Online Writing Challenges The World

"A word to the wise is infuriating" -- Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

A fascinating collection of topics about newspapers, individual rights (of expression and of fair trials), about the online world of writing and commenting and more -- all are part of a post from R. Neal at KnoxViews regarding arguments in court about Knoxville media sites and the Christian-Newsome murder trial.

First, the case has without a doubt generated an enormous amount of local and national press and plenty of very angry public outcry, whether online or off. Attorneys for the defense want the judge in the case to prohibit online comments at media web sites which report on the case, or establish stronger tracking identification for those who do leave comments.

I see little way past the notion of prior restraint of speech on this topic - banning media or any online outlet from publishing comments or even articles seems a no win to me. Likewise, for courts to dictate the standards and practices regulating individual or media websites would not be good for free speech rights in general. Truth be told, these kinds of cases regarding online comments and online writing are being brought out in courts on an almost daily basis. What one court rules today, another may overturn. And there is such an enormous range of writing on the Internet, that courts have for the most part been approaching the concepts involved in a case by case basis.

Courts have been circling around all manner of online actions for some time, whether it's file sharing or copyright issues, threats, ownership of content, and even governmental data mining.

The sheer volume of even the most random of online activities creates even larger amounts of data about usage and traits which many businesses value. Recently, Google announced they are considering keeping a record of individual activities for up to two years for users of their services. That's a vast amount of info and, as mentioned, can be incredibly valuable.

Comments which I have read at the Knoxville News Sentinel on all types of stories range from insightful to ignorant, and part of me thinks that in addition to allowing readers to flag comments as inappropriate, the newspaper could be more active in eliminating some useless or hateful comments. However, I also know that they are simply providing a space where uncensored public viewpoints can be presented and there is value in that both for the readers and for the newspaper, which need eyes on their pages to build revenues.

I chose to delete comments on my page regularly, sometimes because it is advertising spam and sometimes because it is hateful and inflammatory. Sometimes, I have removed just plain stupid comments because, well, because I can. This is my page. The role a media web site takes, however, is different.

The other issue which the KnoxViews post mentions is shameful lack of ability to correctly identify what is a "blog" and what is not. Writing comments on a "blog" or on a story on a media site is not "blogging". I offer commentary here on all manner of topics, and I comment on other pages, but the two acts are not the same.

And I am utterly in agreement that the words "blog" and "blogging" are awful. And if I had a better word for it, I would try and copyright it and market it.

I describe what I do on my page (and the paid work I have done at other sites) as Online Writing.

We live in a very rare time - people of all ages and temperaments have the ability to create, publish and distribute information and ideas via the Internet, a massive minute-by-minute rush of words and ideas which are not controlled by any save those who create it (and in some cases by the agencies, such as Blogger, which offer the platforms for such creations).

This new age is a very real challenge to all commercial and traditional publishers, a challenge to readers, a challenge to leaders in government and business, and to our society in general. The worst mistake will be to cage it all up and attempt to move backwards towards pre-Internet days.

There is also a real challenge to all of us who use the Internet - will we continue to create as we see fit or be forced to create what others demand?

The debate which has been raging for some time about online writing and blogs and anonymous comments and anonymous bloggers reminded me of something I had read a few years back regarding the prominence of anonymous and signed pamphlets which rose to prominence in the 1600s and 1700s. A book on preserving books and publications from the early 1900s by A.R. Spofford offered this view of the value of information published and distributed by individuals and not companies:

"Strike out of literature, ancient and modern, what was first published in pamphlets, and you would leave it the poorer and weaker to an incalculable degree. Pamphlets are not only vehicles of thought and opinion, and propagandists of new ideas; they are often also store-houses of facts, repositories of history, annals of biography, records of genealogy, treasuries of statistics, chronicles of invention and discovery. They sometimes throw an unexpected light upon obscure questions where all books are silent. Being published for the most part upon some subject that was interesting the public mind when written, they reflect, as in a mirror, the social, political, and religious spirit and life of the time. As much as newspapers, they illustrate the civilization (or want of it) of an epoch ..."

Camera Obscura: 'F.T.A' Returns to America; 4th Futurama Flick; Killing Tyler Perry's Medea

Hip-deep in the main streams of mainstream movies, there are oddities and obscurities which reveal the eerie underbelly of motion pictures. As you read, you may enjoy this Grammy-winning song from 1973, which blends the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey" with some jazzy Brazilian riffs by Deodato.



Now then ...

Last week's box office winner, Tyler Perry's "Medea Goes To Jail", is irritating even to Tyler Perry. He's quoted now as saying he wants to kill the character which has made him famous. And not just kill her -- "I would love to see Medea die a slow death in the next film." Why not? His movies bored me to death after one partial viewing, and so her demise seems fair.

This week, the box office may see the Teen Triumvirate of The Jonas Brothers nab the top spot with their 3-D "concert" movie. Carefully crafted in the Teen Labs section of Disney, the trio's music is quickly headed into fame for being part of the CDs-Too-Embarrassing-To-Admit-You-Own. But what will stun the parents in the audiences (and the more perceptive 'tweens) are the rather constant thrusts of microphone stands, guitar necks and hot dogs into the 3-D screens, culminating in a ... a "climatic moment" where the boys each haul out hoses which squirt this white goo over the crowd. Yeah. Subtle. Boys will be boys.

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For the first time since it's very limited one-week-long release in 1972, the subversive anti-Vietnam War documentary "F.T.A." is back. Released this week on DVD and airing as well on the Sundance Channel, the movie is an account of the road show into the Pacific Rim protesting the war via skits and songs by a troupe of actors and singers led by Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Dalton Trumbo and others. Yes, it's that Jane Fonda, the one who still angers people today.

While watching it the other night, it was startling to see how vocal and angry members of the military were about the war. Fueled by the protests from the then constantly rising off-base military press of the previous year or two, this anti-USO tour is a full-throttle rebellion by troops, aided by a few Hollywood outsiders. The troop response is scathing, giving voice to an utterly demoralized military. The jokes and songs of the F.T.A. show are not nearly as provocative in comparison. I did enjoy one skit as Sutherland gave a sports announcer rapid-fire on-the-scene play by play of a military strike which goes horribly wrong.

Perhaps this movie would make a nice gift for your aging hippie friends or something to give heart attacks to your conservative pals. Mostly, it plays out for what it is -- an odd sample from a forgotten time capsule, one forgotten on purpose.

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The fourth and final (??) installment of the Futurama DVDs hit stores this week, "Into The Wild Green Yonder". Reviews are good, and I surely hope we get more. Here's the trailer.

In Celebration of Philip Jose Farmer

One of the most imaginative American writers of science fiction, Philip Jose Farmer, passed away yesterday at the age of 91 and I gladly write today to celebrate his life and his work.

