Get ready to have your stomach turned. In spite of the fact that Jesus had this to say about homosexuality: "_____, " that's not enough for those who use religion as a weapon instead as a guide for living a better life. At least one church in North Alabama passed out a literal piece of crap on Sunday.
Not only is the theology inaccurate - the author can't even spell the President's name correctly. "O'Bama?" Give me a $%^^ break.
I'm posting that piece on the flip. It doesn't deserve space on our front page. But this one does!
Hundreds of immigration rights supporters will be bearing witness today as the Alabama Senate tries to make a bad law even worse. Today is the last day of the Legislature's regular session and, barring a special session, it's the last chance this year for legislators to end Alabama's disgrace, the Beason-Hammon immigration law. Or, as the NYT puts it ...
Alabamians should see on Wednesday, the last day of the legislative session, just how badly the Republicans who control the Statehouse want to continue down the path of anti-immigrant extremism.
Immigration rights supporters will be at the State House all day, bearing witness into the night, praying for and with State Senators to end this abomination, or at least not make it even worse.
The Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice and its supporters will be gathering Wednesday, May 16th to bear witness to the last day of the 2012 Alabama legislative session. With the possibility of eleventh hour immigration legislation including the controversial Beason substitute bill coming to the Senate floor ACIJ supporters plan to spend the entire day at the State House observing and praying in an attempt to appeal to the better nature of our legislators by offering them a vision of common purpose and hope for the future.
Supporters will gather in front of the State House at 11:00 AM, stay through the day, and end with a vigil at 7:00 PM.
Good luck with appealing to the better nature of people like Scott Beason ... he's famous for calling African Americans "aborigines" and exhorting a Republican crowd to "empty the clip" against illegal immigration.
Beginning at noon, immigration rights supporters will conduct a small procession through the Senate offices and a few members of the clergy will offer prayers inside the Senators offices. Zayne Smith, coordinator of the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice said the group will "ask our legislators to find the grace to defend our cherished American principles of justice, compassion, and tolerance for all people. And to remind them that by standing up for the rights of all Alabamians we are celebrating the American spirit of freedom and fellowship."
It would be refreshing to think Alabama Legislators can find the grace to do the right thing here, but it's a stretch. As Eric Fleischauer noted a couple of days ago, empathy is dead in Alabama. Appeals to Christian principles carry virtually no weight with our legislators ... even though they're always ready to quote a passage of Scripture (frequently out of context) to justify their own scheming, conniving and discriminating.
Lend your eyes and bear witness to the actions of our Legislature, beginning today, May 16, at 11:00 am at the Alabama State House, 11 South Union Street in Montgomery.
If dogs are "man's best friends," isn't it time we returned the favor and honored our military dogs appropriately? War dogs have been used in almost every military capacity - one named "Cairo" even parachuted into Pakistan with a member of Seal Team 6 and helped capture Osama Bin Laden. And yet these brave canines are categorized by the US military as "equipment."
There is a confirmed list of 3,747 dogs that were used in Vietnam identified by Dr. Howard Hayes, Veterinarian (RET) of the National Institute of Health as of March 1994... [...] Only 204 dogs exited Vietnam during the 10-year period. Some remained in the Pacific, and some returned to the United States. None returned to civilian life. So what happened to the dogs that remained? Most where euthanized and the others where turned over to the ARVN (South Vietnamese Army).
There's a bill pending in Congress to give these dog soldiers the recognition and protection they deserve. According to the ASPCA, the "Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act" will reclassify MWDs as "canine members of the armed forces” (instead of “equipment”) and will institute programs to assure their health and well-being after retirement from service—all without using federal funds."
Here's how you can help:
What You Can Do
The House of Representatives is moving forward with this provision, and now we need the Senate to act as well. Please take two quick actions today:
1) Use the email below to contact your two U.S. senators and urge them to cosponsor the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act. Please customize your message in the space provided.
2) Follow up with brief phone calls to your senators in Washington, D.C. Tell them that you are their constituent and ask that they cosponsor S. 2134, the Canine Members of the Armed Forces Act. Find your senators’ names and phone numbers here.
NONE of the seven co-sponsors in the Senate (so far!) are from Alabama. Let's change that.
These animals risk their lives to protect our soldiers. The least we can do is respect and protect them in return.
