I made a request of you, dear readers, back on my 300th post, that I would answer any questions you might have - even those questions not about me, just any question. And they arrived in style, Some dear reader even supplied her own answers and that gave me much joy and laughter.
I tend normally to be the interviewer and close friends will tell you that while I crave attention I also have certification as a hermit - usually a bit loud as I pace my personal cave and sometimes I throw rocks at those who pass by.
As many writers do, I prefer to let the choice of topic or rant provide personal glimpses into myself. My motto has always been that Everyone is entitled to my opinion.
And any regular reader knows I love movies and love even more to write about them. Just lookit them posts every Friday.
But what about all the other unknowns of this Cup of Joe? Find a comfy reading spot, I cannot shorten this biographical rambling.
A few things to begin -- I write at this moment while listening to the CD "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd. It was an album (yes, I'm that old) which I played so much when it came out that eventually the grooves all wore away and it skipped and popped so much I had to tape a stack of nickels to the tone arm. (If you don't understand that technology, then go learn some history, you trendoid.)
The album had a hit or two on the radio, but it is "Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts 1-5 and 6-9" which I love best.
It's late as I write, nearly 1 am, I've always preferred to write these autobiographics in the wee hours. It's a humid summer night and the moon traces a luminous path through the clouds, and I love the heat, the humidity and the cool feel of grass on my naked feet when I take the dogs out for a walk.
Listening to "Wish You Were Here" back in the teen years on summer nights, I would dream of being able to sit and write and instantly upon completion have it printed worldwide. So God bless the blog and the internets.
A warning here - when I write, I often take side routes to points unrelated, the way my dad used to do on family vacations, finding every Stuckey's south of the Mason-Dixon line or some side road in Georgia where we'd buy peaches and watermelons from a stand in front of someone's yard, usually with a homemade sign indicating fresh garden goodies for sale.
So a side note here about the aforementioned "Wish You Were Here" album. When it first was released, it had a black plastic cover which I mistakenly thought was the actual album cover design. After perhaps 3 or 4 months ( I got it from my brother for Christmas of 1975), I accidentally tore part of the plastic away ... and saw that underneath was the real album cover.
It was a moment of personal epiphany about design and mystery and pre-conceptions and how easily the mind (or at least mine) can be convinced of the truth of its own limited perceptions, and how wrong those perceptions can be.
Ok, back to the main road.
Here are the questions readers sent and my replies. (NOTE: you may well want to read the answers supplied to many of the questions submitted written by Newscoma, 'cause they're damn fine answers.)
1. Espresso, Latte or Decaf? I pity the person who drinks decaf, since they use embalming fluid to remove the caffeine, which tells you how potent a life force coffee is. I loves espresso, and cappuccino, but my favorite is plain old JFG with some milk and sugar. I don't like my coffee strong, I like it invincible.
2. How do you like your eggs? I have eggs??? ye gods, like the ones in Alien or somethin'? Seriously, here is a question for which my answer points to what some people see as a personal flaw. It doesn't matter, as long as it's cooked. "Make a choice, Joe" is a comment I often hear. If forced, I'll go with scrambled, but I like them over easy, hard boiled, and even an egg salad sandwich. Just not raw. I also read a study was done recently by properly attired Scientists which stated that the egg did in fact come first, not the chicken. My thought? Oh yeah? Then who laid the damn thing?
3. It is winter of 1874. You are leading the Brady Bunch (including Alice and Tiger) from Provo, Utah to Breckinridge, Colorado in search of gold, when something goes horribly awry. Which Brady do you cannibalize first, and why? They can all eat me. Who wants to get stuck living with those chuckleheads? Unless, maybe, me and Marcia make a deal to roast the rest of them and go live in a cabin and make sweet love by a roaring fire. We could raise chickens and eggs!
4. How is my dad? This question is from Wednesday T.G., and he is doing fine, though he should be a highly paid artist and writer in my opinion.
5. What do you think they have done with the real John McCain? My best guess lies within the plot of the movie "Futureworld."
6. Given a choice between doing the right thing for the wrong reason, and doing the wrong thing for the right reason, which do you suppose you would do? Hmmm .... my answer is: Yes.
7. You have been elected President of the United States! So, President Powell, what are you going to do about the current health care crisis? Crisis? What crisis? Oh, the one where medical care is overpriced, drug companies write insurance laws, Congress is considering anti-obesity legislation and federal calorie counting and we are the only Western nation without a national health care program? Long ago, the Chinese would pay the village doctor a small fee as long as they were healthy. If they got sick, the doc didn't get paid. (How could I get elected president? Doesn't the GOP own all the voting machine companies?)
8. Do you have any recurring dreams/nightmares? Please describe. Yeesh, getting personal here aren't we? Hmmmm .... a lie or a truth? Both could be interesting. Ok, truth. For years I used to have dreams about a girl I was in love with my senior year of high school. I mean, these dreams lasted for almost a decade. She had a smile like sunlight and drove a white Mustang. She stood me up for my Senior Prom so she could ride in a limo with a football player. A year after school ended, we started dating again for maybe a year or more. In my dreams, we were always skipping school and having a picnic at Watauga Lake under blue skies and brilliant sunshine. We talked about everything imaginable. I would always wake up shaking, and her voice would linger in my mind all day. Last I actually heard of her, she was an investment banker living in Manhattan. If I have a dream about her now that I've recalled these events .... well, it better be as memorable as the ones I used to have. Also, I've had several dreams recently with Cameron Diaz.
9. You have fallen out the window into a vat of toxic waste, and have transformed into the Toxic Joe-venger, super hero extraordinaire. What is your super power? I don't really want that to happen, I mean I'm fairly certain dropping into a vat of toxic waste would provide me with mostly skeleton power. (I am, however, a proud member of the Wonder Triplets, along with Newscoma and Tits McGee and our power is to call bullshit for what it is.)
10. When was the last time you cried at the movies? When I had to pay 10 bucks to see a piece of junk. Which reminds me of an old joke - You know what I hate about sex in the movies today? The dang seats always fold up on ya. I did shed some tears watching the struggles of Johnny and June at "Walk The Line." There was also a weepy moment in Jet Li's "Unleashed" when Jet remembered how his mom got killed when he heard his new friend play a tune on the piano his mom loved to play, Mozart's Sonata Number 11, in A Minor". There were also some tears of pain for the 15 minutes I watched the remake of "Bewitched".
11. Whom do you admire and why? Frank Zappa, a musical genius and an honest man and I really miss him; Thomas Pynchon, he writes the way I wish I could; Silver Surfer, because he can ride a surfboard across all the galaxies and is searching for home; Buffy Summers, she kills bad things, has cool friends and is hot; (try some real people again, Joe). Mostly I admire writers - Vonnegut, Frank Miller, Stephen King, Herman Melville, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, H.G. Wells, Mark Twain, Sam Shepard and oh .... how about Chuck Yeager - they clank when he walks. I also admire my brother David, who is an immensely smart teacher, and has an incredible wife, Katherine, whom I also admire and their two kids are genius children.
12. How many questions do you figure I can come up with before midnight tonight? A bajillion.
13. Zombies are overrunning Morristown! Which weapon do you grab first? Ha! Like that would happen - zombies eat brains .... actually, that means my weapon would be a car, cause they'd be after me and they can chow on Mo'town all they want.
14. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? In the way back times, when my dad was a preacher in Monterey, we'd have ice cream Wednesday nights on the church lawn in summer, and someone used to make this incredible fresh peach ice cream. Otherwise, if it has chocolate or coffee flavor, I will devour it.
15. You have come into possession of the TARDIS, allowing you to travel freely throughout space and time. Where and when do you visit first? Tardis? That's a Dr Who thingie, right? My first impulse would be to go to Hollywood during the studio era of the 1930s and I would get a job as a staff script writer and never bother to return to the present. The second impulse is to go to the year we finally have space travel and have spread across the galaxies .... especially if I could do it on a surfboard.
16. Can you roll your tongue? Roll it? I can make it a trapezoid!
17. What question have you always wished someone would ask you (but no one ever has), and what is the answer to that question? Would you like seven million dollars and a yacht? To which I answer YES. Or maybe .... Will you please, please be the film critic for the New Yorker magazine for life? again, YES!
18. Do you have any tattoos? Please describe. Sort of. When I was 13, I was killing time between lunch and the next class at school and some of us were playing basketball in the gym. For some reason, I had a pencil in my jeans pocket with the point sticking up. I came down with a rebound and jammed the pencil lead into my right forearm, where the mark remains to this day. Somewhat embarrassed, I transferred the pencil to my other jeans pocket, nabbed another rebound, and stuck the pencil in my left forearm. That mark also remains.
19. How's the weather over there? Over where? There castle. There wolf.
20. Regarding the Coherence Theory of Truth, Bertrand Russell maintained that since both a belief and its negation will individually cohere with at least one set of beliefs, then contradictory beliefs can be "true" according to the theory. Therefore, the theory is invalid. Agree or disagree? Ummm..... both trains arrive in Cleveland at 3 p.m.?? Honest answer: See Godel's Axiom Theorems of Incompleteness regarding "sets", or to put it another way, there are some who hold that a statement that is unprovable within a deductive system may be quite provable in a metalanguage. And what cannot be proven in that metalanguage can likely be proven in a meta-metalanguage, recursively, ad infinitum, in principle. By invoking a sort of super Theory of Types with an axiom of Reducibility -- which by an inductive assumption applies to the entire stack of languages -- one may, for all practical purposes, overcome the obstacle of incompleteness.
My brother David once told me that everything is True simultaneously. I like that idea.
21. Do you like cheese? Only as a food. Or if properly applied to fiction.
22. (here is a great question from Cheeky Wee Monkey) Who does your hair? If I revealed that, I'd have to kill you.
