"The Global Consciousness Project, also known as the EGG Project, is an international multidisciplinary collaboration of scientists, engineers, artists and others continuously collecting data from a global network of physical random number generators located in 65 host sites worldwide. The archive contains over 10 years of random data in parallel sequences of synchronized 200-bit trials every second."
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, April 27, 2024
If it weren’t illegal to be a Negro in Alabama, the state’s Law Enforcement Officers wouldn’t arrest Negroes for being Negro.
But, they do.
In at least 2 events in less than the same number of years, local LEOs have arrested individuals in Alabama charging them with fabricated, trumped up “crimes,” when no crime had been, nor was in the process of being, committed.
In both cases, the lowest common denominator was… that the people arrested had darker skin tone (more of the pigment melanin) than the “average” person, and more than the arresting officer(s). In other words, they were “Black.”
What is such sickness, and why does it seem so common in Alabama, and why… oh WHY do people in the state continue to put up with such outlandishly egregious behavior from public officials, particularly those sworn to uphold the law?
It may have something to do with the state’s Constitution.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, March 25, 2024
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
In the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen fertilized eggs, aka embryos, are “children” — the combined cases of LePage & Fonde v. Center for Reproductive Medicine & Mobile Infirmary, and Aysenne v. Center for Reproductive Medicine & Mobile Infirmary — the word “God,” or its derivatives, i.e., “godliness,” etc., are mentioned 41 times.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, February 24, 2024
As I was reading a daily devotional, I came across a word which I had never before seen.
I write like that sometimes — placing the preposition before the verb. Although, I sometimes also do the inverse, i.e., “never seen before,” because that’s how most Americans talk. Or, speak. Or, communicate. Or, write.
But in Engrish, we have homonyms — words that sound the same, but are spelled differently, and have different meanings; synonyms — words that describe things that religion says are bad; and in the the South, Mama’nems. Her sister would be your antonym.
But, as I started… as I was reading a daily devotional, I came across a word which I had never before seen.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, January 27, 2024
Donald V. Watkins, Sr., then a licensed attorney, gestures in Federal court in closing arguments representing himself in USA v. Donald Watkins, Jr., et al.
Donald V. Watkins, Sr. is a never-ending source of entertainment.
Readers will recall that Mr. Watkins, a formerly-respected attorney, was convicted by a jury of his peers on several Federal charges.
“Donald Watkins, Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy.
Donald Watkins, Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.”
“Donald Watkins Sr., 70, of Atlanta, Georgia, and Donald Watkins Jr., 47, of Birmingham, Alabama, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre of the Northern District of Alabama. Judge Bowdre also ordered Donald Watkins Sr. to serve five years of supervised release and to pay restitution in the amount of $14,000,100.00 and ordered Donald Watkins Jr. to serve three years of supervised release and to pay restitution jointly with his father in the amount of $13,850,000.
“The father and son co-defendants were convicted on March 8, 2019, following a jury trial that lasted over two weeks. Donald Watkins Sr. was convicted of seven counts of wire fraud, two counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy. Donald Watkins Jr. was convicted of one count of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy.
“According to evidence presented at trial, between approximately 2007 and 2013, Donald Watkins Sr. sold “economic participations” and promissory notes connected with Masada Resource Group, a company that he ran as manager and CEO. Investors paid more than $10 million dollars after Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. falsely represented that the money would be used to grow Masada, which Donald Watkins Sr. described as a “pre-revenue” company that supposedly had technology that could convert garbage into ethanol. Instead of investing the money into Masada, however, Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. diverted funds to pay personal bills and the debts of their other business ventures, the evidence showed. Victim money was used to pay for Donald Watkins Sr.’s alimony, hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, personal loan payments, a private jet and clothing purchased by Donald Watkins Jr. and his wife. Emails introduced at trial also showed that Donald Watkins Sr. and Donald Watkins Jr. planned to obtain millions of dollars for these purposes from one victim on multiple occasions, when they knew that this victim and other victims trusted them to put their money to use in growing Masada.
“Donald Watkins Sr. also was convicted of defrauding Alamerica Bank, an entity in which Donald Watkins Sr. held a controlling interest through his ownership of Alamerica Bank Corp stock, the evidence showed. In order to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation expenses associated with another one of Donald Watkins Sr.’s business ventures, Donald Watkins Sr. executed a plan to use a straw borrower to take out money from Alamerica Bank and use those funds to pay the defendant’s litigation expenses. This straw borrower—Donald Watkins Sr.’s long-time mentor and a prominent figure in the Birmingham community—took over $900,000 in loans from Alamerica Bank and then immediately permitted Donald Watkins Sr. to use those funds for his personal benefit, the evidence showed.”
To be certain, Mr. Watkins has some very respectable accomplishments, notable among them, he Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, November 10, 2023
It’s painfully obvious that Putin is controlling Tuberville, playing him like a foolball. Yes, FOOLball.
The worthless hot steaming pile of filthy, stinking pig excrement from Alabama known as “Tommy Tuberville” is a FRIEND OF VLADIMIR PUTIN, DOING HIS BIDDING.
Yes, Alabama Repugnicunt Senator Tommy Tuberville is doing Putin’s bidding.
Traitor Tuberville’s actions are an important part of Putin’s Master Plan to weaken America militarily by striking at its center of operations — senior level career military officers — and to demoralize those same members, and others, to weaken their will to fight.
It’s classical psychological warfare tactics.
Welcome to the “modern” Repugnicunt party!
Make America Weak Again
Helping America become a “shithole country.”
Putin elected him.
Americans did not.
——//——
Senators Try To Get Around Traitor Tuberville’s Blockade Of Military Promotions
Traitor Tommy Tuberville, a Repugnicunt Alabama Senator, is 9 months into his one-man blockade of several hundreds of military promotions — which he says he is doing to protest Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, August 17, 2023
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, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, July 22, 2023
“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”: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, March 25, 2023
Homosexual prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp at Sachsenhausen, Germany, wearing pink triangles on their uniforms to identify them as such, on December 19, 1938.
Southern Slave States (you know the ones) where legislators have a “trifecta” control over state government — meaning that Repugnicunts control all three branches of government:
1.) Executive;
2.) Legislative, and;
3.) Judicial
— that have:
• banned books,
• enacted so-called “don’t say ‘gay’ laws,
• banned drag shows,
• forbidden teaching about slavery & institutionalized, government-enforced racial discrimination,
• outlawed abortion,
• made illegal gender-affirming healthcare, etc.,
share significant common denominators with Adolph Hitler and Nazism.
Hitler did the same things.