Sly and witty, dangerous and ambitious, fearless and playful, he was a most notable influence on the genre and was certainly a major influence for me as well. He might be best known to many readers as the author of the Riverworld series, but he was quite prolific, penning novels, short stories, essays, fictional biographies and much more. He won several Hugo awards and earned Lifetime Achievement awards too.

He could concoct astonishing worlds and galaxies, such as in the World of Tiers series of novels, or quirky futures, as in his award-winning short story "Riders of the Purple Wage", which surely forecast many of the elements and issues our society experiences today -- as WikiPedia notes of that story, it is:

"... an extrapolation of today's tendency towards state supervision and consumer-oriented economic planning. In the story, all citizens receive a salary (the purple wage) from the government, to which everyone is entitled just by being born. The population is self-segregated into relatively small communities, with a controlled environment, and keeps in contact with the rest of the world through the Fido, a combination television and videophone."

Sounds like our economically lost and internet-addicted world today.

His characters were often participants in unbridled sexual behavior, and he also wrote numerous books about famous fictional heroes which proclaimed they were all real - Tarzan, Doc Savage, Phineas Fogg, the Shadow, Sherlock Holmes and many more. He gained some infamy for publishing a book under the name of Kilgore Trout, the

fictional science-fiction scribe featured in several books by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. The book, "Venus on the Half-Shell", was rude and raunchy and hilarious, much as Vonnegut described that author, though Vonnegut did indeed tell Farmer to not create any more books by Trout. Too real perhaps?

In his Riverworld series, he brought out famous and infamous figures from throughout human history, from Mark Twain to Jack London and Tom Mix, together for a raucous adventure in the afterlife.

Another element of his storytelling I always enjoyed was how he placed himself in his stories. In the World of Tiers series, for example, he included the character of Paul Janus Finnegan (initials are PJF), aka Kickaha.

(Also see this novel for more.)

While his work was always immensely detailed and creative, he made sure his work also created a tremendously fun time for the reader.

Thanks for all the fine times, Phil. You made the journey fun and stoked the fires of imagination for many of us. Rest In Peace -- or better perhaps to say, "Hope the next adventure never ends."

Irrelevant Elephants

There was talk last fall as the Republican party fractured and fumbled their political ideas, heading straight into election defeat, that they needed to re-discover themselves, to meditate and ponder in the wilderness in hopes of emerging new and fresh.

Not happening:

"it's obvious that faced with the new Obama presidency, the Republican Noise Machine has already lost all perspective -- has gone totally loco -- and it's only February, a mere month into Obama's first four years in office. Who dares to even imagine where the right-wing "conversation" goes from here?"

Entertainer Rush Limbaugh, the King-in-Exile of their party, wants America to be a failed nation. He also hauls up Louisiana Governor Jindal as the 'new Reagan'. Both men continue to emphasize how irrelevant the Elephant has become, continuing to rely on sloganeering based on half and non truths.

"And leaving aside the chutzpah of casting the failure of his own party’s governance as proof that government can’t work, does he really think that the response to natural disasters like Katrina is best undertaken by uncoordinated private action? Hey, why bother having an army? Let’s just rely on self-defense by armed citizens.

The intellectual incoherence is stunning. Basically, the political philosophy of the GOP right now seems to consist of snickering at stuff that they think sounds funny. The party of ideas has become the party of Beavis and Butthead." (Via Krugman)

Senator Southerland Making Water Pollution Easier, Legal

I hope you'll join myself and other telling our state legislators that their consideration of new laws regarding Tennessee streams and waterways is just plain wrong. Sen. Southerland has submitted SB0634, which prevents the public from helping to identify violations in the existing law. That's a bad idea, and one of many which are being considered by the legislature.

30,000 miles of waterways in Tennessee are in danger of losing protection, thanks to one bill, and the overall approach appears to be that no effort will be given to cleaning up pollution, but adding to it.

The Tennessee Clean Water Network has details on the 14 bills now filed:

These Bills:

• Don't do anything to clarify existing laws or processes – they change the law.
• Blatantly strip protection away from our waters.
• Grant permission to pollute our waters without justification.

SB0631/HB1616 – Prevents polluted waters from being classified as Exceptional Tennessee waters and removes the burden of proving an economic and social need for projects which impact Exceptional waters when the project is publicly funded.

• Don't give up on our waters. Just because they're dirty now doesn't mean we stop protecting them.
• The bill is in violation of the Clean Water Act. 40 CFR 131.12 clearly places the burden on the applicant to show social and economic necessity. The legislature can not shift the burden and stay consistent with federal law.
• Denies the public its right to participation in the process: Spending our money, polluting our water and we have no voice in the matter.

SB0632/HB1615 - 1) States "support" as used in the definition of wet weather conveyance means meeting the classification of fish and aquatic life even during low flow, 2) Excludes wet weather conveyances from "waters," 3) Requires TDEC to develop a waters determination training, 4) Allows for stream determinations to be made by an expert outside of TDEC.

• First half is an attempt to narrow the types of waterbodies protected under our laws. Since the changes are based upon water flow this would specifically lift protection from smaller streams during times of drought, when water protection is of the utmost importance.
• Developing a stream determination process is a good idea and one TDEC is currently working on.
• TDEC, as the public agency, should be the final decision maker on stream determinations.

SB0633/HB1617 – Creates definition of "limited resource waters" as those not attaining their designated uses due to natural occurrences or modifications and exempts them and wet weather conveyances from the definition of "waters."

• Strips protection away from our waters – could destroy approximately 30,000 miles of streams in Tennessee.
• Gives up on protecting those impaired from previous activities.
• Critical threat to smaller waterbodies.

SB0634/HB0973 – Prevents the prompting of enforcement inspections from anonymous communication and requires stream determination when a complaint is based upon discharging without a permit into an unnamed stream .

• Takes protection away from whistle blowers.
• Prevents the public from voicing their concerns and being protected at the same time.
• Increases burden on TDEC.

SB0198/HB0425 – Requires legislature to approve all rules and prevents the creation of emergency or public necessity rules.

• Create serious delays in the rule-making process.
• Grants too much power to the Legislative Branch – infringes on separation of powers.
• Neglects protection of state health and environment if emergency and public need actions can not be taken during times the Legislature is not meeting.

SB1738 - Provides those with permits allowing for a water withdrawal do not have to re-apply when there is a modification to their hours of withdrawal in their permit, but only request the modification form TDEC with an explanation of why the revision is necessary.

• More hours for them, less water for us.
• Provides private companies the opportunity to remove more water from our streams without public involvement. Often that withdrawal is a permanent water loss to our state.

SB1331/HB1204 - 1) Eliminates selenate when including selenium in those permits with a toxic effluent limitation 2) requires selenite to be the basis should water quality criterion be developed for selenium 3) Prevents impaired waters from being ETWs 4) For the purpose of anti-deg any alteration in waters which improves the condition or complies with naturally occurring conditions is de minimis.

