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Sarah Palin - Train Wrecks Get Top Ratings

Details about the Big Run Away From Blogging Bullies and Evil Media, aka Gov. Palin resigns, are mighty strange given the rambling speech the broadcast by soon-to-exit governor. (Full rambling text here.)

The Mudflats blog has some info that real troubles are about the submerge the You Betcha Girl:

"I’ve now been able to get independent information from multiple sources that all of this precedes what are said to be possible federal indictments against Palin, concerning an embezzlement scandal related to the building of Palin’s house and the Wasilla Sports Complex built during her tenure. Both structures, it is said, feature the “same windows, same wood, same products.” Federal investigators have been looking into this for some time, and indictments could be imminent, according to the Alaska sources. From Brad Blog

“I don’t think this is buckling to pressure,” said Ayers. “I think this is her coming to the realization that the legislature in Alaska and that some bloggers and activists in Alaska are going to do everything they can to stymie her progress. This is a governor who didn’t run for the office because she wanted a title. She wanted to make significant change in the state. She realized that that was no longer going to be able to happen, because things had become so partisan there.” From HuffPo

Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse issued a statement characterizing Palin’s resignation as “bizarre behavior”:

Either Sarah Palin is leaving the people of Alaska high and dry to pursue her long shot national political ambitions or she simply can’t handle the job now that her popularity has dimmed and oil revenues are down. Either way, her decision to abandon her post and the people of Alaska who elected her continues a pattern of bizarre behavior that more than anything else may explain the decision she made today. From The Daily Beast

Watching the family scene at her house on the raw video running on CNN right now, it is obvious that little knowledge about this was shared ahead of time, no matter what Palin said in the conference itself.

What we are seeing here is either a preface to some indictment, or the final chapter in the career of what has been the biggest political joke of the 21st century. She is so obviously a combination of extreme narcissism and even more extremely bad advice by really, really pathetically bad advisors.

And:

"In the past two years, the state of Alaska has spent millions of dollars processing ethics complaints, public records requests, and related lawsuits.”

That was the claim coming from the office of Governor Sarah Palin, who likes to use the phrase “frivolous ethics complaints.” That was nine days ago.

Today, we learn that “millions of dollars” is in fact, actually $296,000, as far as ethics complaints go. Numbers shmumbers.

The complete breakdown is not yet available, but we do know this about the three spendiest ones:

$187,797 stemmed from the Troopergate investigation, a good chunk of which Palin initiated herself. We’ll get back to that.

$43,028 stemmed from a complaint by Andree McLeod which resulted in a recommendation that a state employee undergo ethics training for a series of “troubling emails.”

$29,962 most likely came from the “travel gate” investigation in which Palin reimbursed almost $10,000 for expenses billed to the state for her children’s travel expenses.

That’s the top three, none of which sound particularly “frivolous.” So once we crunch the numbers, it’s highly likely that the most expensive investigation brought about by an individual, is Palin’s investigation of herself. And let’s just review that one more time.

The Legislature found enough evidence to approve $100,000 to investigate Palin’s firing of the Commissioner of Public Safety, in light of accusations that he was dismissed for not firing her ex-brother-in-law with whom there was bad blood. They spent $75,000 of the money allocated, and the bipartisan Legislative Council (composed of 8 Republicans and 4 Democrats) voted unanimously to go forward. An independent investigation by someone that they all agreed to found that Palin violated the Executive Branch Ethics Act. They unanimously voted to release that decision to the public.

As a counter-measure, and a panicked move to look good during the campaign, Palin (with the advice from the McCain cadre of lawyers headed up by Ed O’Callaghan who had no license to practice law in the State of Alaska) initiated her own ethics complaint against herself, knowing that the outcome would be decided by a friendly panel of governor-appointed people who report to her. Guess what? They found her innocent, and refused to even investigate the matter of testimony from Palin that went completely against testimony from the former commissioner. Frivolous ethics complaint? No….a calculated one that the state paid for.

What did the legislature do about their own $75,000 investigation that found the governor in violation of the Ethics Act? Nothing. So, why did we, as a state, pay that $75,000? What did we get for that money? Maybe that’s the question we should be asking.

Speaking of not knowing what you get for your money…

Palin herself reportedly has incurred over $600,000 in personal legal bills defending against complaints, although she won’t provide a breakdown of the expenses or what cases they were for. Palin friends and supporters set up a legal defense fund and are soliciting contributions for her legal bills.

SEE ALSO: From Post Politics:

"Sarah Palin doesn’t care about statecraft or making government smaller and/or more efficient. She just wants to be the IT girl.

She doesn’t care about experience or gravitas because those are things you would need only if you wished to affect change and make a difference. Those are things you only need if you wish to hold office and steer the ship of state. Sarah Palin only wishes to ride the wave of celebrity.

