Rose Center Summer Players 20th Annual Show - One Weekend Only!

Them that takes cakes
Which the Parsee-man bakes
Makes dreadful mistakes
(And there is a great deal more in that than you would think.)

One week away and for one weekend only! The Rose Center Summer Players 20th Annual production offers a collection of the best of the "Just So Stories" by Rudyard Kipling ("The Jungle Book") next weekend, and the cast, and their parents, are working non-stop to put all the elements together for an excellent show.

(Translation: "all the elements" means: sets, costumes, original live music, lights, sound, rehearsals, and more rehearsals!)

Tickets are only $5, all performances are in the Perk Prater Hall at Rose Center starting Friday July 29th at 7 pm, Saturday July 30th at 2 pm and 7 pm and Sunday July 31 at 2 pm. If you'd like more information, or wish to help support the program, call Rose Center at 423-581-4330.

The cast includes:

Emma Harris - Judith
Carli Rick - Amanda
Graham Christophel - The Parsee, The Python, The First Man
Marissa Horton - Dog, Kangaroo, Giraffe, Wild Horse
Madison Lamb - Horse, Dingo, Baboon, The Cat
Georgi Lamb - Ostrich, The Baby
Madi Phillips - Camel, Little Nqa, Kolokolo Bird, Wild Dog
Skyler Plasencia - The Man, The Elephant's Child, The Bat
Page Winstead - The Djinn, Nqong, The Crocodile, The First Woman
Elizabeth Young - The Ox, The Rhinoceros, Nquing, The Hippo, The Cow

Musicians -
Freya Cartwright
Anna Helms
Matisse Rick
Sarah Roper

'Just So Stories' Opens As Rose Center's 20th Summer Players Show

I have the best summers, thanks to Rose Center in Morristown and their annual theatrical education program, the Summer Players. Next weekend the program marks it's 20th year with the production of Rudyard Kipling's classic collection of children's stories, the "Just So Stories."

This year marks my 4th as director of the Summer Players, and the talent of the young students - from 6th through 12th grade - has been an astonishing thing to witness and help cultivate. They are fearless, curious, adventurous creators, as they not only play the roles of characters, but create the costumes, help build the set, sell advertising - and this year, a group of four young ladies have created and arranged several songs just for this production.

Most of the cast play four to five roles as they act out all the wild and exotic animals from the imaginary and sometimes real wilderness world's of Kipling's tales - like "How The Elephant Got His Trunk" and "How The Rhinoceros Got His Skin".

As with other shows I have directed for the Summer Players, one of the reasons I picked these stories are because they are also classic works of literature, which can be mind-boggling to read and speak no matter what your age. 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the publication of the stories, which you can read online here.

I likewise marvel at the constant work of the parents involved too, as they fit in rehearsals, ad sales and costume-making along with all the other dozens of summer activities they already have planned. And as always, the entire staff of Rose Center works so hard to make sure the show has all it needs and the community can see what young students in the arts can accomplish (and they run programs almost all year long dedicated to that for young and old alike).

And still, for all the work that is done, the cast and myself have a most entertaining summer of laughter and worry and hope and silliness and, too, we all learn from each other and I do my best to make sure this creation is also a celebration of childhood and youth, possibility and courage.

Tickets are only $5, all performances are in the Perk Prater Hall at Rose Center starting Friday July 29th at 7 pm, Saturday July 30th at 2 pm and 7 pm and Sunday July 31 at 2 pm. If you'd like more information, or wish to help support the program by purchasing an ad in the program, call Rose Center at 423-581-4330.

The cast includes:

Emma Harris - Judith
Carli Rick - Amanda
Graham Christophel - The Parsee, The Python, The First Man
Marissa Horton - Dog, Kangaroo, Giraffe, Wild Horse
Madison Lamb - Horse, Dingo, Baboon, The Cat
Georgi Lamb - Ostrich, The Baby
Madi Phillips - Camel, Little Nqa, Kolokolo Bird, Wild Dog
Skyler Plasencia - The Man, The Elephant's Child, The Bat
Page Winstead - The Djinn, Nqong, The Crocodile, The First Woman
Elizabeth Young - The Ox, The Rhinoceros, Nquing, The Hippo, The Cow

Musicians -
Freya Cartwright
Anna Helms
Matisse Rick
Sarah Roper

Tennessee Does Not Feel Perky

A snapshot survey of the state of Tennessee makes some grim observations - about 40% of the population is "stressed out", and the overall 2010 Well Being Index says Tennessee rates 10th in the top ten - as in the Ten States With Bad Well Being.

This survey breaks info down to city, state and Congressional district - and was created by the Gallup-Healthways group, which formed in 2008 to create information which would be given to "Every city, state, and congressional district face unique challenges and the granular level Well-Being Index data shed light on these area-specific issues, allowing leaders to build and shape policies and strategies to address the needs of their communities."

I have to wonder if it's all those "policies and strategies" created by our "leaders" that are the real cause of high stress and lousy well being?

The Tennessee Bulber Movement

It looks and acts mostly like children pouting fretting over a Coveted Toy. Now, but it is called Congress.

Tennessee congress-folk voted to not fund anything a'tall fer them hippie/commie light bulb laws, laws congress made in 2007. Now the Tennessee Bulbers have voted as a group again to ...not fund ... Light Bulb Police??? It's rather hard to say what the off the books vote they had Friday to "not fund enforcement" of the current standards for light bulbs would actually do.

This week between tantrums about that bad man in the President's office, Tennessee childr -- oops, Congressman made our government spend business hours talking and debating "How energy efficient a light bulb should be?"

Every Republican member of our current state congress-folk, in fact, was sponsor and voter on a bill to repeal a 2007 law that requires very highly efficient lightbulbs, (meaning very, very science-fiction weird scary light bulbs) be produced in the country. Even though the law only means some incandescent lights are are being replaced - the furious crowd of politicians/candidates/PR gangs for the next president wannabes, pucker up with Real American Pride and say "Thomas Edison was a good American and as an American I don't want the government telling me what kinda light bulb I can buy."

Response one -
"You're right, it is a corporate decision telling me what kinda light bulb I can buy."

Response two -
"Yeah, I'm all for government making sure I have electricity, but I draw a line in the sand on how I use it!"

Response three - "Would you like to invest in my buggy whip company?"

Light Bulbs and Economic Nightmares

Is it really likely that the political opponents to President Obama (and any Democrat) will embrace economic failure in hopes it would hurt a re-election of Obama (or any Democrat)?

A very strong indication of this took place during a vote Tuesday in Congress - a vote based on emotional madness which rejects facts and instead embraces myths.

