Widespread Trends/Lack of Trends in Tuesday's Election

Steve Benen at Washington Monthly notes that Tuesday's election really mean something, except when it doesn't.

Democrats got exactly the match-ups they wanted...

With their eyes on November, Dems desperately wanted to see Angle win in Nevada, and Campbell lose in California. They got their wish and are feeling better about both competitive Senate races.

...except where they didn't.

Dems' odds in South Carolina's Senate race went from long to impossible when Alvin Greene somehow managed to win the Democratic primary, and Dems also would have loved to see Vander Plaats upset Branstad in Iowa's GOP gubernatorial primary. He didn't.

Tea Party candidates fell flat...

The so-called "movement" rallied behind right-wing candidates like DeVore in California, Vander Plaats in Iowa, and congressional primary challengers in New Jersey's 7th and Virginia's 1st, 2nd, and 5th. All of them lost by fairly wide margins.

...except where they won.

The so-called "movement" rallied behind right-wing candidates like Angle in Nevada and Gowdy in South Carolina, both of whom looked very strong yesterday.

It's an anti-incumbent year...

Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons (R) lost badly, becoming the first incumbent governor of the year to lose in a primary. Similarly, Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) was forced into a runoff and appears very likely to lose.

...except where incumbents did fine.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D) scored a surprise victory in Arkansas, while Reps. Harman, Miller, Lance, and Wittman had very little trouble staving off primary challenges.

Voters rejected establishment-backed candidates...

Three members of NRCC's "Young Guns" program lost in GOP primaries yesterday, including unexpected setbacks in Iowa and South Dakota. For that matter, the Republican establishment made no secret of its support for Sue Lowden in Nevada.

...except where voters embraced establishment-backed candidates.

Practically the entire slate of party-backed GOP candidates in Virginia thrived, and in most cases yesterday, the candidate who enjoyed their party establishment's support actually won.

Palin-backed candidates continued to lose ...

The former half-term governor threw her backing to Cecile Bledsoe in Arkansas's 3rd, but Bledsoe nevertheless lost, adding to a string of defeats for Palin-backed candidates this year.

...except where they won.

The former half-term governor threw her backing to Fiorina in California, Haley in South Carolina, and Branstad in Iowa, and they all won.

For my money, the moral of the story is that there is no moral to the story. On the same day, in different parts of the country, we saw completely contradictory trends. It may be unsatisfying for those looking for trends, but it's true anyway.

Tennessee Has An Official Rap Song?

This week at Speak To Power, writer T. Sharp commented on the legislative creation of the 8th state song for Tennessee.

But as I said on her post - can we ever hope to top the real 8th state song (it was part of a state history education program and is usually not counted among the "official canon"), which is titled "The Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996".

The full lyrics are below, but my favorite is:
Dollywood and Walking Horse Show!
Opryland and the Opry Show!
Whisky, whisky - sipping smooth -
Moon, Moon Pies and Goo Goo Goos!

---------

TENNE-, TENNE-, TENNES-SEE!
Oh, how proud we are of thee!
Volunteer State since 1812 -
Glad our fathers picked here to dwell!

Presidents, Presidents - proud are we!
Jackson, Polk, and Johnson - three!
Crockett, Forrest, and John Sevier;
Alvin York and Hull lived here!

Baker, Gores, and Kefauver,
Served our country with honor!
U.T., Memphis and Vandy U.,
Tennessee Tech and Sewanee, too!

Appalachian Mountains, mountains high -
Reaching up in the smoky sky!
Tennessee River, flowing through -
We will cross near the Choo Choo!

Dollywood and Walking Horse Show!
Opryland and the Opry Show!
Whisky, whisky - sipping smooth -
Moon, Moon Pies and Goo Goo Goos!

Reelfoot Lake and cotton fields,
Natchez Trace and Civil War fields!
Mocking birds and raccoons grow,
And tulip poplars and iris show!

Bessie Smith and Memphis blues -
W.C. Handy and Elvis, too!
Eastman, Oak Ridge, and TVA -
Nissan, Saturn, and Country Music pay!

Chickasaw, Sequoyah, and Cherokee -
Cumberland Plateau and Mississippi!
BIRTHDAY WISHES ON 200 YEARS -
GIVE TENNESSEE A BIG, BIG CHEER!

Coming Apart At Every Nail, or The BP Deepsh*t Disaster

Given the constant failure of "blowout preventers" in offshore oil wells, and a lack of technology to create reliable fail-safe methods of capping an endlessly oil spewing mess, one simple and very old tactic almost always works.

It's a relief well, just like the two being drilled now in the Gulf of Mexico. Some online folks began talking last week about how Canada requires oil companies to create a relief well for all offshore drilling before said companies are allowed to drill.

Except that is not quite true and even today, BP is pushing Canada to drop that requirement, citing the costs involved.