YouTube's 'School of Journalism'

Following weeks of intense and on-the-scene reports from the streets and cities of Iran made possible by those using camera phones and Twitter feeds, YouTube has announced the creation of a Reporter's Channel - but is it to help reporters who need ideas from the non-professional or just a way to insure traditional media is included in citizen-led reporting?

The San Francisco Chronicle has details of the channel, and a list of their contributors, who include folks from Newsweek, the AP, Time, the Washington Post and many more traditional news services.

The full list is here -- and here are some more samples of those who will 'contribute':

-- Katie Couric, CBS Evening News
-- Jim Drinkard, Accountability Editor, Associated Press
-- Kwame Dawes, Journalist, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
-- Arianna Huffington, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief, The Huffington Post
-- Michael Isikoff, Investigative Correspondent, Newsweek
-- Riz Khan, The Riz Khan Show, Al-Jazeera English
-- Nicholas Kristof, Columnist, The New York Times
-- Andre Lambertson, Journalist, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
-- Dana Milbank, Political Reporter and Author of the "Washington Sketch" column, The Washington Post
-- Beth Murphy, journalist, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
-- Lizzie O'Leary, Washington Correspondent for Bloomberg TV, Bloomberg -- Adam Pasick, Editor of Reuters.com, Reuters
-- Jon Resnick, Planning Editor, Associated Press
-- Jon Sawyer, Executive Director, The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
-- Scott Simon, Weekend Edition, NPR

Broadband Mapping In Tennessee A Low Priority

$350 million in stimulus funding for broadband mapping is flowing to a group called Connected Nation, but the emphasis in Tennessee is on "branding" and mapping plans by Connected Tennessee ends up getting the lowest funding.

Art Brodsky writes about the cautionary tale of Tennessee in Huffington Post:

"There is a more direct way to obtain state funds, short of having to go through the whole cumbersome bidding process. Our second cautionary tale of state mapping comes from Tennessee.

On April 23, 2008 the state gave final approval to a three-year, $6.675 million contract (excerpts here) with Connected Tennessee (CT). The contract, first agreed to in 2007, was labeled as a "non-competitive negotiation," which was justified because, the contract noted, that Connected Nation (the original grantee) had a successful program in Kentucky and that costs for Tennessee were "at similar or lower amounts" than the Kentucky programs.

There is some disagreement, however, about how successful the Kentucky program, the birthplace of Connected Nation, actually is. Jonathan Miller, the Kentucky Secretary of Finance, was blunt in his evaluation, saying in an interview, "We smell something pretty bad" with the mapping program, and the state is trying to "develop plans try to cope with it."

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"Based on the amount of money being spent, the mapping is fairly far down. At the top of the list is that Connected Tennessee "shall provide a custom branding strategy for Tennessee's Trail to Innovation." Once the state approves a design, CT's top duties were to

a. Create press releases that reflect the goals of the initiative
b. Obtain placement of communications/promotions content in relevant media outlets
c. Develop and place customized ads in key periodicals
d. Publish and distribute reports on the progress of the initiative to the State and other appropriate stakeholders

Also on the list of things to do are creating a statewide steering committee from universities, health organizations and tech companies; establish eCommunity leadership teams, develop through those teams goals for increased tech adoption; provide consultation to the teams and provide regional updates on the expansion of technology programs. They also have to give away 1,000 computers each year.

Listed after all of those - produce a map of broadband services areas, creating "a reliable illustration of where broadband does and does not exist." The first map is due within three months and is updated quarterly. Listed after the mapping is a requirement that CT survey consumers and businesses on the level of technology use.

The contract breaks down into $2.225 million per year. Of that total, $1.325 million is dedicated to the "custom branding strategy," including the steering committee and leadership teams. Another $400,000 is allocated for computer distribution. There are also two consumer survey reports worth $150,000 and two business survey reports, worth another $150,000. The broadband maps are budgeted for $200,000 -- $50,000 per map.

Longway, the president of the Tennessee broadband company, testified before the state broadband task force and before state legislative committees against a Connect Tennessee contract. Longway told us he thought that mapping should be done by a Tennessee company, not an outside group, and criticized the state for signing a non-competitive contract. Longway, who has also worked with Arkansas state officials on broadband planning, said he was once asked point-blank by an influential legislator whether he supported Connected Tennessee. Longway said he replied, "No, they're awful."

Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal?

At Post Politics, Kleinheider wrote of his angry certainty that Michael Jackson escaped the justice he deserved. And while his gut instinct might compel his viewpoint that Jackson was guilty of the allegations of child molestation, I'm not certain myself of his guilt. Here's a sample of what was written:

"Can someone explain to me when Michael Jackson joined respectable society again? I seem to have missed it.

