The Vampire Candidate and The Catfish Resolution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Morristown" The Movie

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

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

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



The movie, "Morristown" is described as:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cup Of Joe Powell 2.0

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

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

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

Halliburton Leaving U.S.?

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

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

The Freedonian has more on the story, noting:

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

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

Designer Genitals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bling Water From Tennessee

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

More here and here.

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

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

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

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

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

High adrenaline visuals were then underscored by a bold soundtrack.

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sevierville Paper Drops Coulter

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

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

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

A What Up His Where?

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

Pretend You're In 'Blade Runner'

(via)

Who Really Runs Walter Reed?

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

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

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

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

Catfish Dinner Used as Weapon

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hypocrisy License

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Much more on the topic here.

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

The World Searches For ....

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

Here's a sample of recent topics, complete with bad spelling:

girl dies drinking water hold your wee WII

rednecks having sex on top of a dead bear

household items used for masterbation

Futurama sex

hot girls in Dunlap. TN

cellborg humidity sensor

things to do before sex

cloggers topless

things to annoy girls

fluffy chucklefanny

indy's whip

brittney spears naked with other teens

burger boat

bing croby

Weightless Wasabi

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

Camera Obscura - Cruelty as Entertainment

I've been giving America's most popular TV show a chance to argue it's case for the last few weeks, which means I have selflessly devoted some of my lifetime to the hours and hours and hours of the show on FOX which somehow has captured the nation's heart.

When American Idol first began a few years ago, I did watch some bits and pieces, thought "feh! who cares" and went on my way. But I decided like any good media critic, I should sit and watch as many episodes as I could ... which I have done for this season. I confess, it has become more and more difficult to sit through an hour (much less two) of this drivel.

It should now and forever be called American iDull.

So I will not watch anymore, I cannot. I hope you who do appreciate that this experience is an endless series of unimaginative judging, which essentially boils down to three words, one for each judge -- "dog", "beautiful" and "terrible", and an endless series of humiliations - "you've just been kicked off as the worst singer of the bunch, so 'cmon and sing one more time through your tears while the winners sing behind your back."

Whatever, people.

But since I'm on the topic of appetites for humiliation and cruelty, then let's talk about the current rage for a series of movies called "Saw."

I've always been a fan of horror films and always will be. However, movies like "Saw", "Hostel", "Wolf Creek," and others in recent years have been more about sadistic cruelties than narrative entertainments. It's a boring claim, yes, made in the past about everything from comic books to rock music. I'm going to do my best here not to write some pedantic student film research treatise. It's just that all movies - not just horror movies - have subtexts, both intended and unintended - which can make them both popular and profitable.

So I've been pondering on the subtexts in the "Saw" series. Grime-encrusted clockwork technologies, crude and blunt and brutal machines and damn near medieval "teach-the-bad-person-a-lesson" plot points are all integral parts to these movies. It's their appearance and the gory outcomes that audiences and critics all talk about. But why does it appeal to today's audiences?


Today's world is abuzz with new tech, not low tech. Most people can relate to feelings of being trapped by tech innovations, even simple ones like being stuck forever on the telephone menu pressing one button to go here or another to go there and never encountering anything with a human connection. Those who do not have broadband-connected lives, MP3 players or MySpace pages likely feel keenly disconnected from the times they inhabit. Perhaps it's a subconscious realization that the world is littered with technologies ancient and recent. We rely on machines most of us could never create ourselves, but which so dominate actions we must all take.

And there is a connection, too, I think, between these movies and the America with a 9-11 worldview. Smart-bombs and high-tech war machines are battling with unorganized and random enemies who use homemade explosives. Can a box-cutter and some fuel make a weapon which cannot be defeated? And it seems odd to me that in years past we used the word "bomb" and today the preferred word is "improvised explosive device", as if giving it a complex title transforms it's basic crudeness into a more technological danger. How, many may subconsciously wonder, can we not win a battle between hi and low tech?

And typically in the "Saw" films, the audiences is left to consider that if the intended victims just stay calm and think, they can figure a way out of a death-trap. Ironically in this series of movies, the one woman who can escape then joins in the game of making death-traps herself.