That is NOT exaggeration, it is NOT hyperbole.
One more time:
They’re doing the
EXACT SAME THING
that Nazi Führer Adolph Hitler did.
In this current day and era, amidst the actions of rebellious Confederate Southern Slave States, and a handful of select others led by Repugnicunts, to ban, or outlaw, anything which they:
1.) Don’t understand, or;
2.) Disagree with — including abortion, books, drag, gender affirming healthcare, etc.;
it’s vitally important to remember THAT ONE THING.
So did Hitler.
Nazi Concentration Camp Armband Identification Chart Star of David=Jew; Inverted Triangle with Bar Atop=Repeaters Pink Triangle=Homosexual Male; Black=Roma & Sinti; P=Poles, T=Czech (German word begins with ‘T’); Star of David with Pink triangle=Gay Jew; Purple=Jehovah’s Witnesses; Red=Political Enemies; Green=Habitual Criminals; Blue=Immigrants; Black Bulls-Eye=Inmates of Penal Battalions; Red Bulls-Eye=Escape Suspect; Brown Arm Band=Special Inmate;
Again, that is NOT exaggeration, it is NOT hyperbole.
IT IS HISTORY:
Hitler’s Nazis destroyed the first Gender clinic.
Together, we must ensure such atrocities never happen again.
Such actions by those states’ governments are essentially the wholesale removal of personal liberties, the repeal, an denial of personal freedoms guaranteed by our nation’s founding documents.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, March 15, 2023
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:
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, January 8, 2023
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 Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, January 8, 2023
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).”]
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, December 27, 2022
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, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, November 26, 2022
In what is rapidly becoming an International Public Relations, Marketing and Sales nightmare for Apple Computer — the world’s largest and wealthiest corporation, with a market capitalization value of at least US$2.356 Trillion — Chinese citizens in Zhengzhou, China, known colloquially as “iPhone City” for its massive manufacturing facilities owned by Foxconn, which are contracted with Apple Computer, of Cupertino, California, to manufacture the iPhone 14, and other Apple-branded consumer computer hardware — have gone on strike after having been brutally beaten by Communist Chinese police over a reneged promise made to prospective and new employees by Foxconn for their pay.
The iPhone 14, Apple’s latest and greatest model, which retails from US$799 to $1,599.00 for a top-of-the-line iPhone 14 Pro Max model, is now “behind the power curve” on holiday sales leading up to, and immediately after “Black Friday,” when many American customers nationwide reported an inability to find the product in stores, or online. The phrase is an aviation-related one, which colloquially means to be in a situation in which circumstances are beyond a locus of control, and any extra effort to play “catch up” only gets worse with each successive attempt.
“Black Friday,” of course, refers to the day immediately after Thanksgiving (which always occurs on a Thursday) in which retailers experience their greatest sales, which for many, if not the exceeding majority, accounts for a significant portion of their annual profitability, and places them “in the black,” rather than being in an indebted, or profitless condition, which is referred to as being “in the red.”
Tim Cook, Apple CEO, official portrait
The events in China’s “iPhone City” couldn’t have come at a worse time for Apple.
Matters are further complicated by the Communist Chinese government’s mandatory “shutdowns” of all public business operations, and public intercourse.
Again, ALL of this is completely outside Apple Computer’s locus of control. Yet, there are some thing that Tim Cook could do to minimize, or ameliorate, any damages, now, and in the future.
Naturally, the problem is not limited exclusively to Apple Computer, and rather, is the initialization of an avalanche-like, cascading chain of events which will reduce Apple’s profitability, as well as that of retailers nationwide.
Beyond that, it further reemphasizes what has been continually been an increasing point of contention in the United States, which is the “outsourcing’ of American manufacturing jobs — the most notable of which is China — to nations where there are little-to-no labor laws, practically non-existent workplace safety laws or regulations, and certainly no wage standards, and neither minimum wage laws, nor collective-bargaining labor unions to represent the employees’ interests.
In short, it is the moral equivalent of — and for all practical purposes is — slave labor, because the employees in factories in China, overseas, and in other developing nations, have no rights, nor opportunity for redress of grievances against their employer as in the United States. It is capitalism run amok. And the worst part of it all, is that it originates from within the United States.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, October 30, 2022
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.
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.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, September 12, 2022
The reader should bear in mind that, in Alabama, there are: 399 TOTAL Law Enforcement Organizations 297 Municipal PDs 67 Sheriff’s Departments 25 Community College/University PDs 7 Judicial/Drug Task Force 2 Airport PDs 1 Special Investigations (fire/explosion)
CRIME IN ALABAMA
Alabama, like many, or even most, states, likes to crow about how much they appreciate, or even revere, their Law Enforcement Officials (LEOs). And, under a Republican ultra-majority dominated legislature, executive branch, and judiciary, for well over a decade, one would imagine that by now, the controlling party, since 2011, would have gotten a firm grip on problems facing residents — to either resolve, ameliorate, or eliminate them.
They have not.
Consider crime. Often touted as a Republican talking point, e.g. being “tough on crime,” one would imagine that not only the Corrections system would have corrected and reformed those entrusted to its “corrections,” but that Law Enforcement agencies statewide would be supported, strengthened, and improved by the Republicans to protect the public, and uphold the laws, as is their charge. The state’s prison system, like the ignored metaphorical “elephant in the room,” has long teetered on a Federal takeover for overcrowding, violence, inhumane conditions, and corruption, while Alabama’s LEOs and their agencies continue failing their charge of public protection by not arresting offenders, solving crimes, and bringing swift justice for the offended victims.
And that proverbial “three-legged stool” has at least one woefully short leg. And that, is solving crimes.
In law enforcement jargon, crimes are considered “cleared,” or solved, when a suspect is arrested, and sometimes, several crimes can be cleared with one arrest. But not always. That terminology is used nation-wide at all levels of law enforcement, Local, State, and Federal.
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.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, January 12, 2022
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.
WH Group’s “global headquarters is strategically located in Hong Kong, with regional headquarters in China and the U.S.,” while the “Headquarters Shuanghui Development in Luohe, Henan Province,” China, and WH Group’s U.S. Headquarters of their Smithfield Foods division is in Smithfield, Virginia.
WH Group is also one of the LARGEST FOREIGN OWNERS of American farmland, with 146,000 acres and that separate sale was worth US$500M, according to the USDA.
Put another way, 146,000 acres is 228.1252 square miles… that’s nearly 20% (18.79% exactly) of the entire state of Rhode Island, which has 1214 square miles.
