Alabama Politics in
Doc’s Political Parlor
& Home of Lawn Mower Repair

July 31, 2006

Old Posts Showing As New

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 8:25 pm

Blogger continues to act badly.

The missing posts-by-email over the last few weeks are now starting to show up as new posts. A Daily News Digest from 10 days ago showed up just now as a new post this evening.

This could be frustrating because there are many posts-by-email that did not show up on the blog when they were supposed to.

Just be forewarned. You may happen by and see what looks like an old post that has been posted as new.

It is not enough for Blogger to frustrate me once by not posting the post-by-email when I want it. Blogger has to frustrate me again by posting it when I don’t want it.

State Dept. Hides Facts from Congress

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 1:13 pm

I know this may be slightly outside the usual scope of things here, but does this strike you as outrageous?

The U.S. State Department agency in charge of $1.4 billion in reconstruction money in Iraq used an accounting shell game to hide ballooning cost overruns on its projects in Iraq and knowingly withheld information on schedule delays from Congress, a federal audit released late Friday has found.

The agency hid construction overruns by listing them as overhead or administrative costs, according to the audit, written by the Special Inspector-General for Iraq Reconstruction, an independent office that reports to Congress and the Pentagon.

Sometimes what is government deceit to one person is …umm… a defensible position to another. But this… Can anyone defend the State Department’s blatant dishonesty with us and our elected representatives? Are people getting away with so much up there that they think it just doesn’t matter anymore what they do?

More Scanlon Controversy

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 10:39 am

Michael ScanlonThe woes of convicted lobbyist Michael Scanlon continue. The Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas filed a lawsuit this month against the former Riley aide and others, including his partner Jack Abramoff. Miami-based law firm Greenberg Traurig is trying to settle to avoid being named in the lawsuit.

Although the suit does not name Greenberg Traurig, it accuses the firm of allowing Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon to bill hours through the firm, and of allowing checks sent by the tribe to a bogus Abramoff-linked think tank to be funneled and cashed through Greenberg Traurig.

The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Austin, Texas, on July 12, names as defendants Abramoff, two other former Greenberg Traurig lobbyists, Jon Van Horne and Neil Volz, Abramoff’s former close associate Scanlon, and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, who just lost the Georgia Republican primary for governor.

The lawsuit also provides fresh evidence of a closer connection between Greenberg Traurig and Michael Scanlon than the law firm has ever acknowledged. Scanlon was Abramoff’s close partner in many widely criticized lobbying practices. He pleaded guilty last year to bribing a congressman.

The suit alleges that the defendants used millions of dollars from the Louisiana-Coushatta Tribe to stop a Texas measure that would allow the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe to run a casino.

According to the suit, “The Defendants convinced the people of Texas, Texas legislators and the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe that Christian organizations opposed the bill on moral grounds.” How? Well, Scanlon wrote his strategy in a memo to the Louisiana-Coushatta Tribe:

“The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees,” Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them.”

After successfully shutting down the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe’s short-lived casino, the defendants allegedly then tried to recruit the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe as clients for the purpose of promoting its gambling interests.

Spoofing Caller ID & Unscrupulous Campaigns

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 8:40 am

Yesterday’s Birmingham News gives us a Chicago Tribune story on ’spoofing’ caller id.

Caller ID isn’t the trusty old crystal ball that it used to be.

Revered for years by persnickety consumers who like to screen their telephone calls, the premium service is now being appropriated by identity thieves.

Such scams are made possible by technology that enables con artists to manipulate the phone number and even the name that shows up on the unsuspecting recipient’s caller ID, allowing them to masquerade as officials of churches, banks and courthouses.

Known as “spoofing,” the endgame is to persuade consumers to reveal their Social Security numbers or other sensitive information.

Caller ID

Unscrupulous campaigns will use this, as happened in last year’s Birmingham City Council race. Last fall, pre-recorded phone calls from political millstone Bert Miller went out urging voters to support an incumbent city councilor - without that city councilor’s knowledge or approval. Caller ID falsely showed that the phone calls came from that incumbent city councilor’s home phone. The incumbent city councilor even received a call at home that caller ID showed to be impossibly from the incumbent’s own home phone.

While the calls purportedly supported the incumbent candidate, the idea apparently was that voters would be turned off by the association and vote against the incumbent. The whole effort was a bit clumsy and ham-handed (the incumbent won handily), but we can be confident that unscrupulous people will find more effective and sophisticated ways to use this.

