Herschel Walker Is Simultaneously Registered To Vote in Texas & Georgia

It’s been often said that “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

So, in that case, here are six… and a couple PDFs as well.

Voter Registration records are PUBLIC INFORMATION.

Which means that ANYONE can access them for ANY REASON.

Public means public.

Here, for your perusal, are images from the website of the office of the Secretary of State of Georgia -and- of Texas of Voter Registration for Hershel Walker.

A parting thought:

Republicans, in large part, if not exclusively, have raised a ruckus claiming all sorts of fraudulent vote-related activity, most of which has to do with the actual casting of a ballot, despite abundantly overwhelming evidence to the contrary. However, as they have done in recent history, Republicans, again, have also changed many laws pertinent to voting — which includes voting registration — to make offense of them, a felony act. A felony act, by definition, is a crime for which the penalty/punishment is/can be imprisonment/incarceration for a period of NOT LESS THAN 366 days, i.e., a year and a day (excluding leap years).

Felony acts are, by their punishment, considered to be the MOST SERIOUS of CRIMINAL offenses. And so, to be certain, when states’ legislators enact law that makes a deceitful act pertinent to voting, and/or registration, they are, in effect, saying that such an act is the moral equivalent of murder, which is itself a felony act.

The proliferation of legislatures — again, mostly, if not exclusively Republican — changing punishment for existing laws which have been considered misdemeanor acts into felony offenses (that is to say, increasing the severity of punishment) has in recent history INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY. And so, it’s little wonder that in the United States, an ostensibly “free” nation, there are MORE PEOPLE INCARCERATED TOTAL -and- PER CAPITA than in any other nation the world over  — including Communist China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, and other dictatorial, authoritarian, and totalitarian  regimes COMBINED.

Yeah.

Let that soak in a while.

It’s not a joke, it’s not exaggeration, it’s not hyperbole.

It’s the unvarnished truth, and a hard, cold, fact.

Even the Department of Justice acknowledges as much which the National Institute of Corrections, a subsidiary agency of the DOJ, quoted 2014 research article “The Growth of Incarceration in the United States: Exploring Causes and Consequences” published by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine:

“After decades of stability from the 1920s to the early 1970s, the rate of imprisonment in the United States more than quadrupled during the last four decades. The U.S. penal population of 2.2 million adults is by far the largest in the world. Just under one-quarter of the world’s prisoners are held in American prisons. The U.S. rate of incarceration, with nearly 1 out of every 100 adults in prison or jail, is 5 to 10 times higher than the rates in Western Europe and other democracies. The U.S. prison population is largely drawn from the most disadvantaged part of the nation’s population: mostly men under age 40, disproportionately minority, and poorly educated. Prisoners often carry additional deficits of drug and alcohol addictions, mental and physical illnesses, and lack of work preparation or experience. The growth of incarceration in the United States during four decades has prompted numerous critiques and a growing body of scientific knowledge about what prompted the rise and what its consequences have been for the people imprisoned, their families and communities, and for U.S. society. [The report] examines research and analysis of the dramatic rise of incarceration rates and its affects. This study makes the case that the United States has gone far past the point where the numbers of people in prison can be justified by social benefits and has reached a level where these high rates of incarceration themselves constitute a source of injustice and social harm.”

Contributor(s): National Research Council; Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education; Committee on Law and Justice; Committee on Causes and Consequences of High Rates of Incarceration; Jeremy Travis, Bruce Western, and Steve Redburn, Editors

But, it’ll be interesting to see what becomes of this matter.

Will either state, Georgia, and/or Texas pursue justice?

Or, will the, again, mostly-Republican dominated state governments allow “one of their own,” i.e., the rich and famous, e.g., Herschel Walker, get off scot-free?

We’ll see.

Stay tuned.

Here are the images.

Herschel Walker campaign to Trumpublicans: Stop “deceptive fundraising” in Senate runoff

Why is Herschel Walker surprised?

Seriously… WHY?

The GOP (Grand Old Party, a Republican moniker which emerged c.1854) is no more, and is not even a mere shadow of its former self. It is LITERALLY the FGOP — Formerly Grand Old Party, or OGOP, Once Grand Old Party.

Today, it’s the POT (Party Of Trump) — a natural-born liar, swindler, cheater, chiseler, defrauder, narcissistic, racist, xenophobic, duplicitous, unpatriotic, treasonously treacherous traitor who will LITERALLY DO ANYTHING to get what he wants, everyone and everything else be damned — and his servile sycophantic boot-licking, pablum-puking puerile punks.

They’re ALL ass-kissers — as POS45 (Piece Of Shit 45) described his subservient anointed Ohio Senate candidate J.D.Vance while campaigning with him September 17, 2022 saying, “J.D. is kissing my ass he wants my support so bad“ — and mendaciously monolithic morons.

The last genuine Republican may have very well been the now-late Arizona Senator John McCain who so despised POS45 that, while in his last days on Earth, still in office and dying from glioblastoma, a brain cancer that typically kills its victims within 16 months +/-, that he gave specific orders FORBIDDING PO45 from attending his funeral.

So, for Herschel Walker, that poor fool-as-a-tool used by POS45 and the OGOP — a Black man, at that — it’s just another example of how the worthless scum who fly that elephantine banner treat Americans.

The “I love the poorly-educated” voters who cast their ballots for anything with the letter “R” beside their name (which instead ought to be a “T”), are unthinking “Concrete Block Republicans” who would literally vote for a concrete block instead of anyone in any other party, demonstrating that they’re vacuous prattling imbeciles who neither think, nor attempt to think, and very much vote for anything that flies that modern political jolly roger.

Moreover, it’s ABUNDANTLY CLEAR that PO45 will be VERY MUCH trying to buy his way back into the White House, and continues demonstrating his deliberately deceptive, swindling, chiseling, cheating ways.

It’s just pure putrid MAGA effluvium on the Trump Dump garbage scow.

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Herschel Walker’s  campaign to Republicans:
Stop〝deceptive fundraising〞in Georgia U.S. Senate runoff

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/walker-calls-gop-deceptive-fundraising-georgia-race-rcna57136
November 14, 2022, 1814 CST
By Marc Caputo

Republican politicians and associated committees are sending out desperate fundraising emails begging the GOP faithful to help save America by getting behind Herschel Walker in his Dec. 6 runoff against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in Georgia.

But what’s not immediately clear to recipients is how little of that money is going to Walker’s campaign: just a dime for every dollar given by small donors.

