Life After Death

by Laura Crafton Gilpin (1950-2007)
Award-winning American poet, Registered Nurse, advocate of patient-centered care in hospital reform, died of glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer, in Fairhope, AL

The things I know:
how the living go on living
and how the dead go on living with them

So that in a forest
even a

Explaining and Understanding Alabama

Politico:

In Federal court, Alabama Republicans again defend not creating a 2nd majority Black district.

–//–

Alabama is ALWAYS “itching for a fight” because residents feel as if someone is forcing them to do something against their self-interest, or will, or that they’re going to suffer some kind of loss.

In order to motivate Alabamans, they must feel like they’re against something, that something, or someone, is going to take something away from them. It matters not what — it could be their household garbage — but they will no longer be in control of it, because someone is going to take it away from them, and therefore, they must oppose that oppressive, governmental edict-by-force issued from upon high by an alien enemy power, that they must “draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny.”

The astute will recognize, no doubt, the line uttered by the now-late former Governor George C. Wallace in his infamous “stand in the schoolhouse door” speech at Foster Auditorium in June 1963, on the campus of the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa.

Harmony and peace are “adults-only beverages” and Alabama cannot yet drink to the fullest from that wellspring, that fountain of life, a refreshingly cool, bubbling artesian well, and with all its other infantile behaviors, still suckles the teat of insecurity, demanding to be diapered and fed, to have attention given to it regardless, still incapable of sleeping through the night.

Mike Rogers-R,AL3 is restrained by Richard Hudson-R,NC8 from attacking Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 after Mike Rogers confronted Matt Gaetz because Gaetz voted “PRESENT” in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House (SOTH), late Friday night, January 6, 2023. Kevin McCarthy-R,CA20 was finally elected as Speaker of the House (SOTH) on the 15th round of voting.

Alabama loved George Wallace.

They loved him so very much, that they elected him as Governor an unprecedented 4 times… not counting the time he was the puppet master, pulling the strings of his wife Lurleen’s campaign and her brief time in office as Governess.

Wallace was the state’s 45th individual to have served as Governor, and was elected as Governor in 1962, 1970, 1974, and 1982.

Later in life, after suffering near death following Arthur Bremer’s assassination attempt upon him while campaigning for the Office of President, Wallace had been paralyzed from the waist down by a bullet which had lodged in his spinal cord, and claimed to have changed afteerward, to have had a Christian religious conversion experience before he won election to an unprecedented nonconsecutive 4th term in office as Governor. As part of that conversion experience, he expressed contrition for his wicked deeds towards the Negro/Black community in Alabama — which were most notably expressed as bigotry, racism and segregation — directly to the Black community in Birmingham, Montgomery, and elsewhere, from the pulpits of their churches.

They believed him.

Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham examined polling data, voter turnout, and other official records from the 1982 General Election, found a level of support for Wallace among the Black community so very great, so that without it,

Alabama: A State of Perpetual Infancy

“Your Cadillac
Has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track.”

Despite the fact that an adult human being may be in the form of a 70+ year old body, that is neither proof, nor evidence of, maturity.

The presupposition, however, is that emotional/psychological development parallels physical development, that it is unified, or integrated in the person.

However, that’s not always the case.

Some individuals are still developmentally stuck at the age of 10. Their behavior tells any observer everything they truly need to know. Their selfish insecurities are always on full display, and even the most casual of observers can easily and readily note that something is grossly awry.

Alabama was the 22nd state to have been admitted to the union, which occurred in 1819, having been first separated from the Mississippi Territory 2 years earlier, when Mississippi obtained statehood. One would imagine, nay hope, that after 209 years, the people would have figured out a few things. Sadly, that is not the case in Alabama. Even their 1901 bloated state constitution — by far, the lengthiest of any in the world, and which voters rescinded and replaced in 2022 — is evidence of that fact. The new constitution has 11 amendments.

While Alabama’s official state motto is “Audemus jura nostra defendere” (Latin, “we dare defend our rights”), its unofficial state motto is “Thank God for Mississippi,” for even though it was separated from the Mississippi Territory in 1817 by Congressional action, it could be thought of as a somewhat unsuccessful separation of conjoined twins. Not all surgeries are successful, nor achieve the desired or intended results.

Alabama’s 45th Governor of Alabama, having served two nonconsecutive terms and two consecutive terms as a Democrat may be best known for saying, “I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

Alabama is one such example.

For many, there are 2 things that immediately come to mind when hearing the word “Alabama”:

Alabama’s Legislators are THE NATION’S HIGHEST PAID — Bar None

I’ve long known that New Mexico was the ONLY state in the union whose lawmakers did NOT receive any salary, only a very modest per diem payment, and certainly NOTHING LIKE the princely “per diem” sum that Ala-goddamn-bama’s corrupt lawmakers pay themselves from the pockets of the honest, tax paying public.

And if you break down and calculate the entirety of what those f🤬ing bastards pay themselves, you, or ANYONE would find that they are — WITHOUT QUESTION — THE VERY HIGHEST PAID legislators in the nation, who get paid LITERALLY for only THREE DAYS OF WORK PER WEEK (Tu,W,Th — the ONLY days they meet), for a GRAND TOTAL of 30 days per year, more if called into Special Session by the Governor.

The Alabama State Legislature’s website states that “the length of the regular session is limited to 30 meeting days within a period of 105 calendar days. There are usually two meeting or “legislative” days per week, with other days devoted to committee meetings. Special sessions of the Legislature may be called by the Governor, with the Proclamation listing the subjects which the Governor wishes considered. These sessions are limited to 12 legislative days within a 30 calendar day span.”

It’s the VERY best goddamn less-than part-time job in ALL of America — hands down.

Here’s a ROUGH approximation of how MUCH, and the tune to which they pick Alabama taxpayers’ pockets:

They now pay themselves a base salary of

Alabama Redneck Weasel Repugnicant Mike “Rugrat” Rogers Drunk on House Floor

Richard Hudson-R,NC8 physically retrained Mike Rogers-R,AL3 from attacking Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 after he verbally accosted Matt Gaetz following Gaetz’ “PRESENT” vote in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House (SOTH), causing Kevin McCarthy-R,CA20 to lose, late Friday night, January 6, 2023

“Matt, you’re FINISHED!
I’m not gonna forget this!”

Ever wonder what barnyard animals
— pigs —
behave like?

Wonder no more.

Mike “Rugrat” Rogers, a Redneck Repugnicant from Not-So-Sweet-Home Alabama, a slave state, the asshole of Dixie, who misrepresents the state’s 3rd Congressional largely poor, uneducated and easy-to-command mostly-White District was drunk and disorderly, under the influence of intoxicating/spirituous beverage, according to at least one observer who was close enough to smell his breath, when “Rugrat” Rogers accosted Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 and attempted to start a fight with him on late Friday night, January 6th, 2023, after the 14th failed round of balloting for Speaker of the House.

No, Mister Mike “Rugrat” Rogers, YOU’RE the one who’s finished.

You’ve now made your Alabama shit stain mark
to a national television audience,
a global audience via the Internet,
and yourself a permanently indelible pock mark
upon your wretchedly failed party,
and sadly, upon American history.

Richard Hudson-R,NC8 physically retrained Mike Rogers-R,AL3 from attacking Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 after he screamed at and verbally accosted Matt Gaetz following Gaetz’ “PRESENT” vote in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House (SOTH), causing Kevin McCarthy-R,CA20 to lose, late Friday night, January 6, 2023.

Congratulations, Mr. Asshole Weasel Drunk Redneck Mike Rugrat Rogers.

You shouldn’t have been on the House floor under the influence, and you sure as hell didn’t represent Alabama — or, maybe you did!

Alabama is full of assholes like him.

They’re called “weasels,” and are generally considered pests everywhere they’re found. Interestingly, a group of weasels is called

Repugnants FAIL 14 Times in 4 Days From Opening Day

Mike Rogers-R,AL3 is physically restrained from attacking Matt Gaetz by Richard Hudson-R,NC8 after he confronted Matt Gaetz following Gaetz’ “PRESENT” vote in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House (SOTH), late Friday night, January 6, 2023

“Matt, you’re FINISHED!
I’m not gonna forget this!”

— Mike Rogers-R,AL3 screamed at Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 after Gaetz voted “PRESENT” instead of “McCarthy” in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House of Representatives (SOTH), late Friday night, January 6, 2023, which was the 14th consecutive failure in 4 consecutive days by members of that party to elect a SOTH. Gaetz, and 19 other members of the Freedom Caucus, refused to vote for McCarthy for several legitimate reasons, though Kevin McCarthy-R,CA20 used coercive threats, and other unethical and authoritarian-type behaviors to have some of them acquiesce, under pressure from him, to change their votes to FOR him, instead of someone else, or “PRESENT.” Matt Gaetz never did.

No, Mister Mike “Rugrat” Rogers, YOU’RE the one who’s finished.

And you’ve now made your shit stain mark to an national television audience,
and to global international audience via the Internet,
and yourself a permanently indelible pock mark upon your failed party,
and in American history.

Congratulations, Mr. Asshole Rugrat Weasel Drunk Redneck Mike Rogers.

You shouldn’t have been on the House floor under the influence, and you sure as hell didn’t represent Alabama — or, maybe you did! Alabama is full of assholes like him. They’re called “weasels,” and are generally considered pests everywhere they’re found. Interestingly, a group of weasels is known as a “sneak,” a “boogle,” a “gang,” or a “confusion.” And in the Repugnants’ case, it’s confusion. And, that’s exactly what Rogers did — he sneaked up from behind amidst the confusion.

Mike Rogers-R,AL3 is physically restrained from attacking Matt Gaetz-R,FL1 by Richard Hudson-R,NC8 when Rogers confronted Gaetz after Gaetz voted “PRESENT” in the 14th round of balloting for Speaker of the House (SOTH), late Friday night, January 6, 2023

Matt Gaetz was 100% correct when he stated this before the 12th vote:

My colleague from California, Mr. Garcia, knows the incredibly high regard I hold for him. He is a patriot; I deeply, deeply admire him, but I must take some exception to some of the comments he made in his nomination of Mr. McCarthy.