23. (these next questions came from Tits McGee) What food irritates the hell out of you? I for one cannot stand food that seem to have yet to completely finish the formation process of an actual food, such as Cottage Cheese -- what IS that stuff? Oh, and the arrogance of beets is criminal.
24. Favorite book/CD/drink? I've gone through about 7 copies of "Gravity's Rainbow", but "Catch-22" is a killer-diller too; favorite CD is impossible to answer, but I can list two I listen to and never get tired of - Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" and the Rolling Stones "Sticky Fingers"; favorite drink?? god bless julipatchouli for introducing me to a dirty vodka martini and god bless my Uncle Bit for introducing me to Jack Daniels, for which I apparently have a genetic receptor.
25. What song sends you into a homicidal rage? At the risk of enraging every resident of Tennessee, I despise "Rocky Top." But the one that will make me destructive is "Sunshine, Lollipops & Rainbows" by Leslie Gore.
26. What's your favorite movie with zombies in it? Jeez, another impossible one! All Romero zombie movies are brilliant (i even liked the remakes of "Night" and "Dawn") however since I have friends who worked on "Evil Dead" and it was filmed only minutes away from where I sit, that makes the list too!
27 Who was the last person that you checked their butt out? There was a girl in the check-out line at the store the other day wearing low-rider corduroy cutoffs and I nearly fainted.
28. What's the obsession with tits? (Ok, remember, this was a question someone asked Tits,) My answer: I blame my heterosexuality.
29. What's your guilty pleasure? See the previous two questions heh heh .... and I will always stop to watch a horror movie. But I do have one question myself - When the heck did vampires all learn kung-fu??
30. Would you wear a live madagascar roach decorated w/ jewels? Would I get paid to do that?
31. What was your most embarrassing drunken episode? My fave was when I was 17, decided to just split a 6-pack with a friend, then we went to some party and some goober handed me a 16 oz. glass of pure grain alcohol punch. I'd never had that before. It tasted like Hi-C Fruit Punch! So I had three or four more. Somehow, I was able to drive home and not die in a horrible car crash, and arrived home just in time to engage in about a half-an-hour of hard-core hurling in the bathroom. The sounds must have woken the dead. I stumbled upright, fell out into the hallway where both my parents were looking at me as if I might be Satan. I clearly remember my father saying "You smell like a brewery! What did you drink tonight?" To which I made this reply: "Naaawwwww, saw a movie, then went to McDonald's .... but I did kiss a girl who had a beer." The next day an astonishingly calm father said this to me: "Son, please, the next time you kiss a girl who's had a beer, will you please just call home and tell me where you're spending the night?" I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
32. If you could pick any one person for a hot date from any time in history, who is it? (This one was I had asked Tits) Oh great, another chance to be indecisive. I can narrow it down to three: Cleopatra, Anais Nin, and Bettie Page.
33. The last thing you downloaded? Some MP3s of pirate sea shanties.
34. Which one is bigger? (again, this was one someone asked Tits) My answer: probably my ego.
35. Most disliked very, very popular musical person? Please someone stop the whole American Idol deal.
36. What are some of your vices? Call me sometime and we'll find out!! Woo-hoo!
37. Who would you like to see in this year's World Series? Isn't it time for the Cubs? I think so, and my friend Bill would at least call me from one of the games.
38. Have you ever streaked? Or, how many times? When that was all the rage, I saw plenty of it. But the closest I have managed has been from the beach to the surf, and that was at night.
39 (Finally, Tits asks me some questions rather than make me answer the ones she got!!)
Why did you start blogging? I had been adding comments to other blogs in the spring of 2005, and started this one Aug. 3rd, 2005. (I did like Newscoma's answer to that one for me though - 1964. You really should read all her answers, found in the comments section here.)
40. What keeps you blogging? The same Muse that took over my mind when I was about 10 or 11 and decided that I was supposed to be a writer in this life. And coffee.
41. What do the blogs you regularly read have in common? Several things - truth, humor, a relentless commitment to documenting the world we all share, whether or not its important to anyone but the blogger. Oh, and a blogger who has must-read prose.
42. (These next questions arrived via Newscoma)
When did you become a super hero? I think it was when that radioactive spider bite me, or when Professor Xavier had that heart-to-heart talk with me. Or was it that I was simply born a Wonder Triplet?
43. Who is your favorite Buffy character? It's the Buff herself. But Spike and Drusilla are two of the best vampire characters of all time.
44. When did you decide journalism was for you? I started a weekly news mimeograph at absolutely no one's request when I was in the 5th grade. By the time I started taking Journalism classes in college, I found every class to be a waste of time, and the classmates and profs wouldn't know news if it bit them. I wanted to be both Woodward and Bernstein. I've done other jobs, but like Michael Corleone says, "they keep pulling me back in!"
45. When did you realize that Bush was an ass monkey? I think that was about the time he set the record as governor of Texas for executing more inmates than any other American. The real question is when will the rest of the country figure it out?
46. Why don't people just act kind to each other? Well, here goes -- I think too many people believe the horrible lies they are fed as children by institutional idiocy - schools, bad parents, and a religious view that we are all born to commit evil first and beg forgiveness later. With such bad programming, people have terrible self-esteem or no self-esteem, so they become viscious to others thinking its the treatment they deserve. It doesn't just happen in this country, either. It's a worldwide brainwash. I was in a diner once and this little 6 or 7 year old kid was running all over the place making loud noises and his insidious mother kept yelling at him "You're a monster! You're a monster!" So what else does that kid think he is supposed to be? I was incredibly blessed as a child to have two loving parents who encouraged me, and also taught me that I was the one responsible for my actions.
47. When was the last time you ate sushi? Ahhh, that question hurts. I had some faux sushi back in December, but I yearn to sit at a sushi bar and watch it being made, drinking lots of sake and eating my weight in sushi.
48. Is Nietzsche dead? Nawwww, God just keeps teasing him and telling him he's alive and attending Liberty University.
(Thanks for the questions oh mighty Newscoma and Tits McGee, and let's not forget some of the fine ones from W.T.G., who added the remaining queries) ( I promise, this is almost done.)
49. Did you take money from Jack Abramoff? Do I look like I'm a Republican? Nope.
50. Stephen Colbert: Great Pseudo-pundit, or the Greatest Pseudo-Pundit? The smartest person to ever appear at the White House Press Dinner.
51. What was the name of your first pet, and what kind of animal was it? He was Marvin, a Collie, and once, he growled at my mom when I was about 4 and she was mad at me for not coming in the house when she yelled for me. Ever since, dogs is my pals.
52. Everyone has "the one that got away." What would you say to that one if you had the opportunity to speak with her? Oh, fine, great, you just won't let me forget about that girl I loved in high school will you? Why can I not muster malice towards her, just for that Prom deal alone? Given the chance, I would tell her that we owe each other one more incredible night, because even our dullest moments together were better than some peoples entire lives. That's awfully corny, and I'd probably just go away alone and have a drinking binge and then hours later, I'd figure out a better thing to have said. Wait a minute ... isn't the real question is what would all those women say to me as the "one that got away"?
53. Do you consider yourself a feminist? Let me answer with something a wise old Mexican man once told me. He said, if you read the Bible, whether you believe in it or not, it says that God made woman from the rib of man. Not his foot, for us to step on them, not from our hands to make them do what we wish, but from our side, because we are meant to be partners.
54. What is your favorite curse word? (apologies to James Lipton) There is only one that can express it all, joy and rage and awe and wonder and even hate, and I've never typed it on this blog. And if you've read this far, I doubt it will offend you when I say the King of Curse is Fuck.
55. When you were a lad, what did you most want to be when you grew up? Not a jerk like the majority of the adults who populate this world. And a writer. (should have added "a rich one.")
56. Who let the dogs out? The cat. She wants their food.
57. What's the deal with Sulu? Heh heh ... I think it's Texas hold 'em and kiss 'em.
58. If you could choose five people, living and dead, with whom to share a meal, which five people would you choose? Groucho Marx, Dorothy Parker, Bruce Lee, Uma Thurman and Frank Sinatra.
59. At the above dinner party, what meal would be served? Their choice, of course, as long as it included much vodka martinis and I want sushi!!
60. What is your least favorite movie? It's a tie -- "Sound of Music" and "Grease"
61. Do you believe in god? I believe the Divine Unnameable exists in each person, whether we know it or not.
62. For $5 million, would you perjure yourself before Congress? Again, do I look like a Republican?
Man, that's more about me than even I want to know.
POSTSCRIPT:
While reading some about the album "Wish You Were Here", the musicians said the Crazy Diamond song was about former band-mate Syd Barrett, who, as President Merkin Muffley would describe it, "went a little funny in the head." I simply enjoy the music and the lyrics and have my own meanings to the tune.
I always enjoyed those long, concept albums which were poorly-terrmed as "rock operas". Concept album sounds like far better term. And my favorite of all those is Jethro Tull's "Thick As A Brick".
Whatever meaning you glean from the two titles of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" and "Thick As A Brick" are your own. It tells you about yourself.
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Tennessee Makes High-Tech Leap
Some fascinating and welcome news arrived via the Atomic Tumor page where it's revealed that Tennessee is front and center in developing the technologies and programs for an American mission to the Moon.
As the post reveals, the project is termed "Constellation" and reports note:
"The eventual goal is to land on Mars. But for the near term, the Tennessee Valley complex that developed the Saturn V rocket two generations ago is again shooting for the moon.
Marshall Director David King said getting back to the moon will be even tougher than reaching it the first time since plans now call for an extended stay rather than just a brief visit.
"We're going to have to plan this in a much more precise way," said King. "It is larger in scope than what we did the first time by a long shot."
By pushing forward science and technology, the state stands to take greater strides in innovation and employment, which will serve the state far, far better than as a piece-maker of car parts.
In other words, there is no such thing as a missed opportunity - it's just that someone else will take that opportunity while negativity leaves so many others grounded.