"• Canadian regulations about relief wells are not quite as simple as the Reuters story suggested. • Oil companies do not actually have to drill relief wells in advance. Rather, in order to get a drilling permit they have to satisfy the National Energy Board that they have the capability to drill a relief well the same season as the exploratory well.
---
"In 2008, BP paid C$1.2 billion ($1.8 billion) for rights to explore three parcels in Canada's Beaufort Sea, north of the Arctic Circle.

It has yet to announce plans to drill in the region but shortly before the U.S. disaster, BP and other oil companies urged Canadian regulators to drop a requirement stipulating that companies operating in the Arctic had to drill relief wells in the same season as the primary well."

So many who previously moaned about the intrusion of government now see government as superhero.

Confusion grows in times like these. Getting information is important, but a recent transcript of a Q and A with reporters and Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen offers mostly confusion.

"Q: (Inaudible) - (inaudible) (expect that 2,000 acres to fill in), but it's more like 30 acres, do you have any updates on that and how (inaudible)?

ADM. ALLEN: We're beginning conversation of what I would call linear versus top (inaudible). And I think probably the best thing for us to do is - (inaudible) - folks a couple of days to - sit down and come up with a (inaudible) (metric). (Inaudible) - miles of shoreline doesn't necessarily equate the impact you're looking at with the half-mile in the marsh. And I understand the difference there and we will reconcile - (inaudible).

And today I read where the underwater robots bedecked with diamond-edged saws which BP is using to try and cut off part of the leaking pipe so they can contain some of the spill is stuck in the pipe.

Yearly Spill Larger Than Gulf Oil Disaster

Am I the only one who can hear the damn clue phone ringing away like mad?

"In fact, more oil is spilled from the delta's network of terminals, pipes, pumping stations and oil platforms every year than has been lost in the Gulf of Mexico, the site of a major ecological catastrophe caused by oil that has poured from a leak triggered by the explosion that wrecked BP's Deepwater Horizon rig last month.

That disaster, which claimed the lives of 11 rig workers, has made headlines round the world. By contrast, little information has emerged about the damage inflicted on the Niger delta. Yet the destruction there provides us with a far more accurate picture of the price we have to pay for drilling oil today."

---

"With 606 oilfields, the Niger delta supplies 40% of all the crude the United States imports and is the world capital of oil pollution. Life expectancy in its rural communities, half of which have no access to clean water, has fallen to little more than 40 years over the past two generations. Locals blame the oil that pollutes their land and can scarcely believe the contrast with the steps taken by BP and the US government to try to stop the Gulf oil leak and to protect the Louisiana shoreline from pollution."

More here and here.

Oh, and those "blowout preventers" are famous for failing on a constant basis, and officials lied to cover it up.

Camera Obscura: More 'Lost"; Remaking "True Grit"; Coney Island; Withered Sex in the City

One of the most scathing and gleeful takedowns ever offered in a movie review was presented this week for the new sequel to the "Sex and the City" franchise. I've seen just enough of the TV show to know it ain't for me, and the following excerpts from the review indicate audiences should not just turn away from the sequel, but run screaming.

"[The movie] takes everything that I hold dear as a woman and as a human—working hard, contributing to society, not being an entitled !$#@ like it's my job—and rapes it to death with a stiletto that costs more than my car. It is 146 minutes long, which means that I entered the theater in the bloom of youth and emerged with a family of field mice living in my long, white mustache. This is an entirely inappropriate length for what is essentially a home video of gay men playing with giant Barbie dolls."

The full review by Lindy West is hilarious.

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One of the more tantalizing bits from the finale of "Lost" was that the lovable Hurley took over the "guardianship" of the weird island, and that the cool and dangerous badness of the character of Linus would be his second in command. And word arrived this week that the DVD set for the final season will include a 12 minute or so epilogue which is taken from that odd alliance of Hurley/Linus.

So here, from season 4, is a brief moment of Hurley and Linus sort of being friends as they wait for an island mystery to manifest and/or explain itself.



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Smart, cutting edge science fiction which brilliantly (and sometimes hilariously) forecasts the future resides in two books - "Neuromancer" by William Gibson from 1984, and "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson (1992). Is it smart or worthwhile to try and make movies from them?

Neuromancer and Snow Crash are two of my favorite books and are also two of the most groundbreaking and powerful novels of the last 30 years. And while some have been hovering over the books in hopes of making a movie from them, I really don't ever see that happening. But director Vincenzo Natali ("Cube") is working on it. He just finished a movie version of J.G. Ballard's novel "High Rise", but both Neuromancer and Snow Crash are far more complex tales. My suggestion is that you read the novels and marvel at their excellence.

