Film Review: The Help (Aug 10 in US and UK)

Viola Davis in "The Help" photo courtesy of Dreamworks ©2011

review by Michael Orton

copyright 2011 ImageProviders

All Rights Reserved

At the Sundance Film Festival this past January, a memorable appearance by Harry Belafonte offered the young filmmakers in attendance a personal understanding of his involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and of his fervent desire that above anything else, they be society's radicals (his emphasis). Citing the Works Progress Administration and the work of Dorthea Lange and Ben Shahn, he described artists as "the caretakers of truth," and perhaps even guardians of our culture and that "radical thought is the energy of the Universe."

Harry Belafonte (right) "sitting"

Belafonte told those assembled that day that he felt he had been "fortunate to interface with the harbingers of radical thinking," people like Eleanor Roosevelt and Paul Robeson. "The power of art is not to portray life as it is, but life as it should be..." but he also warned, "To be a radical is to be an outcast. We definitely paid a price."

These themes multiply the force and effect of the Tate Taylor film version of Kathryn Stockett's 2009 debut novel, "The Help," a story set in and about Jackson, Mississippi and the Jim Crow south. With breakout performances by Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis (note that several Oscar nominations are predicted, here), and with Stockett's author adequately played by ingenue Emma Stone, the film also contains a stunningly appropriate cameo by none other than Cicely Tyson herself. When Ms. Tyson takes the screen, one feels as though history has indeed come alive. Allison Janney offers a welcome presence as part of Jackson Mississippi's plantation establishment and Sissy Spacek's unabashed comic relief allows the overarching social tension to be almost welcome.

(l to r) Bryce Dallas Howard, Sissy Spacek and Octavia Spencer in "The Help"

America in the sixties included television's "Andy Griffith Show" for those privileged enough to have "Ozzie and Harriet" and "Leave It to Beaver" memories of their childhood. Memorable for some but not for all during that convulsive time of our nation's history. Ironically, one of the most caustic characters in the story is very well delivered by Bryce Dallas Howard a generation after her father (director Ron Howard) was Andy Griffiths' cherubic "Opie" in the Mayberry series of the sixties. 

In "The Help," white hot performances including a revelatory soliloquy, delivered with piercing effect by Ms. Davis, help us truly understand that those famous years were not idyllic for everyone who lived through them. This is the transcendent effect of "The Help," and one that will definitely be recognized during Oscar's upcoming "For Your Consideration" season beginning in just six months. (Perhaps it is significant to note here that the nation's general election will occur only eight months after the Oscars are awarded this coming March).

And after viewing and feeling this story, which forcefully reminds us of how far we've come as a nation, one might conclude that as strenuous and painful as it was, the effort of Harry Belafonte, Martin Luther King and those other harbingers of radical thinking, was just The Help we needed.

"The Help" a DreamWorks release of a Reliance Big Entertainment feature

from the novel by Kathryn Stockett

screenplay by Tate Taylor

directed by Tate Taylor

IMDB info here

The film is better than this trailer portrays it to be...

GRAMA Sub-Committee Commentary

by Michael Orton
licensed through ImageProviders
all rights reserved




Salt Lake City --

During the 45 days that the Utah legislature met in its normal session this year, a legal caldera erupted when lawmakers rushed through revisions to Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act, known simply as GRAMA. It was widely believed by the public and by media interests that lawmakers were attempting to exempt their instant messages, text messages and e-mails from public access and accountability. Due to journalistic diligence and an immediate public outcry amplified by social media, HB477 was subsequently repealed earlier in the year, but only after the regular lawmaking session had adjourned and with significant procedural juggling between the executive and legislative branches of Utah's state government.

What followed was an agreement by all parties to meet during the legislative interim to study the aspects of GRAMA that needed to be updated, since some communications technologies hadn't been anticipated ten years prior when the first GRAMA rules were adopted and enrolled. The "Working Group," consisting of Utah's media interests, lobbyists such as the state's Tea Party and media coalitions, technology experts and public interest organizations, all joined with Utah's senators and representatives to determine necessary and appropriate recommendations.

