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Introduces Workers Impacted by Raising the Minimum Wage
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 30 - Democracitc Party nominee for governor Lucy Baxley held a rally in Birmingham today and vowed to lead the charge to help the tens of thousands of Alabamians who would benefit from a $1 an hour increase in the minimum wage.
“Working people deserve to earn a moral wage,” Baxley said . “Governor Riley said he doesn’t know anyone still paying the minimum wage. Well, here are some hard working people who need that $1 raise, and I’m going to make sure they get it.”
Baxley was joined shortly after the event by a number of workers who would feel the impact of an increase in the minimum wage, a group that Governor Bob Riley has apparently never met.
An August 6th story in the Cullman Times quoted Riley as saying, “I don’t know of anyone who is still paying minimum wage, even in the rural areas.”
“I will lead the charge to increase Alabama’s minimum wage because people who put in an honest day’s work should earn enough to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads,” Baxley said “It is morally unacceptable that anyone working 40 hours a week still earns $5,000 less than the federal poverty line for a family of four.
"Study after study shows that raising the minimum wage helps low-income working families without negatively impacting employment, and we as leaders have a duty to fight for this increase,” she said.
Baxley has proposed raising Alabama’s minimum wage by $1 above the federal minimum to $6.15 by 2007.
Since 1997, 18 states and the District of Columbia have raised their minimum wage above the federal level, with seven more considering the issue on the ballot in November, and eight state legislatures considering the issue during 2006 sessions. Only six states, including Alabama, have no state minimum wage law on the books.
In 2004, 562 economists, including four Nobel Laureates, signed a letter agreeing that “modest increases in state minimum wages in the range of $1 to $2 can significantly improve the lives of low-income workers and their families, without the adverse effects that critics have claimed.”
The 1999 Economic Report of the President expressed that “the weight of the evidence suggests that modest increases in the minimum wage have had very little or no effect on employment.”
Thirty-five percent of workers who receive a minimum wage are their families’ sole earners. Sixty-one percent are women, and almost one-third of those women are raising children. More than 80 percent of minimum wage earners are over the age of 20, with half between the ages of 25 and 54 years-old.
Letter from 562 Economists (pdf)
Economic Report of the President
Notice Anything Missing in Today's Katrina Coverage?
On August 29, 2005, Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and the world watched in horror as New Orleans levees failed, inundating and jeopardizing a great American city.
Since that time levees have been shorn up, but coastal Louisiana remains at risk. If you've tuned into any media today, you've most likely seen coverage of this terrible anniversary. Yet, one critical story has failed to recieve the attention it deserves, according to Aaron Viles, campaign director for the Gulf Restoration Network.
Wetlands have been destroyed by oil and gas exploration and development. Coastal forests have been clearcut. Marshes have been starved of critical sediment by the levees of the Mississippi River. Without the restoration of these natural defenses, levees will not hold up to another Katrina. Levees alone are not enough. Barrier islands, wetlands, coastal forests and marshes are necessary for a sustainable New Orleans.
Viles is asking for help in educating the public about this issue and urging members of Congress to get onboard the campaign.
To write a letter and support this effort, go to the group's Web site.
On Wednesday, August 30, Lt Gov. and Democratic Party nominee for governor Lucy Baxley will hold a rally in Birmingham at the CWA Local 3902 Union Hall, 210 Summit Parkway, from 9 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.
She will introduce workers who will benefit from a $1.00 raise in the minimum wage, a proposal Gov. Riley scoffed at recently in an article for the Cullman Times, when he said, “I don't know of anyone who is still paying minimum wage."
Returning to the devastated Gulf Coast for a 13th time since Hurricane Katrina, George W. Bush was mourning again the destruction of Sen. Trent Lott's "fantastic" house which overlooked the water. In doing so, Bush revealed that his deepest sympathies go to people of his privileged class, while he strains to project concern for average folk, especially the black ones.
For the full story of what Katrina exposed about Bush, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.
George W. Bush's crude behavior as President, including insults about people's personal looks, is usually dismissed by the U.S. news media as simply his "inner frat boy" coming out.
But a U.S. News report that Bush intentionally farts while greeting new White House staffers suggests that Bush enjoys exerting his power over subordinates in ways reminiscent of how ancient royalty treated lowly subjects.
For the full story of what kind of honor and decency Bush has restored to the White House, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.
U.S. News: Washington Whispers - Animal House in the West Wing
Legal Heroes: Mark Martin
Mark Martin began practicing law in 1981 after graduating from Samford University's Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama.
Over the course of his 25 year career Mark has worked on a diverse array of legal issues, ranging from criminal defense to protecting Alabama's rivers and creeks. Mark first became involved with environmental issues seven years ago when he began working with Black Warrior Riverkeeper, a group dedicated to the protection and restoration of Alabama's Black Warrior River.
An avid kayaker, Mark feels very strongly about preserving the quality and integrity of his state's waterways.
Mark's work with the Sierra Club began about three years ago when he teamed up with the Club's Alabama Chapter to remedy chronic pollution problems at the Whitaker Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). The Sierra Club and local residents eventually filed a federal lawsuit against the Whitaker CAFO for illegally dumping hog waste into Crow Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River.
Despite being matched up against a large team of Whitaker corporate attorneys, Mark was able to successfully negotiate a settlement that forces Whitaker to stop illegally dumping hog waste into Alabama waterways, to take measures to reduce odor and prevent polluted runoff, and to protect the ecosystem around the hog factory.
