done by giving the "jeffers salute" - which is flipping a bird at someone. The legendary Jeffers can't pronounce the word "chaos" correctly, so everyone says it like he does, pronouncing the "ch" as in the word "church". Even the President is a dim drone who does as Jeffers commands.

There are so many expert jabs at our world today - a sleepless George surfing through television channels hits perfect marks; workdays are punctuated every 60 seconds with a recording of how many minutes of productivity are left before the weekend; productivity, in fact, is meant to be everyone's goal, since a profitable corporation is more important than anything else.

You can watch the complete movie for free at Fancast.

Veterans Day: Past and Present

The cruel horrors of warfare are too many to list. The grueling conditions that marked the first World War are memorialized on this day - a day which now is held in remembrance for all veterans of war. Reading some history of Armistice Day in 1918, I discovered some words and images to share.

"An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars." (via)

A Canadian physician, Lt. Colonel John McCrae, wrote a most memorable poem following the battle in Ypres in the Spring of 1915, titled "In Flanders Field". He writes of the enormous amount of red poppies visible across the landscape. Oddly, wild poppies will flower only when other plants in the area are dead, and on the day McRae composed his poem, the war had churned the earth so violently, that the deep red poppies were everywhere.

The poem almost never made it into public. He was unhappy with it, crumpled and tossed it away, but Lt. Colonel Edward Morrison retrieved it and sent it to the press. It was finally published in December of 1915. (More information about McCrae and his letters home to his mother, and much more history are here.and a variation on how it was kept and published is here.)

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing,fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Below, a photo of Canadian stretcher bearers in Flanders Field, 1915

Today U.S. soldiers and soldiers from around the world remain in harm's way, fighting fiercely in Iraq and Afghanistan. From the website Boston.com, they have a series of powerful images of the war in Afghanistan taken during the month of October. In the image below, U.S. Air Force pararescuemen ride in the back of their medevac helicopter with the American flag-draped bodies of U.S. soldiers who were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on October 10th, 2010. The pararescuemen and pilots from the 46th and 26th Expeditionary Rescue Squadrons had responded to the attack which killed two American soldiers and wounded three others. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder) (click image to enlarge)

GOP To Save Money By Ending A Program Already Ended

For those hoping for even a modicum of competence from the upcoming House Republican majority, this does not bode well.

Note to the incoming Republican majority in the House: Eliminating government programs that do not exist does not save money.

Of the few specific cuts that Congressional Republicans have proposed in their promised assault on annual budget deficits, one of the biggest by far would save $25 billion over 10 years, they claim, by ending an emergency welfare fund.

The Republican Study Committee, which includes more than 100 of the most conservative House Republicans, promoted the idea in a statement this week, saying, "With the national debt quickly approaching $14 trillion, Washington needs to get serious about cutting spending."

Well, seriously, the fund expired Sept. 30.

Obviously, there's plenty of surface-level stupidity to marvel at here. The Republican Study Committee thinks it can save $25 billion by eliminating a program that doesn't exist. One would like to think these guys would put a little effort into their work, especially given the fact that spending cuts are presumably the issue they care about most.

But the layers of stupidity go much further. Note, for example, that the Republican Study Committee believes it can get $25 billion in savings from a program that cost $2.5 billion, which doesn't make any sense. Also note, RSC Chairman Tom Price (Ga.) called for eliminating the program as part of "welfare reform," which is completely crazy, given that the program is welfare reform.

And then there's the more fundamental question: why are right-wing congressional Republicans so anxious to kill effective jobs programs?

At issue here is something called the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund, which should have been one of the most popular programs in Congress. A key component of the Recovery Act, the fund subsidized jobs with private companies, nonprofits, and government agencies, and single handedly put more than 240,000 unemployed people back to work in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

Governors, including Mississippi's Haley Barbour (R), have sung its praises, and urged its extension. Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) called it an "important social safety net program." In July, CNN called the TANF Emergency Fund "a stimulus program even a Republican can love."

Except, Republicans didn't love it. After the House passed an extension, the Senate tried but came up short. Three times, Senate Democrats tried to keep the program going, and three times, the Senate GOP refused.