• First half is an attempt by the coal industry to pollute our waters with selenium (selenate is the selenium by-product of coal mining).
• Gives up on protecting our waters.
• No project can be assumed to have a minimal impact unless fully evaluated. Example: Applicants have claimed they are improving the condition of a stream by culverting it, which is never an improvement.
• This allows anyone to impact our waters without justification.

SB1112/HB1622 – Requires air and water quality rules be consistent with and not exceed the requirements of federal statutes. Provides if there are no federal statutes the state can create those regulations if necessary to protect health, welfare, or the environment. Prevents any permit from having requirements which are not the direct basis of existing rule.

• Prevents Tennessee from protecting its unique resources when the federal government doesn't.
• States' rights: Why let the federal government determine what is best for our state?
• Limits Tennesseans from making its own choices.

SB1207/HB1205 - 1) Requires WQCB to hear and decide on permit appeal hearings within 90 days of receipt of petition; 2) provides the WQCB can deem an appeal frivolous and award fees and expenses incurred as a result of the appeal to the applicant; 3) states if a declaratory order is not heard by the WQCB within 90 days it is a refusal to hear the case.

• Denies the opportunity for hearings to be held in front of the WQCB if delayed.
• Bias towards permit applicants as the only partly eligible for incurring costs.
• Worded to assume applicant is not also appellant.

SB1312/HB1619 - Defines “CAFO” in accordance with federal law for the purpose of NPDES.

• Locks Tennessee into federal definition.
• States' rights: Why let the federal government determine what is best for our state?

Sen. Steve Southerland of Morristown is chair of the Senate Environment, Conservation and Tourism Committee, and Sen. Mike Faulk represents Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins and Jefferson County and sits on that committee.

You can contact Sen. Southerland via this page, Sen. Faulk here.

Far more immediate and important right now, the state needs to create new and better rules regarding coal waste ash ponds like the catastrophe in Kingston, where TVA's failure has devastated hundreds of acres and unknown miles of Tennessee rivers, streams and waterways.

R. Neal at KnoxViews has contact info on all related committees and their members.

Glenn Beck's Apocalypse for Republican Boys and Girls

You pretty much have to run through the entire Lexicon of Loony to describe the bizarre ravings of talk show host Glenn Beck's week-long Paranoid Doom Scenarios Showcase.

His game plan is clear - make the most insane and apocalyptic claims about the Evil World Being Created by Democrats and Obama in a lusty grab for ratings on the FOX News channel.

At the rate he's going, he'll proclaim he has Proof!! that Communist Extraterrestrials have secretly moved a Nefarious Wormhole to Hell from the Bermuda Triangle and hidden it inside the Washington Monument which is beaming pro-Hispanic thought-lessons into every pre-school brain in America.

Green Greenwald marvels at the paranoia and inept mangling of reality Beck drools onto the airwaves. Beck and his witless followers don't just accept a certain level of hypocrisy, they embrace it like a soul-mate:

"But this Rush-Limbaugh/Fox-News/nationalistic movement isn't driven by anything noble or principled or even really anything political. If it were, they would have been extra angry and threatening and rebellious during the Bush years instead of complicit and meek and supportive to the point of cult-like adoration. Instead, they're just basically Republican dead-enders (at least what remains of the regional/extremist GOP), grounded in tribal allegiances that are fueled by their cultural, ethnic and religious identities and by perceived threats to past prerogatives -- now spiced with legitimate economic anxiety and an African-American President who, they were continuously warned for the last two years, is a Marxist, Terrorist-sympathizing black nationalist radical who wants to re-distribute their hard-earned money to welfare queens and illegal immigrants (and is now doing exactly that)."

As an old friend of mine likes to say, Beck is "higher than boat dock gas". However, since Fear is selling faster than bread and milk in Tennessee when snow is predicted, many impotent minds will fall into a trap constructed only for self-aggrandizement and high ratings.

Trademark Battle Over 'American Fart Culture'?

A copyright dispute about farts has landed in federal court. You could say attorneys are raising quite a stink about it.

The dispute is over competing iPhone applications which both want to have the sole copyright to the phrase "pull my finger" in promoting their business of adding fart sounds to your iPhone.

Depending on how this all plays out, in the future, when your uncle, odd neighbor, or invasive co-worker says "pull my finger" prior to farting, then said individual could be charged with a copyright violation.

Yeah. This is now an issue for federal courts to decide??

The lawsuit is reported in Wired:

"The brouhaha concerns Air-O-Matic of Florida, the maker of the popular "Pull My Finger" app, which claims the maker of rival "iFart Mobile" is misappropriating the phrase "pull my finger" in its advertisements. Such an assertion, according to iFart Mobile maker InfoMedia of Colorado, reeks of an misunderstanding of American fart culture."

Really? Really???

iFartMobile?

Hell, who doesn't? And I do it without any technological assistance. Just pull my finger.

Camera Obscura: Nate Silver Predicts The Oscars; Fans Put Whedon in Orbit

The baseball and politics stats analyst and mega algorithm maker Nate Silver has turned his machine and his mind towards Sunday night's Oscar awards. (Though no predictions on whether or not the show will actually attract or interest viewers in general. More on that later. And more later on Weirdest Oscar Nominations.)

Hollywood and the AMPAS folks seem a most likely area for Silver to root around in, as it blends the elements of politics (of the studios and guilds) and baseball's emotional resonance as an American pastime all into one stew. Silver posted his take at his blog FiveThirtyEight, and expanded on how he came to his choices in a story for New York Magazine here.

"Formally speaking, this required the use of statistical software and a process called logistic regression. Informally, it involved building a huge database of the past 30 years of Oscar history. Categories included genre, MPAA classification, the release date, opening-weekend box office (adjusted for inflation), and whether the film won any other awards. We also looked at whether being nominated in one category predicts success in another. For example, is someone more likely to win Best Actress if her film has also been nominated for Best Picture? (Yes!) But the greatest predictor (80 percent of what you need to know) is other awards earned that year, particularly from peers (the Directors Guild Awards, for instance, reliably foretells Best Picture). Genre matters a lot (the Academy has an aversion to comedy); MPAA and release date don’t at all. A film’s average user rating on IMDb (the Internet Movie Database) is sometimes a predictor of success; box grosses rarely are. And, as in Washington, politics matter, in ways foreseeable and not."

I'd say he's right on the most part, but seldom do folks who predict the Oscars score 100%. Here is the breakdown:

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (86% chance of victory)
Best Supporting Actress: Taraji P. Henson, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (51% chance of victory)
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler (71% chance of victory)
Best Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader (68% chance of victory)
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire (99.7% chance of victory)
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire (99.0% chance of victory)

I have to say a word here about Heath Ledger.