Peggie Griffin, a Sierra Club Alabama staffer who worked closely with Mark on the case, was truly impressed by Mark's drive and dedication.
Peggie emphasized that, "during the lengthy and intense negotiation process, Mark conferred with Club staff every step of the way. We feel that he did an excellent job handling the case and reaching an outcome that will really cut back on pollution and help our community."
Mark emphasized that his victory against Whitaker would not have been possible without the help of dedicated Sierra Club volunteers and staff. The majority of evidence against the Whitaker CAFO was gathered by volunteers such as Willard Jones, who lives next door to the Whitaker hog factory.
Willard noted what a worthwhile experience it was to work with Mark, stating that "as a plaintiff, I was extremely impressed with Mark's performance."
Willard and other Sierra Club Water Sentinels diligently collected water samples downstream from the Whitaker CAFO. Their samples, which showed extremely elevated levels of E.Coli and other harmful bacteria, served as evidence that the Whitaker CAFO was discharging harmful waste in violation of the Clean Water Act.
This case marks the first time that Club volunteer data was used as the primary evidence in a lawsuit against a Clean Water Act violator.
On August 14, 2006 the judge signed the Sierra Club v. Whitaker CAFO “consent decree” settlement, marking the victorious end to a long campaign by the Club and local residents to clean up the Whitaker hog factory.
Mark believes that the settlement sends a powerful message to other CAFO's in Alabama and local communities who suffer the brunt of the serious pollution problems caused by these animal factories: "The outcome of this case serves the dual function of showing CAFO's that they are not above the rules and showing citizens how powerful their activism can be."
We couldn't agree more.
Sierra Club Legal Heroes
The Birmingham City Action Partnership just got an urgent plea from City Team Ministries in Bay St. Louis for food, water and building supplies, along with a plea for more cat food from Waveland.
The report from their trip to the coast last week is on our the new and Improved Web site, thanks to Jimsey with Magic City Moments.
www.capisdowntown.com
Contact Laura if you'd like to collect these items at: capbham@aol.com.
Tax Collection by Bounty Hunters
"When there is an income tax the just man will pay more and the unjust less on the same amount of income."
- Plato, The Republic
There is nothing government does that the private sector can't do better, according to George W. Bush, the president who will go down in history as the one who proved that government doesn't work.
At first it was just social security and it would be hard to find a financial firm that is not eagerly awaiting its privatization and the billions of dollars that will soon flow into the stock market-their journey interrupted only ever so briefly by the pockets of the financial firms through which they must flow-firms that have generously contributed to Bush's election, according to Boulder, Colorado lawyer Christopher Brauchli.
The commissions will flow as soon as the program is implemented and unlike the poor, whose treasure will be given them in heaven, the financial institutions and employees will receive their treasure as soon as the legislation is passed, thanks to H.R. 2896 known as The American Jobs Creation Act.
The IRS' greatest area of expertise, as all taxpayers know, lies in printing long complicated forms that taxpayers have to complete. Two of the things with which the Internal Revenue Service has always had difficulty is applying the forms to real life situations and when the forms are filed, collecting the money supposed to be generated by the completed forms. Its difficulty with interpreting the forms explains why every year at tax time a creative taxpayer will invent a question to ask the Internal Revenue Service and will call the IRS 20 or 30 times and repeat the question to each IRS agent who answers the phone.
The enterprising taxpayer will then let it be known that he or she got as many answers as he or she made calls. Invariably (and undoubtedly in an attempt to embarrass the IRS) the question is always framed so that depending on the answer, the taxpayer is entitled to a humongous refund or owes a humongous amount of money. Either way, the IRS is held up to public ridicule which is just about the last thing it needs during tax season.
Whereas the neither Jobs Creation Act nor anything else Congress could conjure up would help the IRS answer questions correctly or consistently when asked about filling out the forms it has invented, Congress has decided it can do something about the fact that the IRS is unable to collect the taxes the taxpayers owe. And the solution is every bit as creative as the social security reform to which we all look forward. It is privatization.
The overlooked section says the IRS may outsource debt collection to private debt collectors.
According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, outsourcing IRS collection procedures will generate about $1.4 billion between 2006-2014, money that, apparently, would not otherwise have been collected by the IRS. Everyone knows that the IRS does not normally get to keep what it collects. Were it otherwise the IRS would be the biggest agency in the federal government and there would be no others.
This bill turns that idea on its head. The IRS will be permitted to keep and spend 25% of what the private collection agencies (PCA) collect. Although not clear from what I've read, presumably the 25% it gets to spend it would give to the PCAs who collected the money. Thus, if the PCAs collect $1.4 billion, they will get to keep $3.5 million for their efforts.
The PCAs will be very excited about the prospect of this new program. It's not as exciting as being a stock broker and investing people's retirement monies but, on the other hand, debt collectors are not in the same silk stocking league as stock brokers and should be grateful for whatever crumbs the Bush administration sends their way. It's a lot better than the kick in the pants the IRS debtors will certainly receive from the PCAs.
Counter Punch: Privatizing the IRS
According to the Rev. Jack Zylman in Birmingham, the IRS announcement that it plans to privatize the collection of back taxes will be a disaster.
New York City has experience in private companies attempting to do public service, he said. Some years ago, New York City had private fire departments. These fire department competed to put out fires. When the alarm rang, several dashed to the fire, and, before they fought the fire, they fought each other.Yes, since only one would be paid, the firemen had a rumble in the street, a fist-fight.
