The LYING AL-GOP

I just finished this article in the Huntsville Times about the Senate District 7 race in Huntsville which pits Democrat Rep. Laura Hall against Republican newcomer Paul Sanford. This particular line really stuck out to me. No, lets be honest...IT PISSED ME OFF! BADLY!


GOP candidate Mary Scott Hunter, who lost in the primary, wasted no time hitting Hall as she urged her supporters to vote for Sanford.

"Her record in the Legislature is poor. She voted to legalize marijuana.

Mary Scott Hunter is a LIAR. I am no Laura Hall fan (this year Hall abandoned her principals and dropped our bill and picked up a bill to outlaw salvia.) I really have nothing but contempt for her at this point. Either stand up for what you believe in or set your ass down. However, the record needs to be set straight here.


THERE HAS NEVER IN THE HISTORY OF ALABAMA BEEN A BILL IN THE ALABAMA HOUSE THAT WOULD LEGALIZE MARIJUANA.

That's a damn shame too, mind you.

What Rep. Hall did do for about four years was sponsor the Alabama Compassionate Care Act which would provide protection from prosecution under state law to doctors who recommend and patients who use medical marijuana to treat the side effects of cancer, HIV/AIDS, MS, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, chronic pain, osteoporosis and a host of other illnesses. That is far different than 'voting to legalize marijuana.'

I am sick of hearing Republicans scream about 'socialized medicine that would put the government between you and your doctor'. Just what the hell is the difference here? The Republicans want to be involved in your health care decisions if they seek to prevent you and your doctor from discussing/using marijuana as medicine...and that is the same thing. Socialized medicine. HYPOCRITICAL FUCKS EVERY ONE OF THEM!

Cancer and other terminal illnesses impact everyone. Republicans are susceptible to them as well as Democrats. They'd be wise to remember that. Should they be stricken with cancer or some other debilitating terminal illness, of which marijuana can help alleviate the suffering, they need not call me for help...at least not until they change their tune.

Now, send Paul Sanford an email (especially if you are in his district or are a medical marijuana patient) and tell him that Mary Scott Hunter needs to clarify her statement. You might also mention that you are tired of your health care being subjected to childish, petty, unscientific opinions mostly put forth by the Republican party....even though very few of them are doctors. I don't believe any Republicans in the Alabama Senate are doctors. Mention that it is socialized medicine for Republicans to stand between a doctor and patient....no matter what their 'justification'. Human suffering shouldn't be used as a political football.

Here is the email address

info@sanfordforsenate.com

Get typing!

UPDATE: Mary Scott Hunter's campaign website is still up and there is an email address listed for her

info@maryscotthunter.com

No idea if it works....but am about to find out.

Animals and Veggies

Everything on my mini-farm is growing like crazy. Especially Sadie, as you can see in this picture. The camera flash made their eyes glow so they look like Devil Dogs. I find that really neat.

The first set of chickens and ducks are the oldest. The ducks have grown like mad too. If I were a duck eating gal they'd be bout ready for the dinner table. Luckily for them I am not. The second set of chicks are the ones I got from the 'Christian' chicken lady last Monday. They were in the house for the first week because the ducks were really giving them hell in the pen. Now they are in the small hutch beside the goat and the bigger birds are in the chain link fence. And then there are the veggies which are all growing nicely. I'm gonna be the first kid on my block to have fresh tomatoes. YAY!

Troy King is Cheating on Trixie the Pig

Mobile Press-Register editorial cartoonist JD Crowe exposes Troy King for the cheater that he is in this editorial cartoon. I hope Trixie leaves him!

Troy King Blanky Bingo

That damn tiara tears me up.
Every. Single. Time.

I know JD will miss ol Troy Boy when he loses his reelection bid for AG in 2010. About all he has been good for is comic relief.

Eminent Domain 'Thru the Back Door'

Stephen Gordon has a post that everyone concerned about the eminent domain issue MUST READ IMMEDIATELY!!!

Miss California Resolution a 'Stupid' Act

My LTE condemning Rep. Jay Love and all who signed onto the commendation of Miss California appeared in today's Tuscaloosa News

Miss California resolution a ‘stupid' act

Published: Monday, April 27, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, April 26, 2009 at 10:51 p.m.