Last time I checked I remember Jackson flagrantly flouting inviting children into his bed and barely beating a charge of child molestation by the skin of his teeth. This, of course, after he paid another alleged victim off ten years previous for dropping a similar charge.

Now, of course, I understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty. I do. But I thought that we all had come to the conclusion that Jacko was about as innocent of child molestation as O.J was of killing Nicole.

Was I wrong?

Because if O.J dies and I have to watch film of him playing football and people honoring and mourning his death, I’ll lose it. I’m gonna need a heads up on that one, so let me know.

Hell, wouldn’t you forgive a murderer sooner than a child molester, anyway?

At least with murder, the victim is dead. It’s over. Done. Being sexually victimized, especially at a young age, can be akin to a living death.

Honestly, sometimes (let me emphasize sometimes) I think child rapists would be more humane if they killed all their victims. At least they would save them the life of pain and prevent the start of a cycle of abuse that can extend generationally and exponentially.

A few folks in Knoxville cheered the man’s death? And?

Don’t get me wrong. Celebrating death of anyone, even a mass murderer or a child rapist, is not a healthy activity. But is it absolutely appalling? Honestly, given the givens and assuming the assumptions, I simply cannot muster up a whole bunch of outrage."

My thoughts differ simply because he was never convicted of the crimes he was accused of committing. Despite a vigorous prosecution and many suspicions, there appeared to me a real lack of actual evidence. And he was acquitted not of just one charge, but of nine charges.

I'm not a huge fan of Jackson - although he seemed to posses the savvy to create a career and a style which still carries a massive influence. Also, most media reports included coverage of the many controversies about Jackson. And he certainly lived a life so very far removed from the norm.

So for me, ACK's post seems less factual and mostly emotional anger at an idea rather than the acts of one person. Your views may differ.

TVA and The Real Cost of Burning Coal

With temperatures in recent days hitting 90 and above, residents in Tennessee rely on burning coal to keep them cool, thanks to TVA. But what are the short term and long term costs? With some 60% of TVA's energy coming from burning coal, they have no plans to shift their current strategy.


"Some of TVA's oldest, dirtiest and least efficient coal units should have been phased out years ago and replaced with renewable power," said Stephen Smith, executive director for the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and a former member of TVA's Regional Resource Stewardship Council.

Matt Landon, a volunteer leader of a 4-year-old group fighting against coal usage in East Tennessee -- United Mountain Defense -- blames coal plants for much of Tennessee's air pollution.

"From the cradle to the grave, coal is dirty and destroys our environment," said Mr. Landon, who was arrested by TVA police in March for trespassing on the site of a major ash spill in Kingston.

In its 76-year history, TVA has shut down only one coal plant -- the former Watts Bar Steam Plant in Rhea County. But TVA officials said the agency also is studying whether it still makes sense to maintain and upgrade its oldest plants, including units in Johnsonville and Widows Creek which already are senior citizen age.

A federal judge has ordered TVA to install scrubbers on the six oldest units at its Widows Creek Fossil Plant near Stevenson, Ala., within the next five years. Mr. Kilgore said the agency is now studying the costs of installing the court-ordered pollution controls. To recover such an investment, the units normally would be expected to operate for at least another two decades."

Meanwhile, state officials and the TDEC want more transparency on how coal and coal ash are handled in Tennessee:


"Following the catastrophic failure of the TVA Kingston Plant coal ash impoundment on Dec. 22, 2008, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reviewed coal ash impoundments across the country.

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has apparently requested the results of that review not be made available to the public. Irrespective of the Corps' recommendations regarding nationwide sites, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation believes transparency is important and is committed to sharing results of our own state review with the public.When Gov. Phil Bredesen visited Kingston shortly after the failure, he stressed the need for transparency in the monitoring and cleanup to help assure citizens what appropriate steps were being taken to protect public health and minimize environmental impacts of the failure. Among other directives, he asked the department to begin immediately posting results of water, air and soil testing online so the public could access information easily and directly."

We're stuck on coal. Not clean coal or green energy - just plain old coal, same as we were decades ago.

Camera Obscura: The Artistic Heights of 'Transformers'; Vampires In The Future; 'The Box'; Spielberg Wants 'Oldboy'

Danger, art, and mindless pubescent goofiness are all mingled together in the movie set to claim hundreds of millions in theater ticket sales this weekend. It's the sequel to the movie based on the cartoon created to sell toys in the 1980s, toys called Transformers.