Then, if the building hadn't already burned down, the winners put out what was left and were paid. New York wisely converted to a public fire department.
Will we see tax collectors fighting in Wall Street? Pocketing payoffs and bribes? Working with organized crime? All we need now is privatized elections - uh, did anyone say "Touch Screen Voting?"
New York Times foreign policy analyst Thomas L. Friedman has finally admitted that his enthusiasm for invading Iraq was misguided, but his limited mea culpa hasn't stopped him from insulting Americans who opposed the war before the killing began.
Now the questions are: Why should Americans listen to an "expert" who got the biggest post-Cold War foreign policy story wrong? And why doesn't Friedman have the decency to resign?
For the full story on why commentators who went along with an unprovoked invasion should share in the blame, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com.
Tiger Woods just teed off on the final major professional golf tournament of the year on a hot August day in Chicago, then birdied the first hole to go 15-under par and take the lead.
Here in Alabama-TV-land, it is Dog Days for sure, a malady only cured by serious air conditioning - and the savoir-faire of a perfect Sunday breakfast, including the best homegrown tomato of the season.
Even the birds are hiding in the deep, dark woods, only occasionally visiting the feeders and issuing a humble chirp.
It is almost foolish to venture out into this heat, so we may wait 'till the sun goes down to make a Yuengling run.
There's really not that much to say about the news today, since the politicians and the talking heads are mostly on vacation.
So instead, we will pass along another story about another Web site - a new online journal you should check out.
Locust Fork Publishing just launched a new blog called The Southerner Journal, available online at southerner.net.
Associate Editor Ron Sitton, a.k.a. Sitron of Arkansas and a journalism professor in his own right, has published a journal of his recent 17-day trip to California under the headline: Seventeen Sunrises.
The site is still under development and there's still much work to do. But it is what we think is and should be a classic example of the best in online Weblog publishing. That is, a personal and literary journalism diary of sorts with some taste, style and speed - along with a touch of class.
The Southerner Journal
by Glynn Wilson
It looks like another JonBenet Ramsey kind of day on cable TV news.
So this would be a good time for a boycott or a vacation from the news - like President George W. Bush does every day, and more so in August, when he hangs out at the ranch in Crawford, Texas.
The last time we checked, the Bush administration was still spying on Americans in spite of a federal court order to stop. There are still wars going on in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. And hundreds of thousands of Americans are still scraping by on low wages with friends in low places.
The once great Ford motor company is slashing production, shutting down plants and laying off workers. The BP oil pipeline is still leaking. The city of New Orleans is still suffering from the post-Katrina blues, while no-bid contractors laugh all the way to the bank.
But a little, rich, white blonde girl from Colorado - who has been dead for 10 years - can enthrall the talking heads because there is some intrigue about a former substitute school teacher from Alabama who has confessed to the crime.
Even the local talking heads cannot resist leading their broadcasts with the JonBenet Ramsey story, with a close second the latest crack down on drunk driving.
What the moralists could not accomplish with national prohibition in the 1920s, the MAD mothers are trying to accomplish by using taxpayer dollars to deploy more cops to stop people from drinking beer and getting home from the bars. The churches must be hurting financially. They don't want you to drink and gamble. So you can either go to church, or go to jail, and to hell with you if you disagree with the president.
Even the church people bitch about the heat, but are too hoodwinked to do anything about global warming or suburban sprawl. In a place like Birmingham, Alabama, how in the fuck are you supposed to get home from a party without driving?
There is no mass transit to speak of here. No sidewalks either. A cab ride from one side of this town to the other costs more than a night out in New Orleans. You can't even ride a bike around or walk anywhere in this culture.
But by all means, hire more cops and put more people in jail for drinking beer.
Want out of this asylum called America? No, you can't carry your own shampoo on an airplane or take a fast jet out of here without being checked on the "no-fly" list.
Is that the "terrorists" fault? Or the complete incompetence of our current political leadership?
Or is it the fault of half of all Americans who either don't bother to vote or who are too uninformed to vote intelligently?
A successful democracy depends on an educated populous. Since more and more Americans do not read and depend on talking heads for their news and information, is it any wonder that we have such a screwed up situation - when all they want to do is run old footage of a little girl in a dance class and talk about whether her confessed killer is really guilty or not?
A jury will decide the fate of John Mark Karr. Meanwhile we are off to put the boat in the water and take a vacation from the talking heads. We'll be back when y'all decide to cover the real news again.
And hey Mr. Softball question Larry King. Isn't it about time for the retirement home man? You just look more silly every day.
At least on MSNBC, former conservative Congressman Joe Scarborough asked the question the other day: "Is George Bush really an idiot? Or is he just inarticulate?"
Hey Joe. We say it's both. And the polls show more and more people are finally realizing it.
The only thing we have to say about the 30 percent of the people who still support this dumbass president is: It takes one to know one.
In other words, you have to be a real dumbass to think George W. Bush is anything other than a dumbass frat boy who got himself elected by virtue of his family connections.
And it is pretty clear he has not learned a damn thing in office. Remember, he depends on Condi for his news and views.
Funny, she seems to have disappeared of late - since they kicked her out of Lebanon and Bush had to distance himself from the news that they were hot tub buddies.
Here's drinking to you kid. This is the end of a beautiful friendship.