Monday 7/31/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Filed under: Uncategorized — G @ 4:46 am
http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060731/windfall.shtml - Windfall expected for Alabama if Congress approves offshore drilling measure.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/opinion/editorials/060731a.shtml - Editorial calls for Congress to raise minimum wage before considering action on estate tax.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060731/NEWS/607310313/1007/NEWS02 - Sales tax holiday begins Friday, 210 counties and municipalities to participate.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154337428196180.xml&coll=2 – Editorial calls for dedicated funding source for Birmingham regional transit program, calls current funding method “insane”.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1154337521196190.xml&coll=3 – “The Political Skinny,” The Mobile Press-Register’s weekly political column from Mobile, Montgomery and Washington.

http://www.al.com/opinion/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154337583196190.xml&coll=3 – Editorial blasts Secretary of State Nancy Worley, calls for court to proceed with proposal to appoint Governor as special master to insure compliance with HAVA.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154337715196180.xml&coll=2&thispage=2 – Sen. Hank Sanders to publish 1,000th weekly column.

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Editorials

Columnist Moore

In our opinion

07-31-2006


Rejected by voters, defeated politicians often find comfort in political niche commentary, where they can preach to a choir of fellow believers, rail against the forces that brought them low and call on the faithful to keep true to convictions they already hold self-evident.

So it comes as no surprise that former chief justice and former gubernatorial candidate Roy Moore has now become a columnist for WorldNetDaily, which describes itself as “a fiercely independent news site committed to hard-hitting investigative reporting of government waste, fraud and abuse.” On closer inspection, however, the site (www.WorldNetDaily.com) comes across as a place to promote causes and sell books and peddle t-shirts that most folks don’t support or read or wear.

WorldNetDaily has been following Moore’s career for some time now. The site chronicled his Ten Commandments fight, covered his removal from office and now is willing to give him a forum to explain why he was justified in disobeying a federal court order. They are happy to have on staff, as they put it, “a man of principle who’s not afraid to acknowledge God and defend the Constitution while refusing to buckle under the pressure of politically correct elitists.”

Which, of course, is what Moore writes about in his first column - “Will America chose to acknowledge God?”

For those who have charted Moore’s political career, this is the natural outcome of things. Refusing to acknowledge that his historical interpretation is flawed and his legal position is untenable, Moore has found a place where he can say his piece and bemoan what he describes as “the indifference of ordinary citizens” who don’t see things the way he see them.

We assume that those are the same “ordinary citizens” who did not vote for him.

Nevertheless, we wish Moore well. This writing gig will give him something to do and help him sell a few books. Plus, we hope, it will keep him out of the limelight that he loves so much.

July 30, 2006

Bloggargh

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 3:55 pm

Well, I believe we have reached that painful & ugly part of the relationship where you know it’s not going to work out, but you just keep seeing each other until you figure out how to end it.

I’m not saying it has been all bad. Blogger and I had some good times. I remember the thrill of our first meeting. The infatuation that led to hopes and promises of greater things. But the disappointments now have been too great and too often. As a relationship grows, you expect the other to be there for you… and they shouldn’t even joke about losing things that are important to you.

So…

If you are looking for an old post… I have it somewhere. But you may not find it right now right here. Because Blogger, who I once imagined staying with a long time, well… I really don’t want to talk about it.

We’ll get it sorted out. Blogger will keep the disk space, I will keep the content…

There might be some bumps along the way.

Sunday 7/30/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Filed under: Uncategorized — G @ 7:18 am

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154251112171250.xml&coll=2 – Records reveal community colleges paid lobbying firms in spite of ban on such activities by State Board.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154251211171250.xml&coll=2 – Article profiles Birmingham organization World of Opportunity, an organization that helps low income individuals with education and job skills programs.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154251466171250.xml&coll=2 – “The Political Notebook” from The Birmingham News.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154251499171250.xml&coll=2 – Editorial calls for Alabama to follow the lead of North Carolina and create a special commission “to investigate cases where the wrong person may have been convicted of a crime.”

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154251457171250.xml&coll=2 – Commentary by Revenue Commissioner sees sales tax holiday as boon to both economy and consumers.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1154251209171240.xml&coll=3 – PACs linked to utility provides big funding in PSC races.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060730/gop.shtml - GOP ads target House Speaker’s reelection campaign in home district.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/OPINION01/607300302/1012/OPINION - Editorial expresses concern over state’s unfunded liability for employee health insurance.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060730/NEWS/607300344/1012/editorial1 - “Southern Exposure”, Dana Beyerle’s weekly political column for the NYTimes regional papers.

 

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

A single town, but a world of change

By Brian Lyman
Star Capitol Correspondent

07-30-2006

Charlie Simmons owns Charlie’s Clothing Store in Sylacauga. ‘It’s already hurting us,’ he said. ‘It could be gas prices, but this month’s been extremely slow. I guess people are nervous about it, holding onto their money.’ Photo: Kevin Qualls/The Anniston Star

SYLACAUGA — The factory’s days ended with a whimper.

