Local Soldier, Firefighter Tells Legislature Not To Strip Rights Away

As both a soldier currently in Kuwait, a Morristown firefighter and a Tennessee citizen - SFC Rob Croxdale is reaching out to the Tennessee legislature and demanding they back off their efforts to silence his political voice. HB 0549 would prohibit public employees from having their organizational dues used to lobby the government and express their political will.

In a letter to committee chair Rep. Todd Curry, Rob writes:

"It has come to my attention that your committee is reviewing a bill (HB 0594) that would take away my right as a Firefighter to engage in the political process. This right ensures me that I have a voice in what takes place in legislation that covers my benefits, and most importantly, safety issues that cover my brother and sister Firefighters.

Taking the right or legislating it to the point to where it would become useless or even criminal to engage in the political process, is contradictory to the very reason I have been a twenty-year-plus veteran of the Tennessee Army National Guard.

My fellow Guardsman and I are also involved in the National Guard Association of the United States. This organization is involved with the political process as well. Even as a member of the Armed Forces, I am allowed to participate in the political process. I cannot do so in uniform. The same applies to me now as a Firefighter.

I have served this country and the Tennessee National Guard for over twenty years. I have done so because of the rights that were passed on to me by those who have given their lives to ensure that I could enjoy them. Now, I find out that one of these rights may be in jeopardy. I am truly offended that this particular legislation is actually being put on paper, not only as a Firefighter but as a Soldier.

If you are able to get this legislation to pass, are you gong to tell my fellow Soldiers that we can no longer be active in the political process?

Taking away the rights of others in order to make your job as elected officials easier is wrong and quite frankly lazy. ... Sitting down with a Firefighter and discussing issues that affect his/her livelihood should be considered an honor."

I've always been proud that Rob is a friend of mine as he has tirelessly served in a most selfless manner both here at home and overseas - he puts his life on the line daily. He and his family bear a burden most of us choose not to bear at all. He - and all those in the public sector who serve with him - demand more respect than the Republicans in Tennessee are offering. I encourage you to read all of his letter here and hope you will contact your legislator too and tell them how wrong they are with this proposal.

Rep. Blackburn Against Free Speech

Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn led Congress last week to strip the constitutional right of free speech from one single news organization claiming it was for fiscal savings - but her opening remarks on the bill make it clear:

"I rise in strong support of HR1076, a bill to get the federal government and federal taxpayers out of the business of buying radio programs they do not agree with."

Certainly, some taxpayers and some in federal government do not agree with what they hear on NPR. Some, however, do agree. Most importantly, as noted at Poynter.org:

"My concern is that the federal government would grant money to local public radio stations — supposedly in the public interest — and then make a law abridging the right of those stations to air certain content.

... every day at work when I walk into the Poynter Institute (I can see) a large marble plaque that contains the words of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Here they are:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

There, in one sentence, our five most precious freedoms are protected. The two words that stand out to me in today’s reading are: “no law.”

As for the sudden emergency need to slash spending - a whole one-ten-thousandth of one percent for NPR - Rep. Blackburn felt much differently last fall when she gave bonuses to her own congressional staff. Just the cost of salaries alone for her office were:

"Total salaries for Blackburn's staff in 2010 were $1,077,251 compared with $1,044,681 in 2009, according to LegiStorm."
In total:

"U.S. House members from Tennessee saw their legislative staff budgets increase in 2010 through fourth-quarter bonuses, part of a trend in which the nation's returning members paid $19 million more for their staffs last year than in 2009." $19 million is more than 3 times the amount ($5 million) being defunded for NPR.

Thanks for no savings, Rep. Blackburn, and thanks for opposing free speech.

Anti-Science Bill Advances in Tennessee Legislature

Today hearings are scheduled on a bill to force teachers and curriculum creators in Tennessee to teach superstitions in science classes.

Knoxville Rep. Bill Dunn was very careful in presenting HB 368 so it hides the anti-science goals, but the result is clear - science classes must present science itself as controversial and the bill promotes a deep lack of understanding of what "scientific theory" means. As for who should help create these low standards - not scientists, of course - but administrators. The bill only defines as "controversial" a select set of areas: "biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning." And, as noted below, Rep. Dunn's legislation is the creation of evangelical Christians.

Rep. Dunn's aim of injecting politics into school science classes is a dangerous act. And his proposed new state law is a part of a nationwide effort to use the schoolroom as a political tool to promote political agendas. These bogus ideas are labeled "Academic Freedom" bills, which sounds nice, but really point to a desire to eliminate critical study and reject the history of scientific investigation, and the legislation is drafted by evangelical organizations:

"... 'academic freedom' bills that are being introduced by state lawmakers around the country instruct educators to teach students about “both sides” of controversial issues—most notably on evolution. The Seattle-based, pro-intelligent design Discovery Institute is behind efforts to introduce many of these bills and has proposed sample legislation for lawmakers to follow.

Since the Louisiana bill was passed (making it the only state to have actually passed an academic freedom bill into law), proposed bills have included global warming and human cloning on the list of “controversial topics,” as they encourage “thinking critically” about the “relationships between explanations and evidence.”

More recently, in Kentucky, a bill was introduced in the Legislature that would encourage teachers to discuss “the advantages and disadvantages of scientific theories,” including “evolution, the origins of life, global warming, and human cloning.”

Other troubling aspects of this dumbed-down educational law includes the following confusions for teachers:

"Some teachers may be unsure of the expectations concerning how they should present information on such subjects."

Whose expectations? Those of the uneducated and misinformed? The really loud folks who think science is a colossal hoax?

Schools must also insure " ...respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues."

Respect for the scientific method, peer review, and the actual scientific meaning of the concepts of "theory" and "experimentation" .... well, let's just push that aside. Since new data and observations are made in most scientific fields of study as a result of the work of scientists, then, yes, concepts and theories are often revised. But it's a huge leap in thinking to claim that science is mostly mistaken guesswork and inherently controversial.

