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« August 2006 | Main | October 2006 » September 30, 2006Waking Up To The Fog...
SEC Football Previewby Paul Rockne The most interesting game on this weekend’s SEC college football schedule has probably already been played – Thursday night when Auburn escaped the trap set by Steve Spurrier in Columbia, S.C. No. 2-ranked Auburn managed to eek out a 24-17 lead over Spurrier’s Gamecocks, but needed some luck to do it. The luck came in the form of an onsides kick that the Tigers used to regain possession of the ball after scoring a field goal on a nine-minute drive to open the third quarter. Auburn had held a slim 14-10 lead at the halftime intermission, with South Carolina claiming the momentum by scoring at the end of the half. After the opening drive in the second half produced just 3 points, AU’s Coach Tommy Tuberville must have figured his defense would have a hard time stopping the Gamecocks and felt a 17-10 lead was not sufficient. The gamble was a big one and paid off big, with the War Eagles holding the ball for the rest of the third quarter and scoring their third TD on the first play of the fourth period. South Carolina proved Tuberville’s fears correct by mounting two drives in the fourth period, the first one ending in a touchdown that moved the score to 24-17 and the second one ending with an Auburn interception in the end zone with seconds to play in the game. South Carolina may have lost the game, but the Gamecocks served notice to the rest of their opponents. Spurrier’s magic is working and South Carolina showed that it will be able to move the ball against any opponent. And its defense held the Auburn offense in check most of the time. Carolina ended up with more yards, more plays and more first downs than the Tigers. The next biggest game of the weekend has to be today’s CBS matchup between Alabama and Florida (2:30 p.m.) Still smarting from last year’s 31-3 rout in Tuscaloosa, the Gators are fired up and foaming at the mouth as they await Bama and sweet revenge. The trouble is that last year’s home win by the Tide was an anomaly. The Bama-Gators series is one of the upside down affairs in which the visiting team wins more often than the home team. Florida is just 1-8 in the last nine Bama trips to The Swamp. Look for Alabama to go to the pass more this week if Ken Darby and the Bama running attack continues to falter. Sophomore quarterback John Parker Wilson has looked good throwing the ball so far this season and he also does not hesitate scramble for running yardage when he spots a seam in the defense. Junior Keith Brown, who has been Wilson’s favorite receiver so far this season, said just that – while also throwing in a little criticism of the Bama coaching philosophy on offense – this week. “We can throw it on anybody if we want to – and as long as we make the play call,” said Brown. Bama’s Coach Mike Shula has come under fire from fans and critics for what he termed “playing the percentages” in the late going against Arkansas. After carving up the Hogs through the air, Shula called runs on its finial seven plays of the fourth-quarter drive and on all three of its plays in the first overtime. Freshman kicker Leigh Tiffin missed field goals at the end of both possessions. Florida will be a tough test for the Crimson Tide defense. The unbeaten Gators (4-0) are led by Heisman Trophy hopeful Chris Leak and sport some of the best overall offensive stats in the nation. The Gators have the best passing offense (289.8 yards per game) and total offense (465.5 yards per game) in the SEC. They rank No. 9 nationally in both departments. Florida is scoring at a 30.9-per-game pace, second in the league behind LSU (35.5). In addition to the tremendous personnel on the Gator squad, Florida runs a wide variety of sets, making it difficult to study and defend. September 29, 2006Georgia On My Mind...
September 28, 2006Baxley People's Rally Counters Riley's Big Money Eventby Glynn Wilson BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 28 – As president George W. Bush made a closed, big money only campaign fund-raising appearance for Republican Gov. Bob Riley at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, Lt Gov. Lucy Baxley held a free, public rally just up the street in Lynn Park between City Hall and the Jefferson County Courthouse, where she took on the president and the governor as big time corporate politicians who ignore the needs of normal, working people. "The contrast in this campaign is obvious here today. It is the stark contrast between big dollars verses the people," Ms. Baxley said. "Access to the government is not supposed to be up for sale to the highest bidder."