Avondale Mills’ sprawling complex on Avondale Avenue was all but deserted Tuesday afternoon. On one side, trailers bearing the red, white and blue logo of Avondale sat idle. Most of the buildings were deserted.

Two churches on 10th Street displayed signs of support:

“AVONDALE ASSOCIATES: OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU” and “AVONDALE: THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!”

Once a flagship in Alabama’s growing, and later booming, textiles industry, the Sylacauga mill that saw the heyday of the loom and its lint has closed another chapter in the state’s economic history.

While the story is by now a familiar one, the tie to Alabama’s past is what made Avondale’s operation in Sylacauga seem larger, more resilient, than smaller or newer mills.

After all, Sylacauga residents reasoned, the man who set Avondale on its original course would later be a governor. Other plants went to Mexico, later farther south in Central America, and caused the mill workers to wonder about their peers, but Sylacauga’s Avondale – with the red, white and blue logo – seemed set to endure.

But now Avondale’s former credit union is a re-employment center. It attracted a great number of people in Avondale’s last days, but the mill itself was empty. The hourly employees had clocked their last shift the previous Friday; only supervisors remained on the final day.

“We’ve known for two months,” said Dean Drake, a grading and packing supervisor driving into the factory Tuesday. “But now it’s set in that it’s real.”

A colleague said she had been at the plant every day for four decades.

“It’s just a sad time,” she said before driving away from the plant. “I’ve been here for 40 years, and it’s just real bad.”

Skilled workers needed

While Avondale Mill’s situation is bad, the picture for Alabama manufacturing is mixed.

Despite the high-profile arrival of automobile companies like Hyundai, Honda and Mercedes-Benz, the state has lost nearly 55,000 manufacturing jobs since 2001, according to the National Association of Manufacturers. According to the Manufacturers’ News, an Illinois-based manufacturing information company, Alabama lost 4,365 manufacturing jobs in 2005, a little over 1 percent of the total jobs in the sector, despite adding 54 plants.

Most people, when asked, will point to free trade agreements and overseas competition for the losses. Many, like AFL-CIO Alabama president Stewart Burkhalter, blame China.

“You can’t take someone working under child labor, prison labor, slave labor, pay them 1 cent to 15 cents an hour and expect people to buy stuff made here,” he said. “When you have a president that says it’s good for the American economy to outsource jobs to China, I don’t believe that sets us on a level playing field.”

The mass production of textiles began moving overseas several years ago to cut labor costs. Historians will point out that’s the same reason textile mills moved down to Alabama in the 1880s from New England — and why they had moved from England the generation before that.

The textile industry, however, is more than clothing, and Peter Schwartz, head of the Textile Department at Auburn University, says some sectors – particularly those that make specialty products – still are doing quite well.

“Carpets had one of their best years last year,” he said. “The fabrics that are used in disposables, hygiene products, medical products, companies like Kimberly Clark — they’re doing well. Industrial fabrics and highly engineered technical fabrics are doing well.”

Those products, however, require highly skilled workers, Schwartz said, and would not employ workers on the scale of a textile plant that produces clothing.

Ironically, Alabama’s low unemployment rate — at 3.6 percent, virtually full employment — means some firms have had a hard time filling positions.

“The other thing that’s hurting textile companies, quite honestly, are the automobile companies,” Schwartz said. “The automobile companies pay better than the textile companies, and they’re attracting the most skilled workers.

“It’s a mixed blessing with those companies.”

Investment in Alabama manufacturing soared from $1.3 billion in 2001 to $4.6 billion in 2005, mainly for plants and equipment.

“If we continue that trend, we’re going to steadily start adding jobs back,” said George Clark, the president of Manufacture Alabama, a manufacturing trade group. “The problem is, where are we going to get the workers?

Third Congressional District Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, blames the decline in Alabama manufacturing jobs on free-trade agreements such as NAFTA, and on foreign competition. Rogers voted for the Central American Free Trade Agreement last year. He said he did so only after rewriting the bill to protect textiles, and after Avondale Mills assured him that CAFTA would not hurt its business.

Rogers, whose family has roots in the textiles industry, says the key to the future of Alabama’s manufacturing jobs is to expand the state’s Office of Workforce Development programs into high schools, to catch teenagers who may not be interested in or suited for college.

“The fact is, China has unfair trade practices,” says Rogers, pointing to the country’s subsidies of industries and devaluation of its currency. “Those are unfair trade practices, and we need to ensure we have protection against those.

“But we need to realize it’s not just China.”

Reopening the free-trade agreements is highly unlikely, and almost certainly would be politically toxic to anyone who did so, Schwartz said.

