The World Around You

Alabama Governor Bob Riley has been selected as one of Governing Magazine’s Public Officials of the Year (and they gave him the cover). They have done just a cursory, but extremely complementary profile.

Had Bob Riley’s attempt to reform Alabama’s tax structure been passed by the voters in September, he would have earned a place for himself in the state’s history books and might have become one of the most prominent governors in the country. As it is, his initiative lost, so Riley stands out only for having offered the most conspicuous display of political courage any state has seen this year.

Amen. Hopefully, there will still be much more to tell when this administration is over.

If you haven’t yet read The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown, I highly recommend you do so. It’s an interesting cross between the historical non-fiction and mystery genres. ABC will run a special breaking down the claims made in the book and Elizabeth Vargas tells BBC News that, “You can’t talk about this subject without intriguing people or offending people.”

NBC’s Today show also addressed this topic earlier this week. There is a lot of good theological history contained in Brown’s tome and I hope it does lead to a broader debate in this country on the subject of religion and why we believe what we do and worship in the way we do.

I have every confidence that this idea is being pushed much more seriously by Microsoft than by Google,

Google, the highflying Silicon Valley Web search company, recently began holding meetings with bankers in preparation for its highly anticipated initial public offering as it was still engaged in meetings of another kind: exploring a partnership or even a merger with Microsoft.

According to company executives and others briefed on the discussions, Microsoft – desperate to capture a slice of the popular and ad-generating search business – approached Google within the last two months to discuss options, including the possibility of a takeover.

Advertisement

While the overture appears to have gained little traction – Google indicated that it preferred the initial offering route, the executives said – it demonstrates the enormous importance that Google represents as both a competitive threat to Microsoft and as Silicon Valley’s latest hope for a new financial boom.

Though seemingly spurned, Microsoft may still be interested in pursuing Google at a later date, according to an executive briefed on the discussions.

Both Google and Microsoft executives refused to comment.

The founders of Google are savy enough to know what selling or “partnering” with Microsoft would do. They will have a very successful IPO and could become a very powerful force in their own right, that’s why Microsoft is after them.

Stand tall Google, don’t fall to the pressure of Microsoft!

In today’s episode, Roy’s attorneys appear to throw up their hands at the inherent unfairness of the process the Chief Justice must face,

Lawyers for suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore say they don’t believe he can get a fair trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary on judicial ethics charges.

The attorneys said in a statement Thursday that it may be “inevitable” that Moore will be removed from office for not obeying a federal court order to move his Ten Commandments monument from the lobby of the Alabama Judicial Building.

What makes this situation so unfair? Well, that’s easy, because the justices won’t have to face a crowd of thousands at Roy’s hearing, that’s why.

Moore had asked that his trial be held somewhere like the 7,000-seat Montgomery Civic Center or the 1,200-seat Davis Theater in Montgomery, calling the Supreme Court courtroom that is normally used by the Court of the Judiciary “small” and “restrictive.” Moore claimed any smaller location would restrict media access and deny him his constitutional right to a public trial.

But the court rejected Moore’s request in a decision Wednesday, ruling instead that the case would be heard in the 210-seat Supreme Court courtroom to minimize costs and maintain proper security. The court laid out a plan for setting aside seats for the general public and the media.

Moore’s lawyers said the decision meant the chief justice cannot obtain a “fair, public trial.”

“Further, Moore’s legal team advised him that in light of the rulings of the COJ denying him his basic legal rights, that an adverse ruling from the COJ is inevitable, which may well include his imminent removal from office,” the attorneys said in the statement.

With all due respect (which isn’t much), did these attorneys get their law degrees from a Cracker Jack box? Where in the Judicial Code of Ethics, the Code of Alabama, or the US Constitution is there a right to have 10,000 of your closest friends at your trial?

Roy and his attorneys are obviously disappointed they will not be allowed to turn his hearing into a circus like we witnessed on the steps of the State Judicial Building. They know that in a case based purely on the merits, and not public passion will not be decided in their favor. Bravo to the Commission for sticking to its guns.

I thought I had just about heard it all from certain members of the US Senate, but Senator Lott’s latest remarks are beyond belief,

Asked whether he favored any policy changes in Iraq, Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) responded: “We need to have a different mix of troops, is the key. We may need to move some troops around.”

Lott suggested moving more troops from the relatively stable south closer to the region around Tikrit, where attacks on U.S. forces have been common. He said there was a need for more trained military police, adding that his comments were not a criticism.

“Honestly, it’s a little tougher than I thought it was going to be,” Lott said. In a sign of frustration, he offered an unorthodox military solution: “If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens. You’re dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we need to be very aggressive in taking them out.”

What happened to “liberating” Iraq. Is it liberating to be dead? Under the Senator’s theory we could ensure the safety of all the world’s people by dropping enough atomic bombs to wipe us all out. Freedom!

This is exactly the kind of thinking that put us in this position. You don’t fight suicide bombers with more military raids, especially if the military action is the reason they are willing to take their own lives in the first place. Until we get at the root of the problem, the attacks will continue.

Sorry for the dearth of posts. I have just returned from a business trip to Washington, DC (no, I was not there for the protests). I had a great time, but I missed the blogosphere. Now, back to business.

How’s this for lazy Friday afternoon news. Four days before the season is to begin, Pat Riley has resigned as head coach of the Miami Heat.

Riley ranks second in NBA history with 1,110 victories, and he led the Los Angeles Lakers to four championships in the 1980s. But the Heat missed the playoffs the past two years, finishing at the bottom of the Atlantic Division at 25-57 last season.

He will be replaced as Miami’s coach by Stan Van Gundy, his top assistant the past several seasons and the younger brother of Houston Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy.