To obtain entry into the Bush-Riley fund raiser, the estimated 2,000 guests had to pay a minimum of $250 to get in the room. And they had the option of paying $500 or even $1,000 to get closer to the president, plus an undisclosed sum to have a snap shot taken with Bush. In the past the amount has been reported in a range of from $15,000 to as much as $50,000. Ms. Baxley's campaign offered free hotdogs to the public in the park, and she shared the stage with sailor Damien Moore and his new bride Mandy Moore. The couple chose the day to get married outside the courthouse, and said they supported the Democrat over the Republican in the Alabama governor's race. "We love Lucy," Ms. Moore said. Ms. Baxley described Bush's visit as bad timing at the height of the campaign season and a rip off for taxpayers, since all the taxpayers pick up the tab every time the president flies Air Force One. "This costs all the taxpayers all over the state," Ms. Baxley said. "It's an extravagant show, but a show that proves Riley is about big money. Government is supposed to be the servant of the people, not just for those who can afford it most." She urged the people in attendance to go out and work to recruit people to vote for her. If she is elected, she said, she will prove that "big dollars cannot buy the government." While Bush was dropping all kinds of interesting bombs that will never be reported in the local press or the mainstream media anywhere, Ms. Baxley's event drew an interesting local celebrity supporter. Former Libertarian and Birmingham City Councilman Jimmy Blake showed up in support of Baxley, and said he did so because Bush and Riley have allowed big corporations and insurance companies to take over the Republican Party and the government. "I do not support this government (of Bush and Riley)," Blake said. "It's the big corporate coalition." To prove it, he said, just look at what the Birmingham News supports. Former Gov. "Big Jim" Folsom called it the paper of the "Big Mules," meaning the large corporations, and not much has changed in Birmingham since the 1950s in that respect. The paper endorsed Bush in 2000 and 2004, and endorsed Riley in 2002 and during the Republican Party primary this spring. Baxley just laughed when a local reporter asked about the Riley campaign's comment that her inclusion of a cardboard cutout of Bush was a joke. "Of course it was a joke. But look, no one here wants to have their picture taken with Bush. No one is doing it," she said, and walked off toward her next campaign stop. The Associated Press is now leading their local reporting on the Baxley event by underestimating the size of the crowd, and by interviewing anti-Bush activists for not even bothering to protest Bush's visit. Between 150 and 200 people gathered in Lynn Park for the event. The Montgomery Advertiser reporter, formerly with the Birmingham Post-Herald, thought it was more like 250. Many Anti-Bush Activists Skip Protests During President's Visit Meanwhile Back At The Bush Ranch Did anyone else see what the president said during his visit to Hoover about using wood chips to make biofuel? Switchgrass is one thing. Is there a secret plan by the paper companies, which own most of Alabama's forests already, to plow down all the woods in America so Bush's corporate friends can make piles of money on alternative fuels? I asked Ms. Baxley about her stand on the environment since she was in the real estate business before going into public service in state government. We are planning a trip to the Gulf Coast Oct. 7-12 for the bird migration, to check up on the overdevelopment of Alabama's coast and to do our own private hunt for the ivory-billed woodpecker recently heard in the Florida panhandle. But Ms. Baxley's response was vague and general, which may explain why none of the people from the Black Warrior Riverkeepers party Wednesday night were in attendance. "We need to let the people of Alabama enjoy the coastal area," Ms. Baxley said. "And we need to protect our environmental needs at the same time." Perhaps a more concerted effort to let the tens of thousands of people in Alabama who are concerned about the state's environment know that she really cares might help her campaign in the final month. For staters, what's this plan to turn wood chips into biofuel? (Note: Blake also had some interesting things to say about Riley's grassroots campaign manager Bill Johnson, but we are saving that for a larger story in the works to come out before the November election). Lucy Baxley Campaigns Against Riley, Bush in Birmingham
Large Fish Kill Reported On Black Warrior RiverOne of the largest fish kills ever reported in Alabama on the Black Warrior River is now under investigation. Hundreds of thousands of dead fish are floating in a 20-mile stretch of the river between Moundville and Akron, according to state conservation officials, although there are no prime suspects at this time. Jerry Moss, a fisheries biologist based in Northport with the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, says he doesn’t know what caused the fish kill. Alabama Department of Environmental Management officials have tested the water but the results will not be available for several days, according to agency spokesman Jerome Hand. “We are paying close attention to the situation," Hand told the Tuscaloosa News. “We’ve got three crews that we’ve pulled off of the Tombigbee and sent over there this morning." The first reports of the fish kill came in Sunday to the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries division. Most of the dead fish are non-game species, according to Moss. About 85 percent of the kill is shad, a common baitfish, he said. Most of the remaining kill is made up of freshwater drum, smallmouth buffalo and skipjack herring, along with a few bass and bream. “A lot of anglers are upset, as you can imagine," Moss told the Tuscaloosa newspaper. The kill is the largest anyone has seen since at least the early 1980s, when comparable kills occurred in Paradise Lake and on the Cahaba River. Both of those kills were related to chemical spills, Moss says, although he could detect no chemical odor in the river, only the stench of dead fish. The kill could be man-made or some kind of unusual natural phenomenon, he indicated. A change in the color of the river around River Mile 273, several miles below Akron, is being reported as well, along with low dissolved oxygen levels, although most of the fish kill is above the change in coloration, according to Moss. “When the dissolved oxygen content gets below three or four parts per million, fish start dying," Moss said. Low oxygen conditions in lakes, rivers and streams is often caused by what scientists call high nutrient content in the water, which can be due to natural runoff, runoff from farms or suburban developments, or the more toxic kind caused by industrial pollution. Officials are recommending that no one eat fish caught in the fish-kill area for at least two weeks until the cause and potential health risks can be determined. Rollin' In The Hay...