I hope he wins for his performance as The Joker in "The Dark Knight". He sadly died prior to the film's release (which jump-starts the emotions, true enough), but his work on screen really defines that movie and is the most notable performance I've ever seen in the sub-genre of superhero/comic-book movies. His work is deceptive. done with such seemingly effortless ease which is in reality a very studied and carefully controlled performance. And he really fills out the notion of what a Villain does in all tales of Good vs Evil -- create chaos for it's own sake, challenge every element of what Good there may be in the world, and as Batman's longtime friend and butler Alfred explains: "He thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn."

In many ways, it was a once in a lifetime performance, a benchmark which others will try for some time to reach and surpass.

In a related Oscar-buzzing idea, I ran across a simple question about their Best Picture winners: how many (if any) of those movies do you watch often? Just at a glance, I know that the winners and many nominees from the 1970s are movies I've seen often and will see again -- Patton, The French Connection, The Godfather, Godfather Part 2, The Sting, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - to name a few. (Of course, two I will never see again won that decade, The Deer Hunter and Kramer vs Kramer, both movies of mediocre value today). Nominees include Star Wars, Chinatown, Jaws, Nashville, A Clockwork Orange, American Graffiti, Network, Taxi Driver, etc etc.

The 1980s list sure seems proof there was very little of worth to watch outside of a few exceptions, like Amadeus or The Last Emperor. Who seeks out repeated viewings of "Chariots of Fire" (the winner in 1981) versus a competing nominee like "Raiders of the Lost Ark"?

And for the first time in, like, ever, they have an actual actor hosting the show - Hugh Jackman, who has been hosting the Tony awards for several years, has an accomplished stage background and even takes roles like the comic-book cult hero of Wolverine of The X-Men. Is that enough to attract an audience? I doubt it. It's usually the movies nominated that determine how large the audience for the broadcast will be. And awards shows in general are falling in viewership.

I watch because I am an unrepentant movie-addict.

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Fanboys and girls like myself are making NASA jump to our tune. They recently announced a chance for folks to vote on what name should be given to Node 3 of the International Space Station, asking just as they have for the other two (named Unity and Harmony). This time, fans of Joss Whedon and his sci-fi TV show "Firefly" and the movie from it "Serenity" got the name "Serenity" on the list of nominees for Node 3.

When I looked this morning, Serenity is winning with 89% of the vote. You can vote too, until March 20th, at this link (voting box is on the lower right hand side of the page).

Take that, Science!!

And be sure and tune in tonight for the continuing episodes of Whedon's new show "Dollhouse". (NOTE: I am not saying this show is spectacular, but I will watch at least five or six of them before I assume to give it praise or not. Just sayin' ...)

The Spaceship Serenity from 'Firefly'

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Just a bit more Oscar oddities for your review -- Did you know that nominated movies include:

"SHANKS, a bizarre, macabre fantasy about a deaf mute puppeteer (Marcel Marceau) who learns how to revive and manipulate the dead via an electrical gizmo. Alex North’s music was nominated for Best Original Dramatic Score."

or that --

"CHARIOT OF THE GODS nominated for Best Documentary?"

These and others get a thorough review at the Movie Morelocks Blog. Quick, which Steven Seagal movie was nominated for an Oscar??

GOP's Love of Failure

I'm a loser
I'm a loser
And I'm not what I appear to be

What have I done to deserve such a fate
I realize I have left it too late
And so it's true, pride comes before a fall
I'm telling you so that you won't lose all

That's the song I'm hearing, loud and long, from the Republicans and their political leadership - Limbaugh and Hannity and FOX News - when it comes to economic recovery and their philosophy in general. Having had the majority in federal government for more than a decade, plus a two-term president, all is soured now and is, they say, the fault of others.

Shrieks of outrage over the just-signed stimulus package are percolating across the dense plains of their political echo chambers ... "we were shut out of the process!!" Problem is, that's not close to the truth nor partner to it in any way shape or form.


"From the beginning, GOP members lied outright about the contents of the stimulus package, squealed indignantly for the inclusion of every failed Bush fiscal policy one could name, and in the end, did a fantastic job of gumming up the works and muddying the waters in order to thwart the passage of this bill. That they failed is of little consequence; they made their presence known with far more vigor than their dwindled numbers would seem to allow, and all because President Obama wanted to work in a bi-partisan fashion.

In his inaugural address, he promised to reach out a hand to anyone willing to unclench their fist. The GOP responded not only with clenched fists, but with swinging clenched fists. It seems early to give up already, but facts are facts, and Obama needs to withdraw his hand and just wave these people off." (link)

Then there are the words of Rep. Louis Slaughter:

"As Chair of the House Rules Committee, I must clear up untruths regarding the economic recovery package.

We’ve heard a lot of noise across the aisle about how partisan the development of the bill was --- that Republicans were blocked from being involved. This is entirely false. In fact, this was one of the most open processes a bill this large has had in over a decade.

They are being disingenuous, or worse. These are the facts:

The bill, as it came to the Rules Committee, the last stop before the floor vote, already incorporated 12 Republican amendments. The Rules Committee then added the 11 amendments: 6 Democratic and 5 Republican, in addition to a complete Republican substitute, and a motion to recommit. They were unable to muster the votes necessary and lost on bipartisan votes. House Republicans may have come together to vote against the final bill, but they split on their own amendments with 40 to 60 Republicans voting with Democrats. Some Republicans even voted against their party’s alternative bill, and it failed on the floor.

The Republican alternative didn’t have a final price tag, consisted entirely of tax cuts, and would actually raise taxes for 26 million American families. In two years, the Democratic bill would create 3.6 million jobs. The Republican substitute: 1.2 million – a third as many as the Democratic bill that passed the House.

President Obama even met with House Republicans more times in two weeks to discuss this legislation than President Bush did with House Democrats in two terms.

The Republicans were certainly allowed in the process, but they wanted to obstruct."

The loyalty and oath they have is for their own power, not for the support of the nation. But the press and the Web coo with delight when there is a an entrenched battle to report.

Most folks, in the meantime, struggle day-to-day to ride out economic disaster.

Funny the way there was an easy dual-party effort to slather billions onto the financial system operated by the folks who tanked it in late 2008. Billions more - aimed at basic national and state needs - why that's just evil.

The plan from the leaders of the Right - Limbaugh and Hannity and FOX News - is to elevate the desire for Failure as a Plan for Success. Cheering and spreading Failure has been their primary tool for many years. If something is a success or indicates a change away from that model, then apply the Failure Doctrine and hope that sooner or later, it works to undermine all things.

Their call is for either their own God-guided Majority Rule or Anarchy For All.

SEE ALSO:
KnoxViews
Southern Beale
White's Creek Journal
Washington Monthly

Bristol Palin and The Political Jabbering of Her Elders

Bristol Palin has been discovering how tough it is to avoid the game of political football which many - including her mom - want to force her to play as a member of Team Teen Motherhood.

