GETTING IT TOGETHER
One of the keys to Siran Stacy’s long and painful emotional recovery after his wife and four children were killed in a car accident didn’t happen in his home state, rather in the warm and friendly confines of a Texas ranch.
(TUSCALOOSA NEWS)
Friday, May 01, 2009
Truthdig - Arts and Culture - Lou Cannon on Ronald Reagan
REAGAN REVISITED
Here's some interesting commentary on James Mann's new book “The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War” by The Gipper's biographer Lou Cannon. Somewhere in all this, are the seeds of the truth.
(TRUTHDIG)
Here's some interesting commentary on James Mann's new book “The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War” by The Gipper's biographer Lou Cannon. Somewhere in all this, are the seeds of the truth.
(TRUTHDIG)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
YouTube - Past is present in Latin America Pt2
WHILE YOU WERE AWAY
Depressed and panicky about the election of Obama? Yeah, well imagine how we felt when Too got elected. And, our despair only worsened as his administration became engorged with the long-running cast of characters from the Viet Nam Syndrome/Watergate/Contra shadow government (Rumsfeld, Negroponte, Abrams, Poindexter, Wolfowitz, Bolton, etc.). (CHECK OUT THIS SITE FOR INFO ON THESE FOLKS) Well, as this (admittedly propagandistic) little news blurb shows, while Bush's golpe de estado centered its attention on the Middle East, the past was reconstructing itself in our hemisphere.
(REAL NEWS)
Depressed and panicky about the election of Obama? Yeah, well imagine how we felt when Too got elected. And, our despair only worsened as his administration became engorged with the long-running cast of characters from the Viet Nam Syndrome/Watergate/Contra shadow government (Rumsfeld, Negroponte, Abrams, Poindexter, Wolfowitz, Bolton, etc.). (CHECK OUT THIS SITE FOR INFO ON THESE FOLKS) Well, as this (admittedly propagandistic) little news blurb shows, while Bush's golpe de estado centered its attention on the Middle East, the past was reconstructing itself in our hemisphere.
(REAL NEWS)
Tide hosts rematch with S. Alabama | TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL
TIDE SEEKS REVENGE
The University of Alabama baseball team traveled to Mobile a week ago and a football game broke out. At least that's the way it appeared on the scoreboard, with South Alabama scoring a 21-16 victory over the Crimson Tide. The Jaguars scored 10 runs in the third inning, going through four Alabama pitchers in that inning. South Alabama pounded out 22 hits in the game, including four doubles and a home run. The two teams return for a rematch tonight when the Jaguar hit men travel to Alabama's Sewell-Thomas Stadium at 6:35 pm.
(TUSCALOOSA NEWS)
The University of Alabama baseball team traveled to Mobile a week ago and a football game broke out. At least that's the way it appeared on the scoreboard, with South Alabama scoring a 21-16 victory over the Crimson Tide. The Jaguars scored 10 runs in the third inning, going through four Alabama pitchers in that inning. South Alabama pounded out 22 hits in the game, including four doubles and a home run. The two teams return for a rematch tonight when the Jaguar hit men travel to Alabama's Sewell-Thomas Stadium at 6:35 pm.
(TUSCALOOSA NEWS)
Monday, April 27, 2009
Democracy Corps » The Congressional Battleground Also a Surprise at 100 Days
NOT FADE AWAY
A new survey by Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in the 40 most marginal Democratic seats shows Democratic incumbents holding strong in the territory where nearly all expect Republicans to reclaim lost ground. With Congress poised to vote on the president's budget, the Democratic incumbents are winning over 50 percent of the vote – stable over the last three months – and hold a double-digit lead against their generic challengers even in the 20 most difficult seats.
(DEMOCRACY CORPS)
A new survey by Democracy Corps and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research in the 40 most marginal Democratic seats shows Democratic incumbents holding strong in the territory where nearly all expect Republicans to reclaim lost ground. With Congress poised to vote on the president's budget, the Democratic incumbents are winning over 50 percent of the vote – stable over the last three months – and hold a double-digit lead against their generic challengers even in the 20 most difficult seats.
