TN Bankers Now Blame Newspapers For Foreclosure Costs

I received yet another angry email from attorney for the Tennessee Bankers Association, Amy Smith, about their plan to make foreclosures easier in Tennessee - but it seems the blame has gone from my rogue and reckless blogging and is now aimed at that dirty, old, money-grubbing newspaper business. The original bill as approved is here.

I'll reprint her complete email below, but first I again must speak my mind.

I might buy some of the TBA's arguments if they had less blamethrowing.

And at least here on this blog, I've linked to the actual locations and names of those whose information I have used - however, the TBA's Counsel offers this with no names attached:

"We have sent response letters to every major newspaper in the state that has run distasteful, inaccurate and misleading articles and editorials about the proposed legislation. But no newspaper has printed our response."

Then NAME these publications. Call them out.

In fact, after explaining the legislation to one of the largest consumer groups with an active lobbying effort in the state (specifically that we intend to file amendments clarifying that the street address must be included, notices must be published two times rather than one, and that this will not change the foreclosure process at all), they are now fine with the legislation."


What group? They have a name don't they?

These claims that the TBA's decision to create and pass legislation which will reduce the amount of time it takes for foreclosure notices to be given to homeowners who have been falling behind is merely a way to protect and save homeowners money just doesn't make sense to me.

Cut out the number of mortgage policies in effect in TN which contractually call for 3 published notices - a protection within a mortgage agreement meant to protect lenders and borrowers and a quite common agreement -- how many would that leave? How old a mortgage or how poorly created would it be to lack such an agreement? Is that number the majority of mortgages held, a minority, half, twenty-five percent?

Yes, I know there is a push by some in the state legislature to remove all public notices from newspapers, with the claim that everyone can access the information via the internet. But we live in Tennessee, which is mostly rural and which has areas without the access to the internet and there are companion bills to allow government itself to start charging higher and higher fees to access "public information". Personally, I say require public notices to be published in print and online both. It's not like we can all assume that government and business always and only have the best interests of residents and voters in mind. If such were true, why vote? Why read any news? Everything is hunky dory!

And since the TBA's legislation has gotten so much negative response, they offer to change the notice reduction from three to one and now to two. So one less public notice - is that going to create any notable change in revenues or just make the process quicker?

Banks pay attorneys to get foreclosures rolling and get those title searches done and get those notices written up and if those costs have become too high, then maybe the banks are being overcharged?

The process in Tennessee can take up to 100 days, but 60 days is the average time from notice to sale of property.

So I am left with many questions about just what problem exactly this legislation is trying to address. And, below, as promised is the complete uncut email from TBA Counsel Amy Smith:

"Joe,

I appreciate you keeping me informed on your posts. In it you asked several questions about what I have done, or not done.

You mention being flattered by the email I sent to you. I assure you this is not the only communication TBA has sent in the past few weeks to critics of our bill. We have sent response letters to every major newspaper in the state that has run distasteful, inaccurate and misleading articles and editorials about the proposed legislation. But no newspaper has printed our response. I suppose the saying is true, “never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel”. The newspapers have nothing to gain by printing our letters (other than, of course, publishing the other side of their one-sided story) and everything to lose – most importantly, revenue.

This legislation will not speed up the process by which banks can foreclose nor it will make the process any easier. Despite what the articles say, the process is much longer than 21 days (on average, 100 days at a minimum) and requires multiple notices – not just the ones published in the newspapers. In fact, the notice in the newspaper is sent to the debtor and co-debtor(s) via certified mail, and this comes after at least three other notices sent over the previous 2-3 months.

This will in no way harm homeowners. In fact, it will only benefit them. As I mentioned, banks are not the ones responsible for paying the costs of foreclosures. Homeowners are. By reducing the cost of the ads, it will save homeowners a significant amount of money.

Unfortunately this message has gotten lost. And, the newspapers are to blame. They are not opposing this bill with everything they’ve got because they have the public interests at heart. They are opposing this bill because it will be a huge reduction in revenue for an industry already in trouble. Their revenues have declined in recent years as many more citizens are turning to online publications, and foreclosure notices are one of their biggest sources of revenue. Take that and couple it with the fact that this year other groups have been pushing to remove other legal notices entirely from the newspapers and post on the internet, and you’ve got the real reason there is so much opposition to this bill. Newspapers fear that even if the slightest reduction in public notices occurs (ie, REVENUE), then what is next??

It is a valid concern, but when you have to choose between newspaper revenue or homeowners foreclosure costs, who should win? It’s an easy question, but with all the misleading and inaccurate stories newspapers have been publishing lately, they’ve managed to portray this as a fight between newspapers/consumers and the banks who are one of the major causing of the housing crisis.

This brings me to another point I’d like to clarify. In your original post, you reference the recent regulatory “fixes” that were just issued for the 14 biggest mortgage firms. I do not deny this. But this is completely irrelevant to this issue at hand. Those banks are not behind this legislation. This legislation has come from the Tennessee banks, mainly the community banks, who know their customers and have good relationships with them and who are active in the community and do whatever it takes to keep a customer in his/her home rather than foreclose.

Banks have nothing to gain by pushing legislation that would speed up the process or cause any less bidders at the sale. This would only serve to reduce the amount of money a home is sold for in foreclosure, which would have only negative consequences for the bank.

I mentioned earlier that one of our biggest challenges is fighting a group that can “buy ink by the barrel”. They can write whatever they want, and trust me, they have, and we have no means to respond to their attacks as they refuse to publish our letters. That is why I responded to you article. Although TBA is fighting a nearly impossible battle in getting our message out there, we have not stopped trying. I spoke to another blogger for over an hour recently about the reasons we support this bill and what its real impact will have on the foreclosure process. I, and other at TBA, have also communicated with other groups who have been mislead by the newspapers.

In fact, after explaining the legislation to one of the largest consumer groups with an active lobbying effort in the state (specifically that we intend to file amendments clarifying that the street address must be included, notices must be published two times rather than one, and that this will not change the foreclosure process at all), they are now fine with the legislation.

Also, you argue that you did not put misinformation in your blog because you obtained this through another blog and newspapers articles. If you truly wanted to print the facts rather, not opinions, you would have done your own research. Everyone knows that there is always another side to the story. In your case, you chose to blog only about the newspapers side…the side that has only their revenue at stake in this."