The Governor is supposedly going to call the Legislature into special session day after tomorrow to deal with the thorny issue of legislative reapportionment. Last week the masterminds behind the new maps showed them to legislators, distributing paper copies so small it was hard to even find some of the districts, let alone see just where the new dividing lines fall.
The guidelines of the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment call for public participation ...
The Reapportionment Committee seeks active and informed public participation in all activities of the Committee and the widest range of public information and citizen input into its deliberations.
... but so far there has been no word of a public hearing on the maps that are actually on the table. The PLCR conducted a series of public hearings, sort of a "listening tour," last fall where citizens could comment on reapportionment, but the committee members obviously didn't take those comments -- usually along the lines of "please don't split up our city/county/region" -- into account when drawing the new maps.
Given that they didn't listen to the public input the first time, what are the odds they'll give the public another shot at convincing them not to split communities of interest?
I predict more business as usual in Montgomery where Legislators pat us on the head and croon, "No need to worry your head commenting on reapportionment. Just trust us. We'll handle it."
Newt Gingrich brought up Mitt Romney's history as a corporate raider at Bain Capital back in the primary, now Obama for America is running this ad in the swing states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Virginia.
Republicans are worried that Romney can't defend his history at Bain, buying up companies, selling off assets, cutting wages, moving jobs overseas, etc.. Turns out Ted Kennedy used this same material against him back in the 1994 Senate campaign, and Romney didn't have an effective response then, either.
The anti-Bain message is an attack Romney has faced in every race of his political career, sometimes managing to control the damage — and other times, like his 1994 Senate bid, watching his campaign go up in smoke as a result.
It's no wonder Republicans are worried about Romney's anemic defense of his time at Bain. So far, Romney's strategy is to compare what he did at Bain with what Obama did to save the American auto industry -- which just reminds people that Romney wanted to let Detroit go bankrupt. Even if you get past that negative association for Romney, it's a difficult argument to swallow:
If this is indeed the comparison the Romney campaign plans to pursue, it’s a curious one. After all, Obama didn’t personally profit when he bailed out the auto companies. By contrast, Bain walked away with at least $12 million in profits after its episode involving GST Steel, the company that is the subject of Obama’s ads. More broadly, Jon Chait notes: “Romney’s career produced huge gains for owners of capital, and the auto bailout forced them to swallow huge losses.”
Romney has been forced to the "Bain was just like saving Detroit" argument because his previous best defense of his corporate raider past was that "he helped create 100,000 jobs at Bain." That defense has fallen victim to math. After repeating the 100,000 jobs claim throughout the primary, journalists started looking for documentation of that (wildly inflated, as it turns out) estimate and the Romney campaign has been forced to downgrade their estimate to simply "thousands of jobs."
And the "Bain as job creator" argument is dangerous for Romney in another way. It opens the door to a discussion of the real priority of companies like Bain, which is emphatically not creating jobs. Job 1 for these corporations is to maximize profits ... concern for jobs and employee pensions have no place in their math. That is a really dangerous door for the Romney campaign to open.
Prioritizing profit above all else is, of course, fine for someone running a private equity firm. But it’s not likely to win over voters in the fall, so Romney has disingenuously tried to paint Bain as something other than the profit-hungry corporation that it was. The Obama campaign was merely pointing out the human consequences.
Learn more about what Bain did to GST steel, the company featured in the OFA ad, at the Romney Economics website.
Former State Sen. Lowell Barron has $464,000 in his campaign account. Thanks to Republican "reforms" he can't spend it on much of anything ... except running for office, himself.
In the Republican wave of 2010 Barron lost by 500 votes to Shadrack McGill, possibly the least bright Republican among a flock of not very bright GOPers swept into office two years ago. Up in northeast Alabama, it's widely expected that Lowell will be running to reclaim his old seat in 2014, and will have a boatload of money to spend doing it.
That's an unpleasant prospect for Alabama Republicans.
So, did Sen. Gerald Dial (R, Lineville) and his GOP cohorts running the redistricting try to draw Barron out of his old district with their new reapportionment map? Barron is usually listed as residing in Fyffe and I noticed this morning the SD8 line on Dial's map runs right up to Fyffe. It used to take in all of DeKalb county, but now the part of DeKalb county southwest of Fyffe would be in (also not very bright GOPer) Clay Scofield's District 9 along with Marshall County. All the Barron's listed on Whitepages.com actually live outside of Fyffe ... probably in SD9 according to Dial's new map.