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Jeff Bridges tackles John Wayne's Oscar-winning role as Rooster Cogburn and Matt Damon tackles the Glen Campbell role in a remake of "True Grit" from the Coen brothers, which is wrapping up production this weekend in Austin, TX. Blogger Joe O'Connell has been keeping track of the production and has some nifty pics from the production of True Grit. A sample with Bridges wearing Rooster's iconic eye patch (newcomer Hailee Stanfield, as Mattie, is also seen below, wearing a black dress). More are at the link.



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Since it's Memorial Day Weekend, it's worth noting that Coney Island is getting a sort of re-do and update as a new Luna Park opens:



The Village Voice has a massive article on the Past, Present and Future of Coney Island well worth the read.

photographer Weegee's Coney Island, 1940

Teen Werewolf Gangs As News?

A TV station scrapes the bottom with this "report" on "teenage werewolves".



It's generating some hilarious online chatter:

"You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm kind of hoping the jocks get their shit together and start kicking everyone's ass again.
posted by Pastabagel at 1:41 PM on May 25

Actually, maybe the jocks are waiting for the mummy clique to rear its ugly head before unleashing the wedgie maelstrom.
posted by Pastabagel at 1:42 PM on May 25


I long ago concluded that anybody born after 1981 is insane. This is just further evidence. Now get off my lawn.
posted by jonmc at 4:56 PM on May 25

The Oil War in The Gulf of Mexico

"In fact, there are three fronts. We’ve got the emissions at the bottom of the ocean. We have where the oil is coming to the surface and trying to fight it as far offshore as we can -- you’d rather deal with it there before it even gets close to shore -- and then how you deal when it makes contact with shore. And the three kind of distinct operations require different sets of -- types of capability. And we’re fighting a three-front war basically at once."

That's from Admiral Thad Allen, recently retired from the Coast Guard, and the government's point man on the disastrous and non-stop gusher of oil in the deepwaters of the Gulf of Mexico. KnoxViews has more from Adm. Allen's comments yesterday.

Above that quote, one of several jaw-dropping images featured on The Big Picture. The ever-growing pollution and environmental destruction is hitting the smallest and the largest lifeforms across the region. Here are some other pics from the web site. Click on the images to see them in larger formats, or just click on the link above to The Big Picture.

Webwalk Roundup - Blowout Preventer Fail Edition

It's going to be a long and ugly summer. And it might just go on for decades. BP may soon be the Bad Word of the Decade. Steve Benen writes:

"Robert Barham, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "I think we're looking at many months of intense activity, but then years of follow-up work.... I've been told by the ocean experts this stuff could hang out there on the bottom of the Gulf for more than 100 years. And as long as it's out there, it can come ashore. We might not see big black waves, but we may be seeing a smaller, but serious problem, for years and years to come."

-- It appears clear to me no industry and no corporation and no government agency has the technology and scientific ability to "safely drill" for oil on the shores of America, whether in deep waters or shallow. The following report via NYTimes notes a recently announced "moratorium" on offshore drilling is truly meaningless.

-- Also - will criminal charges be filed against BP?

-- Consistently clueless half-term governor/celebrity Sarah Palin never fails to bring her brand of worthless forward.

-- Elsewhere, which is to say, in a couple of convention rooms in Gatlinburg, TN, state Republicans gather to worship at the altars of the government-hating angry folks who continue to hold Tea Parties. Or as R. Neal puts it in his "goobernatorial" coverage at KnoxViews, those who say government has no place in job creation in Tennessee are utterly out of touch:

"Here are the top ten employers in the Knoxville metro area:

• U.S. Department of Energy - 12610
• The University of Tennessee, Knoxville -9317
• Knox County Public School System -8104
• Covenant Health - 8000
• Mercy Health Partners -8141
• University of Tennessee Medical Center - 3225
• City of Knoxville - 2820
• County of Knox - 2500
• Clayton Homes - 2500
• State of Tennessee - 2401

-- Elsewhere, as in Nevada - chicken costumed protests will not be allowed at polling places this year.

-- Texas tries to corral history books.

-- Summer school trips and programs fall to the economic axe.

It's going to be a long, hot summer.

Paradise "Lost" No More

After more than 121 hours of viewing time, I'm about to finally watch the end of the TV series "Lost", which wraps up Sunday night. To be honest, I'm kind of exhausted - it's been a multi-year effort and while I have deeply enjoyed this program, it's also a relief to finally reach an end point which should (hopefully) wrap up the whole thing.

As much as I enjoy many of the guilty pleasures television offers, I don't think I've ever watched more than a few programs from start to finish. "Twin Peaks", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", and perhaps one or two very short-lived sit-coms. My tastes are absolutely eclectic and personal. I think the only other shows I have seen all episodes for are the original run of "Twilight Zone", and that's only due to syndication and marathons on the Sci-Fi Network (whoops, Sy-Fy, since they have changed their name) and "Futurama" (which returns with a brand new season next month on Comedy Central!!)