Dear Editor: Rep. Jay Love's introduction of House Resolution 727 commending Miss California for her opinion on gay marriage made me wish that being stupid caused extreme physical discomfort to those committing stupid acts. In other words, it made me wish that stupid hurt.

A few things about this senseless, useless brouhaha:

1. Miss California hasn't a clue what she is talking about. Gay marriage is not legal in the United States. It is legal in some states, which make up the United States, but not the entire country.

2. Although I disagree with Miss California on gay marriage, I feel she shouldn't be criticized for expressing her opinion. Perez Hilton shouldn't have asked the question if he didn't want to know what she thought. I respect freedom of speech even for those I disagree with.

We have far, far more important issues in this state to worry about than a spat between an inarticulate, misinformed, bimbo, beauty queen and a gay entertainment blogger. Who really cares what either of them have to say about anything? How is it relevant to anything happening in Alabama?

Loretta Nall

Alexander City

Today's Installment of "I Wish Stupid Hurt"

Today's "I Wish Stupid Hurt" post is dedicated to none other than our own super-conflicted Attorney General Troy King.

What did he do now, you ask? Well, it appears that ol Troy Boy has changed his stance on gambling right before the 2010 election. That, in and of itself, might lead some of you to believe that Troy is moving in a progressive direction. But, do not be deceived, dear readers. He just wants the money from gambling for his campaign.

From AL.com Troy King Attends Party hosted by Gambling Developers then forces Sheriff to Issue Electronic Bingo Permits

Three months before he issued a legal opinion that clears the way for a developer to get a gambling permit in Houston County, Attorney General Troy King was one of the featured guests at a party thrown by the developer.

Houston County Sheriff Andy Hughes said the legal viability of Ronnie Gilley's proposed Country Crossing development was at stake, and the opinion told Hughes he has no choice but to issue a bingo permit once certain conditions have been met.

King's chief of staff, Chris Bence, said his boss was traveling Friday and unavailable to answer questions. Bence said there was no conflict of interest in King attending the party and his office issuing the opinion.

The invitation for the party Jan. 24, 2008, at Gilley's home mentioned three names -- two famous country music singers and King's.

Join country music legend George Jones to welcome in the New Year. Shake off the winter cold as you dance among the hay bales and listen to a special performance by country music superstar John Anderson. Come dressed for fun and join Attorney General Troy King for a bash you'll never forget!"

At the event, Gilley called upon King to address the crowd, according to guests.

Remember this is the same Troy King who in 2004 (I think) dressed up in SWAT gear complete with helmet and flak jacket and stormed an electronic bingo hall in Troy, Alabama?

And the same one who took box seats at a braves game from Alabama Power? And asked Roy Johnson who was head of the two year college system to hire the mother of a friend while he was investigating Johnson and others in the two year college system for hiring friends and relatives? The same one who wanted to ban sex toys? The same one who openly spews hatred against homosexuality, yet is rumored by many to be gay himself.

Please vote this joke out of office in 2010. I'm running out of vulgar and insulting things to send him. Its a real shame that there isn't an inflatable slot machine that shows three dildos in a row. That'd be perfect.

Ignorant 'Christians' PISS ME OFF!

If you are a non-believer like me then I know you will be able to relate to this one. Please know that this does not apply to all people who consider themselves Christians. I know many people of the Christian faith who get it and are smart, sweet, caring and act in the manner most resembling the Bible character Jesus. It isn't them I am about to rant in a very offensive manner about. It mostly applies to the backwoods, totally ignorant and completely tactless ones. The type we are unfortunately overrun with here in Alabama. You know...the snake dancin' kind?

Earlier this week I bought some chickens from the friend of a friend. For the longest time I had been wanting to stop at this place because there are all kinds of interesting animals out there and I wondered if she ever sold them. I never saw any signs and so never stopped.

I mentioned to my friend that I was looking for some baby chicks and she said she knew the people who lived at that place I had been wanting to stop at. She goes to church with them. Now, my friend is an open lesbian and so I thought if the people at her church accepted her then they would probably be pretty cool folks to buy some chickens from. Boy was I wrong.