“The average consumer would raise holy hell because prices would go up with the imposition of tariffs,” he said. “The average American would see prices go up and raise holy hell, and I don’t think it would help the textile industry.”

A death in the family

Avondale Mills blamed the closing in part on a train derailment in South Carolina in January, 2005 that released toxic gas, killing nine and injuring 250. The derailment also did significant damage to an Avondale plant there, and the company said it could not overcome the challenges that created.

For now, the 1,100 workers who lost their jobs are trying to move on. Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Labor provided job retraining assistance, allowing workers to apply for unemployment benefits and up to two years of education. The state has set up a re-employment center in an old credit union near the former facility; Gwen Taylor, the Alabama Career Service Supervisor in charge of the facility, said they’ve had about 600 visits since the center opened three weeks ago.

“I guess some of them are still in shock,” said Taylor, sitting at desk behind what formerly was a teller’s window. “Some look at it as an opportunity to do something else. And for some, it was the only thing they’ve ever done.”

Ruben Perez, 35, sat at a table, filling out an application. He came to Sylacauga from Veracruz, Mexico, six years ago to work at Avondale. He worked his way up and became a weaver, going from $7.50 an hour to $12 an hour — money he used to support his father, mother and siblings.

“It’s sad,” he said. “This plant supported our family. It’s like a second home.”

The plant employed a number of Mexican workers, he said. Some have moved back to Mexico. Perez said he’s willing to do “anything” to earn a living. But he can’t afford to move to a larger city such as Birmingham, and he doesn’t expect to earn as much in the next job he gets.

For Sylacauga and its surrounding hill country, Avondale provided a good income.

Supervisor Dean, outside the gates on Tuesday, said she hopes to get another job. She’d be interested in going back to school for two years to get a degree. But she and others all say they want to stay in Sylacauga, Taylor said. Sylacauga is home.

“Most of these people are not interested in going some place else,” Taylor said. “I personally have not spoken with anyone who wants to go somewhere else.”

That doesn’t surprise Joe Richardson, executive director of the Sylacauga Chamber of Commerce.

“There’s an emotional impact,” Richardson said. “People are third- and fourth-generation workers there. Some never even filled out a job application. All they know is Avondale. That speaks highly of their work ethic, and it speaks highly of Avondale.”

Sylacauga, sitting on Talladega County’s southern flank, has about 12,500 residents. Developers say the town is blessed by its proximity to Alabama 21, U.S. 231 and U.S. 280. It has attracted retail business and has a relatively stable downtown area. Many former mill towns don’t have that going for them when the last whistle blows, economic experts say.

Sylacauga also has attracted nine manufacturing firms since 1997, bringing in about 1,000 jobs, said Calvin Miller, executive director of the Talladega County Economic Development Authority.

“The problem that we have is the economy is changing from textile-related to other manufacturing,” he said. “It seems that rather than getting ahead, we’re just breaking even.”

Richardson said he expects many workers to work outside Sylacauga. His goal is to keep them living in the town, he said.

Merchants along Broadway are generally taking a wait-and-see attitude. Many said that Avondale Mills, which had been shrinking for several years, had less of an impact on their business than it once did. But some could feel it regardless.

“It’s already hurting us,” said Charlie Simmons, owner of Charlie’s Clothing on Broadway in Sylacauga. “It could be gas prices, but this month’s been extremely slow. I guess people are nervous about it, holding onto their money.”

Many were philosophical about the closing. Linda Hatchett, the assistant director of the Isabel Anderson Comer Center on Broadway, worked in Avondale’s benefits department for 30 years. Now she’s surrounded by artifacts and other archaeological finds from Central Alabama’s past. There’s the Sylacauga History Room, a Pioneer Room, Civil War exhibits, World War II memorabilia and homage to local notables Jim Nabors, Bill Nichols and Gen. J.W. Crysel.

Hatchett said the closing was like losing a relative, but that people would adjust.

“This is happening all over the country,” she said. “You don’t die. You just move on.”

Insight

Another approach to sales tax: Alabama could benefit from eliminating some exemptions

By Hardy Jackson
Star staff writer

07-30-2006

There are few states that take a tax code more seriously than Alabama. Which is why Alabamians, especially those who make our laws and oversee our economy, should read and consider what Huntsville native Sarah Beth Coffey has written in "Doing Better: Progressive Tax Reform for the American South." It was recently published by the Center for a Better South, which describes itself as "a pragmatic, non-profit think tank dedicated to developing progressive ideas, policies and information for thinking leaders who want to make a difference." (Check them out at www.bettersouth.org.)

In the book, Coffey sets down 11 ideas that she feels would make things better for states and people down in Dixie. Most of them, in one way or another, apply to Alabama.