With unemployment near 10%, Republicans killed one of the most successful and cost-effective jobs programs in the country. And this week, because they don't believe in doing their homework, Republicans tried to kill it again, having forgotten that it's already dead.

(Via)

Tennessee Most Depressed State In America

So says a report in the Tennessean newspaper:


"Depression is a nationwide problem, but Tennesseans may be at even greater risk. The latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration showed that Tennessee had the country's highest rate of adults who have had a major depressive episode within the last year.

The report, based on 2006 and 2007 surveys, does not determine the reasons behind the statistics. However, Dr. Karen Rhea, chief medical officer of Centerstone of Tennessee, said she suspects the state's overall poor health could play a role.

Tennessee consistently has high rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and prescription drug abuse, among others. People who suffer from depression are more likely to have other health problems as well, she said.

Sita Diehl, the director of state policy and advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said it's difficult to determine if depression triggers other health issues or vice versa."

It's the chicken-or-the-egg scenario," Diehl said. "If you are depressed, you eat. If you are obese, you're depressed."

GOP's Pledge, Day 2: More Lying To Americans

The myths and lies from the Republican leaders - and their talking heads-of-state (Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, etc) - have been a staple of their lives for so long, they're losing all contact with reality.

It did not just start with Limbaugh's pledge to do everything in his power to make the President Obama fail. The previous president, G.W. Bush, waved they myths and lies flag to claim there were clear reasons to go into war in Iraq, and to also claim "mission accomplished" in Iraq years before the goal had been reached.

The sad, sad truth is many Americans believe the lies and myths. Are they that gullible? That afraid? Or is it that they expect their leaders to be trustworthy?




SEE ALSO:
Sarah Palin's sunrise is really a sunset run backwards.

Senators Corker and McConnell prefer fictions.

The news media can't seem to offer facts to challenge the lies.

The GOP's Pledge: Keep Lying

Since the endless lies from Republicans just landed them success in this week's election, they obviously plan to keep lying to Americans.

Most recent lie: a Presidential trip to India will cost $200 million a day.

As pointed out here, this alleged cost is greater than the daily cost of the war in Afghanistan, which is estimated at $190 million a day. There is simply no truth to this ridiculous lie from Limbaugh and Beck and Hannity and Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann

Pathological lunacy.

Fictions Fuel Politics in 2010

The pure fiction and fantasy which mark the march to political power from Republicans and their imaginary Tea Party pals has been selling well this year. Fiction and fantasy often sell well when the economy is bad and public outrage is fanned by media outlets in search of more viewers/readers.

But here's a simple plain truth - there are many in power in many places who prefer to sell you a fiction rather than face facts. Fiction and fantasy are crafted with drama and romance, reality is a dull task.

And it is far, far simpler to make people fearful. I've been constantly reminded of that as I've been working at pretending to be a ghoulish thing for the last month at the haunted house known as Frightmare Manor here in East Tennessee. Making someone scared is incredibly easy - if you doubt it, then look at the general public response to someone who inspires greatness. Such a person is usually the subject of scorn and ridicule.

The fictions are thick this election year:

"People have heard Republicans say "the failed stimulus" so often that many believe it. Again, according to the CBO, the (clearly inadequate) American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan resulted in approximately 3 million jobs, the difference between a lingering recession and a full-blown depression, most economists would say.

Also, many people swear Obama raised their taxes. Actually, he cut them. Almost one-third of the stimulus consisted of tax cuts, not spending. But because the money reached people in small increments through decreased withholding, most don't know it.

And, no, it wasn't the Obama administration that bailed out Wall Street. The Bush administration enacted TARP in October 2008, although most Democrats (Obama included) voted for it. We'd all like to see more high-flying Wall Street fraudsters locked up, but TARP did succeed in saving the financial system while paying for itself.

Ditto the auto industry bailouts, an unfortunate necessity also first initiated by the Bush administration that's basically worked. ...

