Tweet of the Week

Tea Partiers still really angry that black people can vote http://t.co/7IHPMbEl49
— The Daily Edge (@TheDailyEdge) June 26, 2014

 

 Parents are the First Teachers

Mississippi Burning " It looks like the rattlesnakes are starting to commit suicide"

McDaniel's supporters are now talking lawsuit, so anything that keeps this thing alive is pretty darn awesome.

One of my most memorable lines from the movie Mississippi Burning is when G-Man Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) says to G-Man Alan Ward  (Willem Dafor) "Looks like the rattlesnakes are starting to commit suicide" after they trick the weakest link into thinking the other is going kill him if he doesn't tell the truth in their investigation of the death of a young black man in 1964 Mississippi.

So, Chris McDonald (TeaPublican, MS) is mad because them there black voters, I mean crossover voters, cost him the election.  Boo Hoo

A Republican Party campaigning on making the Senate “conservative,” used black people liberal Democrats to preserve an incumbent Republican and defeat a conservative. The actual conservatives are the outsiders with the GOP establishment doing all it could to preserve its power at the expense of its principles...
Mississippi is a crystalizing election in that sense. Cochran is, for all intents and purposes, a marionette. His strings are pulled by staffers and lobbyists. They drop him onto the stage of the Senate and pull up a string to raise his hand. These puppeteers are so invested in keeping their gravy train going that they will, while claiming to be Republicans, flood a Republican primary with black people Obama voters to ensure their gravy train continues.

Senator Thad Cochran survives, thanks to Democrats  but should democrats be happy about that?

Cochran's win helps quell talk of a newly resurgent tea party and returns us to a state of affairs in which political insiders can prattle on again about how nice and reasonable and cuddly the GOP is and how Democrats could get things done via compromise with the GOP if they'd only lead harder. Ron Fournier must be in heaven.

If  Mississippi democrats get out and vote in the general election like they did in the primary, democrats will win, despite what the Polling Pollsters and the Talking TeeVee Pundit Heads say, because It looks like the rattlesnakes are on suicide watch.

Now that we have proof Voter ID laws disenfranchised registered voters can we please repeal them?

Mt. Zion Church state history marker near Philadelphia, Mississippi

Fifty Years ago Freedom Summer organizers set out to change the state of Mississippi but they ended up changing our country after a summer of terrorism and fear.

Freedom Summer (also known as the Mississippi Summer Project) was a campaign in the United States launched in June 1964 to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi, which had historically excluded most blacks from voting. The project also set up dozens of Freedom Schools, Freedom Houses, and community centers in small towns throughout Mississippi to aid the local black population.
The project was organized by the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO), a coalition of the Mississippi branches of the four major civil rights organizations (SNCC, CORE, NAACP and SCLC). Most of the impetus, leadership, and financing for the Summer Project came from the SNCC. Robert Parris Moses, SNCC field secretary and co-director of COFO, directed the summer project.^[1]

All that blood, sweat, tears, and sacrifice wiped away with a 5-4 vote, which cleared the way for red, republican controlled, confederate, slave states to enact Voter Suppression, I mean, ID laws.

Less than 48 hours after the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, six of the nine states that had been covered in their entirety under the law’s “preclearance” formula have already taken steps toward restricting voting.

Now that we have proof  positive the Voter ID laws disenfranchised eligible, registered, voters it's time to repeal them.

With Alabama’s voter ID law debuting today, state Republicans are offering a big cash reward to anyone who helps them dig up some voter fraud. But finding voters disenfranchised by the law isn’t difficult, even without financial incentives.
Willie Mims, 93, showed up to vote at his polling place in Escambia County Tuesday morning for Alabama’s primary elections. Mims, who is African-American, no longer drives, doesn’t have a license, and has no other form of ID. As a result, he was turned away without voting. Mims wasn’t even offered the chance to cast a provisional ballot, as the law requires in that situation.

Must See TV

 "Freedom Summer," which premieres Tuesday at 9 p.m. on PBS. The "American Experience" film captures the idealism that inspired an interracial group of college students to journey to Mississippi for 10 weeks in the summer of 1964 to register African-American voters.

But it also reveals what happened when that idealism collided with the casual brutality of white Mississippians who saw Freedom Summer as a "nigger communist invasion."

Must See Video 
"Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around"

Must read Blog
The Tragic Success of Freedom Summer

Sentimentality has its place, but we risk losing sight of the hard-nosed political calculations that informed and drove the initiative. The architects of Freedom Summer were shrewd, pragmatic veterans of a brutal street fight. They didn’t need the help of 1,000 privileged, affluent white students—not, at least, to register voters. Nor were they asking for reinforcements. Rather, they wagered that if white students from prominent Northern families were arrested, beaten and illegally jailed—as they fully expected they would be—the federal government would finally recognize its responsibility to intervene in Mississippi.