However, what Coffey asks us to consider is not just the same stuff reformers have been considering in recent years.

Which is good, because much of what reformers have been considering so far doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming law.

You know why.

Today, those financially enhanced by Southern tax codes possess the will and the resources to take down most anything that would alter the system. In Alabama, the principal concern of these individuals and interests has been protecting the privileged status that property enjoys in the state. Any effort to change this, given the strength of the opposition and the constitutional protections involved, is pretty well doomed from the start.

Which makes one think Coffey had Alabama in mind when she compiled her list, for only one item could be applied to Alabama’s property tax situation.

The other 10 focus on things Alabama has a better chance of doing— or, in a couple of cases, has already done. She presents proposals for income tax reforms, including "modernizing the income tax brackets," which we enacted during the last legislative session. Other suggestions — like closing corporate loopholes and strengthening accountability — are regular items on the agenda when the Legislature meets, and in both some progress has been made.

However, of all the things she proposes, the one that may be of the most use to Alabamians who really want to "do better" concerns the sales tax.

Alabamians are of two minds about sales taxes. Most of us agree that sales taxes are regressive because they fall heaviest on the poor. At the same time, a sizable segment of the population believes that sales taxes are fair because "everyone pays them."

In Alabama, however, not all of us pay them — at least, not always. Today a sizable hunk of the buying and selling that goes on in this state goes on untaxed — exempted largely by legislative statute.

Now, we have all heard how a mother pays a sales tax on the formula she buys for her baby but a cattleman pays no sales tax on the formula he buys to feed a calf. That example is always sure to raise the indignation level in any audience, but only once in recent years has there been much discussion of what to do about it.

Back in 1999, when our state was facing shortfalls that threatened essential services, legislators frantic for new sources of revenue began looking at sales taxes. First, someone suggested that the levy be temporarily raised to get us through the crisis. But even our most hard-hearted legislators could not stomach the idea of increasing the burden on those who were already hurting. Then someone suggested that folks in Montgomery should investigate sales tax exemptions.

Some did. And this is what they found.

Over the years, the Legislature had granted exemptions that, if set aside, would have brought in close to $1.3 billion — more than enough to carry the state through the crisis and beyond.

Of course, no one rushed out and demanded that the state do away with exemptions willy-nilly. Around $45 million of that figure came from exempting prescription drugs, which was politically untouchable.

Most of the remaining lost revenue came from exemptions to agriculture, industry and certain services.

These are the exemptions that the author of "Doing Better" feels the state should reconsider.

But how to do it?

One of the important things about this book is that instead of pounding readers with theories and plans, it carefully lays out the problems and points to alternatives that might or might not work in a particular state. Solutions are left to those "thinking leaders" for whom the book is intended.

What Coffey suggests is that legislatures should "broaden the sales tax base" by eliminating exemptions that serve targeted audiences rather than the needs of the state as a whole. In other words, cut out special-interest sales tax breaks so that more sales are taxed. This would give states additional resources with which to work and enable legislators to lower the tax on most sales so that the system is fairer. Thus, while some would find themselves paying more taxes, the majority would see sales taxes go down and state services improve.

And which activities and interests might lose their exemptions?

Well, in Alabama, industry and agriculture enjoy a host of sales tax breaks, exemptions and reductions. So do the folks who sell automotive vehicles, truck trailers, semi trailers, mobile homes, etc.

According to Coffey, "thinking leaders" should consider these exemptions in the light of state needs and determine which would stay and which would go. They should also reconsider the much-touted "sales tax holidays," a political gimmick according to some, which really saves the consumer little and costs state and local governments a lot. (There is evidence to suggest that consumers got a better deal from previous back-to-school discounts and sales, which retailers no longer offer since they have the "holiday" to attracts customers to their stores.)

She also suggests that the sales tax base be broadened to include Internet sales and the sale of services. It is estimated that Alabama loses between $179 million and $279 million a year by not taxing e-commerce and over half-a-billion dollars by exempting services — of the 168 services taxed in the United States, Alabama taxes only 37.

Therefore, states should get rid of all sales tax exemptions that serve narrow interests. If it is not good for the state as a whole, let it go. Instead of exempting calf formula and taxing baby formula, tax both, but at a lower rate.

If done right, this would give states additional and much-needed revenue. It would simplify the tax code and make it less costly to enforce. And it would enable the Legislature to pass a sales tax cut that would help citizens far more than special-interest exemptions have.

But can it be done? And should it be done?

That is something for "thinking leaders" to think about.

Harvey H. (Hardy) Jackson is a history professor and head of the Department of History and Foreign Languages at Jacksonville State University. He is also an editorial and op-ed writer for The Star. He can be reached at hjackson@jsu.edu.

