The World Around You

As a brand new resident of Pike Road, I’m excited about the new retail options coming to the area.

montgomeryadvertiser.com ::  Pike Road area adding pair of retail options

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President Bush’s approval ratings have now sunk below the 50% mark in Alabama, finally beginning to catch up with the rest of the nation (sort of). If reality hasn’t sunk in at the White House…I don’t know what it will take.

Mobile Press-Register: Bush’s job performance rating slumps in state poll

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Sad to say that the controversy over the Gee’s Bend quilts has hit the New York Times.

Handmade Alabama Quilts Find Fame and Controversy - New York Times

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Danny at Doc’s Political Parlor is reporting Justice See will not seek re-election and that he will resign prior to the end of his term to allow Governor Riley to appoint a Republican to run as an incumbent. This has not been an unusual occurrence for Riley (see King, Troy).

I apologize for my brief respite from blogging. I have been moving, but I’m back and have a more reliable internet connection at home, so I should get back on my regular pace. Thanks for your patience.

Supreme Court Justice See to Retire » Doc’s Political Parlor

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The Betty Wilson case is the murder case that will not die in Alabama. Just because her twin sister was acquitted and she was found guilty there has always been media attention on this particular situation. I don’t think she deserves a new trial, but she might get it.

Huntsville Times: New lawyer seeks Betty Wilson retrial

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It saddens me to hear that former Lt. Governor Lucy Baxley is still suffering so mightily from the stroke that felled her at Thanksgiving last year.

She will never be the same, and believes her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign contributed greatly to her stroke. Like many stroke survivors, she faces a long road to rehabilitation.

Baxley said the hard-driven, ambitious politician she once was is gone.

“I don’t want to be the person I was before; I want to be a slower-paced version,” Baxley said from her wheelchair. “I feel like I’ve been given a new life. I’ve done some prioritizing. I’m just fortunate that it didn’t kill me.

I wish her all the best in her recovery.

Birmingham News: Stroke gives former politician a new perspective

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Christianity Today has an interesting take on the Christian Coalition of Alabama situation between John Giles and Randy Brinson. This seems like it’s a “plant” story by John Giles to spin the story in his direction.

“They wanted our assets so they could go out and promote a gambling bill,” Giles said. “We have a standing policy that we don’t rent, sell, or give away our list to anyone. It’s the property of the organization that is overseen by the board.”

This is the first time I have seen the debate framed in terms of the gambling legislation that was up in the Alabama legislature this session. It’s just interesting to me that this is coming out now. It seems a pretty weak attempt at re-writing history.

Coalition Breaking | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

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Rudy Giuliani raised $238,000 from Alabamians in the 2nd Quarter, according to FEC reports. As indicated in the article, this is largely a result of support from business interests who are in favor of smaller government and think Rudy can deliver. I don’t think there’s any chance Rudy could win a primary in this state with his views on social issues though.

Mobile Press-Register: Former NYC mayor leads presidential candidates in 2nd-quarter fundraising in Alabama

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I applaud the Hoover school board for sticking to their guns and proceeding with not renewing Hoover High School principal Richard Bishop’s contract. They did not allow themselves to be blackmailed by threats of lawsuits and that should be commended.

Birmingham News: Board dismisses principal

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I’m encouraged that members of the city council want to start a dialogue to help stop the violence in our community, but this is not a new phenomena and it will take working together to help stem the tide.

“We’re calling for a moratorium on violence,” [Councilwoman Janet May] said. “We’re asking you to look in our faces and to know that we’re serious. We don’t have (all) the answers, but we are willing to work with neighborhoods.”

Absolutely, and it starts with the drug problem, as the council members pointed out, but it’s not about the dealer or the “kingpins” as they seem to believe. It is about dealing with the issues that contribute to use in the first place (the demand side of the equation), we have to invest our time and energy in drug and violence prevention if we really want to make progress.

Montgomery Advertiser: Black council members hold anti-violence summit

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Fred Thompson, who was born in Sheffield, Alabama, is in the lead in the latest Capitol Survey Research Center poll in Alabama and on the Democratic side, Barack Obama’s support has grown since May.

