Man from Plains

All this talk of politics has affected my netflix lineup. Last night we watched the documentary "Man from Plains" about Jimmy Carter and his most recent book. I've got to say that Jonathan Demme is one of the better filmmakers of our time. Ever since Stop Making Sense, a video concert of the Talking Heads was released I've been a fan. What I like about Demme is the unbiased and personal approach. I've always said of good photographers and painters whom work with portraiture that the best approach is to be as transparent as possible so as to not influence the subject in any manner. This film does just that as it documents Carter's travels to promote his most recent and controversial book entitled Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. The film gives an honest perspective on the man and his principles as Demme was obviously given good access the former president during the filming and what impressed me most was exactly how candid and emotional Carter was during the filming. He is obviously a very intelligent man in the way he handles conversation and which may also explain why he is a physicist by trade. What is controversial about the book is that Carter is trying to explain that perhaps the Palastinians have been wronged which is very bold and politically incorrect these days. But Carter does it with eloquence and good rhetoric in the face of staunch adversaries. After the film, I followed up with some research on Carter and his policies. What amazed me is how strong his opinions about peace and energy conservation. He actually reduced the dependence on foreign oil by half during tenure as president. He installed solar panels (which were later removed) on the white house! It's amazing how we continue to repeat ourselves in history as I think my third grade teacher began the first history lesson i remember with that exact phrase. President Carter had some interesting approaches to energy policy that may hold in todays atmosphere. Don't get me wrong...I'm not a political or economic expert, but I can tell you a good deal about the Laffer Curve and supply side, trickle down Reaganomics including the fact that Author Laffer and Wanninski, credited with coining the term did so over a meeting in 1974 with Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld present...so I'll let you do your own research. But I am a good with the study of human character and I can tell you that I am compelled to believe that Jimmy Carter is a good man with honest motives or at least the film did an excellent job of concealing anything otherwise. I can whole heartedly recommend that you see the film for yourself.

this photo below is of Carter fishing when a swimming rabbit "attacked" his boat.. lucky the secret service was there to capture it on film.

**note: and let me say this... if you're concerned with gasoline prices, I've got a piece of advice for you and your employees to save gas... let em work from home. Telecommuting is surprisingly easy than you may think.... so don't let some guy roll into your offices and charge you umpteen hundred dollars to set up teleconferencing equipment as those of us in the web world deal with it on a day to day basis and I would be glad to advise anyone on different alternatives for video conferencing, audio conferencing, file sharing and collaborative work flow for telecommuting in your office using remote servers and web enabled applications.