Her mother's would-be political ambitions hauled Bristol's unwed teen pregnancy onto the national political football field like it was just some mascot, and really seemed to ignore the costs. It was simply an image, an idea to wrap about the McCain-Palin ticket ... more the Palin For President Project than anything else.

But I watched Bristol speak rather plainly to FOX News about her situation and was sad to see how even her earnest effort to speak the truth was tackled by her mom and her interviewer, attempting to wrestle her own words away from her.

Rebecca Traister at Salon wrote about the interview and how Bristol's plain talk was hustled off the field:

"It doesn't matter what my mom's views are on it. It was my decision. And I wish people would realize that, too," [said Bristol]

No matter how you might like to spin that line, Bristol is talking about one thing: choice. She has that right, she made her choice. The same thing any other woman has the right to do. The Salon article continues ...

"I don't know if it's what I expected," Bristol said of young motherhood. "But it's just a lot different. It's not just the baby that's hard. It's like I'm not living for myself anymore. It's for another person." Later in the interview, she again repeated this line -- a heartbreaking point if ever there was one, and one we don't talk about much because we feel obligated to acknowledge that of course motherhood is a sacrifice, of course there are consequences, of course for many women and men, choosing to have children and become less self-obsessed is a pleasure. But so much of what pro-life advocacy is about -- whether it denies people sex education or contraception or access to abortion -- is in valuing the cells that make up a fetus (or baby) more than the woman in whose body those cells have grown.

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"Gov. Palin opened by claiming to be "proud of [Bristol] wanting to take on an advocacy role and just let other girls know that it's not the most ideal situation but certainly you make the most of it." It was like the elder Palin had put her daughter's words through a meat grinder: What Bristol had said was that she wanted to let other girls know that they should wait 10 years, that their lives would shift beneath their feet.

"Bristol is a strong and bold young woman," Palin said, as Bristol sat quietly -- after her mother entered, she barely spoke further -- "and she is an amazing mom, and this little baby is very lucky to have her as a momma. He's gonna be just fine. We're very proud of Bristol." Palin was missing the point, or part of it, or perhaps making it even louder: Bristol's self-professed desire to prevent teen pregnancy is not just about whether this little baby is going to be just fine, it is about whether his momma is.

But that just wasn't of much concern to Sarah Palin."

---

And how poignant that the untrained and unrehearsed and inelegant message of the young woman who actually had the baby, the one who said, "I think everyone should just wait 10 years," made far more sense than the politicized jabbering of her elders.

Read the whole story here.

Green Comet Lulin Visible For One Time Only

For the next few weeks, you can look up into the pre-dawn sky and see a green comet which is traveling backwards and making it's one and only appearance in our solar system. Called Lulin, after the Taiwan observatory where it was discovered by a 19-year old just 2 years ago, the oddly moving comet is about to race past us.

"It is also rather unusual since it is moving through space in a direction opposite to that of the planets at a very low inclination of just 1.6-degrees from the ecliptic. As such, because it is moving opposite to the motion of our Earth, the comet will appear to track rather quickly against the background stars as one observes the object from one night to the next.

"... on the night of the Feb. 24th, when it will be passing nearest to Earth, Lulin will be visible all night, rising in the east at dusk, peaking high in the south shortly after midnight and setting in the west around sunrise."

More info is here, and NASA offers some striking images of the comet as it streaks past the Earth:

Perhaps one should not use the word "striking" to refer to a comet, especially one that is green and moving backwards as it rockets out of our solar system.

It is visible in the southern skies currently, just after 3 a.m. NASA has more info on how to see the comet, which will be bright enough (perhaps) to see without magnification as the 24th approaches.

Generic Blog Post #125

In lieu of today's post and to reduce any amount of feigned outrages or scandals, please enjoy this simple generic reference to Just Being Opposed to Something.

"No Sir, I Don't Like It"

That's the catch-phrase of one Mr. Horse, a cartoon character from Ren and Stimpy.

As WikiPedia notes:

"Mr. Horse is typically depicted as a straight-talking, thoughtful and serious character. He can also be cynical and disgruntled, and on occasion is merely a horse. His catchphrase is "No sir, I don't like it." He rarely ever said anything aside from this, except for the episode "Fire Dogs", in which he says "No sir, I didn't like it."

Image via this site of toy reviews.

So, consider the comment as a response to just about anything appearing in the news today, something new or old on the internet, or something published on anyone else's blog. To sum up today's post one more time:

"No Sir, I Don't Like It."

A Hint To Tennessee: Take The Money

I know enough about economics to know we won't see good growth for a long while. But I am happy to see more and more attention being paid to how American business and government operate. As R. Neal wrote this weekend:

"Has anyone else noticed the dramatic and abrupt change in our national debate?

.... Republicans are now running around with their hair on fire freaking out about federal spending on jobs, health care, education, infrastructure, technology, energy independence, health insurance for disadvantaged children, and keeping people in their homes.

Maybe it’s just me, but the latter seems more like the debate we should be having.

And President Obama has only been in office for 25 days."

If the state wants to get a nice hefty chunk of 'stimulus' dollars, I'd suggest emphasizing the huge potentials for growth and the immediate needs of energy and education and jobs and healthcare. Because that is where the money is headed.

Medicaid: $1.62 billion.

Education: $791 million.

Highways and bridges: $593 million.

Special education: $243 million.

Title I education: $225 million.

General purpose: $171 million.

Weatherizing homes: $97 million.

Transit capital grants: $91 million.

Criminal justice grants: $74 million.

Public housing capital fund: $65 million.

Clean water projects: $58 million.

Child care: $42 million.

Dislocated workers: $28 million.

Youth job training: $25 million.

Homelessness prevention: $20 million.

Drinking water projects: $20 million.

Community services: $20 million.

Head Start: $14 million.

Education tech: $12 million.

Vocational rehab: $12 million.

Adult job training: $11 million.

Unemployment insurance administration: $9.6 million.

Employment service: $7.4 million.

Elderly nutrition: $2.6 million.

Food assistance: $2 million.

Emergency Food and Shelter: $2 million.

Now is the only time on this plan - if projects aren't up and running in the next 6 months, then those dollars start going to other states. Or will elected officials just keep bickering and fighting with each other instead?

Camera Obscura Part 2: Dollhouse Tonite; New Tarantino Trailer; Denzel vs Travolta

Since today is all about sequels at the movies, I made sure I had a sequel movie post. And there's some great twists ahead.

Tonight at 9 p.m., a terrible time slot for ratings, the FOX network will start the brand new series from Joss Whedon, "Dollhouse." I am still amazed that Whedon agreed to work with FOX again, after the way they dumped "Firefly" into the ash heap before it even aired. But Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku had a deal with him and she wanted to do another show with Josh after her career-starter with him as the bad-girl vamp slayer named Faith in "Buffy".