July 29, 2006

Saturday 7/29/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Filed under: Uncategorized — G @ 7:30 am
http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154164818311750.xml&coll=2The Birmingham News reporter Mike Cason examines welfare reform 10 years later.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154164768311750.xml&coll=2 – Baxley portrays Riley as “puppet of the millionaires.”

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154164790311750.xml&coll=2 – Candidate’s mother-in-law contests elections results in Democratic runoff for House District 54.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154164674311750.xml&coll=2 – Editorial supports proposed regional jail authority to serve Jefferson County municipalities.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1154164751311770.xml&coll=3 – Contest of House District 98 Democratic runoff centers on absentee ballots from nursing home address.

http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154164588311760.xml&coll=1 – Editorial says proposed Huntsville ordinance related to immigration issues goes beyond city’s authority.

http://www.dailyhome.com/news/2006/dh-pellcity-0729-datchison-6g28s3619.htm - Suit challenges recently enacted ban on large boats at certain lakes.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060729/worley.shtml - Secretary of State’s race heats up.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LIEUTENANT_GOVERNOR_ALOL-?SITE=AL… – Candidates for lt. governor sound similar in first joint appearance.

July 28, 2006

Sales Tax Holiday Help

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 9:00 am

I have gotten some interest in my proposal earlier this week that we collectively gather some real-life information about retail prices during the sales tax holiday weekend, the weekend before, and the weekend after. I thought a little effort from a number of people might get us some interesting and useful info on whether or not shoppers are seeing the best prices during the holiday weekend.

If you missed it and are interested, read the original post. Let me know if you will participate. Turn to your co-worker, your family member, or fellow student there, and point it out to them. They might want to participate even if you don’t. Or please email the post to folks you think might have interest. The more people we have making an effort to participate even in a small way, then the more interesting and useful data we have.

Right now, I would say we don’t have enough people to gather enough information to make the effort worthwhile. I hope to get more folks on board today or else scrub the project. I hate for those who have already expressed interest to put good effort into it if we are not going to get enough information to make it feel worthwhile.

Update: I appreciate the interest shown in the idea, but overall there simply were not enough willing folks to gather enough data to make it worthwhile.

Blogger Headaches

Filed under: Housekeeping — Danny @ 8:39 am

Blogger, the web service used to maintain this website, is doing odder and odder things.

Our friend and early bird G updates the blog via email every morning with the Daily News Digests, but for a couple of weeks now Blogger has not been accepting the email. I have had to copy-and-paste to fix those posts the last couple of weeks (and off & on for longer than that), but I wish Blogger performed as advertised. I am sorry for the morning visitors to the blog who don’t get the Daily News Digest they are expecting.

Their service outages where no one can get in to edit or post are quite random and seem to be happening more frequently. One reason I am particularly glad to have my own domain name and server space is that when Blogger has outages that keep people from accessing their blogs, readers can still get here because it is not on Blogger’s servers.

Then this morning I find an unexpected post on the blog that was time-stamped 4:09 a.m. this morning that was a repeat of a post I put up ten days ago. Random. I think that it was a post that was not posted when I originally sent it by email, so I had to re-post it. Like I have done with G’s Daily News Digests. Which makes me wonder if Blogger is going to start randomly posting old Daily News Digests that G tried to send in by email. (I know this random post this morning is a Blogger problem and not an email problem because Blogger always gives a time and date stamp of when the email was sent, not when it was received.)

Which is all a long-winded way of saying when I have time to invest in the project, I will look at changing blog platforms. Suggestions? I really like the update-by-mail feature, so I hope to find that in a new platform.

Do You Live in Anniston?

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 8:28 am

Odd question, but… I am hoping I might find someone in Anniston who could without much trouble take a digital picture and email it to me. I was driving through Anniston earlier this week and for the only time in my life wished I had a camera phone. If that is easy for you to do and you are interested, send me email at the address at the top right of the page. It’s toward Quintard, maybe a little south of downtown.

Friday 7/28/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Filed under: Uncategorized — G @ 6:46 am

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154078745143530.xml&coll=2 – State Board of Education hires former Samford president to lead two-year college system.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154078522143530.xml&coll=2 – DHR to hire Deloitte Consulting to complete child welfare computer system.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154078415143530.xml&coll=2 – Gaynelle Hendricks says she hasn’t yet decided whether she’ll contest close loss to Pat Taylor in House District 54 Democratic primary.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1154078714143530.xml&coll=2 – Birmingham transit board struggles with increased fuel costs, reluctance by regional municipalities to increase contribution.

http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1154078282143760.xml&coll=1 – Editorial praises selection of Corts as new chancellor, but questions the secrecy of the process resulting in that decision.

http://www.dailyhome.com/opinion/2006/dh-editorials-0728-editorials-6g27v4448.htm - Editorial lauds efforts of new prisons chief to address multiple problems.

http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/060728/suit.shtml - State Democrats going to court over move to name Riley special master to implement HAVA.

