Special Silly Image to Fill Space- Horror Film Poster

Since we feel like screaming at the very top of our lungs today, and such behavior is not allowed publicly (well, we haven't checked the Virginia state laws to be sure about that, but since we named the state attorney general as our worst person we are not going to ask him and we also can't spell his last name- it's either Cucinelli or or Cuccinelli---but, in all honesty, we really don't care!), we are going to post an entry about screaming.

We are very close to the state line with North Carolina, and Roy Cooper, that state's attorney general, is probably too tied up to help us know if screaming is allowed in the Tarheel State, outside Chapel Hill and Durham during UNC-Duke basketball games.

So, anyway, here we go:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........"

Yes, that feels much, much better.

The movie in the image we are using is "Death Screams" (1982) directed by David Nelson, who was the son of Ozzie and Harriet. He died earlier this year at age 74. The horror film also featured lots of B-list actors and actresses, including Jennifer Chase. "Death Scream" was also filmed in Lake Lure, NC, where "Dirty Dancing" and "Firestarter" were both partially filmed.

Of course, in the early 1980s the main scream queen of the day was Jamie Lee Curtis who starred in the original "Halloween" (1978) as well as horror or thriller films like "The Fog," "Prom Night" (the original) and "Terror Train."

Interestingly enough, Curtis's mom Janet Leigh made the famous shower scene scream in "Psycho" (1960).

There is an urban legend that Curtis was born a Hermaphrodite, which is a person with gender traits of both males and females, but according to the urban legend web site snopes. com it has never been proven true.

But, we did learn from the same web site that one of the (James) Bond girls in "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), one of the Roger Moore films, was once a man!

Our Worst Person of the Year for 2010 Is....

.........Ken Cuccinelli, the arch conservative far-right Republican attorney general of Virginia.

Perhaps, Suzy Khimm in a December 2010 article from "Mother Jones" (a magazine that is more to the left than I am) summed it up best when she said:

"Cuccinelli has relished his role as a political lightning rod who has used elected office for ideological warfare.

Jeff Goodell, an environmental writer for "Rolling Stone" said in the magazine's current issue that Cuccinelli has been using his office to deliberately rattle state institutions, such as The University of Virginia, from performing scientific research projects he personally and politically opposes.

Cuccinelli handily defeated a moderate, well-qualified candidate in Steve Shannon (both men are ironically from Fairfax County) by a shocking 58-42 margin in the state election that gave him the attorney general's office.

In a mere two years, Cuccinelli, who is only 42, has used his elected office in Richmond to cater to a variety of right wing and even extreme conservative causes: the death penalty, guns, pro-life, anti-gay, immigration, taxes, spending and property rights.

He was supported by the NRA and far right figures like Mike Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Ron Paul during his run against Shannon.

Many gunsGodncountry folks in places like Boones Mill, Tazewell, New Market and Farmville saw Cuccinelli as their kind of anti-government extremist. But, not everyone was fooled by his traveling medicine man show, which was also how Gov. Bob McDonnell won his race that same year over state Creigh Deeds.

"The Washington Post" in an editorial for Shannon said that Cuccinelli would be 'an embarrassment to Virginia.' Alas, they were right.

Cuccinelli's main cause celebre has been using his far right 'fishing buddies' in federal courts like Judge Henry Hudson to block President Barack Obama's federal health care iniatives and he defends himself by saying that 'this is his Constitutional duty.'

As Goodell indicated in his article on global warming's main political culprits, Cuccinelli did indeed waste considerable state funds fighting former UVA professor Michael Mann's efforts to research global climate change (Mann is now at Penn State).

Cuccinelli also supported the dubious exectuion of Teresa Lewis, a rural woman who resided near Danville, who was found to be barely mentally eligible for capital punishment. The execution, which took place last September, drew protests from across America and around the world.

In short, Cuccinelli is everything that the far right (and the Tea Party of course loves this guy) represents: genuine hypocricy. Alas, Cuccinelli is up for reelection at the end of his term. But, perhaps his selfish ego will convince him to run for a more prestigious office like the Governor's mansion where he might run against a qualified Democrat who give him a good ole fashion quarterback sack. There are very few people who deserve it more.