Best of luck to all involved in the project!
Friday, June 09, 2006
Camera Obscura - The Smith Marriage, More Chainsaws and A Concert At The Ryman
If someone had told me I would actually spend time reviewing a movie starring the two most overexposed actors working today, I would have denied any such effort. Then I watched the movie and it simply impressed me on so many levels that I find myself doing the impossible -- devoting blogspace to "Mr & Mrs Smith" starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
But bear with me - this movie is far more than meets the tabloid eye. There is sub-text for days here, and it also holds some other credentials worth noting. The script is by Simon Kinberg, who penned the script as part of his Masters Thesis and his most recent effort is the new "X-Men" movie. The director, Doug Liman, is a talent just beginning to emerge, with the breathless "Bourne Identity" and as producer of "Bourne Supremacy," plus the very-underrated "Go" set in the world of ravers, and the hilarious "Swingers."
At one point, director John Woo was set to direct, and his style is surely evident here in several action sequences.
Now, I'm not here to sing praises of the publicity overdose of Pitt and Jolie. In fact, more than once you catch a gleam in their eyes that all the automatic weapons fire on-screen fulfills their deepest desires toward a relentless press bent on chronicling the couple's every footstep.
Instead, why not examine the movie for what it truly is - a metaphor for marriage and relationships.
Given the insane reality that domestic violence is far too common today, that the 'sanctity' of marriage is as likely to lead to divorce as to an anniversary, the movie here holds a rich exploration on the state of romance and marriage American style.
The movie opens on the Smiths in couples therapy. They are unable to communicate not only their problems, but their successes. Through a series of following scenes, we discover the why - each partner holds secrets they feel too personal or too dangerous to actually share with each other. The conceit is that they are both spies - Spies in the House of Love.
With much humor, the audience sees that Mr Smith keeps his deadly arsenal of weapons in a secret passage in his workshed while Mrs Smith keeps her arsenal in a secret compartment of the stove. One-liners of empty conversations reinforce the blank emptiness of marriage and secrets too great to reveal. Each line has double meanings. Fear and doubt rule their marriage.
The script doesn't dwell on who each agent is working for - that's not the point. It's that the couple feel compelled to fill their lives and dreams in fantasies that would terrify Walter Mitty. The driving demands of work leave little for the home life, though business success makes for an astonishingly well-appointed home. But they can barely have a conversation about the drapes or even if a conversation about such accessories even occurred.
Once each competing spy agency realizes the couple is, well, a couple, they plot to have them kill each other. (That could be a writing weakness, but I see it as more that the demands of business outweigh any needs of a stable home.)
However, by bringing them face-to-face in combat to kill each other, the couple sees that the only allies for their lives and their hopes reside in each other. After some intense attacks on each other, there is a near-wordless realization that resolution lies within themselves and all the unspoken moments past can't overwhelm their depth of feeling for each other.
No, this isn't the height of meta-philosophy, but it does paint a picture of an American couple constantly warring to balance work and love. The secrets that might undo them unite them instead.
Writer and director make marvelous set-pieces of danger built on the world of the typical American couple - such as a car chase scene where the SUV with its double doors spells doom for assassins. Sometimes it's best to let the wife do the driving.
Real-life tabloidism is certainly here in the movie too with Vince Vaughn in a barely defined role. And as cute and likeable an actress Jennifer Anniston may be, the kind of knock-down-the-house love-making Mr and Mrs Smith enjoy makes other romance movies miss the passion and the danger of an intense relationship by miles.
The violence is there in the film, but it emerges far ahead of other "doomed romance" Hollywood efforts like the brutal end of "Bonnie and Clyde" or "War of the Roses." The Smiths revel in the irony and humor and will fight far more aggressively to find a solution to their marriage woes. (No Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan tearjerker approaches the artistic artistry of the Smiths.)
At one point, Mrs Smith says "Happy endings are stories that just aren't finished yet," which to me indicates they feel more than capable of crafting their own story and their own ending. Near the end, they square off against a literal army of attackers and they join in a ballet of cooperation which I found to be a forceful refusal to accept the roles society has heaped upon the Smiths.
As a side note, please fire the next witless reporter whose best prose is to make a single catchy name of two people.
Scoff at these comments about Mr and Mrs Smith as you wish, but until you watch it with your tabloid mentality shut down, I think you'll find some provocative entertainment.
OTHER MOVIE NEWS
A fine concert movie filmed at the famed Ryman Auditorium hits DVD this week, and judging by the clips I've seen, it looks to be one of the best concert films since "The Last Waltz". The movie, "Neil Young: Heart of Gold" also features Emmylou Harris. Young plays new and older songs, expertly filmed by Jonathon Demme, who made the equally entertaining Talking Heads concert movie "Stop Making Sense."
At several points, the aging rocker talks about his music and his musings to the crowd, noting that the guitar he played was once owned by Hank Williams. But the music is the focus here, presented in a stripped down acoustic form that highlights both the lyrics and the tunes.
-------
From the Did We Need This Dept.?
A prequel to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"??? One good point is the script by award-winning horror writer David Schow. And the trailer at the official site says it's so scary, you can only watch it after 10 p.m. (Or it may be the whole idea is so bad, only late-nite Web Walkers will watch it.)
------
REMAKE HELL
Rumors are flying that New Line Cinema hopes to make an American version of one of the great classics in recent Japanese cinema, "Battle Royale." Banned here and abroad, please, please do NOT watch the movie unless you see the original. And if you prefer, the novel the movie is based on is even more astonishing.
Also, for those who might be interested, the "new" "The Omen" movie is a pure shot-for-shot remake of the original. And the original is better.
Congress Calls For End to Indecent PBS/NPR
I often wonder how it is the heads don't implode from the hypocrisy. Just after approving a massive increase in fines for broadcasting that is termed "indecent," a subcommittee in the House wants to slash funds for Public Broadcasting and then eliminate funding for it all together.
Programs like the literacy program, "Ready To Learn," the online teachers resource program "Ready To Teach," would be eliminated. Subsidies for educational programs and government-mandated tech changes for DTV also gutted. Cuts are likewise ahead for news, science, and community programming for over 1000 stations nationwide.
This same educational removal program was put forth last year - and defeated only because citizens and voters spoke out. After all, stations at best receive about 15% or less funding from tax dollars, roughly one dollar per person. A good overview of the CPB is here.
If you want public broadcasting to survive, you'll have to speak out again. This is one of many online petitions opposing this move - and why not go ahead and contact your Tennessee congressman, since this idiocy is being promoted by a House subcommittee. The list of contact information is here.
If you do not act, they will work to end public broadcasting. (Thanks to juliepatchouli for bringing this to my attention)
Programs like the literacy program, "Ready To Learn," the online teachers resource program "Ready To Teach," would be eliminated. Subsidies for educational programs and government-mandated tech changes for DTV also gutted. Cuts are likewise ahead for news, science, and community programming for over 1000 stations nationwide.
This same educational removal program was put forth last year - and defeated only because citizens and voters spoke out. After all, stations at best receive about 15% or less funding from tax dollars, roughly one dollar per person. A good overview of the CPB is here.
If you want public broadcasting to survive, you'll have to speak out again. This is one of many online petitions opposing this move - and why not go ahead and contact your Tennessee congressman, since this idiocy is being promoted by a House subcommittee. The list of contact information is here.
If you do not act, they will work to end public broadcasting. (Thanks to juliepatchouli for bringing this to my attention)
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Congress Avoids Decency - Blames Media
Currently my rage is tethered by titanium chains in order to offer some coherent arguments about the sheer idiocy and hypocrisy of a Congress and Administration that sneers at lawful behavior and ethics and instead increases ten-fold the fines and threats against the public airwaves.
I have honestly lost track of the number of scandals that permeate our national leadership. For some 16 months, Congressional leaders did nothing to correct the constant influence-for-sale worldview, often because those charged with drafting any rules are themselves part and parcel of the problem.
A short examination reveals:
"Public Citizen says that if lawmakers are sincere about cutting off the corporate money trail, they should close travel loopholes, which currently enable industry and other interest groups to lavish lawmakers with luxury travel junkets financed through "nonprofit" shell organizations.
I suggest the same ten-fold increase in fines and jail time for Indecent behavior for elected officials.
"But Joe," cry the Parents Television Council and Donald Wildmon, "a chi-yuld could see something on the TeeVee that could rot their minds, turn 'em into liberals, and make them attend a non-protestant church service! We must protect the chi-yulds from the satanic teachings of public school and Pokemon reruns!"
High heaping piles of horseshit, say I. If you chi-yuld is so endangered, get that TV behind them, Satan! Don't own one. Or better yet, use your pea-brained half-witted dried-up brains and learn how to use the myriad of channel blocking options via most any cable or satellite box or (as forced by Congressional rule) learn to use that V-chip. If you have not the wisdom to or the depth of concern to educate yourself on how to use such technology, then get rid of it.
Don't make the entire nation pick up your slack, in whining disguised as legislation.
The fact is, the thousands of complaints of "indecency" on television were constant petitions provided by the Parents Television Council and Donald Wildmon's American Family Association (remember when Wildmon used to videotape sit-coms claiming he saw some woman's breast for an 1/18th of a second?)
Americans already have all the control they need over content on TV and radio. It's called the On and Off switch. Worried your chi-yuld might see something horriffic on the TeeVee at some sinner's house? Then why not take the opportunity to TALK to your chi-yuld about the world we all live in and that not all people hold the same beliefs as you?
As for the Senator who put forth this legislation, one Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, who wants the science of Intelligent Design mandatory in schools is himself a part of the Jack Abramoff gravy train.
He accepted $40,000 from Abramoff to stop the construction of an Indian casino in Kansas.