SEE ALSO: Bill O'Reilly does not understand science either, but he does a TV show and YouTube channel to share his nonsense.

Contempt for Students and Free Speech in Tennessee

UPDATE: State Senator Randy McNally of Oak Ridge wants the students who protested to be expelled from college. More contempt for free speech and students from the Republican-led legislature.

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Hysteria and falsehoods from state officials flowed heavily when a group of Tennessee college students disrupted a legislative committee meeting this week - most troubling is the hateful attitude on display which shows pure contempt for free speech and civil disobedience. Oh, that awful civil disobedience ...

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, the would-be Tea Party Governor, let fly a whopper:

"The right of all citizens to protest and assemble peacefully is sacred in the State of Tennessee,” Ramsey said in a statement. “However, this General Assembly will not be intimidated by nomadic bands of professional agitators on spring break bent on disruption. We talk through our differences here. Tennessee is not Wisconsin.”

Yeah, those darn students!! Darn elitist education seekers!! Speaking out of turn!! Arrest them!! Jail them!!! Spring Break, boooooo!!! And it's so disappointing to hear a lifelong politician say we have "rights" - except when they are used. You can "talk through our differences" when we decide it is okay for you to talk.

Tom Humphrey covered the spectacle and the comments from readers stoke the hysteria:

"Yes, these are the same thugs (Organized for America hoods) that were at the Union Rally at the Plaza on Mar.5th. Several walked up to us (the Counter-Protesters-read Tea Party) and asked "Ya wanna pick a fight"? They are being funded by MoveOn.org (soros $) and are well-funded. They are being paid. These are Obama's "Army". Freedom & Rights for Them, no one else!"

But, as already noted, the protesters were just Tennessee students demanding a voice in how education policy is created:

"The previous comment is a joke. I was one of the participants in the direction action today, and know all but a couple of the others very well. None of us were at the March 5 rally (not that we don't support the efforts of teachers to fight for their own rights) and we are certainly not connected to Organized for America in any way. OFA was/is an Obama support group that would never dream of endorsing a direct action such as what we pulled off today.

And as for us being well-funded (or funded at all), that's absolutely false. None of us have any connection to MoveOn, nor did we receive any funding whatsoever from any other source except our own jobs. We are just workers from all over the state who are tired of having our rights assaulted by the super rich and their legislative allies and decided to do something about it. I'm sad to see other workers join the Tea Party to support the interests of corporations over the interests of workers. Y'all are some very confused individuals. And everything you said in your comment is just straight up false and made up.

P. S. Most of us don't even like Obama. He refuses to stand up for working people, instead supporting tax cuts for the wealthy and spending cuts on programs that benefit ordinary people. I didn't vote for him in 2008 and I won't vote for him in 2012."

The truth is that very highly organized and fabulously wealthy business, corporate, and out-of-state groups get invited and seated at conference tables in legislative committee hearings, get called in as experts in their fields, are praised and lauded by elected officials -- and are not called "professional nomads of agitation", are they?

Every Tennessee legislator knows the education issues - from pre-school through college - are under intense scrutiny and residents and workers have rights to express their views, and even to peacefully protest and yes, even disrupt meetings. It's one way to petition government and demand representation.

To insult them - like Knoxville Senator Campfield or Lt. Gov. Ramsey - shows these "leaders" have nothing but contempt for the ideals of free speech, nothing but contempt for students and education.

On Wednesday, Gov. Haslam retreated from the national Republican plan to strip away all collective bargaining for teachers, which shows that he knows the national plan led by Wisconsin Gov. Walker has been a huge FAIL.

Legislation crafted by Gov. Haslam and Rep. Beth Harwell would allow collective bargaining for basic pay and benefits but still excludes several items Republicans, as a national party plan, want to remove, including the union's rights to make political donations from the dues of members.

Yet, even that proposal is pure political blackmail and goes against recent Supreme Court decisions regarding free speech for corporations and unions.

Rep. Glen Casada is leading the hypocritical forces in this shady tactic. His newest legislation proves it by claiming only one type of organized political financial donations - from corporations - should be allowed, while criminalizing organized workers and limiting their financial donations. Of course, labor unions tend to donate more to Democrats - Rep. Casada and the new Republicans in charge want to stop that cold.

His plan is to remove restrictions now in place on how much corporations can give directly to candidates - but he's already filed bills to make it illegal for unions to donate to political campaigns and to ban the ability of unions to use funds for any political donations.

Rep. Casada tells the Tennessean something very hypocritical in defense of his pro-corporate money plan:

"However unions are treated, that's how corporations should be treated," Casada said. "That's my bottom line."

He then adds that he'll withdraw his anti-union bills if the legislature approves his pro-corporate one. Sounds like political blackmail.

All in all - it shows that free speech and political participation for the few and not all are being pushed into place.

The Laser Beam Focus of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey

"I’m focused like a laser beam on job creation and education." -- Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey

"But providing someone a small tax incentive, or giving them a sales tax holiday, is almost hokey, in my opinion. So yes, there are things like that …that we can help jobs…, help train their work force. But those are the things we should be doing anyway, and you can tailor-make those to individual projects. But you’re not going to grow the economy overall by some government program." -- Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey

Jeff Woods at The City Paper points to the fact that Republican legislators in Tennessee are focused on many issues other than jobs and education, unless you count the bills to change/remove union representation for teachers (dubiously phrased as "Education Reform"):

"Also among the measures drawing scorn:

Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, is calling for Tennessee to study establishing a monetary system of its own to be ready “in the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System, for which the state is not prepared …”

Sen. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, thinks it’s a good idea to set up a committee of legislators to pick and choose which federal laws are constitutional and presumably therefore OK to follow.

In a bill spawned by the Obama “birther” conspiracy theory, Senate Judiciary Committee chair Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, wants to force candidates on Tennessee’s ballot to prove U.S. citizenship by producing their birth certificates.