After a tour of the farm and as I was about to take my leave the question of religion came up. The chicken lady said, "Where do you go to church at?" "Oh fuck," thought I.

I always dread that question because I know what will follow. A sermon. Which I am not inclined nor interested in listening to. And my rebuttal (cuz I ain't gonna take that shit from nobody) which always pisses people off...no matter how polite and reasonable I attempt to be.

I am an Atheist. I was an Atheist when I was a kid even though I thought I believed in god because my family believed in god and I was scared of not believing in god. The concept of hell and the boogey man is terrifying to a child. I always thought church was about as exciting and inspiring as having a lobotomy. 'ZZZZzzzzzzz.' "Is it 12 yet"..."I'm hungry and there's good food at home"...."I wish the preacher would shut up"....you know what I'm talkin about?

I finally realized I was an Atheist when I was about 25. And when Marilyn Manson stormed and shocked the MTV Music Awards in 1998 by singing "The Beautiful People" on stage in a topless,assless leather bustier with fishnets and high heels well, I knew it was for me. Remember what Chris Rock said afterwards? "Run to church right now! Get your asses in church or yer a goin to Hell." Man I though I'd die laughing.
If you haven't seen that here it is.


"I don't go to church," I said. "Why not?" chicken lady asked. Why is it they think they have the right to keep asking questions after you have answered the first one. Why can't they let it go at that? You know, live and let live and all of that? It's disrespectful to prod someone about their personal belief system. How would Christians like it if I started prodding them and attempting to convert them to my system of non-belief? Not too much I'd wager.

"Because I am not religious. I am Atheist. I don't believe in God." I told her. I mean hell, she asked, right? Now she switched from asking questions to condemning me straight to the firey pit. "Oh yer a goin ta hell and its'a gonner be so hot down'ere yer just gone burn to a crisp. And that's forever and ever and ever", chicken lady pronounced confidently and with a righteous gleam in her eye. She was like the female version of Reverend Billy Ray Collins on the John Boy and Billy show. She was truly that comical. It was hard not to laugh.

When she stopped to catch a breath I said, "Wow, you really believe that a 'loving God' who went to all the trouble to create us hapless humans, when none of us asked for it, would really burn us forever and ever and ever? And, since you want to talk about this, the word hell when translated back into Hebrew is Sheol which means 'grave'. It has nothing to do with a firey pit or anything of the like."

"Don't matter none whether we asked for it or not. God created us and he gave us free will and yer a goin ta hell for not believing", said chicken lady. "Free will huh?" I asked. "How is it free will if I choose not to believe and get burned forever for it? Sounds more like mafia fire insurance to me." She looked confused at that analogy so I explained further. "You know, where the mafia tries to sell you insurance and if you don't buy it they burn your establishment/home down?"

"Well yer still a goin to hell," said chicken lady.

I told her I would send her a telegram in Heaven to send me an Icee. She said that wouldn't be possible. I said I might rethink my position then and just when she looked hopeful that I was ready to swallow her viewpoint hook line and sinker and was getting ready to go chalk another one up for her Pearly Gate tally I said, "Not really I was joking!"

I asked her why she did believe in God and she stood there dumbfounded for a few minutes (apparently no one ever made her question her own blind belief before) and then she said, "There's been so many things that's happened in my life that could only be god. My son survived an auto accident and that could only have been god. And we got the bible that tells us everythang," she told me. I asked her if her son came straight home after the accident. She said "No, he spent a lot of time in the hospital." I asked her if she didn't think maybe medical science had a lot to do with his recovery. She said "NO," . "What else?", I asked her. She couldn't think of any more 'miracles' from her own life to try and convince me.

At this point I made my exit as politely as I could by saying, "It's been real nice talking to you and thanks for the tour of your farm."

I can't for the life of me figure out why people in 2009 still believe in an imaginary sky wizard. I don't begrudge them their belief. Not at all. They, like me, are free to believe or disbelieve whatever they want. But many of them don't respect the right of others to believe or disbelieve as they want. The self-righteous ignorant are dangerous. People like them start wars over a fucking idea or belief. "My gods bigger than your god" type shit. Things that aren't even tangible or proven to exist and millions die and our whole damn state and much of the country is controlled by them.

