Stop Financing Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining

Scott Edwards, Senior Staff Attorney for WATERKEEPER Alliance and Hurricane Creekkeeper, John L. Wathen speak to reporters after Chase, J. P. Morgan protest demonstration.

More than a hundred supporters showed up outside JPMorgan Chase to tell the bank’s CEO Jamie Dimon that he is destroying our country and people’s lives by funding mountaintop removal coal mining. The group is asking the financial giant to invest instead in safe, renewable energy.

Hurricane Creekkeeper John Wathen traveled more than a thousand miles to speak to the crowd about how the coal industry is reeking havoc on his community in Alabama and through out Appalachia, according to the WaterKeeper Alliance blog.

Alabama Is Off This Week, So Saturday’s Big Game is Florida vs. Georgia

Sources say Alabama’s Terrence Cody, 6-foot-5 and a biscuit short of 400 pounds, will dress up as Mt. Rushmore this Halloween…

TV Lineup and Lines Below

Time Out
by Dan Rutledge

Which SEC football teams will get treats and which will be tricked this Halloween?

That’s the spooky question for Week 9 of the 2009 football season with four league contests, plus two out-of-conference games, on the lineup. There could be some surprise answers to the query. Favorites should be on the lookout. Somehow, upsets seem appropriate to the weekend theme.

The biggie of the week has to be the Biggest Outdoor Cocktail Party in the World, as the annual neutral-site battle between Florida (7-0, 5-0) and Georgia (Line: Florida by 16) was called before it became politically-incorrect to talk out loud about the partying that went on before, during and after the game. Nowadays, I hear they even try to confiscate your flask. In the old days, you didn’t need a flask in a hidden pocket. Anyway, the partying will go before the game with some tail-gaters arriving Friday night.

The rowdiness in the stands will be matched by the action on the field this year. Although it is riding the nation’s longest winning streak at 17 games and is ranked No. 1 in the land, Florida’s offense has been noticeably stuttering in the past few weeks. And Georgia (4-3, 3-2) has been under-performing. The Bulldogs have been pointing toward this game all season. When players arrived for fall practice, they could not fail to notice the pictures of Florida head coach Urban Meyer calling timeout that hang all over the Georgia practice facility. Players got to see it, whether they wanted to or not, as they were changing uniforms, lifting weights, etc.

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The best chance for viewing fall foliage color changes in Middle Alabamaland should come Sunday through Tuesday, as the color appears to be peaking now.

Friday‘s forecast calls for a patchy drizzle early in the morning with a slight chance of thunderstorms early in the afternoon…then showers likely and chance of thunderstorms late in the afternoon. Highs around 80. Southeast winds 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 70 percent.

Friday night‘s forecast calls for cooler temperatures with a chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Lows in the mid 50s. Southwest winds 10 to 15 mph shifting to the northwest after midnight. Chance of rain near 100 percent.

Temperatures will be cooler on Saturday with rain showers and slight chance of thunderstorms likely in the morning…then partly cloudy with chance of rain showers in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 60s. Northwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80 percent.

Saturday night will be even colder, with partly cloudy skies and a 20 percent chance of rain showers in the evening. Lows in the lower 40s. Northwest winds around 5 mph in the evening then becoming light.

Sunday will begin partly cloudy in the morning then becoming sunny. Highs in the mid 60s. North winds 5 to 10 mph.

Sunday night will be clear with lows in the lower 40s.

Monday looks sunny with highs in the upper 60s.

Monday night will be clear with lows in the mid 40s.

Tuesday will be sunny with highs in the upper 60s.

Tuesday night will be clear in the evening then becoming partly cloudy in the early morning hours. Lows in the mid 40s.

Kentucky Basketball Dorm Named ‘Wildcat Coal Lodge’

As we reported earlier, Joseph W. Craft III, who heads Alliance Coal, put up $7 million for a new men’s basketball team residence hall for the University of Kentucky along with a group of donors he put together. But in return, he “required” that “Coal” be its middle name, according to news sources in the Wildcat state.

Now it’s official. In spite of student protests, the dorm was named after big coal. Wonder if it will be as dark as a coal mine in there? Hmmm…

An Update from the Ed Show

Also, House Democrats reached agreement Wednesday on key elements of a health care bill that would vastly alter America’s medical landscape, requiring virtually universal sign-ups and establishing a new government-run insurance option for millions. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi planned a formal announcement Thursday morning in front of the Capitol. Lawmakers said the legislation could be up for a vote on the House floor next week, according to the Associated Press.