“Such distractions should anger Tennesseans who look to elected representatives for leadership, fresh ideas, responsible behavior and efforts to help responsibly guide the state, promote economic development and create a better-educated workforce,” The Jackson Sun wrote in a stinging editorial listing many of the legislature’s more unusual proposals.

Ketron, also sponsor of the bill against Shariah law, has been singled out for special abuse on Twitter from wisecracking state political observers.

“Sen. Ketron to propose legislation stating that Tennessee courts must apply Miller Lite’s ‘Man Law’ to all disputes,” the liberal blogger Ilissa Gold wrote in a representative tweet.

Ketron maintains his bill would give the state the authority to go after Muslim terrorists. But even his hometown newspaper, the Daily News Journal, ridicules that claim. The state doesn’t need or want that power, the newspaper said in an editorial, adding that the legislation is worded so broadly that it could cause problems for “anyone who practices a core set of principles such as praying toward Mecca five times a day, abstaining from alcohol, fasting during Ramadan or following Shariah rules for finance.”

In its own editorial, the Knoxville News Sentinel said Ketron’s proposal “would basically outlaw Islam” and called it “obviously unconstitutional and an embarrassment to the entire state.”

Critics say many of these around-the-bend bills are coming from far-right organizations and are put forth by grandstanding lawmakers without much thought. Beavers’ “birther” proposal seems to be one such bill. It requires candidates to produce a “long-form birth certificate.” During an appearance on the Internet’s Reality Check Radio, Beavers conceded she didn’t even know what that was.

“Now, you’re asking me to get into a lot of things that I haven’t really looked into yet,” the senator told the show’s host when he asked about that.

As for President Obama, Beavers said: “I have no personal knowledge about whether or not he was eligible [to run for president] or not, but there have been a lot of questions about it, and I think it just begs the question, you know, who’s really checking on this?”

A bill by Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, requires public schools to “create an environment” in which teachers “respond appropriately and respectfully to differences of opinion about controversial issues,” including evolution. It also orders administrators to “assist teachers to find effective ways to present the science curriculum as it addresses scientific controversies.”

Dunn insists he aims only to promote “critical thinking” in schools about the origins of life. But opponents say the bill is clearly intended to open the door to teaching intelligent design in public schools, and creationists admit they support the proposal. David Fowler, of the Rev. James Dobson’s Family Action Council, touted the bill in an opinion piece in the online publication, The Chattanoogan.

“Certainly intelligent design theory is not without its critics, and if the subject is going to be taught, then discussion of those criticisms is appropriate,” Fowler wrote. “But it is also appropriate that students understand that intelligent design is a theory that many scientists are beginning to consider and hold because of the weaknesses in the scientific evidence supporting evolution.”

Wesley Roberts, a Hume-Fogg High School science teacher, testified against the bill during one day’s hearings. He said it invites “ghost stories” into the classroom.

“I cannot imagine a student demanding by legislative authority that we include faith healing in a discussion of vaccinations,” he said. “It takes us backward. Science is not a democratic process in which anyone’s opinion, no matter how non-scientifically based, counts. It’s a process that deals only with reason, logic and proof.”

Dunn, whose bill still is pending in the House subcommittee, dismisses such concerns. He said he was acting in part because a child came to him and questioned why humans and chimpanzees don’t have the same number of chromosomes if they come from common ancestors.

Dunn insisted his bill wouldn’t lead to the teaching of intelligent design but would foster a more wide-ranging and open discussion of how life began. Louisiana enacted the same proposal in 2008, and there have been no reports of the teaching of creationism there, he said.

“There are things that are possible, and maybe that’s what’s alarming you,” he told his critics during one subcommittee meeting. “There are things that are probable. It is possible that Elvis Presley is alive. It’s not very probable.”

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey blames criticism of the legislature on the news media, which he says focuses on the weird and controversial.

Read the whole article here.

A Catastrophe Beyond Words

(source)

The massive sorrows and terrors in the wake of the tsunami which hit Japan are too many to count.

I have numerous friends who have many loved ones there, and I hate to imagine what they have been going through. The loss of life and safety today are at brutal levels, and sadly, will likely increase for so many. Words plunked down here on this blog fail to capture the grim realities facing the island nation.

This event is global - tsunami waves traveled some 5,000 miles from Japan to California in mere hours. Scientists report the entire planet shifted and the main island itself moved from 8 to 12 feet following the quake which ruptured the the planet's crust in an area about 250 miles long and 100 miles wide.

We each of us have life-challenging days, but coming face to face with the ocean's raw fury and the shifting of the very surface of the planet is nearly beyond comprehension.

Recovery efforts will bring even heavier burdens.

If you are able to offer assistance, I hope you will.

I marvel at how some survived, such as 60-year-old Hiromitsu Shinkawa, who was clinging to the roof of his home as the waves hit, and both he and the roof were swept out into the ocean, where he was finally discovered by rescuers after two days and some 10 miles from shore.

America's Education Meltdown

"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?" -- former president George Bush

You can get all A's and still flunk life. -- Walker Percy

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Now that Wisconsin has moved ahead with the elimination of collective bargaining practices for teachers as a new state policy and not as a means of cutting spending, WI Republicans also admit their motivation is a nationwide political tactic against Democrats -- and the pawns in their game are your schools.

Tennessee - "We will bend public education to our awe, or break it all to pieces."


Indiana - "The fight over these bills is why House Democrats are, in essence, on strike. They remain in an Urbana, Ill., hotel, refusing to give Republicans the quorum they need."

Idaho - “Good teachers do not need tenure.”

Michigan - "Gov. Snyder's budget plan amounts to a $470-per-pupil cut in state aid that will cause financial upheaval in some school districts."