So, after some serious problems and re-shoots the series lands at 9 p.m. Tracking Whedon's career is a real lesson in how the business end of Hollywood works and how the creative end works - often at cross-purposes. Even last year, as Hollywood worried thru a Writer's Strike, Whedon crafted an end run around the mess with an Internet-Only mini-series sci-fi musical with the improbable name of "Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog" which became a smash hit on iTunes and DVD.

So now - "Dollhouse" -- the pitch here is a series about a group of young people who are utilized by a shadowy (government?) organization as agents for various missions via a method of DNA-alterations and mind-wipeouts. They are 'dolls', called "Actives", who get fed mission info and key personality traits for missions, get it all erased at the end, and sort of live in a weird dorm complex. Dushku plays a girl named "Echo".

Yeah, I know audiences and FOX execs are going "whaa?" to all that. But the man has proved more than once he can take a jumble of genres and styles and make something pretty unique and entertaining. And the word complex scares TV people.

In an interview with Salon, Whedon talks about the confusion and the plans for the series, which gets into some fairly intense stuff ... though not at first glance:

"Well, the question of whether they've actually volunteered or not is obviously somewhat dicey. And as we'll begin to learn, every Active has a different backstory. What I wanted to do was talk about the idea of sex and what we expect from each other. Power, love, how these things are all connected. We're positing the idea of, if people were in a position to give up their lives, how many of them would?

We saw a thing on "This American Life," where guys had found a way to block a memory stream on mice and they got flooded with letters from people begging them to be test subjects, because they were like, I don't want to remember my life. Something bad happened or I want to cut out something. There is also this fantasy of not having control, of not having responsibility. These people are taken care of like children. They live in the best spa ever.

---

"I think television is getting smarter and dumber at the same time. As it gets harder for the networks to figure out how to make their money and what's going to happen structurally with advertising, at the same time, on cable and even on some of the bigs, people are taking chances. It's a time of crisis, which means a lot of entrenching, a lot of let's just go for exactly what we know how to do, and a certain amount of let's shake it up. And those will be the shows people remember."

Read the full interview here, and their review here. As for me, I figured out long ago, he makes things worth the time it takes to read or watch.

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Warning!!! The following trailer, while not R-rated, is from the gritty and explosive brain of Quentin Tarantino and his new World War II movie, "Inglourious Basterds". Heck, with that title, I'm not even sure he can advertise the thing on TV or in newspapers. But we have the Internet, we have You Tube, and whether anyone wants or deserves it --- now we have Tarantino tackling the Big One. Brad Pitt calls out the marching orders:

I think Tarantino turns a lot of folks off - but, like Whedon, I'm gonna be watching what he does. And is it just me, or does Pitt sound a little bit like George W. Bush there??

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A best-selling novel and movie from the 1970s has been remade for summer 2009 release, "The Taking of Pelham 123" -- a tense tale of a subway hijacking. The original still holds up very well today thanks to acting from Walter Matthau as a subway supervisor against terrorist Robert Shaw.

The remake puts Denzel Washington into Matthau's part and John Travolta in Shaw's. This adaptation is by Oscar winner Brian Helgeland and the director is Tony Scott, which means lots of rapid cuts and edits and somehow, doves and pigeons flying will be shown at various points in the movie. I think this is the 3rd time Denzel and Tony have teamed up, and to be honest, I like what they've done so far. Here's the preview:

Camera Obscura: Jason Eats The Box Office Alive

It's going to be a monster weekend at the box office for Jason Voorhees. So let me begin this movie post with the simple warning from the first "Friday the 13th" film in 1980 ... "You're doomed. You're all doomed."

Box office returns have always been hefty when the nation is in Economic Hell. And returning after 29 years as a cash cow, Mr. Voorhees and his murderous mythos will slay the box office once again. I know kids who are skipping school to see it today, adults who have been planning for months to gather at the ticket booth, and the ads promoting this movie have been everywhere. Technically speaking, this is the 12th Jason movie. The series sort of stopped when Jason X concluded, but then we had the kabuki-style theatrical fountains of crimson streams with "Freddy vs Jason" (his 11th appearance) so this is number 12. I am pretty sure they are already working on the 13th Friday the 13th.

I was there at the beginning (as I always am) when not Jason, but his mom slashed and hacked her way thru carnal camp counselors in the first movie, though a moldy, rotten, water-bloated boy-Jason arose from the waters of Camp Crystal Lake by the movie's end. Because, like Spring, like the time-traveling Groundhog Day, Jason rises eternal. It's his basic charm - that and a hockey mask and a machete.

I do want to suggest you enjoy the musings and writings at The McClane Tirade, as Matt is one of the most faithful fans of the movie series I've ever met. He takes such loopy joy in the horrible plots and contradictions, and has a vast knowledge of characters and timelines. He just re-posted his 2007 piece on the movie series and it's a great read. Here's a sample of his "Friday the 13th: Best Chronology Ever!"

"It's a simple fact that Friday the 13th has the MOST jacked up, inconsistent, insane chronology in the history of serial cinema. Characters are all over the map, times are changed up and rearranged and consistencies are thrown out the window for really piss-poor plot devices. Sometimes, perhaps directors and writers just forget things. Maybe they don't bother with research, or... watching...the...previous... films? Maybe they actually just didn't give a damn and decided to do it their own way.

When Paramount sold the rights to the entire franchise to New Line Cinema sometime around 1990, it was pretty apparent that the powers-that-be straight-up didn't give two bowls of monkey crap WHAT they did with these characters. It's conceivably a very remote possibility that they might have even PLANNED for it to end up this way.

Whatever the case may be, it's worth taking a look and breaking some of this down. I feel that in most films, this kind of blatant factual disregard for continuity would be a huge hindrance—and the distractive nature of such things would generate more hatred than Sheriff Garris hated Tommy Jarvis for checking out his daughter in Friday the 13: Jason Lives—but in this case, I believe it's absolutely ingenious comedy."

Matt has a real knack for pointing out the awful hilarity in these movies -- for proof, just check out the clip he included from "Jason Takes Manhattan", the 6th movie, and the 'boxing match' between Jason and a character named Julius. As Matt advises, "You may want to go ahead and watch that again, just in case you thought I made it up, or you were dreaming, or maybe ate some bad hot dogs or something and imagined it. Go ahead, induldge."

Also worth a peek, something I mentioned last Halloween, was Cinematical's Friday the 13th Obsessive-Compulsive Guide, wherein this jewel of observation occurs:

"Finally, and most disturbingly, four of the 10 films feature men wearing Daisy Duke shorts. Was this acceptable in the 1980s?"

Indeed. You can chart much American fashion thru these movies. I'm not saying it's a great experience, but it is there, from feathered haircuts to nano-bots.

Take the tour at the all-modern Friday the 13th website and blog, so you can just be, you know, all modern and stuff.