First, he said that Mr. McCarthy has “earned” the position.

You only earn the position of Speaker of the House if you can get the votes. Mr. McCarthy doesn’t have the votes today, he will not have the votes tomorrow, and he will not have the votes next week, next month, next year.

And so, one must wonder, Madam Clerk, is this an exercise in vanity for someone who has done the math, taken the counts, and is putting this institution through something that absolutely is avoidable?

My colleague Mr. Garcia did not say this, but many of my other Republican colleagues have. They believe Mr. McCarthy has earned the position of Speaker of the House because he raised half a billion dollars to get Republicans elected.

Several believe that one earns the position of Speaker by raising enormous sums of money, and there is no doubt that the individual that was nominated by Mr. Garcia is the Lebron James of special interest fundraising in this town. There’s nobody better.

[NOTE: In a Newsweek OpEd entitled “McCarthy Has Earned the House Speakership” by former SOTH Newt Gingrich published 12/16/22 at 6:00 AM EST, he not only confirmed McCarthy’s mammoth fundraising machine of $500 million, but also that fundraising massive amounts of money IS a qualification for the office, and wrote: “Set aside the $500 million McCarthy and his allies raised during the 2022 campaign cycle. Some of his critics seem to think that effort doesn’t count (it should) because he had the power of the conference (and they don’t).”]

But I will suggest that

Thank A Republican

If you enjoy your electrical power from TVA, and all the other associated benefits that have come along for that ride, such as regional economic development, improved health, care & quality of life, etc., you can thank a Republican.

That man would be Nebraska Republican U.S. Senator George W. Norris (1861-1944), who served 5 terms in the House (10 years), and 5 terms in the Senate (30 years), the last term of which he became an Independent, and was defeated for re-election in 1942.

George W. Norris as a newly elected U.S. Senator, 1912.

Senator Norris was also a member of a somewhat contrarian group in the House of Representatives that, in 1910, brought reform to its practices, by reducing the autocratic control which the Speaker of the House then had.

He also authored the 20th Amendment, which abolished so-called “lame duck” Congressional sessions, fought for presidential primaries, and direct election of Senators.

He also saved TVA from being sold — more accurately, prevented Wilson Dam in the Muscle Shoals area of Northwest Alabama from being sold — to one of the wealthiest industrialists of his era, which POTUSes Coolidge and Hoover (especially), both GOPers, wanted to sell to private enterprise, bidding in which Alabama Power (part of Atlanta, GA HQ’d Southern Company) was a strong contender.

That man was Henry Ford.

In the May 22, 1920 edition of The Dearborn Independent, a Henry Ford publication also known as The Ford International Weekly, Henry authored a front-page article entitled “The International Jew: The World’s Foremost Problem” that was later translated into several languages and distributed widely.

Interestingly enough, Henry Ford was a rabid anti-Semite Nazi sympathizer, of whom Adolph Hitler spoke fondly in a March 1923 interview with the Chicago Tribune, who said,

If You Live in Alabama…

You should know this:

IN LESS THAN 90 DAYS, YOUR CHANCE OF BEING KILLED IN ALABAMA WILL INCREASE.

WHY?

 

On March 11 this year (2022), Republican Governess Kay Ivey signed into law House Bill 272, which was proffered, and supported by the state’s GOP legislators, to wantonly arm the citizens, WITHOUT requiring proof of anyone’s ability to demonstrate competency, or properly handle, the concealed firearms they will soon be allowed to carry EVERYWHERE THEY GO. The law will become effective January 2023. 

(see: https://legiscan.com/AL/text/HB272/id/2544995/Alabama-2022-HB272-Enrolled.pdf)

Of the 29 total votes against HB272, 3 were Republican, 2 Democrats did not vote, 2 Republicans were absent, Yeas totaled 70.

 

Even our Armed Forces, at the most fundamental level, MANDATE that EVERY SERVICE MEMBER demonstrate competency with numerous firearms, and other weapons of war.

 

But not in Alabama.

 

Guns… EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

 

EVERYWHERE.

 

Schools.

Hospitals.

Nursing Homes.

Worship Centers.

Grocery Stores.

Birthday Parties.

Libraries.

Pharmacies.

Retail Stores.

Restaurants.

Gas Stations.

Convenience Stores.

Work Places.

Doctors’ offices. 

 

Except for

GOP Traitors Spent July 4, 2018 In Russia. Why?

WHY would

U.S. Senators:

• Richard Shelby – R, AL

• Jerry Moran – R, KS

• John Kennedy – R, LA

• Steve Daines – R, MT

• John Hoven – R, ND

• John Thune – R, SD

• Ron Johnson – R, WI

-and-

U.S. Representative

• Kay Granger – R, TX-12

ALL GO TO RUSSIA on July 4, 2018?

Oh… wait… here’s the answer:

https://www.rferl.org/a/us-legislators-shelby-kennedy-arrive-moscow-mission-improve-ties-observe-economy/29334313.html

U.S. Legislators In Moscow On Mission To Improve Ties, Observe Economy

July 03, 2018 03:01 GMT, Updated July 03, 2018 17:30 GMT

• By RFE/RL

(with video)

U.S. Senators • Richard Shelby – R, AL; Jerry Moran – R, KS
• John Kennedy – R, LA
• Steve Daines – R, MT
• John Hoven – R, ND
• John Thune – R, SD
• Ron Johnson – R, WI
-and-
U.S. Representative
• Kay Granger – R, TX-12
all met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in the Kremlin in Moscow, July 4, 2018.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says a visit by Republican members of the U.S. Congress should improve ties between the two countries’ legislatures.

The U.S. lawmakers are in Russia this week on what they say is a mission to try to help revive relations, which are severely strained, and observe how Russia’s economy is doing after four years of Western sanctions.

At a meeting on July 3, Lavrov said he hoped the visit will “symbolize the renewal of relations between the parliaments” of the United States and Russia, something he said was “very timely” ahead of the summit in Helsinki — the first full-fledged meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

“We come here realizing that we have a strained relationship, but we could have a better relationship between the U.S. and Russia, because we have some common interests around the world that we could hopefully work together on,” Senator Richard Shelby (Republican-Alabama) told Lavrov at the start of their meeting. “We could be competitors — we are competitors — but we don’t necessarily need to be adversaries.”

The U.S. lawmakers were also meeting with State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, a close ally of Putin, and Konstantin Kosachyov, the chairman of the Federation Council’s International Relations Committee.

The Duma is the lower house of Russia’s parliament, and the Federation Council is the upper chamber. Both are dominated by parties loyal to the Kremlin, and virtually all legislation passed by the parliament has the blessing of the Kremlin.

Before arriving in Moscow late on July 2, the U.S. legislators met in St. Petersburg with the city’s governor, Georgy Poltavchenko, and expressed hopes for improving relations. Poltavchenko told them he was “ready for cooperation on all fronts.”

The legislators were invited to Russia by U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman and are considered to be sympathetic to or allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, who plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16 in an effort to revive Russia-U.S. ties after years of deterioration.

“We will have to wait and see, and go from there, but we recognize that the world is better off, I believe, if Russia and the U.S. have fewer tensions,” Shelby said.

Senator John Kennedy (Republican-Louisiana) told CNN he hoped the group would be able to meet with Putin, though Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov there were no plans for Putin meet with the legislators.

“I want to be able to meet with government officials, try to establish some rapport, talk about common interest, talk about common problems,” Kennedy said, emphasizing that his goal was to “establish rapport between the United States Congress and the Putin administration.”

All members of the delegation voted to pass the legislation last year that tightened and expanded sanctions on Russia, originally imposed over Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. The legislation, which Trump opposed, also makes it extremely difficult for Trump to lift the sanctions without congressional approval.

Kennedy said he wanted to see how Russia’s economy is doing.

“Some say it’s in shambles,” he told CNN. “Others say with the increase in the price of oil, it’s doing much better. Others say [Russia is] spending all their money on Syria and weaponry and the people are starving to death. Others say that’s not true. So I don’t know.”

Asked if he would bring up the topic of alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections, Kennedy said, “Now, I don’t want to do anything to start an international incident, but I believe in talking frankly about these things.”

Kennedy told CNN that there had been a lot of “serious allegations that Russia has interfered with not just our elections,” but with elections in France and Germany as well as with Britain’s vote in 2016 to exit the European Union.

The congressional delegation arrived in Russia on June 30 and plans to stay until July 5. Also included in the group are Senators John Hoeven (Republican-North Dakota), John Thune (Republican-South Dakota), Jerry Moran (Republican-Kansas), Steve Daines (Republican-Montana), and one House of Representatives member, Kay Granger (Republican-Texas).

With reporting by Reuters, AP, CNN, and TASS

RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

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18 USC Chapter 115: TREASON, SEDITION, AND SUBVERSIVE ACTIVITIES
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=%2Fprelim%40title18%2Fpart1%2Fchapter115&edition=prelim

Alabama Crimson Tide Loses National Championship to Georgia

Every dog has its day,

and Monday was the Georgia Bulldogs’ day.

Indianapolis, Indiana – January 10, 2022: Defensive back Kelee Ringo #5 with the Georgia Bulldogs leaps to intercept a pass thrown by Heisman Trophy award winning Alabama quarterback Bryce Young #5, late in the 4th quarter, whose intended receiver was wide receiver #11 Traeshaon Holden during the 2022 CFP (College Football Playoff) National Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium on January 10, 2022 in Indianapolis, Indiana. After leaping perhaps at least 3 feet to intercept the ball, which some say was “thrown short,” Ringo ran 79 yards for a Bulldog touchdown, sealing the deal for the Bulldogs. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Monday night on 10 January 2022, in Indianapolis, Indiana, in Lucas Oil Stadium, the 3rd-ranked Georgia Bulldogs met the 1st-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide for the NCAA Championship game, and cleaned up with them, taking home bragging rights for the first time as national champions since 1980 when 25-year head Georgia coach Vince Dooley lead them to victory.

Conditions were dry inside Lucas Oil Stadium, but the Georgia Bulldogs rained on the Alabama Crimson Tide’s parade in the 2021 NCAA championship game, taking home their first National Championship in 41 years, 33-18. And after 7 consecutive years of losses to the Tide, the Bulldogs finally managed to pull victory from the jaws of defeat.