The results:

Republicans
Fred Thompson - 34%
Rudy Giuliani - 20% (down from 29% in May)
John McCain - 11% (down from 23% in May)
Newt Gingrich - 7% (down from 15%)
Mitt Romney - 5% (down from 7%)

Democrats

Hillary Clinton - 33%
Barack Obama - 29% (up from 21% in May)
John Edwards - 9% (no change)
Al Gore - 6% (down from 9%)

Particularly encouraging for Obama was that his support among African-Americans jumped 14 points, to 47%, clearly pulling those supporters away from Hillary Clinton.

Birmingham News: Thompson tops GOP hopefuls in state poll

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The report was biased right off the bat, by indicating that Roy lost his job for supporting the Ten Commandments…talk about buying the party line.

Commandments defenders spread word in Ozarks

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Is Troy King, John McCain’s Alabama state campaign chair, defecting? He says no, but he attended the Fred Thompson fundraiser last night. Secretary of State Beth Chapman says she isn’t getting involved in any presidential campaign because she oversees voting for the state, but she was there.

I think there are a lot of people in Alabama looking intently to Fred Thompson to be THE candidate. We’ll see if it translates into the kind of support he needs to win the nomination.

Thompson draws crowd in Alabama, including McCain’s state leader | TuscaloosaNews.com

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I hope the latest Kids Count data gets the same kind of attention it did last year, when the state improved five spots, now that we have slipped back five spots to 48th in the nation. It is a crime that we don’t do better for our children in this state. It needs to start at the neighborhood level, but be led by governing principles and priorities from the top. We have never had a governor who was focused on children’s issues, maybe we can get one the next time around. Because children form the backbone of our communities in the decades to come and if we continue to put our kids last, our state will continue to be last.

Montgomery Advertiser: Make kids really count in Alabama
Birmingham News: Kids Being Failed

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I’m sorry, but didn’t the legislature pass a bill a few years back to strengthen the school board’s position in these kinds of situations. In this state, a school board can terminate a principal at will, there doesn’t have to be a reason, so I’m not sure what grounds Richard Bishop’s attorney thinks he would have for a suit, even if they were trying to make the principal a scapegoat. But to me, it’s just blackmail.

Birmingham News: Principal threatens lawsuit if terminated

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It doesn’t sound like the forum organized by the East Montgomery Neighborhood Alliance was very organized…with heckling because of the number of questions asked by the same person and candidates going over their allotted time. However, it also sounds like some of the key issues in this election were at least touched on, if not addressed. The perceived crime problem is going to be a real drag on Mayor Bright this time around and it seems as if Scott Simmons will talk about little else. I’m not sure what William Boyd expected the crowd to look like, but I would have assumed it to be almost all white, given the location. I do hope they have a similar forum in West Montgomery, where it seems like he is focusing his campaign.

Montgomery Advertiser: Crowd quizzes mayoral hopefuls

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Mitt Romney has lined up an interesting list of supporters from the Alabama Legislature. I think a lot of Alabama Republicans are waiting on Fred Thompson, but these legislators are trying out a different horse altogether.

Romney announced Monday that members of the team are Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb; and Reps. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville; Davis Grimes, R-Montgomery; Micky Hammon, R-Decatur; and Benjamin Lewis, R-Dothan.

“I am honored to have their support and look forward to working with them as we campaign throughout Alabama,” Romney said in a statement.

Five Alabama legislators backing Mitt Romney - NewsFlash - al.com

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What state does Sen. Parker Griffith live in? Education is the reason we have all this industry, because we now have a strong enough workforce to support it? Are you kidding me? The reason we have these new industries coming to Alabama is we bought and paid for them. The reality is that we don’t have the workforce to support them. I hope we will grow it, but we’re not there yet.

Griffith praises Hubbert work- al.com

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How long can a President go on with only a quarter of the country supporting him? We’re about to find out…

PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » 25%

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Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), was part of the first sharp exchange of the Democratic presidential campaign during CNN’s Late Edition yesterday. Mr. Davis said,

“The last exchange you’ve heard is exactly why Barack Obama’s candidacy is so important. We’ve just spent two minutes arguing about who did what in 1993,” Mr. Davis said. “Democrats will not win the election in 2008 if we are frozen in an argument about who did what in 1993, who did what between 1993 and 2001. That’s a stale argument for a lot of people. As much as I admire the Clintons, people are hungering for a new discussion in this country, and they want to look forward.”