September 27, 2006Warrior Riverkeeper's 5th Birthday Bash Sept. 27The Black Warrior Riverkeepers are holding their 5th birthday party bash Wednesday, Sept. 27, with the band Rollin' In the Hay at the Bottletree Cafe, 3719 Third Avenue South, Birmingham, Alabama from 7:30 p.m. to midnight. There is a $10 cover charge, all of which goes to support the Black Warrior Riverkeeper's anti-pollution efforts. The Bottletree is BYOB, although sponsors Sweetwater and Anheuser-Busch have donated some FREE BEER for the party. For more information, contact: Charles Scribner at (205) 458-0095. Or visit the group's Web site at: www.blackwarriorriver.org. A Fall Day At Oak Mountain State Park
September 26, 2006Day Trip: Oak Mountain State ParkThe early fall weather makes it way too nice to stay in doors and blog. So we're off on another day trip today in search of peace in nature and feature photos. Today's adventure will take us to Oak Mountain State Park. Check back later tonight for more after the sun goes down... September 25, 2006Baxley to Hold Free Rally While Bush Raises Money for RileyIn response to George Bush's $1000 a plate lunch for Bob Riley scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 28, the campaign of Lucy Baxley, the Democratic Party's nominee for governor, will hold a free rally on the same day at Lynn Park in downtown Birmingham from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. For more info, call 334-244-218. To help notify people about this rally, contact Janis Martens, who will be coordinating a phone tree, at jmartens01@aol.com or (205) 492-1976. September 24, 2006Cherokee Moon Shadow Dancers
Day Trip: Native American Festival at Desoto CavernsThe 31st Annual Fall Native American Dance and Crafts Festival at Desoto Caverns Park celebrates the season and Native American culture with a dance exhibition, country crafts and native foods. September 23, 2006Tiffin Blows It, Arkansas Stuns AlabamaThe newspapers and the coaches will be kind to poor University of Alabama Crimson Tide kicker Leigh Tiffin, saying he "struggled" in Saturday's overtime loss to Arkansas. But the fact is, he blew it. And so did the coaches who left him in the game after he missed three previous field goal attempts and one extra point. We don't know if he just had the worst day of his life, whether he was seriously hung over - or bet on the Hogs and did it on purpose. But as a walk on, the coaches might think twice about letting him walk on the field in an Alabama jersey ever again... This is the first story we could find online: Tiffin struggles in Alabama overtime loss The Mobile Press Register on Sunday morning says: Bama blows it, and quotes Tiffin as saying: "I just had a rough game. I guess everybody does at some point." Any thoughts? September 22, 2006New College Football Feature...Editor's Note: Due to the dwindling quality of online news coverage that makes it easy for readers to scan and find out about upcoming events, we are launching this new feature for football season 2006. Each Friday, we will carry a column from a legendary Southern sports writer who wishes to write under a pen name here to prevent career problems at the corporate news organization he is affiliated with. Do you ever find yourself just trying to find an easy place online to find out what games are coming up, what time the games start, and what television network will be carrying them? Then check back in here every Friday afternoon or Saturday morning and we'll have it for you. It's easy to print out. Just hit the print button in your Web browser. It's Not A Big Game Weekend, Unless You Are A Tide Or Hog Fan by Paul Rockne After a big week of big games in college football last weekend, this week’s schedule is a letdown. Not that there aren’t a few interesting matchups … especially if you are an Alabama or Arkansas fan, for instance, but the meaningful meetings on the college gridiron are few and far between. On the Southern scene, the Crimson Tide will travel to Arkansas for what is always an important meeting of these two similarly-clad teams (often, it is hard for viewers on TV to tell which team is which because their colors match up so well). “This game usually always decides a lot about your year,” said the Hogs’ head coach, Houston Nutt, last week. And he’s right. Historically, the winner of the early-season meeting between the Tide and Hogs will battle for the SEC West title, while the loser is relegated to the second rung of the standings. And while the Alabama-Arkansas game doesn’t have the glamour of last week’s West matchup between Auburn and LSU, it could produce the same type of glued-to-the-screen drama. The cumulative score while these two division rivals have been splitting their last eight games at 4-4 has been just as even … Alabama 191, Arkansas 191. And with both teams having trouble scoring points while playing solid, for the most part, defense in their first three games, it