So yeah, I lean towards the odd and the science-fiction/fantasy shows. ("Lost" is one of television's few shows to earn awards from such science fiction groups like the Hugos and the Saturn awards, as well as Emmys, and the Actors, Writers and Directors and Producer Guilds and many others.)

And "Lost" does have something in common with the previously mentioned "Twin Peaks" and "Buffy" -- the shows don't make much sense unless you start with the first episode and watch until the final episode. Some will surely tune into the ending not knowing all that has gone before, and don't expect me to explain it or justify my faithful viewership.

Bottom line: Sunday night will mean several hours of watching ABC, as the show ends with a 2 and a half hour finale. And I'll probably watch some of the Jimmy Kimmel Live show afterwards as he talks live with the cast for the show. And no, I offer no sweeping predictions for "what it all means" or "will all the questions and mysteries" be resolved. I've learned to just enjoy the work from the show's creators, and am fairly confident that they will wrap it up quite nicely, thank you very much.

Also - for me, this has been excellent television myth-making and few shows do that right. And as I said, I'm sort of glad to have the end at hand, so I can spend my Tuesday evenings without worrying about catching an episode. And I send my thanks to the cast and creators for their work, it's been very enjoyable and a hell of a ride.

Via Creative Screenwriting, one article by Peter Clines notes:

" 'Lost' was a game changer. It was the series that saved scripted television by showing there was still a market -- a big market -- for well-written, episodic shows that didn't aim for the lowest common denominator. LOST made its viewers think about its characters, their interconnectedness, and the many strange things they discovered. It did this by a masterful use of two storytelling elements: the mystery and the twist."


Articles and stories are offered below via IMDB:

• The Men Who Made "Lost" Last from NYTimes.com
• George Lucas Sends a Letter to "Lost" from The Live Feed
• 50 Questions "Lost" Really Does Need To Answer from io9.com
• Advice for the Writers of the "Lost" Finale from NYMag.com
• Storyboard: Unraveling the "Lost" Island's Paradox from Wired.com
• Lost Without "Lost" from HuffingtonPost.com
  

Will I have more later on "Lost'? That's a mystery I have no answer for ... yet.

America: The Freedom to be Awkward

I often wonder about the things I'm wondering about in the world around me. Much of these concerns could likely just be labeled "worrying", which is a sort of old-fashioned phrase for "anxiety attacks."

Here in the modern now-a-go-go times, many achieving Americans would advise me to drop the worries, make sure I carve out a long-lasting and hefty slice of the American Dream pie and "worry" about keeping that safe.

And there are surely times I wish I could do just that - buffered by a large enough slice, I could let everyone else figure it out for themselves, bask in my domain and revel in whatever it is large slice owners revel in.

All of which directly affects this blog and what appears in it. Who wants to read droning dreads and worries of corruption, greed, disaster, politics, etc etc? I might spend some time reading of such things, but repeating it for you, dear reader, could be most tiresome. Negativity begets itself.

Since day one of this blog, I have included this sub-title under the main - "Being an American requires constant vigilance". It's a warping of another far more famous comment often attributed to Thomas Jefferson - "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance" - but Jefferson never said such a thing.

It was instead an Irish lawyer and politician named John Philpot Curan who said "It is the common fate of the indolent to see their rights become a prey to the active. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt."

As a writer and wordsmith of some leisure, one must dig into words and their origins and meanings, so it is worth noting a few things ... "Vigilant" is taken from the Latin "vigilāre" which means "to be watchful". But one the addition of one letter, the seemingly keen "vigilant" becomes the criminal act of one who is a "vigilante".

Curan, as the above link details, had a rather troubled and complicated life for his tireless devotion to principle and a refusal to compromise and was prone to dueling. Perhaps it is the condition of those who hold fast to principle to venture into troubled waters.

That all said as a forward and preamble for what follows as the actual topic of today's blog post - which is that much of what we do as individuals arises from our families, those we are born with and those we create for ourselves. And really, even that is not the actual point here today - it's that blogging and the internet offers far more than dreads and dire warnings, or at the least, they offer us some humor and less serious (far less serious) considerations too.

Today's Google Trends note that searches for "awkward family photos" are pretty huge. That's because the long-running blog of the same name has now been collected into book form for consumers and has already landed on best-seller lists.

Some examples of what you can see via AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com:


Ah, America!

Rep. Roe Suddenly Sees Flooding Disaster in TN

More shameful election huckstering continues to spill out from 1st District Congressman Phil Roe and land in my email inbox -- today he offered his first response to the massive flooding disaster that struck Tennessee on May 3rd. Maybe he finally read what was posted here on this page on May 4th (his office has been faithfully reading). Or perhaps he noticed the widespread relief efforts from the rest of the state and nation, or the telethons or the army of volunteers who have been toiling for weeks in Tennessee.