And again, there it is - only newspapers have revenue at stake in this? Homeowners do. And so do banks.

American Passports Set For Massive Changes

It's about to become next to impossible for an American to get a passport - unless you get it today, or by some fluke, if the so-far-seldom-reported-time for public comment on this idea is not extended.

And I mean it's gonna be tough -

"The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

The State Department estimated that the average respondent would be able to compile all this information in just 45 minutes, which is obviously absurd given the amount of research that is likely to be required to even attempt to complete the form."

---

"It seems likely that only some, not all, applicants will be required to fill out the new questionnaire, but no criteria have been made public for determining who will be subjected to these additional new written interrogatories. So if the passport examiner wants to deny your application, all they will have to do is give you the impossible new form to complete. (NOTE: This requirement will likely be used if there is "questionable authenticity" to someone's birth records ... so, maybe this is a Birther Bill?)


It’s not clear from the supporting statement, statement of legal authorities, or regulatory assessment submitted by the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) why declining to discuss one’s siblings or to provide the phone number of your first supervisor when you were a teenager working at McDonalds would be a legitimate basis for denial of a passport to a U.S. citizen.

---

"Extra points to the person who gives the best answer in the comments to the question on the proposed form, “Please describe the circumstances of your birth including the names (as well as address and phone number, if available) of persons present or in attendance at your birth.”

TN Bankers Association Does Not Like Their Cup of Joe Powell

On April 14th, I published a post about proposed legislation regarding foreclosure laws in Tennessee and my concerns that it would be harmful to homeowners.

On Friday afternoon, I received the following email from Amy B. Smith, Associate Counsel for the Tennessee Bankers Association, which is backing this initiative. I'm always glad to hear from readers and wanted to share the email with the rest of you:

"From: Amy Smith
Subject: Proposed Foreclosure Notice Publication Law
To: jptropics99@yahoo.com
Date: Friday, April 22, 2011, 4:05 PM

Joe,

I just came across your recent blog “TN Legislature Hates Homeowners” and was quite disappointed of the false depiction presented in the title, and especially in the content of what you posted. It could not be farther from the truth, and a little bit of research on your part would have prevented all of the misinformation you cite.

Saying that this legislation will hurt homeowners could not be farther from the truth. The legislation is intended to do just the opposite – it would reduce the financial burden placed on homeowners facing foreclosure by (1) reducing the number of times an advertisement of a foreclosure sale must be published in a newspaper from three times to two (original bill provided for one time, but an amendment will be offered to increase it to two), and (2) clarifying that the advertisement must only contain a reference to the deed book and page number rather than the full metes and bounds description (an amendment has already been offered that further clarifies that the description must also contain the street address and map and parcel number.

Below are a few key points about the bill – what it does, and, more importantly, what it does not do – that will clearly show just how off-base your blog is.

It would only replace the lengthy and hard-to-read metes and bounds description with a reference to the deed book and page number. It would not eliminate or otherwise change the content of foreclosure sale advertisements.

It would not eliminate any actual notice to the debtor. The debtor would continue to receive late payment notices, notice of default, notice of collection, and, most importantly, notice of the foreclosure sale by certified mail.

It would not shorten the foreclosure process, which takes a minimum of 100 days.

It would not affect publication requirements for any foreclosure under deed of trust that specifically requires foreclosure notices to be published three times.

Banks do not pay the costs of foreclosures, property owners do. The cost of advertising in a newspaper can be as high as $2,500.

50% of foreclosures sales that are advertised in newspapers do not happen, which means that those property owners were able to make up their late payments and avoid foreclosure by also paying the costs of the advertisements, which at $2,500, is as much as one or two mortgage payments.

TBA supports this legislation because reducing the cost of the foreclosure process is one of the most effective ways to help prevent a homeowner from losing his/her home once the foreclosure process begins. Banks lose money on foreclosures, and the last thing they want to do is be in the real estate business.

If you have any questions or would ever like to call into question a bill backed by TBA or the character or integrity of our association or the state legislators we support, I encourage you to please research first, write later. Maybe then, you could avoid writing stores as inaccurate and completely misleading as this one.


Amy
Amy B. Smith
Associate Counsel
Tennessee Bankers Association
211 Athens Way
Nashville, TN 37228-1603
Phone: 615-244-4871 ext. 116
Fax: 615-324-1994

Now I have to wonder a few things after receiving from such a communication from this organization's legal counsel. First, I'm flattered they think my opinion and it's availability to the public has such worth and value that it demanded a response from their attorney. And I have a few other thoughts too, but first let me share with you the email I sent back to Amy Smith this morning:

"Dear Amy,

Thank you for reading my blog and offering your comments as Associate Counsel for the
Tennessee Bankers Association regarding the bill under consideration in the Tennessee legislature. I'm always happy to hear from readers!

And thanks too for your offer to respond to any questions I might have in relation to this
legislation. I'll put some thoughts together and send them along shortly.

I must note, however, you're quite mistaken that I had "misinformation" in my post. The articles I cited, 2 from the NYTimes and 1 from a blogger and 1 from an editorial in the Knoxville News Sentinel, were accurately quoted. Another error you made was that my headline on the post was a statement of fact. It was not - it was a question. And yes, I do have concerns that the current chairman of the TBA, Craig Fitzhugh, is also a House member, and a co-sponsor of this legislation.

The rest of the post was my opinion - which I will continue to offer readers, such as yourself, and to my elected representatives. I look forward to continued communication with you and trust you realize your emails and comments may be used on my blog as I continue to discuss public policy issues in our state government.

Thanks again for your support,
Joe Powell
http://cupofjoepowell.blogspot.com

I wonder if their legal counsel also communicated with the editorial board of the Knoxville News Sentinel, which termed the bill "shameful"? I may be wrong, but I think the AP ran that editorial statewide as well.

I wonder if their legal counsel also communicated with the New York Times reporters or editors whose reports noted that leaders in Congress find enormous fault with the current economic collapse should lay at the feet of our financial institutions?

I wonder if their legal counsel communicated with the blogger at A Disgruntled Republican, which I also quoted in my post, or did they communicate with the EPPC he mentioned, which is opposing the removal of all government notices from publication requirements in newspapers?