Brilliant electioneering cartography, huh?
But hold on a minute, did Gerald Dial forget to check Barron's current residence? According to Lowell Barron's facebook page, he now lives in Rainsville, squarely inside SD8 even on the Dial map.
So, did the Republicans try to draw Lowell Barron and his $464,000 out of his old district? And, if so, did they get it wrong the first time?
Here's how to tell:
Watch what ends up on the final map. The maps we've seen so far (download a copy here) are just proposals. There will be considerable tweaking and horse-trading before they're actually approved. If the GOP starts playing whack-a-mole with Lowell Barron, watch for Rainsville to suddenly turn up in District 9 along with Barron's old stomping ground of Fyffe. Then we'll know Gerald Dial was aiming to eliminate a powerful political opponent the first time, but forgot to check his current address.
Of course, the more of DeKalb county they take out of this district, the less Democratic it becomes. According to the current State Senator, Shadrack McGill, that was the whole point:
“The goal by Sen. Dial was to make it a stronger Republican district.”
The real goal by Senator Dial is to make as many Republican districts as possible. Caging Democratic voters, splitting up Democratic areas and drawing strong Democrats out of their home turf are the tools he uses in the redistricting electioneering process. Lowell Barron ought to announce he's moving to Lineville and see what happens then.
U.S. Congressman Mo Brooks' Fifth District is the home of NASA's Marshal Space Fiight Center. (in Huntsville) It is critical to the entire Tennessee Valley for our representative to fight tooth & nail in Washington to keep MSFC afloat.
NASA has made it quite clear, again and again,that they agree climate change is real and caused by our fossil fuel usage and can bring about devastating results. This goes directly against Mo's point of view on climate change.
M.B.:The fact that there may be some global warming doesn't necessarily establish that it's caused by humans.
Q:There have been lots of hearings over the years by Congress, including the science committee ... . M.B.: But I haven't been on those committees.
Mo Brooks seems to think everybody's wrong and he's right so tear up every document within the borders of Washington D.C. and forget about the research and findings of:
NOAA NASA IPCC EPA British Antarctic Survey InterAcademy Council Joint science academies' statement 2008 Joint science academies' statement 2001 International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences Network of African Science Academies National Research Council (US) European Science Foundation American Association for the Advancement of Science Federation of American Scientists World Meteorological Organization Royal Meteorological Society (UK) Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences International Union for Quaternary Research American Quaternary Association Stratigraphy Commission of the Geological Society of London International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics International Union of Geological Sciences European Geosciences Union Canadian Federation of Earth Sciences Geological Society of America American Geophysical Union American Astronomical Society American Institute of Physics American Physical Society American Chemical Society American Society for Microbiology Institute of Biology (UK) World Federation of Public Health Associations American College of Preventive Medicine American Public Health Association American Medical Association American Statistical Association Engineers Australia (The Institution of Engineers Australia) Water Environment Federation Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management Federal Climate Change Science Program (US) Royal Society of New Zealand And the United States Supreme Court .... Just to name a few.
The climate hearings that Mo eventually brought forth we're nothing more than a dog & pony show with the dogs and the ponies being played by snakes & weasels. (probably why Mo never held a town meeting about it after doing so)
And we're suppose to trust Mo to support NASA? Even though they disagree with something he is obviously very passionate about? Which side of this conflict of interest is Mo leaning more towards?
In a recent e-mail chat I had with Charlie Holley (Mo's opponent), our next Congressman said the following:
"I do believe the scientific evidence of man-made global warming. I believe greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels is causing a climate change. Whether it’s global warming or some combination of other issues, it behooves us all to take it seriously. I do support environment friendly legislation and organizations assigned to protect the earth like the EPA."
"I support green jobs and green projects. I also support alternative forms of clean energy. I support emissions legislation aimed at reducing dangerous amounts of pollutants released into our air. I support energy efficiency and renewable energy. I also support efforts of this country and others to limit and control greenhouse gas emissions." Charlie Holley
No conflict of interest there. And it seems that Charlie is a man that has been paying attention to the more critical issues. The choice in November couldn't be more clear. We need Charlie Holley in Washington to represent the 5th Congressional District.