Hey CNN, MSNBC and Fox News: Did you not get the memo?
We don't care about the JonBenet Ramsey case. A federal judge just ruled Bush's NSA domestic surveillance unconstitutional. Get down to the ranch in Crawford, Texas, interrupt Bush's August vacation and ask him what he plans to do now?
The tide is turning. The pendulum's swinging. Bush's days as president are numbered.
(See story below)
A federal judge has declared the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it, according to the Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit became the first judge to strike down the National Security Agency's program, which she says violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
"Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution," Taylor wrote in her 43-page opinion.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of journalists, scholars and lawyers who say the program has made it difficult for them to do their jobs. They believe many of their overseas contacts are likely targets of the program, which involves secretly listening to conversations between people in the U.S. and people in other countries.
The government argued that the program is well within the president's authority, but said proving that would require revealing state secrets.
The ACLU said the state-secrets argument was irrelevant because the Bush administration had already publicly revealed enough information about the program for Taylor to rule on the case.
"By holding that even the president is not above the law, the court has done its duty," said Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director and the lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
The NSA had no immediate comment on the ruling.
Taylor dismissed a separate claim by the ACLU over data-mining of phone records by the NSA. She said not enough had been publicly revealed about that program to support the claim and further litigation could jeopardize state secrets.
Beeson predicted the government would appeal the ruling and request that the order to halt the program be postponed while the case makes its way through the system. She said the ACLU had not yet decided whether it would oppose such a postponement.
Proposes Initiative to Get Every Alabamian Online
by Glynn Wilson
Editor and Publisher
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley |
If you follow this Web site regularly, you may remember a few weeks ago when we called on Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley to advocate raising the state minimum wage in Alabama and to consider a new technology initiative.
While some have suggested the 68-year-old Ms. Baxley had no new ideas when she ran a moderate primary race against former Gov. Siegelman that was short on issues, we suggested that she might very well listen to some good ideas.
Today at press conferences in Montgomery, Birmingham and Huntsville, Ms. Baxley, the Democratic Party's nominee for governor, proved she can listen and champion good ideas. She called for raising the minimum wage in Alabama by at least $1 an hour and proposed an initiative to get every Alabamian online.
Ms. Baxley said workers making the current federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour have to spend one day's pay to buy a tank of gas.
"It's the only fair thing to do," Baxley said. "People who put in an honest day’s work should earn enough to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. It is morally unacceptable that anyone working 40 hours a week still earns $5,000 less than the federal poverty line for a family of four."
She indicated she will propose a bill to raise the state minimum wage one dollar an hour by 2007.
While the federal minimum wage is $5.15 an hour, 18 states and the District of Columbia have a higher minimum, with the highest being $7.63 an hour in Washington state, according to the Associated Press.
Baxley said her first official act as governor would be to order the property tax reappraisals to be every four years. That's the way property was reappraised in Alabama until Riley's revenue department changed the system to once a year, which Baxley said caused many Alabama residents to pay higher taxes.
And she proposed the development of a public-private partnership in the spirit of Alabama’s Rural Electric Administration to bring the internet into every Alabama home.
According to a U.S. Census Bureau study, Alabama ranks 48th in percentage of households with a computer, and 46th in percentage of households with Internet access. Working with the federal government and top technology corporations like AOL, Dell, Apple, Microsoft, and local internet providers, Get Alabama Online would open the door to an electronic global economy and community with low-cost packages including a computer, printer, desktop software and internet access, she said.
Ms. Baxley will face the incument Republican Gov. Bob Riley in the Nov. 7 general election.
At the press conferences and in a press release, Ms. Baxley listed her top nine priorities:
1. Overturn annual property tax appraisals by revoking the executive order signed by Governor Bob Riley.
2. Raise the minimum wage in Alabama as has been done in 44 other states.
3. Create a Cabinet-level office of Inspector General to root out waste in state government.
4. Get all of Alabama on-line by developing a public-private consortium with technology companies.
5. Ban PAC-to-PAC transfers. Period.
6. Fight illegal immigration by increasing penalties for employers who repeatedly hire illegal immigrants and prohibit employers who hire illegal aliens from receiving economic development incentives.
7. Develop a small business insurance pool to ensure that employers can provide affordable health insurance to their employees.
8. Return discipline to the classroom by giving teachers the tools they need and encouraging greater parental involvement.
9. Investigate price gouging at the gas pump and promote the local production of ethanol and biodiesel by providing tax incentives and credits to Alabama growers, producers and distributors of bio-fuels.
AP: Baxley Calls for Raising the Minimum Wage in Alabama
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-Rice approach to fighting the so-called "global war on terror" is an utter failture and it is time for the American people to consider new leadership.
According to the Associated Press and as seen on cable TV news, President George W. Bush made a speech on Tuesday from the secret Counterterrorism Center just outside Washington, D.C., and tried to use the alleged foiled plot to blow up flights between Britain and the United States as political fodder, saying it was evidence that the West could be fighting the global war on terrorists for many years to come.
"America is safer than it has been, yet it is not yet safe," Bush said.
But Bush campaigned in 2004 on a ticket to make America safe by "fighting them over there" so we don't have to "fight them here."
Due to the U.S. support for Israel's invasion of Lebanon, however, the Arab street is as riled up against the West as ever and today in Boston, Homeland Security Department officials are going through luggage looking for homemade bomb making devices. It's just a matter of time before we face another 9/11, since the Bush administration's diplomatic team has done nothing to try and ease the hatred of the West in the Muslim world.