As I mentioned yesterday, Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (and every Republican representative in the state signed on as co-sponsors) wailed that the evil liberal government was poised to outlaw the humble light bulb and eliminate all humble incandescent light bulbs. None of their claims were true. And in a push to get a vote to repeal energy efficiency, they needed a two-thirds majority to pass their bogus bill. The failed - only two TN reps., Cohen and Cooper voted no. Reps. Black, Blackburn, DesJarlais, Duncan, Fincher, Fleischmann, and Roe all voted to support the fake fears of light bulb bans.

Industry leaders all pointed out before the vote just how the plan to increase energy efficiency actually is driving innovation and job creation:

"Blackburn and others also note that most CFLs – Blackburn in her House floor speech Monday said “all” – are made in China, and that the last major General Electric plant making ordinary incandescent bulbs, in Winchester, Va., closed last September, taking 200 jobs.

Those bulbs, which the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Washington-based think tank, says waste 90 percent of the electricity they consume as heat, cannot meet the energy standards that go into effect in 2012.

But the NRDC notes that the 2007 increased efficiency standards have been embraced by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the trade association for domestic light manufacturers, as well as the leading manufacturers themselves.

The NRDC points out that the standards have “jump-started domestic industry investment in research and development and production of more efficient lighting products.”

It points to a factory in St. Marys, Pa., retooling to make more efficient incandescent bulbs, a new factory for CFLs opening in Ohio this year and “thousands of jobs” being created by companies such as Cree, Lighting Science Group and Phillips Lighting.

The NRDC also released a statement quoting Barry Edison Stone, the great-grandson of the inventor of the incandescent bulb, suggesting proponents of the repeal of the higher standards are “narrow-minded.”

And again, more facts get ignored:

"The law does not ban the use or manufacture of all incandescent bulbs, nor does it mandate the use of compact fluorescent ones. It simply requires that companies make some of their incandescent bulbs work a bit better, meeting a series of rolling deadlines between 2012 and 2014.

Furthermore, all sorts of exemptions are written into the law, which means that all sorts of bulbs are getting a free pass and can keep their energy-guzzling ways indefinitely, including “specialty bulbs” like the Edison bulbs favored by Mr. Henault, as well as three-way bulbs, silver-bottomed bulbs, chandelier bulbs, refrigerator bulbs, plant lights and many, many others."

So if folks like Blackburn and other Republicans across the nation knowingly distort facts and reality over light bulbs - then how much more distortion are they willing to endorse in a fantasy of economic policy?

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bachmann and Blackburn Stir Fear With Fake Light Bulb Ban

"The cost per each new high-efficiency bulb does tend to be a bit higher, Appliance Standards Awareness Project executive director Andrew deLaski said, but the savings achieved through lower energy costs evens that out in an average of six months.

In total, Americans stand to save $12.5 billion a year under the news standards." (via)

Tennessee's Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn is promoting a frenzied warning that your American Freedom is under attack by Evil Liberal Light Bulb laws -- and she is totally wrong.

She's making bogus claims that incandescent light bulbs are about to be illegal, banned, and instead everyone will be forced to buy only compact flourescent (CFL) bulbs -- in her email she hysterically and wrongly says:

"In 2007, Congress passed legislation known as the "Energy Independence and Security Act" which contains a subsection that bans the sale of incandescent light bulbs beginning in 2012.

"The banning of incandescent light bulbs is another attack on the basic individual freedom of every American.

And then she pushes a petition for you to sign, which reads:

"I strongly object to the attempts of liberal Democrats to take away yet another or our individual freedoms! I wholeheartedly support Congressman Blackburn in her efforts to repeal that section of the Energy Independence and Security Act, which will ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs. I demand the right to continue to purchase incandescent light bulbs - one of Thomas Edison's greatest inventions."

Her claims are false.

Blogger Southern Beale calls her out in this post There Is No Light Bulb Ban.

How about a few facts to counter the lies of folks like Rush Limbaugh and presidential wanna-be Michelle Bachmann?

"There’s a massive misperception that incandescents are going away quickly,” said Chris Calwell, a researcher with Ecos Consulting who studies the bulb market. “There have been more incandescent innovations in the last three years than in the last two decades.”

The first bulbs to emerge from this push, Philips Lighting’s Halogena Energy Savers, are expensive compared with older incandescents. They sell for $5 apiece and more, compared with as little as 25 cents for standard bulbs.

But they are also 30 percent more efficient than older bulbs. Philips says that a 70-watt Halogena Energy Saver gives off the same amount of light as a traditional 100-watt bulb and lasts about three times as long, eventually paying for itself.

The line, for now sold exclusively at Home Depot and on Amazon.com, is not as efficient as compact fluorescent light bulbs, which can use 75 percent less energy than old-style bulbs."
---
"Given how costly the new bulbs are, big lighting companies are moving gradually. Osram will introduce a new line of incandescents in September that are 25 percent more efficient. The bulbs will feature a redesigned capsule with higher-quality gas inside and will sell for a starting price of about $3. That is less than the Philips product already on the market, but they will have shorter life spans. G.E. also plans to introduce a line of household incandescents that will comply with the new standards.

Mr. Calwell predicts “a lot more flavors” of incandescent bulbs coming out in the future. “It’s hard to be an industry leader in the crowded C.F.L field,” he said. “But a company could truly differentiate itself with a better incandescent.”

(source)

Also, Reps. Blackburn, Bachmann seem to be focused on preventing innovation and facts:

"The hubbub has been deeply irritating to light bulb manufacturers and retailers, which have been explaining the law, over and over again, to whomever will listen. At a Congressional hearing in March, Kyle Pitsor, a representative from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, a trade group that represents makers of light bulbs, among others, patiently but clearly disputed claims that the law banned incandescent bulbs. He restated the law’s points and averred light bulb makers’ support for the law. As usual, it seemed as if no one was paying attention.

Last week, for example, in the middle of Lightfair, an annual trade show for the lighting industry, Philips unveiled a winged LED bulb with a promised life span of 25,000 hours and a price tag of $40 to $50. The Associated Press reported its cost as $50, and Fox News ran the story with the headline “As Government Bans Regular Light Bulbs, LED Replacements Will Cost $50 Each.” Mr. Beck, Rush Limbaugh and conservative bloggers around the country gleefully pounced on the story, once again urging the stockpiling of light bulbs.

Joseph Higbee, a spokesman for the electrical manufacturers association, offered his take on the situation: “Unfortunately people do not yet understand this lighting transition, and mistakenly think they won’t be able to buy incandescent light bulbs. This misinformation has been promoted by a number of media outlets. Incandescent light bulbs are not being banned, and the new federal energy-efficiency standards for light bulbs do not mandate the use of CFLs. My hope is that the media can help the American people understand the energy-efficient lighting options available, as opposed to furthering misconceptions.”

---

The law does not ban the use or manufacture of all incandescent bulbs, nor does it mandate the use of compact fluorescent ones. It simply requires that companies make some of their incandescent bulbs work a bit better, meeting a series of rolling deadlines between 2012 and 2014.