It's past time for our government to intervene so we can have fair and free elections in America  again.

"Clueless White Texas Commissioners Accidentally Vote to Back Slavery Reparations" on Juneteenth

Happy Juneteenth!

Today marks the holiday known variously as Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, or simply Juneteenth. It commemorates the day in 1865 that slaves in Texas were finally set free, more than two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation.
Here's an explanation of the holiday's roots from a 1977 issue of Southern Exposure magazine:

The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863, did not have any effect in Texas because too little of the state was occupied by Northern troops. When Lee surrendered in April, 1865, most Texas plantations were still intact, and a quarter-million black people were working as slaves.
It was not until June 19, 1865 -- when General George Granger arrived with Yankee troops in Galveston and issued his own emancipation decree -- that slaves were actually freed in Texas. June 19 -- "Juneteenth" -- therefore became the day of celebration.

The event became a Texas state holiday in 1980, and today it's recognized as either a state holiday or special day of observance in 43 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

That's right, African Americans didn't find out the Civil War was over, the north won, and they were free, until two years after the war was over.  This is why I report with great glee, that on this day the Dallas County, Texas Commissioners  Unanimously, Mistakenly Approve Reparations For Black Communities.




This is what happen when blacks elected officials are marginalized, minimized, and ignored.

I sure do miss the good old days when the media kept public officials from lying to us instead of enabling them to lie to us

The Huntsville school board meets in the board room of the Annie C. Merts Center on Tuesday. (Crystal Bonvillian/cbonvillian@al.com)

Sigh.......  We weren't allowed to say we hate anyone or anything when we were growing up.  Our parents taught us if you hate you are just like the haters.  We were allowed to say we strongly disliked actions, but we always had to have an explanation.  That said,  I strongly dislike the media we have, or this case, don't have, because instead of telling us what we need to know in order to make informed decisions, they tell us what they want us to know. And in most cases that's not much.  

It's not as if some of us didn't see this coming when 100's of journalist got pink slips back  in 2012 because their ain't no sunshine anymore, and the public is left in the dark.  For example, the public probably isn't aware the #hsvboe (Huntsville Board of Eduction) adjourns the public board meeting, which is televised, prior to the citizens comments, which are not televised, meaning we have to depend on the media to tell us, or in most cases, not tell us, what comments were made, and God forbid they ask follow up questions.  Oh, and the#hsvboe does not have to answer citizens questions, and there is not a darn thing John or Susie Public can do about it. Sometimes I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone (cue in music).

Let's look at tonight's live stenography, I mean,  updates from the #hsvboe meeting courtesy of AL.com.  Exhibit A:

8 p.m.: Citizen comments began with T.C. Johnson, pastor of St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, who asked that the "renaming" of Johnson High School be rescinded. Johnson claimed that board policy was violated in the decision to rename Johnson as Jemison High School and that the public did not have adequate input in the decision.
Johnson is not the first to complain about the loss of the Johnson High name. School board members have said, however, that Johnson is not being renamed, but closed.
Butler High School is also closing and its students being diverted to Jemison with the Johnson students.
T.C. Johnson was the only citizen who signed up to speak at the meeting. The board adjourned for the evening when he was done.

I guess it would have been to much like, you know, real  journalism to find out why Johnson claimed that board policy was violated.  I mean, we can't have the public thinking Johnson is telling the truth even if he is.  Let's just ignore his allegations, out of sight out of mind.

Last night the Huntsville City School Board of Education violated their own policy on the Selection of School, Facility, and/or Property Name (Policy 2.9, presented September 5, 2013) by concluding the process and voting on the new names approximately three weeks before they were allowed to do so.
On September 5, 2013, the board met and discussed during their work session a new policy entitled, “Selection of School, Facility, and/or Property Name” (Policy 2.9). This policy was necessary to ensure that the process of receiving new names for schools would be as open to the public as possible. Laurie McCaulley, who was at that time serving as the School Board President, assured the public present that evening that the public would have every opportunity to “have input on these changes.”

 Moving on to Exhibit B:

7:36 p.m.: The work session has ended, and the board has moved into action items. The Jemison site package contract, along with several smaller renovation contracts and bid renewals, was approved. Click here to see all of the approved items.
7:20 p.m.: Jeff Wilson, director of operations for the district, gave the board an update on the construction of the new Jemison High School/McNair Middle campus. A $1.8 million contract expected to be approved later in the meeting will go toward preparing the site for construction of the school buildings.

Let's forget about the fact parents and citizens are concerned about the safety and well being of students/faculty/staff due to the site being prepared for construction is less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.  Never mind parents and citizens requested $250,000 for a health risk assessment to be conducted before they spend $1.8 million preparing the site for construction of the school buildings that may or may not be safe for student/faculty/staff to occupy.  Let's ignore them too, they aren't anybody, just tax payers without representation.