It’s encouraging to see Artur out there in the national media and bodes well for his political future both inside and outside the state.

Sharp Exchange May Signal Change in Democrats’ Tone - July 23, 2007 - The New York Sun

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Danny reports that Bill Clinton will hold a “small donor” event in Birmingham along with the event that was already scheduled for a private home in August. Smart copying of Obama’s last visit to Alabama.

Clinton’s “Small Donor Event” in B’ham » Doc’s Political Parlor

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I’m so glad to see the gay and lesbian community in Montgomery has continued to hold this event. I think it is one of the ways we can continue to make progress on awareness in our community.

Montgomery Advertiser: Annual Capital City Pride Festival aims at education

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I largely agree with Fox Sports take on Purdue’s upcoming football season. They didn’t take advantage of the last two year’s scheduling and now they face a tough road to double digit wins. A 4-0 start is a must, so the game at Minnesota on September 22 is crucial. After that they face Notre Dame, Ohio State, go to Michigan and home against Iowa and will be lucky to get out of that stretch with one win. This is likely to be a roller coaster season without a huge upset somewhere along the way.

FOX Sports on MSN - COLLEGE FOOTBALL - 2007 Preview: Purdue

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It’s always sad when these kind of freak things happen. My condolences to the family of Mike Coolbaugh, especially his wife Mandy who is expecting their third child in October.

SI.com - MLB - Minor league first-base coach killed by line drive - Monday July 23, 2007 2:27AM

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It appears that Montgomery is not alone in its rash of homicides lately. But what’s even more amazing is that the record for homicides in a year for Huntsville is only 23…that’s incredible.

City on track for record homicides?- al.com

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What’s interesting is not just that Alabamaians are donating money to presidential candidates, but that John Edwards is leading the way again in this cycle. We were a tremendous source of funds (mainly from the trial lawyer community) the last time around and he continues to milk those supporters for donations. Other candidates have realized there is money to be had as well.

State cash flows in national race- al.com

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And they wonder why they can’t fill some of the open positions with the state and why more young people aren’t becoming teachers… Because the benefits that have always been the big draw, won’t be there when people starting now retire, and every one of them knows it. Anyone who started employment with the state in the last ten years got sold a bill of goods, because the benefits they were promised will not be there when they retire.

Serious reforms are needed now, rather than later, so that the effects can be spread over as many people as possible. The longer we wait, the heavier the burden will be.

I’m especially concerned that the article wraps up this way,

[State Finance Director Jim] Main said he thinks the state cost of benefits for employees and retirees won’t rise nearly as fast in coming years because of recent insurance changes, especially if RSA gets good returns on its investments.

Even so, [State Education Superintendent Joseph] Morton said, “I don’t know where the cost of benefits ever ends.”

And neither do I…we need to act now.

Birmingham News: Alarm is sounded on state pensions

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Having had to both sell and buy a home this month, I was well aware of the oversaturation and was surprised how quickly our home sold, but not by the deal we were able to make in our purchase. It is certainly a buyers market right now, though builders continue to succeed in attracting folks to their developments.
Montgomery Advertiser: Housing market has buyers, sellers upbeat

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Randy Brinson, the new chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, finally decided they were generating too much bad press with their lawsuit against former chairman John Giles, and have settled the suit.

Montgomery Advertiser: Christian Coalition drops suit

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There will be a mayoral forum on Tuesday night in Montgomery. All four candidates will participate and it should make for an interesting evening.

Montgomery Advertiser: Mayoral forum will be open to the public

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Bill Clinton is coming back to Alabama to raise money for Hilary’s campaign…there must be more people with money to spare than many people think.

Bill Clinton scheduled for Birmingham fundraiser - Breaking News from The Birmingham News - al.com

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It is crazy that any of us, any citizen of Montgomery, would stand for this kind of activity in our city. This isn’t about one neighborhood, it affects the whole city and we should act like it.

Montgomery Advertiser ‘This is all crazy’: Violence keeps neighbors on edge

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