The counterterrorism center is located at an undisclosed site in Northern Virginia known as Liberty Crossing. It merges hundreds of government experts and more than two dozen computer networks from various federal agencies focusing on potential threats, according to the AP. The Washington Post in the past has reported on preparations by the Carlysle Group to build an alternative government compound in Alexandria, Virginia in case Washington, D.C., is hit with a nuclear bomb.
The nation's safety looms as a major issue in the midterm elections Nov. 7. Both Republicans and Democrats are maneuvering for the political advantage in an election where control of Congress is at stake.
Democrats blamed Bush administration policies for making the country more vulnerable to outside threats.
"Five years after 9/11, al-Qaida has morphed into a global franchise operation, terror attacks have increased sharply across the world and the president has shut down the program designed to catch Osama bin Laden," Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement following Bush's remarks.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., in a teleconference with reporters Tuesday, accused the Bush administration of "stubbornness" and of holding an "oversimplistic" view of how to resolve Middle East tensions.
"One of the great failures of this administration has been a refusal to consider new approaches to problems," he said.
Bush Sees No End to War on Terrorism
Disturbance Diverts London-D.C. Flight
While we are sympathetic to those who are not any more comfortable with Democrats than Republicans and long for a multi-party system, now is not the time to push that agenda. It is time for the Republican Party to relinquish some of its power and let people run government who are committed to making it work, not running it into the ground.
In fact, if this were a just world, George W. Bush would resign the presidency and let someone else try to govern.
If politics was football, and Bush was the head coach, he would have been fired already.
Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley will kick off the campaign season with a series of events across the state of Alabama announcing her core campaign issues on Wednesday, Aug. 16.
The tour will kick-off at the Broadview Media Center in Montgomery, followed by a noon event at Birmingham’s Harbert Center Library Room. At 3:15 Baxley will hold the make an appearance at Huntsville’s Museum of Art.
A five minute satellite feed with highlights of the Montgomery event will broadcast three times starting at 10 a.m. At each event, Baxley will speak for 20 minutes followed by 15 minutes of one-on-one interviews.
Former Marine Jeff Key is one of a growing number of veterans who are speaking out against the war in Iraq.
A native of Walker County who served in Iraq, Key came to speak out on the Southside of Birmingham Saturday when the Birmingham Peace Project called a press conference to challenge a recent statement by Alabama Gov. Bob Riley about veterans and the war.
"I've never talked to a person in the military yet who didn't say we ought to stay and we ought to win the war," Riley reportedly said recently after a trip to Iraq.
Riley Voices Support for Bush, War in Iraq
Key said he came to set the record straight.
"There are many veterans who oppose this immoral war. I am one of them," Key said. "It's not going to solve the problems we have in the Middle East."
Key recently wrote and performed in the play The Eyes of Babylon about his experiences in Iraq.
The Birmingham Peace Project said in a press release the group was "unable to remain silent before (Riley's) blatantly ill-informed assertion."
The group invited Gov. Riley to meet Key, along with former Navy recruiter Susan Mims, Veteran for Peace leader David Waters and others who will afford him the opportunity to meet military personnel who, for many reasons, condemn the Iraq War. Not surprisingly, the governor was a no show.
The group also invited Democratic Party nominee Lucy Baxley and Libertarian Party nominee Loretta Nall to attend, and Nall was the only one to show.
"As a Libertarian I believe that only defense is legitimate and since the Iraq war is not a defensive war it is both illegal and immoral," Ms. Nall said. "If elected Governor of Alabama I will immediately call for the withdrawal of Alabama National Guard troops and I will be a vocal advocate for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Iraq. You should be wary of candidates who support the war or fail to call for immediate withdrawal of our troops. Remember that they do not have children fighting there."
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Former Marine and playwright Jeff Key speaks to a small group of people at the Birmingham Festival Theatre Saturday, along with Libertarian Party candidate for governor Lorretta Nall, the Rev. Jack Zylman and Peggy Bonfield. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | We are planning a new Web site for the Erwin High School class of 1976, which held its 30-year reunion Saturday night at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham along with the class of 1977 and '78. While we shot a lot of good straight photos of folks at the event, this is my favorite arty shot. Do you recognize these people on the dance floor? |
For years, Governor Bob Riley has denied any connection to out-of-state casino money. But information revealed today in a Birmingham newspaper proves that his campaign benefited from at least hundreds of thousands of dollars coming from the Mississippi Choctaw Indians, laundered through Riley’s former aide and convicted felon Michael Scanlon.
“It’s time for Bob Riley to come clean,” Lt. Gov. and Democratic Party nominee for governor Lucy Baxley said in a press release.
“For years he has denied that Mississippi casino money came in to his campaign, but now we have proof that it did," she said. "This is just one more instance of Bob Riley’s continued pattern of misrepresentation where his words and his actions just don’t match.”
Riley denied an earlier report that Mississippi casinos spent $13 million on behalf of his campaign, but has refused to disclose any further information about the extent of his involvement with out-of-state casino interests.
“Riley’s political spin may work with his friends in Washington, but that dog don’t hunt in Alabama,” said Jeff Bridges, spokesman for Baxley. “Ralph Reed refused to answer questions about his connections to dirty Mississippi casino money and he lost. Now Bob Riley is doing the same thing. Alabama working families deserve better than Riley’s false denials."