Last but not least, Exhibit C:
In an attempt to discredit Madison County Commissioner, and fellow black elected official, Robert "Bob" Harrison, #hsvboe mis-representative Laurie McCaulley discredited herself, and the indefensible actions of the Superintendent she was trying to defend.  We must laugh to keep from crying....

McCaulley also objected to Harrison suggesting Superintendent Casey Wardynski had misled the court while under oath. One of the issues Harrison raised involved testimony about wifi in public housing, an issue because Huntsville had touted its laptop program as equalizing educational opportunities across the city.
Harrison wrote about a recent agreement between Huntsville schools and Comcast, and argued Wardynski testified "as if this agreement was in existence and had been for some time." Harrison told the judge that for two years children in public housing could not complete their homework on the laptops.
McCaulley said the board had been led to understand the service was available."It was our assumption it had been done," said McCaulley.

Psst!  If you are an elected official and you don't know when you've been *cough cough* misled,  it might be time for you to go someplace and sit all the way down.  And if you are a journalist/ reporter, you might want to start interviewing people who don't tow the party line, and please stop faking the funk when the facts don't fit the narrative.

"You are not the voice of the people that's my board member.  Laurie McCaulley was elected, David Blair were elected, they are the voice of the people. You're just a company.  Who elected you?" 

It's the media.  They think we are stupid.

"Environmental Expert" tells parents the air is safe at site for the new north Huntsville middle/high school, go back to sleep

Let's recap:

The city of Huntsville is standing by their assertion the air is "safe to breathe" at the location of the new, illegally named, Ronald McNair Middle / Mae Jemison High School despite it's close proximity to an active rock quarry.

Mayor Tommy Battle and the city's air quality chief, Danny Shea, both say the amount of particulate matter in the air on Pulaski Pike is far below levels considered potentially harmful by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The city has an air quality monitoring station next door to the school site; Shea said it measures airborne particulate matter every six days.
The EPA threshold for particulate matter is 150 micrograms per cubic meter.
Shea said 46 micrograms is the highest reading detected by the city on Pulaski Pike in the past five years. The average particulate concentration was 14.8 micrograms in 2009; 17.8 micrograms in 2010; 16.3 micrograms in 2011; 14.9 micrograms in 2012; and 13.5 micrograms in 2013.
The levels are similar at Huntsville's other air quality monitoring stations on Airport Road, South Memorial Parkway and Madison Street downtown.
In a May 27 letter to the mayor, Shea said the city's measurements "demonstrate the absence of substantial adverse air quality impacts from quarry operations at the proposed school site."

That's strange because the current President of the Huntsville City Council was among a very vocal and prominent group of people who protested Vulcan Materials operating an active rock quarry less than two miles from schools in Gurley, Hampton Cove and McMullen Cove in Gurley Mountain.

Other elected officials speaking against the quarry were Mark Russell, president of Huntsville City Council, Madison County District 3 Commissioner Eddie Sisk, state Sen. Paul Sanford, state Sen. Shadrack McGill, state Rep. Wayne Johnson, Gurley Mayor Rob Sentell, Gurley Councilman Robert Wren.
Their concerns addressed environmental quality of Flint River and Hayes Nature Preserve, unsafe traffic with trucks crossing Norfolk Southern Railroad along a curve, heavy trucks sharing roads with school buses, air quality at two nearby schools and a lack of local governmental control of the quarry operation.

The group has asked the city to earmark $250,000 for a health risk assessment study  A study that should have been conducted before the land was purchased, and ground broken.  The  Huntsville City Council voted to spend 3 million dollars to land Alabama's first Cabela's outdoor superstore, and 47 k to hire a firm out of LasVegas to conduct a feasibility study for high speed Internet service,  the least they can do is invest in a health risk assessment before the school is built to make it will be safe for students, faculty, and staff to occupy.  The city is asking concerned citizens to trust the expert,concerned citizens are asking for verification in return for their trust.

"TRUST BUT VERIFY was #Reagan's position w/Former USSR on Nuclear Arms;Why cant US Citizens demand same w/ their Govt?"

The curious case of the Alabama Ballot Security Manual, A practical guide for Poll Watchers

This is a follow up to my June 5, 2014 cross-post via Warm Southern Breezes 

Alabama Secretary of State Errs in Poll Watcher Guide: Photo Voter ID Law Disenfranchises Elderly Voters in June Primaries

 

The Alabama Secretary of State’s office produced this “Practical guide for Poll Watchers” for the 2014 statewide Primaries (held June 3, 2014), which mistakenly cites the OLD law, which allows numerous types of non-photographic voter identification, instead of the NEW law which MANDATES ALL VOTERS produce “valid” photographic identification. “Alabama Ballot Security Manual: A Practical guide for Poll Watchers, Alabama Primary Election, June 3, 2014“

There's just one problem, via his Deputy Chief of Staff, the Alabama Secretary of State said his office does not produce the manual.