On Thursday, June 16, 2011, the Working Group's sub-committee responsible for drafting the legal text met to discuss and finalize new statutory recommendations. Those attending were Jeff Hunt, an attorney representing media interests and who was responsible for the original statute; Laura Lockhart, assistant attorney general for the State of Utah; Michael Wilkins, a former Justice of the state's supreme court; State Senator Stuart Adams (r) Davis County; and State Senator Curt Bramble (r) Utah County, who was the original bill's sponsor. Observing the proceedings were archivists, reporters and public interest group representatives.

After the session, which met for more than two and a half hours, the following comments were made by Sherilyn Bennion of the League of Women Voters and Jeff Salt, an activist with Great Salt Lake Keepers (see video).

 FLASH VIDEO - Commentary on Utah's GRAMA Statutory Sub-Committee - June 16

copyright 2011 ImageProviders - all rights reserved

Ms. Bennion expressed her concern that the legislators would still attempt to exempt correspondence from being subject to retention and revue. Mr. Salt indicated that while emerging technologies were being adopted that would allow for printing and archiving of mobile phone text messages, the lawmakers needed to consider the public's right to know and to understand how elected officials were conducting the public's business. Lawmakers continued to express concerns about constituent privacy, a provision which was also included in the ten-year-old statute. At issue during the public outcry when HB477 was rushed through the process last spring was communications with lobbyists who were attempting to privately influence legislation and appropriations. During the 2011 session, the Salt Lake Tribune uncovered lawmakers' ability to communicate with lobbyists using PIN identities which do not go through computer server hubs and therefore are not able to be recorded, requested or recovered. PIN addressing is available with Blackberry mobile phones, many of which are seen in use on the chamber floors.

The entire Working Group will meet tomorrow morning at 9am, June 22, 2011 in the Senate Rules Room of the Utah capitol and will discuss and adopt final recommendations to forward to the entire legislature.

Governor Herbert to Announce 10 Year Energy Initiative

photo courtesy of the DEWEYSQUAREGROUP

SALT LAKE CITY --

Utah Governor Gary Herbert's office recently issued some graphic heraldry describing the place and time of his announcement of "Utah's 10-Year Strategic Energy Plan." The Governor's "Energy Initiatives and Imperatives" will be "unveiled" this Friday at the University of Utah, attended by the Governor's supporters, Utah's policymakers and its special interests alike. Most observe Herbert's plan as a tightly-knit collaboration with his state's legislature including input only from the GOP and the special interests which funded his election last November. Some thought that the backdrop and locale for the announcement lent more credibility to the orchestrations than should be deserved since the design of the initiative had been accomplished in private caucuses and behind closed doors.

During the 45-day legislative calendar earlier this year, Utah lawmakers authorized a newly-formed "Department of Energy Development," presently led by Utah Department of Environmental Quality director, Amanda Smith. Prior to these expanded duties which some see as temporary, Ms. Smith, a Jon Huntsman, Jr. appointee, has overseen the efforts of a sizable staff including Utah's Department of Air Quality. Herbert critics say the efforts of Smith's department have always been hampered by a lack of sufficient funding as well as conflicts inherent in an agency charged with regulating air quality while permitting refinery operations and power plant construction. Smith admitted to funding problems at the conclusion of a 2010 public hearing held in Cedar City. It is widely believed that Friday's announcement could also include the appointment of a new chief of energy development in Utah.

Members of the state Senate and its House of Representatives were quick to point out in session that Forbes magazine had recently acknowledged the Beehive State as having the highest economic recovery scores in the nation. Others were just as fast to emphasize that the magazine simultaneously awarded Utah a designation as the most toxic state to do business, citing urban air quality among the poorest in the nation and a recent record of toxic spills evidenced near the capitol city and elsewhere.

Still stinging from the December announcement of Ken Salazar's Secretarial Order 3310 and the authority of the Obama administration that its constituents had rejected at the polls in 2008, the state's legislative and executive branches have maneuvered to allow for Utah's preemption of federal control over public lands, most of which are administered by Interior's Bureau of Land Management. In Salazar's order, the Interior Department described its intent to list and potentially designate as "wild lands" some areas in the western United States but also acknowledged the need for jobs and revenues available from the nation's public lands. Utah's governor and lawmakers certainly weren't buying that, recalling the Clinton administration's designation of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument many years before when significant mineral reserves were placed out of reach. Some decried the recent Secretarial Order as robbery from the state's schoolchildren (See related story).