This "new" movie gets the Review To End All Reviews at io9, titled "Michael Bay Finally Made An Art Movie":

"Since the days of Un Chien Andalou and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, filmmakers have reached beyond meaning. But with this summer's biggest, loudest movie, Michael Bay takes us all the way inside Caligari's cabinet. And once you enter, you can never emerge again. I saw this movie two days ago, and I'm still living inside it. Things are exploding wherever I look, household appliances are trying to kill me, and bizarre racial stereotypes are shouting at me."

"Transformers: ROTF is so long, you'll need to wear adult diapers to it. But the movie's pure celebration of the primal urge, and unfiltered living, will make you rejoice in your adult diapers. You'll relieve yourself in your seat with a savage joy, your barbaric yawp blending in with the crowd's screams of excitement."

"So you have a movie that tries to reassure men that they can actually be masters of their reality — but then turns around and says that actually, reality is not real. There's no such thing as the "real world," and the only thing that's left for men to dominate is a nebulous domain of blurred shapes, which occasionally blurt nonsensical swear-words and slang from ethnic groups that have never existed. If you're drowning in an Olympic swimming pool full of hot chewing gum fondue, do you still care if Megan Fox likes you?"


I watched Michael Bay's first Transformer movie twice and was never able to make a moment's sense out of it. It was like watching a car speeding over 1,000 mph crash into a line of stalled traffic while huddled on the floor underneath the glove box.

Bay's movies aren't just bad - they are Exploding Temples of Awfulness.

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Goofy and strange movies are not just the Rite of Summer, as January 2010 will bring out the odd vampires-in-the-future tale "Daybreakers" to theaters. Starring Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill, the movie is from the Spierig Brothers, twin brother directors who crafted a very odd but visually compelling zombie movie from Australia a few years ago called "Undead".

"Daybreakers" has a trailer now, complete with some emo music and heaps of explosions:


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In other Weird Cinema news, Richard Kelly ('Donnie Darko') takes aim at audiences with the movie "The Box", based on a short story by the prolific Richard Matheson. The story was offered before onscreen as part of the Twilight Zone series re-boot in the 1980s. The preview explains the set-up for this thriller:



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A very powerful and very odd tale of revenge hit movie audiences a few years ago and scored much praise, called "Oldboy", from director Chan-woo Park and based on a popular manga. The movie is a real stunner of visuals and twists of mystery. For the past few months, director Steven Spielberg has been trying to get the rights for an American remake with Will Smith in the lead.

But who really has the rights to the story? Spielberg says despite legal disputes, his plan is to create a new movie based on the manga, and not a remake of Park's Korean film. With Spielberg's clout, I'm sure he'll settle the legal issues to his advantage. But there are so many strong and powerful scenes in Park's film - like the long hallway battle scene with the hero wielding a hammer against a horde of guards - I think the story has already been told as well as it can be.

Greeneville Neighborhood Battles KKK

Residents in Greeneville's Meadowlark subdivision are forming their own association to protect themselves and to decide how best to oppose the recent presence of white supremacists. Residents found a few dozen racist fliers on their lawns earlier this month, fliers which gave a Kingsport post office box as their headquarters.

However, Greeneville's Police Department says dumping hate mail onto the yards of residents is no crime:

"The only actual crime that occurred in this situation would be possibly littering,“ Greeneville Capt. Terry Webb said.

Webb says investigators alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation due to the nature of the flyers, but says it would be difficult to prosecute the KKK since its members were practicing free speech.

“People might not agree with what they’re saying, but there was no threats of violence or anything along that line,“ Webb said.

However, for people like Edward Reed who received one of the flyers, that is a hard sell.

“It’s a crime to me,“ Reed said. “That’s like they don’t want me living the way I see I’m supposed to be living.“

More on this story from WJHL-TV and The Greeneville Sun.

Gov. Sanford's Very Bad Day

Does having an affair mean a politician is therefore a bad policy maker and political leader?

Since South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has made worldwide headlines for scooting out of town and state on a Father's Day weekend to meet up with his lover in Argentina, the public response to the question above seems to be a very loud YES!!

The story of Gov. Sanford merged quite easily yesterday with the news of an impending divorce of the reality show Jon and Kate Plus 8. But one question I have is -- who got the story to the press that Gov. Sanford was missing in action? Because I'm betting that person knew exactly where he was and what he was doing. And since I am just guessing, I am guessing his wife, a savvy campaigner for her husband in years past, is the one who got the story rolling.

But the question remains - does a politician's romantic life erase all his or her abilities as a political leader?

Some say he should be removed from office precisely because of his record while in office:

"I don’t want him to resign because of the affair. I think he should get kicked out of office because he’s been a terrible governor for the state. Their unemployment rate is at its highest rate ever. He’s bankrupted the state. He’s been fighting the Obama administration over unemployment money that his constituents desperately need. So I think on the merits, he’s been a horrible governor."

What's Next For Rep. John Litz?