Adam Thompson said

Tuesday, June 10, 2014, at 4:40 PM To Whom It May Concern,
The Alabama Secretary of State’s Office does NOT produce any document titled “Alabama Ballot Security Manual: A practical guide for Poll Watchers, Alabama Primary Election, June 3, 2014.” The only documents we produce are the 2014 Alabama Voter Guide and the Alabama Photo Voter ID Guide. Please update your article.
Sincerely,
Adam Thompson
Deputy Chief of Staff
Office of Secretary of State Jim Bennett

Hmmm... was it used during the June 3rd primary?

In a document entitled “Alabama Photo Voter ID Guide” available on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website - http://www.alabamavoterid.com/downloads/AlabamaPhotoVoterIDGuide.pdf – it states in a letter from the Secretary of State Jim Bennett (a Republican), that “Beginning with the 2014 primary election, the State Legislature has mandated that a voter present photo ID prior to voting.”

As well, on page 6 in that document it further states that: “Beginning with the June 3, 2014 primary election, Act 2011-673 requires an Alabama voter to have a specific type of photo identification at the polls in order to vote. If a voter does not have one of the approved forms of photo ID as stated in the law, then he or she may receive a free Alabama photo voter ID card from various locations.”
That information is contradicted, however, in a separate document also prepared by the Alabama Secretary of State’s office (as seen herein) which is entitled “Alabama Ballot Security Manual: A practical guide for Poll Watchers, Alabama Primary Election, June 3, 2014“
On page 19 (as seen herein above) it asserts to cite Code of Alabama 17-9-30 which, up to this year (2014) has allowed voters to produce various forms of non-photographic identification. However, it cites the OLD LAW, instead of the NEW LAW.  Why and how the Secretary of State could screw up in such grand fashion is unimaginable.

If the Alabama SOS didn't produce this guide who did?

This Tweet Made My Day

pic.twitter.com/Z0QOu0TFkr
— BlueTexas (@JudiU883) June 11, 2014

"In order to shut up the clowns" at the Alabama State Department of mis-Education just change the name of failing shools

Push to drop Johnson High name still on, despite opposition from some in northwest Huntsville

  Huntsville Superintendent Casey Wardynski, center, and school board president Laurie McCaulley, right, listen Monday afternoon as Huntsville resident Carlos Mathews talks about the choosing of possible names for a new northwest Huntsville high school to replace Johnson High. Behind Mathews are pictures of astronauts Ronald McNair and Mae Carol Jemison, whose names may grace the new high school and a new junior high to be built on the same campus. (Crystal Bonvillian/cbonvillian@al.com)       

Chapman Middle to be removed from Huntsville's list of "failing schools" under the Alabama Accountability Act blares the headline. At first read it sounds wonderful, then you go inside the story to learn Chapman Middle school will soon be taken off Alabama's list of "failing schools" because the school no longer exists.

Malissa Valdes-Hubert, a spokeswoman for the Alabama State Department of Education, confirmed Friday morning that Chapman Middle will no longer be considered a "failing" school under the Accountability Act.
"Huntsville requested to close the Chapman Middle School and reconfigure a Chapman P-6 school to be a P-8 school," Valdes-Hubert said. "The students that attended the Chapman Middle School are now part of the Chapman P-8 school."
Valdes-Hubert said the process of making that change includes approval from a school's local board and a request to the state Department of Education. Both have been obtained in Chapman's case, she said.

According to the article, the school district began the process of turning Chapman elementary and middle schools into a P-8 campus in the fall of 2012.   I'm still trying to figure out when the local Board of Education presented, approved then requested State Department approval, but like other issues of importance it was probably done in secret, I mean executive session, without input from the public, you know those pesky people who pay taxes which fund the schools.  Snark

Let's recap ( some of the links inserted for emphasis are mine):

A total of 78 schools across the state were deemed to be failing under the law, which was ruled unconstitutional late last month by a Montgomery County circuit court judge. That ruling is under appeal.
On an updated list released in January, Huntsville had the most failing schools of any district in the state. It will not stay that way for long, however, since the Huntsville district is also closing Davis Hills and Ed White middle schools.
Those schools are being combined into one at the new McNair Middle School now under construction on Pulaski Pike. McNair will be located on a combined campus with the new Jemison High School, which is being built to replace Johnson High.
The new Jemison could potentially knock Johnson High off of the failing list, as well.