Don't get me wrong - I'm happy he's supporting legislation already submitted for additional funds to help the half of this state which has been devastate for weeks.

Still, he's just been sending me far more information since he's begun his re-election campaign than he ever did before. And still, things are wrong in his email -- for instance he writes:

"Nonetheless, the real story lies in the heart of the state’s motto: America at its best."

Technically, the State Motto is "Agriculture and Commerce", adopted in 1987 and the State Slogan is "Tennessee - America At It's Best", adopted in 1965.

It's just the kind of mistake that gives me grave doubts that his attention is ever on our area, much less on the half of the state which has been suffering greatly and continue to do so. He concludes by saying:

"Providing more relief funds for Tennessee is a vital request that needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.

It’s encouraging to see Tennesseans and people across this great nation raise money for disaster relief. Many are also sending supplies and volunteering in communities that have been affected by the flood. There will always be times of challenge; however, the way we respond to those struggles is what makes us great."

Indeed. How one responds to a crisis and when are surely vital issues to consider when casting a vote.

The Deepwater Disaster Was Preventable

An amazing story of survival on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig was presented via 60 Minutes last night and is a must see and read.

Mike Williams' story also details how the massive and unprecedented disaster which continues today to endanger the entire Gulf and likely beyond it could have been prevented, if only those in charge had paid attention to the critical mistakes which BP and Transocean made in the days and weeks before the explosion.

"Down near the seabed is the blowout preventer, or BOP. It's used to seal the well shut in order to test the pressure and integrity of the well, and, in case of a blowout, it's the crew's only hope. A key component is a rubber gasket at the top called an "annular," which can close tightly around the drill pipe.

Williams says, during a test, they closed the gasket. But while it was shut tight, a crewman on deck accidentally nudged a joystick, applying hundreds of thousands of pounds of force, and moving 15 feet of drill pipe through the closed blowout preventer. Later, a man monitoring drilling fluid rising to the top made a troubling find.

"He discovered chunks of rubber in the drilling fluid. He thought it was important enough to gather this double handful of chunks of rubber and bring them into the driller shack. I recall asking the supervisor if this was out of the ordinary. And he says, 'Oh, it's no big deal.' And I thought, 'How can it be not a big deal? There's chunks of our seal now missing?"

The utter damage and destruction is flowing even as I write, and even if the enormous flood of crude oil were to be stopped at this very moment, the devastation and effects will be felt for at least a decade -- or even longer.

Driven by greed and ego, both the businesses and the MMS government officials who sanctioned the work have dealt a crippling blow to our nation and our world, from microbes upwards to nearly every form of life in the region. The Center For Public Integrity reveals that BP has willfully ignored and violated safety plans, that the problem is systemic, and despite efforts of some in government and over $90 million in fines, dozens of lives lost in fiery infernos, the company continues on a path which endangers us all.

"Refinery inspection data obtained by the Center under the Freedom of Information Act for OSHA’s nationwide program and for the parallel Texas City inspection show that BP received a total of 862 citations between June 2007 and February 2010 for alleged violations at its refineries in Texas City and Toledo, Ohio.

"Of those, 760 were classified as 'egregious willful' and 69 were classified as 'willful.' Thirty of the BP citations were deemed “serious” and three were unclassified. Virtually all of the citations were for alleged violations of OSHA’s process safety management standard, a sweeping rule governing everything from storage of flammable liquids to emergency shutdown systems. BP accounted for 829 of the 851 willful violations among all refiners cited by OSHA during the period analyzed by the Center."

UPDATE: Speak To Power compares the disaster in the Gulf to another episode of worldwide destruction and the people who simply have no choice but to wait and see what happens. That's a real definition of horror.

Tennessee Ranked 'Most Corrupt State'

The Daily Beast has just released their rankings for Most Corrupt States here in the good ol' US of A.

The bad news -- Tennessee ranks Number One.

The criteria they cite include:

•Public corruption, 1998—2008: Convictions of elected and other public officials investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Department of Justice.

•Racketeering and Extortion, 1998—2008: Code for organized crime convictions, also investigated by federal agents over an 11-year period, from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

•Forgery and Counterfeiting, 1999—2008: Arrest numbers for producing or distributing fake money and goods over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

•Fraud, 1999—2008: Arrests for false statements or documents produced for personal gain over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

•Embezzlement, 1999—2008: Arrests for surreptitious theft of money over a 10-year period, from the FBI.

By using a decade’s worth of federal data, we were able to minimize changes in local law enforcement efficacy, though some flaws remain: local cases go undocumented, and the FBI data is self-reported by local law enforcement. When combined, however, the data provides a fairly deep look into which jurisdictions are uncovering the most corruption. We leveled the playing field by calculating the numbers on a per-100,000 people basis.