Or did their legal counsel just communicate with me about their feelings for my opinion on this public policy issue?

And over the weekend, I read more on the legislation, such as this report by Chas Sisk at the Tennessean:


"Proper notice is not going to be given when the process of foreclosure used in this state is one in which it is already pretty easy to foreclose,” said Art Powers, president of the Tennessee Press Association and publisher of the Johnson City Press.

The bill could ultimately threaten the state’s foreclosure law itself, Baker said.

If Tennesseans conclude they are not being told enough about foreclosures, they could demand courts to take a greater role. That would slow the process and lead to costs far higher than the price of advertising, he said.

“This thing is not broken,” he said. “I think it’s a bad bill for both sides.”

Well, as I wrote to Amy Smith, I do have more questions and I do appreciate that she reached out to me to offer to help me understand it. I hope to share more of our discussions and thoughts on this topic and others in the days ahead.

And of course, you are free to share your thoughts here or anywhere else too!

NOTE: See latest UPDATE here.

Modern Tales of Capitalism - or, A Child's Garden of Marketing

There's this skeezy and dangerously deceptive side to marketing and advertising which Americans have perfected and which we really, really do not want to think about. It's because we are accomplices to the eternal pitches and the endless fakery, we sort of love our objectified identities, we like being admired for being a trendsetter (the new term for such folks is now 'early adopter') and a trend follower, and this maze of emotionally-tied evidence is not just some example weird low self esteem, it's also an admission that we are embracing the hype despite the fact it is hype. Our attitudes towards ourselves and our world gets mixed into this murky world and things get confused.

Hollywood is a master of this deception, mingling hype and hokum and we all sort of accept it.

A 2009 movie called "The Joneses", starring David Duchovny and Demi Moore, dives deep into this brave new world and both Hollywood and audiences just were not sure what to do with the movie. it mostly tanked at the box office and critics were stymied to explain the mechanics at work here.

The story seems simple - a group of sales people are hired by a giant corporation to pretend to be a family in high-end suburbia, but they are really together for one reason: to casually influence the neighborhood to buy products the fake family shows off as the trappings of success. Shoes, jeans, TVs, cars, sunglasses, purses, golf clubs, frozen food, bottled drinks, make-up, jewelry, games, cell phones ... an endless list of things. The company which has placed them in this world requires monthly status reports charting whether the fake family is hitting the mark on sales and demands for the things they are hyping. Failure is not accepted.

The companies use the fake family to sell products, the fake family earns high incomes by pushing items as new must-haves, the neighbors eagerly seek to follow the lead of the fakers, the fakers pretend it's just a job and push the idea that happiness is found in objects, in envy, in competition.

Not a pretty, idealistic America here - it's a greedy place, though one decked out in style. First-time writer/director Derrick Borte is a former ad man and he expertly lays out all the conflicted ideas with an easy satiric flair, but he's almost too good at his work. By the time the movie hits the three-quarters mark he has fallen in love with his fake family and their fake friends and he seeks out some kind of happy ending. But it falls flat, seems as fake as everything else. And that turned off audiences and critics - the monster is too real, too familiar and it just made everyone uncomfortable.

That's one reason I liked it - it captures an ugly world so well that attempting to find a 'happy ending' for it is just more fakery. We've all been taking part in a giant game of self-delusion and it just doesn't sit well at all.

It's very uncomfortable to realize how much we all participate in being reduced to a marketing demographic, but we still eagerly participate in it just the same. And not just in America.

As proof that it happens, take a look at this very real and very global new infotainment theme park, more rightly termed "advertainment", which has been growing in many nations and is about to land for the first time in America.

It's called KidZania - a fascinating article in Slate on this new kind of adult-directed child's play is a must read:

"Right now, in eight malls spread across three continents, thousands of children are dressed as pilots and flying digital planes from mock cockpits, anchoring news broadcasts in fully functional TV studios, or wearing helmets and extinguishing faux flames with real water cannons.

This is KidZania, a multinational chain of family entertainment centers, where kids try out professions that have been downsized, simplified, and made fun. At these soccer field-size franchises in malls from Tokyo to Lisbon, children play at being adults.

Children can play surgeon, detective, journalist, courier, radio host, and dozens more jobs. They can buy and sell goods at the KidZania supermarket, take KidZania currency that they earn to an operational bank staffed with adult tellers, and be security guards escorting KidZania currency around the park. They can assemble burgers and pizzas, which they can then eat, or give makeovers to other paying children. At the planned KidZania Santiago, Chile, minors will be able to play at being miners. One-size-fits-all costumes supersize the cute factor. The result of all this is mass-produced adorability.

But at the heart of the concept and the business of KidZania is corporate consumerism, re-staged for children whose parents pay for them to act the role of the mature consumer and employee. The rights to brand and help create activities at each franchise are sold off to real corporations, while KidZania’s own marketing emphasizes the arguable educational benefits of the park.
---

"And kids aren’t just migrant laborers in KidZania. They are KidZanians, citizens of the nation of KidZania. There is a national anthem and a red and yellow flag, the colors split by the letter K. The KidZania logo itself is that same fluttering flag. Each child receives a bank account, an ATM card, a wallet, and a check for 50 KidZos (the park’s currency). At the park’s bank, which is staffed by adult tellers, kids can withdraw or deposit money they’ve earned through completing activities—and the account remains even when they go home at the end of the day. A lot of effort goes into making the children repeat visitors of this Lilliputian city-state. Also, KidZania itself isn’t cheap. Both parents and children are required to buy tickets to enter—a family of four pays $150 to visit KidZania Tokyo during peak hours—and franchises around the world continue to draw hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

Like any good nation, KidZania has its elites, too. Each park has a congress of 14 children. Really, it’s a focus group that meets once a month. The kids talk about what they’re doing at school and, more importantly, what’s going on at KidZania. They go on trips to visit the workplaces of KidZania’s sponsors and visit other parks around the world. KidZania can then ensure that the experience is suited to children’s ever-changing needs and whims. Even the adult management uses governmental titles; the most senior manager of each franchise is referred to as the “Governor.”

In addition to using the lingo of an aspiring nation-state with its own proxy legislature, KidZania has a bill of rights. KidZania grants each child “The Right To Know, The Right To Be, The Right To Care, and The Right To Play.”