Thirty Percent of Health Insurance Premiums Used to Lobby Against Reform?

Establishing a national single-payer style health-care reform system would provide a major stimulus for the U.S. economy by creating 2.6 million new jobs, and infusing $317 billion in new business and public revenues, with another $100 billion in wages into the U.S. economy, according to the findings of a groundbreaking study released recently by the California Nurses Association.

The number of jobs created by a single-payer system, expanding and upgrading Medicare to cover everyone, parallels almost exactly the total job loss in 2008.

“These dramatic new findings document for the first time that a single-payer system could not only solve our healthcare crisis, but also substantially contribute to putting America back to work and assisting the economic recovery,” said Geri Jenkins, RN, co-president of the National Nurses Organizing Committee/California Nurses Association, which sponsored the study.

“Through direct and supplemental expenditures, healthcare is already a uniquely dominant force in the U.S. economy,” said Don DeMoro, lead author of the study and director of the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy.

“However, so much more is possible. If we were to expand our present Medicare system to cover all Americans, the economic stimulus alone would create an immense engine that would help drive our national economy for decades to come,” DeMoro said.

Expanding Medicare to include the uninsured, and these on Medicaid or employer-sponsored health plans, and expanding coverage for those with limited Medicare, would have the following immediate impacts:

* Create 2,613,495 million new permanent good-paying jobs (slightly exceeding the number of jobs lost in 2008);

* Boost the economy with $317 billion in increased business and public revenues;

* Add $100 billion in employee compensation;

* Infuse public budgets with $44 billion in new tax revenues.

Further, moving to the new system comes with an unexpectedly low price tag, she said, given the economic benefits and the far-reaching consequences of genuine healthcare reform.

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A Green Building Named for Dirty Coal?

Joseph W. Craft III, who heads Alliance Coal, put up $7 million for a new men’s basketball team residence hall for the University of Kentucky along with a group of donors he put together. But in return, he is “requiring” that “Coal” be its middle name, according to news sources in the Wildcat state.

The Joe Craft Center, a basketball practice gym, is already named in his honor for money he donated in coal profits. The irony is, due to university policies, the new dorm will be run on “green” technologies. So critics are questioning how the university can in good conscience name it after a dirty fossil fuel.

Glynn Wilson

The Swann-Joy covered bridge in Blount County, Alabama, is closed for repairs, but you can park and walk over it from either side, off Highways 79 or 160. Built in 1933, the 324-foot bridge is the longest existing covered bridge in Alabama and one of the longest in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 1981.

This is the view from the Highway 79 side Sunday, Oct. 25. The peak autumn foliage color should be be peaking in the next week, or two. Click on the image for a larger view, or click here to see more images on Glynn Wilson’s Facebook page…

Order Could Impact Video Gaming Statewide

by Glynn Wilson

In a local gambling ruling that could have repercussions statewide, bingo machines are now illegal in Walker County, according to a ruling by Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Robert S. Vance. He ordered the Walker County bingo halls to shut down immediately.

Reacting to the news on Monday, Agricultural Commissioner Ron Sparks, who is running as a Democrat for governor of Alabama on a platform that includes taxing gambling, said Judge Vance’s ruling underscores the urgent need for a statewide approach to address what he called “the fastest growing industry in the state.”

“I am the only candidate, Democrat or Republican, who has pledged to fight for a statewide gaming commission, statewide licensing and regulation, and taxing casinos to fund education and Medicaid,” Sparks said in a press release. “I would allow the voters of each individual county the right to decide if gaming is allowed in their county.”

Casino gaming is an economic development opportunity for Alabama, Sparks said.

“Neighboring states collect hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local taxes, much of it coming from Alabama residents. We can bring thousands of new jobs in casino and related business to our state,” Sparks said. “But we must stop the hodge podge of local gaming laws that are allowing cinder block bingo halls to spring up like kudzu.”

Vance’s ruling ends a lawsuit seeking a clarification on whether the bingo operations were legal filed in 2007 by Walker County Sheriff John Mark Tirey and District Attorney Charles Baker. Legal experts say it could have an impact on the legality of bingo halls and other types of video gambling operations around the state.