His other main concern of late was to submit no less than 17 bills to suspend temporarily the duties on footwear:
"Among the offerings: S. 2847, to “reduce temporarily the duty on certain footwear with open toes or heels,” and the more catchall S. 2845, affecting “certain women’s footwear.” S. 2837, for the leather lover, would reduce the duty on “certain leather and textile footwear,” while S. 2838, affecting “certain rubber or plastic footwear,” keeps the pleather lover pleased.
Stay-at-home moms aren’t left out either: S. 2850 would “reduce temporarily the duty on certain house slippers.”
And on it goes, to cover certain footwear for men, certain other work footwear, certain athletic shoes and certain athletic footwear for men and boys.
We only got confused when it came to S. 2835, which would suspend the duty on “certain leather footwear for persons other than men or women.” Which leaves what, exactly? Humanoids? Extraterrestrials?"
Looks like I've gnawed through my chain. Best to shut up now before I say anything else .... today.
I leave you with this thought - If ya don't like what you watch on TV, why are you watching it??
I have honestly lost track of the number of scandals that permeate our national leadership. For some 16 months, Congressional leaders did nothing to correct the constant influence-for-sale worldview, often because those charged with drafting any rules are themselves part and parcel of the problem.
A short examination reveals:
"Public Citizen says that if lawmakers are sincere about cutting off the corporate money trail, they should close travel loopholes, which currently enable industry and other interest groups to lavish lawmakers with luxury travel junkets financed through "nonprofit" shell organizations.
The group has also called on lawmakers to enact broader anti-corruption measures, like an independent oversight mechanism to monitor ethical transgressions, and strict caps on federal campaign contributions from lobbyists to political action committees.
The problem, reformers say, is that the people writing the rules are the ones charged with enforcing them, and as a result, are often the ones violating them.
In its ongoing investigation of Abramoff, the "super-lobbyist" recently convicted on corruption-related charges, CREW revealed that some of Abramoff’s closest cronies on Capitol Hill are also champions of the House lobbying reform legislation.
Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff’s extensive lobbying network, tied to the Native-American casino industry, doled out tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions to two co-sponsors of the bill, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) and Representative Eric Cantor (R-Virginia). The two worked with other House Republicans in 2003 to pressure the Interior Department to block the casino-development plans of a tribe in competition with one of Abramoff’s clients.
Reflecting on what she sees as a long pattern of impunity in Congress, Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) remarked, "The fact of the matter is, a lot of the stuff that happened was already against the rules…. So new rules have no more use than old rules, if you don’t enforce the rules."
Some of the dust on those old rules has been kicked up by a report on lobbying disclosure by the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), a public-interest research organization.
The 1995 Lobbying Disclosure Act requires lobbyists to report their activities and expenditures every six months, and violations carry a fine of up to $50,000, which would rise to $100,000 under the current reform bills. But in its survey of over 180,000 lobbying disclosure forms filed with the Senate Office of Public Records since 1998, the CPI found that 14,000 documents were missing, and nearly 20 percent of forms were filed late.
Researchers also found that among the 250 top lobbying firms, 210 had not fulfilled all reporting requirements. Alex Knott, the project manager for CPI’s LobbyWatch program, said that typically the disclosure forms are of little public value, "sloppily" filled out and not linked to specific legislation.
Records of penalties for non-compliance are similarly obscure: in CPI’s investigation last year, the House, Senate and the US Attorney’s office in DC, which is tasked with handling disclosure-related indictments, all provided no data on how the rules were being enforced.
"Basically, lobbyists know they can break the rules and get away with it," said Knott, noting that fewer than a dozen staffers in the Senate Office of Public Records oversee the backdoor deals of thousands of lobbyists."
Now, instead, the Senate has decided that "indecency" is a problem created by television and radio programming and has voted to increase fines against stations ten times the current levels.I suggest the same ten-fold increase in fines and jail time for Indecent behavior for elected officials.
"But Joe," cry the Parents Television Council and Donald Wildmon, "a chi-yuld could see something on the TeeVee that could rot their minds, turn 'em into liberals, and make them attend a non-protestant church service! We must protect the chi-yulds from the satanic teachings of public school and Pokemon reruns!"
High heaping piles of horseshit, say I. If you chi-yuld is so endangered, get that TV behind them, Satan! Don't own one. Or better yet, use your pea-brained half-witted dried-up brains and learn how to use the myriad of channel blocking options via most any cable or satellite box or (as forced by Congressional rule) learn to use that V-chip. If you have not the wisdom to or the depth of concern to educate yourself on how to use such technology, then get rid of it.
Don't make the entire nation pick up your slack, in whining disguised as legislation.
The fact is, the thousands of complaints of "indecency" on television were constant petitions provided by the Parents Television Council and Donald Wildmon's American Family Association (remember when Wildmon used to videotape sit-coms claiming he saw some woman's breast for an 1/18th of a second?)
Americans already have all the control they need over content on TV and radio. It's called the On and Off switch. Worried your chi-yuld might see something horriffic on the TeeVee at some sinner's house? Then why not take the opportunity to TALK to your chi-yuld about the world we all live in and that not all people hold the same beliefs as you?
As for the Senator who put forth this legislation, one Sam Brownback, Republican of Kansas, who wants the science of Intelligent Design mandatory in schools is himself a part of the Jack Abramoff gravy train.
He accepted $40,000 from Abramoff to stop the construction of an Indian casino in Kansas.
His other main concern of late was to submit no less than 17 bills to suspend temporarily the duties on footwear:
"Among the offerings: S. 2847, to “reduce temporarily the duty on certain footwear with open toes or heels,” and the more catchall S. 2845, affecting “certain women’s footwear.” S. 2837, for the leather lover, would reduce the duty on “certain leather and textile footwear,” while S. 2838, affecting “certain rubber or plastic footwear,” keeps the pleather lover pleased.
Stay-at-home moms aren’t left out either: S. 2850 would “reduce temporarily the duty on certain house slippers.”
And on it goes, to cover certain footwear for men, certain other work footwear, certain athletic shoes and certain athletic footwear for men and boys.
We only got confused when it came to S. 2835, which would suspend the duty on “certain leather footwear for persons other than men or women.” Which leaves what, exactly? Humanoids? Extraterrestrials?"
Looks like I've gnawed through my chain. Best to shut up now before I say anything else .... today.
I leave you with this thought - If ya don't like what you watch on TV, why are you watching it??
Ann Coulter Gets Wish: She's A Victim!
The unabashed enthusiasm that the possibility of huge book sales and money, money, money which envelopes ersatz writer Ann Coulter is palpable and real - like stepping in steaming dog vomit.
She embodies the heart and soul Christian values - Jesus says (in her parlance) to battle the liberal, yea, verily. (as spoken on Tucker Carlson's show.) She added this thought - "Do I have to kill my mother so I can be a victim too?"
No, Ann, you have found out a quicker way to being a victim - Just speaking stupid, half-thought, nonsensical gibberish, you have become a Victim of Stupidity. Job done.
Then there's her assertion that Jews are Christians too, but not Episcopalians. (Um, isn't President Bush a member of the Episcopalian church, or does he just attend to keep a watchful eye on liberals?) I guess the same goes for other members of that religion, James Madison and George Washington. Perhaps you to follow that twisted bastion of Satan.
However, don't doubt her marketing savvy - I'm sure Jesus would have appreciated her evangelistic fervor to spread the Gospel. By not actually discussing the info in her book, she has instead focused the spotlight on her.
And, she becomes a victim again! A victim of the It's All About Me Generation.
I also appreciated her thoughts that the President can use the tragic events of death and destruction of the terrorist attack on NYC and the Pentagon, 'cause he's the president. He has "Executive power". Yeah, if Jesus had only had some kind of Constitutional authority, then maybe he could have placed 135,000 troops into battle against the liberals.
Yet, as Michelle Malkin notes, the Crime, the Evil cited by Coulter is that a group of widows took political action, called for a federal commission into the events of 9-11, appeared on television and are active in supporting candidates and policies they feel represent their views.
Coulter and Malkin agree - that kind of political expression is the work of Satan. Being critical of them is not enough. Perhaps tarring and feathering them for having a political view out of touch with the heights of moral Republican beliefs is treason.
She embodies the heart and soul Christian values - Jesus says (in her parlance) to battle the liberal, yea, verily. (as spoken on Tucker Carlson's show.) She added this thought - "Do I have to kill my mother so I can be a victim too?"
No, Ann, you have found out a quicker way to being a victim - Just speaking stupid, half-thought, nonsensical gibberish, you have become a Victim of Stupidity. Job done.
Then there's her assertion that Jews are Christians too, but not Episcopalians. (Um, isn't President Bush a member of the Episcopalian church, or does he just attend to keep a watchful eye on liberals?) I guess the same goes for other members of that religion, James Madison and George Washington. Perhaps you to follow that twisted bastion of Satan.
However, don't doubt her marketing savvy - I'm sure Jesus would have appreciated her evangelistic fervor to spread the Gospel. By not actually discussing the info in her book, she has instead focused the spotlight on her.
And, she becomes a victim again! A victim of the It's All About Me Generation.
I also appreciated her thoughts that the President can use the tragic events of death and destruction of the terrorist attack on NYC and the Pentagon, 'cause he's the president. He has "Executive power". Yeah, if Jesus had only had some kind of Constitutional authority, then maybe he could have placed 135,000 troops into battle against the liberals.
Yet, as Michelle Malkin notes, the Crime, the Evil cited by Coulter is that a group of widows took political action, called for a federal commission into the events of 9-11, appeared on television and are active in supporting candidates and policies they feel represent their views.
Coulter and Malkin agree - that kind of political expression is the work of Satan. Being critical of them is not enough. Perhaps tarring and feathering them for having a political view out of touch with the heights of moral Republican beliefs is treason.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Bredesen Campaign Kick-Off
There's a hefty group of photos and reporting on the election kick-off campaign for Gov. Bredesen in Knoxville on Tuesday via R. Neal at Knox Views. Worth a look and there's also quite a bit of comment regarding what Bredesen said.
