Television host Adam Kokesh and several other activists participating in a flash-mob were arrested at the publicly-funded Thomas Jefferson Memorial on May 28, 2011. Their crime? Silently dancing, in celebration of the First Amendment’s champion. It appears to be a clear violation of their right to free-expression, but this is still the era of the…
Monthly Archives: May 2011
Inhaling Particles from Storm Debris Can Cause Health Problems
Thousands of volunteers have helped pile debris, cut trees, and burn materials since the killer tornadoes hit the South in April. With all the clean up efforts going on, the air is full of dust, dirt and particles from insulation that homeowners and volunteers are dealing air full of dust, standing stagnate water, and mold…
Alabama Senators Vote to Destroy Medicare, but it was Saved by Senate Democrats
Last night, Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan’s Tea Party-inspired budget didn’t even come close to passing the Senate. It was voted down 40–57. But 40 senators, including Alabama’s Sen. Richard Shelby and Sen. Jeff Session, voted for Rep. Ryan’s budget that would have replaced Medicare’s guaranteed health care funding for seniors with underfunded vouchers for private…
Senate Rejects Tea Party Medicare-Killing Budget
The U.S. Senate rejected the budget passed by House Republicans by a vote of 40-57 this week. The budget would have replaced Medicare’s guaranteed health care funding for seniors with underfunded vouchers for private insurance, forcing a typical 65-year-old to spend $6,359 more a year in out-of-pocket costs by 2022. It also would have made…
In Letter, Accountant Asks Alabama Legislature Not to Kill Teacher Tenure
Letter to the Editor by Jerry M. Nelson Dear members of the Alabama Legislature: I am not a teacher or an employee of any school system. I am an accountant and the parent of a 5-year-old. I am urging you to vote against the teacher tenure bill before you. This bill should not be passed…
Public Funds Republican Bootleg Run
Trumka Declares the Political Independence of Unions
In an address at the National Press Club, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka charted an aggressive independent approach by working people and their unions to build the power of working people in the workplace and in the political sphere. Trumka told the live audience and thousands of viewers on C-SPAN and other news outlets that working…
Republican Teacher Speaks Out Against Tenure Destruction Bill
Editor’s Note: The new conservative Republican majority in the Alabama Legislature seems intent on destroying teacher tenure in a bill supported by the corporate press in the state. This is how one Republican teacher feels about that. Letter to the Editor Susan Ronilo Caraway Member, Jefferson County Chapter American Federation of Teachers As a life-long…
Killer Stress Shrinks Our Brains, Makes Us Stupid and Fat
Ground-Breaking Documentary A Must See Don’t just watch this documentary. Grasp the message and put it into practice. This is the holy grail for quality of life and health in modern times on Planet Earth. What is the stress response? In the beginning it saved our lives, making us run from predators and enabling us…
The World Did Not End: But an Apocalypse is Coming
It’s Just Nothing Like Harold Camping’s Prediction The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson Ahh, too bad. Woke up this morning and the world is still here, along with the six billion people who populate the planet. Did you notice anyone you know missing? Guess the so-called “Rapture” did not happen after all on Saturday. So…
Hazardous Waste Listing for Coal Ash Essential
Letter to the Editor Eva Dillard, staff attorney Black Warrior Riverkeeper The stated position of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the Alabama Department of Transportation and the Alabama Public Service Commission that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should not classify coal ash as hazardous waste has more to do with the cozy relationship between…
Dr. Wilma Subra Says Blood Tests Prove Corexit is in the Food Supply
Dr. Wilma Subra, a Louisiana physiological biochemist, founder and president of the Subra Company of New Iberia, was interviewed in the award-winning documentary “Gasland.” She reports on recent blood test results on Gulf Coast residence showing that corexit is making its way into the food supply and humans.
Air Quality Alert Declared for Birmingham Area
The Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Jefferson County Department of Health have declared an air quality alert for Friday in Central Alabama due to a projection of high ozone levels in the area. The air will be unhealthy for sensitive groups due to a ridge of ozone directly over the area, according to…
Union Workers Aid People in Need After Killer Tornadoes
You Can Help Too Glynn Wilson UA Local 91 Business Manager John Eaves on the ground in Pleasant Grove leading the effort to help residents clean up after the worst outbreak of tornadoes in the area’s history (watch a video here) Within hours after the worst tornadoes in recent U.S. history tore through Alabama and…
Black Warrior Named One of America’s Most Endangered Rivers
Glynn Wilson The Black Warrior River in fall Pollution caused by coal mining near the Black Warrior River has landed the river on the annual list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers, according to a report issued by the conservation group American Rivers. “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has wisely closed this dangerous mining loophole…
Group Works for Clean Air in Birmingham
A GASP for Clean Air from GASP on Vimeo.
Army Corps of Engineers Explain Louisiana Spillway Opening
Thunderstorms Blanket the South, Again
Weekend Forecast Thunderstorms are likely in the afternoon across the South again Friday and Saturday, which could leave more people without power and Internet access just just two weeks after a record number of tornados struck central Alabama, leaving hundreds of families homeless. High temperatures are expected to be in the lower 80s on Friday,…
Republican Congress Votes to Undermine Big Oil Review in the Gulf
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the second in a series of three fast-track drilling bills Wednesday that impose arbitrarily rushed permitting deadlines and would force the Secretary of the Interior to approve or deny drilling permits within 30 days. If a final decision is not made within 60 days, the bill requires that the…
EPA Urges Caution on Restoration Activities Involving Lead-Based Paint
Due to recent tornadoes, severe and straight-line winds, storms, and flooding in the Southeastern United States, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is cautioning homeowners, volunteers and other workers to take steps to ensure that individuals, especially children, are not at increased risk for lead poisoning because of clean up and/or repair work around structures that…