ProMexico, a Mexican government initiative to promote Mexican commerce, says in its literature that, “KidZania emulates the positive aspects of capitalism.” Linn, though, said, “I don’t see what’s positive about [KidZania]. The more kids are immersed in commercialization, prepackaged fun, the less experience they have of making their own fun, of using their own imaginations, and the more they are dependent on corporations to supply their fun for them.”

Stimulus Grant Gets ETSU New Film/TV Production Studio

Thanks to a $1.2 million stimulus grant, students at East Tennessee State University has a state-of-the-art facility for radio/TV/and film production. (via)



This program is one of many which grows robust educational and financial opportunities for success headed by the Tennessee Film, Entertainment and Music Commission which makes Tennessee a top destination for all types of entertainment production.

Tennessee Breaking Law With Lethal Injection

It comes as little surprise that our government - from the local, state and federal levels - simply make mistakes. Errors occur in matters of bookkeeping, record-keeping, finance, and even typos are in evidence in legislation which pass through the many hurdles of sub-committees and committees.

One area which needs to be as mistake-free as humanly possible is the execution of prisoners - the death penalty. Wrongful execution - the deaths of those found to be innocent - has been rigorously studied nationwide. Execution of those innocently charged is not a minor glitch. It's a real horror story.

And now Tennessee, along with many other states - are under court orders to halt lethal injections since the drugs used have been illegally obtained. The Tennessean newspaper reports these drugs have been illegally obtained via an unregulated overseas supplier:

"A federal lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C., accuses multiple states, Tennessee included, of possibly violating drug import laws by purchasing thiopental from a British company called Dream Pharma, run out of the back of a London driving school. Nebraska and South Dakota, obtained 500 milligrams each from an Indian company called Kayem Pharmaceutical."

Seems this state (and others) are breaking the law in their plans to execute criminals.

The medicine under review is in short supply:

"[due to] a nationwide shortage of that key drug used in lethal injections has largely ground to a halt executions across the nation. Like other states, Tennessee has had to turn over its stock of sodium thiopental to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration because of allegations it may have been illegally obtained from an unregulated overseas supplier."

Another chemical, Pentobarbital, has become a recent substitute, even though the drug's Danish manufacturer, has issued to following statement regarding use of the drug for lethal injection:

"Lundbeck's position regarding the misuse of pentobarbital in execution of prisoners

Lundbeck is dedicated to saving people’s lives. Use of our products to end lives contradicts everything we’re in business to do, which is to provide therapies that improve people’s lives. Lundbeck is opposed to the use of its product for the purpose of capital punishment.

Lundbeck markets pentobarbital solely for its approved use, among other things to treat serious conditions such as a severe and life threatening emergency epilepsy that results in 42,000 deaths a year in the US if not treated effectively. It is evident that use of this product to carry out the death penalty in US prisons falls outside its intended use.

We have engaged in a constructive dialogue with human rights advocates to discuss and evaluate ideas to prevent the incorrect use of our product for lethal injections. We have carried out a thorough assessment of ways to control distribution for use in capital punishment.

Lundbeck does not control the application of pentobarbital. And based on our evaluation and the advice of external experts, we have concluded that there are no viable steps Lundbeck can take to prevent end-users from obtaining the product for unapproved use, short of withdrawing the product from the market. However, taking pentobarbital off the market would be a tragedy for the patients who benefit from legitimate uses of this important therapy.

Medical experts and human rights advocates alike agree that discontinuation of the supply of pentobarbital could have a significant negative effect on patient care.

We will continue to urge states in the US to refrain from using pentobarbital for the execution of prisoners as it contradicts everything we stand for as a company."

I'm On the Pavement Thinkin' About The Government

hat-tip to Bob Dylan

TN Legislature Hates Homeowners?

Tennessee's legislature is again making a bold stride backward. Their steady stream of legislation moving backwards certainly seems to be the theme of 2011.

Yesterday, legislators - led by Rep. Jimmy Matlock and Sen.Jack Johnson - moved a new bill to make it even easier for banks for rush through a foreclosure on homeowners. While nationally, 14 major mortgage firms were ordered to begin a process of reimbursement and corrective policies to provide more protection for homeowners struggling since the economic collapse -- a collapse brought on by "deceptive" practices in the mortgage market.

Rep. Matlock and Sen. Johnson introduced HB 1920 and SB 1299, which drops the number of required public notice publications of foreclosure from three times to just once. Currently, Tennessee homeowners have few protections - it can take as little as 21 days to foreclose on a property and the one way to halt it is to file bankruptcy and our state has one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation. The bill, as noted at the A Disgruntled Republican blog, would:

Their shorter process would be:
1. A single letter to the homeowner.
2. A single public notice in the paper.
(No property description in the public notice.)
(Errors would legally be allowed to appear in the notice.)
3. Sell the property at auction.

It's shameful.

But, as I said, given the constant moves against citizens in favor of corporate interests, this terrible legislation is likely to sail through the legislature and to hell with the consequences.

Tea Party Republicans vs. ??? Anyone??

The Tea Party Republicans in Washington prevented new hiring in the IRS -- even though by then end of 2010, some $330 billion in taxes had not been collected ... that's about nine times the amount the TPRs claim they will "save" in taxpayer funds. The fact is, for every dollar spent by the IRS nets $10 in return. More on the recent GAO study here.

Now, of course, the TPRs want to threaten the economy with another government shutdown. Take Alabama's Senator, Richard Shelby - he voted to increase the debt limit seven times in the eight years of the Bush/Cheney administration, but now says such a move warrants a government shutdown, though the move would reach far beyond our political wrangling and stir a potential global economic disaster.

Battling the TPR -- well wait, there is no battle. The knee-jerkism surrounding the TPR makes for nifty and utterly untrue sound bites for the cable media to rattle off. The sad thing is how President Obama and Democrats have failed to challenge them:

"More broadly, Mr. Obama is conspicuously failing to mount any kind of challenge to the philosophy now dominating Washington discussion — a philosophy that says the poor must accept big cuts in Medicaid and food stamps; the middle class must accept big cuts in Medicare (actually a dismantling of the whole program); and corporations and the rich must accept big cuts in the taxes they have to pay. Shared sacrifice!