Worth noting is the 500-plus business leaders who back his re-election, along with the state's teachers, and veterans. (Oh, and the Republican leaders who also support him.)
As always, opinions vary on the efficacy of his tenure, but there are several efforts Gov. Bredesen has brought to life. One program which I think will do far more than any test or school program is the free books offered monthly to parents with kids up to age five. Providing books, at a minimal state cost, to encourage reading and more time spent by parents to read to kids will doubtless provide a much more education/information hungry population. The program was begun by Dolly Parton in Sevier County, but the effects are spreading statewide.
Also of note is the first ever statewide TennCare Fraud unit - created after years of failure of oversight by the General Assembly. Over 257 people have been charged since 2005 and it remains the first-of-its-kind in the nation.
Real challenges remain in state government, and another massive change in the ethics (or lack of them) needs to take root among state legislators and lobbyists.
Kudos to R. Neal for his coverage of the event.
Worth noting is the 500-plus business leaders who back his re-election, along with the state's teachers, and veterans. (Oh, and the Republican leaders who also support him.)
As always, opinions vary on the efficacy of his tenure, but there are several efforts Gov. Bredesen has brought to life. One program which I think will do far more than any test or school program is the free books offered monthly to parents with kids up to age five. Providing books, at a minimal state cost, to encourage reading and more time spent by parents to read to kids will doubtless provide a much more education/information hungry population. The program was begun by Dolly Parton in Sevier County, but the effects are spreading statewide.
Also of note is the first ever statewide TennCare Fraud unit - created after years of failure of oversight by the General Assembly. Over 257 people have been charged since 2005 and it remains the first-of-its-kind in the nation.
Real challenges remain in state government, and another massive change in the ethics (or lack of them) needs to take root among state legislators and lobbyists.
Kudos to R. Neal for his coverage of the event.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Ann Coulter Hates Widows of 9-11
Who knew the "Today Show" would actually grow some teeth and tackle news now that Clueless Hairstyle Katie was gone?
Did Matt Lauer secretly yell "Finally!"
Judging by the comments he made today in an interview with the vile, money-grubbing, hate-filled myopic Ann Coulter, the answer is "YES!"
The following video shows how Matt poses a simple question of Ann Hater - er Coulter's - newest Hate-Filled Manifesto of No-GOP-No-Right-To-An-Opinon.
Coulter writes that the widows of those who died in 9-11 are a bunch of "broads" who whine and moan for the Evil Leftists by daring to speak dissent against the Bush and Clinton administrations. "Shut up," she tells them. "it was the nation that was attacked, who cares if yer spouse died! How dare you support a non-Republican!"
Two points for Matt for calling out her hate-filled hypocrisy.
Did Matt Lauer secretly yell "Finally!"
Judging by the comments he made today in an interview with the vile, money-grubbing, hate-filled myopic Ann Coulter, the answer is "YES!"
The following video shows how Matt poses a simple question of Ann Hater - er Coulter's - newest Hate-Filled Manifesto of No-GOP-No-Right-To-An-Opinon.
Coulter writes that the widows of those who died in 9-11 are a bunch of "broads" who whine and moan for the Evil Leftists by daring to speak dissent against the Bush and Clinton administrations. "Shut up," she tells them. "it was the nation that was attacked, who cares if yer spouse died! How dare you support a non-Republican!"
Two points for Matt for calling out her hate-filled hypocrisy.
Fact Finding UPDATE
As noted yesterday, billions of dollars were handed out to Senate and Congress members/staff/family all in the name of "fact-finding". Here's my favorite, as noted in today's Tennessean newspaper:
"No Tennessee representative was among the 11 legislators to accept more than $350,000 in trips. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist came the closest with about $257,800 in travel, personally taking 19 of the 147 trips his office listed in congressional disclosure forms.
Well, TN does export some $221 million in products to France,
Also worth noting, perhaps explaining all those "fact-finding" or dollar-centered trips is to be found in the following documentation:
"Foreigners already own half of the U.S. government's publicly traded debt. As of January, some $2.19 trillion in Treasury securities were in the hands of central banks, including China and Japan, and private investors abroad.
"No Tennessee representative was among the 11 legislators to accept more than $350,000 in trips. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist came the closest with about $257,800 in travel, personally taking 19 of the 147 trips his office listed in congressional disclosure forms.
Frist's trips included 15 speaking engagements and a 2004 trip to Africa paid for by Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization.
The European Institute, a Washington-based public policy institution focused on trans-Atlantic affairs, paid for a Frist staffer, as well as an aide to Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Chattanooga, to travel on a fact-finding mission to Paris totaling more than $22,000, according to the report.
Matt Lehigh, Frist's press secretary, said he had not seen the report but said that Frist's fact-finding trips are educationally based and meant to help the Senate majority leader better represent his constituents.
Well, TN does export some $221 million in products to France,
Also worth noting, perhaps explaining all those "fact-finding" or dollar-centered trips is to be found in the following documentation:
"Foreigners already own half of the U.S. government's publicly traded debt. As of January, some $2.19 trillion in Treasury securities were in the hands of central banks, including China and Japan, and private investors abroad.
At the end of 2004, the total foreign direct investment in this country — actual factories, office buildings and other tangible assets as opposed to stocks and bonds — came to $1.53 trillion, 8.2 percent more than in 2003.
That investment shows up in all of the 50 states."
Monday, June 05, 2006
Fact-Finding Trips More Fun At Luxury Sites
Congress and their families and staffers know that "fact-finding trips" are more fun if they stay at resorts, playing golf, swimming and boating and side-stepping the laws regarding gifts from lobbyists. In a five year period, elected officials of both parties traveled to Paris, Hawaii, Italy or Colorado ski resorts.
A new study via the Center for Public Integrity notes officials and their families just seem to find more info regarding legislation as long as they stay far, far away from any actual constituents. Over 23,000 trips valued at over $50 million shows Congress has learned to sidestep the DeLay scandals just by claiming the trips were just for some seminar - as long as their families and aides get a long vacation retreat:
"I think [legislators and staffers] are gaming the system," said James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies in Washington. "Education through travel is important, but it's just totally being abused. They give a one-hour speech and spend three days playing golf or tennis with their families."
Abandoning too much paperwork and required disclosure, the gravy train is full of hungry, greedy legislators at the trough. On example:
"At least 150 forms list no sponsor. In one such instance in 2003, Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., was a guest at The Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Fla., site of the Restoration Weekend event Nov. 14-16. Harris's form shows that her hotel room cost $1,032 and her meals $259.56. But it fails to reveal the trip's sponsor, itinerary or purpose, instead referring the reader to an attached three-page agenda.
Hey, I'd do great at a fact finding mission if I could only stay at Disneyworld and Hilton Head to determine the appropriate size of greens, clubs and caddies.
A new study via the Center for Public Integrity notes officials and their families just seem to find more info regarding legislation as long as they stay far, far away from any actual constituents. Over 23,000 trips valued at over $50 million shows Congress has learned to sidestep the DeLay scandals just by claiming the trips were just for some seminar - as long as their families and aides get a long vacation retreat:
"I think [legislators and staffers] are gaming the system," said James Thurber, director of American University's Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies in Washington. "Education through travel is important, but it's just totally being abused. They give a one-hour speech and spend three days playing golf or tennis with their families."
Abandoning too much paperwork and required disclosure, the gravy train is full of hungry, greedy legislators at the trough. On example:
"At least 150 forms list no sponsor. In one such instance in 2003, Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., was a guest at The Breakers resort in Palm Beach, Fla., site of the Restoration Weekend event Nov. 14-16. Harris's form shows that her hotel room cost $1,032 and her meals $259.56. But it fails to reveal the trip's sponsor, itinerary or purpose, instead referring the reader to an attached three-page agenda.
The agenda designates 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 14 and 15 as "Free time for swimming, golf, tennis, shopping, etc." It also notes that DeLay was a scheduled keynote speaker on the 15th, and was to be introduced by National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre. But it doesn't list the trip sponsor."
The article further states:
"It's clearly beneficial for these interest groups to make these expenditures," said Bob Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies. "They're not just doing this without a purpose."
Stern said he is all for outside-the-Beltway education, and sees nothing nefarious in trips sponsored by universities and most nonprofits. "But if the trip is truly educational," he asked, "why do they have to go to exotic places?"
He thinks he knows why.
"The problem is human nature," Stern said. "We don't like to be educated in non-interesting surroundings."Hey, I'd do great at a fact finding mission if I could only stay at Disneyworld and Hilton Head to determine the appropriate size of greens, clubs and caddies.
GOP Leaders Too Litle Too Late
The silliness and somewhat pointless push by Bush and Frist reveals how badly their priorities have become. Forget the on-again-off-again quandry of exodous about FEMA or the hacking away of DHS funds for major cities, forget the corruption and cronynism, they have focused on non-vital issues meant to pander to their Fear-filled base of ... um, who are the base players anyway?
The new two-pronged faux agenda is is them durned gay folk and them durned flag burners. Since Constitutional ammendments rarely succeed - then that is their focus. Witness the national and state campaigns showing candidates rebuking the already-passed legislation of fences and (Which follows on them danged illegals live TV speech, which had all the earmarks of desperation of looking like they're doing something.)
As Reason magazine said:
"Neither of these really evokes the ploy President Bush Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) are trying out today and tomorrow. For the first time since 2004, Frist and the Republican majority will bring the Federal Marriage Amendment to a vote. In a few weeks, Frist will bring another constitutional amendment to the floor: the much-delayed, much-debated, much-distracting permanent ban on burning the American flag. The GOP is struggling, but not like a prizefighter or a football player. It's struggling like a man who cheats on his wife and buys her $1,000 worth of flowers to cushion the blow. Too little, too late, and actually kind of an insult.