Riley has a choice to make, he said.
"Riley can either continue to mislead Alabama families, or he can tell the truth about his connections to out-of-state gambling interests. Tell us the truth, governor.”
The Birmingham News finally got around to reporting something on the scandal in today's newspaper - on a Saturday in August when most of the news is still focused on terrorism and war. We take the liberty of rewriting the headline so readers can actually get an inkling of what the story is really about.
Lobbyist's Interest in Riley Campaign Documented by Senate Committee
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | The summer colors are not that spectacular, but this is what it looks like floating on the Alabama River at sunset at the Marina Bar and boat launch near downtown Montgomery, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2006. Thanks to Gov. Bob Riley's campaign manager Bill Johnson for the interesting float. We'll only say this, for now, since we have a couple of longer stories in the works: "Alabama is changing." And hey Bill, what was that you were drinking in your Fresca? We didn't know you could still get that stuff... |
The Birmingham Press Project is planning a press conference Saturday, July 12 to respond to Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's comments supporting President George W. Bush on the Iraq war.
The press conference will begin at about 4:15 at the Birmingham Festival Theatre, at 1901-1/2 11th Avenue South. From there, a peace vigil will proceed to the Five Points South fountain.
At a news conference last Tuesday, Gov. Bob Riley said: "I've never talked to a person in the military yet who didn't say we ought to stay and we ought to win the war."
According to the peace group's press release, the Birmingham Peace Project is "unable to remain silent before this blatantly ill-informed assertion."
In cooperation with Pax Christi, the group has invited Gov. Riley to meet Iraq veteran and creator of the one-man show "The Eyes of Babylon," former U.S. Marine Jeff Key, along with former Navy recruiter Susan Mims, Veteran for Peace leader David Waters and others who will afford him the opportunity to meet military personnel who, for many reasons, condemn the Iraq War.
Also, the group condemns the ongoing war in Lebanon.
"Israel rains terror upon those least able to defend themselves, the helpless civilian populations who are unable to flee, cutting off humanitarian aid channels with funds and arms supplied by the U.S.," the group says. "The Birmingham Peace Project stands in solidarity with International ANSWER in demanding that the people of the United States reject the quest for wider wars and the 'reorganization' of the oil-rich Middle East to serve the interests of the already bloated energy companies, and instead spend these public funds on those things the people of this country need, including education, jobs and rebuilding of the Gulf Coast."
British authorities say they disrupted a well-advanced "major terrorist plot" to blow up passenger flights between the United Kingdom and the United States using liquid explosives, prompting a full-scale security clampdown at U.S. and British airports and a cascade of delays in transatlantic flights.
Britain Claims To Thwart Airline Terror Plot, Raising Security Alerts
Not to suggest a conspiracy theory, but the busts changed the news agenda overnight away from the major crisis with the oil pipeline in the United States that will most likely result in gas shortages and prices at the pump over $3 a gallon, and the new multi-million dollar FEMA awards to big Katrina contracters.
BP oil was told by employees and contractors in a February 2004 survey that its pipeline network probably was not being adequately monitored for corrosion, according to a company report.
BP Oil Warned of Pipelines Corrosion in 2004
The four giant construction firms that received controversial no-bid contracts to house Hurricane Katrina evacuees last September will be earning up to $250 million apiece to do similar work after future disasters, according to a new FEMA policy.
Katrina Contractors Win FEMA Work
Not to mention it's a red hot August in much of the U.S. due to global warming - and we are on the verge of the mid-term election season and the Republicans are worried.
Privatizing Your Voter Identity
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more; it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
- William Shakespeare
by Glynn Wilson
MONTGOMERY, Ala., Aug. 8 - For all the sound and fury over the Alabama voter database being played out on the inside pages of the state's newspapers and incomprehensible little blurbs on television news, there may be a more sinister story behind the story that goes far beyond mere partisan politics. And it's no conspiracy theory.
Get this. There is a master plan that is ongoing to privatize every aspect of voting in the United States and tie voting lists to crime networks, terror watch lists, even so-called "eco-terror" watch lists. Do you believe in a clean environment? You may be a suspect - and disenfranchised from voting.
Do you worry about the Bush administration's NSA spying on you? What about the prospect of identity theft?
Well, here's another worry to add to your list.
And this information does not come from just any left wing pundit or blogger.
Alabama's very own elected Secretary of State Nancy Worley, who has been under fire in public of late in a controversy over the deadline to implement the Bush administration's Help America Vote act, says the Republicans taking control of the state voting list is just the tip of the iceberg about to break off and sink American democracy.
"There is a grand scheme on the part of corporate America to take over the whole system of elections in this country," Ms. Worley said.
And she said some states have already begun tying the voter list to crime network databases and terror watch lists, making the issue of simply registering to vote a matter of concern for those who are worried about personal privacy.
Columnist Greg Palast has written about this trend.
"In response to the ugly racial purge of voters in 2000, George Bush signed the Help America Vote Act - which requires every state to create a centralized voter database just like the one that made the mass purge of voters in Florida possible," Palast wrote. "This Orwellian transformation of voter protection into voter predation, coupled with the new laws requiring voter I.D. cards and data base checks means that the 2006 and 2008 elections may already be over. But you'll have to wait until then to find out whom the data-meisters have chosen for you."