Once again the school district is using smoke and mirrors as a means to an end (pun intended). They aren't solving the problem, they are just slapping the good names of black astronauts on the outside of a $65 million dollar school located less than half a mile from an active rock quarry and calling it fixed. 

Mission Accomplished.

And you wonder why the Huntsville City School Board of Education not only objects to citizens' comments but the Federal Judge digging into the desegregation data as well.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala said she would review databases stored on the education web sites belonging to Huntsville, Alabama and the United States.
Within those three government sites, she could find relevant data on just about anything she wanted to know about Huntsville schools, from how many white students were paddled to how many teachers have advanced degrees to how many second-graders qualify for subsidized lunch.
"The websites listed in the Court's Order contain an expansive amount of information much of which falls outside the scope of scientific facts, matters of geography, or matters of political history," reads the objection from Huntsville, which is signed by board attorney J.R. Brooks.

Translation, don't believe the data stored on the education web sites, believe the data we gave you, nod, nod, wink, wink.

Changing the name is a gimmick to get off the list, a trained, certified, educator would know the performance of the students who will remain at the school is the reason the school is on the list in the first place.  Changing the name does nothing to solve the problem, but who cares as long as the school is off the list.  Snark

And why is Chapman P-8 in partnership with Athens State  University instead of the local state institutions of higher learning,  Alabama A&M University and/or The University of Alabama in Huntsville?    Why is Chapman, as well as other HCS's getting to keep their names, but Johnson, Ed White, and Davis Hills are not?  Never mind.  We know why.  It's life's unfairness.  RedEye Roll 

Rarely is the question asked, "Is the children learning?"

Anti Choice activist protest being moved to the black community in Huntsville

Fist Dap Left in Alabama

Before I type another word let's get some terminology straight.

First of all, they are not pro-life, they are anti-choice.

I want anybody that cares about what a woman is allowed to do with her body to do one simple thing. Do not let ANYBODY use the term pro-life, ever. If they do, stop and challenge immediately. "Oh, so you are against the death penalty?" listen to them hem and haw, justify, evade, deny and then declare they are not. "Then you are anti-choice."

Secondly, pro-choice does not mean pro-abortion.  I'm talking to you Paul Gettis whose article on the protest was rightly condemned as biased. 

 What is unthinkable now is made to be radical, then it is made acceptable, then... likely. This is how we lose our freedoms, and how the Overton window is utilized. To prevent this, the core basis of the emotional appeal of "Pro-Life" must be addressed. The idea is that the enemies of a woman's right to choose are not in fact crusaders for defenseless unarmed babies. They are hypocrites who could give a damn about a person AFTER they are born, this is the foundation for the moral disconnect that suggests killing a doctor that performs abortions could be justifiable homicide. (legislation currently tabled at the time of this writing)

Don't want an abortion? Don't get one.  

It's a remarkably clear and strong statement, especially since so many "protectors of the unborn" tend to be old white dudes. However, it does not work because religion requires proselytization, and the saving of the souls that need it. You can mock it, you can castigate it. It only makes the believer more resolute in their stance. An effective approach is to put the burden of justification on the believer, it is a small thing that every one of us can engage in with minimal effort. if you are "pro life" does that extend to AFTER the fetus is born and becomes a child or not?

Now that we have that out of the way, let's move on to the topic at hand with some background info via Left in Alabama Blogger countrycat: 

 Huntsville anti-choice protesters are worried about the "impact on children" if the city's lone women's clinic moves from its present location to a new building that complies with the state's TRAP law.  The problem, they assert, is that the new location is directly across from a middle school and so represents both a safety and moral hazard for the children.

Here is AL.com's Paul Gattis version:

Abortion advocates are targeting the black community in northwest Huntsville with plans to relocate its downtown clinic to a facility on Sparkman Drive, anti-abortion protesters said Saturday.
A sidewalk rally held in front of the proposed new facility – the Alabama Women's Wellness Center – across the street from Ed White Middle School attracted about 50 protesters Saturday morning who heard a series of speakers.

Now here's truth and nothing but the truth according to RedEye.

Anti-choice activist are not concerned about the clinic being located across the street from a middle school, they don't want the clinic located in Huntsville period, much less in north Huntsville because it has the perception of being ground zero for all kinds of vices. So much so students in north Huntsville are forced to wear uniforms so teachers and administrators can identify them from gang members.

The anti-choice activist can't be concerned about the health and safety of middle school children in north Huntsville because they didn't say a word when the Downtown Rescue Mission was moved to north Huntsville near day care centers, churches and what was then a middle-class neighborhood.