Tennessee's score:

Public Corruption: 18
Racketeering & Extortion: 11
Fraud Rank: 7
Forgery & Counterfeiting: 5
Embezzlement: 9

The community they selected to highlight the dire conditions - Newport, TN:

"Recent Scandal: Here's a foolproof recipe for corruption: a former policeman commingling with gang members. Milburn Williams, a retired police captain from Newport, ringleaders Raymond Hawk and Grant Williams, and 20 others were indicted on racketeering, drug trafficking and a slew of other charges last year in Greeneville. The sting operation was headed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and centered around a chop shop called "H-1 Auto", later renamed "A Automotive." For six years the chop shop was the command post for an operation that allegedly moved stolen property and goods across state lines and sold cocaine and marijuana. The most serious of the charges carry up to $2 million in fines and 40 years in prison.

The others in the Top Ten:

2 - Virginia
3 - Mississippi
4 - Delaware
5 - North Carolina
6 - Florida
7 - Nevada
8 - Pennsylvania
9 - South Carolina
10 - Oklahoma

I've Been Named A Beautiful Blogger

A recent reader for Cup Of JP, Kit at Keep It Trill, has done me a great honor and included me in her awards list for blogs she enjoys and respects and hence I have earned one of her awards.


I truly appreciate the consideration -- and she notes beside the nomination for my blog "One of my latest discoveries. I really like his perspective."


What a fine thing to hear and how generous of her to bestow me with the honor.

I've been enjoying reading her work too at Keep It Trill and urge you to visit. She's not shy, takes some most vocal and smartly written stands on all manner of topics. I'm delighted she likes my blog and I'll bet you'll enjoy her work too - plus she lists in her current awards many others for you to explore as well and I hope you do. She obviously has excellent taste.


Thanks Kit!! (PS - I'll be creating my own list of writers who deserve an award too and will post that ASAP)

A is customary, recipients can post the award pic on their blog, write a little about themselves, and pass this one along to others if they so desire. So ... a few things about me ...

- I'm working hard to do more than just write, write, write though sometimes I seem to take too long to create essays/posts here because it takes me time to ponder on how to say or if it even needs to be said.

-- I stink at doing math.

-- Blogging has allowed me to make friends all over the world.

-- I love watching movies and I want to start making more of my own again.

-- If friends are true wealth, I am fabulously well-to-do.

-- I wonder why we all still depend on a combustion engine, when just about every other technology of the last 100 years has made so many enormous advances. Maybe Apple needs to build an iCar.

Camera Obscura: Trouble Edition - Piranha 3D; Machete; A Gory Double Feature; The Wilhelm Scream Retires?

The last few weeks have been too full of bad news for so many - untold destruction in the Gulf, flooding destruction in Nashville, Icelandic volcanoes, inept evildoers in Time Square, inept politicos babbling and lawmaking, and then there are those daily woes of so many of us scuttling about the planet who become endlessly caught in struggles either brief or prolonged. It seems trouble need be written as Trouble.

Even I, your humble chronicler, had a wee misfortune recently as my nice shiny sedan was rear-ended by a negligent driver. None were hurt, thankfully, though I also noticed yesterday at that same bothersome intersection a wreck had occurred so massive a LifeStar helicopter was forced to land on the highway.

Trouble, Trouble, Trouble.

As the late, great Frank Zappa sang: "There's no way to delay that trouble comin' every day."

Or as the line in the movie Body Heat goes : "Sometimes the shit comes down so heavy I feel like I should wear a hat."

Well, perhaps if we peruse some upcoming movies, we can poke a bit of fun at trouble --

Like the utterly silly "Piranha 3-D", where we find former "Jaws" alum Richard Dreyfuss back in the waters of baaaad fish and addle-brained tourists. (Thankfully no piranha are threatening Nashville, despite earlier reports) --



Lawmakers in Arizona received a very special trailer for the Robert Rodriguez' new movie, "Machete", a Grade-B drive-in style action tale. I love such movies and where else can one see Danny Trejo scare the crap out of Robert DeNiro? Since the trailer is somewhat NSWF, you can click here to see it.

Although I find this very, VERY hard to believe, the most-used scream sound effect in motion picture history, termed "the Wilhelm Scream", may be out of the biz, according to this article. The history of the "scream" (often credited to one-time Hee Haw regular Sheb Wooley) is here. And here's a clip of just some of its uses in movies.



Two super gory horror films are on the loose -- the French film "Inside" and the more recent bizarro movie of a mad scientist sewing people together called "Human Centipede". Trailers are here and here (warning - not for the squeamish). If one wanted a mega-gory double feature, these are the current winners. And "Centipede" director Tom Six claims his if the first of a trilogy. (yeah, we need three of those monstrosities).


For a more upbeat finale, who among us has not wondered - "What if Mr. Potato Head Was The Star Of That Movie?" Full article/images here - sample image of Iron Man Potato Head below.