And if you are asking "is this movie going to be any good?", well you haven't been paying attention. I will say that the folks who are re-booting this series also attempted a re-boot of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" which was bad, bad, bad. Of course, TCM is not in the same class as Jason's movies, though it might appear to be. TCM was and is different and about 7 years ahead of Jason. In other words, the new production team - or let me call his name, Michael "Can't Make A Movie Worth A Crap" Bay - has a pretty dreadful history, which will likely add to enjoyability of the remake.

Let me twist the machete a little before we leave Jason to the cinema history books.

After you go see it, after you watch the DVD collections and laugh at it all, there is another movie horror fans and Jason fans should watch next. It too is a remake, and released last year, called "Funny Games." Here too are some relentless killers on a lakeside community. And they can't be stopped. But I guarantee you the experience of watching "Funny Games" will become nearly unbearable and a true test of your endurance (and one you will likely regret competing in). In a way, director Micahel Haneke made his movie especially for fans of violence/slasher/revenge movies.

And he does not like you.

It's a movie that you dare people to watch and it will leave you in a bad, bad way. That's what a scary movie should do. Jason is just a comedian.

Packing Heat In The Pews

Arkansas lawmakers have approved a bill which would allow for concealed weapons to be carried into church. The measure now moves to their state Senate for a vote, and the governor has already said he'd sign it into law if it lands on his desk.

Currently, only churches and bars are exempt in that state from conceal and carry laws. Under this new law, churches would have the option of allowing or not allowing concealed weapons as long as they posted a visible sign at their church as to their stance. About 20 states already have similar laws.

The bill was pushed before and failed, but this time Republican Rep. Beverly Pyle got the vote thru on a 57 to 42 vote.

During committee hearings on the bill prior to the vote, one representative, who is also a pastor, John Phillips Jr. said:

"As a group of lawmakers, are we really wanting to send the message that we are raising the white flag of surrender to the anarchy that's in the streets and that the only way that our citizens can feel safe in their houses of worship and churches is that we come packing heat in the pews?"

Phillips, now a minister at the Central Church of Christ in Little Rock, testified that a "deranged individual" shot him in 1986 while Phillips was working at another Little Rock church. Phillips said his life was saved by a member of the congregation, who came to his defense.

"I don't know that having a concealed weapons individual designated to bear arms in the church that day would have made any difference in that situation," he said.

Another minister spoke to the press in favor of the bill:

"To me, being in church is probably one of the most vulnerable places anyone can be as far as an attack happening," said Pastor Mark Thorton of the Big Creek Missionary Baptist Church in Malvern. "And if there's no one there who can legally carry a handgun, we're going to be on the 6 o'clock news."

My father was a Baptist minister and I wonder what his reaction to such a plan might be.

I think perhaps first he would not be happy that government was taking up church operations and regulations as part of legislative activity. He would often talk politics while sharing coffee with folks at the local diner in the mornings, and we'd often have heated debates about politics at home, and he often wrote letters to elected officials to weigh in on all kinds of issues.

But I can't really recall a time when he spoke out on a political issue from the pulpit -- one on one with folks, yes, but not as part of sermon. Of course, you have to realize that as a squirrely young boy I was usually not paying real close attention during all the thousands of sermons I heard as I would sneak in a couple of little toys, Matchbox cars, army men or cowboys or little guys in spacesuits. Or I'd play tic-tac-toe with some nearby fellow ne'er-do-well who, like me, was surely headed to Perdition.

Dad's no longer among us, so I can't ask him directly for a reaction. But all the while he was alive and even after he was not, I always have a sort of talk with him in my head about pretty much everything. I did pay attention often to how he worked as a pastor, as a person, and as a father. We might agree or disagree on many things, but he always seemed pretty smart to me and he did educate me to consider the effects which might follow any and all decisions I made or failed to make. So I ponder about a lot of things and yes, even this humble-but-lovable blog is often my wee little pulpit and sermonette.

I know that in the past both recent and ancient, people have been attacked in churches by folks who bring in a gun or other weapon and inflict much harm on those within. Sometimes those people are stopped and their plans foiled, and sometimes they are not. Both good things and bad things happen in this world - in or out of a church house. I also know that compared to the rest of the world, this country is a mighty safe place. I don't think that more bad than good is happening, I think we just hear and see more due to the speed at which information travels today.

I tend to think my father would be opposed to folks feeling a need or a right to bring a gun into church in our times. Might have been different in centuries past, but as for our times, I think he might see such behavior as a general lack of Faith. He might say that while in church, your thoughts should not be on worldly things but on spiritual ones. I also think he would be far more eloquent addressing this topic than me.

It was a rather shocking day last year when a crazed gunman strolled into a Unitarian church in Knoxville and began shooting, so the reality of what can and does happen looms large in most minds in East Tennessee. I also marvel at the selfless acts of members of that church who took on that killer with nothing more than their hands and their desires to stop the violence. I'd like to think, should some similar event take place where I might be, that I would have the courage to resist an attack. I think I would. I hope I never have to find out.

Oddly, while I may not have always been the keenest listener in my father's churches, I do see that the words 'hope' and 'faith' still have a hefty place in my writing and my thinking. Most of the time anyway, though not always.

Seeing a sign posted at a church saying they allowed for concealed weapons or had armed security guards would not be very inviting to me, though I suppose some might feel comforted by such. For me, it indicates just how a person and a church regard the spiritual realm in many, many ways.

It's Just Getting Weird Out There

It would be a nice change of pace to have, say, a week ease past that isn't loaded with these thorny revelations of corrupt mayors and governors, or seedy details of voraciously greedy business folks, poison-tainted food, the clueless cluckings of cable TV and radio clowns, and poverty growth at rates which seem akin to the plot lines of really bad science-gone-mad B-movies.

I mean really, I have to ponder if it's safe to eat some peanut butter?

I have enough anxiety all on my own without getting drowned by the excesses and horrors of incompetence which seem to gleefully tumble across our world today. It's as if the planet is devoured by each person at war with everyone else and with themselves for what they are or what they are not and all chattering and protesting it all at the same time. It sure seems that the one television show which defines the times we live in is rightfully called "Lost".

I used to make a joke that there should be these giant blocks of Valium located every few miles, so that, like cows who lap up a salt lick, humans could lap up a little bit of anti-anxiety medicine as they moseyed about their day. Now, I realize what would happen were such to exist - all out war for control of these Valium licks plus the stacks of dead folks who decided to break off huge chunks of it and wolf it down like it was the latest triple-bacon cheeseburger.

I was reading today about some poor bloke in England who somehow fell and got trapped beneath his own sofa for two days and could not move as he had some sort of back problems. Once rescued, he told reporters he had been able to snag a bottle of whiskey which was within reach there under his couch and he thought to himself - well, things are not that bad. Luckily a neighbor noticed his window shades had not been moved and actually bothered to check and see if he was OK. I suppose he was being an optimist regarding the whiskey, but I'm more sure he was grateful for friends and neighbors.