(DEMOCRACY CORPS)
TARP Tales | Once upon a time...
NO TARP COVERUP
TARPtales, a project of CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), seeks to be a central repository for information about how our taxpayer dollars are being used to stabilize our failing institutions during this period of economic turmoil. The site posts all the TARP-related information available, and hopes to "arm journalists, watchdogs, and the general public with the tools to keep track of the government's bailout activities." Worth a look.
(CREW)
TARPtales, a project of CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington), seeks to be a central repository for information about how our taxpayer dollars are being used to stabilize our failing institutions during this period of economic turmoil. The site posts all the TARP-related information available, and hopes to "arm journalists, watchdogs, and the general public with the tools to keep track of the government's bailout activities." Worth a look.
(CREW)
When Politics Disappoints, the Young Turn to Allen Ginsberg | | AlterNet
HOWL
Allen Ginsberg's spirit was invoked in the Bowery Poetry Cub, a scruffy, card-table-chair space in New York. Matvei Yankelevich, a poet in his twenties who looked half East European, half Midwestern and whose hair stood up and lay down in unusual places, was about to read 'Howl' in Russian. He ruffled the loose pages of Cyrillic splayed on a music stand, the verses that Ginsberg endlessly revised in his Berkeley apartment during the fall of 1955.
(ALTERNET)
Allen Ginsberg's spirit was invoked in the Bowery Poetry Cub, a scruffy, card-table-chair space in New York. Matvei Yankelevich, a poet in his twenties who looked half East European, half Midwestern and whose hair stood up and lay down in unusual places, was about to read 'Howl' in Russian. He ruffled the loose pages of Cyrillic splayed on a music stand, the verses that Ginsberg endlessly revised in his Berkeley apartment during the fall of 1955.
(ALTERNET)
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Kerry: Administration lacks 'real strategy' for handling Pakistan - USATODAY.com
KERRY CRITICIZES OBAMA AFGHAN POLICY
Just back from a visit to Pakistan, Sen. John Kerry says the Obama administration's plan for that volatile country, rolled out last month with great fanfare, "is not a real strategy." His statement amounted to one of the sharpest appraisals by a Democrat of one of the President's signature foreign policies. They also marked a change from his initial reaction to Obama's announcement of his plan for the region in a speech March 27, when Kerry issued a statement calling it "realistic and bold."
(USATODAY, suggested by OUR TROOPS NEWSLADDER)
Just back from a visit to Pakistan, Sen. John Kerry says the Obama administration's plan for that volatile country, rolled out last month with great fanfare, "is not a real strategy." His statement amounted to one of the sharpest appraisals by a Democrat of one of the President's signature foreign policies. They also marked a change from his initial reaction to Obama's announcement of his plan for the region in a speech March 27, when Kerry issued a statement calling it "realistic and bold."
(USATODAY, suggested by OUR TROOPS NEWSLADDER)
Friday, April 24, 2009
Mom-to-be hit by car while fleeing bear is OK | ajc.com
WALK AWAY FROM THE BONG!:
A pregnant woman who was fleeing a bear when she was struck by a car said she would honor the animal by giving her baby the middle name "Bear."
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)
A pregnant woman who was fleeing a bear when she was struck by a car said she would honor the animal by giving her baby the middle name "Bear."
(ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Shocking: Today, Life in the South for Poor Latinos Is Pure Hell! | Rights and Liberties | AlterNet
LIVING IN SOUTHERN WAR ZONE
A new Southern Poverty Law Center report has found that instead of acting to prohibit and eliminate systematic exploitation and discrimination against Latinos, state and local governments in much of the South have exacerbated the situation through harsh local policies and over-the-top rhetoric about illegal immigration.