I’m not exaggerating. The House budget proposal that was unveiled last week — and was praised as “bold” and “serious” by all of Washington’s Very Serious People — includes savage cuts in Medicaid and other programs that help the neediest, which would among other things deprive 34 million Americans of health insurance. It includes a plan to privatize and defund Medicare that would leave many if not most seniors unable to afford health care. And it includes a plan to sharply cut taxes on corporations and to bring the tax rate on high earners down to its lowest level since 1931.

The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center puts the revenue loss from these tax cuts at $2.9 trillion over the next decade. House Republicans claim that the tax cuts can be made “revenue neutral” by “broadening the tax base” — that is, by closing loopholes and ending exemptions. But you’d need to close a lot of loopholes to close a $3 trillion gap; for example, even completely eliminating one of the biggest exemptions, the mortgage interest deduction, wouldn’t come close. And G.O.P. leaders have not, of course, called for anything that drastic. I haven’t seen them name any significant exemptions they would end.

---

"What’s going on here? Despite the ferocious opposition he has faced since the day he took office, Mr. Obama is clearly still clinging to his vision of himself as a figure who can transcend America’s partisan differences. And his political strategists seem to believe that he can win re-election by positioning himself as being conciliatory and reasonable, by always being willing to compromise.

But if you ask me, I’d say that the nation wants — and more important, the nation needs — a president who believes in something, and is willing to take a stand. And that’s not what we’re seeing."

Morristown Legislator Don Miller Is Now Snoop Doggy Dog Miller

Morristown legislators Rep. Don Miller and Sen. Steve Southerland had their plans for re-naming the TN Highway Patrol as the state's Police Force shot down last week - and Rep. Miller was dubbed Snoop Doggy Dog Miller in legislation which he also signed on to sponsor, saying "I didn't know what I was signing at the time".

Tom Humphrey has the story:

"The bill (HB1835) then became the subject of joking on the House floor about possible name changes for the sponsor, Republican Rep. Don Miller of Morristown, and Col. Tracy Trott, the commander of the Highway Patrol who pushed for passage.

As approved earlier by the Senate 33-0, the bill would change the official name from Tennessee Highway Patrol to "Tennessee State Patrol." Trott, Miller and Senate sponsor Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, say the idea is simply to reflect that the agency has broader functions than enforcing traffic laws.

In the House floor debate, Miller said Trott has sent an email to troopers around the state and that responses showed officers supported the name change by a 6-to-1 margin. But several lawmakers - including Republican Reps. Scotty Campbell of Mountain City, Matthew Hill of Jonesborough and Curtis Halford of Dyer - said troopers they had spoken with opposed the change.

---

"By tradition, House members engage in a round of joking at the expense of a freshman legislator passing his or her first bill on the floor. Though freshman Miller's first bill was not passed, Rep. Phillip Johnson, R-Pegram, went ahead with the joshing, proposing a mock bill - House bill 1010, since Miller represents the 10th House District.

The bill, read aloud on the floor by Johnson, declared that Miller would henceforth be known as "Snoop Doggy Dog Miller." Trott, in turn, would be known on weekdays as "Colonel On-the-Spot Trott" and, on weekends, as "Colonel Too-Hot-to-Trot Trott."

UPDATE: Taking heat for the name change and the high costs involved (and being the butt of jokes from other legislators) Rep. Miller is trying to chore up the talk about his proposed bill -- but the costs would be higher and a good point had been made that using additional funds to hire more officers might be a better approach. Again, Tom Humphrey has the story:

"According to the Safety Department, out of the THP's $91 million budget in 2009-2010, designated spending on non-traffic enforcement areas included:

--Executive Protection $1.9 million

--Special operations: $1.6 million.

--Capitol security: $1.5 million.

--Criminal Investigative Division: $1.5 million.

--Office of Professional Responsibility: $820,700.

--Aviation: $573,000.

--Governor's Marijuana Task Force: $518,500.

Werner Herzog and Cormac McCarthy Talk Science and Art

I've become addicted to Science Friday broadcasts on NPR and yesterday, the show brought together filmmaker Herzog and writer McCarthy to talk about the intersection of science and art and imagination and observation and hoooo, boy what fun!

You can listen to the interview here. (click on the player in the upper left corner)

TN Legislators Ban Science in Science Class

The current crop of witless, superstitious legislators vote to keep Science out of Science classes in public school, thanks to Knoxville Rep. Bill Dunn.

Welcome to the Monkey House.

The Origin of the Anti-Science Movement.

It's The Economy, Stupid - The Masterful Plan To Avoid Recovery

The dreary theatrical spectacle of a Tea party Congress seeking to lay blame for our economic peril on government spending which the actors claim "must be shut down!!" is a goofball sideshow which will do absolutely nothing to repair and restore the economic life of the United States.

The Tea Party Republicans are acting their hearts out onstage, hoping their performance keeps voters and media distracted as they urgently pound away at the very organization they work for:

"...the Koch-financed Americans for Prosperity held a rally this afternoon across the street from the Capitol, with several dozen right-wing activists on hand to listen to speeches from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), Reps. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), and others. The Republican voters chanted, "Shut it down!" during the rally, and every other sign at the rally urged the GOP to shut down the government.

The cause of our economic collapse was not government spending - it's long-festering government policies which holds wealth sacred, eliminates regulation and oversight, discards the worth of workers, and reinforces itself to hold even more power and wealth. Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz' book "Freefall" captures the realities of this dilemma:

"Throughout the book, Stiglitz emphasises the borderline-jingoistic mentality that pervades much of the financial community. Emboldened by the sense of being “too big to fail”, banks engaged in increasingly risky activities and predatory lending practices. To support these activities, bankers initiated a multi-decade push for deregulation and significantly reduced government involvement in the financial sector. With hundreds of millions of dollars in political contributions, the banking sector was able to wield considerable influence in the political sphere—often at the expense of average citizens. Once the 2008 collapse occurred, bankers were only too happy to reap the rewards of their political “investment” in the form of taxpayer-subsidised bailouts and hefty bonuses. Indeed, Stiglitz deadpans that “a country [i.e., the United States] in which socialism is often treated as an anathema has socialised risk and intervened in markets in unprecedented ways.”

