A federal judge sentenced a Pinson man and member of an anti-government Sovereign Citizens group to prison for two years Monday for mailing a fictitious financial instrument to attempt to pay off his home mortgage. The Federal Bureau of Investigation classifies “sovereign citizens” among domestic terror threats as anti-government extremists. U.S. District Judge Inge P.…
Birmingham’s Republican Congressman Spencer Bachus announced Monday morning that he will not seek reelection to another term. He made the announcement on the Fox News Channel in Birmingham in an interview with Janice Rogers on Good Day Alabama. “Janice, I’ve grown up watching Channel 6 and communicating with my district and people, so I thought…
The Big Picture – by Glynn Wilson – Sitting here on the screened-in porch in the cool of an autumn morning with my loyal dog Jefferson, sipping a good cup of coffee and ignoring the news on radio and TeeVee and listening to jazz instead on Pandora radio on the iPhone, it is almost possible…
By Julie Dermansky – It took a while for the Alabama public to understand that their state is being transformed into a tar sands Mecca. Proposals for rail and pipeline transport and tar sands storage facilities were first presented in 2010, and by 2012, most were rubber stamped with no public input. But in 2013,…
Global Warming is UnequivocalBy Glynn Wilson – As if there was still any doubt in the scientific community, we now know that “human influence on the climate system is clear,” according to a new report just out from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “It is extremely likely that human influence has been…
Most Democrats Oppose Tea Party – Republican Support DwindlesBy Glynn Wilson – As the nation braces for another budget showdown in Washington with the threat of defunding the new healthcare law and another government shutdown, the key political force pushing for conservative, anti-government policies continues losing popular support, according to the latest Gallup poll on…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Now hear this. All the crap you are hearing and reading about the “struggle” between Republicans and Democrats in Washington over funding the government and national health care is complete bollox. Sorry, I’ve been watching a lot of movies from the UK in recent years. I like…
By Glynn Wilson – The autumn season is upon us, since the fall equinox occurred on September 22, and it is about to be a busy time of year for travelers who like to get outdoors and chase the changing leaf colors in the most beautiful of seasons in North America. According to officials in…
By Glynn Wilson – The Republicans in Congress are at it again, refusing to consider compromising with the president and the Democrats in the U.S. House and Senate to find a way to fund the federal government and support the publics’ right to health care. At a time when disagreements and inability to reach consensus…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – Some great things have happened since that freezing day last February when I marched to the Forward on Climate rally in Washington, D.C., with 50,000 of my closest friends. Looking back, it did feel like the start of something big. From the stage, the sight of that sea…
By Glynn Wilson – The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new Clean Air Act standards to cut carbon pollution from new power plants “in order to combat climate change and improve public health,” according to the announcement sent out Friday morning. The new standards are set to go into effect by June 1, 2014. The…
The birthplace of the Scottish nature conservationist John Muir is to be opened up to people across the world, thanks to a ground-breaking new digital scanning project. An expert team digitally scanned Muir’s childhood home in Dunbar, where he was born and lived his early years, before establishing himself as a visionary champion of nature.…
The confidence Americans have in the economy, an important indicator of public opinion that effects the actual economy, especially consumer spending, is back on the rise again after a dip this summer, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Gallup’s U.S. Economic Confidence Index is up for the month of September over the…
Coming Clean – By Michael Brune – This year, Virginians will elect a new governor, one of only two gubernatorial elections this year, the other being in New Jersey. At the moment, Terry McAuliffe is leading climate denier and attorney general Ken Cuccinelli in the polls, but a lot can happen between now and November…
By Glynn Wilson – The Obama administration is set to establish tough new pollution standards for natural gas-fired power plants for the first time this month, according to a breaking news story just out from the Washington Post. The new regulation will require power companies to install expensive carbon control equipment on gas as well…
By Ron Crumpton – In government things are seldom what they seem, but why would your elected leaders use spurious propaganda in order to illicit an emotional response from the electorate? Every year, since the Republican takeover of the Alabama Legislature, the public has been roused into a state of frenzy over legislation that our…
WIKIPEDIA (not in the report): “The very word ‘dot-com’ became a joke, a symbol of nothing more than an over-hyped future foisted on an honest industry by a group of Silicon Valley hucksters and their bankers.” March 10, 2000: The day the dot com bubble burst. The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Monday…
The Big Picture: An Editorial – By Glynn Wilson – A proposal within the U.S. Forest Service to ban fracking in all national forests should be adopted by the Obama administration and codified into American law by Congress to make it permanent. After a plan to open up the Talladega National Forest to gas drilling…
The Alabama Chapter of the Sierra Club will hold its annual retreat at Lake Guntersville State Park October 4-6. This year’s theme is Climate Change and Energy Efficiency: The Butterfly Effect. According to the announcement for the event, climate change is fast becoming a hot topic even in Alabama, no pun intended, apparently. According to…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – It’s been one of the most interesting and groundbreaking years in a long time for environmental activism, environmental journalism and the Sierra Club nationally and in my home state of Alabama. Since I made the decision to cross the line and join the club to get personally…
