Glynn Wilson

While working on the new bluebird house out back, I noticed the mockingbirds going a bit crazy out on the side by the bush covering the gas meter. I figured they must have eggs in a nest there. I had noticed them building the nest for the past few weeks.

Sure enough, it looks like four eggs, so the mockingbird population is about to go up around here too — as if we needed more of their noise in the hood.

If you’ve been hearing an endless string of 10 or 15 different birds singing outside your house, you might have a Northern Mockingbird [mimus polyglottos] in your yard. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes at night, and they flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches, according to the recently redesigned All About Birds Guide from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

It just so happens I have several shots of these very birds in my yard, the same one’s who now have eggs in the bush.

A Clean, Happy Mockingbird

The American Civil Liberties Union, Alabama chapter, will hold a series of town hall meetings around the state in May to discuss the state of our constitutional rights.

With President Barack Obama now in the White House and with a Democratic Party majority in Congress, do you believe enough is being done to restore our rights so abused by the Bush administration? Here’s your chance to voice your opinion in public for the record.

The questions highlighted in the press release for the events are:

What are President Obama and Congress doing to reclaim our country and restore our rights?

What is the ACLU doing?

How can you help make a difference?

According to Nikki Cox, a spokesperson for the group, a town hall conversation with Michael Macleod-Ball, Chief Legislative and Policy Counsel for the ACLU, will take place around the state in May “to discuss the challenges and outline the steps our elected leaders must take to begin restoring our rights and the Constitution.”

“You’ll be given concrete actions you can take to start making positive change on these issues,” she said. “Our government’s response to 9/11 has left us with a disastrous legacy of bad policies, abuses of power, and civil liberties violations. Attacks have included politicization of the Justice Department, spying on innocent Americans, excessive government secrecy, top-down torture policies, and undermining the civil rights of all Americans.”

The president and Congress need to work together to reverse the damage that has been done to our Constitution, and develop a long-term positive civil rights agenda, she said.

“The Obama Administration and Congress cannot repeat the mistakes of the past the time has come to act and restore our rights, starting now,” she said. “Stand up. Make your voice heard.”

The town hall is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

“We’re giving you two opportunities to join us,” she said. “Depending on your calendar and location, please RSVP to either event below:”

The town hall in Huntsville is Monday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Huntsville (2222 Governors Dr SE).

RSVP now at Huntsville.

The town hall in Birmingham is Tuesday, May 12, at 6:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham (4300 Hampton Heights Drive).

RSVP now at Birmingham.

We’ll be there to cover it and will be taking comments on these issues here. These are important issues and we applaud the ACLU for holding these public events.

President Obama addressed members of the National Academy of Sciences on April 27, announcing a renewed commitment to science, technology, engineering, and medicine after eight years of neglect by the Bush administration.

Topics included America’s energy future, revitalizing our health care system, science and math education, and allocating funding and implementing policies to ensure that America reclaims a position of world leadership in scientific innovation.

Watch the video here

White House/Pete Souza

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden practice their putting on the White House putting green just outside the oval office on April 24. Who knew there was a putting green on the White House lawn?

Heads up bloggers. There’s a Flickr page where you can download and publish White House photos without having to steal them off the Web. Take that AP.

Official White House Flickr photostream

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said in his 100th day news conference Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture, and the information gained from terror suspects through its use could have been obtained by other means.

Obama Says Waterboarding was Torture, Duh

I was lured into a Facebook discussion forum last night and ended up on the other end of an argument from right-wing racist Republicans who are on the verge of a coronary that the black guy is doing so well as president. I can sit back and sip the Yuengling and take stock while the right-wingers go apoplexic over Obama. Maybe half of them will die off over the next eight years. The country will be the better for it…

Glynn Wilson

I know, you must be thinking, where does this guy come up with so many interesting bird photos? Well, if you set up your backyard as a bird sanctuary like I did, this is what you get. In addition to the bluebird babies feeding right now, the tufted titmouse [baeolophus bicolor] family in our yard is feeding young chicks now too.

Two reports released today further add to the mountain of evidence that air quality is poor in Alabama’s largest city.

“The question is what, and when, is the Alabama Department of Environmental Management going to do about excessive air toxic pollution?” according to the press release from the Conservation Alabama Foundation.

“Our report in December found that of 15 air toxics we studied, 13 of which are linked to cancer, Alabama’s children and adults are exposed to these chemicals far beyond the maximum safe limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency,” said Adam Snyder, executive director of the Conservation Alabama Foundation. “The reports released today re-emphasize the need for ADEM to address this problem and find a solution that will protect human health.”

Using modeling data, the Justice in the Air report ranks the Birmingham-Hoover MSA first for disproportionate impacts of air pollution on both minorities and low-income citizens. Also, the “State of the Air” report published by the American Lung Association ranks the Birmingham-Hoover MSA fifth in the country for both short-term and year-round particle air pollution, and 20th in the nation for ozone pollution.

These are the fourth and fifth reports released over the last few months regarding air quality. USA Today released a report in December about air toxics in our schools, followed by the Foundation’s report a week later. A few weeks ago, the Jefferson County Health Department released their air study. All the reports show citizens in Birmingham are exposed to an excessive amount of air toxics.

“ADEM needs to change its permitting practices so that air pollution permits protect human health,” said David Ludder, author of the Foundation’s December report. “Ultimately, ADEM needs to establish more monitoring stations and collect more data to better define the geographical extent of the health risk and the magnitude of the health risk allowed by ADEM’s current regulations,”

The foundation’s report is available online at conservationalabamafoundation.org and at the Law Office of David A. Ludder’s Website: enviro-lawyer.com.

For more information, check out the following links:

USA Today’s Toxic Air and America’s Schools

Toxic Air Pollution in Alabama – A Threat to Human Health

Birmingham Air Toxics Study (February 2009)

Justice in the Air

StateoftheAir.org

Hmmm. Does he know we want him too for approving it?

This guy is the biggest dufass to ever enter American politics, Republican or Democrat…

And Then Came Lola-Trailer from fastgirlfilms on Vimeo.

Looks like fun…

It’s a film about a photographer who is always late. She just so happens to be a lesbian, but hey, she also hails from North Carolina. Ashleigh Sumner, that is.

The Cast

Glynn Wilson

A lady bluebird feeding her chicks. They should be big enough to fly the coop soon. The grosbeaks are not cooperating. I tried to tell them the price of that good food I put out for them is to pose for pictures : )

Maybe this afternoon…