Florida - "The proposal would scrap the traditional model that bases teacher salaries and firing decisions on seniority. At least half of teachers’ pay would be tied to student performance, and all teachers would receive annual instead of continuing contracts.

Worth noting too -- the constant push for schools to achieve high scores on standardized tests in order to receive funding and evaluate students and teachers has created a system where the test scorers are told to make sure and give schools higher scores:

"The legitimacy of testing is being taken for granted," he says. "It's a farce."

"Though the efficacy of standardized testing has been hotly debated for decades, one thing has become crystal clear: It's big business. ... In 2009, K-12 testing was estimated to be a $2.7 billion industry."

See Also: A look at states and their current legislative agendas on Education policies.

Stacked Against The American Worker

The current trend of targeting large reductions in employee benefits for health care and retirement should be yet another sharp signal to the American workforce, along with the targeted elimination of employee unions and retirement systems in general (see previous post here).

And the signal continues to be: workers should not have rights. An insistence on living wages and benefits are hurtful to companies, cuts into shareholder profits, and even the phrase "workers rights" invokes that stench of Socialism and Communism.

And despite a near-steady unemployment rate nationwide of 9% or higher, overall productivity has been rising in the last few years at a steady clip. Workers who want to keep their jobs must produce more and keep longer hours. And company owners surely are reluctant to increase their payrolls and hire workers when - hey! Productivity, earnings and output are on the rise!

"American businesses earned profits at an annual rate of $1.66 trillion in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or non-inflation-adjusted terms. Corporate profits have been going gangbusters for a while. Since their cyclical low in the fourth quarter of 2008, profits have grown for seven consecutive quarters, at some of the fastest rates in history..." (via Digby)

The company mind-set continues to hem in workers at every turn: if you expect companies to pay a greater share of the tax base, then all products will cost consumers more and will compel companies to send more jobs overseas to locations that don't require living wages, benefits, or a work week of 40 hours.

In Congress, leaders say they have a "mandate" from the public to gut federal spending ... but ...

"The Bloomberg poll finds most Americans more concerned with job creation than deficit reduction -- imagine that -- but when it comes to ideas to actually reduce the budget shortfall, the only popular ideas are cutting foreign aid, withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan, and raising taxes on households earning more than $250,000 a year.

What's unpopular? The entire GOP agenda: 66% of Americans don't want cuts to community renewal programs, 72% don't want cuts to medical and scientific research, 77% don't want cuts to education programs ..."


This recent narrative that teachers, unions, the elderly, the sick, the educated, and the poor are the ones destroying the economic status holds no water. Also in doubt - that the Federal government is broke:

"The U.S. government is not broke,” said Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. in New York. “There’s no evidence that the market is treating the U.S. government like it’s broke.”

The U.S. today is able to borrow at historically low interest rates, paying 0.68 percent on a two-year note that it had to offer at 5.1 percent before the financial crisis began in 2007. Financial products that pay off if Uncle Sam defaults aren’t attracting unusual investor demand. And tax revenue as a percentage of the economy is at a 60-year low, meaning if the government needs to raise cash and can summon the political will, it could do so." (also via Digby)

Business is seeing record-level profits, record low taxation - about the only remaining place they can go is after worker pay and benefits. What is becoming very clear - there is less of a Right and Left political battle and more of battle between ultra-rich and a diminished middle class.

What's the American worker to do?

In Tennessee, state legislators like Sen. Bill Ketron are pushing bills (and really pushing panic) supporting the development of a state currency to replace the dollar.

And there's the fact that Wisconsin is claiming a "budget crisis" as a reason to remove collective bargaining for teacher pay and Tennessee is pushing the exact same removal of teacher bargaining but instead of "budget crisis" the cause is labeled "education reform".

The fact is, the goal here is to eliminate influence from organized workers while giving a greater voice to owners, and as noted last year, workers and voters might best be served if their elected officials simply wore the corporate logos of the businesses they represent.

Rep. Roe Embraces Big Oil, Derides Current Technology, As An "Energy Policy"

As mentioned here last week, Congressman Phil Roe voted to keep over $40 billion in tax subsidies for giant oil companies and just days later he issues a "press release" on U.S. energy policy which can be boiled down to three words: Drill, baby, drill.

In his ongoing slavish devotion to oil and fossil fuels, he dismisses other energy sources:

"Over the long run, I believe alternative energy sources, like wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric and agricultural products and technologies are part of the solution. However, it’s important that we recognize that many of these technologies are, at best, years from being widely available and not yet commercially viable, which means that we will continue relying on more traditional energy sources for quite some time."

Someone forgot to inform him of his own state's innovative steps in solar power alone, which has brought over $2 billion in investments and thousands of jobs at one new project alone from Hemlock:

"This is a “watershed of economic development in Tennessee,” said Matt Kessner of the Economic Development Council. “New jobs in the development of sustainable energy.”

After a two-year global site search, Dow Corning and the Hemlock group opted to make an initial $1.2 billion initial investment in the construction of a new polycrystalline silicon (polysilicon) manufacturing and development facility. Polysilicon is key to the development of solar industry. Groundbreaking on the new plant is expect early in 2009, creating up to 1,000 jobs in construction and related crafts during the building phase; the facility is earmarked to open in 2012.

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen joined Hemlock’s CEO and President Rick Doornbos in making the announcement. “It’s the right company in the right community at the right time,” Bredesen said of what will ultimately be a $2 billion investment. “What they make is what has to happen to make solar energy. The numbers are staggering.” Bredensen noted that t is not simply the immediate creation of new job but the ability to also attract related industries and suppliers to the state and the region."

There's also.the $200 million solar energy plant in Clinton, TN.

And Sharp Electronics new solar plant in Memphis.

As for providing anywhere near the massive $40 billion in tax subsidies of big oil for new technology and development of solar and wind power - the federal programs are paltry.