Furthermore, all sorts of exemptions are written into the law, which means that all sorts of bulbs are getting a free pass and can keep their energy-guzzling ways indefinitely, including “specialty bulbs” like the Edison bulbs favored by Mr. Henault, as well as three-way bulbs, silver-bottomed bulbs, chandelier bulbs, refrigerator bulbs, plant lights and many, many others."

As was noted in a post at the Frum Forum:

"Major lighting manufacturers helped draft the new standards so that they could avoid a patchwork of state standards. They are fighting the repeal proposal because it threatens to strand the investments they have made to retool and produce lighting products that meet the standards.

In addition to claiming that the incandescent bulb is being banned and that we are all going to be forced to use compact fluorescent lighting (CFL), Barton is also saying that bulbs meeting the new standards are cost prohibitive.

Again, not true. A Philips incandescent bulb that meets the new standards currently sells for $1.49, lasts about 50 percent longer than older incandescent bulbs, and saves consumers more than $3.00 in energy expenditures. For four bucks you can buy an incandescent that lasts 3000 hours and nets you more than $10 in energy savings.

If you want to save even more energy you can buy CFL or LED bulbs. While LEDs cost more, the energy savings are about $150 per bulb and they last so long you might want to bequeath them to your children.

Barton’s irresponsible and embarrassing legislation would accomplish nothing good. It would provide consumers with inferior products that burn out faster and result in higher energy bills. It would threaten the lighting industry’s investment dollars. It would waste energy and result in more pollution.

And for what, a fanciful narrative about how the big bad government is taking away our lighting choices?

Legislation establishing common-sense efficiency standards for energy-using equipment has traditionally enjoyed overwhelming support from conservatives. The first such legislation was signed into law 25 years ago by President Ronald Reagan. Thanks to the legislation enacted by Reagan and similar laws signed by his successors, Americans are saving billions of dollars on their utility bills."

Tennessee Tops In Storing Radioactive Waste

(image via)

East TN actress Park Overall has been a most vocal promoter demanding complete accountability when it comes to the deeply dangerous radioactive waste which is ending up Hawkins County and other sites in our Tennessee.

At a recent radio interview with WRGS, cited in the Rogersville Review, she continues her efforts to - at the least - inform residents of what is happening in their communities and says standards basically do not exist to protect our communities:

"One night it was decided that low level radioactive waste, secretly and you all don't know about this, will be stored in a kitchen dump. What is a kitchen dump? It is a landfill with no liner," Overall charged. "You have a kitchen dump in Hawkins County."

"Tennessee is the only state accepting nuclear waste at this time. If you want to do anything about it you had better call (U. S. Senators) Lamar Alexander or (Bob) Corker or (Congressman) Phil Roe. You need to let it be known that we don't want to be the nuclear dumping ground of the United States and right now we're it," she said.

Overall suggested the Nuclear Information Resource Service Website, www.nirs.org, as a valuable tool for public information.

"That will tell you that they are chopping up the world's waste and burning up the world's waste and putting it right here in Tennessee," Overall said. "No one asked you if that was okay."

The actress also questioned the standards the NRC uses, including the acronym ALARA, which stands for "as low as reasonably achievable."

She also claimed government agencies and officials were to blame.

"I'm sorry to bad-mouth our government but they're not protecting us," Overall claimed."

Meanwhile documentary filmmakers are working hard to establish the funding needed to detail the steady dumping of radioactive waste into the Nolichucky River from NFS in Erwin. The film is titled "Atomic Appalachia" and you can learn more about that here., and on their Facebook page.

Just this Spring, the Tennessee legislature voted against installing any controls or oversight of the dumping of nuclear waste in Tennessee, despite the reality that:

"The committee discussed the bill for about 50 minutes Wednesday before amending it so that its provisions would not interfere with any current private waste-processing contracts until they are renewed. The committee then killed the entire bill, with only two Democrats' votes for passage and five Republicans' votes against.

"The Environmental Council, citing government reports, says about 40 million pounds of low-level radioactive waste is processed in Tennessee annually. After processing, much of it is shipped out of state, but about 49 million pounds was dumped into the Tennessee landfills from 2004 through 2009."

Worse news - most of the landfills in Tennessee are leaking into the groundwater and beyond.


"TDEC issued civil fines and penalties at Carter Valley Landfill in October 2006 after 2005 groundwater monitoring found contamination in the groundwater.

Additionally, TCWN found that of the 69 landfills across the state known to be leaking, TDEC required corrective action for groundwater contamination at less than 5 of those landfills, including Dickson County, Sevier County, City of McKenzie, and Smelter Services Class 2 landfill in Mt. Pleasant.

Dickson County's landfill received national attention for what is believed to be the community's exposure to trichloroethene from leachate in drinking water supplies causing birth defects. The contamination occurred despite the landfill being built under stringent EPA guidelines and the old landfill's closure in 2003.

Bliss said Hawkins County has the second highest incidence of birth defects in the state. "We should have a concern about Hawkins County."

More background info here.

The Last Space Shuttle

The space shuttle Endeavour and International Space Station shine front and center in this amazing (and historic) photo of the two vehicles docked together as seen from a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Astronaut Paolo Nespoli snapped this view and others during the first-ever photo session of a shuttle docked at the space station.

Shuttle really isn't a great name and doesn't inspire the same way that the word 'rocket' does.

But perched here on the final hours of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, one can't dismiss the historic role this decades-long program has played, both of triumph and tragedy.

First pondered as a 'Space Plane' back in the mid-1950s, it was President Nixon who gave the final okay for deployment, and for over 30 years this first-of-its-kind ship (a re-usable spacecraft) put space travel (even though it aimed only for low-orbit work) into a nearly dismissible routine event. But two tragic accidents, one on launch and one on re-entry, highlighted that this immensely complex scientific process could never be considered mundane work.

Some major achievements the Shuttle made possible - the creation of orbiting space stations and experimental orbiting platforms, and setting up and repairing the Hubble telescope, which has given our world a stunning new perspective on our universe and all that it contains.

As one NASA space operations chief said in late June of this year - "We've gone from where we went to space, and we touched space and we came back. We now are really in the posture where we're learning to live in space and operate in space."

The aurora australis, or southern lights, shimmer beyond Endeavour's vertical fin in a 1994 long-exposure picture. Endeavour was named after the ship commanded by James Cook, the 18th-century British explorer, navigator, and astronomer. The name was chosen through a national competition involving students in U.S. elementary and secondary schools.

The Shuttle fleet has flown 134 times, as much as nine times a year, though it has been used, far, far longer than first envisioned, and a lack of direction and financing now means that for the near future, our space program will depend on other nations to carry astronauts and cargo into orbit. Where we go from here is still mostly unknown.