Walker’s campaign, which has trailed Warnock’s in fundraising throughout the election, is asking fellow Republicans to stop their fundraising practices — or at least to start sharing more with the candidate.

Herschel Walker during his Unite Georgia Bus Stop campaign rally in Norcross, GA, September 9, 2022.
Photo by Demetrius Freeman / The WaPo

“We need everyone focused onwinning the Georgia Senate race, and deceptive fundraising tactics by teams that just won their races are siphoning money away from Georgia,” said Walker’s campaign manager Scott Paradise on Monday.

“This is the last fight of 2022, and every dollar will help,” Paradise said. “The companies and consultants raising money off this need to cut it out.”

The campaign said it first noticed the problem Saturday when

Alabama Crimson Tide Loses National Championship to Georgia

Every dog has its day,

and Monday was the Georgia Bulldogs’ day.

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

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

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

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

Leading up to the SEC game, the Crimson Tide had

Yes, Georgia’s New Republican Vote Restriction Law Makes Illegal Giving Water Or Food To Voters

Many questions have arisen, and comments have been made, about Georgia’s new voting restrictions law.

Republican state legislators who wrote, passed, and signed the bill into law (Republican Governor Brian Kemp was formerly Secretary of State when he campaigned for the Governor’s office… and as a state official, oversaw his own election… nope, no conflict of interest there, eh?) continue to claim that the “integrity” and “security” of the voting systems in Georgia should be strengthened – as if they were insecure to begin with.

They were not.

The essence of what has happened, as many have observed and stated, is that since Republicans lost in the national election for President, and in the Senate election, they’re changing the rules in order to make it easier for them to win next time.

There was NO fraud, NO irregularities, NO insecurity in the Georgia election, nor in any election in the nation. Period.

So, here for your perusal, is the word-for-word reading of the law, including a screenshot of the law as passed, and

Georgia’s U.S. Senate Candidates Debate

The Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate Series featuring U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff (D), Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock (D), and Kelly Loeffler (R) is now over.

The Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate Series hosted debates between the candidates for both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats.

While Jon Ossoff and Senator David Perdue were also invited to participate, David Perdue declined participation.

Poor Jon… he had the stage all to himself. Thus, the Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff having the floor all to himself, proceeded to pummel his opponent in absentia and “debated” an empty podium, because the cowardly incumbent Banana Republican Senator David Perdue skipped out. An yet, it’s an entirely apropos picture of the coronavirus-stock-trading fraudulent Senator.

Not smart, David. Not smart at all. In fact, it’s pretty damn stupid. You lost by not showing up. In sports terms, that’s called a “forfeit,” or if you prefer pecuniary terms, a “loss given default.” Which is also probably how it’ll all go down for you, anyway. But for Jon, it’s a Credit Default Swap, and he’s the one profiting from your loss/forfeit/default.

After Ossoff’s solo performance, or soliloquy (take your pick), which was broadcast live on Georgia Public Broadcasting, and available online, on Sunday, December 6 from 7 – 8PM EST, the appointed (not anointed) Banana Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler and Reverend Raphael Warnock also participated in a debate in the same venue.

Billionairess Banana Republican Kelly Loeffler stood at the podium with her standard smirky pseudo-smile and stared straight ahead throughout the event, rarely ever making eye contact with anyone present – either the moderator, her opponent Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, or the two panelists.

But in all fairness, she did turn her head a few times – but very few.

Reverend Dr. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Atlanta’s Ebeneezer Baptist Church, formerly pastored by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and where in significant part America’s Civil Rights Movement was cultivated, was calm, cool, collected, and willingly corrected for the record the deliberate misrepresentations, twists, and outright lies that Kelly Loeffler spouted. He was certainly more animated, though not exaggerated. Loeffler, however, was more robotic, automaton-like.

Warnock pointed out that, aside from campaigning, Loeffler had not visited any of Georgia’s rural areas, or small towns during the brief 10-month period of her appointment to office by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. He contrasted himself with her lackadaisical and purposeful ignorance of her constituency by

Kelly Loeffler Field Staffer Harrison Deal Killed In Fiery 3-Car Crash on I-16 Near Savannah, GA

Placing matters of campaigning, party politics, and policy differences aside, this is a horrific tragedy which is simply unimaginable in scope.

I would hope that the Democratic candidates for Georgia’s 2 open Senate seats would acknowledge this tragedy, and express their sympathy for the family, friends, and loved ones of the decedent.

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Harrison Deal, a 20-year old student at The University of Georgia, and Field Campaign Staffer for the incumbent appointed Senator Kelly Loeffler, was killed in a horrific and fiery 3-car crash on Friday, December 4, 2020 on eastbound I-16 near the Pooler, Georgia exit around 10AM EST.

Harrison Deal, a 20-year old student at The University of Georgia, and Field Staffer with Georgians for Kelly Loeffler since July 2020, was killed in a fiery 3-car crash on eastbound I-16 in Pooler, Georgia near the Pooler Parkway exit Friday, December 4, 2020, around 10 AM EST.

Pooler is a small town nearly 15 miles NW of Savanah, in Chatham County, Georgia.

Pooler Police Department responders on scene reported 3 cars completely engulfed in flames, and stated Pooler had died in the crash. Three others were treated on site for minor injuries.

All eastbound lanes of I-16 were closed for

Trump/GOP Vote Count Schizophrenia Is Mental Illness Defined

Schizophrenia is a mental illness which is not fully understood, but is diagnosed by the presence of symptoms, many of which are unique to the disease, but by no means exclusive. Delusions (unshakable belief in something untrue), hallucinations (actual perceptions, not imagined, originating in the absence of a real object, either auditory, visual, olfactory, tactile, etc.), withdrawal from reality, and disorganized patterns of thinking and speech are among the most remarkable, and readily identifiable symptoms of schizophrenia.

Colloquially, most laypersons would note delusions and and hallucinations as the most renown symptoms of schizophrenia, and while they are correct, they often add paranoia (irrational distrust or suspicion of others), thus, in their estimation, “delusions” often become “paranoid delusions.” But again, because schizophrenia is a heterogeneous disease (consisting of dissimilar elements or parts, i.e., miscellaneous), paranoia doesn’t always accompany the diagnosis of schizophrenia.