In its 2011 session, the Utah legislature has woven what some perceive as their best efforts to preempt federal authority through a variety of bills asserting their "state's rights." While lawmakers were busy getting these bills advanced in Utah, Herbert appeared before a newly-elected and friendly congress to assail federal dominion and claim the same "sovereignty" that is the hallmark of ultra-conservatives nationwide. To that end, the initiative to be announced on Friday may be less his own, and more the evidence of public policy machinations of a state dominated by its rabidly conservative GOP.

Sources with an intimate understanding of the governor's initiative indicate that it will attempt to appease those supporting the development of alternative energy but will mostly hand the reins over to traditional energy producers for the development of mineral resources and natural gas within Utah. What remains to be seen is the potential for "Utah's 10-Year Strategic Energy Plan" to produce litigation on local and national levels, all of which could tie up permitting for as many years to come.

"5% of SQUAT!"

by Michael Orton
Licensed through ImageProviders

SALT LAKE CITY –

On the Utah Senate floor just before that body adjourned for lunch, Senator Stephen Urquhart (R-29, Washington County) rose in support of Senator Ralph Okerland (R-24 central Utah), House Representative Mike Noel (R-73, Kane County) and their SB221. Urquhart passionately denounced the federal government and its recent decision to "re-inventory" public lands throughout the western U.S. using Secretarial Order 3310. Without much reference or amplification, Senator Urquhart boldly asserted that the constitution did not give Utah acreage to the federal government for administration, because the federal government "breeched its [transfer] agreement in 1976." At critical issue here, and likely the reason why the second substitute bill was fast-tracked on suspension of the rules (28Y, 0N), is the participation of resource revenue sharing with the state's School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, SITLA. Complete bi-partisanship on this matter is deeply rooted in the democratic minority's overwhelming support of the state's school system and its funding in an era of austerity.

In the widely held anticipation of federal designation of Utah's wild lands as wilderness, "the federal government has stolen what is rightfully ours," declared Utah Sen. Urquhart, "and if they continue, we will receive five percent of SQUAT." He went on to vigorously complain that "these lands are not the little playthings of theirs. They are STEALING from [Utah's] public education system." Though the secretarial order sets up a public process, the fear that the Department of the Interior will designate as "wild lands" some of Utah's 20 million BLM acres has fueled empassioned debate and significant work on SB221. The bill attempts to establish and codify bottom-up management plan methodology through the cooperation of counties and state agencies like the Utah Department of Natural Resources and now the newly-formed Utah Department of Energy Development.

A quick look at program funding reports from Utah's School Land Trust indicates that through the time of the secretarial order issued by Interior Secretary and Colorado native Ken Salazar, Utah schools had enjoyed increased revenues from this source with trending established before the national election in 2008. Even past that time, schools in Utah received considerably more funds than in earlier years. The conservationists say this lends some credence to the charge that energy company profits fueled a "wholesale auction of extraction leases on public lands" and attempts to promote coal-fired power plant applications in the final months of the Bush administration.

Utah's Concurrent Resolution Opposing Salazar's "Reinventory"

by Michael Orton
this report licensed via Creative Commons

SALT LAKE CITY --

Late this afternoon, Rep. Mike Noel (R-Kanab) will introduce a concurrent resolution to the House standing committee on natural resources, agriculture and the environment. This "message to Washington" is expected to receive swift approval and opposes Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's "re-inventory" of acreage which may eventually designate some within the state of Utah as "wild lands." Such a re-inventory classification could affect the commercial or recreational uses normally associated with vacant BLM land, which includes 20 million acres in the Beehive State where much of that acreage is already under use plans which receive public scrutiny. Supporters of the resolution say that a significant amount is still undesignated as to use that might involve mineral and energy-related resources. Utah's Governor Gary Herbert was scheduled to testify to congress today on this very contentious issue. (See related story)