Spies and Lies: Steal Your Data, Steal Your Vote
"Worried about Dick Cheney listening in Sunday on your call to Mom? That ain't nothing," Palast writes. "You should be more concerned that they are linking this info to your medical records, your bill purchases and your entire personal profile including, not incidentally, your voting registration."
The Spies Who Shag Us
The issue is about to come out into the open right here in Alabama.
For starters, due to the way the state doles out contracts for voting systems, a company called Election Systems and Software (ES&S for short) already has contracts to provide the voting machines used in Jefferson County and much of the state. The company also has the contract to print the ballots.
And, the company has the contract to train all the poll workers in the state - a job that heretofore was overseen by the probate judges in each county, handled by the elected country registrar and ultimately surpervised by the elected secretary of state. No more.
For all the sound and fury from Republicans about less government and lower taxes, it seems a bit odd that tax payer money would be funneled to private corporations on something as fundamental to government as every aspect of voting itself.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, a Birmingham Democrat, has written U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez a letter complaining about the blatant partisanship in having a court hand over control of the voter list in Alabama to Republican Gov. Bob Riley on the eve of the 2006 elections.
"It is impossible to ignore the partisan colorations of the court's intervention," Davis said. "To the voters all over the state this has a partisan look to it."
District Judge Keith Watkins recently named Riley as a so-called "special master" to oversee the creation of a statewide voter registration database by Aug. 31, 2007. At a special hearing last week, Watkins, a Bush appointee, denied requests from the Alabama Democratic Party and the mostly black Alabama Democratic Conference to intervene in the case.
Rep. Davis Writes AG Gonzalez, Says Riley's Partisanship Showed in Voter Database Fight
If you value your right to vote in America, you might want to engage on this issue and let your voice be heard in Montgomery and in Washington, D.C.
The concern should not just be that one party now controls almost every branch of government. The concern should be that this one party, the Republican Party, is farming out control of your voting identity to a mega-corporation that has only greed and control as its goal: Profiting from your vote and keeping in power those politicians who share their greed.
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Secretary of State Nancy Worley, one of the most popular elected officials in Alabama, continues working in spite of the public controversy over the voting database. |
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Quillian Stone, 48, of Montgomery, has carried on a lone peace vigil in front of the Alabama Capital for the past three weeks. And, he's a poet. Check out his Web site at MySpace.Com. |
The minority staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, under the leadership of Congressman John Conyers (D., Mich.), released a staggering report this week with the hard evidence of crimes and abuses committed by President Bush and his administration.
"The Constitution in Crisis" report, which details the 26 specific laws that have been broken, should provide the raw material for numerous news reports and point reporters toward fertile ground for additional investigations, according to a press release by Democrats.Com and AfterDowningStreet.Org.
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | A sunset view from the Highland Golf Course driving range on the Southside of Birmingham on a hot August day... |
by Glynn Wilson
With most of the media attention of late focused on the stupid exchange of rockets between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, another story closer to home has been relegated to a slanted, pro-American capitalist news footnote.
Even the Cuban government got into the act of condemning Israel's bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana this week, calling it "cowardly, vile and criminal" and urging the world to force an immediate cease-fire.
While the rockets continue to land on both sides, the socialist leadership assured Cubans on Friday that Raul Castro was in firm control as acting president, and the health minister said Fidel Castro was "recovering satisfactorily" from intestinal surgery, according to the Associated Press.
While cable news networks took a brief break from the war in the Middle East to give a mini report on the situation in Cuba, they focused mainly on anti-Castro Cubans dancing in the streets of Miami - with no condemnation of people who would celebrate at the prospect that Fidel Castro might be dying.
What are they thinking?
If Castro were to croak now, with Bush and his oil cabal in power here, and if Castro's brother Raul were to appeal to the American government to lift economic sanctions, chances are the oil companies and real estate developers would move in and ruin Cuba forever.
After spending a couple of weeks in Cuba during the Christmas holidays in 2002, I came away with the impression that about the only thing the Cuban people really need from the United States is more food - and maybe some investment capital to rebuild Havana.
An honest, educated and realistic comparison of Havana with any American city would reveal a wild dichotomy that few American reporters seem willing or able to understand or report.
Thanks to the policies of a true socialist-democracy under Castro, virtually everyone in Cuba has a college education - even the chicas, or prostitutes.
There are no illiterate dumbasses roaming the streets of Havana with guns like there are in every, single American city. Crime is almost non-existent in Cuba.
For all the talk from the Bush administration and the conservative movement about being pro-education and anti-crime, they could learn a thing or two from Castro – if they were willing to listen, learn and conduct an honest assessment.
 | | Photo by Spider Martin | | A little old lady smiles for the camera in downtown Havana, Cuba, December 2002 |
There are also no toothless, homeless people in Cuba, like there are in every American city. Every single human being in Cuba is entitled to free health care, including dental care.
But the supposedly richest and most powerful country in the world cannot provide that for its citizens right here in the good old U.S. of A.
Does anyone else see the irony?
And here's an interesting fact. While studies show more obesity and related health problems in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world, there is no such thing as obesity in Cuba. I walked from one end of Havana to the other, talking to people and taking photos with Spider Martin, and we never saw a single fat person. Not one.
The irony here is that the food in the homes and restaurants was sparse, simple and frankly scarce. But they are not starving either. They just live on fish and rice and do not over eat.
Imagine the boon it would be for Alabama chicken, soybean and corn farmers if only they were allowed to sell to Cuba?