Schizoaffective disorder is a very similarly related mental health condition which is characterized by a combination of schizophrenia symptoms, such as hallucinations or delusions, as well as mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania. And typically, treatment of schizoaffective disorder combines treatment for both symptoms – mood disorder, and schizoid features.

But the point being, it is the schizoid feature of delusion upon which I wish to focus, because it is perhaps the most renown, and most common.

At its core, delusions are strong beliefs in something that is untrue. And when I use the term “belief,” I mean specifically to refer to the level of personal, mental confidence – acceptance or conviction of the validity, or truth of something – that an individual possesses in something, some idea, some thought, theory, or tenet, that is as yet, largely unproven. And while I remain a critic and detractor of the Wikipedia website for numerous reasons, I will use this definition of delusion found upon the site because I find it inclusively succinct.

“A delusion is a fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, or some other misleading effects of perception.”

For example, while it is untrue that the Earth is flat, there remains at least one “Flat Earth Society” whose members are adherents to the false, and disproven notion that the Earth is flat, rather than ball-shaped, or round. Thus, anyone who holds to that idea, is deluded.

And being so deluded in the presence of overwhelming and irrefutable abundance of evidence to the contrary, it would call into question the mental stability of the individual(s) holding forth that disproven and false idea as true, when it is so blatantly and obviously not true.

So it is with the GOP,
Donald John Trump,
and his cult-like supporters.

They are deluded, and their mental condition is immediately suspect.

Bluntly, they are sick.

If you don’t laugh after reading the headlines below and see the utter hypocrisy of the GOP… you may be a Trumper.

Those mofos just can’t be pleased.

Seriously.

They can’t.

First, they want the vote counting in Pennsylvania stopped… because.

Yes, because.

When the Montgomery County, Pennsylvania judge asked the Trump/GOP lawyers if they were alleging fraud… here’s the transcript from the oral argument:

THE COURT: In your petition, which is right before me — and I read it several times — you don’t claim that any electors or the Board of the County were guilty of fraud, correct? That’s correct?

MR. GOLDSTEIN: Your Honor, accusing people of fraud is a pretty big step. And it is rare that I call somebody a liar, and I am not calling the Board of the DNC or anybody else involved in this a liar. Everybody is coming to this with good faith. The DNC is coming with good faith. We’re all just trying to get an election done. We think these were a mistake, but we think they are a fatal mistake, and these ballots ought not be counted.

THE COURT: I understand. I am asking you a specific question, and I am looking for a specific answer. Are you claiming that there is any fraud in connection with these 592 disputed ballots?

MR. GOLDSTEIN: To my knowledge at present, no.

THE COURT: Are you claiming that there is any undue or improper influence upon the elector with respect to these 592 ballots?

MR. GOLDSTEIN: To my knowledge at present, no.

So the President’s own lawyers are not alleging fraud – at least not in Pennsylvania.

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And now, we turn to Georgia, where the Associated Press has maintained silence on “calling” the race for either candidate, simply because it’s still “too close to call.”

Amidst that cacophony, the state’s Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensberger, has announced a “pre-emptive” move, of sorts, to not only canvass the count, and statistically sample it as well by performing a risk limiting audit, but as part of that process, they’re going to perform a manual, by-hand count of every single ballot cast in the Presidential race in Georgia. That means, that every single, solitary ballot will be touched by human hands to physically examine them for the vote cast in the Presidential race.

Of note, there are some conditions that, if one does not understand the terms, lack of understanding the phenomenon could be deliberately twisted to deceive the public. Those two most common events are called “undervote” and “overvote,” and describe the condition in which a voter does not cast a vote for a particular race (or may vote for more than one, though that now rarely occurs), but votes for other candidates or measures on the ballot. So, for example, in a given sample of 100 ballots examined, not all 100 voters will have cast ballots in every race. For the purpose of illustration, let’s say there is a grand total of 5 candidates and measures upon the ballot. Not all 100 voters will cast a ballot (make a decision upon) all 5 races. Some will, though not all will.

Thus, it’s entirely possible, and quite likely, that each race will have some “undervotes,” which are the number of voters who chose not to cast a ballot in those particular races. So, in Race 1, there could be 90 votes cast (70 + 20 for a+b), while in Race 2, there could be 100 votes cast (60+40 for a+b), and in Race 3, there could be 60 votes cast (50+10 for a+b), while in Race 4 there could be 98 votes cast (90+8 for a+b), and in Race 5, there could be 20 ballots cast (15+5 for a+b).

The results would look like this:

Hypothetical Election

Using an example of 100 total voters, this is to show that not all voters cast ballots in every race, and how to account for the discrepancies in the individual races.

Race/Question	Votes a/b		Votes Cast a+b	Undervotes	TOTAL VC+U
Race 1	90	10	100	0	100
Race 2	70	10	80	20	100
Race 3	10	60	70	30	100
Race 4	15	85	100	0	100
Race 5	30	31	61	39	100

 

Secretary Raffensberger announced that the Presidential contest will undergo a risk-limiting audit, which requires a full by-hand recount in each of Georgia’s 159 counties, and said “It will be an audit, a recount and a recanvass all at once. It will be a heavy lift.”

Secretary Raffensberger said that 97 of Georgia’s 159 counties have submitted their final tallies from the election to his office, and that the margin of victory for Democratic Presidential candidate Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has increased to 14,111 over the incumbent Republican President Donald John Trump.

Trump’s campaign and the Georgia Republican Party sent a letter to Secretary Raffensberger on Tuesday, November 10, 2020 requesting a manual hand recount of all ballots cast in the state before his office certifies the election results. In their letter, the Trump campaign and Georgia state GOP allege unspecified voting discrepancies and errors at unmentioned locations in the state, and failed to provide any evidence to substantiate their claim.

In one case, the GOP & Cult of Trump want the counting stopped. In another, they want it to continue, and in yet another, they got what they wanted before they asked, and now they don’t like it.

What is it with those sick bastards, eh?

Seriously.

What IS their major malfunction?

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ajc.com

Recount process in Ga. faces objections from Trump, GOP

by Mark Niesse, Tamar Hallerman, Amanda C. Coyne

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The recount aims to verify election results reported so far in Georgia, where 16 electoral votes are at stake. Joe Biden held a 14,000-vote lead over Donald Trump as of Thursday morning.

Elections workers across the state are expected to work through the weekend to finish the labor-intensive task before the deadline.

Here’s what you need to know:

6:53 p.m.