looks to be another defensive slugfest like last week’s AU-LSU headliner. The similarities between the two teams this season are uncanny. Both sport close conference opening wins over Vanderbilt and a win over an early-season creampuff. The main difference is that while Bama was opening its season with a close win over Hawaii, the Hogs were being beaten badly by Southern Cal. Part of both teams’ offensive problems stem from the fact they each have new starters at quarterback - Bama going with sophomore John Parker Wilson and Arkansas with true freshman Mitch Mustain. Arkansas (2-1 overall, 1-0 SEC) has been named the pre-game favorite, by a narrow 2-and-a-half-point margin over the still unbeaten (3-0, 1-0) Crimson Tide. The Bama-Arkansas game is the main CBS game for the weekend - highlighting the weak week’s schedule - with game time set for 2:30 p.m. After an absence from the TV lineup in two of the first three weeks of the season, Bama will be on national TV for two weeks in a row. CBS has announced it will broadcast the Alabama at Florida game from Gainesville next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. No. 2 ranked Auburn (3-0) will not be on the tube anywhere - not even pay for view - as they host the University of Buffalo Saturday. Speaking of the War Eagles, Auburn fans have been saying “all the way to Glendale (site of this year’s BCS national championship game)” since last week’s win over LSU. The thinking is that now all Auburn has to do is to win out to make it to the title contest. But Auburn, as well as anyone, knows that winning out is not enough - not if more than two teams make it through the year unbeaten. And this could be one of those years. After three weeks of the 2006 college season, 29 teams are still on the unbeaten list. The include, by conference: SEC - Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and Florida; ACC – Boston College, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest; Big East - Louisville, Rutgers, West Virginia and South Florida; Big Ten – Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue and Wisconsin; Big 12 - Kansas State, Missouri, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M; Conference USA - Houston; Mountain West – TCU; Pac-10 – Arizona State, Oregon, Southern Cal and UCLA; Western Athletic - Boise State; Independent - Navy. This week’s college football TV schedule kicks off tonight, Friday, with Northwestern at Nevada at 7 p.m. on ESPN2). Saturday’s weekend TV lineup, other than pay-for-view is as follows: Wisconsin at Michigan, 11 a.m., ESPN The biggest game on the grid schedule this week will not be played on Saturday and it will not be a college game either. This week’s big game will the first game played in New Orleans’ Super Dome since Hurricane Katrina. After playing a whole season on the road, the Saints return to the Dome in triumphant fashion for what is actually an important division win. Coming to town is arch-rival Atlanta and the game Monday (7:30 p.m. on ESPN) will be for first place with both teams sitting at 2-0. The Sunday NFL television schedule has Carolina vs. Tampa Bay at noon (FOX), Jacksonville at Indianapolis at noon (CBS), New York Giants at Seattle (3:15 p.m. FOX) and Denver at New England (7 p.m. NBC). September 20, 2006The Facts About The Bushes And IranAs George W. Bush turns to the military option on Iran, the American people first might want to demand that he and his father release secret records about back-channel Republican dealings with the Iranian mullahs dating back to 1980. Those records might show whether face-to-face negotiations with Iran are worth trying, but the documents at least would let the public in on the true history of U.S.-Iranian relations before more people die. For the full story on how this secret history is relevant today, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com. Gov. Bob Riley Cannot Be TrustedSometimes it takes a great college newspaper to say it best... Assorted Logic TUSCALOOSA, Ala., Sept. 20, 2006 - A few weeks ago I wrote about the extremely dim-witted attack ad Gov. Bob Riley began airing in the middle of August. Riley was trying to convince Alabamians that Democratic gubernatorial nominee and current Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley is "too liberal for Alabama." The ad didn't spell out any specific reasons or stances, but it definitely tried to paint Baxley as being out of touch with Alabama voters. For Riley to accuse anyone else of being out of touch with the people of Alabama is laughable. Consider his first major action as governor. He tried to pass one of the largest tax increases in the history of Alabama through Amendment One, which went before voters in September 2002. Two-thirds of Alabama voters voted against the $1.3 billion tax increase. If a huge majority of people voted against a measure Riley proposed, wouldn't that make him out of touch with the voters?