The anti-choice activist can't be concerned about property values declining in north Huntsville any more than they already are.  It's not like people are building million dollars home in the area.  Heck people aren't building homes period.  What they are building is a $65 million dollar predominately black school named after black astronauts less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

The anti-choice activist can't be concerned about the health and safety of middle or high school children who will be exposed to Silica dust when the new north Huntsville Middle/High School located less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

Speaking of the new north Huntsville Middle School,  the proposed new facility – the Alabama Women's Wellness Center – across the street from Ed White Middle School will be closing, combining with Davis Hills Middle School, which is also closing,  and become the new location for the  Academy for Academics and Arts.  Can't have those precious darlings and their parents seeing protesters passing out fetus dolls, and busing in school children to sing such ditties as "Happy Birthday, Dead Baby" to women entering the building. (Good one countrycat)

Listen to this interview and you will hear the callous disregard for the safety of the student's, teachers, and support personnel at the new north high school.  Funny how Wardynski and Company are concerned about the crime and drugs in north Huntsville but not about the potential health and safety risk associated with building a school less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

As the young people say, Let's get real.

Democratic lawmakers and civil rights leaders denounced conservative commentator William J. Bennett yesterday for suggesting on his syndicated radio show that aborting black children would reduce the U.S. crime rate.
The former U.S. education secretary-turned-talk show host said Wednesday that "if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." Bennett quickly added that such an idea would be "an impossible, ridiculous and morally reprehensible thing to do." But, he said, "your crime rate would go down."

This is about the anti-choice crowd trying to prevent poor black women from having access to a safe, legal, abortion,  coupled with the fact the anti-choice crowd doesn't want to leave their cushy Twickenham digs and come to crime infested north Huntsville.  After all, they would look pretty silly waving their pro-life signs while exercising their second amendment rights,  armed to the teeth out of fear of the black people they claim to want to protect.

Yes campers, locating a reproductive health clinic that provides affordable services to women including pap smears, STD screenings, pregnancy tests, birth control, and abortion in an existing building that's zoned as a medical clinic and happens to be in a low-income, mostly African American neighborhood is now a racist act.  The clinic welcomes all women - even if they don't have health insurance, which many do not since our state declined to expand Medicaid.  Have you ever tried to call a local OB/GYN and make an appointment?  The first question is "What kind of insurance do you have?" See how much farther you get if the answer is "none." 

Without the anti-choice protestors camped out  in front of this facility it looks just like what it is, a place that provides affordable reproductive services to women including pap smears, STD screenings, pregnancy tests, birth control, and abortion, in a building that complies with Trap regulations, which happens to be in a low-income, mostly African American neighborhood. 

  Because make no mistake, this bill will not prevent any women with means from having access to an abortion, this bill adversely and disproportionately affects black/brown/poor Alabama women and children who are already born.  Children republicans don't want to have access to quality affordable health care, access to a quality public education, or even  food.

I will believe it is about the safety and moral hazard for the children when I see them protesting building a school less than half a mile from an active rock quarry.

That is all.

Honoring James Meredith on D-Day

At Hernando, Mississippi - 30 miles from his starting point - he saw an armed man aim at him and dived to the ground, but he was shot three times. Bleeding from the head, shoulder and leg he shouted: "Oh my God."

As thousands gather on Omaha Beach at the site of the D-Day invasion to honor those who fought and died and those who survived,  I would like to honor James Meredith, who on this day 48 years ago survived being shot during a march against fear in Mississippi.

 On June 5, 1966, equipped with only a helmet and walking stick, James Meredith began a 220-mile March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson, Mississippi. Mr. Meredith, an activist who had integrated the University of Mississippi four years earlier, organized the one-man march to encourage African Americans in Mississippi to register to vote and to challenge the culture of fear perpetuated by white supremacists in the state.

After attending local segregated schools and graduating from high school, Meredith enlisted in the United States Air Force. He served from 1951 to 1960.  Here part of what President Obama said at today's ceremony in France about those who served on D-Day.

They left home barely more than boys and returned home heroes. But to their great credit, that is not how this generation carried itself. After the war, some put away their medals, kept humble about their service, and moved on. Some, carrying shrapnel and scars, found that they couldn't. Many, like my grandfather, who served in Patton's Army, lived a quiet life, trading one uniform and set of responsibilities for another -- teacher, doctor, engineer, Dad. Our country made sure millions of them earned a college education, opening opportunity on an unprecedented scale. They married those sweethearts and bought new homes and raised families and built businesses, lifting up the greatest middle class the world has ever known. And through it all, they were inspired, I suspect, by memories of fallen brothers -- memories that drove them to live their lives each day as best they possibly could.

Whenever the world makes you cynical -- stop and think of these men.

Call me cynical, but men like James Meredith came home and had to fight for  basic equal, civil, and human rights.

 When blacks came home after the war, whites were prepared to "put them back in their place." Henry Murphy said that when he returned to the states and called his father in Mississippi, his father warned him not to come home with his uniform on. "He said that the police was beating black soldiers and searching them.