I'm a total space nerd (one of my earliest posts showed my geekery). And this last Shuttle flight marks the end of an era, as millions if not billions of folks in our world have lived when this program was a constant event. NASA offers a constant online update of this final flight.

Many consider the money and materials and lives it takes for space exploration a waste, but the reality is that our very nature is to explore our world and all the mysteries of our universe. The waste would be if we simply stop and believe we can't reach for the stars.

Supreme Court Says Corporations Can Do No Wrong

A trio of decisions this summer from the Supreme Court makes it crystal clear: the judicial system offers nothing to workers or consumers and exists to only protect corporations.

Slate tracks the cases in this article, noting:

"Slowly but surely, the Supreme Court is giving corporate America a handbook on how to engage in misconduct. ... When you obliterate the very possibility of civil litigation, you are, by definition, helping big business screw over the little guy. But when you teach big business precisely how to screw over the little guy, and how to do it faster, cheaper, and without detection … well, that's not even an illusion of justice anymore. It's enabling."

The Court backed the rights of a company - any company - to bypass all due process in favor of arbitration (usually held in secret, in a forum where a company's arbitrator has total control). A worker or consumer must sign agreements offered by a company which holds that a worker or consumer has no legal rights to challenge a company. Ever.

The Court backed the bizarre claim that a company can set up a subsidiary PR firm yet never, ever can the parent company be held accountable for any false or illegal claim their PR firms make.

The Court also ruled that if a corporation insures that if decisions to discriminate are spread widely enough, employees have no rights to file class action suits.

In other words, shut up and be happy for whatever a corporation offers you. Their rights trump yours.

Meanwhile, a growing legal challenge is being made to totally reverse the "corporate personhood" status.

Independence Day 2011 and Beyond

This is a holiday I make sure to observe - I must, as I take most seriously the ideas spawned by the Declaration of Independence, which was adopted on July 4th 1776. (Sadly, a recent survey reveals a portion of the American public is deeply confused and unaware of what the document and the day signifies - though, it could be said the fundamental claims of humanity's self-determination and freedom is of significant size and scope as to overwhelm the minds of 1776 and those of today as well.) The survey's results reveal that "Only 58% of residents know that the United States declared its independence in 1776. 26% are unsure, and 16% mentioned another date."


It was and it is a Revolutionary Document.

The claims it makes are as challenging to the status quo today as they were when it was issued. The second sentence, considered as the opening of the Preamble, marks a unique moment in human history - it claims and expresses a powerful idea, that no one person has rights greater than another, but that each of every person has not only rights but that this fact is indisputable to the point it does not require any proof from those who claim it. It's beyond bold - it is inspiring and will continue to be for the rest of human history.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

It was clear to me when I read that as a young boy there were unintended realities here, since the men who signed the Declaration had slaves, and that they considered women as having less rights - but the truth claimed by that sentence provided rights to every human born, and that truth is as powerful today as it was then.

No king or queen, no landowner, no religious leader, no master, no one is born above or below one another, and that idea continues to shake the foundations of society today.

Thomas Jefferson, who wrote much of that document, said in a letter in 1825 that the document " ... was intended to be an expression of the American mind."

The document also contains a basic reality about government too - that it exists as an agreement between the governed and the government, and that the governed have the right to create and remake government as they see fit. And it's that reality, that we create the social systems which we deem as the best guardians and protectors of our basic, individual rights, which we are constantly reviewing and reconsidering and places authority in our hands, not in the hands of others who can never be questioned or challenged. And also, it is worth noting that the claim of rights isn't really limited to simply Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, but that there are other rights too, which we, as free men and women, will and can claim with absolute certainty. Even today, some 235 years after this document was presented, humans struggle still to claim just those three basic rights.

Yet, still, our Declaration has altered the world which we live in, and when we understand the ideas expressed, we become better - for it provides not just for ourselves, but for all humans, now and in the numberless years of life ahead for all. It remains a document which can educate and enlighten us all.

So I hope you, dear readers, pause to consider the vast ideas in our claims of Independence and share them and celebrate them and even explore what those ideas mean.

Happy Independence Day!

Camera Obscura: Barbie Van Gogh, Dracula Dolls , Frankenstein Redux, and 'Plot Device'

Time to dig through the Pop Culture Trash Pile. (A word of warning - most of the names of the famous folk, both real and fictional, which follow are about people long born before 1998, so relevance is limited and I don't care 'cause I am an Ancient Creature born in the last century.)

1st Find - Marketing wizards of the Barbie-doll Empire turn to the world of Art for their inspirations with the release of a series of "collectibles", featuring the Mona Lisa Barbie. My favorite is the "Van Gogh Barbie" - which, really, should be a Ken doll, with one ear, a beard, and be wearing ratty clothes. Instead, this doll is just a generic glam doll wearing a dress that looks like a mangled "Starry Night" canvas. A Picasso Barbie would be fun to see - and should have a face that looks like this.

2nd Find - Director Francis Ford Coppola is headed to the San Diego Comic-Con in July with his newest movie, "Twixt", which he describes as "one part Gothic romance, one part personal film, and one part the kind of horror film that began my career". Starring Val Kilmer and Bruce Dern, it remains to be seen if it dredges up memories of Coppola's "Dementia 13" or the horror known as "Godfather Part Three". (Maybe we can convince Coppola to produce a George Romero version of "Night of the Living Dead Barbie Dolls."

3rd Find - Speaking of dolls and monsters, I was far more interested in the report that a new series of "collectibles" (don't say dolls!) in homage to the Hammer horror films set for release. We get Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee and Ingrid Pitt. Nerd Swoon!





4th Find - So, Frankenstein returns. This latest incarnation features actor Haley Joel Osment as one Victor Franklin, who seeks to reanimate the dead, in a film version of the graphic novel "Wake the Dead" and is being produced by former Guns 'n Roses guitarist Slash.

And if you are up early Saturday morning (or very late Friday) check out the broadcast on Turner Classic Movies of "Frankenstein Created Woman" starring Peter Cushing and one-time Playboy playmate Susan Denberg. While Susan plays several roles here in this bizarre sci-f reinvention, her voice was dubbed by another uncredited actress. Lots of background on the movie here.

TCM is also playing a rather sad Boris Karloff movie called "Frankenstein 1970", which was made in the 1950s and never makes clear why the year 1970 was part of the title. I suggest instead the rather fascinating "Dracula A.D. 1972" with Cushing and Lee once again facing off in the modern go-go dancing world of 1972.

5th Find - While reading about the oddity of singer Lou Reed's musical salute to Edgar Allan Poe, titled "The Raven" from 2003, I discovered a new movie about Poe is headed to the big screen next year starring actor John Cusack as Poe in a movie called "The Raven". The story follows Poe's last days as he trails a serial killer who mimics Poe's stories. It's being directed by James McTeigue, who made "Ninja Assassin" and "V For Vendetta".