This year’s NCAA Championship game was a grudge match, because earlier, the Bulldogs had lost the SEC championship game to Alabama, 41-24, on December 4 in Atlanta, so this victory was “sweet revenge” for the Dawgs.

Leading up to the SEC game, the Crimson Tide had

ROLL TIDE! Alabama Does It Again!

Only thing is, this “First Place award” is nothing to be proud of.

According to figures collected by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), public health officials found that in 2020, for the FIRST TIME IN RECORDED HISTORY, more people DIED in Alabama of COVID-19, than were born in Alabama that same year.

Dr. Scott Harris, MD, State Health Officer made the announcement at a press conference September 17, 2021, and said in part, that “Our state literally shrunk.”

Dr. Harris pointed to preliminary statistics which show that 64,714 died last year in the Yellowhammer State, while only 57,641 were born there.

The practically exclusive culprit?

COVID-19.

The disease has ravaged the nation, particularly among politically conservative, and rural hold-outs, many who have steadfastly refused — for whatever false, or malign reason — to receive any of the the THREE FREE vaccines. Furthermore, those same individuals similarly steadfastly refuse to don nose/mouth coverings to protect themselves from others, or others from themselves, falsely claiming that their “freedoms” are at risk if they “take the jab,” or don the mask.

Nobody makes them wear condoms, either. Yet we know that condom use benefits public health by lowering rates of infection with sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV, among those whom are sexually active without benefit of a mutually monogamous partner.

Parents have “raised cane,” and pitched “hissy fits” in public places, threatening public officials — school board officials, and others — at public meetings of the schools boards. Some officials have required police protection from the fearsome crowds, some of whom have brandished weapons, including firearms, in their threats. The events have been verging upon being riotous, and not in a good way, which in some cases have become more than mere “civil disturbances.”

The excuses people conjure up to not get a FREE LIFE-SAVING VACCINE are as varied as people themselves. And ALL of them — WITHOUT EXCEPTION — are lies. ALL. OF. THEM.

It’s purely nonsense, and one of the worst public displays of ignorance that one could possibly imagine. And yet, the more ignorant they are, the louder they holler. It certainly seems to be

Another One Bites The Dust: Healthy 36yo Alabama Man Didn’t Last 30 Days Against COVID-19

COVID-19 wins again!

On July 20, Josh Tidmore, an otherwise healthy 36-year-old Alabama man, came home from work with “a slight cough” and at the time, thought it was just “sinus trouble.”

By August 11 — a mere 23 days later — he was dead.

He leaves behind a 35-year old widow, Christina, and 3 orphaned children.

Josh Tidmore, an otherwise heathy 30-year old Alabama man didn’t last 30 days against COVID-19

Josh believed the lies he read on Facebook about the coronavirus, and unwisely thought he was “healthy enough” to overcome it. Christina said that neither one of them “knew anyone who got real sick from COVID, and figured we would be ‘OK.'”

Was she ever wrong.

Deadly wrong.

Christina explained their reluctance to get vaccinated, in part, by saying,“It wasn’t a political thing, we didn’t want to because we didn’t want to; and the information is such a fight right now, and we thought we were young and healthy it will be okay, and we will wait to see if there is better information.”

There wasn’t.

Christina, who was neither vaccinated, had earlier contracted COVID and recovered. Josh wasn’t so lucky.

Christina and Josh both tested positive for COVID-19 on July 26, and then quarantined for two weeks.

A few days later, Josh was admitted to Marshall Medical Centers South, in Marshall County, AL, and from there, he only got worse.

Christina’s traumatic “wake-up call” came at the hospital when she witnessed Josh die from cardiac arrest, directly caused by the deterioration of his lungs from the COVID-19 infection.

Christina saw and heard Dr. Jenna Carpenter, MD, a Critical Care Pulmonologist who, with her team was caring for Josh, “run a ‘code'” on Josh — medical parlance for ‘his heart stopped beating, so we’re going to pound on his chest until his ribs break, inject strong chemicals into his veins to irritate his heart, and then shock the beejeebers out of him… all in the hope that his heart will decide to start beating once again.’

It didn’t.

Another One Bites The Dust x2: Alabama Couple Dies of COVID Shortly After 30th Wedding Anniversary

Alabama Couple Dies Of COVID Just Weeks After 30th Wedding Anniversary
https://www.al.com/news/2021/09/alabama-couple-who-worked-at-chick-fil-a-and-died-of-covid-made-our-world-just-a-bit-better.html

Jerry and Deborah Watson died just days apart from COVID-19. The two were longtime fixtures at the Gadsden Chick-fil-A restaurant.

Jerry and Deborah Watson, who lived in Gadsden, AL and worked together at a local Chick-fil-A restaurant for many years died just days apart from each other of COVID-19.

Debbie was the store’s General Manager, and with her husband Jerry had celebrated

Another One Bites The Dust: Pregnant Alabama RN & Fetus Die of COVID-19

Family says, “We’re glad she’s not suffering.”

Alabama Family On Pregnant RN & Fetus Dead from COVID
Published: Aug. 23, 2021, 5:39 p.m. – Updated: Aug. 24, 2021, 7:27 a.m.

Haley Richardson, RN, a 32-year old Labor and Delivery Nurse who worked at Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, FL and lived in Theodore, AL in Mobile County, died of COVID-19 on August 20, 2021. She was NOT vaccinated. The baby within her – whom she had named Ryleigh Beth – had died 2 days before she did.

Her widower, Jordan Richardson, will be taking care of Katie, their 3-year old daughter whom she orphaned. She was pregnant with the couple’s second child, which died in utero 2 days before she did.

Haley and Jordan Richardson with daughter Katie.

Jason Whatley, a family friend whose wife was maid of honor at Haley’s wedding, reported that Haley contracted COVID-19 in late July or early August, about three weeks before she died, and said that, “She was home sick for about a week and then her heart rate went up.”

Haley was initially admitted to the University of South Alabama Health system’s Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile, then after a few days, was transported to the ICU at USA Health’s main hospital campus also in Mobile.

Haley’s mother, Julie Mulkey said, “After about three or four days in the hospital, the OB told her that she was going to lose the baby. And she continued to get worse and worse. At some point, they basically told her that we’ve got to start treating you as if you didn’t have a child. We’ve got to do what we can for you because the baby is going to pass anyway.”

Mr. Whatley said physicians treating Haley had earlier placed her on a transfer waiting list to the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital to be connected to a ECMO (Extra-Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) machine, sometimes also called a “heart/lung machine,” which

Republican In Legal Peril: No mo’ Mo?

California U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (RIGHT), a Democrat for the state’s 15th Congressional District, listens to testimony of U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn describing the Trump-led terrorist attacks upon Congress at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 as Congress was preparing to certify the election results.

The Alabama GOP Mo-ron Brooks, POS45, and his corrupt lying entourage will likely end up in prison… hopefully – if there’s any justice at all in this violently topsy-turvy world.

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In a Federal Court filing Tuesday, July 27, 2021, the United States Department of Justice served notice that they will not be representing Alabama GOP Representative Morris “Mo” Brooks-CD5 in California Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell’s-CD15 lawsuit against him, Donald John Trump, Donald J. Trump, Jr., and Rudolph Giuliani.

“Brooks submitted a request to the Department of Justice (“Department”) for certification under the Westfall Act that he was acting within the scope of his office or employment as a Member of Congress at the time of the conduct alleged in the Complaint. Brooks later petitioned this Court for a scope-of-employment certification, and the Court called for the United States to respond by July 27, 2021.”

Explaining that “If the Department certifies that

AL Physician Dr. Brytney Cobia, MD: “I hold their hand and tell them ‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late.'”

“I’m admitting young healthy people to the hospital with very serious COVID infections. One of the last things they do before they’re intubated is beg me for the vaccine. I hold their hand and tell them that ‘I’m sorry, but it’s too late’.

“A few days later when I call time of death, I hug their family members and I tell them the best way to honor their loved one is to go get vaccinated and encourage everyone they know to do the same.

“They cry. And they tell me they didn’t know. They thought it was a hoax. They thought it was political. They thought because they had a certain blood type or a certain skin color they wouldn’t get as sick. They thought it was ‘just the flu.’

“So they thank me and they go get the vaccine. And I go back to my office, write their death note, and say a small prayer that this loss will save more lives.

Dr. Brytney Cobia, MD is a Hospitalist at Grandview Medical Center in Birmingham, AL.

“You kind of go into it thinking,

Irony: UAH Shooter Killer Amy Bishop’s Son Shot & Killed

Ironic, isn’t it, how nature has a way of meting out its own justice?

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Seth Bishop (LEFT B&W), age 18, younger brother of Amy Bishop Anderson; Seth Anderson, son of Amy Bishop Anderson, 20.

Former University of Alabama at Huntsville killer Assistant Professor Amy Bishop Anderson — whose son Seth was named after her younger brother, whom also Braintree, Massachusetts authorities believe she killed December 1986 when she was then 21-years-old — himself became a fatal shooting victim Monday, 20 April 2021, in Huntsville.

Huntsville Police issued a public statement that same day, that reckless murder charges had been filed against 18-year old Vincent Harmon, after a shooting victim with life-threatening injuries was admitted to Huntsville Hospital emergency services around 8PM Monday, 20 April 2021, and later died.

Harmon Vincent, age 18, shot & killed Seth Anderson, 20, son of convicted UAH killer Amy Bishop Anderson, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Authorities had not initially named the victim because the next of kin had not yet been notified, but

No Smoking, No Joking: Alabama’s Medical Marijuana Law Examined

Flowering bud (female) of the Cannabis Sativa plant, aka “marijuana”

There are 49 other states to which Alabama could turn to examine what works, and what does not, and could emulate the best of the best.

But, Alabama’s gonna’ Alabama, regardless of who, or what party’s in office.

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Alabama patient advocates may have celebrated following “Guvnah Memaw’s” signature on the “Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act” sponsored by Republican State Senator Dr. Tim Melson, MD (District 1).

But now, reality is about to set in.