Flood Damage In Middle TN Offers Grim Picture, Music Stars Rally To Help

A map visualizing the widespread and deadly damage from the flooding in Middle Tennessee was presented via Speak To Power:



Steve Ross notes the damage both physically and economically is mind-boggling:

"The economic impact of this disaster is going to be felt throughout the state for some time. The losses in more rural counties, will likely go unnoticed by the majority of the state for even longer. It’s hard for people, particularly city folk (I know I’m one too) to understand the challenges faced by rural Tennesseans. Most have neither the population density, nor the economic diversity to bounce back quickly. Crops don’t grow faster just because you want them to…neither does livestock. That loss of income is going to take a huge toll on these areas."

Tonight, a host of country music stars and many others will aid in fundraising efforts and in offering support which viewers can take part in and many other music events are planned as well - for a complete rundown of the events, click here. Knoxville's WBIR-TV will also simulcast the event tonite.

Disaster In Middle TN Continues

image via The Tennessean

Floods in Middle TN have been a grim force and the devastation has claimed many lives, and there are fears the death toll will climb as flood waters threaten Nashville and surrounding counties - 52 counties are likely to be labeled disaster areas.

I'm sure many readers in Tennessee and beyond would like to help and there's some info on how to do that just below ...

Friends and family in the area are safe as of now, but the cost has been so high for so many.

The Tennessean has a wide range of reports and images here

KnoxViews has more information,

Southern Beale recounts a loss very close to home

No Silence Here has info on how you can help

More on how you can help from Nashvillest.

image via Nashvillest

No End In Sight For Massive Oil Leak in Gulf

No predictions for the oil well blowout in the Gulf offer much other than disaster. The following points to the situation being far worse than first forecast and the long amount of time before repairs can be effected.

"The Gulf of Mexico oil spill may be growing five times faster than previously estimated and is in danger of accelerating out of control, it was claimed yesterday.

Experts said satellite data indicated the oil was gushing from BP’s sunken Deepwater Horizon rig at 25,000 barrels a day. Previous estimates had put the leak at 5,000 barrels a day.

Professor Ian MacDonald, an ocean specialist at Florida State University, said the new estimate suggested the leak had already spread 9m gallons of heavy crude oil across the Gulf. This compares with 11m that leaked from the Exxon Valdez tanker when it hit a reef off Alaska in 1989.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said deteriorating conditions on the sea bed may result in an even greater flow of 50,000 barrels a day, sufficient to produce one of America’s worst ecological disasters.

Experts and officials said their greatest fear was that a disintegration of pipes close to the rig could produce an “unchecked gusher” that would ravage America’s southern coastline.

As the slick slowly drifted towards fragile shorelines from Louisiana to Florida, there was intensified criticism of BP for apparently underestimating the potential scale of the disaster.

The British oil giant faces questions over how much it knew about previous problems with “blowout preventers”, the giant underwater valves designed to shut down oil flow in the event of accidents.

The valves on the rig failed to work after it exploded on April 20. BP technicians have been unable to activate them even though they appear to be undamaged by the blast.

BP has calculated that it might take up to three months to sink a new well that could cut off the flow of the Deepwater Horizon’s oil.

The worst oil spill affecting US waters was caused by a 1979 blowout aboard the Ixtoc, a Mexican rig that discharged at least 130m gallons, 600 miles south of the Texas coast. It took nine months to plug the leak.

Dem Candidate Clark Calls FAIL On Rep. Roe

After I posted on the fact 1st District Congressman (R) Phil Roe made sure his picture was in the public view for a much needed renovation at East High School in Morristown, using funding Roe voted against, many have taken notice.

Rep. Roe went to his go-to PR machine, the Kingsport Times-News and "reporter" Hank Hayes to defend his shameless publicity grab this week, offering a confusing and somewhat lame defense and here are some excerpts:

"When asked for a response, Roe refused to admit he was wrong and insisted his appearance was not hypocrisy.

“We’re paying it back,” Roe, R-Tenn., said of the funds for the project. “The taxpayers in this district are paying the money back. It’s not hypocrisy. If we had put half of that (stimulus) money into roads, water, sewer, bridges and schools, I would have supported it. Very little of the stimulus package had anything to do with infrastructure.”

---

"It’s not that spending money on infrastructure is a bad idea,” Roe said. “I’m an ex-mayor. I absolutely understand infrastructure better than Mr. Forrester, who’s probably never been mayor of anything. I’ve been involved in instituting policies that have invested over $125 million in infrastructure in Johnson City.

“The question is was (the stimulus) the best way to spend the money?"

Meanwhile, the Democrat candidate Mike Clark who aims to unseat Roe (and yes, I'll be supporting Clark's efforts to change the 120-year-plus choke-hold the Republicans have had on this district) offers a response:

"Perhaps he has a perception problem, or perhaps it’s simply that once again, Republican Congressman Phil Roe doesn't understand the concept of what his constituents need and want.