Mike Noel, right, with executive from Reagan Outdoor Advertising

in committee testimony on unrelated bill   Photo: Michael Orton

Utah legislators and extraction industries representatives term the re-inventory a "land grab" on the part of the federal government but many of Utah's continuous residents own properties originally homesteaded during the Cleveland administration in the latter part of the 19th century. Currently, lawmakers are reacting as strongly as did the conservation and environmental supporters during the end of the Bush administration when several hundred of Utah's public lands acres were put up for auction in oil and gas leases. That action led to the arrest and trial of environmental activist Tim DeChristopher which began yesterday in federal court. DeChristopher is accused of fraudulently bidding on leases he had no intention of buying, primarily doing so as a disruption tactic which he has termed an act of "civil disobedience."

The resolution is expected to leave committee with a favorable recommendation later this afternoon. Text of the resolution here.

Video of the discussion is available via ImageProviders

Sevier Power Company Dumps Coal

photo courtesy of Creative Commons

Richfield, Utah –

After a meeting of the Sevier County Commission today, representatives from Sevier Power indicated that they had solicited bids from two companies to furnish natural gas to their proposed energy generation facility in Sigurd, Utah. The move effectively left the support of the county’s coal mining industry in the dust. Rod Clark and Bruce Taylor, spokesmen for Sevier Power, entered the county chambers just before noon with Ken May, president of Arch Coal’s Sufco mine operations in Salina.

At a February 1st meeting, Commission chair Gary Mason of Aurora expressed surprise that Sevier Power was a “no-show” after being placed on the county’s agenda then. At that time, Commissioner Mason indicated that he was sure that they would be in attendance at the commissioner’s very next scheduled meeting also during February. Opponents of the plant were surprised that Sevier Power Company was even in existence since vacating their Richfield offices last summer.

“We are trying to get a sense of where we’re at,” said commission chairman Gary Mason as he opened today's agenda item, “A lot of things have happened. We know that a zoning lawsuit has been dismissed so that we can move forward. There was a [state of Utah] Supreme Court decision but at this point, none of us knows exactly where the permitting process is at.” Mason continued, “We would like to move forward. We have a valid permit [application] before us,” at which point Commissioner Mason called upon Mr. Clark.

“We don’t know what the supreme court decision means,” began Clark, “We need to let you guys figure out what the next steps are. We think we’ve done everything you’ve asked us to do and we are waiting for a county permit.”

In the light of the state’s Supreme Court decisions, Mason asked Clark to take 30 days to come back with options that are appropriate for their current plans. Clark responded to the commissioners, stating, “If that’s a good faith request, we’ll try to get back to you in two weeks with some clarification.” The Sevier County commissioners were asking Sevier Power to clarify the company’s intent with all of their options, which Mason theorized were: moving forward with the current permit, converting to another fuel source instead of coal or dropping the permit application entirely. In November 2008, a citizen’s initiative was put on the county ballot after clearing a state Supreme Court hurdle which allowed the voters of the county to approve a coal-fired power plant permit. Representatives from the county’s Right to Vote committee were in attendance at today’s commission meeting. Elaine Bonavita, one of the initiative’s organizers said, “They’ve still got to get past us if they’re going to use coal for power generation.”

With a resumption of the permitting process now calendared for the commissioner’s April 5th meeting, more input from Sevier Power Co. as well as Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water and the Right to Vote Committee is expected.

It was after the county meeting that Clark confirmed rumored plans to switch to natural gas for their facility’s fuel source. When asked how they proposed to get a gas line that would furnish sufficient capacity for a 500 Megawatt plant from Scipio to Sigurd, Clark quipped, “Very carefully.” The closest natural gas line with that capacity roughly parallels Interstate 15 and would require easements and rights of way through 33 miles into Sigurd. Clark did not disclose the cost for that kind of infrastructure support, but indicated that Sevier Power Company had obtained two estimates from companies other than Questar to provide the pipeline. “One was very high,” said Clark, gesturing above his head, “and the other one we’ll have to investigate further.” Clark confirmed that his company has no contracts to furnish power to the grid as a merchant plant since Sevier Power is independent of Rocky Mountain Power or its parent, PacifiCorp. He said that no contracts from rural power cooperatives had been obtained either.