Unbridled greed in the extreme, aka AVARICE, is to blame. And Americans laws DO NOT FORBID, nor punish, such BAD BEHAVIOR. In fact, it’s REWARDED & ENCOURAGED.
Blame Congress — which has been bought & paid-for by Corporate lobbyists — for their FAILURE TO PROTECT AMERICAN DOMESTIC INTERESTS. THAT is a matter of NATIONAL SECURITY.
But let’s do something else. Let’s examine HOW MUCH U.S. land is owned, or controlled by, foreign interests.
Using a 1978 law — the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act, which requires foreign entities to report farmland transactions to the USDA’s Farm Service Agency — the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting examined USDA & other Federal data to determine how much land is owned/controlled by foreign interests.
They found that in 2016, foreign investors that year acquired at least 1.6M acres of U.S. farmland. And USDA data shows that either through direct ownership, or long-term leases, foreign investors control at least Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Monday, September 20, 2021
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 Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, September 9, 2021
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.’
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.
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 Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, August 1, 2021
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.
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.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, July 24, 2021
“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.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, July 2, 2021
Ironic, isn’t it, how nature has a way of meting out its own justice?
Seth Bishop (LEFT B&W), age 18, younger brother of Amy Bishop Anderson; Seth Anderson, son of Amy Bishop Anderson, 20.
FormerUniversity 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 Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, June 4, 2021
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.
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)}
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, June 4, 2021
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.
Man accused of stealing fire service car from Alabama fire station.
Said,“God told me to.”
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.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, April 21, 2021
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 Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Direct economic losses attributable to child abuse and neglect cost the State of Alabama $3.7 billion in 2018, according to a study conducted by The University of Alabama College of Human Environmental Sciences and The University of Alabama Center for Business and Economic Research.
Researchers found that “the tangible cost of child maltreatment (or child abuse and neglect) to the Alabama economy in 2018 is conservatively estimated to be $3.7 billion.”
The report entitled “The Cost of Child Maltreatment to the Alabama Economy” found that figure is the direct cost which the state bears if only the child victims are considered, and does not include associated costs to families (including extended ones) and communities that are known to occur.
The research which was conducted in collaboration with the Alabama Department of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and The Children’s Trust Fund, found that cost of lost worker productivity of victims was the single greatest financial cost – $2,629,685,802, while costs to the state child welfare system exceed $281,886,848, and Adult Criminality costs were conservatively found to be $109,469,664.
Child maltreatment causes preventable infant mortality and low birthweight, chronic health and mental health problems, developmental and educational delays, lower work productivity, and higher involvement with the criminal justice system.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, April 9, 2021
News reports this morning are stating that in the matter of the unionization vote at the Amazon facility in Bessemer, AL slightly over half of all ballots sent out were returned.
Of the nearly 5800 ballots mailed out to Amazon employees at their Bessemer, Alabama facility, only about 55% were returned.
Only 3,215 ballots were received by the National Labor Relations Board in the election.
There were 5,867 ballots were sent out to Amazon workers in early February – that’s a 54.798% return rate.
At 1025 CST today, unofficial results were that the “NO” votes on the question of unionization were 1,798, while the “YES” votes were 738.
Amazon challenged 505 challenged ballots, and there were 76 voided ballots.
At the conclusion of the tally, an official from the National Labor Relations Board – a Federal governmental entity – said that “Challenges are not sufficient in number to affect the results of this election.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, April 8, 2021
This matter was just brought to my attention.
The figure 0.3% is 3/10ths of 1% (three tenths of one percent) – NOT “three one-thousandths” as they incorrectly wrote.
Any grade school child should be able to tell the difference.
Note the emboldened text highlighted in purple on the lower portion of the page.
And examine the dates…
NO ONE has caught that gross error since the time it was written – 2 years 4 months 20 days
or 28 months 20 days
or 124 weeks 3 days
or 871 calendar days
and updated –
1 year 7 months 26 days
or 19 months 26 days
or 86 weeks 2 days
or 604 calendar days.
If the folks working in that office are that dimwitted, or lazy – take your pick – what does that say about the rest of the state government?
Remember: Steve Marshall’s incompetency is precisely why former Governor Bentley wanted him in that office, in order to avoid prosecution.
The history of it all is utterly Machiavelian – Steve Marshall fired Matt Hart, a former Federal Prosecutor who was a tenaciously aggressive and fearsome Special Prosecutor for the State, who Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, April 8, 2021
Looks like John let the little head do the thinking for the big head.
He also likes anal sex – something his wife apparently doesn’t give him.
Yes… it’s true:
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill has been caught red-handed in an extra-marital relationship, much to the chagrin of his cult-like followers who were hoping he would campaign for the soon-to-be-vacated U.S. Senate seat held by almost-nonagenarian Democrat-turned-Republican-since-1994 Richard Shelby (b.1934), who has occupied the office since 1986, which is up for grabs in 2022.
“He was such an idiot. And he would talk, just… I don’t know if you ever met him outside of looking like he’s a professional, he’s a total [sic] different person. He’s sometimes funny, and he’s charismatic, and he has a sense of humor… but then, when the real John Merrill stands up, then you’re kinda’ like ‘uggh.'”
– Cesaire McPherson, 44-year old Legal Assistant, and lover to Alabama Republican Secretary of State John Merrill in phone interview with National File about their extramarital sexual relationship
Of note, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service on December 17, 2020 updated their report “Membership of the 116th Congress: A Profile” which found that the average age of the average Senator was 62.9 years, while the average age of the Members of the House of Representatives was 57.6. At the time of the report, there were only 3 African American Senators – Kamala Harris, D-CA Corey Booker, D-NJ, and Tim Scott, R-SC. Since Kamala Harris is now Vice President, there are now only 2 African American Senators. And, the oldest Senator in the 116th Congress was Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, born June 22, 1933, who was then aged 85.
Merrill’s official statement said that, “With the end of my term coming up in January of 2023, I have been presented with a variety of options for where my path in public service could lead. I have decided that I will not be a candidate for any office in 2022.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Sunday, March 28, 2021
Should government exercise control over its citizens to the extent that:
a.) Certain types of private health care is illegal;
b.) Certain people are denied care?
Should your neighbors (aka “the government”) have the right to tell you, and/or your family, what you can, or cannot be treated for by a licensed healthcare professional?
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 11, 2021
Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins
A significant number of the American people have been bamboozled, swindled, and otherwise cheated and lied to for at least the past 40+ years, at least since 1980, and beginning in earnest in January 1981 with the Reagan administration.