The law, like so many others, is a fiasco. Citizens should rejoice the legislature cannot figure out how to connive and wheedle a gambling scheme to benefit themselves, or their “Big Mule” cronies.

Superficially, the “compassion act” sounds good.

That’s where it stops.

The law leaves patients high and dry when it comes to protecting them, and:

• Allows them to be fired without recourse, denied UC benefits, and denied Worker’s Comp benefits “regardless of the individual’s impairment or lack of impairment resulting from the use of medical cannabis.” {page 15, line 20, §20-2A-6(a)(10)} {page 16, line 13, §20-2A-6(a)(11)(c)}

But then, patient abandonment & neglect is Alabama’s forte.

• Allows DHR to remove children from a patient’s household, and states that the agency shall not be prohibited from “considering a parent or caretaker’s use of medical cannabis as a factor for determining the welfare of a child.” {page 16, line 19, §20-2A-6(a)(11)(d)}

• Penalizes diversion much more harshly than trafficking <500lbs of marijuana – 2 to 20 years vs 5 years + $50,000 fine, respectively. {Section 13A-12-231(1)(a)&(b)}

• Automatically suspends the driver’s license of “any person who is recommended a daily dosage of medical cannabis that exceeds 75 mg… regardless of whether he or she holds a valid medical cannabis card.” {page 99, line 9, Section 6}

• Taxes collected, over and above the board’s operating expenses, less 10%, will go to… The General Fund. {page 22, line 18, §20-2A-10(3)(c)}

No surprise there. It’s Alabama’s slush fund.

• Has an even number of voting board members (12), assuring deadlock on

“God told me to.” A hallmark of mental instability.

I would be very surprised if the judge in his case did not mandate that he receive mental health help. And, s/he certainly should.

The man is clearly delusional.

And with severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, that’s often the case, that, not only are the individuals delusional, but they’re also frequently highly religious.

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Man accused of stealing fire service car from Alabama fire station.
Said,“God told me to.”

By Mary Helene Hall
mhall@al.com
2021-06-03, 15:05:32
https://www.al.com/news/2021/06/man-accused-of-stealing-marked-car-from-alabama-fire-station-god-told-me-to.html

A man accused of stealing a marked fire vehicle from a Prichard, Alabama Fire-Rescue station was arrested Wednesday. Prichard is in Mobile County, and adjacent the City of Mobile on its Northern border. The town’s population is under 23,000.

According to FOX10 News – WALA-TV, Virtual Channel 10 (RF Channel 9), Mobile, Alabama – Jeffrey McCants was found a few hours after the crime was committed. The vehicle was stolen from the central station on Turner Road.

Prichard Police tracked the car down and got the suspect out at gun point.

Surveillance video shows Jeffery McCants Jr. walking into central fire station on Turner Road in Prichard.

He had a gas can in his hand and was looking in an area where Prichard Fire and Rescue members say they once stored gasoline. He then walked over to the station’s Ford Crown Victoria, got inside, sat there for a moment and then started it up. He then backed it up, and drove it out of the garage.

“It had the keys in it. I needed some gas so therefore I took the car, I had to. It was the only way to get gas. It said ‘hey man, you’ll get there faster if you take me,’ so I said, ‘ok, car, ima take it,’ so I took it and I washed it. I washed the car,” he said.

The fire department said

Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin Pardons 15,000 Cannabis Offenders On 420

Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin has used the executive authority of the mayor’s office to issue blanket pardons for all misdemeanor marijuana-related offenses issued by the city from 1990-2020.

His actions were on April 20th, a day adopted by cannabis advocates as their celebratory day, and he Tweeted that,

“Today, I issued a pardon of 15,000 people convicted of marijuana possession in Birmingham between 1990-2020. These pardons are

Ex-AL State Senator’s COVID-Dying Words: “We made a mistake.”

Larry Dixon

Larry Dixon, a longtime Republican Alabama State Senator, who for many years also chaired the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners died from COVID-19 last week, aged 78.

Dr. David Thrasher, MD, a Critical Care Pulmonologist (lung doctor) in the state’s capitol city of Montgomery, who was Dixon’s longtime friend and treated him in the early stages of the disease, said Dixon was exposed to the coronavirus at a social gathering “with a couple of guys” that was hosted outside about two weeks ago.

And while he was unsure how many people attended, Dr. Thrasher said he knew of two other men who attended the meetup and tested positive.

Dr. Thrasher also said that Larry’s wife Gaynell Dixon also contracted COVID-19 and is still recovering. He also said the couple has two daughters who both contracted the virus earlier this year and have recovered, and so far, do not appear to have been reinfected by their parents.

Dr. Thrasher spoke with Dixon’s wife Gaynell before Larry was placed on a ventilator, and said that Larry’s family wanted to let The People of Alabama know his last words:

“We messed up.
We let our guard down.
Please tell everybody to be careful,
and take this thing seriously.
This is real,
and if you get diagnosed,
get help immediately.”

As an Alabama State Senator, Dixon represented

Wrongful Death Lawsuit Awaits Alabama

Scottie Alton Johnson, a 45-year old Alabama resident, and ward of the state’s prison system, died from complications from COVID-19 on August 1, 2020, according to autopsy results.

Records show that on July 31, authorities took him to a hospital nearest the Bullock Correctional Facility which is located in Union Springs, in Bullock County. Though authorities did not specify, Bullock County Hospital at 104 Bullock Drive, Union Springs, Alabama is less than 3 miles straight down the road, West from the prison.

He died August 1.

At the time of his admission to hospital, he was not thought to be infected with the novel coronavirus, and a COVID-19 test conducted upon his admission resulted negative.

A full autopsy was performed, and the Alabama Department of Corrections stated

Alabama Proves To America Racism IS Alive And Well

Is it irony, or mere coincidence that these events are happening in the former “slave states” in the Deep South?

Is it irony, or mere coincidence that these events are practically all created by Republicans?

Is it irony, or mere coincidence that these events are being given the thumbs-up by a largely Republican Supreme Court?

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propublica.org

Why Do Non-White Georgia Voters Have to Wait in Line for Hours? Their Numbers Have Soared, and Their Polling Places Have Dwindled.

by Stephen Fowler, Georgia Public Broadcasting
Oct. 17, 2020
5 a.m. EDT

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Congress works for you. Learn how to be a better boss with the User’s Guide to Democracy, a series of personalized emails about what your representatives actually do.

This article is co-published by ProPublica, Georgia Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio.

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Kathy spotted the long line of voters as she pulled into the Christian City Welcome Center about 3:30 p.m., ready to cast her ballot in the June 9 primary election.

Hundreds of people were waiting in the heat and rain outside the lush, tree-lined complex in Union City, an Atlanta suburb with 22,400 residents, nearly 88% of them Black. She briefly considered not casting a ballot at all, but decided to stay.

By the time she got inside more than five hours later, the polls had officially closed and the electronic scanners were shut down. Poll workers told her she’d have to cast a provisional ballot, but they promised that her vote would be counted.

“I’m now angry again, I’m frustrated again, and now I have an added emotion, which is anxiety,” said Kathy, a human services worker, recalling her emotions at the time. She asked that her full name not be used because she fears repercussions from speaking out. “I’m wondering if my ballot is going to count.”

By the time the last voter finally got inside the welcome center to cast a ballot, it was the next day, June 10.

The clogged polling locations in metro Atlanta reflect an underlying pattern: The number of places to vote has shrunk statewide, with little recourse. Although the reduction in polling places has taken place across racial lines, it has primarily caused long lines in non-White neighborhoods where voter registration has surged and more residents cast ballots in person on Election Day. The pruning of polling places started long before the pandemic, which has discouraged people from voting in person.

In Georgia, considered a battleground state for control of the White House and U.S. Senate, the difficulty of voting in Black communities like Union City could possibly tip the results on Nov. 3. With massive turnout expected, lines could be even longer than they were for the primary, despite a rise in mail-in voting and Georgians already turning out by the hundreds of thousands to cast ballots early.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder decision in 2013 eliminated key federal oversight of election decisions in states with histories of discrimination, Georgia’s voter rolls have grown by nearly 2 million people, yet polling locations have been cut statewide by nearly 10%, according to an analysis of state and local records by Georgia Public Broadcasting and ProPublica. Much of the growth has been fueled by younger, non-White voters, especially in nine metro Atlanta counties, where four out of five new voters were non-White, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

The metro Atlanta area has been hit particularly hard. The nine counties — Fulton, Gwinnett, Forsyth, DeKalb, Cobb, Hall, Cherokee, Henry and Clayton — have nearly half of the state’s active voters but only 38% of the polling places, according to the analysis.

As a result, the average number of voters packed into each polling location in those counties grew by nearly 40%, from about 2,600 in 2012 to more than 3,600 per polling place as of Oct. 9, the analysis shows. In addition,

NASCAR Noose ~IS~ Quintessential Alabama

Alabamians, with their bigoted history of racism and hatred by and through the KKK, take the noose so much for granted that the terror symbol is used even as a garage door pull.

UPDATE, Tuesday, 23 June 2020, 1923 CDT:
Joint Statement from U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town and FBI Special Agent in Charge Johnnie Sharp, Jr. Regarding the Noose Found in NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace’s Garage at Talladega Superspeedway
United States Attorney’s Office – Northern District of AL
Department of Justice

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/joint-statement-us-attorney-jay-e-town-and-fbi-special-agent-charge-johnnie-sharp-jr

“The FBI learned that garage number 4, where the noose was found, was assigned to Bubba Wallace last week. The investigation also revealed evidence, including authentic video confirmed by NASCAR, that the noose found in garage number 4 was in that garage as early as October 2019. Although the noose is now known to have been in garage number 4 in 2019, nobody could have known Mr. Wallace would be assigned to garage number 4 last week.”

A Confederate flag is flown from a small personal aircraft over Talladega Superspeedway racetrack in Alabama recently (formerly the “Alabama International Motor Speedway”) following news that the private firm would forbid display of the racist White Supremacist symbol anywhere on their property.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., wearing an “I CAN’T BREATHE” Black Lives Matter tee-shirt

Just in the case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few days, weeks, or even months due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19, there’s no need to fear. Simply head on out to your local _(insert store type of choice here)_ store for a lovely coronafest.