6th Find - Something from this year and this week - a short film rips into the tired tropes of filmmaking and storytelling in "Plot Device". Enjoy!

Plot Device from Red Giant on Vimeo.

Wrecking the Economy For Fun and Profit

Are politicians really gambling on national and global economic collapse?

Sure seems that way, given the Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor stormed out of negotiations with Democrats over debt reduction and tax discussions, which stalled the whole compromise plan. But he's also investing $15,000 against U.S. government bonds. If there is another economic crash because of failed budget talks, he'll make large profits.

"Unless an agreement can be reached, the U.S. could begin defaulting on its debt payments on Aug. 2. If that happens and Cantor is still invested in the fund, the value of his holdings would skyrocket.

“If the debt ceiling isn’t raised, investors would start fleeing U.S. Treasuries,” said Matt Koppenheffer, who writes for the investment website the Motley Fool. “Yields would rise, prices would fall, and the Proshares ETF should do very well. It would spike.”

Cantor’s office claims the investment is simply part of a balanced portfolio. I have no evidence to the contrary. It’s hardly a stretch, though, to suggest prominent officials should avoid these kinds of conflicts of interest."

Who will not profit from these games? Just the American public. Oh, and Republicans have been constantly campaigning for re-election by claiming the Democrats and President Obama haven't helped the economy rebound after it was driven into the ditch by greedy, gambling speculators and lousy economic policies.

I have no problem if a politician wants to make a gamble on the issues of policy - except when the goal is wrecking our economy. As Steve Benen writes in an earlier post, rating agencies like Moody's and the S&P, have clearly stated the trouble is just weeks away:

"There’s a certain beauty to the GOP’s clinical insanity: they’re eager to impress rating agencies, so they’re pursuing a strategy that would aggravate rating agencies.

Also keep in mind, Moody’s Investors Service — another one of the agencies (GOP Senator) McConnell wants to impress — has said the nation’s AAA U.S. credit rating is at risk of being downgraded by mid-July, long before the deadline, if it looks like failure is even a possibility. In other words, the United States would suffer if it looks like the country might miss a payment on its debt obligations, and since Republicans refuse to even consider reducing the debt with a penny of additional revenue, it’s getting increasingly difficult to see how this game of chicken ends anytime soon."

Tennessee Media FAIL - Bogus Claims in "Pork" Report

It is most likely that Tennesseans will read or hear a report today from their newspapers and TV stations which will claim hundreds of millions of tax dollars being wasted by Tennessee government, but is any of it true or are local news folks just pushing a press release without checking any of the claims it presents? (Hint: the answer is: yes.)

The self-proclaimed "non-partisan think tank", the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, tends to be mostly partisan, and is rather low on the thinking scale too. Still today they are pushing (and news outlets are reprinting) a dubious report called "pork report" which it really is not. Pork-barrel spending is a phrase coined to describe government spending which aims to benefit the residents of specific districts, which it is hoped will encourage re-election.

But no such resident benefit really applies to the TCPR claims. They offer instead what they call government waste - but is it?

One claim in the report is a "waste" of tax funds ($14.5 million) for the Tennessee Solar Institute which will spend the funds on "innovative project grants". Businesses get limited assistance to pay for solar power installations, which saves them money on the costs of powering their business. That will lead to less demand on power companies, and also spurs the spread of solar power - from which Tennessee is particularly primed to receive enormous benefit. How enormous? Since the Hemlock company is investing about $2 billion dollars in Clarksville, TN to build panel components, that's pretty large - it means hundreds of jobs, establishes Tennessee in the alternative energy market, and can you name another single company investing anywhere near $2 billion dollars in the state's manufacturing arena?

Another item berated in the "report" are funds for development of switchgrass into bio-fuel, and the report says: "The government should not be in the business of subsidizing flailing industries like switchgrass-to-ethanol with taxpayers’ money."

Ah yes, save those tax funds for subsidizing .... maybe oil companies?

Much of this "report" rather curiously hammers away at alternative energy development.

Another item cited was for disbursement of Federal funds for a weatherization program for homes for low income residents. The state got $99 million and the "report" cites one contractor who received $3,600 for work which the contractor did not actually do. Was that "wasteful" spending or a contractor engaging in fraud? Are they facing punishment for that? The "report" does not say.

News outlets in Tennessee will spread a poorly written attack on government, the news outlets won't really investigate any of the claims in the report, and viewers will see government as villain.

'Hot Coffee' Shatters Myths of Judicial System

HBO aired the documentary "Hot Coffee" last night, which takes aim at the myths of tort reform, 'frivolous lawsuits', mandatory arbitration clauses and the multi-million dollar battles to manipulates courts and voters.

Filmmaker Susan Saladoff was formerly an attorney and this is her first film and she makes sure it packs a powerful punch. She starts with the myths surrounding the "hot coffee" case where a 79-year-old woman's effort to be compensated for horrendous physical damages from a spilled cup of McDonald's coffee. She has been touted as the poster child of a frivolous lawsuit - but the facts of her near-crippling wounds demolish the myths most Americans believe to be the facts of the case.

Also featured is the brutal attack on a KBR employee in Iraq, Jamie Leigh Jones, whose savage rape by fellow employees was deemed safe from prosecution due to a mandatory arbitration clause in her employment contract - the case led to a change in federal laws, but she is still attempting to find justice as her case finally hit the courts on June 12th of this year.

I've written previously about Jones' tragic attack and the dubious constitutional legalities of 'mandatory arbitration'.

Money and the rising primacy of corporations above individuals are detailed in 'Hot Coffee' in ways likely to make a viewer's head explode.

Of course, those whose tactics are under attack from the film cry and moan that it is soooo unfair.

They are furious - because having a 'fair review' of your complaint is considered a fundamental American right.

So perhaps the question which should be best considered is simple - how can it be legal for a company to demand that as part of your employment, or as part of your decision to buy a product, you must waive your right to due process in court?

The movie also highlights the state-by-state attack on laws to protect consumers and hold companies accountable, and when those laws were upheld, a state-by-state attack to install judges who would favor business above the rights of the individual. And of course, this maze of mirrors has been sold to the general public as 'reform'.

'Why Is There Cheese Coming Out of Your Pants?'

(image via)

Let me slide the curtain back a wee bit on the Real Daily Life of Your Humble Narrator (that's me). For the last few weeks, I've been tackling several theatrical projects, as I do most every summer.

For many years now, I have most fortunate to work as an acting teacher for children, usually 3rd to 9th graders, for classes offered via Walters State Community College and for the local arts center in Morristown, the Rose Center. Also, I am working again as director for the annual Rose Center Summer Players production - this year, my fourth in the program, we are working on a production of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories." That show opens the last weekend of July and will be held at Rose Center, and I'll be posting/promoting about this show more in the days and weeks ahead.