Once again, the people of Alabama did not approve this measure. Riley did it by simply signing the tax increase into effect, even though the four governors preceding him under the same law had operated with appraisals taking place every four years. Now, the governor is promising that he'll change the appraisals back to every four years if he is re-elected. Where have we heard that before? It was stolen directly from Baxley's campaign platform. She has long advocated returning appraisals to their previous status. Baxley knows that working families are struggling under Riley's new interpretation of the law, and has promised that her first official act as governor would be to revoke Riley's tax increase. You may ask whom should we believe. The answer is easy. Riley campaigned on a promise of no new taxes in 2002 and broke that promise almost before his hand was off the Bible he placed it on to be sworn in as Alabama's chief executive. Since Baxley began her career in a statewide elected office in 1994, she has never lied to the people of Alabama. There are numerous other reasons Alabamians can no longer trust Riley. He lacks judgment and as previously illustrated, doesn't tell the truth. The latest example of Riley's lack of judgment comes from revelations about the current State Team Leader to his campaign re-election, Bill Johnson. For those of you who haven't yet heard anything about Johnson, let me enlighten you. In 1994, he ran for a U.S. Senate seat in Missouri as a Libertarian. As a candidate, he advocated the legalization of marijuana and prostitution. He also went through a 14-year period in which he refused to pay taxes. The Libertarian Party News stated that, "on crime Johnson says he thinks enough tax dollars are already allocated for fighting crime." It has also been exposed that Johnson has ties with the Mujahadeen, an Afghani militant group, and that he aided Contra rebels in Nicaragua. These certainly don't seem to be even close to the values of Alabamians. So again I must ask, who is Bob Riley to accuse someone else of being out of touch with Alabama voters? Riley has trusted Johnson and placed him in many powerful positions. He served as Riley's campaign manager in 1996 when Riley was running for Congress. After Riley won the election, Johnson served as his chief of staff. Johnson helped out again with Riley's grassroots campaign for governor in 2002. Riley also appointed Johnson to head the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, a department responsible for dolling out hundreds of millions of dollars in grants. I do not understand why Riley would give someone with Johnson's known background such responsibility and power. It seems completely crazy to me. There is even more shocking evidence on Bob Riley and Bill Johnson that can be found at www.askbobriley.com, and I encourage you all to check it out. The only way to rid our government of these types of people is to vote for Lucy Baxley in November. Her public service record is impeccable, and she can be trusted to only appoint people of the utmost integrity to positions of high power in Alabama government. Jordan Pittman is opinions editor of The Crimson White daily student newspaper at the University of Alabama, where this column originally ran under the headline: Gov. Riley can no longer be trusted September 19, 2006The First Glimmer of Autumn...