Opponents of the coal-fired plan were in attendance at the commissioner’s meeting and were interested in the details of the fuel source change. Their spokesman had remarked that Sevier Power’s switch to natural gas would forsake the miners who had vigorously defended the 270 MgW coal-fired plan. With several legal and application hurdles to overcome regarding coal use, the natural gas plan may prove easier not only with the EPA but at the local level where the 2008 citizen’s initiative would not apply.

Dick Cumiskey, the managing director of Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water said, “Before they begin an application for a natural gas plant, we would ask the county commissioners to have Sevier Power withdraw their coal permit application. These guys haven’t been able to complete any of their obligations in the permitting process.” Clark said that the power developer wouldn’t withdraw their coal permit before obtaining a permit for using natural gas, leaving a potential impasse for the county commissioners to sort out. It was clear from their comments made today that Sevier Power had already begun plans to switch from using coal to natural gas which the locals viewed as a significant development.

MicroBureau West and MicroBureau Utah are members of Creative Commons

State of Coal

by Michael Orton, all rights reserved

In light of the fact that coal-power developer Sevier Power Co. has closed their offices in Richfield, Utah, and that they have withdrawn their application for a fly ash disposal site within Sevier county, some may conclude that Sevier Power Company's plans for a 270 megawatt "merchant plant" in Sigurd, Utah is on the ropes. As of this writing, Sevier Power's application with the state's Department of Air Quality is also far beyond it's original expiration date, and that fact is being heralded by the central Utah conservation watchdogs, Sevier Citizens for Clean Air and Water.

Sevier Power Company principle Ken Flake moves out of Sevier County, Utah. Flake's company was trying to develop a 270 megawatt, coal-fired power plant in Sigurd, Utah

Many of Sevier County's public schools are still heated by coal. In a county where traditions and "good ol' boy" networks die hard, there is mounting evidence that Sevier Power Company's plans are terminally outdated. Because SPC was attempting to get their plant built without costly engineering required to limit pollution, these recent developments continue to threaten the idea that the old way of using coal power can continue at all. This does not mean that Sevier county's coal miners should feel that their jobs are threatened since Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said that we'll still be using coal for our energy demands as long as we learn to use it "more wisely." Current EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson has said that her department will enforce the laws involving environmental polluters, something that wasn't done during the previous administration. Her department is also planning to issue regulations governing future coal-fired power plants.

The formal withdrawal of Sevier Power Company's application to dump fly ash in Sevier County.

Last week, Dr. Brian Moench of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment made a presentation in Richfield (the Sevier County seat) entitled, "We Are What Our Grandparents Inhaled; Our Grandchildren Will Be What We Inhale." Dr. Moench is formerly of the Harvard Medical School, and as an anaesthesiologist, he has an understanding of breathing science that may prove to be more potent than coal-fired power plant exhaust. He believes that the state's Department of Air Quality exists to facilitate big business interests, not to protect the people of Utah which its name implies.

Citing the newest, prize-winning research in "epigenetics," "telomeres and telomerase," Dr. Moench said that "those [people who are] occupationally exposed to air pollution will have telomeres that are 10 years older than their chronological age should suggest." Telomeres are "caps" located at the ends of human chromosomes, and research into their role in aging, the origins of cancer, heart disease and mental illness is described as "Copernican" in its relevance to today's understanding of human biology.

As Dr. Moench described current research from the Environmental Working Group of the Columbia School of Public Health, he stated that "cancer is a disease of accumulated chromosome damage," that is unleashed when "cancer cells divide indefinitely." Hence the connection with telomeres and what medical science is now learning about them and the genetic implications of even tiny amounts of pollution.

"There is no 'safe' level of air pollution," declared Dr. Moench, "The average newborn has more than 200 hazardous chemicals profusing throughout its body on day one..." and that "for the first time ever, human life expectancy is dropping." "Today, one of two men and one of three women will have cancer in their lifetime," he continued.

"One thing that is not disputed by any policy makers, is that babies deserve to be born free of pollution," the doctor concluded by telling everyone, "Don't let any industry pollute your body, not even by tiny amounts."

It will show up in your posterity, he insists.