Trump, Republicans complain about recount procedures

President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Georgia Republican Party raised objections Thursday to the state’s recount process, saying it doesn’t satisfy their demands for a hand count.

They wrote in a letter to their fellow Republican, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, that they have “serious concerns regarding the training and directives” for how the hand count will be conducted.

The letter seeks a re-review of absentee ballot signatures because the number of ballot rejections reported so far is lower than in the 2018 election. Ballot rejections declined in part because Georgia law changed to eliminate the requirement for voters to write in their birth years or addresses on ballot envelopes, instead only mandating their signatures.

In addition, the Republicans sought greater access for partisan monitors, more public notice before the recount begins Friday and strengthened ballot security protocols.

The secretary of state’s office gave no indication it plans to change recount procedures.

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia’s voting system manager, said Thursday that the process will be safe.

“This office spends a heck of a lot of time on making sure that the equipment involved is secure,” Sterling said. “The decentralized nature of votes in Georgia is a security measure in and of itself. It’s 159 counties. There’s not a single target.”

Explore5 million ballots from 159 counties: How the Georgia recount will be done

5:38 p.m.

Fulton set to start recount Saturday morning

The county with the most votes in Georgia will begin its state-ordered recount on Saturday.

Fulton County will count by hand its 528,000 presidential ballots, which accounts for about 10.5% of the state’s entire tally.

The county sent a news release early Thursday evening saying the count will start Saturday at 7 a.m. and “continue daily” from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Wednesday.

The audit will be conducted “within public view” of the public, press and assigned party monitors, according to the news release. The tallying with be livestreamed, and the county is calling upon about 300 people to count ballots.

Read more about Fulton’s plans here.

3:10 p.m.

Gwinnett to begin recount Friday morning

Gwinnett County is still finalizing the details for its manual recount, but elections officials have set the start time for 9 a.m. Friday, in part because they have to set up tables and equipment to accommodate the count.

Gwinnett has more than 416,000 votes to count by hand over the course of six days. The process will occur in the county elections warehouse, said county spokesman Joe Sorenson.

The county isn’t yet sure how many people it’ll need to complete the recount by the Wednesday midnight deadline, or how long officials will have to work each day, Sorenson said. Elections department employees and poll workers are expected to conduct the count, and local political parties can appoint official observers to watch the process.

Read more about Gwinnett’s plans here.

2:55 p.m.

DeKalb plans to start recount Saturday, Fulton details TBD

Our colleague Tyler Estep reports that DeKalb County plans to begin its manual recount of the presidential election at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had said counties should begin their work by 9 a.m. Friday. But DeKalb elections director Erica Hamilton said during a Thursday afternoon elections board meeting that more time is needed to get things in order.

“There’s a lot of coordination which has to occur,” county attorney Viviane Ernstes said, referencing public safety measures and “the sanctity of moving those boxes” of ballots.

Hamilton said the plan is for the recount to take place from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day at the former Sam’s Club building off Turner Hill Road in Stonecrest until the work is complete. The plan is to utilize two shifts of 150 poll workers, who will work in pairs to complete the separating and counting of ballots.

Meanwhile, few details were available about the recount in Fulton County, the state’s largest trove of voters. A Fulton spokeswoman said the county was creating its plan and expected to release details later Thursday.

2:35 p.m.

Helpful primer on Georgia’s recount system

In case you have any lingering questions about how Georgia’s recount process will work, here’s a really digestible (and cute) primer the Secretary of State’s office showed county elections officials this morning:

The video was made by the organization VotingWorks, an election audit software company working with the state.

2:13 p.m.

Recount process explained

Many metro Atlanta counties are still determining when they’ll begin manually recounting hundreds of thousands of votes. They must do so by 9 a.m. Friday, the state’s mandatory start time.

Cobb County will begin the process at 9 a.m. Friday at the Jim Miller Park Event Center in Marietta. Gwinnett County expects to start at 9 a.m. in its elections warehouse. But Clayton, DeKalb and Fulton counties had not announced their timelines by 1 p.m. Thursday.

The count will involve dozens of elections department workers and poll officials, and it will likely last through the weekend and into next week.

Votes will be recounted in batches of 100 or less, with a two-person audit board handling each batch. Most counties will have multiple audit boards running at once to expedite the process. The state will recommend how many each should have in order to finish the count by the Wednesday midnight deadline.

“I want you to be very deliberate in your counting,” Vander Roest said. “Take your time.”

Each audit board will work at its own table, where staffers will stack the ballots by candidate. There will be separate stacks for votes for President Donald Trump, President-elect Joe Biden, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen, write-in candidates and ballots with no presidential vote or an “overvote” — when a voter selects more than one candidate in a race requiring a single choice. Both members of the audit team should be counting together to verify the accuracy of their count, said Ginny Vander Roest, an election implementation manager with election audit software company VotingWorks.

Once each batch is complete, vote totals will be logged and ballots will be moved to secure containers for safekeeping.

“These ballots are the currency of the election,” Chris Harvey, the state’s elections director, said in a Thursday training webinar. “They need to be protected at all times.”

Monica Childers, a product manager with VotingWorks, recommended counties start with absentee ballots first before moving on to votes cast in person during early voting and on Election Day. Absentee ballots are filled out by hand, while early and Election Day votes are cast using machines. That means absentee ballots will likely be less uniform and may need closer scrutiny if a voter’s choice is not obvious. A superintendent will be designated to break ties if the members of an audit board disagree about a ballot.

Audit boards are only checking for presidential vote selection; they are not counting any down-ballot races or verifying signatures.

1:51 p.m.

Secretary of state self-quarantining

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is self-quarantining after his wife tested positive for COVID-19, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Raffensperger, 65, will get tested himself this afternoon. His exposure comes as the state is beginning a manual recount of more than 5 million presidential ballots. Counties were able to begin the process Thursday afternoon, and must start by Friday at 9 a.m. The recount must be finished Wednesday at midnight. Raffensperger will likely still be quarantining by then, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a 14-day quarantine period for anyone who has had close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

 

11/11/2020 — Atlanta, Georgia — Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks with Georgia county elections directors without a face mask following a press briefing outside of the Georgia State Capitol building in downtown Atlanta, Wednesday, November 11, 2020. (Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com)

Credit: Alyssa Pointer / Alyssa.Pointer@ajc.com

1:02 p.m.

Georgia prepares for hand recount

The large, statewide hand recount of the nearly 5 million ballots cast in Georgia’s presidential race must start in every county by Friday morning and finish by Wednesday at midnight, state election officials said Thursday.