In actuality, the Republican party’s seeds of destruction were sown in 1964 at the Republican National Convention in Daly City, California when then-New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller warned the assembled delegates that
“The Republican party is in real danger of subversion
by
a radical, well-financed,
and
highly disciplined minority.”
He was given 5 minutes to address the delegates, but was booed for over 16 minutes.
Why?
He was seeking the inclusion of language in the official party platform which would have said,
“The Republican Party fully respects the contribution of responsible criticism, and defends the right of dissent in the democratic process. But we repudiate the efforts of irresponsible, extremist groups, such as the Communists, the Ku Klux Klan, the John Birch Society and others, to discredit our Party by their efforts to infiltrate positions of responsibility in the Party, or to attach themselves to its candidates.”
One would think that such language condemning and repudiating the Ku Klux Klan, Communists, John Birch Society members, and others, would have been welcomed.
Ku Klux Klansmen rally in support of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, the GOP 1964 Presidential nominee. Image: Universal History Archive/Getty Images
But, it wasn’t.
That was the year Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was the party’s Presidential nominee.
That was also the year the GOP suffered one of the greatest losses in American political history.
A mere 6 states – Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina – voted for Barry Goldwater.
Lyndon Baines Johnson won in a landslide with 486 Electoral College votes to Goldwater’s 52.
The Popular Vote was just as decisive:
Johnson 43,127,041 (61.1%), to Goldwater 27,175,754 (38.5%).
The next quadrennial election cycle proved to be a harbinger of things to come.
Nebraska Republican Senator Ben Sasse
In 1968, Alabama Governor George C. Wallace – a stridently biogted racist and segregationist, at the height of his hatred of Blacks – campaigned on the American Independent ticket against Republican Richard Nixon of New York, and Minnesota Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey, who had been LBJ’s Vice President. That year’s election was equally decisive in its victory, but what may be most interesting, is the fact that as a 3rd Party Candidate, the openly racist, bigoted Alabama Governor George C. Wallace, though he was a Democratic governor, campaigned on a platform of racial segregation as a Presidential candidate on the American Independent ticket – and commonly, though incorrectly known as a “Dixiecrat” – won 5 states (AL, AR, GA, LA, MS) and their 46 Electoral College votes, along with 9,901,118 Popular Votes, for 13.5% of all Popular Votes cast. It remains the strongest showing of a 3rd Party candidate in American political history. Not even John B. Anderson in 1980, or Ross Perot in 1992 won any Electoral College Votes, though Ross Perot made a good showing among the Popular Vote with 19,743,821, or 18.9% of all Popular Votes cast, and in 1996, Perot secured 8,085,294 Popular Votes, which was 8.4% of all Popular Votes cast, though he never won any Electoral College votes in any election.
Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski
Wallace’s strong showing among those 5 Southern states in 1968 was resounding evidence of how pervasive, ingrained, and embedded – how thoroughly infiltrated – the message of hate, and he as its chief messenger – along with the Ku Klux Klan, Communists, John Birch Society, and other such elements as then-New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller had mentioned at 1964’s RNC convention – had become in the South. Sadly, Nixon did nothing to help, and rather, relied upon a “Southern Strategy” to win over those very voters – the racist bigoted “Dixiecrats” who had become enured with the Ku Klux Klan, Communists, John Birch Society members, and others – to welcome them into the fold of the Republican Party.
Nixon’s “Southern Strategy” was the creation, per se (it was more an anthropological and demographic analysis of long-term trends than anything else), of Kevin Phillips (b.1940), a brilliant, if not genius (matriculated Colgate University aged 16, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude, spent his junior year at Scotland’s University of Edinburgh, where he knew more about Scottish history than his Scottish classmates), Harvard Law-educated man who authored the 1969 book “The Emerging Republican Majority“ in which he detailed an ethnographic political strategy that capitalized upon, an exploited alleged hostilities between the Irish, Italians, and Poles, and Jews, Negroes, and affluent Yankees to achieve its goals. He later abandoned the GOP in the 1990’s after becoming grossly disaffected by them.
Having now authored over 13 books, the premise of his first book “The Emerging Republican Majority,” was the presumption that most voters “still voted on the basis of ethnic or cultural enmities that could be graphed, predicted and exploited. For instance, the old bitterness toward Protestant Yankee Republicans that had for generations made Democrats out of Irish, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants had now shifted, among their children and grandchildren, to resentment of the new immigrants – Negroes and Latinos – and against the national Democratic party, whose Great Society programs increasingly seemed to reflect favoritism for the new minorities over the old.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, February 11, 2021
Suddenly, a Juror becomes a Witness!
Senator from Utah, Mike Lee suddenly stood up and said…
“Statements were attributed to me moments ago by the House Impeachment Managers. Statements relating to the content of conversations between a phone call involving President Trump and Senator Tuberville were not made by me. They’re not accurate, and they’re contrary to fact. I move pursuant to Rule 16 that they be stricken from the record.”
There is NO court of jurisdiction EVER which has allowed a juror to become a witness also.
Lead Impeachment Manager Representative Jamie Raskin, Maryland-8, Democrat
In the trial’s final hour of arguments on Day 2, Wednesday, February 11, 2021, Representative David Cicilline, an Impeachment Manager, and Democrat of Rhode Island-1, spoke of then-President Trump who, during the very midst of the insurrection and breach of the Capitol building, had mistakenly called Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, in an effort to reach newly-elected first-time politician Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, a former football coach for Auburn University. In describing the call, which was detailed in numerous news reports, Representative Cicilline asserted that Senator Lee had stood by as Trump asked Senator Tuberville to make additional objections to the certification of President Biden’s electoral votes.
“With a mob of election protesters laying siege to the U.S. Capitol, Sen. Mike Lee had just ended a prayer with some of his colleagues in the Senate chamber when his cellphone rang.
Caller ID showed the call originated from the White House. Lee thought it might be national security adviser Robert O’Brien, with whom he’d been playing phone tag on an unrelated issue. It wasn’t O’Brien. It was President Donald Trump.
“How’s it going, Tommy?” the president asked.
Taken a little aback, Lee said this isn’t Tommy.
“Well, who is this? Trump asked. “It’s Mike Lee,” the senator replied. “Oh, hi Mike. I called Tommy.”
Lee told the Deseret News he realized Trump was trying to call Sen. Tommy Tuberville, the newly elected Republican from Alabama and former Auburn University football coach. Lee walked his phone over to Tuberville who was talking to some colleagues.
“Hey, Tommy, I hate to interrupt but the president wants to speak with you,” Lee said.
Tuberville and Trump talked for about five to 10 minutes, Lee said, adding that he stood nearby because he didn’t want to lose his cellphone in the commotion. The two were still talking when panicked police ordered the Capitol to be evacuated because people had breached security.