According to a recent story by Hank Hayes in the Kingsport Times News, Dr. Roe is once again arguing - and defending - his 'No' on the stimulus bill.

Roe’s been caught taking credit and making appearances at projects he voted against - and apparently he doesn't feel the need to apologize to his constituents for his misdirection.

Think again, Mr. Congressman. You voted against job creation, and then took credit for that creation. You take credit for improvements in education, new school projects and other things - and you voted against the bill that made them possible. That's plain wrong. If there's anything the constituents of the 1st Congressional district despise it's a politician who attempts to take credit for other people's work.

Dr. Roe said in the recent Times News article: "The question is, was (the stimulus) the best way to spend the money? Could you have gotten more bang for your buck doing it a different way?”

Besides the obvious answer - that the economy needed to be boosted immediately, not at some point after the GOP had 'whittled on it' awhile, one has to wonder if Dr. Roe and his party bosses actually saw any need at all to fix the economy. Time and time again his party's spokesmen - such as Rush Limbaugh - have openly hoped the Obama Administration would fail at its quest to restore this great nation to its pre-Bush era prosperity. Is Dr. Roe in accord with Mr. Limbaugh's desires?

We do know that the way suggested by the Republican Party, as presented by Dr. Roe, is not the answer.

"What we should have done was go ahead and cut taxes for business, and cut capital gains taxes ... so businesses could create jobs and create wealth," he said. Don't be surprised if that sounds familiar; its the same recipe for disaster that created the massive deficit the Obama Administration was handed in January, 2008, the same Republican litany since the Golden Age of Ronald Reagan.

Most economists felt the stimulus package passed by Congress would work - and it has. The bill's passage created a new opportunity for businesses to create more jobs. In fact, many economists feel even more is necessary to keep the economy growing create more jobs and at the same time address our infrastructure needs. But that stands little chance of happening with the lock step Republican Congress and Senate.

According to the New York Times, some of the best-known economic research firms - IHS Global Insight, Macroeconomic Advisers and Moody’s - all estimate that the stimulus package implemented last year - which Dr. Roe was apparently against until he had to be for it in order to face his constituents - has added 1.6m to 1.8 million jobs so far - and it could ultimately create up to 2.5 million jobs. If that isn't enough, the Times adds that "The Congressional Budget Office, an independent agency, considers these estimates to be conservative."

Ask the folks in Morristown - that city received $11.2 million in bonds for school construction, according to the Kingsport Times-News, or ask the folks in Hawkins County - that county received more than $2.6 million for two middle school projects. Johnson City got $8.1 million for a project at Science Hill High School; Kingsport and Sullivan County received $1.2 million for renovations at Dobyns-Bennett High School and $15.4 million to renovate and expand Ketron Intermediate School.

Overall, 56,000 jobs in Tennessee were created through this year’s first quarter, with nearly $6 billion in stimulus money being committed to the state. In a state the size of Tennessee, that's a lot of jobs.

Dr. Roe, if your polling data tells you 87 percent of your constituents think the stimulus bill was a bad idea, perhaps you need to ask your polling company to change its methodology - because its made a lot of people in your district very happy despite your best efforts to paint it otherwise. Besides that, however - it comes down to leadership. A true leader will see the benefits to his constituents and vote for the people who put him in office, not for the Republican hierarchy who tells him how to vote.

As we've said before, it all comes down to what you value. And once again, Dr. Roe and his Republican bosses value politics over people - even while they try to take credit for others' success."

Vacationing A 'Human Right' Says Europe

Vacationing is a human right according to the European Union and they are launching a program to make sure those in Europe who might not be able to afford one will still get one.

EU member nations already mandate 4 weeks of vacation per year, and some countries mandate more (6 weeks in France). And the plan proposed by EU Commissioner Antonio Tajani calls for folks in southern Europe to travel North and vice-versa, meaning they are not calling for subsidized vacations to Tahiti or Vegas.

Yes, subsidized:

"The plan -- just who gets to enjoy the travel package has yet to be determined -- would see taxpayers footing some of the vacation bill for seniors, youths between the ages of 18 and 25, disabled people, and families facing "difficult social, financial or personal" circumstances. The disabled and elderly can also be accompanied by one other person. The EU and its taxpayers are slated to fund 30% of the cost of these tours, which could range from youth exploring abandoned factories and power plants in Manchester to retirees taking discount trips to Madrid, all in the name of cultural appreciation.

"The commission is literally considering paying people to go on holiday," Mats Persson, of pro-reform think-tank Open Europe, told Britain's News of the World. "In this economic climate, it's astonishing that the EU wants to bribe people with cheap holidays."

Since the nation of Greece is in financial meltdown, it's unclear if the entire EU will go along with this plan.

I am willing to travel (on a paid basis) to explore this topic further.