Of course, with their combination of astounding potential rewards, excessive risk-taking, and aggressive virility, major Wall Street finance firms have a tendency to attract and encourage the ethically challenged—the kind of people who are willing to take risks with the assets of others and show little regard to the final outcome. Stiglitz argues that we should not be surprised when markets function in a suboptimal manner; indeed, individuals acting only in their own self-interest are likely to ignore the negative effects of their actions. It should be made clear that Stiglitz is not “anti-capitalist”—far from it. He makes it apparent, however, that we cannot assume that markets will be self-correcting in the absence of a progressive regulatory regime."

And in a must-read new essay in Vanity Fair, Stiglitz lays out precisely the real issues being ignored by the Tea Party Congress and how their plans will maintain a corrupt system:


"The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall."
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"But one big part of the reason we have so much inequality is that the top 1 percent want it that way. The most obvious example involves tax policy. Lowering tax rates on capital gains, which is how the rich receive a large portion of their income, has given the wealthiest Americans close to a free ride. Monopolies and near monopolies have always been a source of economic power—from John D. Rockefeller at the beginning of the last century to Bill Gates at the end. Lax enforcement of anti-trust laws, especially during Republican administrations, has been a godsend to the top 1 percent. Much of today’s inequality is due to manipulation of the financial system, enabled by changes in the rules that have been bought and paid for by the financial industry itself—one of its best investments ever. The government lent money to financial institutions at close to 0 percent interest and provided generous bailouts on favorable terms when all else failed. Regulators turned a blind eye to a lack of transparency and to conflicts of interest.

When you look at the sheer volume of wealth controlled by the top 1 percent in this country, it’s tempting to see our growing inequality as a quintessentially American achievement—we started way behind the pack, but now we’re doing inequality on a world-class level. And it looks as if we’ll be building on this achievement for years to come, because what made it possible is self-reinforcing. Wealth begets power, which begets more wealth. During the savings-and-loan scandal of the 1980s—a scandal whose dimensions, by today’s standards, seem almost quaint—the banker Charles Keating was asked by a congressional committee whether the $1.5 million he had spread among a few key elected officials could actually buy influence. “I certainly hope so,” he replied. The Supreme Court, in its recent Citizens United case, has enshrined the right of corporations to buy government, by removing limitations on campaign spending. The personal and the political are today in perfect alignment. Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office. By and large, the key executive-branch policymakers on trade and economic policy also come from the top 1 percent. When pharmaceutical companies receive a trillion-dollar gift—through legislation prohibiting the government, the largest buyer of drugs, from bargaining over price—it should not come as cause for wonder. It should not make jaws drop that a tax bill cannot emerge from Congress unless big tax cuts are put in place for the wealthy. Given the power of the top 1 percent, this is the way you would expect the system to work.

BONUS SECTION: Here are some further snapshots of current state of America's middle class (via):

Real unemployment is well over 20%

Average job search time is at an all time high, 39 weeks

Non-discharageable student loan debt is at an all time high, passing total credit card debt

Labor force participation is at 25 year lows

Average household debt is at all time highs

44 million are on food assitance, up 12.8% Y/Y and over 200% since 2001

52 million have no health insurance

Real median household income is down 5% Y/Y

25% of household have 0 or negative net worth

The average American now spends approximately 23 percent of his or her income on food and gas.

NewsFlash: Eating Food is Addicting!!!

I can verify the fact that eating food is an addiction. I started on food shortly after I was born and I've continued to eat daily, often several times a day, ever since. And yes, I have tried to give it up in the past, but the craving to eat has a real hold on me.

Hamblen County Man's Actions Not Protected "Free Speech" Says TN Supreme Court

A June 24, 2006 anti-immigrant and very emotional rally held in Hamblen County on the lawn of the courthouse drew a massive police presence and one would-be attendee, then 61-year-old Teddy Ray Mitchell, was arrested for disorderly conduct. The case against Mitchell has been moving through the courts for five years and the Tennessee Supreme Court has now issued a ruling in the case, a 4-1 decision that found Mitchell was guilty of disorderly conduct. (The opinion written by Justice Gary Wade is here.)

The photos above, showing a tank-like vehicle and heavily armed police, are from that hot day in June (mentioned previously on this blog here and here). There were snipers on the roof above the crowd as well. Obviously there was a great deal of fear and concern from police, who seemed to be expecting a very dangerous atmosphere at the rally.

Mitchell was first convicted, but an appeals court overturned that verdict and the case went to the State Supreme Court in a break from their usual business. Reporter Jamie Satterfield of the Knoxville News Sentinel has a story on the decision here.

The case centered over whether or not Mitchell's conduct was threatening and crossed a line protecting free speech. The court majority says yes. Mitchell was certainly using abusive racial insults towards the police, and police also wanted to bar Mitchell from carrying an American flag into the rally since it was on a large pole which they feared could be "used as a weapon".

A dissenting opinion from the Supreme Court by Justice Sharon Lee says Mitchell's conduct was not disorderly and that he was protected by the right of free speech. Some excerpts from her opinion:


"Anticipating a possible confrontation between pro-immigration and anti-immigration participants at the rally, the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Department assembled between eighty and ninety police officers from various police agencies in and around the rally site. The police presence included officers from the Hamblen County Sheriff’s Department, the Morristown Police Department, the Sevierville Emergency Rescue Squad, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol. Most of the officers were in uniform; some were in riot gear, many were in full body armor and carried loaded M-16 weapons; and others carried AK-47 weapons. Police officers were on the ground, snipers on rooftops, and a half-track tank was hidden in the bushes of the courthouse lawn."

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"The videos depict a scene where Mr. Mitchell is agitated, but the police officers and bystanders appear undisturbed by Mr. Mitchell’s conduct. Indeed, not a single person testified that he or she felt threatened by Mr. Mitchell.
At this point, an order came across the radio from Officer Weisgarber, who was stationed next to the courthouse, to remove Mr. Mitchell. Officer Weisgarber never saw Mr. Mitchell until after his arrest."

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"Although Mr. Mitchell’s conduct was rude and belligerent, the fatal flaw in the State’s case was its failure to establish that Mr. Mitchell’s conduct was violent or threatening."

