Nothing But the Truth

The NYT has a review of "Nothing But the Truth," the Kate Beckinsale/Alan Alda/Angela Bassett journalism movie based loosely on the Valerie Plame/Judith Miller situation and partly filmed in Memphis, most notably, perhaps, in the CA's newsroom.

Unfortunately, review Manohla Darvis is disappointed:

"It is evidently impossible to make a movie about two adversarial women without dragging in their families, because without needy children and angry, fed-up husbands — David Schwimmer plays Rachel’s mewling husband, while a barely present Jamey Sheridan plays Erica’s — these two female characters and their desires, successes and rages apparently wouldn’t rate screen time. That’s too bad for all sorts of reasons, including this one: when not cooing inanities at pipsqueaks, the actresses are pretty good, both together and individually. There’s pleasure in watching them go Manolo a Manolo against each other, particularly Ms. Farmiga, who fills out her size 0 with macho swagger. Despite a shaky start, Ms. Beckinsale does eventually look the part of the harassed and haggard heroine, if largely by not wearing any eye makeup."

Does this soccer field look familiar?

I'll probably still see it, if not for the journalism connection then for the inside peek of the CA newsroom.

I think I posted some clips from the movie a few weeks ago on memphisflyer.com, but then again, maybe I didn't. If you're interested in seeing them, click here.

If we can give billions to Detroit ...

... why not fully fund the Green Jobs Act?

I got an email this morning from Van Jones and Green for All, the group that brought the Dream Reborn conference to Memphis in April for the 40 anniversary of Martin Luther King's death. Green for All's mission is to create a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.

"We believe all people deserve access to healthy food and clean energy sources," Jones said at the time. "Environmental solutions are not just for people who can afford to buy a hybrid car or put solar panels on their second home."

In short, the environment affects everyone, (advocates of environmental justice would say it affects people of color disproportionately and I would agree) and the industry has the potential to help America's struggling workers.

Green for All is asking people to write Congress and tell them to fully fund the Green Jobs Act:

"The Green Jobs Act will create green pathways out of poverty in this country. Working with allies, Green for All got the program included in the Energy Bill of 2007. Bush signed the program into law last December. But he failed to include a penny for it in his 2008 budget proposal."

Frankly, at $250 million, funding the act seems like a bargain. And if we're giving out money to companies with older, out-dated business models, why not invest a small amount in promising technologies? We have nothing to lose, but quite a bit to gain.

To send an email to your Congressional representatives, click here.

More of the Green Stuff

Been busy this morning, but didn't want to overlook these:

— USAToday has a story about three companies that have made technological advances in solar, wind, and geothermal energy production. It's definitely worth the read if you're interested in alternative energy. (It even includes a simple explanation of how these forms of energy are "collected.")

— On a similar note, NPR did a story about president-elect Barack Obama's so-called "green team," picking Nobel laureate Steven Chu to lead the Energy Department.

"Obama said his energy appointees will aim to make public buildings more efficient, modernize the electricity grid, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and preserve natural resources."

The story notes that Chu has been an advocate for reseearch into global warming and the need for carbon-neutral renewable sources of energy.

— NYT's science blog Dot Earth the last meteorological year — from December through November — was cooler than recent years, but still warmer over all (since temperature record keeping began in 1880). Look for the scary graphs.

— A little off topic, but still interesting, from Slate: How foreign car factories have transformed the American South:

"Time was, the Big Three were the U.S. auto industry. No longer. Over the past two decades, enticed by cheap labor and massive incentives, a second auto industry has emerged: nonunion, Southern-based, and foreign-owned. Large plants, with names of Asian and European carmakers emblazoned upon them, now dot the Southern landscape. By moving aggressively into Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, foreign manufacturers — call them the 'Little Eight' — have transformed the economic geography of the nation's auto industry and the political debate surrounding its future. ...

"Today's Southern solons have watched their local economies blossom thanks to a younger, more-vibrant auto industry unencumbered by the Big Three's legacy costs and union work rules—a sort of anti-Detroit that has the flexibility and ability to turn profits by making the types of cars that Americans actually want to buy."

Troubled News

There's been a lot of talk about the troubles at large newspapers and magazines, but the NYTimes has a story today about the impending death of a little newspaper in Bristol, Connecticut.

The newspaper, which has been publishing since 1871, will either be sold by mid-January or will close:

"Yes, this is another story about a newspaper in jeopardy, one that may well prompt dismissive responses about Paleolithic business models and pointless mourning over throwaway sheets of paper and ink. In other words: Get over it, hack, your day is done."

It is, at least, a poetic pre-obituary, asking the reader to pause and "appreciate what a small, imperfect daily newspaper means to this small, imperfect city":

"Let us watch, too, as Greg Fradette ... feeds two quarters into a machine and returns with a copy of The Press. In this city where, he says, 'springs are big,' the newspaper matters because it contains the intense coverage of sports at the high school and City Hall level; the listings of births, deaths and potluck suppers. 'The information you take for granted,' Mr. Fradette says."