Best part?

Masks not included… nor are they required!

However, pointy hooded white robes ARE required in Alabama.

It seems that NASCAR driver Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. – driver of the legendary No. 43, which was Richard Petty’s car for 1125 of 2000 starts from 1959-1992 – found a noose hanging in the car’s garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway yesterday (Sunday, June 21, 2020).

An American Civil War era miniature Stars and Bars Confederate battle flag is seen next to a Black Lawn Jockey statue during the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Die Hard 500 on 26 April 1998 at the Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama, United States. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Allsport/Getty Images)

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. – a Black man, and genuine rarity in motorsports, especially “stock car racing” – debuted in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2017 at Pocono, substituting for the injured Aric Almirola, an American of Cuban descent, and made a total of four starts.

The next year, Richard Petty Motorsports – owner of the legendary Number 43 racecar – named “Bubba” Wallace as the car’s full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series.

The Talladega 500, affectionately known as ‘dega to many, is the motorsport’s series fastest track, which until the mandatory installation of restrictor plates, supported speeds of well over 200mph on the “tri-oval” racecourse.

Naturally, everyone’s in a tizzy over the noose, and the Trump administration’s  “disgraceful” FBI henchmen (or punching bag, take your pick), are allegedly “investigating,” whatever ~that~ is supposed to mean.

But poor Bubba.

He was born to Black woman.

His daddy is White.

And, the 26-year-old was born in Mobile, Alabama, but grew up in Concord, North Carolina.

So he knows ALL about it.

And so should his parents.

And as far as Alabama is concerned, Black Lives DON’T Matter… regardless of what is plastered on the side of a race car, and regardless of who drives it.

As evidence of Alabama’s long-term and ongoing support of racism – even to this day – consider the following:

This plaque is located on the landing steps of the Alabama State Capitol building in Montgomery, AL; the inscription reads: Placed by SOPHIE BIBB CHAPTER Daughters of the Confederacy on the spot where JEFFERSON DAVIS stood when inaugurated president of C.S.A., Feb. 18, 1861

• Montgomery was the first Capitol of the Confederacy in 1861. There’s even a star commemorating the spot where Confederate President Jefferson Davis

Birmingham’s Monument to Maleficence Is Coming Down!

Birmingham’s malignant Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park is coming down TONIGHT!

Today, June 1, 2020, Alabama State Attorney General Steve Marshall issued a press release which reiterated in whole that:

“The Alabama Monuments Preservation Act provides a singular avenue for enforcement — the filing of a civil complaint in pursuit of a fine, which the Alabama Supreme Court has determined to be a one-time assessment of $25,000. The Act authorizes no additional relief.

“Should the City of Birmingham proceed with the removal of the monument in question, based upon multiple conversations I have had today, city leaders understand I will perform the duties assigned to me by the Act to pursue a new civil complaint against the City.

“In the aftermath of last night’s violent outbreak, I have offered the City of Birmingham the support and resources of my office to restore peace to the City.”

This evening, the City of Birmingham has deployed crews to dismantle and remove the onerous obelisk which has cast the pallor of slavery over the city since its erection in 1905 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

By daybreak,

the onerous obelisk,

Birmingham Alabama’s Edifice to Evil: Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument

Birmingham, Alabama comedian Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson

Birmingham Alabama’s Edifice to Evil is the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in the city’s downtown Linn Park.

Casting the shadowy pall of slavery over the city since 1905 after being gifted to the city by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, it has increasingly become a touchstone representing man’s inhumanity to man through the wicked institution in Alabama especially, which was the Capitol of the Confederacy.

And then, there’s an interestingly disturbing corollary to the monument in the park.

Linn Park was not always named “Linn Park.”

First named “Central Park” in 1883 by the the Elyton Land Company’s original plans for Birmingham, as drafted by William Barker, its name was changed to “Capitol Park” in 1886 after it was deeded to the city. Its name was again changed to “Woodrow Wilson Park” in 1918 to honor Wilson as President and for being the spokesman of the terms of peace which concluded World War I.

It was nearly three-quarters of a century later in October 1988 that the name was changed from Woodrow Wilson Park to Linn Park to honor Charles Linn, a Captain in the Confederate States Navy, who later became an industrialist/banker/mercantilist and city founder.

Additional details of the park’s location are enumerated in description of the 1907 historical image of the commemorative obelisk shown below.

Birmingham, Alabama area comedian Jermaine “FunnyMaine” Johnson has for many years helped lead efforts to eradicate the city’s Monument to Maleficence which honors treason against the United States and slavery in the guise of Civil War Confederates, replete with a quote from the President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, upon the obelisk’s north face: “THE MANNER OF THEIR DEATH, WAS THE CROWNING GLORY OF THEIR LIVES. JEFFERSON DAVIS.”

Alabama Governess Kay Ivey (R)

Johnson’s and numerous others’ opposition to the city’s durable demonic device is unwavering, and has faced opposition from the state’s mostly White Republican legislators, and White Republican Governor Kay Ivey who signed into law a bill protecting that and other such monuments honoring slavery throughout the state.

The city’s mayor, Randall Woodfin, also a Black gentleman, is similarly unwavering in his opposition to the monument’s presence and all that it represents, and has sought on numerous occasions to have it removed, but has been thwarted by the White-dominated Republican legislature and governor. Numerous court battles have raged, and even wound up in the state’s Supreme Court which found that the greatest penalty the city could face for violation of the law forbidding its removal was a $25,000 fine.

Image circa 1907, of the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument obelisk along with a bronze statue of Dr. William Elias B. Davis, MD an early Birmingham area physician, circa 1887, to the RIGHT. Charles Linn Park (formerly Central Park, Capitol Park, and Woodrow Wilson Park) forms the municipal center of downtown Birmingham, and is and is and is bordered on the north by 8th Avenue North, Boutwell Auditorium and the Birmingham Museum of Art, on the south by Park Place, on the east by Linn-Henley Research Library and the Jefferson County Courthouse, and by 20th Street North and the Birmingham City Hall on the west.

Carol Robinson of the website AL dot com interviewed Jermaine Johnson following a tumultuous night in the Magic City Sunday May 31 in which several unsuccessful attempts to topple the obelisk were made, and in which its inscriptions were marred, chipped, chiseled at and defaced by numerous crowd participants. Most in the city – Black and White – are willing to see it go.

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They’re not for Birmingham, they’re not from Birmingham. We know, we were on the ground.

We talked with some of these people. When you have a lot of people from Birmingham, including the police and the mayor, everybody’s out here peaceful because we recognize each other. Everybody’s walking up, ‘Oh we went to Ramsay together, we went to JO together, and here comes a group of people nobody knows and we’re like, ‘Hey what’s up man’ and they’re like ‘We’re not here to talk.’ They were just rude to everybody. They were rude to reporters. They were rude to us.

If you think I incited violence, you don’t think monuments like this and the policies behind it haven’t incited violence for decades, you just need to think again.

I hate it. I hate it. I love my city. I don’t stand for that.

Y’all won’t be able to find not one video where I’m encouraging people to tear down our city. As a matter of fact, you’ll find just the opposite. I literally encouraged people to

The Lost Cause is the Root Cause of Violence Against Blacks

It’s Open Season on Black men and women in America.

Cops kill with impunity.

The Department of Justice (especially under this administration) does nothing.

There is NO justice in this land.

But Fortunately, Open Season on Blacks in America is Closing Soon.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020 marks the day.

That’s the day of the General Election.

And it’s time to vote OUT those with a “R” after their name, and most especially, to clean out the White House and rid it of the infestation of vermin which have afflicted it and this nation for the past 4 years.

George Floyd’s death in Minnesota is just the latest, and hopefully, the last straw – the one that proverbially broke the camel’s back in this miserably shameful and ongoing horror story.

That the POTUS has chosen to NOT address the nation during this crisis speaks volumes, none of which have any good in them.

It wasn’t too long ago that a young man in Alabama who had just entered the United States Army, and was home on leave during Thanksgiving, was shot and killed by the Hoover Police Department at the Riverchase Galleria mall in Hoover, a suburb of Birmingham on November 22, 2018.

The deceased young man was the type of person the NRA holds out as a proverbial exemplar of the “good guy with a gun” character they often tout. The only problem was, that in his case, he was Black. The fact that he was properly licensed to carry a concealed weapon – and did – made no difference.

The facts of that case were that following the sound of

Alabama… oh, Alabama.

Opinion writer Kyle Whitmire, who opines for the website AL dot com, recently wrote a damning indictment of the sad state of affairs which continues to be Alabama.

In his regularly-appearing column dated May 17, he wrote in part that three months ago, that “the Alabama Senate passed a resolution recognizing the great looming public health emergency — porn,” and that “State Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, introduced the resolution moments after lawmakers gaveled in, and the Senate passed it easily on a voice vote.”

The vast majority of the state’s legislators in both chambers are Republican.

Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R) defended a plan to spend $200 million on a new Alabama State House but says his caucus is “not in the mood” to expand Medicaid.

He also noted that “More than half of Alabama counties don’t have hospitals where a woman can give birth to a baby.”

Alabama has 67 counties, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that as of July 1, 2019, the state had 4,903,185 residents, 45.2% of which are

Alabama COVID-19 Findings

Recently, I examined the Alabama Department of Public Health‘s (ADPH) COVID-19 dashboard, and made some interesting findings.

As usual with many reporting outlets, whether official, governmental, or news, there are often important underlying figures omitted, either through carelessness, or willfulness, which give understanding to the greater picture. In this instance, state population, and population percentages were missing.

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, as of July 1, 2019, Alabama has an estimated population of 4,903,185, and the Black or African American percentage of that population is 26.8%. Thus, when observing item numbers 1, 6, and 9 citing the percentage of Alabamians tested, and distribution of the disease as being “practically equally affected,” the reality is that because of their minority population status, the Black or African American community is affected more significantly, and disproportionately affected with respect for the total population.

As well, residents aged >65+ constitute 16.9% of the population.

Alabama has a total of 15,330 staffed beds, in 89 hospitals statewide.

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1.) Only 3.789% (almost 4%) of all Alabamians have been tested for COVID-19.