Stop The Senate From Pardoning BushThe U.S. Senate is planning to quietly hold a vote this week that would pardon President Bush for breaking the law by illegally wiretapping innocent Americans without warrants. According to Senator Leahy, the bill would "immunize officials who have violated federal law by authorizing such illegal activities." President Bush broke the law, and courts are starting to agree. Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter once said the program was illegal "on its face." But he has now caved to pressure from Vice President Cheney, and introduced legislation that marks a new low: the bill justifies everything the president did. Worse, it makes it legal to wiretap Americans, in secret, without warrants or oversight, whenever the administration wants to. So far, Democrats and some Republicans are holding strong against the bill, and there are good chances to stop it if enough of us speak up. MoveOn.Org is sponsoring a petition opposing the Republican move to pardon President Bush for breaking the law. To sign up, click here. September 18, 2006President Bush Needs To Watch HidalgoMaybe Condi Can Explain It To Him
by Glynn Wilson Do you ever wake up in the morning with a start from a dream and find yourself calling the president a dumbass? Oh, I suppose not. That's my curse. I only wish I could get into the press room with George W. Bush and try to question some sense into him. I wish his handlers would get him to read this column, because it contains a lesson in the difference between myth and reality and how Americans should treat the people of other countries. As I wound down Sunday night, flipping around the cable TV channels to find something worth stopping on as I often do, I ran across a movie loosely based on a true story called "Hidalgo." It is a 2004 film based on the life and tales of the famous American horseman Frank Hopkins and his amazing Spanish-American mustang Hidalgo. While working for Wild Bill Cody's traveling show in 1890 in the last days of American cowboys and Indians, a wealthy Arab sheikh invites Hopkins and his horse to enter the "Ocean of Fire" horse race, a 3,000 mile survival ordeal across the Arabian desert. Up until that year, the race was restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines owned by the greatest royal families. But the sheikh was a fan of tales from the American West, and Hopkins was billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known and his horse the greatest horse that ever lived to run. So the Sheikh wants to puts his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders, some of whom are determined to prevent a foreigner - and especially an "impure" horse and rider - from finishing the race. Hopkins is presented as half Caucasian and half Native American, born of a marriage between a European father and a Native American mother. His Indian name is "Blue Child" or "Far Rider." In spite of the seemingly overwhelming obstacles, Hollywood predictably has Hopkins win the race by a nose in the end. But the sheikh's nephew the prince, who Hopkins saves from quicksand during the race, lives to come in second on the top Arabian horse. The horse of a British woman, who the Arabs in the film call "the Christian woman," comes in third, in spite of all her plots to have Hidalgo killed. Some Christian. I would like to imagine George W. Bush watching this movie in the White House screening room along with Secretary of State Condi Rice, who explains its meaning to him. "Don't you see, Mr. President, how this cowboy showed class and humility after he won the race?" Hopkins befriends the sheikh and his daughter throughout the race and makes a gift of his Colt pistol after it's over. A hundred years of peace ensues between the two countries as a result, even though the myth of the pure bred horse and rider are blown. The victory by Hopkins and Hidalgo shows that free will matters more than breeding. To show he's truly a class act, the directors have Hopkins travel home to America after the race and use the $100,000 in prize money to buy hundreds of mustangs the U.S. Government planned to shoot. He releases them into the wild and sets Hidalgo free along with them. Now isn't there a lesson in this movie about how America should deal with the rest of the world and nature? Isn't that why they used to love us? For more information about the film, consult the Wikipedia online encyclopedia. And watch for it on a cable channel near you. September 16, 2006Baxley Launches Tax Truck Against Riley
September 15, 2006Civil Rights Pioneer Says 'Lucy Baxley Will Win'Autherine Lucy-Foster Honored by Glynn Wilson HOMEWOOD, Ala., Sept. 14 - For a Civil Rights pioneer, Autherine Lucy-Foster is shy about making public appearances and reluctant to grant interviews. But when she was honored by the Jefferson County Democratic Party with a standing ovation Thursday night at the first of its kind "Blue Dot Ball" in Homewood at the new SoHo Center, she seemed to come alive in the limelight.
As an "intuitive person," she said, she has a strong feeling that another strong woman with Lucy in her name will beat the odds and become the next governor of Alabama. "Lucy Baxley is going to win," she said - to a second standing ovation. Now a retired educator living in Lipscomb, Alabama, near Bessemer, when she was 26 in the 1950s she was admitted to the University of Alabama when she first enrolled, but then denied the right to attend classes when administrators found out she was black. So she hooked up with the NAACP, attorneys Arthur Shores, Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley, and Judge Helen Shores Lee, and sued, setting a precedent under the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that helped break the back of legalized segregation in public education. "There are people more deserving, but I could not say no when Judge Helen Shores Lee asked that I do this," Foster said in her humble way. The state Senate honored Ms. Foster Thursday night with lifetime achievement resolution presented by Sen. E.B. McClain, D-Midfield. "Autherine Lucy Foster's contribution was extremely important," McClain said. "Because of her, African-Americans now can very easily enroll in the University of Alabama. She contributed so much in hostile times to make things better for future generations." When she first arrived in Tuscaloosa wanting to earn a master's degree in library science in 1956, she was shunned and advised to leave town for her own safety when mobs of racists descended on the Capstone. Yet she earned a place in history as the first black student to enroll at the University of Alabama. She had earned a bachelor's in English from Miles College in Fairfield, and went on to marry the Rev. Hugh Foster and moved to Texas, where she taught for 17 years while raising four children. But Ms. Foster did get to live her dream of graduating from the University of Alabama many years later. In 1991, she enrolled along with her daughter, Grazia Kungu. They walked down the isle together in commencement exercises in the spring of 1992. "I always dreamed of walking through the line to accept my diploma," Foster said. She got her chance, and vowed to vote for Democrats for the rest of her life.
