I know my parents world view was shaped by the Great Depression of the 1930.
Important literature from that era includes John Steinbeck’s the Grapes of Wrath . The Blount County Library is promoting several events related to it September and October.
The Big Read: The Grapes of Wrath (book by John Steinbeck) Regional collaborative series of programs & events at various locations in Blount County focused on topics related to the book. At each program, audience is invited to bring nonperishable food items to be given to local food pantries.
Friday, Sept. 26, 6:30 p.m. (during Last Friday Art Walk): Pistol Creek Catch of the Day Concert - At Southland Bookstore, 801 E. Broadway
Thurs., Oct. 2, 7:00 p.m. The Culture of Poverty By Michael Crabtree & Clayton Narveson - At Blount County Library in Sharon Lawson Rm
Thurs., Oct. 16, 7:00 p.m. Successful Budgeting During an Economic Slump By Sherri Hagood, Certified Dave Ramsey Financial Counselor
At Blount County Library, Sharon Lawson Rm
Thurs., Oct. 23, 7:00 p.m. Literary & Historical Perspectives of the Great Depression By Maryville College professors
At Marvyille College in Lawson Auditorium
Friday, Oct. 31, 9:00 p.m. (during Last Friday Art Walk)- Movie: The Grapes of Wrath At Palace Theatre - 113 W. Broadway

The library’s web site is: www.blountlibrary.org
Forrest Erickson

The Daily Show crew goes on to parody the Rocky Mountain backdrop of the convention; http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=179253&title=wazzup

The Daily Times is reporting that U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Phillips said this morning that he does not think the Alcoa, Inc. retiree benefits case case can be disposed of in summary judgement. The suit, which impacts 13,000 to 15,000 Alcoa, Inc. retirees, appears to be headed to trial this December.

According to the lawsuit filed on behalf of the Alcoa, Inc. retirees, the contract ratified nearly two years ago between Alcoa, Inc. and the United Steel Workers union imposes higher premium obligations, more deductibles and greater amounts of coinsurance on most — if not all — previously covered health-care expenses. The benefit changes were effective at the beginning of 2007 and apply to retirees who left the company between May 31, 1993, and June 1, 2006.

The lawsuit charges that Alcoa, Inc. violated the retirees’ vested rights under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and breached its contract under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

Knoxville attorney Greg Coleman, who represents 14,000 Alcoa retirees nationwide in the case, also represents Alcoa, Inc. employees in the coal tar pitch suit, represents Doug Satterfield in the Alcoa, Inc. asbestos suit and recently filed a nationwide suit against Knoxville’s Jewelry Television for false and misleading advertising.

Read the Daily Times story here.

In a letter to the editor of The Daily Times, Dr. Mark Green gives his analysis on managed heath care. An excerpt here;

The insurance industry has only two ways to maximize profit and thereby minimize the “medical loss ratio.” By encouraging patients to be more healthy and by restricting each patient’s medications and testing. We all want to be more healthy, but we also want any medications and any testing that is deemed necessary.

His letter goes on to talk about abuses and practices of over reaching insurance companies.

Do you see a correction offered with either candidate in the election? Do you see a correction anytime in the near future?

Has anyone had a chance to see IOUSA yet? http://www.iousathemovie.com/

While we are talking the national debt you need to meet The Ecomomist Mom.

http://economistmom.com/2008/08/does-better-government-require-giving-up-on-deficit-reduction/

Hello Everyone,
Hopefully the regular bloggers here know the dangers of the Real ID. Recently when I renewed my drivers license, I was told that my information would be provided to the FBI to comply with Homeland Security.

I asked for a copy of the contract that I signed giving the State permission to give my information to the feds, and all I was given was an 800 number and a 615 number. In an hour I spoke to only one woman who transferred me and left me on hold. After wasting a considerably amount of time with both of these numbers, I gave up trying to reach the state by telephone.