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Editorials

Barkley, you got game?

In our opinion

07-28-2006

A former pro wrassler ran and was elected governor of Minnesota. A former bodybuilder and action-movie hero ran and was elected governor of California. A mystery novelist and singer of hits such as “Get Your Biscuits In The Oven and Your Buns In Bed,” who bills himself as a “Jewish cowboy,” is running for governor of Texas.

With the recent examples of Jesse Ventura, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Kinky Friedman, what’s to stop the former “Round Mound of Rebound” from running for governor of Alabama?

Former Auburn and pro basketball star and Leeds native Charles Barkley recently said that he still intends to strongly consider running for governor.

“They need the help,” he said of his native state.

Yes, we do, and we can’t afford to be too picky about where that help comes from.

Sure, Charles, throw your hat in the ring. If nothing else, you can inspire others to consider public service in a state that has a wealth of potential but is unfortunately shackled with a dearth of bright ideas and bold leadership.

To get the ball rolling, this page freely offers a few pointers to Barkley and anyone else considering a run for governor. Help Alabamians focus on these topics, and you will have done your state a great service.

• Education is central to Alabama’s development. Money’s not the solution to all that ails our schools, but a lack of it properly focused sure can hurt. The Mountain Brook school district’s fat bank account is the gold standard for the state. Still, $8,283.46 per-pupil spending in Mountain Brook is graded merely “average” when compared to other states’ funding formulas.

More money and more civic and parental involvement, as shown in The Star’s 2005 series on school districts that work, is the key. Anyone who can put us well down that road is worthy of the office of governor.

• More power to the people, please. The way it works now, too many decisions best made at the county or municipal level must be funneled through Montgomery. It’s not by accident; the authors of the 1901 Constitution were more concerned with personal enrichment than they were a properly functioning democracy. Keeping the power in the hands of a few was (and still is) just the ticket to keep Alabama’s potential under lock and key.

• Make the special interests a little less special. As it stands, a few powerbrokers — AEA, Alfa, BCA — run the show up on Goat Hill. Too often, they drown out other voices deserving a fair hearing. A more thorough set of laws to put more sunshine on campaign contributions would do a world of good. The special interests that prefer the shadows of PAC-to-PAC transfers would have to do their sordid business in daylight.

• Appeal to our reason, not to our prejudices. Too often, this state has fallen for the easy line of the demagogue. This state has put the likes of George Wallace and Roy Moore into office. Thankfully, the most recent primary elections rejected the sort of ugliness put forth by Tom Parker, but there will be many more battles to follow. Alabama needs strong leadership to keep us on the path to progress, and away from the path to unproductive and unnecessary debates over who is the more devout Christian.

This list is just a start. Alabama has shown it can encourage development. As Gov. Bob Riley often points out, Alabama is at the “tipping point.” We can launch into a better future or fall back into the same old slump. The right choice may be obvious, but without solid leadership, it is by no means guaranteed.

Speaking to a conference of school board trustees this week, Barkley said of his state, “I think we can do better.”

Agreed.

The end of faith?

By James L. Evans

07-28-2006

Sam Harris, philosopher and doctoral student in the field of neuroscience, has written a devastating book about faith — devastating, that is, to faith.

The title, “The End of Faith,” is also his agenda. Harris believes it is time for human beings to give up what he calls irrational pursuits and live in the world using reason as our guide.

Harris blames religion, all religion, for most of the ills and suffering that take place in the world.

As a person of faith, my gut reaction is to disagree with him. But his attacks are relentless and eloquent. Harris details instance after instance, from history and from the present, how belief in God has led directly to the slaughter of innocents.

And he leaves no religion unscathed, though he saves most of his venom for Christianity and Islam.

He is not calling for a reform of these faiths, as we get from Charles Kimball in his book “When Religion Becomes Evil.” Harris argues that even the most moderate minded of any of the world’s religions operate in the realm of the irrational. God does not exist for Harris, and for those who believe otherwise, they need to wake up.

With that said, I hope people of faith will read the book. Not to gain information about how to refute his claims, but rather to see the effects of the way we do faith.

The way Christians conduct themselves in the world has an impact on the way people view our faith, even how they view God. Gandhi is reported to have said that he would have become a Christian had it not been for Christians.

Our actions have consequences. What sort of image of God do we present to the world when in the name of God we allow other human beings to be tortured for our benefit? How do people see our God when in God’s name we promote bombing campaigns that kill innocent women and children?