Senator Gerald Dial (R SD13) had a problem in 2010. Many of the people who know him the best - including his own hometown of Lineville - voted for his Democratic opponent. In a year where many long-serving Democrats were tossed out of office, Dial won by a whisker-thin 357 votes.
Lesson for the day, campers! The "GER" in Dial's first name stands for "GERRYMANDER."
The chair of the Senate Redistricting Committee presented him with an excellent opportunity to rid his district of those pesky folks who find his antics tiresome at best and corrupt at worst. For those who thought Dial's political payback was limited to this:
A special bill designed to allow one of his cronies to buy into the state retirement system.
A set of zombie bills that set up a personal $500k slush fund for Dial & Rep. Richard Laird. Dial will be able to take money appropriated for counties in his current district and use that totally unregulated cash to curry favor with his new constituents.
That some "new" constituents got added to District 13 and some existing ones (who live a heck of a lot closer to Dial than Opelika) got excised is no surprise to anyone who looks at the map on the flip. It's pretty big & I afraid it would break the home page layout.
And if the GOP supermajority approves this monstrosity of a district, then we have absolute proof that their promise to bring a "new way of doing business" to Montgomery was actually a threat - and one that they're quite ready to follow through on.
The new district line runs through the backyard of his 2010 opponent Greg Varner.
Eight precincts won by Varner by 55% or more in 2010 got moved out of District 13.
Precincts won by Dial by more than 55% stay in District 13.
Desperately searching for more reliable - and less knowledgeable voters - Dial had to give his new District 13 a long Southern-stretching tentacle that tickles the tummy of Opelika.
While it may be a political coup for Dial, it's a disaster for mostly-rural Clay County. There's a new FB page - Don't Divide Clay County - urging the legislature to reject Dial's district. Why is this an issue?
Dial split his own home county - Clay County - that has about 14,000 people into two districts. The unfriendly half with the towns of Ashland, Millerville, & Hollins will be severed & placed in a Senate district dominated by Calhoun County (with about 118,000 people). This splits an already politically weak rural county into two parts.
To add even more insult, Dial's slush fund bill takes more money per capita from Clay County than from Randolph & Chambers counties. Clay loses $60,000 in funding ($4.28/resident) compared to Randolph County's $2.17 per capita loss & Chambers County's $2.64 per capita loss. Dial will be able to use that money for the next 2 years and lavish attention on the district he'll have in 2014.
The bills set up a "District Community Service Grant Fund" and say this:
"Section 5. There is hereby created the District Community Service Grant Authority consisting of the Senator from Senate District 13 and the House members from House Districts 37 and 38. The District Community Service Grant Authority shall allocate funds distributed to the authority."
There's nothing in this authorization that says the money collected in the county has to be spent in that county. Expect Chambers County & even the good folks in Lee County to enjoy some financial windfalls over the next 2 years.
Meanwhile, the people of District 13 have experienced nothing but a dismissive attitude on the part of their Senator, betrayal by their State Representative, and indifference on the part of the entire Legislature. They're more interested in not rocking the boat than they are in actually fairness, transparency, and good government.
A funny thing happened on the way to the governor's office. House Speaker Mike Hubbard stopped listening to animal welfare folks and started dancing to the tune of a small group of Alabama veterinarians - the newly formed "Alabama Veterinary Clinics Owners Association."
This group was formed because of frustration with the Alabama Veterinary Association, which worked with bill proponents on a compromise bill that would allow low-cost spay/neuter clinics to operate. According to the Alabama Voters for Responsible Animal Legislation Web site, some veterinarians aren't just opposing the compromise bill - they're lying about it:
Dr Welch, on behalf of the ASBVME , is lying. He is lying to legislators and to the Alabama’s veterinary community. His behavior has been unprofessional and he is representing a professional community that is essential to the welfare of animals. [...] I would also strongly suggest that you tie up the phones and e mails of the ASBVME expressing your displeasure- after all, they exist at the pleasure of the legislature to protect the public from bad veterinarians. (334-262-8068) Tammy.Wallace@asbvme.alabama.gov)
Here's some text of the letter that was circulated among the veterinary community:
ALABAMA VETERINARY CLINIC OWNERS ASSOCIATION We are presently trying to stop House Bill 156 (Spay/Neuter Bill) from allowing 501c3′s to perform total veterinary care. This bill is in conference committee and is close to passage in a form that our Alabama State Board of Veterinary of Medical Examiners does not approve.