Discussions of torture and of morality are certainly prevalent in today's world. And as I said, there are intended and unintended subtexts in any movie -- even the crudest film made just to turn a tidy profit is an exercise not just in business, but in stimulus and response.

Is there a politics of the horror film?

Thursday Web Walking

The legendary Superman was caught on videotape at an accident scene at a DMV office. This Florida CBS affiliate has the video, and yep, sure enough, there is a man clad head-to-toe in the Man of Steel's clothes. And this sentence from the report is priceless:

"Inexplicably, a man in a Superman costume could be seen walking around the car, but he did not stop to help the driver or any of the victims."

Video and story here.
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Web rumors say the casting of the next set of actors to play the leads in the next "Star Trek" movie are: Matt Damon as Capt. Kirk, Adrien Brody as Spock and Gary Sinese as Dr. McCoy. And speaking of Heroes and Sidekicks, a look at suggestions for Sidekicks who are superior to their Hero partners.
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Will someone in Rep.Campfield's district tell him he needs to sponsor a bill to create the Tennessee Office of Zombie Preparedness? Why wait until the mindless hordes attack? Heck of a job, Campy!
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The picture here is one of a series from what happened when a safety drill at a zoo in Tokyo pretty much terrified the children who watched this furry creature get chased, tackled and eventually shot with a tranquilizer gun. Good times, huh kids?

The Violent Femmes-Burger, with Cheese

I thought I was the only one who had noticed it for a while -- that a Wendy's commercial was using music from The Violent Femmes "Blister In The Sun" to sell their greasy food. I did one of those spit-takes when I heard it -- and pondered if anyone at Wendy's might know the lyrics.

Who knows? Maybe some ad folks thought it would be funny.

Anyway, the other night while wasting time watching something mindless on TV, the commercial comes on and The Editor says -- "ummm ... is that ....?" So then I knew at least two people who thought the ad was a little odd.

Far ahead of the crowd though, was John at Salem's Lots, who not only wrote about the ad, but even had a comment on his post from the very unhapy Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie. "I see my life’s work trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over again, although I have raised my objections numerous times. As disgusted as you are I am moreso ".

Way cool that Brian left a comment and like John, I've been a fan of the band too.

But my Creep-O-Meter went off the scale and broke years ago when advertisers started using great rock and roll songs to sell crap - or more accurately perhaps, to sell some product's Philosophy of Lifestyle.

Just last night I was caught off guard again when I realized some toothbrush company ad was using KISS' tune "I Wanna Rock And Roll All Night" for their toothbrush. At least they didn't change the lyrics to say "I wanna brush my teeth all night, and floss every day." And a friend just reminded me today that for some time now, Kentucky Fried Chicken uses the song "Sweet Home Alabama" to sell their greasy food. Call it ad-logic.

And in just a moment or two of web-searching, I found a web site which tracks all the rock and other music used in advertising, movies, tv, etc. So again, I'm very late to a party which has been going on for years. My dad used to tell me "Boy, when your boat comes in, you'll probably be at the airport."

Hell, half the time, I see some ad skitter across the screen and have absolutely no idea what has just been advertised. Was it a cologne? Floor wax? Car insurance? Diapers? Shoes? Drugs? These ads always seem to have Incredibly Happy People running among green fields, wearing sweaters draped over their shoulders with the sleeves making a knot, or making a car jump a bajillion feet or some folks taking a slow-motion stroll on the beach at sunrise and everyone shaking hands and hugging, somehow exhilarated at long last that some bane of life has become a boon instead.

Music can just arrive in the strangest ways from my surroundings, like that dude who had the theme from "The Exorcist" as the ring tone for his cell phone.

It all sort of reminds me that things have become a mega-miniature James Joyce-like stream of fragments and fractals, mash-ups of memories and moments blended to make some easily-digested smoothie of experience.