The recount aims to verify election results reported so far in Georgia. Joe Biden held a 14,000-vote lead over Donald Trump as of Thursday morning.

“The sooner you can get this started, the easier this will go,” said Monica Childers, a product manager with election audit software company VotingWorks, on a Thursday training call.

Elections workers across the state are expected to work through the weekend in order finish before the deadline.

“Frankly, I don’t see how many people cannot work on the weekends to get this done,” said Elections Director Chris Harvey.

Teams of election workers will check voters choices for each candidate and report results.

The recount will require human review of nearly 5 million ballots, stacked into piles sorted for each candidate and then tallied in each county.

Georgia has never conducted a statewide recount of paper ballots before, and it wasn’t possible before this year when the state added paper ballots to the process. Previous recounts were conducted by recalculating vote counts stored on computers.

The recount is certain to be a labor-intensive process starting just eight days before the Nov. 20 deadline for Georgia’s final results to be certified by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. At stake are Georgia’s 16 votes in the Electoral College, which is scheduled to meet to cast votes for president Dec. 14.

Explore Hand recount moves ahead under interpretation of Georgia election rules

Raffensperger announced the recount Wednesday following demands from Trump’s defenders and calls for his resignation from his fellow Republicans, Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.

Details of how the recount will be conducted were expected to be announced Thursday morning. Then county election officials can begin.

Observers from the Republican and Democratic parties will be present to oversee the process.

The recount will be conducted under Georgia’s new audit rules, which require election workers to review the printed text or filled-in bubbles on each ballot. Ballots won’t be rescanned by computers.

See AJC.com for updates.

Alabama Proves To America Racism IS Alive And Well

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

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

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

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propublica.org

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Is DUI Worthy Of Death?

America’s historical laxity on DWI/DUI is infamous.

In some nations, as recently as 1978/9, anecdote suggests that DUI offenders in some nations may have been summarily executed… without trial.

But civilization, you know.

And due process.

There’s something to be said for them both.

And yet, due process is NOT laxity on law.

Consider some contemporary penalties for inebriated drivers in other nations:

• In Australia, the names of intoxicated drivers are sent to the local paper and are printed under the heading: “He’s drunk and in jail”.
• In England, drunk drivers face a one-year suspension of license, a $250 fine, and one year in jail.
• In France, there is a three-year loss of license, one year in jail, and a $1,000 fine.
• In Malaysia, the driver is jailed. If he is married, his wife is jailed, too.
• In Norway, the penalty is three weeks in jail at hard labor and one year loss of license. With a second offense within five years, the license is revoked for life.In Russia, the license is revoked for life.
• In South Africa, the penalty is a ten-year prison sentence and the equivalent of $10,000 fine, or both.
• In Turkey, drunks are taken ten miles from town by the police and forced to walk back under escort.

Nevertheless, that I’m aware, there’s little-to-no evidence to suggest that DUI is a capital offense – at least in America.

Or, is there?

There’s the late Rayshard Brooks of Atlanta, you know.

He was summarily executed – shot in the back – by Atlanta police officers for DUI.

Yeah.

And he wasn’t even driving.

That’s an “inconvenient truth” which some don’t want to talk about.

And then, I think about what John Adams (1735 – 1826) – American Diplomat, 2nd POTUS, father of John Quincy Adams, and “founding father” of the United States – said at a December 1770 mass murder trial in which he was the Attorney for the Defense.

“Facts are stubborn things;
and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations,
or the dictates of our passion,
they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

— John Adams, statement made in “Argument in Defense of the Soldiers in the Boston Massacre Trials,” December 1770

At the time, Adams was aged 35.

And the defendants whom were accused of murder?

They were British soldiers of the 29th Regiment under the command an Irishman, Captain Thomas Preston.

Along with 4 civilians, the soldiers accused of murder were William Wemms, James Hartigan, William McCauley, Hugh White, Matthew Kilroy, William Warren, John Carrol and Hugh Montgomery.

The deceased victims of the event colloquially known as the “Boston Massacre” were Samuel Gray, Samuel Maverick, James Coldwell and Crispus Attucks, all who died immediately. Patrick Carr, who was wounded, died 9 days later.

The circumstances of the situation were that, late on the night of Monday, March 5, 1770, a crowd had gathered in front of the Customs House and confronted 8 British soldiers and Captain Preston. The soldiers, armed with muskets fitted with bayonets, formed a semi-circle as the crowd dared them to shoot. The scene was tense, and an unknown man in the crowd threw a club which struck a soldier, whereupon a shot was fired, which was followed by about 6 seconds of silence, followed by a volley of several shots. Many were wounded, including some who died instantly.

Enraged that troops under his command had fired without his order, Captain Preston commanded them to cease fire. Upon restoration of order, the troops departed the scene unscathed, leaving the peaceful civilian protesters feeling powerless.

Shortly, additional reinforcement British troops arrived on scene, which again escalated tensions, which had been significantly reduced following Captain Preston’s orders. Violence again seemed impending, but when Thomas Hutchinson made a quick speech from the balcony of the Town House guaranteeing that Captain Preston and his troops would be tried in court, the peaceful protesters were assuaged, the situation was thereby de-escalated, and the crowd dispersed.

According to the magistrate’s order, Captain Preston and the eight soldiers were to be tried separately.

John Adams headed the defense team, and with Josiah Quincy, the younger brother of

The Lost Cause is the Root Cause of Violence Against Blacks

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

Cops kill with impunity.

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

There is NO justice in this land.

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

Tuesday, November 3, 2020 marks the day.

That’s the day of the General Election.

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

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

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

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

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

The facts of that case were that following the sound of

This is what revolution looks like.

When I think about all those sissified wanna-be “macho men” White boys in Michigan and other places running around with their assault rifles hanging off them like penises in a porno movie talking all kinds of shit, that 2A is supposed to protect us from an oppressive government, etc…

You’ll note one very interesting thing here.

No guns among the people.

When he activated the Ohio National Guard, Republican Governor Mike DeWine said,

Republican Coronavirus Bullshittery Abounds

Lawmakers’ Stock Trades and Other Virus Outrages

Some lawmakers have a lot of explaining to do. Plus, punishing poor people and shaping up the cruise-ship industry.