Even so, "Things could have been much worse" isn't much of a campaign slogan. Moreover, Obama has only himself to blame for the oddly diffident way he's gone about explaining himself. Far from being a condescending elitist, the president has tended to give voters a lot more credit than they deserve.

Hence many of the same dreamers who convinced themselves that the merry-go-round of constantly rising real estate values would help them borrow their way to prosperity now trust that the simplistic nostrums of the Tea Party will lead us safely past Big Rock Candy Mountain and all the way back to Leave It to Beaver-Land. "

And I'm apparently hard-wired to view the political landscape with satiric eyes, since so many would-be power seekers (and those who buy the fictions) offer themselves up for skewering. The imaginary Tea Party movement is in reality a massively Republican funded operation claiming not to be Republican, they claim to be you, America. But they are not.

The double-and-tripled-jointed contortionists of these imaginary political movers and shakers are not new to American politics - they are just more hucksters looking to cash in.

As written by cartoonist Walt Kelly in the late 1960s, this twisting of fact and fiction has long been with us:

"Pogo:
The candidate might be more attractive if he could prove himself insane.. To be sane in an insane world would be incongruous.

Porky Pine:
In congruous assembled, therefore, we affirm the world is insane an’ will elect a nutty leader to cope with it! Thereby givin’ him an out!

Pogo:
An out?

Porky:
Sure.. No matter what he does he can be proven innocent by reason of insanity.

Since I'm old and most people don't know who Walt Kelly or Pogo is/was, then fire up your Google machine and seek them out. Or go the easy route and read up at WikiPedia.

You can also take in the following video from an old movie called "Network", which, more than ever, reveals the brutal weirdness of American media and exposes, through fiction, how corporate power is the One Ring which aims to rule us all.


And if you'd like to peer into the future, instead of the past, to understand what's about to happen to the political landscape, Republican leader Mitch McConnell lays it out - the GOP does not want solutions to the troubles of the nation, they want revenge for being removed from power:

"McConnell implicitly argued that he intends to use the levers of power to ensure the president's political destruction. Indeed, instead of talking about job creation or national security as his top priority, McConnell described Obama's defeat as "the single most important thing we want to achieve."

And if, as expected, the followers of fiction prepare to throw out Democrats for their failures, it's worth noting that the failures did not come from Democratic legislation:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Music for Halloween 2010

The Trouble With Vampires

The following video is a Halloween tradition here at your Cup of Joe.

Halloween Weekend at Frightmare Manor

As I've been telling you, this month has been a frightful one.


This Halloween weekend is likely to be a time of hard work and constant screams as we ramp it all up for the crowds - which have grown and grown and will be huuuuuuuuge this weekend. The performers and the staff at Frightmare Manor work very long hours to make you shiver, shake and scream.

Last night was pretty good too - two ambulances carted would-be challengers away. Yep, ambulances. Seems a couple of folks took the money-back challenge and well, just got overwhelmed. No one was really hurt, panic just took them over and they called the ambulance - and there is good reason folks have to sign a waiver to take the challenge. Sometimes folks might just encounter something they cannot endure or overcome. It happens. But it sure is entertaining to see the faces of people buying tickets when ambulances are on the scene, heh heh.

Look, no one wants you to get hurt at our attraction - but we do want to scare you silly. What happens in the Frightmare Challenge? It changes from night to night, and only a precious few staffers know what you might have to do ... or see ... or taste ... Oh my.

It's funny how audiences respond to fear - for instance, last night, a group of young girls, aged about 15 to 18 years old, came through the Manor house, and they got about one-third of the way through when one of them hit my room and totally locked up and could not move and just stood there and screamed and screamed and screamed. One of her friends said "She's having a complete panic attack and we have to get her out of here!!"


I quickly ushered the group out a safe doorway and out of the house ... but her friends wanted back in to finish the tour, so back they came. After they passed my room, I wondered what had happened to their "friend", and looked outside and saw her all alone, abandoned by her friends, just sitting on the ground all wide-eyed and shaking. Some friends they were. After a moment or so, a Frightmare staffer took her under his wing to help calm her down, since her friends had just dumped her.