Last week State Representative John Litz (D) of Morristown announced he would not seek re-election to the legislature in 2010 after serving out his fourth term. Rep. Litz has been making some headlines during the current legislative session and is credited with being an integral part of the surprise move to put Rep. Kent Williams in the Speaker's position over Rep. Mumpower.

Here in Morristown, one way Rep. Litz maintained his popularity and served the local community was by holding regular Town Hall meetings to gather input on a wide range of issues facing the legislature. Tom Humphrey has more info on Rep. Litz's legislative career.

And Democrat Caucus Chair Mike Turner says he's known of the change for some time and is already working to find a new candidate for the seat.

So what's next for Rep. Litz? Will Republicans field a candidate who can win the seat?

Here's what I've been hearing at various local rumor mills: Rep. Litz is considering a run for the County Mayor position in Hamblen County government. The current Mayor, David Purkey (R), is not seeking re-election but sources tell me he's considering a run for the State Representative seat instead.

There are certainly numerous changes taking place on the local scene as Democrats and Republicans work to re-organize at every level.

President Obama - Is He The Kwisatz Haderach?

I'm positive that this weekend marked the first time ever a U.S. President was grilled with tough questions about the plot points of "Dune". After all, is President Obama really a nerdy guy? Only one man dared in Washington ask him about the Culture War of Our Time - Nerds vs. Jocks - and that man was John Hodgman.

Camera Obscura: New Twin Peaks; Zombieland; Augmented Reality

I do watch more than just horror movies. Really, I do.

But that is the genre I like best - I like getting frightened and equally like to create some scares for audiences too, yes. I do watch other things -- I've been noodling over all the brilliant work in "Wall-E" the last few weeks, for example. Science-fiction sort of folds into the horror movie mix, especially this summer and fall and there's some info on those movies below.

So, today's post is a brief look at some new scary stuff and some old scary stuff too.

Big news this week for fans of the long-gone TV series "Twin Peaks", thanks to a push from the former Special Agent Dale Cooper (actor Kyle MacLachlan) who wants to start up the strange world of the Great Northwest and backwards-talking-midget via a series of 5-minute webisodes. Could it work? And MacLachlan says it would not include the work of the series creator, David Lynch. All the current details are here.



And don't try and tell me that Twin Peaks isn't a creepy, scary show. Because it is.

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In October of '09, a blend of laughs and chills arrives with the movie "Zombieland", which was shot in Georgia, in places like Atlanta, Buckhead, Valdosta and more. Bill Murray has a role as one of the zombies and Woody Harrelson plays a zombie hunter named Tallahassee. A brand spanking new trailer for the movie was released this week:



Almost looks like a Southern-fried "Shaun of the Dead", which is not a bad thing.

And speaking of Georgia and zombies, students at the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Georgia Tech Augmented Environment Labs are working on an amazing interactive game using mobile phones which looks like it is as much fun to create as to play. I see many more of this type of game ahead:



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The Not Horror News -- in fact, it's "Good News, Everyone!!"


A new focus in sci-fi films on the way to a theater near you: scares and loneliness in outer space. Such as "Pandorum," which is from the producers of the "Resident Evil" movies. It stars the always scary Ben Foster ("30 Days of Night") and more info is here.

And then there is this one, which I am really looking forward to - a movie written and directed by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, titled "Moon" and starring Sam Rockwell, who plays the lone occupant of a fuel and mining outpost on Earth's moon. It's been getting rave reviews at film festivals across the country and is currently in limited release. Take a peek:

Those Kids and Their Madhouse Circus of Socialism

A graduating high school student in Maine bowed and blew a kiss during his walk across stage and then found himself in trouble with school officials. Maybe it was because the ceremony had already been witness to an inflatable rubber duck and a beach ball, but the principal would not hand over the diploma to that crazy kiss blowing anarchist. Two students were escorted out by sheriff's deputies.

So now, of course, a mass public meeting is scheduled, and likely an investigative Task Force with perhaps the mission of creating an in-depth report on kiss blowing and rubber ducks and beach balls. The district's school board chair proclaims parents and community must decide if they want a 'refined event' or 'a circus'.

Cool! A circus at graduation next year!!

And of course, this kind of chaos is just more proof, say some, that President Obama and Democrats want Big Government Socialism (that link includes a local Maine TV news report on this ... um ... 'event'.) Rumor says another student started signing the yearbook with the phrase "Best Friends Forever - Love, Stalin". Other rumors claim UFOs and crop circles were seen briefly over the football field.

In related news, a young man who made some sculpture on the fly with roadside construction barrels in Raleigh, North Carolina is also endangering humanity, rules and the laws of science ... or something. (Although the company whose barrels were used say no charges or criminal prosecutions need to be attached to the artist in question.)