By Joe Nocera 3/20/2020, 10:47:09 AM

Joe Nocera is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering business. He has written business columns for Esquire, GQ and the New York Times, and is the former editorial director of Fortune. His latest project is the Bloomberg-Wondery podcast “The Shrink Next Door.”

————
Of the many things taking place in Washington that make your blood boil, the — how should I put this? — timely stock trades by senators during the coronavirus outbreak has to go right to the top of the list. Two of them have tried to explain them away, but the details are just so… suspicious.

At least three Republicans and one Democrat 1 sold stock before the country got serious about Covid-19, but let’s focus on one: Kelly Loeffler.

A Republican from Georgia, Loeffler has been in the Senate for less than three months; she was appointed to fill the seat of Senator Johnny Isakson, who retired early for health reasons. She has a Wall Street background — she was in investor relations at the New York Stock Exchange, where she married the boss, Jeffrey Sprecher, the Chief Executive Cfficer of Intercontinental Exchange Inc., which owns NYSE

On Jan. 24, Loeffler attended a Senate briefing on the coronavirus, which she tweeted about. That same day, she and her husband began selling stock. By the time they were finished, they had dumped 27 companies, including Exxon Mobil and AutoZone, saving millions of dollars when the market later tanked. (Senate financial disclosure forms don’t give exact numbers.)

A month later, she sent out this tweet:

Trump wants GA Rep. Doug Collins for DNI?

Representative Doug Collins (GA-9, R) of Gainesville, is the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Numerous reports have stated that POS45 is considering Georgia’s U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, a Republican of Gainesville to become the next Director of National Intelligence.

But Collins has publicly rejected that idea, and said to Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network on Friday, 21 February 2020 that, “this is not a job that interests me; at this time it’s not one that I would accept because

Once upon a time in Atlanta…

For breakfast, I ate a Russet potato which was steamed in the pressure cooker for about 10 minutes. It was kept out of the water by placing it in a basket placed atop a trivet inside the stove-top cooker.

Most often, in any pressure cooker, the food being cooked rests in the water. However, I wanted to find out what the food would be like if it did not.

The potato had been thoroughly cleansed and rinsed in the usual manner some weeks earlier, which for me, includes a capful of common, unscented, household bleach in addition to Dawn® brand liquid dishwashing soap.

My general rule is, all fresh fruit and vegetables get that treatment because:

1.) You don’t know how many people handled it at the store having not washing their hands after toileting, and;

2.) You don’t know about the conditions in which it was grown, if e.coli or other really bad cooties might have been present, or if it “picked up” something in transit.

While recalls of vegetables tainted with e.coli or other pathological bacteria are neither rare, nor common, per se, they are ONLY on the outside of the food, never within. So, every vegetable – including green leafy ones – tubers, and fruits of all kinds – are all

Voting Problems Exist Because There’s No National Uniform Voting Standards Law

Cindy McCain, widow of late Arizona Republican Senator John McCain (1936-2018)

Cindy McCain, widow of late Republican Arizona Senator John McCain, on Thursday, November 8, 2018 criticized the Arizona GOP about a state GOP-initiated lawsuit over counting mail-in ballots by Tweeting, “@AZGOP I am one of those mail in ballots. I was under the impression my vote was always counted.”

Her Tweet was in response to the Arizona GOP’s efforts to get a judge to issue orders to stop counting mail-in ballots in the race for US Senate to fill the seat being vacated by Jeff Flake, a Republican. The two candidates, Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Kyrsten Sinema find themselves in extremely close competition.

 

 

Both candidates are also Arizona Congressional Representatives. Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has represented the 9th Congressional District, while Republican Martha McSally has represented the 2nd Congressional District.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/415894-cindy-mccain-rips-arizona-gop-for-suing-over-counting-mail-in-ballots-i-am

In court Thursday morning November 8, 2018, state Republican leaders were challenging mail-in ballots in Yuma, Navajo, Apache and Maricopa counties after the GOP parties in those counties filed a lawsuit challenging the way counties verify signatures on mail-in ballots that are dropped off at the polls on Election Day. The lawsuit did NOT allege any type of fraud.

The US Census Bureau estimated the 2017 population of Apache County as 71,606; Navajo County as 108,956; Yuma County as 207,534; and Maricopa County as 4,307,033. Maricopa County is location of the Phoenix–Mesa–Glendale, AZ Metropolitan Statistical Area. Together, those four counties comprise 66.9% of Arizona’s 7,016,270 estimated 2017 population.

Maricopa County Judge Margaret R. Mahoney

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Margaret Mahoney ruled that the counties should continue doing what they’re doing, and set another hearing for 2 p.m. Friday. And as of Friday morning, Sinema had a 9,000 vote lead over McSally. However, by Friday afternoon, her lead had expanded to over 20,000 votes.

When the two parties met in court, there was little fanfare, no grandstanding, and no contentious sparks flew, so it made for very poor political theatre, though others nationally attempted to inject false explosive allegations and deceptive narratives into the matter by deliberately gross mischaracterization.

The primary point of the suit involved a much more mundane matter, and specifically, the legal challenge was focused upon on a lack of procedural consistency in the time frame that counties allowed voters to correct signature “issues” on mail-in ballots.

And in only a matter of minutes after the AZ GOP held a grandstanding news/press conference in which they made accusation saying, “The Democrats are stealing the election and we’re not going to allow it,” and immediately before the court hearing, all of the counties and the Republican groups had come to an agreement, which Judge Mahoney approved with no fanfare.

The settlement, was that all of Arizona’s 15 counties would allow voters to verify the signatures on their ballots through 5 p.m. on Nov. 14.

Martha McSally, R-AZ

Kyrsten Sinema, D-AZ

And the overriding irony of the matter, is that the counties whose election practices they ended up changing, were largely run by Republicans.

As of Saturday, 10 November, the Democrat Kyrsten Sinema still had about a 20,000 vote lead over Republican Martha McSally, according to The Arizona Republic, online as AZCentral, which is the state’s most-widely circulated newspaper.

There were also an estimated 360,000 outstanding ballots still being counted statewide. Of those, an estimated 266,000 are from Maricopa County.

For now, Sinema is leading in Maricopa and Pima counties by a net 83,652 votes. McSally’s lead in the state’s other 13 counties is 65,113.

Arizona’s protracted vote-count is due in large part to the need to verify signatures for those who vote by mail, which represents the bulk of ballots.

So far, the Democrat Sinema is winning the Republican-leaning Maricopa County by 3.3 percentage points.