(What's in my room? It's just me. And some darkness. And you might witness a little of my madness ..... Just be warned that we take screams as applause, thankyouverymuch)

Frightmare Manor is overwhelming for some, while others giggle and laugh madly, thoroughly enjoying the seriously spooky scares and screams which fill the house. Some people act bored - I know they are not. Some run through, eyes half closed, everyone hanging onto each other with death grips. Sometimes, a big old boy will hurl his girlfriend/wife ahead of them like sacrificial lambs.

Last week - and this one too - we've had visitors from out of state, traveling for hours to see our haunted attraction in beautiful downtown Talbott, Tennessee. Sometimes, especially late in the evenings, the lines get pretty long. I like those folks at lot - they are willing to wait their turn just so we can scare them.

As for folks like me who work at Frightmare, we are scary year round I suppose, at least, I know I am. Heh heh. But only once a year do we get a chance to share the scare. Once the season is over, we'll slink back to our hidey-holes, watch a lot of horror movies, plan new ways to scare people .... and look for ways to make Halloween unforgettable.

Do you have what it takes to meet us?

(NOTE: We're open Friday, Saturday and Halloween Sunday from 7pm til 1 am. And we're also open next Friday and Saturday too!)

Head Stompin' For Freedom

It's probably the symbol of the current election cycle - Kentucky's Rand Paul campaign coordinator stomping on the head and back of a woman as she is held down on the ground.

Tim Profitt is/was Paul's campaign coordinator in one KY county and wants an apology from the woman he stomped on. Yeah, 'cause she was askin' fer it!

After a few days, Paul said he condemned the action, booted him (heh heh) from his campaign and said he would return the $1,950 Profitt donated to the campaign. But now Paul said he's keeping the cash after all (since everything is now resolved).

Another nice touch from Profitt - he was wearing a button at the time reading "Don't Tread On Me", which obviously means "I'm The Stomper".

Crocodile Causes Plane Crash

Panic from seeing a crocodile (unknown size) scampering through a small airplane apparently cause the plane to crash and (at least) 19 people died.

Does this prove panicking people are more dangerous than a crocodile? I say yes.

Original Thought Is Original Sin

Recent hysterics from Republicans and their pretend gang of outsiders, aka 'tea party', follow an age-old plan - derision, division and distraction.

But this latest one is so sad - if you don't have the correct consumer habits, you are an evil anti-American.

"Get into a conversation about television with members of the New Elite, and they can probably talk about a few trendy shows -- "Mad Men" now, "The Sopranos" a few years ago. But they haven't any idea who replaced Bob Barker on "The Price Is Right." They know who Oprah is, but they've never watched one of her shows from beginning to end.

Talk to them about sports, and you may get an animated discussion of yoga, pilates, skiing or mountain biking, but they are unlikely to know who Jimmie Johnson is (the really famous Jimmie Johnson, not the former Dallas Cowboys coach), and the acronym MMA means nothing to them.

They can talk about books endlessly, but they've never read a "Left Behind" novel (65 million copies sold) or a Harlequin romance (part of a genre with a core readership of 29 million Americans)."

Original thought is the same as Original Sin.

The 'tea-publican party' says - you are defined by what you purchase and never trust anyone different from you.

What a fearful, cowardly view of life.

Juan Williams Did Not Die For Your Sins

Truth is, most of the "opinions" of news folk on cable "news" and radio today are notable for their lurid acrimony and not for insight.

Want to know and understand your world? Go be in it and turn off the dang TV/radio. Being a terrified shut-in with a TV does not make you wise.

Otherwise, this whole "something-shockingly-stupid/bigoted-spoken-on-shock-show" sounds mostly like "but enough about you, let's talk about me and why I'm important."

Here's another note for the endlessly babbling bobble-heads - when you say "I'm-not-a-bigot-but", you've already made your point.

And if you are among those who think NPR should be "defunded by the government" for firing Juan Williams, two things to note: one, no such word as defunded, and two, you obviously think government should dictate content to NPR.

Remember when incompetent people were fired from their jobs for being incompetent and it wasn't news?