"Sure, much of the GOP's social conservative base is rooting for the party to pass a gay marriage amendment. (There's less enthusiasm for the flag desecration ban.) The mighty Family Research Council has been lobbying senators and marshalling conservative support at a fever pitch, scheduling events over the weekend, melting Senate phones with grassroots phone calls. According to Tom McClusky, the FRC's vice president of government affairs and the point man on the marriage amendment effort, the marriage debate has as much pull among social conservatives as the abortion debate. "It's an extremely important issue, if not the most important issue."
After all, Frist doesn't want to talk about the fines he must pay for failing to document the millions-plus loans he forgot to report to the Federal Elections Commission, and Bush doesn't want to talk about how many officials are warning of the endless failure in Iraq -- apparently that Blame The Media ploy failed with the constant deaths and wounding of and kidpapping of those durned liberal media types.
Just look at the Center Ring, America, can ya believe the death-fefying feats of non-important hijinks?
Ignore the skyrocketing deficits, the failure of fiscal conservatives, the endless indictments of lobbyists and congress.
The Show must go on!
The new two-pronged faux agenda is is them durned gay folk and them durned flag burners. Since Constitutional ammendments rarely succeed - then that is their focus. Witness the national and state campaigns showing candidates rebuking the already-passed legislation of fences and (Which follows on them danged illegals live TV speech, which had all the earmarks of desperation of looking like they're doing something.)
As Reason magazine said:
"Neither of these really evokes the ploy President Bush Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) are trying out today and tomorrow. For the first time since 2004, Frist and the Republican majority will bring the Federal Marriage Amendment to a vote. In a few weeks, Frist will bring another constitutional amendment to the floor: the much-delayed, much-debated, much-distracting permanent ban on burning the American flag. The GOP is struggling, but not like a prizefighter or a football player. It's struggling like a man who cheats on his wife and buys her $1,000 worth of flowers to cushion the blow. Too little, too late, and actually kind of an insult.
"Sure, much of the GOP's social conservative base is rooting for the party to pass a gay marriage amendment. (There's less enthusiasm for the flag desecration ban.) The mighty Family Research Council has been lobbying senators and marshalling conservative support at a fever pitch, scheduling events over the weekend, melting Senate phones with grassroots phone calls. According to Tom McClusky, the FRC's vice president of government affairs and the point man on the marriage amendment effort, the marriage debate has as much pull among social conservatives as the abortion debate. "It's an extremely important issue, if not the most important issue."
After all, Frist doesn't want to talk about the fines he must pay for failing to document the millions-plus loans he forgot to report to the Federal Elections Commission, and Bush doesn't want to talk about how many officials are warning of the endless failure in Iraq -- apparently that Blame The Media ploy failed with the constant deaths and wounding of and kidpapping of those durned liberal media types.
Just look at the Center Ring, America, can ya believe the death-fefying feats of non-important hijinks?
Ignore the skyrocketing deficits, the failure of fiscal conservatives, the endless indictments of lobbyists and congress.
The Show must go on!
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Christian Gaming
A new "Christian" video game touts a mission not of mercy but warfare. Kinda scary to see what the kiddies are supposed to do when they jam a "Left Behind" videogame into their consoles:
"You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice."
More on the game here, via Bong Boing.
(Should they call this game Right Behind? or just Kiss My Christian Behind?)
"You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission - both a religious mission and a military mission -- to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state - especially moderate, mainstream Christians. Your mission is "to conduct physical and spiritual warfare"; all who resist must be taken out with extreme prejudice."
More on the game here, via Bong Boing.
(Should they call this game Right Behind? or just Kiss My Christian Behind?)
Bryant: Top Issue In TN is Illegal Immigrants
Senate candidate Ed Bryant wants the press and the public to know he knows more about the issue of illegal immigrants because he was right there, just a few feet away from the border. In a conference call to the press, Bryant said the 3 things most on the mind of the Tennessee voter was "illegal immigration, three times."
He also claimed illegals were all carrying kilos of cocaine, but the sheriff of Cochise County, standing at his side, disputed that saying instead that more people were engaging in "people smuggling" since it paid more and had fewer risks.
Also at the candidate's side was the VP of the Minutemen group, who he claimed were not vigilantes, but "patriots," because they are not the ones crossing the border.
It's a fascinating interview with the man who wants the one Senate seat up for grabs, viat The Greeneville Sun.
Oh and he was also making a commercial while he was there too, a busy man hoping to push to the front of the GOP PAC ... I mean pack.
He also claimed illegals were all carrying kilos of cocaine, but the sheriff of Cochise County, standing at his side, disputed that saying instead that more people were engaging in "people smuggling" since it paid more and had fewer risks.
Also at the candidate's side was the VP of the Minutemen group, who he claimed were not vigilantes, but "patriots," because they are not the ones crossing the border.
It's a fascinating interview with the man who wants the one Senate seat up for grabs, viat The Greeneville Sun.
Oh and he was also making a commercial while he was there too, a busy man hoping to push to the front of the GOP PAC ... I mean pack.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Smell Those Trees or A "Twin Peaks" Guide
It was a marvelous moment, a rare event embedded in memory. I had received a review copy of the pilot episode of "Twin Peaks" in early 1990. Already a fan of filmmaker David Lynch, I was greatly skeptical he would make anyting worthwhile just for television How very wrong I was.
Within minutes of starting the tape, I was ushered into a neo-gothic surreal television mystery, with ghostly music and bizarre language. It was the start of a cultural milestone. As many reviewers later said, the character of Laura Palmer was an instant American icon because she arrived dead to TV screens, and the mythmaking of why and how and who was a central focus of the show.
I was in a rather feverish state of mind as I carefully took that videotape to a friend's house to make sure this program was as exceptional as I thought. We watched, called over more friends, and watched it again. Like millions of other TV watchers, we gathered in groups to watch every episode and debate every oddity of language and image. And the women, too, we talked a lot about them. Shelly and Audrey and Donna.
I still have that screener video. Wouldn't part with it for anything.
Today, via MetaFilter, I found a website that offers an episode guide that so far, seems very well researched and has fascinating commentary. Here's a sample:
"But the legacy remains, more striking with each year that passes. The immediate effect was very noticeable—for a brief period, surrealism and experimentalism were suddenly acceptable on American television. Shows like Eerie, Indiana and Wild Palms (both overseen by film directors, Joe Dante and Oliver Stone respectively) attempted to cash in on the craze for all things weird, with varying degrees of success. The show that scooped up most of Twin Peaks’ hungry fans must have been The X-Files, shoehorning familiar Peaks-inspired weirdo FBI agent antics into a more straightforward Sci-Fi serial format to enormous popular acclaim. In recent years the genre-blending aspect of Twin Peaks has been felt time and again, in shows such as Chicago Hope (hospital drama/soap/comedy), Firefly (western/Sci-Fi) and perhaps most notably Lost (mystery/thriller/Sci-Fi/etc.)."
Link to it here. (Note: It is worth remarking that David Duchovny, star of X-Files, was first featured as a cross-dressing FBI agent in Peaks.)
Smell those trees. Have some coffee and a slice of cherry pie. Don't go into the woods. Leo needs new shoes. Break the code, solve the crime. "Laura ... Laura!"
Camera Obscura - District B-13, Aeon Flux and More
Yay Friday! Time for movie news, reviews, DVDs, some hot summer movies just ahead and a few thoughts on the week's entertainment news. This includes a new summer action film based on "Escape From New York" and a kind of street-gymnastic-fu craze that boasts worldwide membership, even here in Tennessee, but more on that in a moment. Let's start with the story of li'l Katie Couric and her jump to the Big Show.
Katie Couric says she's the best, mostest hard-nosed journalist going, and is vowing to end what she called the "pretentious era" in TV news. I have no idea what that comment - or several of the other comments she made to CBS execs, really means. One function she has filled for years is to talk extensively without really saying anything.
She's no Edward R. Murrow and she's no journalist - for instance, the late, great Peter Jennings worked his way from field reporter to bureau chief to anchor, not from Morning Face to Evening Face. We are all better off searching for news on our own. And she might consider the words Mr. Murrow offered to news directors in 1958:
"It is not necessary to remind you that the fact that your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you greater wisdom or understanding than you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other."
Last week, I mentioned that there wasn't much success at the screening for "Southland Tales," and new reports indicate a major re-edit for the movie is on the way so it can find a U.S. distributor. Which also means you'll have to wait for the DVD to see the original cut.
For summer viewing fun, a reader notes his most-anticipated movie is the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel. Enjoy a lengthy preview here. Personally, I am looking forward to the 3rd movie, which was shot simultaneously with part 2, which will feature Chow Yun Fat. Fat is my hero.
Opening today (though not anywhere locally I could find) is the movie "District B-13," which has captured outstanding reviews. It's a sort-of "Escape From New York" story. Set in the near future, Paris has become so ridden with riots and crime (as it actually has been) that the government was walled in several communities and ghettos, including B-13. A cop and a criminal join forces in typical buddy movie fashion and the action in this Luc Besson-produced adventure takes the action of "Transporter" and endless king-fu features and ramps up the intensity several notches, thanks to a recent urban sport called Parkour. Oh, and the presence of nuclear weapons in the ghetto.
The website for the movie has tons of previews and explanations. Parkour-participant David Belle stars in the movie. Parkour is a sport of sorts, where people sort of jump, dance, bounce, fly, leap, in a freestyle extreme sport kind of way. Tennesseans from Bristol to Knoxville to Monterey to Memphis have joined in the action, according to this website.