WHY?

UPDATE: My first cousin who is a good Christian and who I love absolutely to death just wrote me and said: "You didn't finish the story....did she sell you baby chicks or not, you heathen?" (Long live Novella!)

Yes, she sold me 10 chickens. They should'a been free after I had to listen to all her unprovoked proselytizing. I wonder if a Christian will go to hell for selling an Atheist chickens?

Ducks!

These are my two ducks swimming in a makeshift 'pond'. I have no idea what kind they are. I bought them at the feed store back when I bought the chickens. Ducks grow really fast. I've added to the chicken flock. On Monday I bought 10 more biddies from a local gal who hatches off eggs by the hundreds. That brings the total to 14 chicks which are a mixture of barred rocks, red sex link, aracuana, buff orpington and black giants.

A New and Worthy Blog for the Sidebar

Malcolm Marler now has a permanent link on my sidebar.

Mr. Marler is a minister who works at 1917 AIDS clinic in Birmingham. I was moved to tears by some of the stories I read on his blog this morning. Please take a moment and pay him a visit if you are a supporter of gay rights. Hell, even if you aren't you should read anyway....you might learn something.

Rep. Jay Love and Perez Hilton are today's recipients of the "I Wish Stupid Hurt' Award

From the Montgomery Advertiser

State Rep. Jay Love, R-Mont­gomery, has drafted a resolution supporting Miss California USA, who was criticized for say­ing she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Miss California Carrie Prejean was asked during the Miss USA 2009 Pageant on Sunday if she supported legalizing gay marriage. Celebrity gossip blog­ger Perez Hilton, who is gay and was a judge at the competition, asked the question.

"I think it's great Americans are able to choose one or the oth­er," Prejean said. "We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite mar­riage. And you know what, in my country, in my family I think that I believe that a mar­riage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to any­body there, but that's how I was raised, and that's how I think it should be, between a man and a woman."

A few things

1. Miss California hasn't a clue what she is talking about. Gay marriage is not legal in the United States. It is legal in some states, which make up the United States, but not the entire country.

2. Although I disagree with Miss California on gay marriage I feel she shouldn't be criticized for expressing her opinion. I often tell people if you don't want my opinion then don't ask for it. Perez Hilton asked for it.

3. That was a really stupid question for Perez Hilton to ask. What was the point? I think he and Rep. Jay Love should share in the "I Wish Stupid Hurt" award.

4. Rep. Jay Love must have been beaten with a stupid stick when he was a kid....a really, really big stupid stick. Apparently it didn't hurt enough, huh? Here he is wasting Alabama taxpayer time and money while everything is falling down around every citizen in the state. Not to mention embarrassing the absolute hell out of us once again. Thanks Jay!

We have far, far more important issues in this state to worry about than a spat between an inarticulate, misinformed, bimbo, beauty queen and a gay entertainment blogger. Who really gives a fuck what either of them say about anything? And why the hell have 52 members of the Alabama House signed on in support of this trivial nonsense?

You know what? I think every member who has signed on in support is worthy of today's award. That includes a few that I know and like very much. Here's the list. I hope you will make it known to them what you think of their silliness.


3 By Representatives Love, Clouse, Williams, Bridges, Gipson,
4 Hammon, Johnson, McMillan, Hubbard, Boothe, Faust, Beck,
5 Shiver, Bentley, Galliher, Thomas (E), Greeson, McClendon,
6 Baker (A), Canfield, Allen, Collier, McCutcheon, Ward, Hill,
7 Morrow, Drake, Moore (P), Treadaway, Sanderford, Payne, Wood,
8 DeMarco, Lewis, Barton, Oden, Ison, Mask, Laird, Ball, Gaston,
9 Fincher, Davis, Grimes, Vance, Wren, Martin, Moore (M),
10 Robinson (O), Sherer, Fite and Letson

And for clarification...a few people have pointed out that 'stupid' does indeed hurt...unfortunately it often isn't the stupid people that are hurt by their own stupidity...its others. My wish for stupid to hurt means I wish that it caused physical discomfort to the person/persons being stupid...X10 for those who are willfully stupid (see those mentioned above).