One reason the race and ballot count is so hotly contested, is because the Republicans are in jeopardy of losing a Senate seat in the state for the first time in 30 years. As well, what also makes this race particularly interesting, is that Maricopa County has traditionally been a GOP stronghold, where Republicans outnumber Democrats by 130,000.

But, in essence, here’s a nut of what’s been happening not only there, but in other states, as well.

In some states, there are so-called “exact match” laws, rules, or regulations concerning the signatures of voters who cast absentee, or mail-in ballots, and in essence, those “exact match” laws, rules, or regulations give broad discretion to anyone counting those ballots to exercise their personal opinion – untrained, non-expert, unscientific independent judgment – about someone’s signature, specifically, whether they believe it was signed by the person who attested to signing it, or not. In other words, no expertise is required.

That is problematic for several reasons, not the least of which is that

Attorney, Entrepreneur, Banker Donald V. Watkins Offers POTUS Trump Advice

Donald V. Watkins is an American Attorney, Entrepreneur, and Banker.

Update: Saturday, 20 February 2021
NOTE: TO THE READER: As you read any story mentioning, involving or written by Donald V. Watkins, Sr., it must be borne in mind that he is now a Federal Convict, and along with his son, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., was found guilty of numerous 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.” As of the date of this note, he is in Federal Custody at Oklahoma City Federal Transfer Center, an administrative security facility, having been relocated away from the minimum security Federal Prison Camp on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

DONALD V. WATKINS
Register Number: 36223-001
Age:	72
Race:	Black
Sex:	Male
Located at: Oklahoma City FTC
Release Date: 01/10/2024

Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Alabama
FATHER AND SON SENTENCED TO PRISON IN MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR INVESTMENT FRAUD SCHEME
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndal/pr/father-and-son-sentenced-prison-multimillion-dollar-investment-fraud-scheme

Here also is the SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT dated December 2018 entitled as:
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA SOUTHERN DIVISION, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. DONALD V. WATKINS, SR. and DONALD V. WATKINS, JR. – 2:18-cr-166-KOB-TMP
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1116081/download

See also: Donald Watkins, Son Sentenced For Federal Fraud Convictions
Updated Jul 16, 2019; Posted Jul 16, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/07/donald-watkins-son-to-be-sentenced-for-federal-fraud-convictions.html

See also: Donald Watkins’ $1.5 Billion Question: Was It Ever Real?
Updated Feb 23, 2019; Posted Feb 23, 2019
https://www.al.com/news/2019/02/donald-watkins-15-billion-question-was-it-ever-real.html

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Donald V. Watkins is an American Attorney, Entrepreneur and Banker.

–––//–––

March 26, 2017

Open Letter to President Donald J. Trump

Dear President Trump,

I am a longtime political independent who cherishes America’s form of participatory democracy. Even though my ancestors were slaves who worked on plantations in Mississippi, my parents, siblings and other relatives finally got a chance to vote after Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act in 1965 and President Lyndon Johnson signed it. I have even held elective office within this democracy.

I believed in America when I could not drink from public water fountains or use bathrooms that were reserved for “Whites Only”. I did not sit in an integrated classroom until I entered college at Southern Illinois University in 1966. I attended law school at the University of Alabama from 1970 to 1973 on a desegregation scholarship awarded to me by the national office of the NAACP. I arrived on campus a full year before any black athlete played on a sports team at the University.

Donald Trump, 45th United States President, official portrait

When I started practicing law in 1973, a few diehard segregationists in Alabama’s court system openly referred to me as the “nigger lawyer from Montgomery” during official court proceedings. I was not addressed as “Attorney Watkins” or “Mr. Watkins” in these courtrooms until sometime in 1976. A few judges just barked out instruction to me without ever looking me in the eyes or addressing me as a human being.

I got through all of these degrading experiences by focusing on the American flag in each courtroom I entered. To me,

The Power of One Small Idea: How Alabama could hit a home run WITHOUT raising taxes in the budget crisis.

Creativity is in short supply in Monkeytown, Alabama.

I refer, of course, to Montgomery.

And to be certain, there is a backstory on the nickname.

Seems the Montgomery Zoo was originally located in Oak Park, and then named Oak Park Zoo. The zoo also had an island of monkeys, which once escaped. Hence, the nick name.

For what it’s worth, the Montgomery City Planetarium, formerly known as Gayle Planetarium, is also located in Oak Park. I encourage you to go there, sometime! I have.

But back to the creativity thing.

Alabama is in dire straits fiscally. But, then again, that’s nothing new. Governor Bentley has promised (and broken) numerous pledges in his first & second campaigns. The one bothering most folks is the “read my lips… no new taxes” promise he unwisely made while campaigning for a second term.

It may not be the lie the second time around, as much as it is the entire deception thing from the get-go. Because he, the AL GOP, and the entire Legislature knew all about this well in advance. They knew there would come a day when the monies they “borrowed” from the Alabama Trust Fund must be repaid. That day has come… and is now gone. They’re essentially reneging on their promise, which not only makes them liars, but thieves as well, since money is involved.

So, you’re damn skippy the people are hopping mad!

Again, to be certain, Alabama is in a

Philip Lutzenkirchen Autopsy: Blood Alcohol Content 0.377

This is indeed tragic news, a permanent stain of shame awash a wave of indignation.

To put things in perspective, Blood Alcohol Content is expressed in percentages and abbreviated as BAC. In medical terminology, it measures a concentration ratio of blood to ethanol alcohol (beverage alcohol).

So, BAC of 0.10 (which is 0.10%, or one tenth of one percent) would be written as BAC 0.1, and would mean there is 0.10 g (gram) of alcohol present in every deciLiter (dL) of blood.

So in other words, with a BAC of 0.377 Mr. Lutzenkirchen was EXCEEDINGLY DRUNK, quite possibly even to the point of alcoholic toxicosis (alcohol poisoning), and very possibly, unconsciousness.

There is no doubt he was a beloved collegiate athletic figure.

For him to die in such an undignified manner… I have no words.

There are four very sorrowful lessons which may be learned in this tragedy:
1.) FRONT OR BACK, ALWAYS WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT;
2.) NEVER EVER DRIVE INTOXICATED;
3.) NEVER EVER ALLOW ANYONE INTOXICATED TO DRIVE, and;
4.) NEVER EVEN THINK ABOUT RIDING WITH AN INTOXICATED DRIVER.