No, Rep. Roe just wants more coal and oil, with less and less regulation for safety, bemoaning the reality that fossil fuel companies don't want to pay for cleaner and safer operations out of their own deep and rich profits.

Reading his press release, it sounds like he's really ready now to take on the old ideas of the 1970s, like Jimmy Carter's bold plan of turning down the thermostat:

"Energy independence is one of the greatest goals we can achieve as a nation. The solution to reduce rising energy costs involves looking forward, not backward. Bringing down the cost of energy will not happen overnight, but is essential to consider ways we can all make our own use of energy more efficient."

Someone needs to inform him the actual date is 2011 in America.

Philip K. Dick's Dystopian World Taking Over?

"Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups...So I ask, in my writing, What is real? Because unceasingly we are bombarded with pseudo-realities manufactured by very sophisticated people using very sophisticated electronic mechanisms. I do not distrust their motives; I distrust their power. They have a lot of it. And it is an astonishing power: that of creating whole universes, universes of the mind."


It should not be surprising - but it is - that we seem to be truly inhabiting the dystopian world envisioned by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. His works explored perception, reality, paranoia, corporate worship, identity, computer technologies, constant surveillance, the mass marketing of tragedy, an emerging global polyglot society and so much more which seems to resonate so strongly with generation after generation. And today his ideas serve as a rich and fertile field for cultural exploration.

Reports are flying today of the rights being secured to create sequels and prequels a TV series and maybe a remake of the movie "Blade Runner" - which already exists as a 5-disc movie collection on DVD with all variant versions and documentaries. Producers seem to be aiming at creating movies within the world created in Ridley Scott's movie -- and already there are 3 novels based in the BR world from writer K.W. Jeter. And the Total Recall 2010 TV series also blended that movie and Total Recall (based on another PKD story) into a short-lived and rather awful TV show.

Really what they are aiming at is franchising writer Philip K Dick, whose works constitute nearly an industry unto themselves - witness this weekend's arrival of "The Adjustment Bureau" based on PKD's short story. an independent film of his novel "Radio Free Albemuth" is seeking a distributor, Disney has an animated feature in production based on "The King of the Elves", and apparently two films called "The Owl In Daylight", one a documentary, are being created as well. A look at 9 of the movies made based on his work so far is here.

Largely regarded as one of his best works, the alternate history of the world wherein the Allies lost World War 2, "The Man In The High Castle", is in production as a mini-series on BBC, spearheaded by Ridley Scott.

The number of new books, festivals, new films, music, and new collections of his work is so large it's more than impossible to list.

I've always enjoyed reading his work (and some of the movies) but I was always left with the great hope that little of his perceived futures would come to pass. He wrote of society endlessly deceived and deluded and controlled by great wealth and nefarious leaders, a hopeless and helpless humanity, yet one in which he searched for hope.

Some years back, a project was launched to create a functioning android with artificial intelligence was created using a model of Dick's face and speech patterns. It was beyond spooky and got stranger still when the head of this android was accidentally lost and went traveling via airplane to California.

The creators were adamant however and now are presenting their creation again, though work is still to be completed for creating an artificial intelligence for the android. A video sample of the PKD2 is quite surreal.

"Dick's fiction calls up our basic cultural assumptions, requires us to reexamine them, and points out the destructive destinations to which they are carrying us. The American Dream may have succeeded as a means of survival in the wilderness of early America; it allowed us to subdue that wilderness and build our holy cities of materialism. But now, the images in Dick's fiction declare, we live in a new kind of wilderness, a wasteland wilderness, because those cities and the culture that built them are in decay. We need a new American dream to overcome this wasteland."

• Patricia S. Warrick, Mind in Motion: The Fiction of Philip K. Dick (1987)
  

Cutting $40 Billion in Tax Subsidies Gets a Big No From Rep. Roe

My Congressman, Republican Phil Roe, wants to cut spending - just not when it comes to tax subsidies to giant oil companies. He's marching in step with every Republican in Washington who just voted against a measure to end those subsidies.

He'll support cuts in education, job training, community block grants, health care -- but giant oil companies will continue to get our tax dollars.

So while Rep. Roe echoes the claims that the U.S. government is "broke" - we're giving away billions.

"Also note, ending the subsidies would save the federal government tens of billions of dollars, making a significant dent in the deficit-reduction campaign that Republicans pretend to care about. It's a reminder that the GOP's commitment to fiscal responsibility is shaped in large part by who'll suffer as a result of the cuts -- working families can feel the brunt of the budget ax, under the GOP vision, but ExxonMobil can't." (via Steve Benen)

Cutting $40 billion in tax subsidies gets a big No from Rep. Roe - even though the biggest 5 oil companies made $1 trillion in profits over the last decade.

Just last week, Rep. Roe said:

"Now as part of our focus on job growth, committees in the House are working to remove unnecessary regulations, and we’re aggressively looking at new ways to cut spending."

I guess education, job training, the elderly, the sick, and those most in need must be sacrificed to insure the profits of giant corporations.

"Phil Roe has not created even one job in this state though he’s now in his second term as TN-1 Rep. Not one job. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise including Roe himself." (via Ablogination)

SEE UPDATE HERE.

City Fires All 1,926 Teachers In Budget Battle

Is it education reform or is it just a slash and burn policy aimed at cutting teacher pay and union representation?

The school board in Providence, Rhode Island voted 4-3 last week that to reduce a budget shortfall, all 1,926 teachers would be fired ... and then re-hired later this year. Or at least, some would be re-hired. However, termination instead of layoffs means an end to seniority and an end to benefits. In essence, rehires would all be starting at the base rate of pay.

"Given where we are in the budget process, we needed to retain the maximum flexibility we could to manage what inevitably will be significant cuts to the school budget,’’ said Melissa Withers, a spokeswoman for Mayor Angel Taveras. ‘We could not afford any situation where we would have more teachers on the payroll than we could pay.’’
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"When you terminate someone, your financial obligations to them end. With a layoff, depending on the kind of layoff, there are all kinds of provisions that you still may have financial obligations to that teacher.’’