If you have any interest in stopping this drivers license biometric database insanity, please join our meetup group and get involved.
http://homesecurity.meetup.com/20/

To freedom,
Tona

REAL ID: CONNECTING THE DOTS TO AN INTERNATIONAL ID

By Representative Sam E. Rohrer

August 24, 2008
NewsWithViews.com

History offers many examples of societies which have sought to increase security by sacrificing freedom. America itself provides many pertinent instances. However, our founding fathers have not left us without wisdom on this issue. Ben Franklin has famously stated, “People willing to trade freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.” REAL ID undoubtedly exemplifies a scenario in which a difficult tension exists between freedom and security. By commandeering every state’s driver’s license issuing process, REAL ID threatens the results warned by Franklin - loss of both freedom and security. It has become the biometric enrollment phase of a plan to implement a terribly invasive tracking system, largely without public knowledge or approval. REAL ID is merely the current face of a far larger, international government and private economic effort to collect, store, and distribute the sensitive biometric data of citizens to use for the twin purposes of government tracking and economic control. At issue are much more than standardized or non-duplicative driver’s licenses. This effort extends worldwide, threatening every person alive today. Although very legitimate security concerns exist in this age of terrorism, this Act extends far beyond terrorism prevention or protection of the innocent. Keeping that broad picture in mind, let us move to some background behind the face of REAL ID implementation in America.

The REAL ID Act passed Congress in 2005 buried in a “must-pass” war funding and tsunami relief bill. The little debate in the House and total absence of debate in the Senate ensured that many Congressmen did not realize the full implications of REAL ID. Importantly, the desire by government and economic interests to implement a national tracking and ID system did not start with the REAL ID Act in 2005. Under the guise of security, it has been attempted numerous times in the past, even during Ronald Reagan’s administration. When former Attorney General William French Smith proposed to implement what he called a “perfectly harmless” national ID system as well as when a second cabinet member proposed to “tattoo a number on each American’s forearm,” Ronald Reagan responded, “My God, that’s the mark of the beast,” signaling an abrupt end to the national ID debate during the Reagan years.

The significant opposition to a national ID system in the past extends to the REAL ID issue today. This conviction has united both Democrats and Republicans as well as such normally opposed groups as the ACLU and the ACLJ. Whether the concern is privacy, religious rights, states’ rights, or cost of implementation, REAL ID has galvanized broad and deep resistance, currently including an estimated six hundred groups. Today, over twenty legislatures have passed resolutions or legislation variously opposing implementation of the REAL ID Act. Eleven of those legislatures have gone further by passing laws specifically prohibiting compliance with REAL ID.

What does REAL ID do? REAL ID attempts to mandate a standardized process and format for all state drivers’ licenses to achieve increased security. Most importantly in this standardized process, REAL ID mandates a certain picture quality. A footnote issued by the Department of Homeland Security establishes this quality as compliant with the ICAO Document 9303 biometric format. The global body setting this format, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is a specialized agency created under the United Nations. Biometric data can be produced from a simple digital photograph of this quality by running the picture of a person’s face through a software program which measures and analyzes the unique, personally identifiable characteristics of that face. The process results in a unique numeric code which identifies a person according to facial measurements. You read that correctly. A unique number or “code” is developed from an algorithmic formula which converts a digital biometric sample to biometric “face print” data. Under REAL ID biometric facial recognition technology, you become a number literally worn on your face - a number which is read by computer, tracked by surveillance camera, and distributed worldwide. Clearly, this international standard provides global compatibility of American citizens’ biometric data collected through REAL ID.

Having this background, we should observe that many Americans still do not know why the provisions of the REAL ID Act must be rejected and aggressively opposed because they do not understand the full implications of REAL ID. Many wrongly assume that the legitimate need for security trumps all other considerations. However, REAL ID is not primarily about a secure driver’s license or terrorism prevention. The full and dangerous implications of REAL ID may be fleshed out through a discussion of why each American must vigorously oppose this Act’s most basic tenets. It poses dangers in the following three areas:

1 - REAL ID violates Constitutional rights.
2 - REAL ID compromises national and state sovereignty.
3 - REAL ID threatens the safety of all Americans.

Article continued on next post…