So Which State Workers Are Not Sending Out Tasteless Emails?

Stung hard and reeling from news about a racist email from a 20-year Republican staffer in the Tennessee Legislature, a Nashville conservative blogger, Blue Collar Muse, shot back today that he had evidence of a cruel email sent out by a Democrat staffer in the legislature and that no outcry would follow from those who blasted the GOP staffer. I tried to find enough details about this email to respond, though it seemed more to me a "so and so did a bad thing too!!" kind of game that BCM wants to play.

Christian at Nashville Is Talking has some info on the email and a link to some of the images allegedly sent out, plus responses by other bloggers across the state.

I rather like what Sean Braisted wrote of today's back-and-forth at Nashville for the 21st Century:

"The "democrat" in question appears to be an intern, Blake Graves, who was recently honored by a house resolution citing him as being the "best dressed intern" and recognizing his numerous accomplishments, including "dedicat[ing] his singular skills to several student and civic organizations, including the Student Activities Council, the College Republicans, and volunteering for Hands on Memphis and Volunteer Memphis".

Yes, as an intern he was assigned to a Democrat, but it appears that his allegiances lie elsewhere. Regardless, this whole thing is rather silly. Neither should be fired, as for Goforth, the GOP staffer, the woman has been publicly humiliated on an international stage...a pretty brutal public shaming is punishment enough for what was never intended to be a malicious act, but an act of poor taste"

In the meantime, a very grim picture emerges via OpenPen, and a post there about the number of active white supremacy groups in Tennessee:

"In April 2009, a new intelligence assessment by the Department of Homeland Security warns of an increase of extremist recruitment which was fueled by the the election of Barack Obama, fears about immigration and the failing economy. The assessment warns of growth of hate groups and extremist activity across the nation. The report also warned of recruitment of military veterans by these extremist groups. There are approximately 926 of these groups – a 54% increase since 2000 in the United States, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). In Tennessee, there are thirty-eight of these identified hate groups. In Northeast TN, the SPLC has identified twelve hate groups."

As I said previously:

"It is wrong for elected officials and their staff to sling this racist swill disguised as 'humor' -- I've seen and heard what such nasty racial hatred can do to people, how it nurtures this madness and helps it grow. Well, I won't stand for it. I'll do all I can do to stop the growth and nurture a better world and I trust you won't support their racism either."

Republican Staffer In Tennessee Emails Racist Image of President Obama

NOTE and UPDATE: The worst part of the story detailed below regarding the state's Republican party is captured quite well by OpenPen:

"This is an obvious racist’s email, sent out by a state employee, on state time, on a state owned computer. She will keep her job.

Her response when asked about whether she knew the controversial nature of the picture, she would only say she felt very bad about accidently sending it to the wrong list. Exactly what was the right list?"

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2nd UPDATE: Tuesday afternoon:

GOP State Senate staffer Sherri Goforth offers an apology for her actions:

"I want to offer my deepest apology regarding the offensive nature of the email forwarded to several of my colleagues.

I also want to make it clear that it was forwarded to me from an acquaintance with absolutely no political party ties and who is outside the Tennessee Capitol Hill arena. I should have deleted it upon receipt.

Again, I am deeply sorry and offer a sincere apology to anyone offended."

Also, her boss, Senator Diane Black made these comments via CNN.

And Nashville political blogger Kleinheider at Post Politics writes about why he was slow to cover the story.

It is worth noting in his post how he recalls the recent and current climate in the state's GOP when it comes to racial issue. Sure seems to me to be a climate that embraces dubious tactics - "Sherri Goforth is not Chip Saltsman. She is not Bill Hobbs. She is not Robin Smith. She ain’t even Scott Gilmer. She’s not a player in game."

Read on to the bottom of this post to see what I think of this event ....

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A racist email was sent out by a staffer for Tennessee Republican State Senator Diane Black of Gallatin, which my friend Newscoma shared with her readers and with me today. Thanks to what 'Coma did, others in the state blogosphere followed up on the nasty email and Christian at Nashville is Talking spoke to the staffer and got the lamest response - "Oopsie, I am sorry I sent that out to the wrong people." The email arrived with the title: "Historical Keepsake Photo".

See Newscoma's original post here. She writes:

"Dammit, Tennessee, haven’t we moved past this kind of crap."

At NIT, we get this response from the staffer Sherri Goforth, who sent out this "Keepsake Photo", plus NIT has a round-up of other responses in the state:

"When I asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth would only say she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list. When I gave her a second chance to address the controversial nature of the email, she again repeated that she only felt bad about sending it to the wrong list of people.