“It’s the first time I feel it’s right in the last three years,” Riley said. “It’s right for me to. It’s time.”

The move is not health-related, Riley said, adding that he made the decision Wednesday.

He will stay on as the Heat’s president.

His legacy? Another Van Gundy! There has to be something more going on here.

It’s wonderful to see that the schools are upholding the First Amendment so fervently,

Huntsville teachers must warn parents about books on student reading lists with controversial content — a move that invites censorship, critics of the order say.

A Sept. 30 order from school officials requires teachers to place an asterisk next to any item on a reading list that has controversial content.

At the bottom of the list, teachers should add the disclaimer: “Parents are advised that this selection contains controversial language, behavior, situations, descriptions or innuendoes.”

The administrative order, which did not require school board approval, resulted from a parent’s complaint to the board. The parent objected to her 12-year-old son reading “Tex,” S.E. Hinton’s award-winning book about adolescents that has references to sex and alcohol.

The parent didn’t want the book banned, but rather asked that parents be warned of such content ahead of time. School Superintendent Ann Roy Moore asked Sandra Shipman, the head of secondary education, to devise a labeling system for reading lists in all high schools and middle schools.

Cheers to the Huntsville Times for finding a teacher who articulates very well why this is a BAD IDEA.

Pam Smith, who teaches English at Grissom High School, doesn’t want to mark her students’ reading lists with parental advisory warnings.

“I am totally against censorship. Saying something is controversial and labeling it just invites censorship,” Smith told The Huntsville Times for a story Thursday. “I don’t teach anything I believe I shouldn’t be teaching.”

Teachers must provide another reading choice for those who object.

Anyone can find something controversial in most any book and innuendo can extend to anything, Smith said.

Exactly, forget the slippery slope argument, how about the fact that this is tying teacher’s hands behind their backs! How are you supposed to make learning interesting or engaging for students if all they can read are items that are not “controversial”.

Life is controversy. We’ve already lost serious ground in this area with regards to textbooks (especially history books) and standardized tests. Students are given only the most basic information in the most bland way possible, so school boards can avoid controversy. Grow a spine! If you can’t handle parents’ criticism of sound educating and stand up for what is right for all students than give up your seat to someone who will.

The Alabama Board of Education discussed their proposed budget for FY 2005 yesterday and the picture is as bleak as everyone has said,

State school board members Thursday recommended a list of deep cuts to next year’s budget, including layoffs for as many as 3,400 teachers statewide, while boosting spending on textbooks and certain programs.

If such a reduction in the fiscal 2005 budget is approved by the Alabama Legislature, each classroom could have an average of 1.5 more students than it does now.

The plan would require Mobile County to locally fund or lose 305 of its 3,732 teachers. In Baldwin County, 108 of its 1,330 teachers would be at risk.

Amid $199 million in projected state education cuts for the next fiscal year, board members said they would like to save: textbooks, the Alabama Reading Initiative, the High Hopes remediation program for high school students and the $5,000 yearly bonus for teachers who are National Board Certified.

“By increasing those (student-teacher) ratios a little for a short time, we are hoping to do the least amount of damage,” said Randy McKinney, the state board member who represents Mobile, Baldwin and Escambia counties. “I think we have to have tools in the classroom, and those tools are textbooks.”

And as the article goes on to acknowledge, that still won’t get to the amount of cuts the Governor has requested in order to meet revenue projections. It is a bleak, bleak outlook and the solution is not going to come rapidly.

UPDATE: The Montgomery Advertiser takes a slightly different take, emphasizing discussions on the merging of school systems and schools,

“We need to take a look at if we have too many school systems and too many schools,” he said. “We should consider consolidating the school systems that can not create a balanced budget.”

School consolidation was just one of seven proposed options to help rescue struggling schools.

Richardson suggested offering only the core subjects, math, science, English and social studies, at schools that are in the worst shape. Electives and athletics would be available only to students who could afford the fees charged for the classes and activities. Charging to ride the bus to and from school also was proposed, along with charging for textbooks.

The superintendent said he was strongly opposed to adopting a fee schedule.

“I have fought fees because those least able to pay get hurt the most,” he said.

Standardized testing could be reduced so that only the tests required by law are offered, Richardson said.

There is no doubt we have too many school systems in this state. The Board of Education needs to learn how to say no to cities that want to form their own school systems. There should be no more than 50 school systems, which would be a reduction and consolidation of the 79 additional systems we currently have. This would be a bold step, but a necessary one.

UPDATE: See Mac write.

If I had lived in Alabama a little longer I would have seen this coming,

Former Gov. Fob James is coming to the defense of Chief Justice Roy Moore, six years after he said he would use state troopers and the National Guard to defend Moore’s display of the Ten Commandments.

Moore’s attorneys filed papers Thursday in which James supported a second bid by Moore to have Attorney General Bill Pryor barred from prosecuting the judge on judicial ethics charges.

Moore is accused of violating judicial standards by defying a federal court order to remove his Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state judicial building. Pryor’s office will prosecute.

But James said Pryor, a James appointee who has since won election on his own, in the past advocated the idea of defying court decisions — a position James said he considered a plus in appointing Pryor.

“Had he expressed his present view, I would not have found him qualified to be attorney general of Alabama,” James said in a sworn statement.

James called Pryor’s current positions “utterly contrary to the political and legal convictions he expressed to me.”

I’m beginning to think I could throw out just about any prediction about next steps for Roy’s team and I’d have an excellent chance of being correct. His arguments are absurd, why he thinks getting Fob James involved strengthens his case is beyond me. It just shows the lack of even the weakest grasp of the law by any member of his team.

I feel sorry for whoever has to type up these petitions while keeping a straight face.