(ALTERNET)
A new Southern Poverty Law Center report has found that instead of acting to prohibit and eliminate systematic exploitation and discrimination against Latinos, state and local governments in much of the South have exacerbated the situation through harsh local policies and over-the-top rhetoric about illegal immigration.
(ALTERNET)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Happy 4/20! The True Story Behind Stoners' Favorite Number | DrugReporter | AlterNet
HAPPY 4/20!
The origin of the term 420, celebrated around the world by pot smokers every April 20th, has long been obscured by the clouded memories of the folks who made it a phenomenon. Well, it's not because it's Joe Drews' birthday! Depending on who you ask, or their state of inebriation, there are as many varieties of answers as strains of medical bud in California. It's the number of active chemicals in marijuana. It's teatime in Holland. It has something to do with Hitler's birthday. It's those numbers in that Bob Dylan song multiplied.
(ALTERNET)
The origin of the term 420, celebrated around the world by pot smokers every April 20th, has long been obscured by the clouded memories of the folks who made it a phenomenon. Well, it's not because it's Joe Drews' birthday! Depending on who you ask, or their state of inebriation, there are as many varieties of answers as strains of medical bud in California. It's the number of active chemicals in marijuana. It's teatime in Holland. It has something to do with Hitler's birthday. It's those numbers in that Bob Dylan song multiplied.
(ALTERNET)
Monday, April 13, 2009
LETTER TO WILLIAM CARROLL
As a resident of the block that seems to be in constant turmoil over the noise issue, let me categorically say to you that I am opposed to a noise ordinance and that it seems unfair to me for you to center on the Music Box based on the complaints of some folks who are all engaged in a long-running psychodrama that predates that business. Before you were a councilman someone else came around here asking for "resident" input about a noise ordinance. When I told them that I was on the other side of that, they left me out of the loop. The city likes to hunt on baited fields it seems so I've made it a point of sticking my nose in whenever the issue comes up.
Over the years I've represented the bar owners on this block from the (sometimes) rightful wrath of some of these residents. The last time - the time you got involved with this mess - I told you that there were two sides to the story. I hope you'll listen.
Don't get me wrong, Jeff has a very valid point but it really smacks of throwing the baby out with the bathwater to start talking about an issue without really looking at all of the root causes and some real solutions.. I've been living in my apartment for at least 20 years. I've had some issues with the noise, especially a few years ago when Irvin Grodsky's teen club tenants were running amok. (Irvin lived in west Mobile. It was only when he moved across the street that he took issue with the noise. But by then his tenants had completely destroyed O'Rourke's by making our block a place to be avoided by patrons and other potential businesses.)
A few years before that, we had a biker bar and they would shoot guns and run their bikes at full tilt up and down the block well into the morning. I complained to the city attorney John Lockett but I didn't expect the the city to enact an ordinance. I just thought some police presence was what was necessary. I still do.
It's easy to center on the Music Box because they have a cast of shrill opponents and, unlike the other places on the strip, it sits on our block isolated. It's easy to pin the blame on them and not the cops who have pretty much abandoned our block. In my opinion the problem has been exacerbated by the city's inaction on the noise issue and, now, you purport to remedy the situation by reacting to these harpees' request that you so something precipitously.
Based on what I've seen and heard - and, remember, I live three doors down from there - it seems especially wrong to me that you would (could?) declare them a nuisance when they haven't broken any laws or ordinances or am I wrong on that?
So, yes, by all means do look at the problem. But don't take the easy way out by scapegoating this business and all of the other businesses in the Downtown area. Look at the noise issue as something that must be dealt with in a responsible manner and belly up to the bar yourself.
As a resident of the block that seems to be in constant turmoil over the noise issue, let me categorically say to you that I am opposed to a noise ordinance and that it seems unfair to me for you to center on the Music Box based on the complaints of some folks who are all engaged in a long-running psychodrama that predates that business. Before you were a councilman someone else came around here asking for "resident" input about a noise ordinance. When I told them that I was on the other side of that, they left me out of the loop. The city likes to hunt on baited fields it seems so I've made it a point of sticking my nose in whenever the issue comes up.