The bill only allows low-cost spay and neuter clinics to - HELLO! - provide spay & neuter services & vaccinations if the animals haven't been vaccinated. That's hardly "total" veterinary service!
These Auburn-area vets are the organizers of the renegade group:
Kim West, DVM 334-826-2577 Buddy Bruce, DVM 334-745-0060 Pete Marine, DVM
The bill (HB156) is in the "Speaker's Basket," which seems to be a pretty crowded place this term. The bill can come to a floor vote if the Speaker removes the bill from his "basket" and puts it on the floor for a vote. According to sources close to Speaker Hubbard, he is not allowing a vote on the bill because of a visit he received from a veterinarian who is a close friend.
"A tisket, a tasket... take it out of Hubbard's basket!"
AVRAL asks supporters to do 3 things:
#1 If you know any veterinarian who does not oppose this bill please ask them to make a brief call to Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard, and tell him that they support HB 156.
#2 Make a call to Mike Hubbard’s office, 334-242-7668, and send an email, Mike.hubbard@alhouse.gov
Your message on the call is - “Please let democracy prevail and get HB 156 up for a vote”. When you send your email, indicate on the subject line, ”LET DEMOCRACY PREVAIL FOR HB 156”
#3 Contact your representative - YOUR Representatives ONLY. Call and email. Ask them to ask Mike Hubbard to get the bill out of the basket on Wednesday for a fair vote.
Time is short and if Hubbard doesn't act, there will be far more unwanted animals born, dumped, and/or killed in this state. All so a few greedy vets can line their pockets at the expense of the creatures they're supposed to be serving.
Ask your vet if he/she will call the Speaker and support this bill. If the answer is "no," I think it's time to find another vet.
So you thought Republicans were going to be better than the Democrats who controlled the Alabama Legislature for 136 years? You believed their promises to be more ethical, more open, more fair?
You must feel like a chump after two years of Republican rule in Montgomery, especially if you're following the reapportionment -- or redistricting -- process.
“I would say the overall plan is political gerrymandering by the Republican Party to increase Republican districts and reduce Democratic seats,” said Senate Minority Leader Roger Bedford, D-Russellville.
...
“It’s just designed to get rid of Democrats,” [Rep. Bobby] Singleton said of the GOP plans. “It will have some challenges on the floor and in court.”
...
“The goal by Sen. Dial was to make it a stronger Republican district,” said [GOP Senator Shad] McGill.
All legislative and congressional districts will be composed of contiguous and reasonably compact geography.
...
Each House and Senate district should be composed of as few counties as practicable.
...
The integrity of communities of interest shall be respected. For purposes of these Guidelines, a community of interest is defined as an area with recognized similarities of interests, including but not limited to racial, ethnic, geographic, governmental, regional, social, cultural, partisan, or historic interests; county, municipal, or voting precinct boundaries; and commonality of communications.
Fortunately for Republicans running the Reapportionment Committee, the guidelines don't outright say thou shalt not draw district lines for political gain, and, absent that, the other rules are easily finessed away.
Senator Gerald Dial (R) co-chairs the committee charged with drawing the new boundaries. After a near loss to political newcomer Greg Varner in 2010, Dial's effort to make stronger Republican districts started at home. He has literally cut his home county (Clay) in two and run the dividing line through Varner's backyard to draw himself the safest of all safe districts. A "Don't Divide Clay County" group has sprung up to counter Dial's naked display of political ambition.
He has relegated each precinct which voted for Greg Varner and against him in Clay County (except Dial's hometown of Lineville) to another State Senate district dominated by Calhoun County and their 118,000 people, for which we have no common political interest.
In the Shoals area, Dial and friends took a Senate district that only needed 1500 more residents and completely reshaped it so that it will now lean Republican. In fact, they reshaped most of the districts in the Shoals to dilute the political power of that traditionally Democratic leaning corner of the state.
In Montgomery, they also moved Rep. Joe Hubbard's district north ... 75 miles north to deep red Shelby County. You may recall that Hubbard has been called "the young face of the Democratic party" in Alabama. GOP gerrymanderers can't have a dangerous guy like that in office, now can they?