As police were getting anxious for senators to leave, Lee walked over to retrieve his phone.
“I don’t want to interrupt your call with the president, but we’re being evacuated and I need my phone,” he said.
Tuberville said, “OK, Mr. President. I gotta go.”
Lee said when he later asked Tuberville about the conversation, he got the impression that Trump didn’t know about the chaos going on in the Senate chamber.
Impeachment Manager David Ciciline, a Democrat representing Rhode Island-1 said,
“Senator Lee described it. He had just ended a prayer with his colleagues here in the Senate chamber, and the phone rang. It was Donald Trump. Senator Lee explains that the phone call goes something like this. ‘Hey, Tommy,’ Trump asks. Sen. Lee says, ‘This isn’t Tommy.’ He hands the phone to Senator Tuberville.
“Senator Lee then confirmed that he stood by as Senator Tuberville and President Trump spoke on the phone. And on that call, Donald Trump reportedly asked Senator Tuberville to make additional objections to the certification process.”
Senator Lee NEVER objected to the news report which he himself had told to Deseret News on January 7, 2021. Nor did he note that any corrections should be made to it, and there is no errata or corrections cited on the story.
As Impeachment Manager Representative Ciciline was speaking, Senator Lee became apparently agitated and wrote in large letters upon a sheet of paper from a legal pad at his desk “This is not what happened.” and then handed the paper to David Schoen, one of Trump’s lawyers.
As Lead Impeachment Manager Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat representing Maryland’s 8th Congressional District, was at the speaker’s podium and was attempting to close the day’s session, Senator Lee then stood up, and Read the rest of this entry »
The mention of his religion is of no consequence, save perhaps, for the fact that he had asked for, then rescinded his request for the trial to take a day off – Saturday, beginning from sundown Friday, to sunrise Sunday (the Jewish “sabbath”) – to attend Synagogue, wear his little beanie, not use electricity, not serve dairy and meat together (like on a cheeseburger), or to practice whatever superstitious silliness that religiously observant Jews practice on Saturdays – just like Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is married to Ivanka Trump, Loser Trump’s second child, and first-born daughter, of whom he said that he would be “dating her” (TRANSLATE: Having sex with) if he wasn’t married to Malaria, er… Melania, and noted that she was a “fine piece of ass.”
The TEMERITY to quote Lincoln in his closing remarks!
Is he trying to defend, or prosecute his client?
The atrocity occurs very near the closing after 3:57… that’s 3 HOURS and 57 minutes.
“Stand with anybody that stands RIGHT. Stand with him while he is right, and PART with him when he goes wrong.” –– The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume II, “Speech at Peoria, Illinois” (October 16, 1854), p. 273.
And then, to read – and give an UTTERLY HORRIBLE performance of – an 1849 poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow!
That’s utter heresy!
The atrocity!
A goddamn moron, he is.
Schoen, a 3rd rate goofball, who the Piece of Shit former loser President hired after his first slew of attorneys quit in disgust, after the shit bag insisted that they base their claim of defense that he lost because of massive vote fraud, and they refused.
What?
Giuliani couldn’t do it?
Loser Trumpanzee is a goddamn moron.
Schoen is the 3rd, or 4th string.
Loser Trumpanzee can barely sign his name with a Sharpie permanent marker. He butchers words like “Yosemite” pronouncing it instead as “Yo – Semite” as if he were talking to his bigoted Semite son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Yeah… the bigot who was credibly accused of housing discrimination (he’s a slumlord) against Blacks, and rather than go to trial, agreed to Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Monday night, 25 January 2021, a tornado swept across north central Alabama in the small Jefferson county town of Fultondale, a bedroom community adjacent to and north of Birmingham, the state’s most populous city.
Long considered part of the state’s “Tornado Alley,” residents were struck around 10:30 PM when a category EF-2 storm with winds in excess of 135 mph (217 kph), twisted a quarter-mile wide swath of destruction after touching down near Interstate 65 and mowed a 10-mile path from Fultondale to Center Point in the same area destroyed by another, larger tornado some years earlier.
Patti Herring sobs as she sorts through the remains of her home in Fultondale, Ala., on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, after it was destroyed by a tornado. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)
Fultondale residents haven’t forgotten about April 27, 2011 when they were struck by the tail end of an EF-4 tornado that wreaked a devastating path from the college town of Tuscaloosa south and west of Birmingham, though northern Jefferson County killing 65, and injuring 1500. The National Weather Service said that storm was over 80 miles (130 kilometers) long.
Last night’s search and rescue efforts were hampered by darkness, and indiscriminate wreckage which was strewn about like so much flotsam and jetsam. First Responders and rescuers from throughout the county sifting through the rubble were weary by daybreak, but kept up their efforts, hoping to find people, instead of bodies. Their hopes were Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, December 8, 2020
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.”
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, October 21, 2020
This is what the soft hatred of bigotry cloaked in religious garb looks like.
This revelation should come as no surprise, that a radicalized right-wing religious zealot should serve at a high level on the Board of Directors for three schools in three separate states under a common umbrella would discriminate.
Below her image are three more images of the same type thing.
This person must NOT be confirmed to the nation’s highest court!
And toward that end, perhaps it may alarm you to know that a Ku Klux Klansman has been seated on the nation’s highest court.
You can read Matt Reimann’s excellently succinct August 15, 2017 article via the link above. Of note, Mr. Justice Black was also a “textualist” on matters of interpretation of the Constitution – the same thing late Justice Scalia said he was, and which Judge Barrett says she is.
“CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is preparing for when Amy Coney Barrett takes her seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was asked to share her thoughts Tuesday on the judge and minced no words.
“Mayor Lightfoot was first asked if she views the U.S. Constitution as Judge Barrett does, as an “originalist.”
“Originalists firmly believe all statements in the U.S. Constitution must be strictly interpreted based on the original understanding at the time the Constitution was adopted. They do not believe in the concept of a “Living Constitution” that can be interpreted in the context of current times.
““You ask a gay, black woman if she is an originalist? No, ma’am, I am not,” Lightfoot laughed.
““That the Constitution didn’t consider me a person in any way, shape or form because I’m a woman, because I’m black, because I’m gay? I am not an originalist. I believe in the Constitution. I believe that it is a document that the founders intended to evolve and what they did was set the framework for how our country was going to be different from any other.
““But originalists say that, ‘Let’s go back to 1776 and whatever was there in the original language, that’s it.’ That language excluded, now, over 50 percent of the country. So, no I’m not an originalist.”