The downside for any readers here, however, is that such tasks often mean much less time to post here. My apologies for my absences - it takes a quality and quantity of time to create posts and such time has been difficult to obtain, as my mind has been consumed with so many lesson plans, students, scripts and much more. Still I wanted to share a few things from the last few weeks which I found hilarious fun.

In my classes we explore lots of acting styles and techniques and the kids do lots and lots of improv exercises to draw out ideas and I say with no reservations whatsoever that the kids create some truly funny (and sometimes serious) moments on the stage.As I am always nerdishly committed to acting, I've known for some time that I surely must appear to the kids as one strange and eccentric adult. So be it. Hopefully, all the goofiness I help create also includes educational aspects, but also, it's just fun for all of us.

One improv scene we work on is the Interrogation. Two students take the stage, one is a detective and the other a suspect (and there are other variations too) . The aim is to only speak in questions, and it gets insanely hard and funny. At one point this past week, a student had been told he was a "pie thief" who is accused of stealing cakes, pies, donuts, etc. As the student was being questioned about where he was, and his alibi's and such, the detective suddenly turned and pointedly asked "Why is there cheese coming out of your pants?!??!"

That line pretty much stopped the class as we all just laughed like a room of, well, kids. I have no idea where the idea for the question came from, but it surely brought us all to tears laughing.

There were several other funny scenes in the last few weeks too, in which students worked to perform as some kind of character - either one from a book, script, tv show, movie, real life, or one they invent themselves - and do a short monologue as that character. That always brings out memorable moments.

For example, one young boy performed as a CIA agent who was working undercover at a Bass Pro shop as salesman, another young girl acted as if she were a totally confused host on the Today show who had lost her script, was late to the set, and keep asking if was time for a commercial. "It's time to take a break for a commercial .... isn't it?" she asked looking at imaginary cameras and putting her finger to her ear as if she had a earphone connected to the control booth. "can we ... is it ... it's not? .... Ha- ha, just a moment folks ...we.... NOW we have ... we don't have? Ha-ha .... ummmm.... are we still on?"

Another young girl, skin all pale white, with fiery red hair, takes the stage, whips as scarf around her like a shawl and does a spot-on impersonation of actor Tyler Perry as "Madea". A few years back, a boy did a stunning 8 minute routine imitating Bill Cosby from his stand-up movie "Bill Cosby:Himself". It was a flawless impersonation. He did the scene where Cosby was talking about the chaos surround bath-time at his home, and his performance was just amazing - especially when you think that there is no script he could have memorized - he had just seen that video so many times he knew every line, every pause, every inflection - and when he was done, he calmly walked back to his seat as if nothing at all had happened.

And for this year's Rose Center show, most of cast are taking on multiple roles as they create all the wild animals from Kipling's stories - camels, elephants, snakes, horses, monkeys, and many more. In these shows, the actors also (with much parental help) create the costumes too. So many days are ahead of puzzling out how a horse walks, how an elephant uses his trunk, how to make costumes that might need to convert from a giraffe into a kangaroo. They work very hard and while I will always make time to write (either here or working to create other new stage shows) the gifts that these kids are willing to share I truly appreciate and learn from as well.

Working in the performing arts does not resolve world problems, won't reduce the national debt or stop global warming or any such 'real world' issues. Still, the growing imaginations and creativity I have been lucky enough to witness always reminds me to never underestimate what we are all capable of, if we just allow for a time and a space for creativity to flourish. It's a wonderful way to spend the summer.

'We're Smarter Than Ever These Days!' - Miss USA Contestants Ponder Evolution

"We're smarter than ever these days so, I mean, why not teach everything and let people make their own decisions?"
- Kaylin Reque, 22, Miss Georgia

Let's ask players in a beauty contest if "evolution should be taught in schools" -- 'cause they represent ... um ... something .... which might or could or may be knowledgeing informationisms.

Morristown Coal Gasification Plant On A Very Fast Track

A recent reader asked me to be more clear about my thoughts on story from last week about the sudden announcement that a new company called Freedom Energy Diesel will locate in one of Morristown's industrial parks - the post is here and the commenter asked:

"So, what are you saying, Joe? For or against?
On the one hand, I - too - can understand everyone's concerns about no further information being available about the company. However, on the other hand, everything new starts some where. And, when figures such as - 1 million gallons of water and X amount of trucks using our local highways...are released to the 'general' public...we are not going to see that in perspective as to "that's the way business of this type is done." But, we are going to have a huge 'knee jerk' reaction because of the large numbers.
Having just discovered your blog, and being impressed with your being a local and the adequate amount of research shown in your backstory - I may not be discernable about what you are trying to say?
Are you preaching for - or against?"

I offered a somewhat lengthy response, but the short answer is that I am neither for or against, and how could I be as I am absolutely full of questions about this enormous industrial proposal. (And yes, that does in fact mean that once I ask any questions, some officials in town will label me as some cruel hater of development and jobs, and that opinion is without a doubt a load of horseshit and a sure sign some details are being intentionally withheld by The Powers That Be. And being reduced to respond to if I am "for" or "against" the project is sugar-coating and denies my right to know how my government works, and how my tax dollars are spent, so I expect my local damnation will be the line being "preached".)

And I'm very concerned the city of Morristown is moving fast while critical unknowns cloud the project, which I mentioned in my previous post, that 113 tractor trailer trucks a day will be leaving the facility traveling on Highway 25-E and Interstate 81, that the plant needs a million gallons of water a day, but will reclaim much of that by building 3 retention ponds which will hold some 900,000 gallons of water, and that there has simply been no public discussion yet about this new start up company and their plans - plenty of private meets, yes, but zero public ones.

All this happens within days after elected and appointed officials in Cumberland County demanded more information about the project and the folks from Freedom Energy Diesel immediately abandoned their plan to locate there and locate in Morristown instead. FED's CEO Bernie Rice told the Cumberland Co. folks that Morristown was "already nailed down." So rather than answer questions, the company went to Morristown, for the fast, non-questioning approach.

And the city is wasting no time in pushing the project into place. A June 12th Citizen Tribune article called the project a "miracle" - and two days later the Morristown Regional Planning Commission voted to annex 3 tracts of land for the company and to expand the existing rail lines for the plant which needs 100 rail cars of coal every other day - well, only some of that Commission approved it - the chair of the Commission, Jim Beelart was not at the meeting, the newly elected Mayor, Danny Thomas, was not at the meeting, and city councilman Bob Garrett was not at the meeting, and MRPC member Ken Smith was not at the meeting either.