More here.

The Week In Review, Feb. 20-27 2001

Tenacious protests challenging Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's plan to eliminate collective bargaining by teachers continued to grow and to spread across the nation as other states, like Tennessee, ponder similar plans. Despite Gov. Walker's claims, the teachers benefit package is actually the result of deferred compensation rather than extra taxpayer burdens.

The AP reported WI state workers have not had a pay increase in 2 years, and under Gov Walker's predecessor, Gov. Doyle, state workers were forced to take furlough days that amounted to a 3% pay cut; also, despite claims of excess earnings and benefits for state workers, studies show that nationwide they earned 11 percent less and local workers earned 12 percent less than private workers with comparable education levels.

Republican legislators in Tennessee continue their efforts to eliminate collective bargaining for teachers as protesters statewide begin their efforts to halt such legislation, from Nashville to Johnson City. One Tea Party protester in Johnson City says "We don’t need intellectual freedom in public schools.

Protests turned violent in Libya as failing dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi sent privately funded mercenaries to attack rebels, though cities and government officials continue to abandon the dictator in the face of mass killings. and a video mash-up of Gaddafi and dancing girls storms the internet. The NYTimes reports that the widespread failures of Arab dictators has been fueled by popular protests and the violent terrorists of Al Qaeda have played no role whatsoever.

Carl Gibson, of Kentucky, successfully mounts nationwide protests through a group called US Uncut to challenge US tax policies which offer immense rewards to corporations. He tells In These Tiimes that "I have one dollar in my wallet. That's more than the combined income tax liability of GE, Exxon Mobil, Citibank and the Bank of America. That means somebody's gaming the system."

US Army officers in Afghanistan reportedly used "Jedi mind tricks" to convince visiting Senators to increase and continue funding of the war effort.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld releases his book "Known and Unknown" about his career and his role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, claiming on CSPAN that the run-up to the war was really Secretary of State Colin Powell's idea and he is questioned on radio as to whether or not he is a "flesh-eating space lizard".

Tennessee legislators Ketron and Womick introduced a bill demanding all presidential candidates prove they are US citizens. Sen. Ketron says he does not think President Obama is a US citizen.

Also introduced, a bill from Sen. Ketron to criminalize following "sharia law", though some doubt he understands what that law is and how US courts already supersede it:

"Other than the fact that such bans are unconstitutional -- a federal court recently held that a ban would likely violate the Supremacy Clause and the First Amendment -- they are a monumental waste of time. Our judges are equipped with the constitutional framework to refuse to recognize a foreign law. In the end, our Constitution is the law of the land."

Republican Knoxville legislator Bill Dunn filed a bill identifying scientific topics such as evolution, cloning, and global warming as controversial therefore must be presented as such by public school teachers.

Rep. Dunn also filed a lengthy bill describing how sex education should be defined and taught, relying on "abstinence" and warnings of "gateway sexual activity".

Actor Charlie Sheen claimed in a radio interview that he was a "Vatican assassin warlock" and that he has "fire-breathing fists", and CBS promptly shut down production of his TV show.

Suze Rotolo died at age 67. She was an artist and most famously appeared arm-in-arm with singer Bob Dylan on the cover of his first album, "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" and was the inspiration for his songs "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right", "Boots of Spanish Leather" and others.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK:

(Libyan protesters take a tank, via The Big Picture)

The city of Christchurch, New Zealand just after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck; click to enlarge (via The Telegraph)

Camera Obscura: Oscar Snark-Fest; HBO's 'Mildred Pierce'; Peace, Love and Bieber

Live-streaming from backstage at Sunday's Oscar awards, red carpet cams, and endless online access are all set via the Academy's main Oscars page here. With two young hosts, Anne Hathaway and James Franco pumping the show with snarky oh-so-hip-n-funny ad campaigns, this year's show certainly is opening up to younger viewers and all manner of online social networks, which will allow trolls and hecklers around the world to slop snark bait in real time in virtual arenas.

As a movie-holic, I almost always watch the show, which is sometimes worth watching and sometimes not. While this year's online acts seem interesting, it will be tough to top Ricky Gervais' savage satire on Hollywood at the recent Golden Globes.

One aspect of this year's nominees worth noting - there's plenty of class and economic warfare in the featured films. Odds are favoring "The King's Speech" but I find it nearly impossible to relate to the troubles and triumphs of monarchs. This weekend I'm really hoping that Greta Gerwig lands the Best Actress award at Saturday's Spirit Awards for her work in "Greenberg". Her performance was the best of the year.

On a more technical side - a recent short film exploring the low-tech but vital work of the Foley artist featuring Gary Hecker is a must see. As high-tech as movies have become, the art of creating the sounds that fill every scene and every movement is fascinating. Hecker's work in over 234 films - and in video games too - is profiled in the following video.

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The film noir classic "Mildred Pierce" by novelist James M. Cain lands on HBO in late March as a 5-episode series starring Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood as her daughter Veda. Directed by Todd Haynes, the new preview looks like 1930s technicolor and still keeps the grim and graphic tone of Cain's book. Cain, who also wrote "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice", expertly captured a visceral time in America, as social and personal roles were radically changing.

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America's pop culture machine went into high gear this week reporting that singer Justin Beiber got a haircut. Teen pop stars have been making news for decades in America, but they seem to keep replaying the same things - for example, as noted at the always fascinating blog Cinebeats, at one time it was singer Bobby Sherman who was all the rage, and they include a hilarious peek at one of Bobby's comic book series, well worth a look.

Their post includes the following video of Sherman's first hit single, "Little Woman", and looking at it, I realized Bieber had the same haircut ... before his new adult look anyway. And dig those love beads. Groovy.

What Will The American Worker Do?