Finney's Folly, or Reports of Evil Monkey Sighting

A state senator from Maryville, Raymond Finney, is posing a nonsensical set of questions in a resolution for the Tennessee Dept. of Education. And yes, it's a waste of government time and money - especially since he answers his own question in the resolution, or rather, he can't seem to decide what to think --:

1.) "Is the universe and all that is within it, including human beings, created through purposeful, intelligent design by a Supreme Being, that is a Creator?"

2.) "Since the universe, including human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is creationism not taught in Tennessee public schools?

3.) "Since it cannot be determined whether the universe, including human beings, is created by a supreme being (a creator), why is creationism not taught as an alternative concept, explanation, or theory, along with the theory of evolution in Tennessee public schools?"

Senator - you are deeply confused here. First, you ask if all Creation was made by a Creator, then you answer that and say "Yes, it is", which you follow with a third statement that the answer you seek "cannot be determined."

Try being honest - you really are asking why the state's school system isn't teaching Religion in Science class.

A viable solution exists for you -- go to the church of your choice and discuss concerns about your Creator and attend some Science classes at a school of your choice and learn about theory there? Wasn't some Science requirement involved when you earned a degree as a physician?

You might also want to go back and take some Logic classes too.


This makes me wonder if some of our elected officials are thinking - "Hey, I can get attention for being as goofy as Stacey Campfield."

(image via Chris Griffin's fears)


UPDATE: more discussion of this topic as well as the school board in Blount County (Finney's district) and their take on science and biology is heating up at KnoxViews.

Smearing Al Gore The TCPR Way

Facts are secondary at the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

Nicole Williams wrote an unresearched attack on Al Gore because he uses electricity -- without bothering to mention the higher fees he pays are due to the fact he purchases "green power", electricity created by methods other than coal burning.

More complete info was offered via The Tennessean:

"Electric bills obtained by The Tennessean, however, showed that Gore is paying a premium on his bills to be part of the “green power” program. Gore purchased 108 blocks of “green power” for at least each of the last three months, according to a summary of bills from Nashville Electric Service.

That’s a total of $432 a month spent to pay extra for solar or other renewable energy sources. NES power – outside this program - is derived largely from coal, which emits carbon, a green house gas.

The green power purchased by Gore in those three months is equivalent to recycling 2.48 million aluminum cans, or recycling 286,092 pounds of newspaper, according to comparison figures on the utility's Web site.

Gore’s movie details how greenhouse gases are trapping heat next to the earth, causing a changing climate with melting ice caps and more violent storms.

“Every family has a different carbon footprint,” said Kalee Krider, a spokeswoman for Gore.

The Green Power Switch program, however, isn’t all he and his wife, Tipper, are doing, Krider said.

They use compact fluourescent lights and are in the midst of a renovation project that includes having solar panels installed on their home to reduce fossil fuel consumption more, she said.

Their car? A Lexus hybrid SUV."

William's bio page notes she "Nicole writes and presents business and cultural seminars for international corporations such as DaimlerChrysler".

And the current president of the TCPR used to work for the Exxon-Mobile funded American Enterprise Institute, which donated over $1.6 million to the group since 1998.

TCPR claims to be:

".. an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to providing concerned citizens, the media and public leaders with expert research and timely free market policy solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee."

Expert research? Non-partisan? Then where are their policy statements calling for expanded support for Green Power sources? Seems that's counter to their agenda. But once the report was issued, it was presented to national outlets as fact. And it isn't the first time oil execs have sought to discredit Gore:

"The press release from Johnson's group, an obscure conservative think tank founded by Johnson in 2004 when he was 24, was given splashy attention on the highly-trafficked Drudge Report Monday evening, and former Gore aides saw it as part of a piece, along with an Fox News Channel investigation from earlier this month of Gore's use of private planes in 2000. Last year, a seemingly amateurish Youtube video mocking the "An Inconvenient Truth" turned out to have been produced by slick Republican public relations firm called DCI, which just happens to have oil giant Exxon as a client.

Considering that he spends an overwhelming majority of his time advocating on behalf of and trying to affect change on this issue, it's not surprising that people who have a vested interest in protecting the status quo would go after him."