2.) Of the 551 related deaths in the state, 34.2448% were hospitalized.

3.) The majority of COVID-19 cases (39.75%, or very nearly 40%), were aged 25-49 – the “prime” of life.

4.) Those aged 65, or over, constituted only 23.67% (almost 24%) of all cases.

5.) Overall, more females than males

Alabama Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Cars He Didn’t Own: Where’s the crime?

According to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama, and various related published stories, 35-year-old Robert Brandon Malone of Prattville, AL plead guilty Tuesday, February 18, 2020 in Federal court to three counts of wire fraud, and one count of transporting a stolen vehicle in a scheme in which he sold cars he did not own.

United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr., FBI Special Agent in Charge James Jewell, and Prattville Police Chief Mark Thompson made the announcement.

The United States Attorney’s Office issued a news release 20 February which outlined the facts of the case, as follows:

“According to court records, in April of 2017, Malone posted a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck for sale on the advertising website craigslist. However, the truck was actually a trade-in vehicle to the dealership for which he worked at the time. After the post, he was contacted by a potential buyer and represented to him that he was the actual owner. The buyer made the purchase, but returned the vehicle after learning that Malone did not own the truck. Malone did not refund his money.

“Later, in January of 2018, Malone was working on a Chevrolet C-10 pickup truck for someone and was storing it at his shop. Once again, he created a craigslist post listing it for sale although the owner had not given him the authority to do so. A potential buyer contacted Malone and arranged a trade for another vehicle. Once he learned that Malone did not own the truck, it was returned to the rightful owner. However, the vehicle that was traded was not returned.

“Finally, in November of 2018, Malone went to a car dealership in Georgia and was in the process of completing the paperwork to purchase an Audi R8. However, before the purchase was complete, he drove the vehicle off the lot and back to Prattville. He contacted someone that he knew was in the market for an Audi and they drove to Prattville to look at the vehicle. The purchaser gave him a down payment for the car and left his F-150 with Malone to hold temporarily until he could return to pick it up. Malone did not wait for the owner to return, instead, he listed the truck on Instagram and sold it to another individual. Ultimately, the Audi was returned to the dealership and the truck to the Audi purchaser. However, neither victim recovered their losses.”

Now, this is where things get interesting.

Just in the case you’re not aware of it (and I wouldn’t expect 95-98% of readers to be, though I could be surprised), such an activity isn’t illegal on the stock market… per se.

First, let’s review the core facts of the above-mentioned case.

1.) In the first instance, by virtue of his employment, he (Malone) was in possession of a vehicle, which he sold to a willing party. The willing party returned the truck when he discovered that Malone didn’t have title to it, and Malone didn’t refund his money. A case for theft could possibly have been made, but was not, because under Federal law,

Are we great yet?

Addison McFarland, (LEFT), and Allie Ruth Black, of Clements Key Club, serve stew and soup Friday at the annual Empty Bowls Luncheon at the Revival Center on West Washington Street in Athens, AL. The students donated their time for the event, which raises funds for organizations in Limestone County working to reduce food insecurity.

One Should Always Eat Foods In Season

Best grits joke I’ve ever heard was about a couple crisscrossing the nation, whose journeys took them to the Deep South.

Having traveled all day, they bedded down in a motel in Evergreen, AL. It’s tiny town, just off and barely east of I-65, and south of Georgiana. Perhaps you know exactly where it is… but chances are you don’t. So, here’s a map link to help you out. Or, if you prefer, here’s a pic.

So the next morning, as they were checking out of the Sleep Inn motel, they asked where they could get breakfast.

“Shoney’s is just down the street,” replied the Desk Clerk. “They have an excellent breakfast buffet that’s to die for!”

The couple thanked her, walked out the door, got in their car, and headed the few hundred feet down to Shoney’s.

As they walked in and were seated, they took a few minutes to look over the menu, and while talking among themselves, the waiter walked up and took their drinks order.

“I’ll be back in a few moments to take your order,” he said as he turned away.

When he arrived at their table, with their orange juice, water, and coffee on a service platter, he started placing their drinks on the table and asked, “Have y’all decided? Our breakfast buffet is always popular, or you can order from the menu, or a la carte.”

Curiously, the couple’s better half replied, “What’s on the breakfast buffet?”

He began naming off the items. “Well, we have cheese & regular grits, oatmeal, 2 types sausage – link & patty – chicken fingers, bacon of course, dirty rice, biscuits, plain & sausage gravy, cantaloupe, strawberries, honeydew, grapes, and cottage cheese.”

“Wow! That sounds like a lot to choose from!,” exclaimed the couple’s better half, as she shut the menu and handed it over to him.

“Yes ma’am, we do our best to have quite a variety of items to offer, and if there’s an item that you want that’s not on there, we’ll do our best to get it for you!” He smiled broadly as he delivered his short dietary soliloquy. The gap in his toothy grin gave the couple a heartwarming, and down-home feeling.

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

There’s absolutely and utterly no reason for the senseless gun violence and deaths in our nation which have resulted from laxative gun laws.

Period.

Congress has the authority to act, and efforts to protect our people from such predators is hampered by the GOP, especially and particularly in the Senate.

Full stop.

Offers of “thoughts and prayers” will no longer cut it. Besides, “We the people” do NOT elect national prayer leaders, or religious folks for their alleged ability to call down from the heavens acts by the gods and/or goddesses they purport to represent and/or serve… instead of the people who elected them, who are their constituency.

There’s always truth in humor, and often, satirical illustrations serve to explain the problems sometimes much better than actual explanations of the problems at hand. Comedians such as Dave Chappelle – winner of the 2019 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, awarded annually by the Kennedy Center for the Arts, will be given to him October 27, 2019 – has become renown for his absurdist skits and comedy routines which have included one colloquially known as “The Black White Racist” in which a reporter for Frontline (an actual investigative journalism documentary news show on PBS – see here: https://www.pbs.org/show/frontline/) finds and interviews a blind racist who “has been the leading voice of the White Supremacist movement in America” sequestered in the remote hills of an unnamed rural Southern state.

The skit, recorded when Chappelle was then performing for The Comedy Channel, remains one of his most well-known skits, and may be viewed online here ( ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW):

So, along that line… what if Wal-Mart banned dildos?

Realistically, that idea is not too far-fetched.

Here’s why.

In Alabama, that state’s legislators some years ago – in 1998 – forbade “any person to knowingly distribute, possess with intent to distribute, or offer or agree to distribute any obscene material or any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for any thing of pecuniary value.” (Code of Alabama 13A-12-200.2)

It became known as the state’s “anti-dildo law,” and a challenge to it was defeated by a three-judge panel in Federal court by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2005, and was subsequently refused to be heard by the United States Supreme Court, which marked the legal end of the road for that effort.

In 2007, the law was openly mocked by several individuals in the state who challenged its legality on state constitutional grounds, and illustrated its absurdity and invasion of privacy. On September 11, 2009, the state’s Supreme Court ruled against a legal challenge from the owner of a chain of sex toy stores in the state, and the law became settled. And because almost every law has a legal loophole (exception), the Code of Alabama in Section 13A-12-200.4 Affirmative Defenses states that “It shall be an affirmative defense to a charge of violating Sections 13A-12-200.2 and 13A-12-200.3 that the act charged was done for a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial, or law enforcement purpose.”

But regardless of the law, those items continue to be sold in the state because they’re marketed as novelty or educational items, while garments are sold as costumes. Because the state has refused to enforce the law, the state’s stance amounts to nothing more than hypocrisy. Politicians who run on the GOD ticket have to make themselves look good to their pastoral flock, you know.

Which again, brings us full-circle to absurdity.

What if Wal-Mart banned dildos?

The GOPers in the Congress have taken a passive aggressive stance by refusing to act, which effectively allows deaths from gun violence to proliferate. The mostly-GOP crowd says they’re not going to do anything but offer “thoughts and prayers,” while GOP Senate Majority Leader “Moscow Mitch” McConnell from Kentucky has said he won’t even consider legislation when he made the following remark on a far right-wing extremist talk radio show hosted by

Fetal Heartbeat Bills, Citizenship, and Taxes

Here are a few thoughts and three points about so-called “fetal heartbeat” bills enacted by AL & a handful of other states:

1.) Our U.S. Constitution does NOT support the notion that a fetus is a person because – and as the Catholic Church has long taught – life begins at birth, NOT conception. AND, the Scripture clearly states that the Almighty breathed the “breath of life” at which point “the man became a living being” into Adam. So we see clearly from that religious text in Judaic scripture (the Genesis account) that breathing is equated with life, not conception.

For if life began at conception, then “personhood” and citizenship is imbued at that moment (of conception).

An example of the current (2000’s) CRBA (Consular Report of Birth Abroad).

What that effectively means, is that a fetus conceived overseas (to an immigrant couple, for example, who later became naturalized American citizens before giving birth), the conceived fetus would be a citizen of wherever it was conceived… EVEN IF the child was delivered/born in the U.S.A. Clearly, that is contrary to

Alabama Marijuana: Is there money in it?

Is there money to be made LEGALLY in Alabama from marijuana?

The short answer is, “YES.” There is significant money to be made in Legalizing, Taxing, and Regulating Cannabis in Alabama for Adult Recreational (ARU), and Medical Use (MMJ).

Figures are now coming in from Massachusetts showing sales volumes, and taxes after that state legalized, taxed, and regulated marijuana for Adult Recreational Use, and Medical Use, and the figures are amazing.

Simply put, the Cost:Benefit ratio of keeping cannabis illegal is prohibitive to society at every level, federal, state, and local. There is NO reasonable, rational reason to continue cannabis prohibition. It costs more fiscally and socially to maintain than there is benefit derived from it being illegal. Taxpayers are no longer willing to foot the bill to so stridently harm their fellow citizens for responsible use of a substance that research shows is significantly less harmful than either alcohol, or tobacco, and which even the DEA has acknowledged has not killed anyone, nor has ever been a cause of addiction.

Today’s most recent story in the Boston Globe by Felicia Gans about that state’s success after Legalizing, Taxing, and Regulating cannabis for ARU & MMJ is headlined “Nearly $24 million spent on recreational marijuana sales in first two months.”