Tennessee - like Wisconsin and Indiana - is joining the battle against collective bargaining by unions, claiming it is a measure to reduce government spending. The state's teachers, already over-burdened with Federal demands and decreasing state revenues, certainly appear to be the first to find how bad of shape the American economy really is in.

And Tennessee, as in many other states, is pondering dropping guaranteed retirement benefits for those fortunate enough to have joined the program and instead switch to a 401(k) plan.

A recent Wall Street Journal reports, however, that those 401(k) plans won't really provide for much, while the program was worth trillions of dollars to money managers and financial planners:

"Initially envisioned as a way for management-level people to put aside extra retirement money, the 401(k) was embraced by big companies in the 1980s as a replacement for costly pension funds. Suddenly, they were able to transfer the burden of funding employees' retirement to the employees themselves. Employees had control over their savings, and were able carry them to new jobs.

They were a gold mine for money-management firms. In 30 years, the 401(k) went from a small program to a multi-trillion-dollar industry supporting thousands of financial planners and money managers.

But a 401(k) also requires steady, significant savings. And unlike corporate pension plans, which are guaranteed by the U.S. government, 401(k) plans have no such backstop.

The government and employers aren't going to pay more for people's retirements. Unless people begin saving earlier and contributing more to their 401(k) plans, advisers say, they are destined to hit retirement age with too little money."

It's clear that for decades now, an individual's salary and benefits have been on dead end roads - salaries remain flat, health care costs exploded, and retirement funds shriveled in the economic collapse.

I understand the anger of many in Wisconsin and Tennessee, who see enormous gaps between what an individual can create financially with income and benefits and what state-backed employees can create. But rather than wanting everyone to pay more - why aren't they demanding that private sectors offer the same advantages? Do government plans get a massive break because companies then seek some returns through legislation, which is the one thing a private sector company cannot do - make laws?

Southern Beale has been quite eloquent on this topic lately:

"It doesn't make sense unless your entire worldview is based on the idea that everything is peachy when workers are slaves to their employers, that all of the power should be handed up to big business and workers should be silent and take what lumps of coal they are given. You know, I get why billionaire corporate elites think this way, but I don't get why anyone else does."

The job market is a bloody mess, salaries for the middle class aren't middle class salaries, retirement is becoming more and more elusive, hacking away at how much government spends will surely make millions realize that government spending has been the one thing keeping personal and state finances stay afloat, and negotiations between workers and owners has stalled. And those who are seeking jobs - no one wants to hire the unemployed.

I'm beginning to think that I better drop all my current plans and get licensed as a government lobbyist, as that's the one job safe from cutbacks and since everyone is arguing louder and longer about every aspect of private and public life. Oops, wait, their spending is winding down, to only about 3 and a half billion a year. Seems the one hope for lobbyists and government is to continue arguing so they can all keep their jobs.

What will the American worker do?

BONUS: Graphs depict depressing state of American jobs and income, such as the following depiction of what people think about wealth, where the money actually is, and what some would like income levels to be:

Rep. Don Miller's Legislation Lacks Jobs Plan, Attacks Unions Instead

Elected to the Tennessee General Assembly last fall, State Rep. Don Miller of Morristown has not been front and center in the news. So finding out what he's been working on, what bills he has submitted and supported -- you'll have to dig that out on your own.

Fortunately, the state's General Assembly website offers a brief peek at his proposals.

Removing the rights of union members is a priority for Rep. Miller.

For instance, his bill, HB1833, would make it a crime for any state employee to engage in a strike or "work stoppage". As of this date, there is not a summary of the bill introduced other than a one-line summation. But have strikes crippled Morristown, Hamblen County or Tennessee in recent years? Why make a legitimate form of free speech a crime?

He's a co-sponsor of HB0130, which "abolishes teachers' unions ability to negotiate terms and conditions of professional service with local boards of education." As with the legislation creating chaos in Wisconsin, the proposal is aimed at outlawing collective bargaining. But unlike Wisconsin, this isn't meant to curb collective bargaining on insurance premiums or pensions, but all negotiations.

I fail to see how deconstructing labor unions will create jobs in this community -- and creating jobs was supposed to be a priority, according to what remains of his political campaign online.

Another bill he's introduced, HB1837, would change the law to allow for the Morristown Utility Commission to sell cable and internet service 10 miles outside of their service area ... I suppose that might mean a few extra jobs for the utility company.

Mostly all I'm seeing from Rep. Miller is that he is working for the national Republican party, as they create ways to remove rights from labor unions and workers, and attempt to stall the Health Care Reform Act. I suppose, as a newcomer to the political landscape, he has to, as they say "dance with the one that brought him to the dance".

State Senator Steve Southerland, meanwhile, has introduced legislation to redefine the legal definition of "rickshaw" in Tennessee. A long list of all legislation he has introduced is here.

The Week In Review - Feb 12-19, 2011

- Singer Billy Ray Cyrus tells GQ magazine that the Hannah Montana Show "destroyed his family". Yet another case of how television, music, fame, wealth, dual and triple identities, divorce, success, and friends will eat your goodness.

- Espranza Spalding wins the Best New Artist Grammy award, proving that jazz is way cooler than pop music. New fans rush to listen to her music for free on the internet since radio only plays uncool things.

- South Dakota politician Phil Jensen introduces and then withdraws legislation to legalize the murder of doctors.

- Tennessee state Senator Stacey Campfield introduces legislation to outlaw the presence of dogs in cars unless they wear seat belts, have insurance, can pass a driver's license test (in English) and do not say the word "gay" out loud. As a commenter at Sen. Campfield's blog says "Now if you can just get them to stop talking/texting on their phones."

- Republicans in Washington sharpened their cutting knives on the current budget year to slash funding for education, job training, food safety, community development and health center funds -- but decided to approve $7 million dollars for the military to advertise on decals for NASCAR. (Congressman John Boehner continues to claim "We're broke!!") A member of Congress who opposed the funding received death threats for her opposition.