Freshman Democratic Senator Jerry Fielding's districtwas literally divided 6 ways. Seriously. I'm sure that will preserve the political influence of Talladega and Coosa counties ... NOT.
In addition to these redistricting tricks, Democratic Senators Marc Keahey and Democratic Rep. A.J. McCampbell were drawn out of their current districts.
The Reapportionment Committee's guidelines also state that "Sovereignty resides in the people of Alabama, and all districts should be drawn to reflect the democratic will of all the people concerning how their governments should be restructured." If you don't like the level of politics apparent in these newly gerrymandered legislative maps (which will become law until after 2020) contact your legislators today.
“Natural gas prices are lower than they have been in 10 years,” Lathem said. “Producers are deciding whether to shut wells down because it’s costing them more to pump it than what they’d get back from selling it.” Anniston Star
While I have every sympathy for cash strapped Alabama communities, it stops short of allowing the Feds to sell off public land leases for private profit. The environmental and community devastation will cost much more than what would be gained by a few feet of natural gas, which is currently in abundant supply without tapping pristine forest land.
Chances of even finding gas in Talladega are 'slim', and while some mayors might think it's worth the wreckage of the forest to create the 'infrastructure', I think it's a boondoggle of the first water.
Millions of gallons of water will be used every time they tap the well, and the groundwater and streams will be permanently destroyed.
If you haven't seen 'Gasland' yet, please take a look. Unlike coal and other industries, fracking is not subject to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The chemicals they use in secret are known carcinogens, and they don't 'go away'. Once they are in the environment they are there to stay.
Worth it? I don't think so.
This excerpt shows why we can't monitor fracking sites. Not the EPA, not anybody.
I'm curious - the only person running for the US House that ActBlue supports seems to be Terri Sewell. Does that reflect the fact that nobody is even bothering to run or that those that do are simply DINOs that ActBlue doesn't bother with?
We were truly blessed here in Alabama last month. Our tornado count was zero. But don't let local right-wingers fool you into believing climate change is over. The national tally for April was 228. (73 above the average of 155) 122 of them occurred on April 14th in an outbreak that stretched from Oklahoma to Iowa (with Kansas receiving the brunt of the action)
The definition for "persistent" should have "climate change skeptic" included in every dictionary and encyclopedia. I can't think of any other instance where so many different theories are applied to the same lie. Their latest attempt is no exception:
In short, if climate sensitivity is lower than resulting in climate models, then the climate should have warmed less than climate models have predicted. In order to argue that this is the case, Lindzen (the skeptic) claims that CO2-equivalent (the total radiative forcing for all greenhouse gases in units equivalent to CO2-caused warming) has already doubled from pre-industrial levels; therefore, if climate sensitivity is around 3°C for doubled CO2 (as in climate models), the planet should have warmed 3°C. It has not warmed nearly so much; therefore, Lindzen asserts, climate sensitivity is low.
There are three separate fundamental flaws in this argument:
Lindzen has completely neglected all non-GHG influences on the climate. The second-largest influence (behind CO2) is from human aerosol emissions, which have a cooling effect. Lindzen seizes on the uncertainty associated with aerosols – the strength of their cooling effect is not well-known; however, the scientific evidence does clearly indicate that they have a cooling effect. In fact, Lindzen’s own sources on the subject conclude that aerosols have a strong cooling effect. Yet in his argument, he has completely failed to account for this cooling effect. In short, Lindzen treats the GHG forcing as equivalent to the net radiative forcing (which is what the climate responds to), but the two are not equivalent.
3°C is the equilibrium climate sensitivity – the amount the planet will eventually warm once it reaches a new energy balance. The planet currently has an energy imbalance (mostly stored as heat in the oceans), so there is still more warming “in the pipeline” from the GHGs we have already emitted. Lindzen fails to account for this effect.
Either the AGW skeptic point of view tantamount to debating the color of an orange or I'm missing something here.
We lost a quiet American hero on Tuesday when former AG Nicholas Katzenbach died at the age of 90. He lived an extraordinary life and was an unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement. Katzenbach faced down George Wallace, helped enroll James Meredith in MS, clashed with J. Edgar Hoover over wiretapping MLK, and tried to extricate the US from Vietnam.
He didn't do this for personal glory, for acclaim, or for any reason other than he took an oath to do his job and uphold the Constitution. Katzenbach acted with a quiet dignity and courage that's a model for us all.