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"After considering the principles in these cases and the evidence in the record before us, I am convinced that the proof was not sufficient to sustain the conviction for disorderly conduct. In vociferously challenging the officers’ authority to deny him permission to enter the rally with his American flag, there is no doubt Mr. Mitchell was rude, loud, and belligerent. However, the entire verbal exchange between the numerous officers and Mr. Mitchell appears to have lasted less than 15 seconds. There was no proof that Mr. Mitchell made any threats of violence. There was no proof that any of the seven police officers at the entrance felt threatened at any time by Mr. Mitchell. There was no proof that Mr. Mitchell committed any act of violence toward any of the police officers or counseled others to do so. Although the State argues that Mr. Mitchell “shook the flag pole and poked Officer Wallen two or three times with the eagle attached to the end of the flag pole,” this argument is simply not supported by the videotapes that captured the entire encounter. Obviously, the jury’s role is to resolve conflicts in the proof; however, the State’s argument that Mr. Mitchell used his flag to poke Officer Wallen in a threatening or violent manner and that this conduct somehow took place outside of the video cameras’ view is sheer conjecture."

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"Officers’ mere speculation as to what may have happened was not a basis to arrest Mr. Mitchell for boisterously expressing his views on a matter of public concern. Therefore, I would hold that Mr. Mitchell’s conduct was protected free speech under the First Amendment."

Tea Party Grows Corporate Government

Despite efforts to prevent elected officials who leave elected office from becoming "Instant Lobbyists", the lobbyists now simply take jobs as the top staffers for elected officials and then proceed to write legislation which is then made law. Most of the recently elected Republican officials in Washington have been loading their offices up with lobbyists:

"In many cases, those hiring lobbyists were Tea Party candidates who vowed to end business as usual in Washington. As The Washington Post reported, when Ron Johnson ran against Wisconsin’s Senator Russ Feingold, he accused Mr. Feingold of being “on the side of special interests and lobbyists.” Now that he is a senator, Mr. Johnson has hired as his chief of staff Donald Kent, whose firms have lobbied for casinos, defense industries and homeland security companies."

Southern Beale also notes how "grass roots" groups of just ordinary Americans are really nothing more than highly paid agents of propaganda working at the state and local levels.

My Computer Tried to Kill Me

I may have the headline backwards - I think maybe I am killing my computer.... no wait, it's more like my computer has lost some toes in a freak accident. Or something. Bottom line - it no worky so good, me not know why.

In fact the only reason this post has appeared is my deft application of sheer force of will - and my use of an ancient series of whistles and beep noises and crossing my eyes while blinking a morse code.

Hang in there oh faithful readers.

I may need to finish incorporating myself as an offshore company headquartered in Geneva in order to finish this inter-transactional kinetic squirmish so I can save the computer and America.

Republicans Working Hard to Make Our Economy Worse

The intended consequences of Republicans in Washington - and in state legislatures - who campaigned on "slashing spending" were obvious: it's the American worker's spending that's being gutted. Republicans are offering up an endless slate of proposals which will drive up unemployment and drive down wages. It's the result of half-witted policies - if you stop government programs, fire millions of federal and state workers, drive private sector wages down and have no plan in place to grow jobs in the private sector, then our economy is going to tank even faster:

"If pressed, I suspect GOP leaders would say their radical experiment would only cause temporary pain throughout the economy. Sure, unemployment would go up and workers' wages would go down, but that would only continue during a transition period.

And how long would America suffer while this transition continued? Republicans haven't quite answered that one yet.

We really are in a through-the-looking-glass debate at this point. Republicans benefited greatly from a weak economy in 2010, riding a wave of public frustration to massive electoral gains. Voters, looking for a change from the status quo, expected the GOP to focus heavily on job creation and economic growth.

Just a few months later, Republicans have responded with a plan that would make unemployment worse, on purpose, while lowering Americans' wages, on purpose."

Here in Tennessee, workers and economic ideas are moving in march-step to tank earnings for workers and offer tax giveaways to already subsidized corporations at the expense of all else:

"Tennessee already scores well in terms of its business taxes and regulatory climate, and we have a pro-business, anti-labor legal climate. The state is also happy to dole out cash for relocation assistance, tax incentives, infrastructure development, and workforce training.

But all of that comes at a cost. We have some of the highest sales and property taxes in the country. We have one of the highest unemployment insurance rates because of chronic unemployment. CEOs are likely surprised when they find out we also have one of the highest income taxes on interest and dividends in the country.

We have high numbers of uninsured and people on public health care, which drives up taxes and health care costs for everyone including employers. We have a high poverty rate, meaning less buying power which limits markets for a company's products. We have one of the least qualified workforces (just look at how much money we hand out for remedial training of a relocating company's workers). We have some of the worst education outcomes in the country, with low high school graduation rates and low numbers of college educated workers. We have virtually no environmental regulation, at least in terms of enforcement, which affects our natural environment and, ironically, threatens tourism which is one of our key economic assets.

So why would any company want to locate here? Hard to say unless they're just looking for government handouts to exploit our cheap, unskilled labor in a wild west regulatory environment that lets them ride roughshod over state and local government, regulators, the courts, their workers and their communities.

Thanks for electing all those conservative, tea-party, corporate-worshiping folks who think all our policy problems and economic failures are the result of Americans who want to earn anything more than a living wage as companies fatten their profits at record levels.

Thanks soooo much.

Camera Obscura: Gatlinburg Film Fest Opens; 'Taxi Driver' Anniversary

I've not had a movie post in a few weeks as the state and federal legislative sessions have just brought out so much deeply ridiculous and useless proposals that have demanded my attention and yours (I hope). Not that I need to apologize to readers, more that readers (along with my humble self) can gain perspective and enrichment and a breath by taking a look at more esoteric creations. To paraphrase William Hurt from "The Big Chill", "Sometimes ya gotta just let art wash over ya."

The 3rd Annual Gatlinburg Film Festival opens today and offers a host of locally-made short film submissions for numerous awards, and also offers screenings of the documentary of the Nashville flood of 2010, called "Nashville Rises" and another doc, "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia" which offers an even deeper (and most bizarre) examination of the family of cult star Jesco White, 'The Dancing Outlaw'.