- We learned this week that breastfeeding is a Socialist plot to destroy America, according to presidential hopeful Michelle Bachmann, who also admitted she did breastfeed all her children, but now is against it because a mother might get a tax break if they breastfeed. Since the government already is the world's largest buyer of infant formula (to replace breastfeeding) then opposing the tax savings idea will insure the government spends more money ... wait, what?? Is Bachmann fighting big government or supporting it??

- In Pennsylvania, a former juvenile court judge was convicted Friday of racketeering in a case that accused him of sending youth offenders to for-profit detention centers in exchange for millions of dollars in illicit payments from the builder and owner of the lockups.

- An "end-times prophet" joins Glenn Beck to warn Fox News viewers that the protests over collective bargaining in Wisconsin really mean President Obama is the Antichrist. Also, it turns out that Abraham Lincoln was really a vampire hunter. Whoops, sorry, that's just a new movie in production now.

- A man in Buffalo, N.Y. was acquitted of charges that he was marinating his cat so he could eat it. Turns out the cat got into some garbage and the owner was taking the cat to be washed and groomed.

- Sales of soup are down, while sales of mac and cheese and pizza are on the rise.

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK - A celebration of the birthday of Korea's Kim Jong-il with synchronized swimmers (via Time).

Baby Trashes A Bar In Las Palmas

I've lately received links to numerous short films, but the following excerpt from a new 13 minute short from Swedish filmmaker and artist Johannes Nyholm was too funny and had to be shared. Watch the video first, and I'll include some details after.



Nyholm describes the project "A middle-aged lady on a holiday in the sun tries to make new friends and have a good time."


More on the movie from Nyholm's website is here --

The filmmaker has been earning high praise and numerous awards for his work, which has been best described as:

"With his music videos, the films about the Puppetboy and the paper doll animations in Dreams from the Woods, all characterized by versatility, unpredictability, humour and boldness, Johannes Nyholm has achieved world reputation and proved that the one who chooses to go his own way can reach further than the others.

One Corporate Earmark For John Boehner Could Fund Public Broadcasting For A Year

I hope you'll take one moment to actually contact 1st District Congressman Phil Roe and tell him NOT to vote for eliminating all the funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Some facts -

This move is not geared for significant savings in Federal spending. The $445 million in funds for the CPB represents 0.0001% of the Federal budget.

The majority of those funds go to local radio stations which use them as they see fit - for creating jobs, creating local news stories and programs, and other local decisions. Some 9,000 local boards determine the activities of the stations in question. Loss of those funds will mean that rural areas will lose their one, and only, free outlet for literacy programs, child education programs, and arts programs.

Yes, there are many options available today which weren't available when the CPB was first formed, via cable, satellite and internet sources. But those must all be paid for by those who use them. All one needs to access CPB programs are a television or a radio.

The money spent for CPB is likely one of the most cost-effective programs in government - for every dollar a station receives, they are able to raise six more from donations at the local level for their operations.

The Republican plan to eliminate these funds is rooted in a weird notion that CPB is a heavily-biased program promoting ... well, the only argument I've found from the Republicans is that they think an NPR contributor named Juan Williams was inappropriately fired from NPR, so now they want to stomp on every CPB station in the nation with their Federal powers.

House Speaker John Boehner, meanwhile, has demanded every taxpayer in the country fund his one earmark for his home district in Ohio to benefit corporate military contractors at a cost of $456 million (more than the entire CPB budget). He thinks General Electric and the Rolls Royce company deserve tax subsidies while thousands of local jobs and local news outlets are gutted.

Taxing Tennessee has the details of Speaker Boehner's selfish desire to attract votes with corporate pork.



You can contact Rep. Phil Roe in several ways, but email is the quickest:
Email -
rep.roe@mail.house.gov

Morristown Office:
1609 College Park Drive, Suite 4
Morristown, TN 37813
423-254-1400
fax: 423-254-1403


You can also contact Congress via 170 Million Americans For Public Radio.

Using Stupid to Cut Federal Budgets

On Feb. 9th, Kentucky Republican Hal Rogers, who chairs the Appropriations Committee for the House of Representatives claimed he was gonna cut $74 billion dollars in the 2011 budget ... event though the spending of that budget's allotment began in October of 2010. So he plans to cut $74 billion in spending from the last 4 or 5 months of the fiscal year?

That's not very smart financial advice:

"With many of the 93 freshmen members of the House still asking rudimentary budget questions such as: ‘what is the difference between an authorization and an appropriation?’ or ‘how do outlays differ from budget authority?’ the time frame that Rep. Rogers and his leadership are committed to means that not only will those voting on the proposal have little opportunity to understand it but the authors themselves will not have fully vetted or completely understood what they are proposing. There have been no hearings, no requests for testimony, and no opportunity even for staff charged with proposing the cuts to do agency-by-agency analysis of the possible negative consequences. Members will vote next week on the package without fundamental knowledge of how major budget changes in literally thousands of federal programs will impact the country in general or their own constituents in particular.

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"The point is not that there are no government programs worthy of cutting, but rather that this is a really stupid way to do it. The vast bulk of government spending, which goes to mandatory programs such as Social Security and Medicare, is completely exempted. And Republicans have effectively exempted the departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs from cuts. This leaves only 16 percent of the budget from which they will extract their pound of flesh to satisfy voters who demand huge budget cuts but also oppose cutting just about any program except foreign aid."

The goal is a sort of sleazy campaigning trick - Rep. Rogers and other Republicans could say in 2012 as they run for office "I tried to cut spending in Washington and those evil Democrats and evil media types tried to stop me!!" More accurate to say "My stupid budget ideas were called out as stupid and that's not fair."

Or, as today's column by Paul Krugman says:

"Republicans don’t have a mandate to cut spending; they have a mandate to repeal the laws of arithmetic."