September 14, 2006Lucy Baxley Says 'You Can't Trust Bob Riley'BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 14 - Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley, the Democratic Party's nominee for governor, went on the road with an anti-tax truck Thursday to point out that flip flopping on taxes is all the proof Alabama voters need to know "you can't trust Bob Riley," she said at a press conference at the Birmingham Public library.
"As a candidate in 2002 Bob Riley said he would not raise our taxes, but then as soon as he got elected Riley proposed the largest tax increase in Alabama history,” Ms. Baxley said. “When the people said, 'No,' Riley had his Revenue Commissioner order annual property reappraisals, and with the stroke of a pen and without a vote of the people Riley raised our property taxes." She pledged that her first official act as governor will be to revoke Bob Riley’s property tax increase he ordered of every revenue official in all of Alabama's 67 counties when he made the ad hoc decision to reappraise property taxes every year instead of at least once every four years, as the law calls for. "Alabama families already pay enough taxes," she said, including new home owners in Alabama's burgeoning suburbs, where many African-American families are already stretched to the breaking point economically. Jefferson County begins collecting taxes from property owners Monday October 2 based on the third year of annual revaluation. "Every tax season I hear heart-wrenching stories from constituents, whose pocketbooks are already stretched thin as it is," Weinrib said. "Often they are elderly folks on fixed incomes or middle class families struggling to keep up each year with increasing house payments.” A Sad Day In Webland...This is a sad day in the history of the World Wide Web. I guess it is inevitable that we reach this day, roughly 10 years since the Web became accessible to the average user on a personal computer. Just as the PR hacks have now for the most part taken over the corporate press in America, now the programmer hacks have taken over the Web - over programming everything to the point where average users with older computers, operating systems and browsers - and dog forbid, even dialup connections - will not be able to take advantage of the benefits of a FREE free press online. Do you really expect the average computer user out there to buy a new computer and upgrade the damn browser every year just because the people with money in New York and Washington and LA and Seattle seem to? I thought the new standard in programming was to make things "backwards compatible?" The new blog ad interface is obviously not backwards compatible. I have real work to do today - that is journalism and photojournalism - and do not have time to completely reprogram the new blog ad strip and remake the house ads for The Locust Fork News and Journal and The Southerner Journal. I don't know whether to be just sad or really pissed off. Maybe the goddamn programmers can figure it out. I've got a country and a world to save from the radical Republican fascists. When y'all want to join the revolution and help me do it, please get in touch. September 13, 2006Baxley To Hold Birmingham Press Conference Sept. 14Lt. Gov. and Democratic Party nominee for governor Lucy Baxley will hold a press conference at the Birmingham Public Library Thursday, Sept 14, from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 2100 Park Place, along with Deputy Jefferson County Tax Assessor Grover Dunn. Dunn will read a statement from Jefferson County Assessor Dan Weinrib which in part reads, "Never in my wildest imagination did I ever believe that this governor would help impose the biggest property tax increases imaginable and do so without the consent of our people." The truck reads, "Thanks Bob Riley for our Tax Increase!" and includes a headline from the Decatur Daily, "Get ready for tax man." The Tax-Truck will crisscross the city of Birmingham for the next week, after which the Tax-Truck will head out for a state-wide tour. The Tax-Truck will remind the people of Alabama that Governor Riley raised their taxes with the stroke of a pen when he ordered annual property reappraisals. The truck will be parked just outside the Birmingham Library following the press conference. September 12, 2006National Alliance Against Racism Banquet Sept. 15The Birmingham Chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is having its Annual Banquet Friday Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, 1133 Tuscaloosa Ave. Southwest. The cost is $20.00 per person, and the funds are used to support the victims of our society (none are used for staff or expenses). Contact the Rev. Jack Zylman if you can attend at (205) 933-7678. Music for Peace and JusticeFirst in it's new series, "Music for Peace and Justice," the Birmingham Peace Project presents a new concept in popular musical entertainment: Birmingham bands and singer songwriters are invited to perform compositions centered around Peace and issues of Social Justice. Peace is this month's performance topic and will feature bands, including Looney Mill, Wall Street Traitors, Rickie Castrillo