But really, it's just getting weird out there.

Take the rather odd marketing plan from DC Comics, who have decided the way to boost sales of their product is to kill off Batman and have a whole bunch of other people in Gotham City have a "Battle for The Cowl" come the first of March. The image below is supposed to be clues as to what will happen.

I know all the having two identities deal is problematic and neurotic for old Batman, and outrageous marketing is sometimes needed to help push sales. And then I read that Bat's longtime comic title Detective Comics, following this "battle", will be about a brand new Batwoman. Or, as the headlines proclaim "Batwoman, The Red-Headed Lesbian Is Unleashed".

Dang.

You know things are bad when the lives of the imaginary super-heroes turn into Warholian dreamscapes. Perhaps they have always been so.

Maybe I'm just getting too old. But it would be nice for just one week to pass when the lead story in the news is something like "Family Thinks Tuesday's Meat Loaf Dinner Was OK."

As I've been sitting here noodling on the keyboard to somehow compose my stray and ponderous thoughts, I began to recall a song by John Prine which seems to fit right in here somehow. It's called "Big Old Goofy World".

Campfield's Energy Plan: Stay in Cave, Scrounge Firewood, Ignore Technology

When Gov. Bredesen spoke this week to promote state efforts in developing and expanding solar energy, Rep. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville said:

"Lastly was the solar panels. You must be kidding. This is not Arizona. Solar has yet to produce energy in any sort of efficient way at all. it is actually worse for the environment then a lot of other types of non PC energy forms we have."

Oh, Stacey. As a teacher in elementary school used to say to certain students - "Honey, you need to hush and just listen and learn from the rest of the class."

R. Neal at KnoxViews has real and current information about our state and about solar energy:

"Rep. Campfield apparently wasn't paying attention to the R&D part, which is already being done right here in Tennessee. He's probably not aware that one of the goals of research is to make solar power conversion more efficient so it can be used virtually anywhere. Perhaps he's also not aware that East and West Tennessee are only one step down from Florida on the solar radiation scale.

And maybe he isn't aware that one of the world's largest producers of solar panels has a factory in Memphis, or that a leading supplier of silicon for solar panels is investing more than a billion dollars, one of the largest manufacturing investments in state history, to build a facility in Clarksville. He probably missed the announcement that Knoxville was selected by the DOE to be a Solar America City. He must also not be aware of the many homes and businesses in the Knoxville area that are already using solar power, including one that frequently gets negative utility bills."

Also, on Tuesday the Solar Energy Industries Association offered the following facts about solar power research, growth and development:

"(SEIA) president and CEO Rhone Resch today touted the vast potential for solar energy development in the Southeast United States.

“The United States has some of the best solar resources in the world – resources that are more than double that of Germany, the current world leader in solar. With the right policies, solar can play a significant role in creating jobs, growing local economies and cutting energy costs for consumers and businesses,” said Resch

“Those who claim the U.S. does not have enough sun to power our nation are simply wrong. In the Southeast, 24 percent of electricity could come from rooftop solar alone*. As a policy investment, solar is one of the best values for putting Americans back to work and creating growth opportunities for utilities and small businesses alike in the Southeast and across the country,” added Resch.

After the Southwest, the Southeastern United States boasts some of the best solar resources in the country. North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia have solar resources 60 percent better than Germany and are home to hundreds of companies that manufacture and install solar energy equipment. Likewise, Florida has several hundred solar manufacturers, installers and project developers and solar resources that are 70 percent better than Germany – the world’s leader in solar power development.

Utilities are also beginning to embrace the sun’s fuel. Notably, Duke Energy in North Carolina plans to buy more than 10 megawatts of electricity from a solar farm that SunEdison is building in Davidson County. In early December, Florida Power & Light (FPL) broke ground on the first concentrating solar power plant north of Palm Beach County. In July, FPL selected SunPower to build two solar photovoltaic plants. When these projects are completed and brought online, they will make Florida the country's second-largest solar energy producer.

The mid-Atlantic is another emerging solar energy powerhouse. While New Jersey has somewhat lower solar resources than the southeastern states, it’s aggressive policies and incentives has led it to be the third largest solar market in the U.S. behind California and Nevada. Recently, Pennsylvania and Ohio have instituted state policies to stimulate development of renewable energy, including solar."

*Source: EIA, DOE, Navigant Consulting, SEIA

For many years, much work has been done to coax elected and appointed officials out of their fearful crouching in ignorance, to educate them and others that Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are not only within reach, it's an economic machine which creates jobs and new technology. From the Southern Alliance For Clean Energy, information and assistance was provided to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources. Executive Director Stephen Smith said it well:

"We urge Congress to reject the myth that the Southeast cannot meet an RES. We can, and in doing so, we will find the economic solutions our region needs as well,” Dr. Smith stated. “We look forward to working with members of Congress to craft a workable policy that enables our region’s renewable energy resources to be part of a clean energy solution. The time for delay and distraction is over. Now is the time to develop our region’s renewable energy potential.”

TVA Ash Spill Prompts New Senate Hearing To Set New Standards on Thursday

A U.S. Senate sub-committee will hold hearings 10.a.m Thursday to address the lack of oversight and the need for new standards regarding coal ash impoundments, hearings prompted by the December 2008 TVA ash spill which has devastated hundreds of acres in Roane County.

"The Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources hearing Thursday will focus on the Coal Ash Reclamation, Environment, and Safety Act of 2009 (H.R. 493).

It would require the Interior Department to set uniform design, engineering and inspection standards for structures like the one that ruptured at TVA's Kingston plant on Dec. 22, damaging homes, knocking down trees and power lines and filling two inlets of the Emory River.

The hearing be webcast live and archived on the Committee's Web site at http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/." (via a report in The Tennessean)

Here's a list from the main committee's website of witnesses expected to appear:

Mr. John R. Craynon
Chief
Division of Regulatory Support
Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement
Department of the Interior

Ms. Sandy Gruzesky
Director
Division of Water
Department for Environmental Protection
State of Kentucky

Mr. Tom FitzGerald
Director
Kentucky Resources Council

Mr. Davitt McAteer
Vice President for Sponsored Programs
CEO of the Center for Educational Technologies & National Technology Transfer Center
Wheeling Jesuit University

Mr. Nick Akins
Executive Vice President for Generation
American Electric Power Service Corporation

Tom Fitzgerald, as head of the Kentucky Resources Council, spoke before the National Academy of Sciences regarding Coal Combustion Waste in 2005, where he warned:

"What is known concerning the potential toxicity of the leachate from coal combustion ash suggests that a federal floor of management standards is needed.

It is a myth of dangerous proportion to suggest that there is no potential public health and environmental impact of improper management of coal combustion wastes because the wastes are not classified as “hazardous.”