We can try to hide behind euphemisms like “collateral damage,” but those are people in that rubble — or, at least, they were.

And what does it say about God when we live our lives as if we were the only people on the planet? The United States represents about 6 percent of the world’s population, yet we consume nearly half of the world’s resources.

Do we really expect people to believe that the Golden Rule and the Great Commandment mean something to us as the world starves around us?

Unlike Harris, I am not calling for an end to faith, but I do think that believers need to reclaim an authentic understanding of the purpose of faith.

Faith in God is not a way to attain status and privilege in this world, followed by an eternity of bliss in the next. Faith is not a tool by which we gain political power in order to advance an economic or social agenda. Faith, at least the way I understand Jesus, is a way for us to be truly human in a community of justice.

Sam Harris has done all faith traditions a great service in calling us out. Rather than attack him, as will inevitably occur, why not learn from him?

Through his words, we can learn what we are doing to a world we hoped we might help. If our greed, our commitment to violence and our intolerance convinces thoughtful people that faith is a dangerous thing, well, maybe we should hear that as a wake-up call.

James L. Evans is pastor of Auburn First Baptist Church. He can be reached at faithmatters@mindspring.com.

July 27, 2006

Thursday 7/27/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Filed under: Uncategorized — G @ 6:57 am

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1153992115161880.xml&coll=2 – Birmingham suburbs balk at increased transit funding.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1153991734161880.xml&coll=2 – Vandals target Hispanic businesses in Albertville.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1153992070161870.xml&coll=3 – Mobile Housing Board hit with huge insurance costs increases.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/news/1153991903161920.xml&coll=1 – Huntsville City Council to consider ordinances that would strip business licenses from employers hiring undocumented immigrants and levy fines against landlords renting residential property to such individuals.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS02/607270316/1009 - GOP candidates skip forum hosted by disabilities coalition.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS02/607270322/1009 - Former Samford president expected to be name interim chancellor of two year colleges today.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS/607270346/1007 - Sen. E. B. McClain (D-Fairfield) accuses University of Alabama System PAC of funding opposition candidate in retaliation. PAC transferred $230,000 to other PACs that supported McClain’s opposition.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060727/NEWS/607270337/1007/NEWS02 - Health insurance costs likely to rise for state employees.

July 26, 2006

Your Help Requested

Filed under: Uncategorized — Danny @ 7:52 am

One of the concerns about a sales tax holiday like the one Alabama has coming up next weekend is that retailers might not offer their best prices during the weekend. Shoppers will presumably be out in full force, and so retailers may not have much incentive to have their lowest prices. Some of the savings from the tax holiday may be eaten up by higher prices. In fact, one study in Florida found (pdf file) “that up to 20 percent of the potential benefits from that state’s sales tax holiday were reclaimed by retailers in the form of higher prices.”

Let’s check it out and you can help. Let’s get volunteers (here is where you come in) to go to a store and price a few things the weekend before the sales tax holiday, the weekend of the sales tax holiday, and the weekend after. Of course, if you volunteer, you will need to check the same item(s) at the same store(s) all three weekends.

Interested? Email me at the address at the top of the page. (No one will get your email address from me, and I will not keep your email address to use for anything else.) I’d like to get a rough head count of how many are willing to do this to see if we will have enough to make it feel worthwhile.

I think it will be interesting to see if prices are as good during the weekend of the sales tax holiday as they are the weekends before and after.

I’ll do it. Who’s with me?

All you will do is go to one or more stores this weekend, jot down the prices of a few items covered by the sales tax holiday, and go back the next two weekends to jot down the prices again to see if they have changed. Send me what you have found, and I’ll compile it.

Might be fun. Might learn a whole lot of nothing. Maybe both.

Are you in?

Wednesday 7/26/2006 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

Filed under: Uncategorized — G @ 7:14 am

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1153906206247070.xml&coll=2 – Charles Barkley says he may seek governor’s chair in 2010 running as a Democrat.

http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1153905913247120.xml&coll=3 – Riley makes changes in campaign staff.

http://www.al.com/opinion/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1153905519247080.xml&coll=1 – Editorial calls for state to move quickly in developing plan to address unfunded liability for retirees health insurance costs.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS/607260320/1001 - Immigrants wait in jail waiting for state, feds to pursue cases.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS/607260321/1001 - State Democrats hope moving presidential primary to early date will increase influence and attention.

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS02/607260318/1009 - Riley likely to be appointed special master in federal suit over state’s implementation of Help American Vote Act.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS/607260333/1007/NEWS02 - Some GOP leaders want party to consider rules to prohibit cross-over voting in future primaries.

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/NEWS/607260331/1007/NEWS02 - Local Democrats expected to name recommendation for Melton’s replacement this week.

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