“I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button,” Goforth told NIT. “I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”

It is wrong for elected officials and their staff to sling this racist swill disguised as 'humor' -- so why am I also sharing this with you? To shame the senator and Goforth, and because I've seen and heard what such nasty racial hatred can do to people, how it nurtures this madness and helps it grow. Well, I won't stand for it. I'll do all I can do to stop the growth and nurture a better world than the one the senator and her aide want to nurture. I trust you won't support their racism either.

UPDATE: The racist email was sent out to the following recipients:

From: Sherri Goforth
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 8:33 AM
To: Alice Bigham; Anna Richardson; Beth Chiles; Carolyn Newman; Catherine Haire; Christina Barber; Chuck Grimes; Darlene Schlicher; Deana Guenther; Debbie Martin; Debbie Rankin; Glenda Mayes; Jeremy Davis; John Michael Burch; Lance Frizzell; Lee Harrell; Linda Klingmann; Liz Alvey; Logan Grant; Loudene Gee; Matt King; Micki Coode; Pam George; Pat Farmer; Patti Saliba; Rick Nicholson; Sandra Smith; Sherri Goforth; Tina Still; Tonya Morelock; Valerie Yancey; Will Canterbury; Wilma Carney; Zach Bates

I Begin To Make A Giant Peach (And A Giant Octopus)

Good morning, afternoon or evening.

I have been somewhat busy the last few days and weeks working in the actual world rather than here in the virtual one.

Summer always brings many new jobs my way -- For instance ..

Starting Monday, I'll be teaching a week of acting classes for kids at Walter's State Community College and also this week I start rehearsals directing a children's production of "James and the Giant Peach", based on Roald Dahl's book, for the local community arts organization, Rose Center, here in Morristown. I love working for them, and I will also be teaching acting classes as part of their summer arts camp as well. You can learn more about Rose Center here at their website. (And their building is a beautiful place and the scene of literally hundreds of cultural events every year)

The show will be performed July 31, Aug 1 and Aug 2 and I am really looking forward again to working on this Summer Players program and I'll post some pics next week of the cast and give some updates about future rehearsals as some very talented young performers and I work to create not only a Giant Peach, but a Giant Flying Peach, which will endure such hardships as attacks by sharks and an appropriately Giant Octopus as well.

The show marks my very first opportunity to create a Giant Octopus and a Giant Peach for a theatrical performance, and I'm rather excited to get such a chance.

NOTE: Both the peach and octopus images shown are not images of the ones I am actually making because, duh!! They have not been made yet and are meant only to stoke your imagination and provide me with reasons to write about both peaches and octopi of the Giant variety. Thank you.

AT&T Want The Internet Their Way

The future of broadband and internet development is dangerously close to becoming much less than it is now, less a public commodity and more of a cash machine for a very few. Sadly, some state governments (like Tennessee) are already handing over immense contracts for services to AT&T in critical fields such as medicine and education. They just spent over $500,000 successfully lobbying the state's GOP-led legislature to deregulate phone service.

But they want it all, baby.

Art Brodsky writes about the "new ideas" coming from AT&T - which is scrambling to make a place for itself after offering little for decades - ideas for national policy and warns:

"Now, for the first time, having a neutral, non-discriminatory Internet will hamper public safety. Funny, for all those years that the network was neutral and non-discriminatory under the Communications Act, no one found a public-safety issue. Only in the last couple of years, it seems, has this become an issue.

Not only is a non-discriminatory Internet potentially harmful to public safety, it will also make service less affordable, AT&T argues: “Concerns about affordability also underscore the importance of rejecting calls for regulatory obligations—such as extreme versions of net neutrality—that will not address any real-world problem, yet will increase the costs of deploying and operating broadband platforms and prevent providers from offering services on their platforms to all entities that may wish to purchase them, including providers of content, applications, and services. These proposals, however well-intended, will only increase the cost to consumers and reduce the availability of broadband Internet access and thus are antithetical to the goal of broadband affordability.”

Just think this is a company intent on putting bandwidth caps on its customers, and yet finds the time to worry about affordability, even as it cuts down on deployment and forces public-access channels into the channel 99 oubliette. The message is simple, and constant: do it our way or we won’t invest.

Verizon, too, takes the hard edge off of the Whitacre logic, through such terms as “consumer empowerment,” and “consumer choice framework.” Verizon is all for those concepts, when it provides the empowerment and the choices. Heaven forbid that the FCC requires wholesale or line-sharing access to Verizon’s services. Those might be the regulatory burdens that would inhibit innovation or investment. Instead, one must give network operators the “flexibility” to offer “managed” services. Verizon Executive Vice President Tom Tauke trotted this horse out of the barn a couple of weeks ago, when he said, “Our view is, in the future, consumers ought to have the ability to choose between the wild, wild West of the Internet or to choose a different experience.”