Obviously, stories like this interest me on a personal level. Here I am, working for a weekly newspaper, writing on the internet for that same organization. (Btw, Chris Davis recently wrote about John Malmo's take on the future of newspapers for memphisflyer.com.)

But I also once interned at a teeny-tiny afternoon daily (in a teeny-tiny town, appropriately) and it really was an integral part of the town. Sure, everyone got the larger daily from the neighboring "metropolis" for regional news, but you had to get the Reporter — good-naturedly called the Repeater — for the police blotter, the news from city hall, and just generally to know what your neighbors were up to.

(And who in a small town doesn't want to know what their neighbors are up to?)

At The Bristol Press, they wonder about the stories that will go untold should they close.

"For now, a heavy-hearted editor will continue to be who he is, and do what he does. And a small band of reporters, working for a small, imperfect newspaper, will record for posterity the challenges facing a wounded soldier; the fire that roared through an animal shelter and the number of cats (30) and dogs (9) saved; the death of an 88-year-old woman named Henrietta; and the birth of a girl named Ava Marie."

HUD Help with Economic Crisis

President-elect Barack Obama says that the department of Housing and Urban Development will play a key role in his plan to create or save 2.5 million jobs.

From USAToday:

"'To end this economic crisis, we must end the mortgage crisis, where it began,' Obama said during his weekly address Saturday. [Housing secrectary pick Shaun] Donovan 'knows that we can put the dream of owning a home within reach for more families so long as we're making loans in the right way.'"

The incoming administration has talked about using some of the $700 billion economic bailout fund to stem foreclosures. In addition, Obama said HUD will focus on keeping homes affordable in the first place.

It will be interesting to see what exactly that means, come January.

In Congressional hearings in June, Donovan, a New York City housing official, said that "cities like us across the country cannot preserve [affordable housing] on our own."

(Closer to home, HCD head Robert Lipscomb has told me several times that they knew foreclosures were a problem in Memphis before the larger mortgage crisis, but they couldn't do anything without backing from the federal government and that it wasn't a priority of the current administration.)

I will say, Obama was on Meet the Press two weeks ago and he drew a great analogy after Tom Brokaw asked him why homeowners who were paying their mortgages but seeing their neighbors "getting bailed out" wouldn't just walk away from their mortgages.

"We don't want what you just described, a moral hazard problem where you have incentive to act irresponsibly," Obama said. "But, you know, if my neighbor's house is on fire, even if they were smoking in the bedroom or leaving the stove on, right now my main incentive is to put out that fire so that it doesn't spread to my house."

Digital Divide

In a recent study, the FCC found that up to 5 percent of Tennesseans are not ready for the digital TV transition February 17th.

In fact, about 5 percent of Americans nationwide aren't ready, so the FCC is sending representatives around the country to talk about the switch.

FCC lawyer Katherine Power will be at the Oak Court Mall tonight from 5 - 8 p.m. and at the Kmart on Austin Peay Highway tomorrow (Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., answering questions about the digital switch and demonstrating how to plug the digital converter box into an analog television.

"You should plug [the converter box] in now. Don't wait," Power says. "Digital television is on the air now."

The federal government has a coupon program to offset the cost of the digital converters. Each household can apply for two $40 coupons by visiting www.DTV2009.gov. Each analog television needs its own converter box.

"Television has been free all these year for people with analog sets. To have to incur a cost for these converter boxes, we felt a coupon program would help people make the transition," Power says.

The conversion will free up broadcasting space for health and public safety uses.

Not sure you need a converter box?

If you have cable, satellite, or a newer TV, chances are you don't need a converter box (the exceptions are if you live in rural area and have satellite service and pick up your local channels over the air AND if you want a back-up should your cable service go out). To test it, local stations will be doing a soft test Wednesday, Dec. 17th, sometime between 6 to 7 p.m. If the screen goes blank, you need a converter box.

Dark Days for Midwestern Towns

Forbes has created an interesting slideshow of America's fastest-dying towns.

(Don't worry, Memphis isn't on the list. Then again, the places ranked have a population between 20,000 and 65,000.)

Using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's three-year American Community Survey, Forbes tracked income growth, domestic in-migration, the change in poverty, and the percentage of the population with a bachelor's degree or higher.

Bensenville, Illinois, a town south of Chicago, tops Forbes' list. Other contenders include towns in Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, North Carolina, and Georgia.

Here's what Forbes said about Middletown, Ohio, which ranked 10th on the list:

"The town's median household income is $37,000, and its poverty level has jumped from 12% in 2000 to 22% in 2007. And it's not likely to get better anytime soon. With only 12.2% of residents possessing bachelor's degrees or better, the city isn't a prime candidate to attract highly skilled jobs that have lifted some other post-industrial cities."

Just for a comparison, I checked Memphis' 2005 - 2007 estimated stats with the American Community Survey. The urban area includes parts of Mississippi and Arkansas and has a median household income of $42,239.

About 16 percent of families in Memphis had an income in the past 12 months below the poverty level.

About 16 percent of the residents have bachelor's degrees, as well. Nine percent of residents have a graduate or professional degree.