US Supreme Court REINSTATES 4th Amendment!

This is a long read but worth every second of your time. I cannot believe they are finally finding their testicular fortitude on the Supreme Court and upholding the basic Constitutional rights afforded to every American citizen.

From the New York Times

Supreme Court Cuts Back Officers’ Searches of Vehicles

By ADAM LIPTAK
Published: April 21, 2009

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Tuesday significantly cut back the ability of the police to search the cars of people they arrest.

Police officers have for a generation understood themselves to be free to search vehicles based on nothing more than the fact that they had just arrested an occupant. That principle, Justice John Paul Stevens acknowledged in his majority opinion, “has been widely taught in police academies” and “law enforcement officers have relied on the rule in conducting vehicle searches during the past 28 years.”

The majority replaced that bright-line rule with a more nuanced one, and law enforcement officials greeted it with dismay. “It’s just terrible,” William J. Johnson, the executive director of the National Association of Police Organizations, said of the decision. “It’s certainly going to result in less drug and weapons cases being made.” (Awww the poor bastards....now they'll have to find real criminals with real victims instead of pot smokers...Oh and I LOVE IT when the cops WHINE)


In a dissent, four justices said the majority had effectively overruled an important and straightforward Fourth Amendment precedent established by the court in a 1981 decision, New York v. Belton.

Justice Stevens denied that. The precedent of Belton had often been applied too broadly, he said. Vehicle searches should be allowed only in two situations, he wrote: when the person being arrested is close enough to the car to reach in, possibly to grab a weapon or tamper with evidence; or when the arresting officer reasonably believes that the car contains evidence pertinent to the very crime that prompted the arrest.

In the case decided Tuesday, Rodney J. Gant, an Arizona man, was arrested on an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license. He was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car while his car was searched.

The police found cocaine and a gun, and Mr. Gant was convicted on drug charges and sentenced to three years. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the search of Mr. Gant’s car had violated the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and suppressed the evidence against him. The United States Supreme Court affirmed that decision on Tuesday.

Justice Stevens, joined by the unusual alliance of Justices Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter, Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said the court had agreed to hear the case because the conventional view of the Belton decision had been widely criticized. “The chorus that has called for us to revisit Belton,” Justice Stevens wrote, “includes courts, scholars and members of this court who have questioned that decision’s clarity and fidelity to Fourth Amendment principles.”

Police officers and lower courts, Justice Stevens wrote, had failed to take adequate account of the two rationales that animated Belton: protecting the safety of arresting officers and safeguarding evidence of crimes. Those rationales only make sense, he said, “when the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance” of the car.

At the same time, the majority announced a new justification for a search in connection with an arrest, one drawing on a 2004 concurrence questioning Belton from Justice Scalia. Searches of vehicles are permissible, Justice Stevens said, “when it is reasonable to believe evidence relevant to the crime of arrest might be found in the vehicle.”

As a practical matter, that means many arrests for traffic offenses will not by themselves allow police officers to search vehicles. Arrests for other kinds of crimes, though, may well supply a basis for a search.

The decision, Arizona v. Gant, No. 07-542, was the last to be issued from among the cases the court heard in its October sitting, and it was marked by an uneasy compromise that probably explains the delay.

Justice Scalia said he would have overruled Belton outright and substituted a rule that allowed searches of vehicles in connection with arrests only where the search seeks evidence of the crime for which the arrest was made or another one for which there is probable cause. He added that he joined the majority opinion to avoid a 4-1-4 decision “that leaves the governing rule uncertain.”

Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., joined in full by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and for the most part by Justice Stephen G. Breyer, said the broad Belton rule was sensible and easy to apply.

On the other hand, the new rule allowing searches for evidence of the crime that prompted the arrest, Justice Alito said, “is virtually certain to confuse law enforcement officers and judges for some time to come.”

And the part of the majority opinion allowing searches only when the person arrested can reach the car “may endanger arresting officers,” Justice Alito wrote.

Mr. Johnson of the police association explained the problem. “The case creates a temptation,” he said, “for police to leave the occupant of a vehicle unsecured in the belief that they are now operating within the Fourth Amendment in terms of being able to search the vehicle.”