Customers crowd into Theory Wellness in Great Barrington on January 11, 2019, the opening day of its recreational marijuana sales.

Marijuana in Alabama: Show me the money!

How Much Money Could Alabama Earn By Legalizing, Taxing, and Regulating Marijuana?

How much money could Alabama stand to realize if it Legalized, Taxed, and Regulated (LTR) cannabis for Adult Recreational Use (ARU), and Medical Use (MMJ)?

In order to make a reasonably accurate estimate, we need certain pieces of information from reliably accurate sources, such as:

1.) How many people would purchase it?

2.) How much tax would be placed upon it?

3.) How frequently would they purchase?

There are other questions, but let’s start by answering those three.

First, let’s determine how many people consume marijuana in the state – adults, of course.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), is an annual survey which first began in 1971 and is conducted in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It’s conducted under the auspices of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.

History Repeats Itself: How Alabama’s Anti-Crossover Voting Law Violates the Constitution

Alabama Political Reporter news writer Brandon Mosely wrote in a story headlined “Alabama secretary of state releases updates on crossover voting,” and published December 7, 2018, that “the Secretary of State’s office announced Thursday that it has discovered 398 violations of Alabama’s new crossover voting rules in the 2018 election cycle.

“At the conclusion of the 2017 United States Senate Special Election Run-off, the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office reviewed a formal, routine election report indicating that 140 individuals had been given credit for voting in the Democrat primary election on August 15th and then voting in the Republican run-off election on September 26. This action, termed crossover voting, is an action which would violate the State’s new crossover voting law (Act No. 2017-340).

“… under Alabama law it is illegal to vote in both a party primary and then vote in another party’s primary runoff. In the general election, voters are allowed to vote for candidates from both parties and/or independent or minor party candidates. 66 percent of Alabamians straight party voted in the 2018 election. Alabama does not have party registration, so any voter is allowed to participate in the party primary of their choice.”

He cited Act No. 2017-340, which as summarized on the state legislature’s website as, “Act 2017-340, SB108, amends Section 17-4-2.1, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to voting, to allow the Secretary of State to use electronic poll books instead of printed lists of qualified voters.  The act also prohibits any voter from voting in a primary runoff election unless the voter voted in the preceding primary election of the party for which the runoff election is being held.”

A PDF image of the actual document, which was signed by the Governor Kay Ivey, May 22, 2017, 1:30PM, may be found here>http://arc-sos.state.al.us/PAC/SOSACPDF.001/A0012111.PDF.

The act, which originated as SB108 (Senate Bill) and was sponsored by Senators Tom Whatley, Cam Ward, Clyde Chambliss, Tripp Pittman, Bill Holtzclaw and Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh – all Republicans – states in part that the law will “prohibit a voter from voting in a primary runoff election unless the voter voted in the preceding primary election of the party for which the runoff election is being held.”

The purpose of the bill (now law as Code of Alabama 1975,17-4-2.1(9)) was ostensibly to

Roll Tide! Alabama ranked 2nd Nationally!

Roll Tide, y’all!

But you might wanna’ hang your head and weep at this one.

It’s nothing to be proud about.

According to

Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford, Jr. –– May he Rest In Peace.

SHOTS FIRED!

Black Man With A Gun!

Birmingham, AL metro area showing Hoover, south of Birmingham, and the Riverchase Galleria mall, south of Hoover.

“They took out the threat. Our plan works.”
– Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis describing how uniformed HPD LEOs killed Emantic Fitzgerald “EJ” Bradford, Jr.

It was a Black Friday in more ways than one.

Gunfire erupted late Thanksgiving night around 10PM Central Standard Time in Hoover, Alabama, a small suburb south of Birmingham and part of the Greater Birmingham Metro Area.

It was Black Friday eve at Riverchase Galleria – the state’s largest shopping mall – where holiday shoppers where amassed for huge sales and deep discounts at local and national retailers, many of whom have had a presence there for the over 30 years its been a Jefferson County jolly green sales tax giant.

“The Threat,” Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford, Jr., has been neutralized. “Our Plan works,”
said Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis.

A 21-year-old Black man identified as Emantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr., of Hueytown, AL, was observed fleeing the shooting scene while brandishing a handgun, was engaged, shot and killed by a uniformed Hoover police officer, according to Hoover Police Captain Gregg Rector.

Hoover Police Chief Nick Derzis, said, “Thank God we had our officers very close. They heard the gunfire, they engaged the subject, and they took out the threat. That threat could have materialized into a lot more people being injured. Thank goodness that did not happen. We have a plan and our plan works.”

A Guide To Increasing Company Value

Almost everyone who has worked in sales has heard the mantras “the customer is always right,” and “the customer is your most important person.”

And as anyone who has worked in healthcare can attest, neither of those statements are true.

For example, consider the patient who, arriving at the ED (Emergency Department) said to the physician, “My doc says my sugar is high so he gave me this medicine for diabetes.”

Naturally, the physician asked, “Do you take it?”

The patient replied saying, “No, ’cause I don’t have diabetes, just high sugar.”

And then, another Physician who explained to the patient’s mother her child’s diagnosis and therapeutic interventions saying, “She has a concussion, she needs to rest in bed in a quiet dark room until she is better.”

The mother then asked, “Can she go to the fair?”

Conventional wisdom often monikered as “common sense,” sometimes follows the pithy axiom that “common sense isn’t so common anymore.”

For years, I’ve maintained that the customer is NOT “always right,” nor are they the “most important person” in any business.

Instead, the most important person in any business are the employees.

Some CEOs have gotten a bad rap, often justifiably, because while seeking to return corporate profit and shareholder return, they’ve cut resources and employees. Like the abusive Pharaoh of the Exodus account in the Old Testament, they demand to “make more bricks with less hay.” Of course, we know how that story ended – not well.

So naturally, it delighted me to read some time ago that Sir Richard Branson, a renown entrepreneur and philanthropist, has similarly long held that thought and said,

How Has the GOP Improved Alabama Quality of Life?

In almost every measure of the quality of life, Alabama comes up short. Seriously short. Or, to couch it in somewhat Biblical terms (which most Alabamians of any political or religious stripe would understand… and, which most any reasonably well-read person would as well), “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting.” ref: Daniel 5:27 (NIV)

This is not a Republican thing, per se, nor is it a Democratic thing. It is an ongoing statement of the poor quality of of almost EVERYTHING in Alabama. The root of most every problem plaguing Alabamians lies with the state’s 1901 Constitution which, among other things, FORBIDS local self-governance known as Home Rule – the basic principle upon which our democratic republic was founded – which is that EVERY person has a voice, a vote, and a say-so in how things are run from the grass-roots level, and that all are equal under the law, which is no discriminator of persons.

That is in large part why on almost every statewide ballot there are questions pertaining to counties or cities, and why the entire state must vote on what people in the opposite sides of the state do, and why they have a say-so in other towns and cities governance. Think of it as allowing your nosy neighbors a say in how you do things in your house.

Yeah, I know… weird, isn’t it? Maybe “stupid” would be another, better, or more accurate choice of words.

In Montgomery, when the part-time Legislature with full-time pay convenes (total compensation for legislators approximates $50,000/year), they are constitutionally required and mandated to legislate local matters, because the constitution literally FORBIDS local people from making local decisions.

The legislature is further hamstrung, and the people are thereby harmed, by the inordinately short period of time to which they are similarly constitutionally constrained to meet – 30 meeting days in a  105 calendar day period. Who could get ANYTHING done for 4.8 million people in such a short period of time? Seriously… WHO?

Consider public corruption as an example of how problematic the 1901 Alabama State Constitution truly is. Most recently, the GOP-dominated Legislature, Governor’s office, individual legislators (predominately GOP), and other ancillary agencies (Alabama State Troopers/Department of Public Safety, later known as ALEA, Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, etc.) were involved in corruption scandals, the likes of which the state hasn’t seen in, like… FOREVER! Seriously. The extent and degree of severity of corruption which has recently plagued Alabama is unparalleled.

Once the GOP-dominated Legislature was in power, they promptly set about improving the practically toothless Ethics Laws which many of them promised to change, if elected. Ordinarily, that’d be a good thing. Mike Hubbard became Speaker of the House, and the state’s top executive branch offices – Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Auditor, State Treasurer, and Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries – were all filled by Republicans.

Now, here’s where the problems begin.

All THREE branches of government – the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial – were touched by serious corruption. As a natural consequence, the people’s business was impeded and damaged, which also wasted the taxpayers time, money and resources to investigate and prosecute.

But perhaps the MOST costly price paid was continued damage to the state’s already tarnished image in the public eye, nationally and internationally… as if it could get any worse.

Governor Robert Bentley was the subject of Federal and State investigations over whether he misused public funds, and violated campaign finance law to further his extra-marital involvement with a female aide. Corollary to that, he was also facing impeachment… the first ever Alabama governor to face such serious public scrutiny and reprisal.

The Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard and other legislators were facing investigations and indictments by the Attorney General for possible violations of ethics laws, and other related laws. Named as witnesses were many well-known, high-powered big business lobbyists, and their clients.

The State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore was facing a SECOND investigation in his second elected term over his refusal to obey and uphold Federal Law, and a Federal Judge’s court order to obey the law, which meant he could face public trial by the state’s Judicial Inquiry Commission (his peers), and a SECOND possible expulsion from the bench.

The Governor accepted a plea deal to two lesser misdemeanors, resigned from office, repaid monies, performed community service, and promised to never again hold public office.

The Chief Justice was found guilty and removed from the bench – a SECOND time.

The Speaker of the House and other legislators were all found GUILTY of violating the very Ethics Laws they passed – which were all felony violations.

As well, over a dozen current legislators and others (high-powered attorneys, former legislators, lobbyists, business owners, etc.) are STILL being found GUILTY of, or pleading GUILTY to violating Federal and/or state law, including bribery, mail fraud, Medicare fraud, misuse of public office, and various other forms of abuse of public trust.

And then, there’s the sheriff from Etowah County, Todd Entrekin, who was found to have LEGALLY redirected funds which were to have been used for feeding inmates (three-quarters of a million dollars), to his own personal use, to, with his wife Karen, purchase a luxurious beachfront house on the Gulf Coast.