***

UPDATE: Friday, 08August2014; Add Linked Story

Philip Lutzenkirchen, aged 23, Auburn University great Tight End #43 & Ian Davis, U of Georgia athlete killed in wreck ejection

—

Philip Lutzenkirchen and driver were legally drunk in deadly crash, according to toxicology report

By Brandon Marcello | bmarcello@al.com
@bmarcello on Twitter
on August 06, 2014 at 9:45 AM, updated August 06, 2014 at 10:29 AM

AUBURN, Alabama – Former Auburn star Philip Lutzenkirchen and the driver of the vehicle that crashed on June 30 and resulted in their deaths were both legally drunk, according to documents released Wednesday.

Wesleyan’s Ian Davis (5) steals second base in a game vs. Greater Atlanta Christian School on March 25, 2008, in Norcross. (Jason Getz / AJC) Davis was the driver of a vehicle in a multiple-fatality crash in the early morning hours of June 29, 2014. The vehicle failed to stop at a stop sign and traveled approximately 451 feet before overturning several times in a church yard, according to Georgia State Patrol. Davis and former Auburn Tigers tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen died in the crash. Photo by Jason Getz.

Joseph Ian Davis, the driver, registered a blood alcohol content level of

Big Beer Still Bets on Lager

If you’re a beer drinker, if you enjoy quaffing the suds, a cold one after work, or on a summer day, you may be interested to know that Anheuser-Busch (now Anheuser-Busch InBev), Molson, Coors (now MolsonCoors), Miller (now SABMiller) are NOT American-owned companies.

That’s right.

They’re foreign-owned, multinational corporations – every one.

The Craft Brew Beer industry in America is the antithesis of Big Beer, which in large part, developed as a result of consistently poor quality products made by Big Beer, and their inattention to customers. The emergence of me-too wanna’ be ‘craft brewed beers’ made by Big Beer is a sure sign that they’ve noticed what’s happening – a reduction in beer consumption, i.e., their sales.

Those sales have gone to micro & craft brewed beer, and their American-made, locally-sourced mom & pop competitors.

More power to locally sourced craft brewed beers!

Cheers!

***

Why Lager Is the Future of Craft Beer

BY Jason Notte | 06/19/14 – 10:00 AM EDT

PORTLAND, Ore. (TheStreet) — Small craft brewers and the craft divisions of huge international breweries can talk about wheat beers, shandies and even IPA all they’d like: This is still lager country.

Despite recent gains by craft beer and recent shifts by Anheuser-Busch InBev, MolsonCoors and SABMiller toward brands including Blue Moon, Shock Top, Goose Island and Leinenkugel’s, the overwhelming majority of beer sold in this country is lager or some derivative thereof. It’s been so relentless and pervasive that even hard-line craft beer advocates have begun embracing it in its light, familiar form.

Consider that MolsonCoors/SABMiller’s MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev still sell about 74% of the beer this nation drinks. Consider further that Corona and Heineken make up roughly another 10% of that market. Throw Pabst, Modelo and newly “craft” brewer Yuengling into the equation and 18 of the 20 best-selling beers in the U.S. are some form of either lager or pilsner.

You can argue that most are losing sales — and many including Budweiser, Bud Light, Miller Lite and Busch are. But import brands including Heinkeken, Corona and Modelo saw sales rise even during the recession. The same holds true for Coors Light, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Yuengling, with each posting double-digit percentage point gains in 2012 alone, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.

The problem isn’t lager, but the overall beer market. The Treasury Department’s Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau reported a 1.5% decrease in overall beer sales and a 2.6-million barrel loss in beer production. That’s basically akin to shutting down Boston Beer’s Samuel Adams brand (which produced 2.7 million barrels in 2012) for an entire year. Beer consumption overall has fallen in four of the past five years, with many of the slumping mainstream brands responsible for the damage. That has reduced reduced beer’s share of the overall alcohol market from 55% in 2000 to 49% in 2012. Meanwhile, craft beer volume increased by an estimated 15% last year, with imports putting up roughly 5% growth.

The Beer Institute, a beer industry organization based in Washington, points out that

*!* ATTENTION ALABAMA RESIDENTS *!*

Please continue to fund out-of-state K-12 schools, and send Tennessee, Georgia & Florida kids to college by purchasing Tennessee, Georgia & Florida Lottery tickets.

• Today, in Tennessee, over 100,000 students benefit annually, and Republican Governor Bill Haslam signed a bill written by Republican TN legislators which will pay for 2 years of community/junior/technical college education for every Tennessee high school graduate.

• In Georgia, over 1,600,000 students have benefited from Georgia Lottery.

• In Florida, over 650,000 students have received over $4,290,000,000 since 1986 to attend higher education.

The Dirty Dawgs…

Those dirty Georgia Dawgs…

Mayhem & Madness Abound on Berserk Black Friday 2012

Welcome to Alabama…

In recent years, the Black Friday post-feeding frenzy has caused fights, stampedes and violent outbursts among anxious “shoppers.” To maintain peace among early shoppers this year, police forces throughout the country beefed up security and police presence deploying police on horseback, helicopters and in patrol cars. However, those measures were still not enough to stop some eager shoppers from mob behavior and animal-like instincts in their fight for “savings.”

In Alabama, a video recording captured screams and shoving as shoppers ripped a display of

“So Into You,” by Atlanta Rhythm Section

From the Summer of ’77, the “Boys of Doraville” brought us this easy-going Southern Rock genre tune that made it to the Top Ten, and which catapulted the band to fame.

Bama’s Benzs Burn in Brunswick

Like the alliteration?

Several train carloads of Mercedes Benz SUVs made in Vance, AL

Gregory Suedmeyer killed, wife Katelyn injured

The tragedy of a young Marine Lance Corporal Gregory Suedmeyer’s ironic death in Atlanta was reported on the front page of the Huntsville Times this morning.

Twenty-one year old Gregory Suedmeyer

Bob Riley loses Hyundai to Georgia

Governor Bob Riley (R), whom crowed about Hyundai Motor Manufacturing’s construction of a new plant in Montgomery, must be eating crow now.

Apparently, Hyundai will be moving OUT of Montgomery to West Point, GA.

Though federal law requires advance notification of layoffs, Hyundai officials

More than enough

I have a confession to make.

I recognize that I must confess to… well, I must confess to… to… to…

Not being exactly sure about how to proceed, I suppose it might be wise to be honest.

On occasion throughout my life, I have periodically engaged in