Top 10 Things Most Overheard Things Behind The Scenes At Frightmare Manor:

Top Ten Things Most Overheard Things Behind The Scenes At Frightmare Manor:

10. "What time is it?"

9. "We got screamers comin'!!"

8. "I can't see the parking lot for all the people!"

7. "I really have to go to the bathroom."

6. "Make me look really crazy."

5. "Make me look really dead."

4. "Is this enough blood?."

3. "Where's my machete?"*

2. "He screamed like a little girl, bwahahahahahaha ... oh, man this is so much fun!!"

1. "I need more fake blood!"**



*Okay, that was me the other night, asking everyone that one. I never found it, but I found something that is sooooo much better. I won't tell you just what it is in this post, but I will say that this past weekend, I got more screams and jumps than ever.

** It is said by almost everyone, but I will ALWAYS say it the most during a Halloween show. :) I noticed Saturday night that one 10-gallon bucket full o' fake blood was right near my room, and I wasn't sure what it was mostly made of, and I stuck my finger in to get just a drop on it so I could taste it. Result of taste test: A 10-gallon bucket full of Karo syrup-based fake blood is a HUUUUGE amount of sugar and my head buzzed for 2 minutes like I had just put my tongue on an electric fence.

Can You Take The Frightmare Manor Challenge?

UPDATE: Learn more about Frightmare Manor 2011 here!!
---

The weekend approaches, which means it's time to suit up again in them scary monster clothes and work to bring fear to life at Frightmare Manor, right here in beautiful downtown Talbott, TN.

The local paper shot some video of what goes on inside ... where all that uneasy laughter starts turning to screams. It's not just a haunted house - it's 4 haunted attractions that almost anyone can survive ... can you?

Historic Moments Of Life Over Death

Boston's The Big Picture has some great images from the amazing rescue operation in Chile, as so many work tirelessly to help free 33 miners trapped for 10 weeks some 2,300 feet below the surface. In the photo above, Chilean miner Osman Araya (right) is welcomed by his wife Angelica.

The Chilean government has also set up a Flickr page full of images of this amazing story.

UPDATE: The work that went into this rescue was a worldwide event - the drilling expertise from companies in Pennsylvania, the rescue cable from Germany, video equipment from Japan, expertise on how to feed and aid the trapped miners from NASA, who also contributed to the design of that small rescue capsule. Full story here.

Who's Paying For Those Political Ads?

Along with a bulk mail ad for the Hamblen County Republican seeking a seat in the state legislature, Don Miller, there was another ad mailer which called Miller's opponent, Larry Mullins, the Democratic candidate, a "democrat" who was to blame for all the ills of the nation. Gasp! Democrats!!! In East Tennessee??

This ad says it was paid for by a group called the Republican State Leadership Committee Inc.

Who are they and where does their funding come from? Not Hamblen County - the group is based in Alexandria, VA. They're backed by major Wall Street firms and PACs who seek to protect the status quo.

A web search via The Virginia Public Access Report lists some 8 pages of donors (none by individual names, just by the corporations which send them cash). Here's a sample from the first page, dating donations from 2009 to 2010:

$250,000	American Justice Partnership	Washington, DC	06/26/2009
$175,000	American Justice Partnership	Washington , DC	10/21/2009
$150,000	American Justice Partnership	Washington , DC	09/22/2009
$150,000	American Justice Partnership	Washington, DC	10/09/2009
$150,000	Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America	Washington , DC	10/14/2009
$130,000	Reynolds American	Winston Salem , NC	10/14/2009
$100,000	American Justice Partnership	Washington, DC	09/25/2009
$100,000	Devon Energy Corporation	Oklahoma City , OK	10/02/2009
$100,000	Living Essentials	Novi, MI	08/11/2009
$80,000	Exxon Mobil Corporation	Houston, TX	06/12/2009
$70,000	Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation	East Hanover , NJ	10/23/2009
$65,000	Monsanto Company	St. Louis , MO	10/26/2009
$65,000	UST Public Affairs Inc.	Stamford, CT	05/15/2009
$65,000	Verizon	Folsom, CA	07/02/2009
$55,000	AT&T Services, Inc.	Dallas, TX	01/16/2009
$55,000	General Electric Company	Fort Myers, FL	05/29/2009
$50,000	Ace Cash Express, Inc.	Irving, TX	08/14/2009
$50,000	AT&T Services, Inc.	Dallas, TX	01/09/2009
$50,000	Edison Electric Institute	Washington, DC	01/09/2009
$50,000	Entertainment Software Association	Washington, DC	04/30/2009
$50,000	Hewlett Packard	Colorado Springs, CO	08/14/2009
$50,000	ServiceMaster	Memphis , TN	10/23/2009
$50,000	The Home Depot USA	Atlanta, GA	04/17/2009
$45,000	Community Financial Services Association	Alexandria	03/06/2009
$45,000	Intuit	San Diego, CA	02/06/2009
$40,000	Allergan Inc.	Austin, TX	02/27/2009
$40,000	Allstate Insurance Company	Northbrook, IL	09/22/2009
$40,000	AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP	Wilmington, DE	01/23/2009
$40,000	AT&T Services, Inc.	Dallas, TX	02/13/2009
$40,000	eBay Inc.	San Jose, CA	03/13/2009
$40,000	Fox Group	Beverly Hills, CA	09/03/2009
$40,000	Great Southern Wood Preserving, Inc.	Abbeville, AL	05/21/2009
$40,000	Kraft Foods Global, Inc.	Northfield, IL	07/24/2009
$40,000	Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company	Springfield, MA	08/21/2009
$40,000	National Restaurant Association	Washington, DC	04/03/2009
$40,000	Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation	East Hanover, NJ	03/13/2009
$40,000	Pfizer Inc.	New York, NY	03/26/2009
$40,000	Purdue Pharma L.P.	Stamford , CT	10/15/2009
$40,000	Select Management resources LLC Operating Account	Alpharetta, GA	04/03/2009
$40,000	State Farm Automobile Insurance Company	Bloomington , IL	10/09/2009
$40,000	VISA U.S.A. Inc.	San Francisco, CA	09/14/2009
$40,000	Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.	Bentonville, AR	03/13/2009
$40,000	Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.	Bentonville, AR	03/13/2009
$40,000	Yahoo! Inc.	Sunnyvale, CA	09/14/2009
$35,000	ACLI Political Activity Fund	Washington, DC	04/17/2009
$35,000	Best Buy Purchasing LLC	Minneapolis, MN	07/02/2009
$35,000	Dominion Resources Services, Inc.	Richmond	05/29/2009
$35,000	Pitney Bowes Inc.	Stamford, CT	02/20/2009
$35,000	Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.	Bentonville , AR	10/14/2009
$30,000	BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina	Columbia, SC	06/12/2009

Why so much money from out of state aimed at our small county? Because next year the state will be re-drawing political districts based on the most recent census, and more Republicans in the legislature will help create political districts. The Wall Street Journal reports:

"The three main Republican groups that focus on state-wide races plan to spend more than $100 million on the November elections. That's about double the $44 million they spent on state races in 2006.

Groups supporting Democratic candidates in state races will spend about the same amount. The Democratic governors group and the state-legislative entity are on pace to spend a total of $62 million.

"The fortunes of Democratic state legislators are truly the firewall for Democrats this year," said Michael Sargeant, the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's executive director.

The Republican State Leadership Committee created the Redistricting Majority Project, whose sole purpose is "dedicated to keeping or winning Republican control of state legislatures that will have the most impact on Congressional redistricting in 2011." The group is on pace to raise and spend $40 million to help GOP candidates in state races.

The state races can be critical in determining control of Congress."

Here's Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander talking about campaign donations back in 1999 (via HuffPost):

"I support campaign finance reform, but to me that means individual contributions, free speech and full disclosure," said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) declared, back in 1999. "In other words, any individual can give whatever they want as long as it is disclosed every day on the Internet. Otherwise, you restrict free speech and favor super-rich candidates -- candidates with famous names, the media and special interest groups, all of whom can spend unlimited money."