So on this day I choose to remember James Meredith and all the other blacks who came home from the war to fight another war.

"Alabama Secretary of State Errs in Poll Watcher Guide: Photo Voter ID Law Disenfranchises Elderly Voters in June Primaries"

H/T Warm Southern Breeze

The Alabama Secretary of State’s office produced this “Practical guide for Poll Watchers” for the 2014 statewide Primaries (held June 3, 2014), which mistakenly cites the OLD law, which allows numerous types of non-photographic voter identification, instead of the NEW law which MANDATES ALL VOTERS produce “valid” photographic identification. “Alabama Ballot Security Manual: A Practical Guide for Poll Watchers, Alabama Primary Election, June 3, 2014“

In a document entitled “Alabama Photo Voter ID Guide” available on the Alabama Secretary of State’s website - http://www.alabamavoterid.com/downloads/AlabamaPhotoVoterIDGuide.pdf – it states in a letter from the Secretary of State Jim Bennett (a Republican), that “Beginning with the 2014 primary election, the State Legislature has mandated that a voter present photo ID prior to voting.”

As well, on page 6 in that document it further states that: “Beginning with the June 3, 2014 primary election, Act 2011-673 requires an Alabama voter to have a specific type of photo identification at the polls in order to vote. If a voter does not have one of the approved forms of photo ID as stated in the law, then he or she may receive a free Alabama photo voter ID card from various locations.”
That information is contradicted, however, in a separate document also prepared by the Alabama Secretary of State’s office (as seen herein) which is entitled “Alabama Ballot Security Manual: A practical guide for Poll Watchers, Alabama Primary Election, June 3, 2014“
On page 19 (as seen herein above), it asserts to cite Code of Alabama 17-9-30 which, up to this year (2014) has allowed voters to produce various forms of non-photographic identification. However, it cites the OLD LAW, instead of the NEW LAW.
Why and how the Secretary of State could screw up in such grand fashion is unimaginable.

How and why indeed?

  Make it Viral

 My suggestion is that people start using a catchy hashtag, something like #nowimgonnavote, every time they see the Republicans do or say something outrageously stupid or insensitive. We need a viral campaign to turn people out to vote in November. If things play out the way they usually do, we're not going to be in a better place next year than we are in this year, and this year is pretty horrible.

People need to make the connection between stupid shit and the need to vote. If you see rampant hypocrisy or science-denial or racism or homophobia or a war on reproductive choice and contraception or a total lack of empathy for the poor or for a POW or for victims of crime and natural disasters, then note it with a #nowimgonnavote hashtag.
Maybe people will get the idea that the way to end this madness is to participate in the political process.

 #nowimgonnavote,

Throwback Thursday: It's voter fraud because Artur Davis say's it's voter fraud

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On Voter ID Law- Outspoken AL State Rep Hides Behind Blue Dog Dem turned Republican.

Politics Nation's Al Sharpton did a good job of hitting Alabama State Rep. Kerry Rich for just that during an interview this Wednesday on MSNBC and with pushing back at the notion that invoking Davis justified the impact of the law and the fact that it is designed to do exactly one thing, and that's keep people from voting. As Sharpton noted during the interview, actual cases of voter fraud are virtually nonexistent, but that didn't keep Rich from insisting repeatedly that it was a problem. Of course there's voter fraud going on, because Artur Davis told me so. Pitiful. And these guys claim to be the party of "personal responsibility." Except of course they never want to take responsibility for anything they do. Either blame it on someone else, deny the facts and if that doesn't work, just make up your own alternate reality.

Alabama Republicans are totally delusional.

"The Rant" by Tom Degan: National Slave Rememberance Day

 

 "The Rant" by Tom Degan: National Slave Rememberance Day

National Slave Remembrance Day is not only an idea whose time has come, it's positively shameful that it hasn't happened yet.

Read On.

Tell you what; the next time you're walking past the White House or the Capital in Washington, ask yourself the following question:
Who built that?
Both of those buildings were built by human beings who were in bondage - slaves.

The Case for Reparations or,  what ever you want to call it.

 The center of gravity of Coates’ argument is that the current gap in wealth between blacks and whites—the highest on record—can be explained by the wholesale transfer of African-American capital in each of these forms to an economic system which has redistributed them in a way such that whites have overwhelmingly benefited.

 "But we’re a grown up country which means it’s time to do the adult thing and own up to the past." 