“Mayor Lightfoot said she’s deeply worried about some of Judge Barrett’s stated views, for instance, being against gay marriage.
““I deeply worry about this woman’s stated views. She’s on the record on a number of different things, not the least of which is thinking that gay marriage is something that shouldn’t be countenanced. And she’s got soulmates in Justice Thomas and others, who think that the decision by the Supreme Court…should somehow be rolled back,” Lightfoot said.
““What should I tell my daughter — that somehow now my wife and I are no longer married? That we’re no longer legitimately recognized in the eyes of the law? That is dangerous, dangerous territory. And what about a woman’s right to choose? We’re gonna keep re-litigating this issue, and we’re gonna make abortion illegal, as Amy Coney Barrett thinks it should be?”
“The Mayor also called Republicans “hypocrites” for pushing the Barrett nomination when they put off taking up the Merrick Garland nomination by President Obama.
“”The hypocrisy is something that is a bitter pill for me to swallow,” Lightfoot said.”
The September 13, 1937 front page of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed an image of Black’s KKK resignation letter.
“Hugo Black had been associate justice of the Supreme Court for less than a month when the news broke. In September of 1937, an exposé by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found proof of Black’s membership in the Ku Klux Klan. He had joined in September of 1923, and resigned in July, 1925, as one of his first moves before running for one of Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat. Ironically, the smoking gun was Black’s resignation letter, written in legible longhand on Klan stationery, which appeared on the paper’s front page.
“Franklin Roosevelt, who nominated Hugo Black, was implicated in the scandal, which threatened to have far-reaching consequences for the president’s New Deal image. What was once seen as shrewd politics — the New Deal-friendly textualist was confirmed with a 63–16 vote — had become a disgrace. “Millions of Americans,” wrote one Indiana newspaper, “will not forget this sole tangible accomplishment of President Roosevelt’s attempted ‘liberalization’ of the Supreme Court.”
“When asked by the press to remark on the scandal, Roosevelt brushed questions aside, saying, “I only know what I have read in the newspapers. I know that the stories are appearing serially and their publication is not complete. Mr. Justice Black is in Europe where, undoubtedly, he cannot get the full text of these articles. Until such time as he returns, there is no further comment to be made.”“
apnews.com
Barrett Was Trustee At Private School With Anti-Gay Policies
By Michelle R. Smith and Michael Biesecker
October 21, 2020 at 10:51:08 AM CDT
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett served for nearly three years on the board of private Christian schools that effectively barred admission to children of same-sex parents and made it plain that openly gay and lesbian teachers weren’t welcome in the classroom.
The policies that discriminated against LGBTQ people and their children were in place for years at Trinity Schools Inc., both before Barrett joined the board in 2015 and during the time she served.
The three schools, in Indiana, Minnesota and Virginia, are affiliated with People of Praise, an insular community rooted in its own interpretation of the Bible, of which Barrett and her husband have been longtime members. At least three of the couple’s seven children have attended the Trinity School at Greenlawn, in South Bend, Indiana.
The AP spoke with more than two dozen people who attended or worked at Trinity Schools, or former members of People of Praise. They said the community’s teachings have been consistent for decades: Homosexuality is an abomination against God, sex should occur only within marriage, and marriage should only be between a man and a woman.
Interviewees told the AP that Trinity’s leadership communicated anti-LGBTQ policies and positions in meetings, one-on-one conversations, enrollment agreements, employment agreements, handbooks and written policies — including those in place when Barrett was an active member of the board.
“Trinity Schools does not unlawfully discriminate with respect to race, color, gender, national origin, age, disability, or other legally protected classifications under applicable law, with respect to the administration of its programs,” said Jon Balsbaugh, president of Trinity Schools Inc., which runs the three campuses, in an email.
The actions are probably legal, experts said. Scholars said the school’s and organization’s teachings on homosexuality and treatment of LGBTQ people are harsher than those of the mainstream Catholic church. In a documentary released Wednesday, Pope Francis endorsed civil unions for the first time as pope, and said in an interview for the film that, “Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God.”
Barrett’s views on whether LGBTQ people should have the same constitutional rights as other Americans became a focus last week in her Senate confirmation hearing. But her longtime membership in People of Praise and her leadership position at Trinity Schools were not discussed, even though most of the people the AP spoke with said her deep and decades-long involvement in the community signals she would be hostile to gay rights if confirmed.
Suzanne B. Goldberg, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies sexuality and gender law, said private schools have wide legal latitude to set admissions criteria. And, she said, Trinity probably isn’t covered by recent Supreme Court rulings outlawing employment discrimination against LGBTQ people because of its affiliation with a religious community. But, she added, cases addressing those questions are likely to come before the high court in the near future, and Barrett’s past oversight of Trinity’s discriminatory policies raises concerns.
“When any member of the judiciary affiliates themselves with an institution that is committed to discrimination on any ground, it is important to look more closely at how that affects the individual’s ability to give all cases a fair hearing,” Goldberg said.
The AP sent detailed questions for Barrett to the White House press office. Rather than providing direct answers, White House spokesman Judd Deere instead accused AP of attacking the nominee.
“Because Democrats and the media are unable to attack Judge Barrett’s sterling qualifications, they have instead turned to pathetic personal attacks on her children’s Christian school, even though the Supreme Court has repeatedly reaffirmed that religious schools are protected by the First Amendment,” Deere said in an email.
Nearly all the people interviewed for this story are gay or said they have gay family members. They used words such as “terrified,” “petrified” and “frightening” to describe the prospect of Barrett on the high court. Some of them know Barrett, have mutual friends with her or even have been in her home dozens of times. They describe her as “nice” or “a kind person,” but told the AP they feared others would suffer if Barrett tries to implement People of Praise’s views on homosexuality on the Supreme Court.
About half of the people asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation against themselves or their families from other members of People of Praise, or because they had not come out to everyone in their lives. Among those interviewed were people who attended all three of its schools and who had been active in several of its 22 branches. Their experiences stretched back as far as the 1970s, and as recently as 2020.
NOT WELCOME
Tom Henry was a senior at Trinity School in Eagan, Minnesota, serving as a student ambassador, providing tours to prospective families, when Barrett was an active member of the board.
In early 2017, a lesbian parent asked him whether Trinity was open to gay people and expressed concern about how her child would be treated.
Henry, who is gay, said he didn’t know what to say. He had been instructed not to answer questions about People of Praise or Trinity’s “politics.”