According to research for a story I wrote about that trip, estimates show that lifting the sanctions on trade with Cuba could result in U.S. exports valued at $658 million to potentially $1 billion a year, or 17 percent to 27 percent of Cuba's total imports.
But no, the South Florida anti-Castro Cuban lobbying money, which funds the campaigns of Republicans such as Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and his brother in the White House, prevents a reasonable policy toward Cuba. That money even trumps the pro-business and conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which for years has urged Republican and Democratic Party presidents to lift the sanctions against Cuba.
So we hope the press releases out of Cuba are accurate, and Castro will be back on his feet and well soon. We hope he is able to survive until a more reasonable Democratic president and Congress regain power in the U.S. and finally decide to change our policies toward Cuba.
It is a beautiful place in the universe.
With a good bit of honest forethought, re-engaging with Cuba could be a win-win situation for America, Cuba and Alabama.
But it would best be done with some planning for sustainable redevelopment, not American-style suburbanization. The oil companies should not be able to rape Cuba's environment and spoil the beaches. And real estate developers should not be allowed to put a McDonald's on every block and a highrise condo on every dune.
While Soviet-style Communism proved it cannot work indefinitely, due to its propensity to lead to totalitarianism, that does not mean a bit of socialism mixed with democracy can't create a better world for everyone – not just the privileged few, the born rich.
 | | Photo by Spider Martin | | For the fun of it, here's the photo Spider shot of me with the guy who drew the caricature used for these columns. He did it unbeknownst to me and then offered it to me for something Americans are banned from spending in Cuba - one American dollar. How could I refuse? |
President George W. Bush headed back to the ranch in Crawford, Texas, this week, although the White House says it will be one of the shortest vacations of his presidency.
The president has a busy August schedule to help Republicans in the mid-term elections. But given his and the Republican Congress' poor ratings in recent polls, there's some question about how helpful a presidential appearance is for local candidates, according to CBS News.
 | | Photo by Glynn Wilson | | Cindy Sheehan |
In the last mid-term elections in 2002, Bush spent 27 days at the ranch in August, according to the inimitable presidential vacation-tabulator, CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller, whose statistics on presidential trips to Crawford are so comprehensive that the White House refers inquiries to him. The current visit will be Bush’s 59th trip to his ranch since taking office. As of Saturday, he had spent all or part of 384 days there.
The president spent 27 days at the ranch in August 2001 and 2002, and 29 days in August 2003 and 2005. But in 2004, when Mr. Bush was running for re-election, his Crawford time totaled just 13 days, according to Knoller’s calculations.
Bush plans to be at his ranch from Aug. 3-10, and then several days around the Labor Day holiday. That means he'll have one of the briefest August visits of his presidency to the ranch.
With all of this work on behalf of candidates in his usually sacrosanct summertime, does this mean that Mr. Bush is quaking in his cowboy boots about the specter of losing the GOP majority come November? After all, his own performance ratings were abysmal in recent months. An AP/Ipsos July poll indicated Americans have a low regard for the GOP Congress by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.
"The president's decision to be more active on the campaign trail reflects the fact that his party is in trouble," said Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. "Republicans will be out of power if moderates lose."
If the Democrats gain the upper hand in Congress in November, Mr. Bush would have more things to worry about, including expanded subpoena power from Congress.
"Congressional oversight of the executive branch will go greatly forward" with the Democrats in power, Galston said. The administration would find such meddling problematic, considering "they don't even want Republicans (engaging) in oversight."
Maybe he will fall off his mountain bike again, or maybe cut himself while cutting brush...
Then there is the ultimate question: Who will be sleeping in Georgie's bed? Laura, Condi - or Jeff?
Meanwhile, Iraq war protestor Cindy Sheehan will be in Crawford too. She has purchased property there, and plans to continue harassing Bush.
Speaking Peace While Making War Not A Sustainable Policy.
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack was in Birmingham this week, speaking to members of the Alabama Democratic Party. One thing this great Democratic Governor is doing is seeking a way to reduce the outrageous Medicaid drug costs in Iowa. Alabama should follow his lead.
Under Vilsack's leadership, Iowa is joining with Maine and Vermont to negotiate lower prices for the drugs they buy for Medicaid recipients.
Vilsack said Iowa and the federal government would save about $11 million a year under the new pool. The governments spend about $391 million annually on medicine for Iowa's 300,000 Medicaid recipients, with the state footing about a third of the bill.
"Together, our group of states will achieve pharmaceutical rebates that will far exceed the amount that each," Vilsack said. Other, unidentified states are talking about joining the purchasing pool.
As reported in the De Moines media, Roger Munns, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Human Services, said any savings would be used to run the Medicaid program, whose costs are constantly increasing.
Under the new pool, participating states would retain their power to determine which drugs are covered by their Medicaid plans.
The federal government approved the arrangement.
Alabama needs to do the same, which will lower the costs of Medicaid to the state and strenghten the Mediciad program for Alabama's seniors, according to the Rev. Jack Zylman of Birmingham. "Will Alabama Governor Bob Riley step and do the same, or will he just sit around getting Dick Cheney to raise money for him?"
Get this: The new guy running Gov. Bob Riley's campaign, Bill Johnson, once ran for the U.S. Senate in Missouri against John Aschcrof. He got 4.6 percent of the vote after coming out for the legalization of drugs and prostitution.
The Mobile Press-Register reported he ran as an independent, but the blogger at |