A full schedule of events is here - the Festival is held at the River Terrace Hotel and Convention Center. A write-up via the Knoxville News Sentinel has more.

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Mention must be made of the passing of Elizabeth Taylor this week. She came out of the Hollywood studio system as a teenage girl and redefined the word Star like no other, a force of astonishing power and beauty, and a noted philanthropist, who captured America's imagination both onscreen and off for decades. Kim at TCM's Movie Morelock page has a tribute:

"Elizabeth Taylor looms as large as Cleopatra herself on our cultural landscape. But Taylor wasn’t just a pop culture icon. The Oscar winning actress helped invent the term. Warhol turned her image into art. Mattel turned her image into a Barbie doll. The Vatican condemned her “erotic vagrancy” and the Queen of England honored the actress by appointing her a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Taylor’s timeless beauty will haunt us forever. She’s part of all of our lives whether we want her to be or not and I’m thankful for the incredible body of work that she left behind for us all to enjoy."

She also has captured fantastic accounts of Taylor's work through the last half of the 20th century on her own blog, Cinebeats, with extensive reviews of her films and many great photos too.

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And now for something completely different.

Since George Lucas is endlessly beating the dead horse of "Star Wars" into nano-particles, then so can the rest of us. The following vid is from a series called "Troopers", a fan-made collection of shorts which gives us a peek into the hum-drum lives of Stormtroopers as they run for coffee and bear claws, fix leaky pipes, take out the garbage -- and the one below is an "interrogation" of "rebel princess". Good stuff:



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"Taxi Driver" is such a rare film - still retaining it's power after 35 years, and also a breathtaking take on America and New York City in one of its darkest times. A new print and new theatrical release is underway. Critic J. Hoberman tries to capture what made the film so unique both then and now in his recap:

"Citizen of a sodden Sodom where the steamy streets are always wet with tears, among other bodily fluids, (the character) Travis Bickle embarks each evening on a glistening sea of sleaze. Seen through his rain-smeared windshield, Manhattan becomes a movie—call it “Malignopolis”—in which, as noted by Amy Taubin in her terrific Taxi Driver monograph, “the entire cast of Superfly seems to have been assembled in Times Square” to feed Travis’s fantasies. The cab driver lives by night in a world of myth, populated by a host of supporting archetypes: the astonishing Jodie Foster as Iris, the 12-year-old hooker living the life in the rat’s-ass end of the ’60s, yet dreaming of a commune in Vermont; Harvey Keitel as her affably nauseating pimp; Peter Boyle’s witless cabbie sage; and Cybill Shepherd’s bratty golden girl, a suitably petit-bourgeois Daisy Buchanan to Travis’s lumpen Gatsby."

I remember seeing it several times during the 1970s, and it is truly unforgettable. And it gave actor Robert DeNiro and director Martin Scorsese a huge introduction to audiences. It tackles politics, social structures, fame and infamy, tour de force filmmaking, and offers a deranged, hilarious, and a daft Manhattan trapped in it's own cage.

In the mid-1980s, I rented a VHS copy of the movie, popped it into a washing-machine-sized top-loading VHS player, and saw it in a large living room of a home where I was house-sitting. As disturbing as it was on the theatrical screen, it was even more horrifying in my home. Letting Travis Bickle into your home leaves a dark stain on everything. It stands as one of the major milestones which the 1970s gave us is such large numbers - The Godfather, Chinatown, Nashville, and yes, even Star Wars - the creations of then-young filmmakers who are today's legends of Hollywood.

Most notable too, the movie was the very last scored by composer Bernard Herrmann, and the music is a relentless heartbeat of night and the city and the madness of those times. It is mournful and bluesy and adds so much to an already iconic movie. The opening moments and music are below:

Class Action Lawsuit Over Radioactive Pollution in East Tennessee

Vivid fears of radioactive pollution in Japan have prompted much-needed attention here in the U.S. on the storage and usage of nuclear material. The grim picture in East Tennessee is gaining attention as well.

A class action lawsuit over radioactive pollution in the Nolichucky River is being prepared against Erwin, TN's Nuclear Fuel Services plant. Residents around the facility are attending meetings to consider the suit, and concerns have been steadily growing since a recent study has shown the radioactive contamination might also be affecting drinking water in Greeneville, TN as well.

"The Nolichucky River, located downstream from the Erwin NFS plant, is contaminated with enriched uranium. The river serves as a source of water for Greeneville, Tennessee, as well as surrounding communities. As we’ve reported previously, there are no known sources of enriched uranium in the area other than NFS. The facility produces nuclear fuel for the U.S. Navy and processes weapons-grade uranium into fuel for nuclear power plants.

Last year, the radioactive material in the Nolichucky River was discovered by Michael Ketterer, a chemistry professor at Northern Arizona University and specialist uranium contamination. According to an earlier report in the Greeneville Sun, Ketterer’s study, believed to be the first scientific research on water and soil outside the boundaries and downstream from the NFS plant, states that an apparent entry point of the enriched uranium-contaminated water into the surface water is through underground discharges from seeps and springs.

Ketterer was commissioned to conduct the research by regional environmental groups opposed to the 40-year renewal of the operating license for the NFS facility. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is expected to rule on that issue sometime this year.

From the 2010 Greeneville Sun report cited above:

"Then came perhaps the most dramatic moment of the evening when Wallack asked: "Is NFS discharging highly-enriched uranium into the Nolichucky River -- yes, or no?"

There was no reply from NRC officials.

At that point, Marie Moore, NFS's environmental and industry safety manager, who was seated in the back of the room, said: "Yes, but there are limits."

"And you're telling me that (Nolichucky River) water is safe?" Wallack asked.

"From NRC's perspective, yes," Cobey said."

Also, a group of filmmakers are working on a documentary "Atomic Appalachia" to report on the widespread signs of contamination in the soil, water and air from NFS.

NFS has a record of systemic failures and has been cited for a "deficient safety culture" for a large release of uranium in 2006, and that it was only a "matter of luck" the leak was not worse. But problems and accidents have been constant at the facility for years and years.

One NFS employee was fired, she says, for reporting accidents and safety failures at NFS, in this report from tricities.com.



UPDATE, RELATED STORY: Federal charges against TVA Nuke plant worker announced.