Tributes poured in as word of his death spread. This one from the Star Ledger in New Jersey is noteworthy, but my favorite was written by Andrew Cohen in the Atlantic Monthly:
From the federal perspective, Katzenbach was the Forrest Gump of the Civil Rights movement. He rounded off RFK's harsh side and put teeth into JFK's style. He put the words in LBJ's mouth and took the words right out of the mouths of dozens of state officials who had vowed never to integrate their public places. Katzenbach accomplished this because he was smart, and self-deprecating, and because he looked like he could have been anyone's uncle. He fought hate not with love but with measured tones and a calm demeanor. In a time of great chaos, he was always a reasonable man.
It's one thing to honor the brave men and women who marched and sang and bled for racial equality-- and who still do today. It's quite another thing to honor those public officials, like Katzenbach, who helped the country achieve a measure of integration because it was their job to do so, because they had sworn an oath to do so, and because they believed that the lawlessness of the Southern response to desegregation was a threat to the rule of law.
But perhaps the most fitting close to his extraordinary life - and the most applicable to our current political environment is this:
In this historic face-off, it’s clear Katzenbach’s greatest legacy to us is his dignified calm and backbone in the face of ignorance and hate.
Video of the Katzenbach/Wallace confrontation is on the flip.
Sen. Billy Beasley's motion to outright repeal Alabama's HB56 immigration law failed in the Senate yesterday. The vote was 14 to 20. All 20 "No" votes came from Republicans. Independent Senator Harri Ann Smith voted "Yes," as did Republican Gerald Dial. Every Democrat voted for Repeal.
In addition, Senator Scott Beason (one of the original authors of HB56) unveiled a new 63 page bill which he intends to substitute for HB658, the "tweak" bill to correct a few of the problems with the Beason-Hammon law. Yes, Beason wants to jack up the name and drive a new bill under it, making it even worse than the law he pushed through last year. According to the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice:
It is deaf to the cries of teachers, administrators and parents to leave schoolchildren out of this fight. It maintains the HB56 requirement that schools turn teachers and administrators into immigrant agents.
If adopted, law enforcement will have no choice but to arrest people who are not criminals and put them in our already over-crowded jails at taxpayer expense. This imposes another unfunded mandate on our law enforcement agencies, which are already strapped for funding to fight real crime.
It undermines public safety by failing to provide adequate protection for victims of crime after they cooperate with law enforcement, thereby discouraging them from reporting crime. Essentially, the message is "cooperate with police and we'll hand you over to immigration."
The substitute thumbs its nose at religious leaders by continuing to criminalize the good works of faith communities, including increasing the penalties for meeting basic human needs.
By continuing to prohibit landlords from renting to undocumented immigrants, it will make many families homeless, including those with US citizen children.
The substitute would write into law the anti-immigrant vigilantism already caused by HB 56. It introduces a Scarlet Letter provision that would require DHS to publish on its website the names and locations of undocumented immigrants who have appeared in state courts.
The Senate has not acted yet on HB658 and there is only one day left in the regular session. At this point repeal is off the table. The only possibilities left are for the Legislature to do nothing leaving HB56, warts and all, in place or to pass the "tweak" bill, HB658. If the latter, the issue is whether it will be the original "tweak" or Beason's "tweak" for the worse.
There is no good outcome on the horizon for this year, but it's heartening that at least Democrats have figured out HB56 was a mistake and started voting accordingly.
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Senator Gerald Dial (R) co-chairs the committee charged with drawing the new boundaries. After a near loss to political newcomer Greg Varner in 2010, Dial's effort to make stronger Republican districts started at home. He has literally cut his home county (Clay) in two and run the dividing line through Varner's backyard to draw himself the safest of all safe districts. A "
While I have every sympathy for cash strapped Alabama communities, it stops short of allowing the Feds to sell off public land leases for private profit. The environmental and community devastation will cost much more than what would be gained by a few feet of natural gas, which is currently in abundant supply without tapping pristine forest land.
We were truly blessed here in Alabama last month. Our tornado count was zero. But don't let local right-wingers fool you into believing climate change is over. 
The definition for "persistent" should have "climate change skeptic" included in every dictionary and encyclopedia. I can't think of any other instance where so many different theories are applied to the same lie. 