I also finally watched the movie "Aeon Flux", based on the cartoon series created by Peter Chung and aired on MTV. An attempt to film this bizarre bio-nano-weirdo hi-tech future is an enormous chore and the results are only average. Charlize Theron stars as the semi-naked assassin and she does well as semi-naked assassins go. The movie's design work and effects are excellent, the writing is not so excellent. But it does compete well in the semi-naked babe sci-fi movie genre (see also "Barbarella" or "Fifth Element" or "Terminator:3" or "Danger: Diabolik")
Afraid of catching a true turkey of a movie this summer? Check out The Movie Binge, where a group of bloggers has vowed to watch and review 85 major releases over the summer. Might save some time and dollars for you.
I also found a good collection of movie scripts online, including David Lynch movies, Kubrick, Raimi, Tarantino, teen comedies and modern classics and many more. C'mon, aren't you tired of always quoting "Caddyshack"? There's a world of movie quotes ready for you!
Katie Couric says she's the best, mostest hard-nosed journalist going, and is vowing to end what she called the "pretentious era" in TV news. I have no idea what that comment - or several of the other comments she made to CBS execs, really means. One function she has filled for years is to talk extensively without really saying anything.
She's no Edward R. Murrow and she's no journalist - for instance, the late, great Peter Jennings worked his way from field reporter to bureau chief to anchor, not from Morning Face to Evening Face. We are all better off searching for news on our own. And she might consider the words Mr. Murrow offered to news directors in 1958:
"It is not necessary to remind you that the fact that your voice is amplified to the degree where it reaches from one end of the country to the other does not confer upon you greater wisdom or understanding than you possessed when your voice reached only from one end of the bar to the other."
Last week, I mentioned that there wasn't much success at the screening for "Southland Tales," and new reports indicate a major re-edit for the movie is on the way so it can find a U.S. distributor. Which also means you'll have to wait for the DVD to see the original cut.
For summer viewing fun, a reader notes his most-anticipated movie is the "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel. Enjoy a lengthy preview here. Personally, I am looking forward to the 3rd movie, which was shot simultaneously with part 2, which will feature Chow Yun Fat. Fat is my hero.
Opening today (though not anywhere locally I could find) is the movie "District B-13," which has captured outstanding reviews. It's a sort-of "Escape From New York" story. Set in the near future, Paris has become so ridden with riots and crime (as it actually has been) that the government was walled in several communities and ghettos, including B-13. A cop and a criminal join forces in typical buddy movie fashion and the action in this Luc Besson-produced adventure takes the action of "Transporter" and endless king-fu features and ramps up the intensity several notches, thanks to a recent urban sport called Parkour. Oh, and the presence of nuclear weapons in the ghetto.
The website for the movie has tons of previews and explanations. Parkour-participant David Belle stars in the movie. Parkour is a sport of sorts, where people sort of jump, dance, bounce, fly, leap, in a freestyle extreme sport kind of way. Tennesseans from Bristol to Knoxville to Monterey to Memphis have joined in the action, according to this website.
I also finally watched the movie "Aeon Flux", based on the cartoon series created by Peter Chung and aired on MTV. An attempt to film this bizarre bio-nano-weirdo hi-tech future is an enormous chore and the results are only average. Charlize Theron stars as the semi-naked assassin and she does well as semi-naked assassins go. The movie's design work and effects are excellent, the writing is not so excellent. But it does compete well in the semi-naked babe sci-fi movie genre (see also "Barbarella" or "Fifth Element" or "Terminator:3" or "Danger: Diabolik")
Afraid of catching a true turkey of a movie this summer? Check out The Movie Binge, where a group of bloggers has vowed to watch and review 85 major releases over the summer. Might save some time and dollars for you.
I also found a good collection of movie scripts online, including David Lynch movies, Kubrick, Raimi, Tarantino, teen comedies and modern classics and many more. C'mon, aren't you tired of always quoting "Caddyshack"? There's a world of movie quotes ready for you!
Thursday, June 01, 2006
On Haditha
Not wanting to marginalize or sensationalize the reports from the press concerning the actions of the military in November of last year in Haditha, Iraq, there are a few thoughts I'll offer about the reality of warfare.
The operations in Iraq are not typical military confrontations. It's military versus guerilla or insurgents or militias. The battlefields are streets and houses and neighborhoods. The sad truth of a house to house battle means non-combatants are likely to be killed.
There are ridiculous assertions that the insurgency is in it's last throes, that the media only reports negative stories, and even that this is anything except a continuation of military actions begun in the 1990s.
Good or bad, our troops are engaged in deadly missions each hour. The political strife increases and decreases one day to the next. Recently appointed Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaydi knows too well the situation is chaotic at best:
"The way it was reported to me, by word of mouth, seemed incredible," he said at the U.S. Institute of Peace in his first public appearance after being sworn in as ambassador. At the time, he did not have any other evidence and decided that the rumors might have been an exaggeration.
"Core values" training for US troops may help provide some measure of understanding as to how to cope with a house-to-house insurgency battle, but the simple fact remains that Iraq, all of it, is a battlefield and there is no safety for residents or troops.
If the deaths in the Haditha community were unprovoked, it will encourage those opposed to US involvement and erode political support around the world and around our own nation.
The operations in Iraq are not typical military confrontations. It's military versus guerilla or insurgents or militias. The battlefields are streets and houses and neighborhoods. The sad truth of a house to house battle means non-combatants are likely to be killed.
There are ridiculous assertions that the insurgency is in it's last throes, that the media only reports negative stories, and even that this is anything except a continuation of military actions begun in the 1990s.
Good or bad, our troops are engaged in deadly missions each hour. The political strife increases and decreases one day to the next. Recently appointed Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaydi knows too well the situation is chaotic at best:
"The way it was reported to me, by word of mouth, seemed incredible," he said at the U.S. Institute of Peace in his first public appearance after being sworn in as ambassador. At the time, he did not have any other evidence and decided that the rumors might have been an exaggeration.
Haditha, he knew, was a chaotic town, virtually run by bands of insurgents. "There were no police," he said, "and, effectively, no Iraqi government." Sunni insurgents were terrorizing the population, even staging public executions of people suspected of opposing them. Residents, he said, were being "squeezed" between the insurgents on one side and, on the other, U.S. soldiers, who were caught up in frequent clashes with the heavily armed rebels. Sometimes, civilians would get caught up in these skirmishes.
Then came a report in Time magazine that as many as 24 civilians may have been deliberately gunned down by U.S. marines during an operation in November. The key piece of evidence was a videotape made by an Iraqi journalism student that shows the apparent civilian victims riddled with gunshot wounds, which contradicts the early accounts by marines stationed in Haditha that the residents were killed by a bomb. U.S. military officials have now launched an investigation into the alleged Haditha massacre, and Bush publicly vowed to punish anybody found to be responsible for killing civilians. Sumaydi says he will await the findings of the U.S. investigation. He has also requested a second inquiry by the U.S. military on the death of his cousin.
At the same time, Sumaydi has a hard-earned appreciation of the difficult challenges faced by the U.S. military. As a former interior minister, he tried to battle both Sunni insurgents as well as shady Shiite militias, who operated both inside and outside the Interior Ministry. He also knows that the militia problem has not gone away.
Just two days ago, another cousin of his was kidnapped in Baghdad from the small supermarket that he owns.""Core values" training for US troops may help provide some measure of understanding as to how to cope with a house-to-house insurgency battle, but the simple fact remains that Iraq, all of it, is a battlefield and there is no safety for residents or troops.
If the deaths in the Haditha community were unprovoked, it will encourage those opposed to US involvement and erode political support around the world and around our own nation.
A License To Have Kids?
A reader for yesterday's post offered these thoughts for consideration:
"Maybe couples shouldn't start a family until they have the resources (however they want to define that)to care for that family themselves. If that means somebody has to stay home, so be it. I'm all for requiring a license to breed. Too many people are having too many kids without a thought of the consequences."
I have multiple responses and perhaps you do too, feel free to add them.
First, if prospective parents had to wait for the Most Perfect Time to have kids, there would certainly be fewer - however how often in the course of living do any of us have the luxury of realizing Most Perfect Moments? Living is an imperfect thing, and often we don't realize our best moments until they have passed. In short, living is all about chances and risk. We are all faced with the unknown from birth til death, and I generally think we cannot ever hope to alter that.
Second, I dread the idea of having to have a license for having children. Are their couples and/or singles who should not have children? Most likely. Yet, a far worse notion is some government or quasi-government agency determining the requirements needed to have children. Go ahead and call me a Darwinian, but sometimes our sheer numbers, increased wisely or unwisely, often offer our best chances for continuation. While any of us can question the wisdom of some who decide to have or not have children, I put far more faith in the individual decision than those made by some appointed committee on procreation.
I do understand a desire to provide some kind of "quality control" over emerging li'l humans - but again, I have far more trust in Nature than in government or rule-by-committee. Imagine the horrors of those who live in China, where both the number and the sex of a child has been given a pre-determined government status.
On a side note, the longer we follow a national ignorance regarding sexuality, pregnancy, STDs, and a foolish concept of "abstinence", the longer we endanger our current and future generations. It's as if we fear the result of an informed and educated population, while I can only see the many benefits of a less repressed and more informed and personally responsible attitude.
It's something I've mentioned before - we are Free to choose are actions, but that does not mean we are free from consequences.
The agenda of the group mentioned yesterday includes some insidious claims - significantly, that most often parents "choose" to both work. In the reality of our economic systems, it is nearly impossible for a single income to provide all the needs of a three or more member family. If a couple has that ability - marvelous! As a rule, however, most couples and individuals struggle mightily to make enough to provide for themselves.
Also, I firmly believe that parents and educators, not administrators, need to be far more involved in creating educational systems in their communities. Endless testing is not a solution - the realization that education is a process and not a means to a career is far more vital.
For all the yearnings of various lobbying cultural warriors, abandoning our own abilities to reach a positive, self-actualized community of individuals is a prescription for tyranny and horror.
Is it hard to live with the bad decisions others might make? Yes. Are parents sometimes the worst enemy of the child? Yes. But attempting to control or constrain nature is a path to far worse outcomes.