and Tommie Joe White, Carlito of the Deep End The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available. Donations will be accepted. Smith Lake Cleanup Sept. 14-15The Smith Lake Environmental Preservation Committee is having a Styrofoam and old dock cleanup on the Cullman side of Smith Lake on Thursday September 14 and Friday September 15, 2006. Crane Hill Development LLC is providing the cleanup site and folks can bring their styrofoam and old docks to the boat launch at Waterford Condominiums, previously Castle Rock Marina, for proper disposal. This is a great opportunity for folks around the lake to dispose of their old docks and old Styrofoam debris before the January 2010 deadline for removal. Cleanup equipment, supplies, and services are being provided by Alabama Power, Borden and Brewster Contractors, Inc., Cullman Environmental, Inc., Cullman City Sanitation, Cullman County Sheriff's Department, BJC Real Estate, Inc., Cullman County Cattlemen's and Cattlewomen's Association, Big Bridge Cafe, Ryan's Creek Marina, Crane Hill Development, LLC and S and S Foods. If you would like to volunteer, have questions, or need information, please contact Deb Berry at (205) 915-8830. For more information, go to BlackWarriorRiver.Org Young Democrats Plan Community CookoutThe Birmingham Young Democrats, a chartered organization of the Alabama Democratic Future, will hold its third-annual community cookout at Homewood Park, Sunday, Sept. 24, at 2 p.m. It is an opportunity to meet Alabama Democratic Party candidates in the Birmingham and surrounding area before the next election. The event is free to the public, although a $1 donation is recommended. For more information, e-mail: William Barns at birminghamyoungdemocrats@yahoo.com. September 11, 2006Blue Dot Ball 2006...The Jefferson County Democratic Party is holding a 2006 Blue Dot Ball Thursday, Sept. 14, from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the SoHo Square Ballroom in Homewood, Alabama. The evening’s special guest will be Civil Rights pioneer Autherine Lucy Foster, the First African-American enrolled at the University of Alabama. Food, drink and live entertainment will be provided for $75 per person, business attire Make Checks Payable to The Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee, P.O. Box 10522, Birmingham, AL 35202. Or purchase tickets on-line here. A Dark Window Into The Post-9/11 FutureThe fifth anniversary of 9/11 recalls that tragic day but also has become a reminder of America's continuing march toward a new-age totalitarianism in which reality is shaped by political and ideological forces. As George W. Bush seeks to revive the sentimental unity that followed the attacks, his supporters are busy using the event as cover for consolidating right-wing political power and enshrining a bogus history. For the full story on how 9/11 has become a dark window to that repressive future, go to the independent ConsortiumNews.Com. September 10, 2006Hold Bush Accountable For Osama's Stone Cold Trail
by Glynn Wilson On the eve of the five-year anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on America, you have to read between the headlines in the Washington Post to get the point. Osama bin Laden's Trail Is 'Stone Cold,' according to a detailed analysis by the new national newspaper of record online. Osama Bin Laden's Trail Is 'Stone Cold'
The objective news story doesn't draw the logical conclusion, letting intelligent readers decide for themselves what the point should be. Here it is: … and President George W. Bush should be held accountable for that.
President Bush continues to claim that we are safer now, but that is hard to believe considering how this administration handled the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast - and how everything is going wrong in Iraq and much of the world has lost respect for the United States under Bush's watch. If you believe the word of politicians who believe spinning press releases and making speeches makes you safer, vote for more Republicans in the November elections. If you believe those running the government should show up and do their jobs in a credible fashion, vote for Democrats and help change the power structure in Congress. Bush will never stand for election ever again. So how do we hold him accountable for his incompetent high-crimes and misdemeanors - including not finding Osama bin Laden "dead or alive?" The only way that will happen is for the majority to change in the U.S. House of Representatives, where according to the Constitution, impeachment proceedings must be initiated. A Democratic Party majority in the U.S. Senate is also important. That's where Bush's war crimes trial should be held. September 08, 2006FreePress.Net: Tell FCC to Stop Media ConsolidationDisney 9/11 Docudrama Sparks Public Outrage ABC's plan to air an inaccurate 9-11 "docudrama" has ignited public outrage with hundreds of thousands of people sending letters to Disney headquarters and local ABC stations protesting their willful distortion of history. These media protests have had an impact, but the root problem will remain unless we act now to stop media giants from becoming even more powerful |