Americans Can't Even Stomach An Apology for Slavery, Much Less Reparations

Dale Jackson calls for investigation of voter fraud story, say's it doesn't pass the "smell test"

Question to @shellyhaskins & @anthonycook: Does this @aldotcom "Voter Fraud?" story pass the smell test? https://t.co/hwOOmEFDvb #alpolitics
— Dale Jackson (@TheDaleJackson) June 4, 2014

I will let you read the details for yourself, but please note Jackson is not questioning if the story is true,  he is accusing  Al.com of.......... orchestrating this story.

Wow… AL.com writer writes how voter ID isn’t necessary and viola his wife finds a old woman who is denied the right to vote. AL.com then writes the story WITHOUT talking to the woman?
Good job.

There is one small problem with this scenario:

 The voter, a great-grandmother to five, was deeply embarrassed by the whole incident and declined to talk directly with AL.com, but she gave her go-ahead for her neighbor, who took her to the polls, to relay the incident, with the provision that her name not be used.

It ought to be against the law to turn people away from the polls in the United States of America.  That's what  doesn't pass the smell test.

  "What purpose did turning her away from the polls serve?"

I wonder how many of cases of "suspected voter fraud" were turned in to the GOP?

WAFF 48 tells voters to turn in "suspected voter fraud" to the GOP (RedEye Roll)

Today's primary is the test for the new voter suppression, I mean, voter ID law in Alabama, which republicans tout as a preemptive strike against imagined voter fraud.  So,  in addition to moving a lot of polling places from public facilities to churches and corporations , for good measure, the GOP, enabled by WAFF 48, offers voters some Last-minuet tips about Voter ID, Fraud.

While at the polls, it is important to remember that your vote is a representation of your voice - and you shouldn't let anyone take either away.
The Alabama Republican Party wants your help in preventing voter fraud at the polls Tuesday.
Voters are asked to be on alert and report any suspected fraudulent activity.
The Voter Fraud Hotline number is 1-844-253-7283. This number will also be on signs posted at various polling locations.
A $1,000 reward could be earned for tips that lead to a conviction.

 WRONG.  Report any "suspected fraudulent activity" to the Alabama Secretary State, Jim Bennet, not the GOP.  Since Bennett is a republican I guess you could say you are indirectly reporting "suspected fraudulent activity" to the GOP, but he's obligated to be non partisan when it comes to "suspected fraudulent activity".  

The Republican party is certain that U.S. elections are rife with voter fraud. How are they so sure of that? Apparently because Republican operatives are the source of most of it.

I think it's called projecting....  

Voter ID is not about fraud, it's about Voter Suppression.

RedEye's InJustice Files

"Why President Obama is a disappointment"   A  provocative and  insightful must read by The Simple Minded's Savior

 

 Booman says We need a reporters shield law. 

I'm willing to listen to arguments against a simple ban on forcing reporters to reveal their sources, and I suppose people can come up with ticking time-bomb scenarios. My position on that is that you don't legalize torture and if you find yourself in a ticking time-bomb situation and feel that you need to torture, then you can plead your case to the courts and to the public. They'll forgive you if you deserve forgiving. Likewise, if you present a reporter with a true ticking-bomb scenario, they'll almost definitely reveal their source voluntarily. We don't need to make a provision for such a scenario in law.

What say you Legal Schnauzer?

Race-Baiter:  How the Media Wields Dangerous Word to Divide a Nation

Gone is the era of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, when news programs fought to gain the trust and respect of a wide spectrum of American viewers. Today, the fastest-growing news programs and media platforms are fighting hard for increasingly narrow segments of the public and playing on old prejudices and deep-rooted fears, coloring the conversation in the blogosphere and the cable news chatter to distract from the true issues at stake.

It's the media.

If you can't run on your record, resort to race baiting and mud slinging ~Sigh

I knew we would see these fliers from David Blair when he was going after HSV agitators... #alpolitics pic.twitter.com/VmrV7tTBHl
— Dale Jackson (@TheDaleJackson) May 31, 2014

So, what do you do three days before the primary election to unseat your opponent and rile up your base when you don't have a record of accomplishments or some positive ideas to run on?  Use your own version of Willie Horton?  Accuse of your opponent of anything you think will stick?  And it's always good to bring in black people for color, I mean scapegoats, remember Sister Soljah and the so called Welfare Queens?

Bob Harrison and Richard Showers attacked our schools?

Really?

David Blair stood up to them?

Really?

You mean the David Blair that needs a lesson in transparency and betraying the public trust?

You mean the David Blair that is leading the fight to silence the community and not give them a voice in the schools new zoning proposal pending before the court?

You mean the David Blair that is using school children as political pawns in his quest to enhance his political future?  

That David Blair?

Oh, Okay.

"It's not just an election, it's a restraining order"

The 2014 Republican Leadership Conference Summed Up in One Image http://t.co/QDDL9Z12TN  #p2 #tcot pic.twitter.com/He3v9I881u
— R.Saddler (@Politics_PR) May 31, 2014