That's my two cents. How about yours?
"Maybe couples shouldn't start a family until they have the resources (however they want to define that)to care for that family themselves. If that means somebody has to stay home, so be it. I'm all for requiring a license to breed. Too many people are having too many kids without a thought of the consequences."
I have multiple responses and perhaps you do too, feel free to add them.
First, if prospective parents had to wait for the Most Perfect Time to have kids, there would certainly be fewer - however how often in the course of living do any of us have the luxury of realizing Most Perfect Moments? Living is an imperfect thing, and often we don't realize our best moments until they have passed. In short, living is all about chances and risk. We are all faced with the unknown from birth til death, and I generally think we cannot ever hope to alter that.
Second, I dread the idea of having to have a license for having children. Are their couples and/or singles who should not have children? Most likely. Yet, a far worse notion is some government or quasi-government agency determining the requirements needed to have children. Go ahead and call me a Darwinian, but sometimes our sheer numbers, increased wisely or unwisely, often offer our best chances for continuation. While any of us can question the wisdom of some who decide to have or not have children, I put far more faith in the individual decision than those made by some appointed committee on procreation.
I do understand a desire to provide some kind of "quality control" over emerging li'l humans - but again, I have far more trust in Nature than in government or rule-by-committee. Imagine the horrors of those who live in China, where both the number and the sex of a child has been given a pre-determined government status.
On a side note, the longer we follow a national ignorance regarding sexuality, pregnancy, STDs, and a foolish concept of "abstinence", the longer we endanger our current and future generations. It's as if we fear the result of an informed and educated population, while I can only see the many benefits of a less repressed and more informed and personally responsible attitude.
It's something I've mentioned before - we are Free to choose are actions, but that does not mean we are free from consequences.
The agenda of the group mentioned yesterday includes some insidious claims - significantly, that most often parents "choose" to both work. In the reality of our economic systems, it is nearly impossible for a single income to provide all the needs of a three or more member family. If a couple has that ability - marvelous! As a rule, however, most couples and individuals struggle mightily to make enough to provide for themselves.
Also, I firmly believe that parents and educators, not administrators, need to be far more involved in creating educational systems in their communities. Endless testing is not a solution - the realization that education is a process and not a means to a career is far more vital.
For all the yearnings of various lobbying cultural warriors, abandoning our own abilities to reach a positive, self-actualized community of individuals is a prescription for tyranny and horror.
Is it hard to live with the bad decisions others might make? Yes. Are parents sometimes the worst enemy of the child? Yes. But attempting to control or constrain nature is a path to far worse outcomes.
That's my two cents. How about yours?
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Preschool Liberation Army?
Stop the War on Toddlers is a cry from kids to voters, demanding an end to Weapons of Mass Instruction, citing studies that show enforced governmental preschool programs do far more harm to kids than good.
Yes, in the state that takes any and all issues to the ballot box via referendum, that wacky California, a call for a preschool boycott and a no vote on Proposition 92 - Preschool For All Act has been proclaimed.
A group called Tykes on Trikes has issued a Manifesto and is urging the boycott. I might be more convinced if I could find a preschooler who could spell "manifesto" or if teen students were better able to find Louisiana or Iraq on a map.
The Manifesto says:
"Government propaganda, disseminated through the media, insists that society commit to developing future workforces for the global economy as well as thwart crime and social deviance by confining young children in preschools. We have been brainwashed to believe that in order to protect adult interests, we must deny children their right to childhood.
In the name of education and social reform, young children are now detained in weapons of mass instruction called preschools."
Further, the group makes these demands:
" -- Immediate withdrawal of children ages 0-5 from government daycare and preschool facilities and closure of all government preschool and daycare detention centers.
-- The repeal of all preschool legislation currently enacted or in committee in federal and state governments
-- Disarmament and destruction of all weapons of mass instruction known as government preschools and discontinuing government subsidies of private preschool facilities that are required to brainwash children via state sanctioned curriculum standards and testing delivered by state-credentialed agents (i.e., teachers).
-- Abolishing Head Start and other government universal preschool programs. Forty years ago Head Start was instituted to assist disadvantaged children. It has yet to be shown that it helped the 40 million children it claims to have helped at a cost of 50 billion dollars. Instead, Head Start incorrectly led to the cultural misconception that "institutional programs" were the key to early childhood education. As a result, thousands of preschoolers have spent the most formative years of their lives confined in institutions; scores of innocent children ages 0-5 spent years imprisoned on false assumptions about how children learn; childhoods were smashed to pieces; parental rights usurped; entitlement thinking was reinforced; and families torn apart. This infliction of misery has not improved society. It has caused irreparable damage."
You can learn more via the many links offered on this press release page.
Or you may just want to celebrate the fact you and your kids don't live in California. Or you may want to join the movement. Or maybe this movement will help you get started on a science fiction story or the next Fox/MTV/WB pre-teen soap opera.
Supreme Court Backs Crooked Officials
The new Bush appointees to the Supreme Court reversed the stand previously upheld by the majority including Justice O'Connor when it comes to government employees reporting fraud, waste, abuse or other violations and removes protections offered the rest of the nation via the First Ammendment.
The 5-4 opinion issued Monday is clear notice to those who might have reported problems - if you do, you have no rights to protection by law. This decision protects crooked officials and their behavior and endangers the public good and the public trust.
In dissenting statements, Justice Stevens wrote:
"The proper answer to the question `whether the First Amendment protects a government employee from discipline based on speech made pursuant to the employee's official duties,' is `Sometimes,' not `Never.' Of course a supervisor may take corrective action when such speech is `inflammatory or misguided.' But what if it is just unwelcome speech because it reveals facts that the supervisor would rather not have anyone else discover?"
Also, Justice Souter wrote:
"This significant, albeit qualified, protection of public employees who irritate the government is understood to flow from the First Amendment, in part, because a government paycheck does nothing to eliminate the value to an individual of speaking on public matters, and there is no good reason for categorically discounting a speaker's interest in commenting on a matter of public concern just because the government employs him. Still, the First Amendment safeguard rests on something more, being the value to the public of receiving the opinions and information that a public employee may disclose."
From Justice Breyer's dissent:
"The speech of vast numbers of public employees deals with wrongdoing, health, safety, and honesty; for example, police officers, firefighters, environmental protection agents, building inspectors, hospital workers, bank regulators, and so on. Indeed, this categorization could encompass speech by an employee performing almost any public function, except perhaps setting electricity rates."
The 5-4 opinion issued Monday is clear notice to those who might have reported problems - if you do, you have no rights to protection by law. This decision protects crooked officials and their behavior and endangers the public good and the public trust.
In dissenting statements, Justice Stevens wrote:
"The proper answer to the question `whether the First Amendment protects a government employee from discipline based on speech made pursuant to the employee's official duties,' is `Sometimes,' not `Never.' Of course a supervisor may take corrective action when such speech is `inflammatory or misguided.' But what if it is just unwelcome speech because it reveals facts that the supervisor would rather not have anyone else discover?"
Also, Justice Souter wrote:
"This significant, albeit qualified, protection of public employees who irritate the government is understood to flow from the First Amendment, in part, because a government paycheck does nothing to eliminate the value to an individual of speaking on public matters, and there is no good reason for categorically discounting a speaker's interest in commenting on a matter of public concern just because the government employs him. Still, the First Amendment safeguard rests on something more, being the value to the public of receiving the opinions and information that a public employee may disclose."
From Justice Breyer's dissent:
"The speech of vast numbers of public employees deals with wrongdoing, health, safety, and honesty; for example, police officers, firefighters, environmental protection agents, building inspectors, hospital workers, bank regulators, and so on. Indeed, this categorization could encompass speech by an employee performing almost any public function, except perhaps setting electricity rates."
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
A Web Walkabout
So many oddities and curiosities abound across the internet, many of which defy explanation, such as the first entry -- using the crucifixtion to encourage voters in a bid to combat a proposal to allow for sales of alcohol. (via Joshua Blankenship)
The next entry takes us to Japan to view a new craze, hikaru dorodango I really do not understand how it can be possible to make a shiny mud ball. Then again, it was mostly pity that prompted my geology professor to give me a passing grade.
Some sad news - last Saturday one of the great artists and animators of the last 50 years passed away, Alex Toth. Toth created Space Ghost, Josie and the Pussycats, took the TV show Zorro to the comics and helped create characters for shows like Jonny Quest and many other Hannah-Barbera cartoons in the 1960s. He worked in just about every genre - westerns, romance, adaptions, superheroes, mystery and horror, and much more.
Samples of his style are featured on his web site.
I've noticed some discussions of late about the federal government's Video News Releases programs, often showing up on a local newscast unidentified as a government-created news release. Despite the FCC's memo from April of this year, incidents continue to occur.
Between 2003 and 2005 the Bush administration has spent $1.3 billion on "pre-packaged news."
And, uh ... hint for the DC cabal ... it's not working.
The next entry takes us to Japan to view a new craze, hikaru dorodango I really do not understand how it can be possible to make a shiny mud ball. Then again, it was mostly pity that prompted my geology professor to give me a passing grade.
Some sad news - last Saturday one of the great artists and animators of the last 50 years passed away, Alex Toth. Toth created Space Ghost, Josie and the Pussycats, took the TV show Zorro to the comics and helped create characters for shows like Jonny Quest and many other Hannah-Barbera cartoons in the 1960s. He worked in just about every genre - westerns, romance, adaptions, superheroes, mystery and horror, and much more.
Samples of his style are featured on his web site.
I've noticed some discussions of late about the federal government's Video News Releases programs, often showing up on a local newscast unidentified as a government-created news release. Despite the FCC's memo from April of this year, incidents continue to occur.
Between 2003 and 2005 the Bush administration has spent $1.3 billion on "pre-packaged news."
And, uh ... hint for the DC cabal ... it's not working.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)