In its filing, Verizon made that argument: “Some customers may prefer more highly managed Internet access services that provide additional layers of security to shield themselves or their children from certain sites or from online security threats, while some tech-savvy users may prefer a less-managed service without those protections.” That’s a fine idea – for 1998. If Verizon wants to get into the walled-garden business, I’m sure it could buy AOL, or purchase the rights to Prodigy’s name. One of those companies is hanging by a thread; the other no longer exists, because access to the Internet at large killed them both. Consumers preferred the Wild, Wild West and the broad array of features and services."

The FCC just closed the first round of public comments regarding a national broadband plan and will open a second round in July, with a report expected in February of next year.

Meanwhile, AT&T is angering iPhone buyers. Apple upgraded their devices to include multimedia messaging and "tethering" - which allow for users to connect computers to the internet via the device - but AT&T has blocked customers from using them.

"Multimedia messaging has taken off among users in Europe and Asia, who can send pictures and videos using a variety of smart phones available on the market. The new European iPhone, which will be made available via overseas carriers, will have the new features built in.

But in America, the iPhone is offered exclusively by AT&T, and for many that’s the real problem.

An AT&T spokesperson told the New York Times that "the delay has nothing to do with network issues," but declined to say why AT&T is slow to embrace cell phone innovation in the United States.

Some clues might come from the company’s long and turbulent relationship with any new technology that threatens its control. For decades, the old AT&T telephone monopoly controlled every phone on its grid and banned other companies from connecting innovative devices -- including answering machines, fax machines, cordless phones and early computer modems.

A groundbreaking 1968 policy change, known among tech wonks as “Carterfone,” pried open the device marketplace so that numerous new phone products could be introduced. This in turn spawned a flood of innovation in services that greatly benefited customers.

That old monopoly was broken up. But the new AT&T seems nostalgic, unilaterally deciding which applications make it onto the iPhone and which don’t. Both Skype and SlingPlayer won’t work over AT&T’s 3G network, not because the technology doesn’t function, but because the AT&T media empire is threatened by services that may strain its already shaky networks and compete with its other products. AT&T's lead lobbyist, Jim Cicconi, told USA Today, "We absolutely expect our vendors not to facilitate the services of our competitors."

Much more on the rocky relationship is here.

Have Terrorists Defeated Congress?

It's a tragedy seeing how utterly defeated and demoralized GOP leaders continue to writhe in fear of terrorists. Congressman John Boehner wails in near-trembling fear that closing the Gitmo prison is really a plan to "import terrorists" to the U.S.

The fact is hundreds of terrorists have been dealt with by the U.S. Justice system and have been in U.S. prisons for years. "According to data provided by Traci L. Billingsley, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, federal facilities on American soil currently house 216 international terrorists and 139 domestic terrorists. Some of these miscreants have been locked up here since the early 1990s. None of them has escaped." (via Slate)

Another historical reality is that Tennessee kept thousands of Nazi POWs during World War 2 - and kept those prisoners according to Geneva Convention standards. The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture says:

"During the Second World War, Tennessee was home to eleven prisoner-of-war camps. Four were large installations. Camp Crossville was built on the site of an abandoned 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps work camp. Camp Forrest and Camp Campbell were existing army installations with extra space wherein prisoners were quartered. The Memphis Armed Service Forces Depot also housed prisoners, initially serving as a branch of a camp in Como, Mississippi.

Though nicknamed the "Jap Camp" by local residents, the Crossville camp actually contained only Italian and German prisoners. The first prisoners sent there included roughly 1,500 Germans, most of whom were veterans of General Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps."

Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of POWs were kept on U.S. soil during that war.

For leaders in our time to quake before terrorist groups shows a shocking lack of belief in our own strengths, our abilities to be problem-solvers. Recent polls have indicated about half of those surveyed likewise feel fear more than strength thanks to these self-defeating "leaders" - both Republicans and Democrats have failed to back the president's plan.

The goal of a terror organization is to create fear within an enemy the terrorists could never actually defeat. Too many in Washington have become defeated and that damages every citizen.

The Tweets and Twerps of Cable Newscasts

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
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Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

Sharing That Cup of Joe With OpenPen

I added my first post today to the East TN group blog OpenPen and I hope you'll go there and read it and explore some of the other writings there as well. I wrote a short bit about the East TN Republican Who Gets No Respect.

Of course, I noticed after I had posted it that another writer, Solon, had written already about the East TN Republican Who Gets No Respect and the comments he made about the new law allowing for guns in more places.

Folks who can legally tote their guns with them are in sizeable numbers in Tennessee anyway. Though I wonder - we will soon see signs at businesses which read No Shirt, No Shoes, No Gun, No Service?

R. Neal at KnoxViews has some thoughts on the new law today as well.