The next day, Henry recalled, he asked the school’s then-headmaster, Jon Balsbaugh, how he should have answered. Henry said Balsbaugh pulled a document out of his desk drawer that condemned gay marriage, and explained it was a new policy from People of Praise that was going into the handbook.
“He looked me right in the eye and said, the next time that happens, you tell them they would not be welcome here,” Henry recounted. “And he said to me that trans families, gay families, gay students, trans students would not feel welcome at Trinity Schools. And then he said, ‘Do we understand each other?’ And I said, yes. And I left. And then I quit the student ambassadors that day.”
Balsbaugh, who has since been promoted to president of Trinity Schools Inc., says his recollection of the conversation “differs considerably,” but declined Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Saturday, October 17, 2020
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.
by Stephen Fowler, Georgia Public Broadcasting
Oct. 17, 2020
5 a.m. EDT
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.
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, Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, September 16, 2020
The Latest: Mayor says 1 dead, 1 missing in coastal Alabama
Waves near a damaged pier at Gulf State Park after Hurricane Sally moved through, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Gulf Shores, AL. Sally made landfall Wednesday near Gulf Shores, as a Category 2 storm, pushing a surge of ocean water onto the coast and dumping torrential rain that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
By The Associated Press
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama — The mayor of a coastal Alabama town says one person has died as a result of Hurricane Sally.
Mayor Tony Kennon of Orange Beach tells The Associated Press that the person died Wednesday. He added that one other person is missing. Kennon said no other details would be released immediately.
Sally came ashore Wednesday morning near the popular vacation destination as a major hurricane. Kennon says damage to the beach was not too bad.
Away from the beach, in neighborhoods along canals and beside the bay, damage was worse than what the city suffered in Hurricane Ivan, which hit 16 years to the day earlier.
Five corner units of Tropic Isles condominiums after Hurricane Sally moved through the area, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Orange Beach, AL. Sally made landfall Wednesday near Gulf Shores as a Category 2 storm, pushing a surge of ocean water onto the coast and dumping torrential rain that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
___
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s governor is warning people in the state’s hard-hit panhandle to remain vigilant as Sally heads inland, warning major river flooding could come next.
Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference Wednesday afternoon that Sally is dumping heavy rains as it treks inland across the Southeast. He said that is expected to cause massive flooding of several Florida Panhandle rivers in the coming days.
“So this is kind of the initial salvo, but there is going to be more that you’re going to have to contend with,” DeSantis said at an appearance at the state emergency operations center in Tallahassee.
—
MOBILE, Ala. — Rivers have begun to rise from Sally’s heavy rains, and at least eight waterways in south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are expected to hit major flood stage by Thursday.
Some of the crests could break records, submerge bridges and flood some homes, the National Weather Service warned in a message late Wednesday.
Vehicles maneuver on a flooded road near a boat washed up near the road after Hurricane Sally moved through the area, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2020, in Orange Beach, AL. Sally made landfall Wednesday near Gulf Shores, AL, as a Category 2 storm, pushing a surge of ocean water onto the coast and dumping torrential rain that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, August 20, 2020
“Ambushed” is how Alabama’s GOP Attorney General Steve Marshall characterized the Department of Justice’s findings of the State of Alabama’s Department of Corrections unconstitutionally inhumane treatment of prisoners.
That came from the weakling former District Attorney whom corrupt GOP former Governor Bentley appointed February 2017 to avoid prosecution.
But perhaps Marshall is correct – that he was ambushed – and for that reason is so utterly inept and incompetent that Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Friday, August 7, 2020
Be very wary of an attorney who says these type things about his client:
“Will is young and is learning some hard lessons. But he’s a very convicted man. He’s very convicted in his faith and he’s very convicted in his character. He’s very convicted in his heritage. And Will’s not a person who’s going to shy away from the tough questions to satisfy folks. And that upsets a lot of people. And I understand that. Especially in these times.
“But Will’s not going to admit to something he didn’t do. And he’s not going to step down from a position that he was elected to that he’s trying to do a good job at just because someone has pointed the finger and tried to make him out to be a bad guy. He’s a fighter. I’d be surprised if he resigns.”
Learning hard lessons…
Convicted – 4 times!…
Heritage – especially if you’re aligned with a White Supremacist group…
Resigns…
When your own attorney uses those words in response to the charges, you gotta’ KNOW that it prolly won’t go well.
So already, things don’t look good for Will Dismukes.
A since-deleted Facebook social media post by Will Dismukes, a White Republican member of the Alabama State House of Representatives, State House District 88, who was at the time, also a Baptist pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Prattville. Dismukes resigned after 3 days of outcry following discovery of this since-deleted social media post. “Fort Dixie” is the Selma, Alabama, home of Patricia Godwin, a woman with deep ties to the neo-Confederate cause and organized hate.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, July 28, 2020
“It is one thing to honor one’s Southern heritage; however, it is completely another issue to specifically commemorate the leader of an organization with an indisputable history of unconscionable actions and atrocities toward African-Americans.”
Alabama GOP Chair Terry Lathan (RIGHT, in red) with Donald Trump (LEFT)
Terry Lathan is correct – “it is completely another issue to specifically commemorate the leader of an organization with an indisputable history of unconscionable actions and atrocities toward African-Americans.”
But…
Can you smell the hypocrisy cooking?
By officially celebrating as holidays the birthdays of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, and President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, the State of Alabama “specifically commemorates the leader[s] of an organization with an indisputable history of unconscionable acts and atrocities toward African-Americans.”
That Madam Chairman Lathan specifically ignores the proverbial “elephant in the room” of racism, strains at the gnat of Will Dismukes, and swallows the camel of state-sponsored endorsement of the institution of slavery is the entire point. Will Dismukes is a gnat on the derriere of the ALGOP. Lathan is its mouthpiece.
Slavery, racism, and discrimination are Alabama’s heritage – a genuine homemade Southern mess. It’s tough to erase history, so they don’t even try. Instead, they embrace it as a lost sheep, welcoming it back into the Confederate fold.
Officially acknowledging Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis is the ULTIMATE act of hypocrisy, and the demonstration of Read the rest of this entry »
Specifically, the state is concerned that they might lose a seat in reapportionment – along with the Federal dollars that accompany it – because of concern that other states might increase their apportionment of the 435 Members of the House of Representatives.
Now, if you think about it, that’s ironic, if not outright hypocritical, because Alabama is a significant recipient of government largess, aka “tax dollars” more so, than they send in. In other words, Alabama is a welfare recipient state. And welfare is something anathema to GOPers.