The city's engineer, Jeff Branham, says fast action is "necessary" so the Georgia-based company can meet their deadline of delivering diesel fuel made via a coal gasification project in August of 2012 - that means working fast to excavate 1.2 million cubic feet of soil, construct a 570,000 square-foot building and extend the rail line before the company can ship its product. Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials began inspecting the site on Tuesday, but no word yet if the Tennessee Dept of Transportation has seen any plans or will just rubber stamp a project Rice claims already has the approval of Governor Haslam.

Speedy work continues - even as the city of Morristown is under some very expensive fines and very harshly worded critical rulings from Federal Judge J. Ronnie Greer for "malfeasance" involving millions of dollars over the enormous problems with the sewer system near that industrial park, in the Witt community. His recent judicial order, as covered on the blog Noe4Accountability, reveals a city in a deep financial hole and working hard to hide their many problems with money and with the state and with the sewer and water in that part of town -- here's just a sample of his anger on how Morristown has been doing business:

"...the efforts the City had to undertake “to get its financial house in order” were a result of its own malfeasance. The State Comptroller’s Office required the City to meet certain conditions before the City was allowed to incur any new debt as a result of an illegal transfer and other issues found in an audit of the City’s finances. The Comptroller’s Office made this clear to the defendant on May 21, 2010, just 10 days after this Court’s hearing where the City represented to the Court that the rehabilitation of the line could be completed by June 30, 2011. The fact that the City could not incur new debt was reiterated to the City on June 21, 2010. Thus, it took time to satisfy the conditions, which delayed the SRF loan, and which delayed the rehabilitation of the line.

It is clear from the record that the City was aware as early as May 21, 2010, that it could not receive the funding to rehabilitate the line. However, the City did not inform this Court of the problems in receiving the funding necessary to rehabilitate the line. In the months thereafter, the City never communicated any difficulty in receiving funding to this Court. It never communicated to this Court that it could not meet the schedule it represented to the Court at the May 11, 2010 hearing. This failure is inexcusable. The City knew that its proposed schedule could not be met and that problems with the Witt sewer line would persist until the line could be fully rehabilitated. Evidence shows that overflows have continued, endangering the environment and human health. Such a failure to inform this Court cannot be ignored. For these reasons, the oral motion to reconsider the decision regarding the issuance of civil penalties is DENIED."

You can read his full opinion here.

City residents have been slammed with year after year of price increases to expand and update the city's aging water and sewer systems -- and this new industrial plant will be a huge new burden on that system.

I do sympathize that new companies, new businesses and new technologies get asked lots of questions. From my own experience, I know the kinds of grilling people ask of you when you propose a project of just a few thousand dollars - and hundreds of millions are at stake here, but there seem to be few questions from the city.

But despite the city's immense problems with their own financial operations, their sewer and water problems, their track record for leaving the public in the dark when it comes to plans for development, I heartily agree that alternative fuels must be a priority locally and nationally - but burning coal isn't a new idea. And I rather wish our community had leaders like those in the Cumberland County area which dared to ask this new, unknown and untested company some tough questions, as noted in another story about the move to Morristown in the Crossville Chronicle:

"Well, obviously I hate that we lost the opportunity for jobs coming here ... We will continue to look further to bring companies and jobs into that park. ... I hope it's a success in Morristown because it could be the groundwork for more plants in the future," Cumberland County Mayor Carey said.

"We appreciated the hospitality of the Chamber and mayor and the professionalism of the staff in Crossville. Our decision was nothing against Crossville," William Daniels, Corporate Operating Officer of Freedom Energy Diesel said.

The Plateau Partnership Park is a joint project of Cumberland, Morgan and Roane counties that was started in 2007 to bring economic development to the tri-county area.

"The jury was out with me on the project. I felt like we didn't have enough information on the technology or the company for me to support the project, but I wish Morristown and Hamblen County the best. If it wasn't a new start-up, capital venture and had a proven track record, it would have been worth it, but at this point I was not sold on the project. I had concerns and did not feel comfortable with how it was presented," Roane County Executive Ron Woody said.

"I think that the company (Freedom Energy Diesel) had a much faster pace in mind than what the Plateau Partnership Park board thought," Mayor Carey said.

According to the Citizen Tribune, construction on the new facility in Morristown is expected to begin as soon as possible and plant operations are to begin by November 2012.

Although officials in Cumberland County were told by Freedom Energy Diesel's CEO Bernie Rice the plant would bring a minimum of 150 jobs to the area at the start, the plans for the plant in Morristown state the facility will bring approximately 450 jobs at the start of operation and add 150 more in future expansions.

"I think there was some miscommunication with the state on the paperwork and that 150 jobs was multiplied by 3 shifts for a lot more jobs than what we originally thought," Mayor Carey said.

The location announcement was made by Eric Staton, Chief Science Officer with Freedom Energy Diesel. The plant will be located on land purchased by Freedom Energy Diesel in the East Tennessee Progress Center near Interstate 81.

The plant will use an optimized coal gasification process co-developed by D4 Capital Holdings, LLC., Battelle Memorial Institute and Dynawave Inc.

The process, which is promoted by Freedom Energy Diesel to be the latest in technology and superior to current models in production, uses plasma technology to create extremely high temperatures which turn solid materials to gas, allowing the elements to be captured and turned into new compounds with relatively little loss of energy.

When Roane County Executive Ron Woody questioned the technology of the coal gasification process and its pollutants during the meeting in Cumberland County, Daniels likened it as to comparing the technology of a rotary telephone to an iPhone.

"This is new technology that is the latest and best," he said. "You can't compare it."

Morgan County Executive Don Edwards cautioned the Industrial Development Board at the Cumberland County meeting with Freedom Energy Diesel saying, "I think you need to make sure before you step into something that you know what you are getting into."


Some background info on coal gasification for synthetic fuels:

Australia recently began doing it via underground operations.

China has been doing it too, at a cost of about $50 per barrel of fuel, though they note that the underground process may be a far more efficient technology than above-ground plants.

Source Watch report on other nations using coal to diesel production and their results, including a report that burning synthetic coal fuel in vehicles creates twice as much carbon emissions than gasoline burning vehicles.

Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Erwin Nuclear Plant and Cancer Rates

Via Tri-Cities.com:

"Attorneys from three states filed a class action lawsuit today against Erwin's Nuclear Fuel Services.

Law firms from Greeneville, New York and Rhode Island claim emissions from NFS are to blame for high rates of cancer.

Attorneys are fighting for their clients to get compensation for personal injury and property damage.

“No one wants to face the truth here and the truth is, I have highly enriched uranium on my property and I am 21 river miles downstream,” says Park Overall who’s one of the main advocates of the lawsuit against Nuclear Fuel Services. “I began to hear about all this cancer here, and we started to look into it. These chemicals and radioactive isotopes are related to particular cancers that we have too much of in the area.”