PS- Apparently, when I mentioned him in an earlier entry, I didn't spell Ken Cuccinelli's name correctly. But, if we've learned one thing from the GOP it is to never apologize if you have erred!

Top 10 Reasons to Oppose the Death Penalty

This list was actually compiled by Akorra.com rather than myself even though I am a staunch death penalty opponent, and I have made no secret of views here on this blog or in other media outlets.

Last night, Virginia, my home state, carried out the lethal injection of Teresa Lewis, 41, from Danville, Va., who had a mental iq of 72. If a person has an iq of 70 or less, they can not be executed.

I will get to more details of this flagrant human rights violation in a bit, but first here is the list:

1. An Eye for An Eye Makes the Whole World Go Blind
2. Life in Prison is an Alternative
3. Racial bias
4. Ignores Possibility of Redemption
5. Punishment Doesn't Always Fit the Crime
6. Contrary to Constitution
7. Gender Bias
8. Possibility of Condemned Being Innocent
9. Financial Bias
10. Geographical Bias

I think the cost of a death penalty case, which is reportedly around $2 million is another strong factor capital punishment, and one of the reasons why there are those on the libertarian right oppose the measure.

The fact that Virginia has an arch conservative Governor in Bob McDonnell, a favorite among fringe right-wingers and evangelical radicals, and a similarly far-right of center Attorney General in Ken Cucinelli doomed Lewis as both officials would probably execute their 86-year-old grandmothers for jay-walking if it could advance their political standing in the Republican Party.

According to Channel 7 in Roanoke, Va., the last meal Lewis had was fried chicken, sweet peas and a Doctor Pepper. The execution was carried out at 9:13 p.m.

Lewis was given a death sentence conviction for her role in a murder-life insurance scheme, but defense attorneys argued that she was duped by the two men who actually pulled the trigger who were both substantially smarter than her.

The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty released the following statement from anti-death penalty activist Andrea Bible about the Lewis execution:

"I am grieving because we live in a country where politicians and the courts believe it is ok to sue the state's resources to kill someone who functions at the level of a 13-year-old girl."

One of the two victims' daughter supported the execution and attended the lethal injection process at Jarrat, Va., where the sentence was carried out. Lewis, who is also a grandmother, had a son who wanted to visit her before she was killed by the state. As of Wednesday, the Virginians for Alternatives to Death Penalty (Vadp.org) said that he was in need of a ride to Jarratt. Vigils sponsored by the VADP were held at Jarratt and throughout the state.

It was Virginia's first execution of a woman since 1912.

Lewis' execution received international media attention as it was one of the lead stories in last night's BBC World News broadcasts and was the subject of an article in "The Vancouver Sun" (a newspaper in Vancouver, Canada).

Far Right Republican Becomes Governor of Virginia

The National Rifle Association (NRA), The Heritage Foundation and The Christian Coalition now have one of their own in Richmond, Va., as arch conservative Bob McDonnell defeated Democratic moderate Creigh Deeds to become governor of my home state.

McDonnell is an alumnus of Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia Beach, and he once wrote a thesis about how women need to spend more time at home raising children (hmm.......perhaps Islamic fundamentalists will like this guy too).

Low voter turn-out, apathy and a lack of young voters at the polls are three of the explanations as to why a state which Barack Obama carried went to McDonnell as well as the two other Republicans on the ticket.

It should also be pointed out that Virginia's new attorney general-elect Ken Cuchinelli is also quite far too the right. He has actually pledged to turn down federal funding once elected. Even though the Gingrich/Reagan model for micro-government has been proven ineffective, there are still right-wing nuts like McDonnell and Cuchinelli who subscribe to it.

It should be an interesting four years in Virginia. Even though I now live in North Carolina, I am very saddened by what has transpired in my home state where moderate Republicans like former Congressman Tom Davis and former Sen. John Warner have reitred. Their replacements appear to be guys who listen to Glenn Beck, shoot racoons and go to mega-churches.

This should be a lesson to all fellow Democrats, indepedents and even moderate Republicans. If you don't get involved with local politics, you may have to deal with this very same nightmare scenario.

I am so dismayed by what happened in Virginia that I may have to subscribe to "The Nation," even though its opinions are to the left of mine!