All but one of those identified are Republicans.

But again, this is not an “Us versus Them” or “Republican versus Democrat” problem. It’s a corruption problem, the predominate root of which lies with the 1901 Alabama State Constitution. Consequently, the entire state suffers.

Harvard University’s Center for Ethics researched Legal and Illegal corruption in all 50 states three branches of government, and found Alabama wanting by most measures.

Of course, it neither helps that Alabama has a continuous and ongoing history of voting for one party, or the other – so that there’s rarely if ever a mix of parties in power. It’s quite literally, a bipolar type of operation, which goes from one extreme, to the other.

Alabama has had SIX constitutions, and the one under which it now labors is not even the best of the five which preceded it.

The state’s present constitution – the 1901 Constitution – has well over 900 amendments. That one thing alone makes it the most bloated and inefficient of any such type of governing document in the entire world – hands down, bar none.

The Dictionary of Alabama says this about Alabama’s 1901 Constitutional Convention:
“Called primarily to establish White supremacy by disfranchising Blacks, the Constitutional Convention of 1901 continues to shape Alabama politics in the twenty-first century. The convention also concentrated power in the state legislature, decreased opportunities for Home Rule, and established voter requirements that even many White men could not meet, reducing the political influence of the state’s many poor Whites. The 155 delegates to the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1901 codified Black disfranchisement and increased the political power of the state legislature at the expense of local government.”

So when combined with the fact that it STILL contains racist language, and provisions which have been

Yes, it’s true: Possessing a single #marijuana cigarette is a #felony in #ALpolitics.

At the stoke of midnight tonight, 1 January 2018, at 0000 hours, California will become the 8th state (11, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam) in the union to legalize, tax, and regulate the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes to adults over age 21. Presently, 73,213,005, or 22.39% of Americans have legal access to recreational cannabis.

California voters approved Proposition 64 November 2016 by 57.13% with 7,979,041 votes, which allows adults 21 and older to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and grow up to six plants in their homes. In 1996, California was the first state to permit medical marijuana when voters passed Proposition 215.

In addition to legalizing adult recreational use of marijuana, the new law also provides for the levying of two taxes upon the sale of cannabis – a 15% tax on the retail price of marijuana, and a tax

Welcome The F-35 Lightning II To Alabama!

I’ve just heard/read the news that the 187th Fighter Wing at Dannelly Field in Montgomery has been chosen to get a fleet of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter Mission jet aircraft.

That’s the $1.45 TRILLION-dollar TOTAL LIFETIME OPERATION COST of operations, cost-overrun, over-budget, faulty, so-called “do-everything” aircraft which can’t do an aerial “dogfight,” and the money already spent upon it ($350Billion) could have LITERALLY purchased a “McMansion-priced home” ($600K – over 2x the average price of the average US house), for EVERY SINGLE HOMELESS person in our nation –and– had plenty of money left over.

It’s part and parcel of what late, former WWII Supreme Allied Commander, former-two term Republican POTUS Dwight David Eisenhower called the “military industrial complex” in his Farewell Address the evening of January 17, 1961, as a two-term Republican, under whose leadership our nation grew like “gangbusters,” our infrastructure expanded phenomenally and exponentially, and under who the Personal Income Tax Rates upon the VERY WEALTHIEST of Americans was 90%+, with Corporate Income Tax Rates 40+%.

The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter

“Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

“This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

Roy Moore’s Next Move: Accuse Voter Fraud To Challenge And Delay Implementing Results

According to a news item published by the Associated Press, Friday, December 15, 2017 and subsequently reported by Business Insider on December 16, 2017, 12:43 PM ET, “Alabama Republican Roy Moore on Friday told supporters that the “battle is not over” in Alabama’s Senate race even though President Donald Trump and others have called on him to concede. Moore sent a fundraising email to supporters asking for contributions to his “election integrity fund’ so he could investigate reports of voter fraud. “I also wanted to let you know that this battle is NOT OVER!” he wrote.”
-and-
“Roy Moore still refuses to concede — and he asked supporters to donate to an ‘election integrity fund’ to find voter fraud.”

The outcome of an election does NOT depend upon whether a candidate concedes, or not.

Thus, Roy Moore can “refuse” to concede to his perverted little heart’s delight… and it STILL WILL NOT HAVE ANY BEARING ON THE ELECTION’S OUTCOME.

So now, the great game is to sit back and watch what that damn-fool idiot does. And, if the story (including Moore’s previous actions) is any guide, he will likely rely upon what he describes as “numerous reported cases of voter fraud” which he and his campaign will send to Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill.

The interesting thing about it all, is that alleged “voter fraud” has been cited as a justification for the legislature changing Alabama law to require photo ID at polling locations in order to vote. Fact is, however, that

A Few Thoughts On Support Of Roy Moore For US Senate In Alabama

“Roy Moore is no prize, but Alabama doesn’t need an opportunistic weasel like Doug Jones representing it. For one thing, he’ll drive a wedge within Alabama’s congressional delegation. He will quickly show he doesn’t share the values of most Alabamians because he will be a puppet of ilk like Schumer and Pelosi. The Senate will likely not seat Moore and Alabama’s governor can appoint a better qualified individual to the seat. This is much more desirable than “Sen. Jones.””

—//—

My thoughts in response to the preceding post:

Obviously, we do not know each other, however, I would appreciate the opportunity to rebut some of your commentary.

You wrote in part that renown former Federal Prosecutor, now Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Alabama Doug Jones for Senate is, “an opportunistic weasel,” and yet you provided no evidence to support your assertion. Strike one. (Supposing that by “weasel” you meant to refer to someone whose story constantly changes, you surely mean to refer to Roy Moore, whose story has so changed after facing increased scrutiny.)

Then in the next sentence, you wrote in prediction of Mr. Jones that,

What Motivates Roy Moore Supporters?

I have asked many Roy Moore supporters why they support him.

As far as I can tell, their single unifying thread is that they seem to believe in, and surreptitiously advocate for some type of “theocratic” type government. And as far I can discern, or have observed, many Moore supporters, lack higher education, can neither think logically nor critically, and attempt to

Roy & Kayla Moore: #ALpolitics Crazy Train Conductor & Engineer

Ahem… there is NO such term as “full term” abortion.

In fact, it was Kayla Moore, Roy Moore’s wife, who invented that nonsensical term. The facts of that matter are indisputable, for inventing an improperly incorrect term, and her promotion of it.

Furthermore, as another wrote, “full term abortions are illegal.” As well, because they have believed the Father of Lies and elected his representative as POTUS, Evangelicals have been willingly been taken for a ride on the Crazy Train. Now, they apparently want to get off. And, that’s just too bad, because there’s no return ticket from that trip. They’ve screwed themselves, alienated and isolated themselves into a Jim Jones-like cult, and damaged the good name of the faith which they ignorantly purport to hold.

Considering the legal right to an abortion granted in 1973 by

A few not-so-random thoughts on a rainy Thursday morning

A few not-so-random thoughts on a rainy Thursday morning
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I’ve been “accused”…

…of being verbose, at least a time or two. The way I see it, why use two, three, or four words, when 50 or 60 will do?

And, I’ve similarly been accused of being “articulate,” to which I once responded, “as if I’m the only articulate man there is.” Maybe it’s the X-Y chromosome in me. Who knows? Are “articulate” men like “hen’s teeth” – truly in short supply?

At any rate…

Seriously, however, I think verbosity is a part of the “teacher” in me. Mama has said many times throughout my life, that I have an innate ability to teach.

Now, if you’ll pardon the Forrest Gump-ian expression… (I am a native Alabamian, after all.)

The act of education (yes, it is a verb) is the impartation of knowledge and understanding to those who have none. And face it, we’re all ignorant on some topic, to one extent, or another. Probably many. And that’s in part why we need one another.

Nevertheless…

Recently, an observation of mine was mischaracterized as

Florence Alabama Police Department Vicious K9 Escapes Negligent Handler, Attacks 60yo Woman

Florence Police K-9 Officer Josh Hein (LEFT) with Titus, his dog, has a running suspect, Florence Police Officer Jason Hodges (RIGHT), taken down at their training center. TimesDaily photograph by Jim Hannon

This past Saturday, November 11, 2017, in Florence, Alabama, approximately an hour-and-a-half before the Alabama v Mississippi State football game, a 60-year old Florence city employee, Teresa “Terre” Ann Noland, was attacked and maliciously mauled by an escaped Florence Police K9, whose negligent handler Florence Police Officer Josh Hein allowed the vicious dog to escape.

The unprovoked attack happened at Ms. Noland’s residence after the escaped Florence Police K9 had jumped a fence and began prowling the neighborhood.

The negligent handler, Florence Police Officer Josh Hein, was oblivious to any of the events while he was comfortably seated inside a friend’s house with whom he was visiting. Hein had brought the vicious Florence Police German Shepherd K9 with him.

Ms. Noland, whose 80-year old mother lives with her, and for whom she is the solitary care-giver, had just arrived home from grocery shopping, and was unloading groceries from her car which was parked in the garage.

She noticed the escaped Florence Police K9 prowling on her property, and decided to check the mail, hoping that it would go away, which would allow her to shut the garage door, and go inside away from the vicious dog which was already sniffing, and menacing her.

As she turned to walk away, the escaped Florence Police K9 jumped toward her, forcefully and

The Evolution Of #RoyMoore Supporters

Has anyone noticed? Roy Moore supporters have gone from “he didn’t do it” to “so what if he did” to “what about so-and-so”. In other words, their moving target defenses of him and their support of him have changed from mere denial, to justification, to the well-known juvenile tactic that “all my friends do it.”

At this point, there are so MANY voices, that it CAN’T be a “conspiracy” by anyone, either the Doug Jones campaign, the Democrat party, the national GOP, or George Soros, so his blind-leading-the-blind supporters simply hold onto that sinking ship, despite anything they hear.

Why?

They WANT to believe.

That is, they believe DESPITE significant contradictions, and increasing evidence to the contrary. And it all means but one thing: They are in denial.

Denial is the very first response given by