Over the years I've represented the bar owners on this block from the (sometimes) rightful wrath of some of these residents. The last time - the time you got involved with this mess - I told you that there were two sides to the story. I hope you'll listen.
Don't get me wrong, Jeff has a very valid point but it really smacks of throwing the baby out with the bathwater to start talking about an issue without really looking at all of the root causes and some real solutions.. I've been living in my apartment for at least 20 years. I've had some issues with the noise, especially a few years ago when Irvin Grodsky's teen club tenants were running amok. (Irvin lived in west Mobile. It was only when he moved across the street that he took issue with the noise. But by then his tenants had completely destroyed O'Rourke's by making our block a place to be avoided by patrons and other potential businesses.)
A few years before that, we had a biker bar and they would shoot guns and run their bikes at full tilt up and down the block well into the morning. I complained to the city attorney John Lockett but I didn't expect the the city to enact an ordinance. I just thought some police presence was what was necessary. I still do.
It's easy to center on the Music Box because they have a cast of shrill opponents and, unlike the other places on the strip, it sits on our block isolated. It's easy to pin the blame on them and not the cops who have pretty much abandoned our block. In my opinion the problem has been exacerbated by the city's inaction on the noise issue and, now, you purport to remedy the situation by reacting to these harpees' request that you so something precipitously.
Based on what I've seen and heard - and, remember, I live three doors down from there - it seems especially wrong to me that you would (could?) declare them a nuisance when they haven't broken any laws or ordinances or am I wrong on that?
So, yes, by all means do look at the problem. But don't take the easy way out by scapegoating this business and all of the other businesses in the Downtown area. Look at the noise issue as something that must be dealt with in a responsible manner and belly up to the bar yourself.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Old Spanish Trail replaced muddy roads, sandy trails - al.com
OLD SPANISH TRAIL
The Old Spanish Trail movement was organized in 1915 to promote a paved automobile highway across the southern United States from St. Augustine, to San Diego. At that time, land travelers from Mobile to Ocean Springs used a muddy track. Things were not much improved with a shell road from Biloxi to Pass Christian, and a sandy trace from Bay St. Louis to Pearlington, where the road came to an end at the Honey Island Swamp-Pearl River Delta. The effort was to revolutionize road travel and give those who used steamboats and railroads an alternate path.
(MISSISSIPPI PRESS)
The Old Spanish Trail movement was organized in 1915 to promote a paved automobile highway across the southern United States from St. Augustine, to San Diego. At that time, land travelers from Mobile to Ocean Springs used a muddy track. Things were not much improved with a shell road from Biloxi to Pass Christian, and a sandy trace from Bay St. Louis to Pearlington, where the road came to an end at the Honey Island Swamp-Pearl River Delta. The effort was to revolutionize road travel and give those who used steamboats and railroads an alternate path.
(MISSISSIPPI PRESS)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Video: On the Waterboard | vanityfair.com
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE SMOTHERED?
How does it feel to be smothered? Do you really need to ask? Christopher Hitchens submitted to a waterboarding session in an effort to understand the human cost of the use of harsh “aggressive interrogation” tactics. He was lucky, though, he got to stop the session seconds after it started.
(VANITY FAIR)
How does it feel to be smothered? Do you really need to ask? Christopher Hitchens submitted to a waterboarding session in an effort to understand the human cost of the use of harsh “aggressive interrogation” tactics. He was lucky, though, he got to stop the session seconds after it started.
(VANITY FAIR)
Friday, April 10, 2009
"BUG"
This story in today's paper has some special meaning for those of us who know Jorene's niece "Hayli Bug". We've been watching this little bitty girl overcome some pretty large obstacles in her life. Way to go bug!
(MOBILE REGISTER)
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