Residents of the area around Gadsden, Alabama, will celebrate Earth Day Sunday, April 27 at Noccalula Falls Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “The first Earth Day was April 22, 1970, and it is now celebrated around the world,” said Peggie Griffin, Sierra Club co-chair for the event. “We want this Earth Day Celebration…
Education News
Alabama Republicans Under the Gun for Opening of Legislative Session 2013
The Big Picture – by Glynn Wilson – CAMP AUTAUGA CREEK, Ala. — The Alabama Legislature will open its 2013 session at noon on Tuesday with a Republican Supermajority, a Republican governor and a Republican Supreme Court. But at the end of the day at the end of the session that will be anything but…
Amendment 4 Violates State’s Responsibility for Public Education
By Dr. Gerald W. Johnson, Auburn Professor Emeritus of Political Science/ Special to the News-Journal – MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The number one responsibility of the state and the number one priority of our citizenry is public education. Amend. 4 on the November ballot violates both of these. Amend. 4 states: Nothing in this Constitution shall…
Study Documents What We Knew About the South: The Region Lags Behind
The Trend Contributes to ‘Brain Drain’ by Glynn Wilson A new study out from Georgetown University documents what we have long known about the South. The region is at least a decade behind the rest of the country in just about everything, but especially in education and job training. By 2020, 65 percent of all…
Corporate Media Ignores ‘True Meaning’ of Modern Olympic Games
“I remain convinced that sport is one of the most forceful elements of peace, and I am confident in its future action.” — Pierre de Coubertin The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson Pierre de Coubertin was just 30 years old when he founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894. He then went on to establish…
Tea Party Takeover of Alabama Public Television Reverses the Station’s Mission
The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson Another hot week. Another Alabama summer wishing I were in the mountains, where at least the nights are cool. Another week of idiocy in the news and on Facebook. What is a real journalist to do under such conditions? Write a column trying to illuminate the situation after a…
Public Opinion Survey Shows Alabama Voters Uninformed by Local News Media
But the Latest Poll Shows They Support Tax Increases to Balance the Budget Anyway The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson Jefferson woke me up at 3:40 this morning when he jumped into the bed and wanted to be petted on the chest. But you know dogs are mostly selfish creatures, like a lot of humans…
Religious Nuts Take Over Public Television in Alabama
The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson If ignorance is bliss, Alabamaland must be the happiest place on earth. Are you happy yet living in Ignoramousville? The inmates have taken over the asylum called Alabama and all anyone can say is: “Praise the Lord and pass the biscuits.” Radical Christian theists and their pro-big business allies…
Will Humans Ever Achieve World Peace?
The Basic Human Conundrum Results From Conflict Between Individual (Selfish) Genes and Group (Altruistic) Genes by Glynn Wilson Let’s face it. The most common answer at beauty pageants, we now know, is unachievable. We will never achieve world peace. How do we know this now for the very first time ever? The basic human conundrum…
MIT Students Drop Piano Off a Roof on Class Drop Day
MIT students having been dropping a piano off the roof for 40 years on the last day students can drop classes without having them appear on their college transcript. Watch this video to see this year’s drop.
Be Careful What You Wish For
You Might Actually Get A Smaller Government The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson Quit smiling at the television and take a minute to read this. It might piss you off, but so what? It might be good for you, like spinach. I’ve been thinking alot lately about what happened to the notion of a shared…
Save Our Schools Rally Set for Saturday April 14
A pro-education rally, Save Our Schools Alabama, will be held on the steps of the state capitol on Saturday, April 14 beginning at 2:30 p.m. All educators, parents, students and citizens who care about Alabama public schools, and community colleges are strongly encouraged to come to the event and lend their voice to a growing…
Republican Charter School Plan Comes Up Short
Guest Column by Jason Robert Cornelius While legislation allowing for the operation of charter schools might sound like a good idea for a state in the perpetual grip of a public school funding crisis, the charter-school proposal in its current form has many entrusted with the care and advocacy of education policy and performance in…
Republican Legislators Push Charter Schools to Privatize Public Education
Task Force Says Bad Schools Hurt National Security by Glynn Wilson Republicans in the Alabama Legislature are pushing a bill to take some funding away from already cash-strapped public schools in the attempt to privatize public schools, a move that most experts say will just make public education in the U.S. worse. A report just…
The Latest Selma-to-Montgomery March Schedule
Jack Steele, 3rd Vice President for the Alabama NAACP, and Faya Rose Toure, led a rally for voting rights Monday night at Tabernacle Church in Selma. Speakers included National NAACP President Bernard Simelton, Alabama NAACP President Della Bryant, NAACP Education Chair Dr. Gregory Graves, Associate Executive Secretary of the Alabama Education Association, Rev. Al Sharpton,…
House Passes ‘Goodyear Bill’ Allowing Corporations to Keep Employees’ Income Taxes
The Bill Goes to the Senate, but Voters Will Have a Chance to Defeat it at the Polls in November by Glynn Wilson The Republican controlled House of Representatives in Alabama voted 65-22 this week to pass a bill dubbed “The Goodyear Bill” that is being billed by Republicans and the mainstream media as “Gov.…
Federal Appeals Court Balks at Deciding Alabama Education Association Political Case
by Glynn Wilson A federal appeals court has balked at deciding a controversial legal case pitting the Alabama Education Association and its ability to raise membership dues against the new Republican administration dead set on weakening public employee unions and suppressing votes for Democrats. According to a court filing that just popped up online from…
AFL-CIO Report Calls Immigration Law A ‘Crisis in Alabama’
Glynn Wilson Fred Redmond, International Vice President of the United Steelworkers and Vice President of the national AFL-CIO, listening to a Latino who wanted to be a history teacher but now cannot attend Alabama or Auburn due to the immigration law WASHINGTON, D.C. — An AFL-CIO report released Thursday sheds new light on the crisis…
Judge Mark Kennedy Rewrites George Wallace’s 1963 Inaugural Address
Journalism as History on the Run by Glynn Wilson MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Someone once said that practicing journalism is like capturing “history on the run.” Sometimes when you are a fly on the wall at important events you think you are witnessing a historical moment. But it is sometimes hard to tell for sure. Like…
The Bad News Blues: See What the Republicans Have Planned for You
The Big Picture by Glynn Wilson Woke up this mornin’ there was frost on the ground. Opened up Facebook, and there was hot air all around. I’ve got the bad news blues, the bad news blues, baby. What you gonna do… The bad news is, the Republicans are still in charge of all three branches…