Overall says Monday's filing of the class action lawsuit is the biggest step so far for the Erwin Citizens Awareness Network (ECAN). ECAN is a group that’s researched NFS’s emissions dating back to 1954.

“The paperwork tells the true story, the lack of public regard for health and safety,” explains Overall. “How much was spilled. how much went in the air.”

Attorney John Rogers is with the Greeneville firm who agreed to take on this case, and Monday he filed the 40 page suit with the Federal Courthouse in Greeneville.

“[We} filed in United States District Court seeking compensatory and punitive damages for those personal injuries and also property damages.”

He says there's proof that NFS's chemicals have caused harm to it's neighbors.

“You don't have to go very far away from the nuclear facility itself to run smack dab into the pattern of significant cancers that greatly exceed the national average,” says Rogers. “There are about 20 cancers that science can trace to exposure to materials such as those being emitted into the environment.” Those radioactive materials linked to cancer he says are like those manufactured at companies like NFS.

Right now, there are about 20 names on this class action law suit.

Once attorneys review more medical records and backgrounds, the number of people suing NFS has the potential to reach the hundreds.

NFS issued this statement on the lawsuit.

"Although the company can not respond to the specific allegations. We take our environmental health and safety obligations seriously and we routinely monitor the work place and our employees to ensure we maintain a safe work place. We also monitor our emissions and the surrounding environment to ensure our operations are not adversely impacting the environment. NFS firmly believes that it's operations have not harmed anyone in the community and the company will vigorously defend itself against any lawsuit alleging otherwise."

New Coal Gasification Plant Abandons Cumberland Site, Lands In Morristown Days Later

Just a few short days ago, plans to build a massive $400 million-plus plant geared for coal gasification was being hailed in Cumberland, Roane and Morgan counties. The company, a relative newcomer called Freedom Energy Diesel, was promising jobs for some 150 people. But something happened - the project was apparently rejected, and now only days later, the plant is to built in an industrial plant in Morristown, hailed as a "miracle" by the city's Industrial Board chairman, and will offer 600 jobs.

After public notice of the Cumberland project was published in the local press, a public meeting was held to discuss some key issues, such as the value of the 100-plus acres of land the counties would donate to the company, and that both elected officials and residents were concerned that the massive amounts of coal which would be needed, the massive amounts of water needed and the fact that other infrastructure needs - roads and rail access - did not exist. Ron Woody, Roane County Executive said he had not been able to find much information about the company and was eager to here more from them.

That meeting - reported in the Knoxville News Sentinel - was May 27.

A few days later, a June 2nd article in the Crossville Chronicle quoted Freedom Energy Diesel CEO Bernie Rice on the project:

"He further said the fuel is already sold and the majority of it would be used in the Knoxville, Nashville, Chattanooga region of Tennessee.

The company was recently organized and Rice could not reveal who the principal investors in the company were, other than saying they were technology-based.

(Chief Operating officer William) Daniels said the "stealth" of the project was part of the plan and thanked Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce Director Beth Alexander; Gary Human, jobs development specialist with the state of Tennessee economic and community development; and Cumberland County Mayor Kenneth Carey for keeping quiet about the project."

On June 12th, the Morristown newspaper announced that a deal had been made over the weekend for FED to build their plant in Morristown, hiring some 450 employees to begin and then add another 150 jobs by the time the facility is completed. (The local paper has a paywall for archived articles, so I can't link to it, but I did copy some of the info from that story which I'll include below.)

FED says their operations will take in tons and tons of coal daily and convert it to a synthetic fuel which will be turned into diesel fuel. The process requires about one million gallons of water every day, though they say they reclaim much of that and will keep about 900,000 gallons of water on site in retention ponds. The company goes on to claim the process produces very little air pollution, but is mum on what materials might be released. Typically, such plants created much more carbon dioxide than traditional oil refineries. And I've seen no information on any other type of releases into the soil or water mentioned.

Certainly, new energy technologies are urgently needed.

But, there are many questions that should be answered. FED says their work will create an enormous amount of traffic on local roads and rail - for example, 100 rail cars loaded with coal are required every other day for the plant's operations, and every day some 113 tractor trailers will exit the facility, loaded with diesel fuel, and onto Highway 25-E and Interstate 81.

No mention is made in the Morristown paper of the sale or cost of the land FED wants, but does add that other 'infrastructure needs" (road and rail) will come from state grants and that FED will be applying for other grants from TVA.

As I said, urgent need for new energy tech concerns us all. But it is rather odd to me that I saw no notice of any public notices about this new facility (perhaps they will come later) and hopefully the Tennessee Department of Transportation speak publicly about the massive increase in tractor trailer traffic on already heavily traveled roadways.

I wonder too - why did the counties in Middle Tennessee drop their plans, and how much dealing was done to land the project in a new location in just a few short days?

Some excerpts from the Morristown newspaper article:

"Freedom Energy Diesel – in conjunction with the city of Morristown, Hamblen County and the state of Tennessee – announced this weekend the company has agreed to create a first-of-it’s-kind coal gasification facility in East Tennessee.

Construction is expected to begin as soon as possible and plant operations are to begin by November 2012.

The closed-loop facility – which represents a $405 million investment – will employ about 450 people in the first phase and then add another 150 jobs about 18 months later, according to sources.

"This is a miracle for Morristown," said R. Jack Fishman, chairman of the Morristown Industrial Board. "It’s a prayer answered."

At full capacity, the plant – which will cost around $405 million to construct, including equipment – will send out 113 tractor trailers of diesel fuel a day, require 100 rail cars of coal every other day and will be in production six days a week.

Training for all future plants will be conducted at the Morristown facility as well. The plant – on 115-plus acres – will be a total of 570,000 square feet with 25,000 of that dedicated to office space. Construction on the plant will begin immediately and the company plans on beginning deliveries of diesel fuel to its customers in the 3rd quarter of 2012.

The D4 process will use a million gallons of water per day but recycle 900,000 gallons kept on a trio of retention ponds on the property

The citizens group, SOCM, sent out information prior the public meeting in Cumberand County and included some of their concerns:


Plateau Partnership Park is a joint project of the three counties to encourage and develop economic development. As an incentive to attract industry development, the Industrial Development Board will consider giving away significant acreage to Freedom Energy Diesel. Please tell the Industrial Development Board that business development is very important to the area, but not at the expense of our health and environment.

Coal liquefaction has traditionally been a more expensive form of energy production (compared to natural gas and oil), but as oil prices increase, other forms of energy production such as coal liquefaction and fracking are being analyzed more closely. The coal liquefaction process involves first converting coal to gas and then into a synthetic fuel. Liquid coal requires huge amounts of both coal and energy.

Carbon dioxide production, limited utility infrastructure, and large amounts of water needed for this form of energy production are some of the major concerns that policy makers will need to address."

SEE LATEST UPDATE HERE