But it’s not as if Alabama hasn’t been shortchanged before. The “Alabama Paradox,” which interestingly – and, again ironically – is the inversely proportional phenomenon in which a state’s population increases, yet Congressional representation decreases, which was first discovered in 1880 by C. W. Seaton, Chief Clerk of the United States Census Bureau, who calculated apportionments for all House sizes between 275 and 350, and discovered that Alabama would get 8 seats with a House size of 299, but only 7 with a House size of 300. The same phenomenon was discovered to exist with new states admitted to the union (such as with Colorado in 1900), and generally refers to an apportionment scenario in which increasing the number of Representatives would decrease at least one state’s number of representatives in the House.
Mathematically, of course, it’s impossible to have a perfectly equal representation, which was proven in 1983 by two mathematicians, Michel Balinski and Peyton Young, who discovered that any method of apportionment which does not violate the quota rule – being that the number of seats to be allocated should be between the upper or lower roundings of its fractional proportional share – will result in paradoxes whenever there are three or more states. Earlier, in 1980, the Balinski–Young theorem proved that if an apportionment method satisfies the quota rule, it must fail to satisfy some apportionment paradox.
But, determining methods to apportion is getting much too complex, and practically misses the entire point, which is that the Constitution plainly states that ALL people should be counted, and Alabama is claiming that all people should NOT be counted, alleging that illegal aliens constitute an inordinate number of people in the nation.
Again, Alabama has been down that path before with their HB56 law written by Kris Kobach when he was Kansas Secretary of State, which sought to exclude people from legal rights (freedom of movement, etc.) and long-standing protections, based upon their immigration status, which was typically determined by looking at skin color, or surname, and little else. Federal courts have since struck down most of the law.
The wording in the recent Alabama & Mo Brooks v Census Bureau suit states that “plaintiffs seek a declaratory judgment that the Residence Rule is unconstitutional because an apportionment of members of the House of Representatives and Electoral College votes among the states based on population figures which include illegal aliens would violate § 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment, Article I, § 2’s requirement of an “actual Enumeration” of the population of the United States, and Article II, § 1 of the United States Constitution.”
The suit seeks remedy through a rather perverse – and un-Constitutional – means, making accusation that illegal aliens (aka undocumented immigrants, otherwise known as people who are here in violation of immigration law, such as Canadians, who illegally overstayed their visas, which research showed are far more abundant than Hispanics, or Mexicans, and in 2016-17 accounted for at least 93,000 – more than any other nation), and that such contravention is anathema to the purpose of the Census, which states that all people shall be counted, making no differentiation among citizens, and non-citizens… at least none that we now know of – except for the Indian thing (“excluding Indians not taxed”)… and the Three-Fifths Compromise and the 13th Amendment, which still allows slavery, albeit “except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.”
Most recently, on July 21, 2020, the White House wrote a “Memorandum for the Secretary of Commerce” which was entitled “Memorandum on Excluding Illegal Aliens From the Apportionment Base Following the 2020 Census,” and acknowledged in part that, “The Constitution does not specifically define which persons must be included in the apportionment base.” That’s interesting, because as they continue down the rabbit hole of their illogic, they conclude with the President having the final say in the Census by writing “The President, by law, makes the final determination regarding the “whole number of persons in each State,” which determines the number of Representatives to be apportioned to each State, and transmits these determinations and accompanying census data to the Congress (2 U.S.C. 2a(a)).”
However, the law which they quote 2 U.S.C. 2a(a) states in pertinent part, that “the President shall transmit to the Congress a statement showing the whole number of persons in each State…” not that the President shall make any changes, or additions.
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Tuesday, June 23, 2020
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
“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
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Thursday, June 18, 2020
The scars of slavery are apparent, and are in this nation everywhere one looks.
Most are plainly evident, some not so much.
It’s like that with mental illness.
It’s not clearly visible from the outside, and that’s because of where the damage has occurred… on the inside – of the brain.
It’s a way of thinking which sets apart mental illness from mental health.
Eventually, of course, the illness is reflected in the behavior, and that includes speech, which is an activity.
Such scars are evident ESPECIALLY and particularly in the South, where Slavery once occurred, and where states seceded from the Union in order to preserve the status quo, rather than change.
The damage is reflected in whom the majority White population votes for, and elects, to rule over them.
Again, it’s NOT plainly visible, but clearly, something IS drastically wrong, and it’s evidenced by poor policy, and bad laws.
Following are excerpts of dialogue with friends about the matter.
To Friend:
“I did something good: I made Juneteenth very famous. It’s actually an important event, an important time. But nobody had ever heard of it.”
–– U.S. Idiot in Chief Donald J. Trump to Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, June 17, 2020
Posted by Warm Southern Breeze on Wednesday, June 3, 2020
They might as well have whipped a nigger… right?
That’s the net effect of what they wrote, for it’s certainly no different from anything that ever happened in the South, and the heinously barbarian acts of racism and slavery, which they continue to glorify.
The pseudo righteous indignation of an Alabama group known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans was expressed in a letter posted to their Facebook page recently on the matter of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument in Birmingham, Alabama.
What do those clowns do?
Hold traitor night classes, run around practicing treason against the United States as Confederates, killing and whipping Blacks, advocating for slavery and secession while wearing hooded outfits with pointy hats?
Seriously.
A man identified as Carl Jones, Division Commander (whatever that is, or means) wrote a letter (Oh? They’re literate now?) which bemoaned the “thuggish and lawless attacks on the monument…”
NOTE: Here’s the beginning of a CLASSIC Straw Man Argument.
He claimed to “mourn the untimely and unnecessary death of Mr. George Floyd in Minneapolis,” and to “offer our heartfelt prayers and condolences to his family and loved ones” while neglecting to mention that the statue’s presence was an explicitly continual public reminder, and glorification of slavery. He might as well have mourned the death of Charles Manson, for all the good the “heartfelt prayers and condolences” meant to the Black community, and to others.
See the BIG BLUE TRUCK? Big Blue hauled away Birmingham’s edifice to evil.
His condemnation of “those in Birmingham” (“those” as in “you people”?) whom he falsely claimed had a hand in “the destruction of our hallowed monument” PURPOSELY and COMPLETELY IGNORED the fact that their “hallowed monument” (an onerous obelisk which was enduring evidence as an edifice to evil, and a malingering maleficence) was NOT destroyed, but rather, was gently, carefully, painstakingly, and methodically dismantled bit-by-bit, and piece-by-piece and hauled away on a flatbed trailer truck by the City of Birmingham at the resident citizens’ request.
ALEA, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, was a creation of 
THIS! is honest-to-goodness COUNTRY🥓BACON!!😋
Warm Southern Breeze 