Though Justice Stevens did not concede that Tuesday’s decision overruled Belton, he did say that fidelity to precedent was no reason to allow constitutional violations to continue.

“Countless individuals guilty of nothing more serious that a traffic violation,” he wrote, “have had their constitutional right to the security of their private effects violated” by the broad rule struck down on Tuesday.
###

NASCAR Rednecks Plan Mass Chicken Dance

I couldn't make this shit up

And guess who thinks it's an affront to chickens to have a bunch of chicken eatin', beer swillin' NASCAR fans dancing the chicken and yelling WOOOOOOOOOO at the top of their lungs? PETA

It'll make for great theater to be sure. I wonder if this guy will be there?

Family Guy: Bag of Weed

This is a MUST WATCH

I Wish Stupid Hurt!

(Picture from Montgomery Advertiser's coverage of the TEA Party last week)

I'd never heard that saying before in my life and almost fell out when I saw the sign. So, there is a new category to file things under here at Nallforgovernor and its called "I Wish Stupid Hurt"

Wouldn't that be great? If stupidity caused excruciating pain?

Obama would really be hurting right now if it did because of this.

Quotes from the article...

As President Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderon talk
tough about cracking down on the deadly drug war, the United States is
changing tactics in the battle against illegal narcotics at home.


The White House and Congress want to see more drug courts, and
increased funding for the program 250 percent in the spending bill
signed in March.

It's a campaign pledge that the Obama administration thinks will give
nonviolent offenders "a chance to serve their sentence, where
appropriate, in the type of drug rehabilitation programs that have
proven to work better than a prison term in changing bad behavior,"
according to the White House Web site.

Ok then, what type of drug treatment would be appropriate for President Obama? He's admitted smoking marijuana and snorting cocaine in his past. I'm so sick of these hypocritical bastards. The only thing that separates Obama from those in jail for using drugs is that he didn't get caught. Gee, guess that proves that pot smokers and users of other recreational drugs can and do go on to lead productive lives without government intervention.

Perhaps while Obama has his eye on the Mexican border trying to prevent ditch weed that smells like the 18 wheeler tire it rolled across the border in from making it into the US our Canadian bretheren and sisteren could send some good shit from the other direction. I know there is a recession in Canada too :)

As for me I think I am about to arm myself to the teeth and go live in a cave. Screw drug court for weed. Forget that altogether. Its a waste of resources and denies help to people who are struggling with real addiction because it fills beds with pot smokers who do not need help.

Government mandated treatment...does that make anyone elses sphincter clinch up? Imagine just how horrible that could wind up being. Naltrexone for weed anyone? Shock therapy maybe? Mandatory guinea pigs for pharma drugs that haven't made the market yet? Communist Russia?

The White House has listened to those who say legalizing marijuana
will pull the rug from under the violent cartels in Mexico and boost
the U.S. economy, but that option is not on the table.


Indeed, I wish stupid hurt for there is nothing more stupid than doing the same thing over and over (in this case keeping the failed drug war going strong) and expecting different results.

~~~HAPPY 420~~~

It was two years ago today that the state's case against me for possession was thrown out of court! I kinda miss the bastards. I had a great deal of fun over 4 1/2 years tormenting them in the media and on my blog for their wretched stupidity and willful disregard of the Constitution.

Last year on the most holy day for pot smokers I celebrated in Vancouver, Canada with my close friend and mentor Marc Emery. The pictures of that event at the Vancouver Art Museum are most incredible and can be viewed here. We rolled seven pounds of pot in those pics. There is a video of me on Canadian National News throwing joints to a lively crowd at 4:20.

This year the celebration is quite a bit more subdued since I am stuck here in Hellabama where one innocuous pot plant will get you a mandatory minimum sentence. "Sweet Home" my large white ass. Hopeless, mean-spirited, back water is far more accurate a description.

Anyhoo, I hope all of you out there celebrating have good herb to celebrate with and that you celebrate in a safe manner. Smoke one for all the drug war prisoners rotting away in government cages for possessing, growing or selling this miracle plant.

You know its a damn shame stupid don't hurt cuz if it did the government would be in excruciating pain over the stupidity of the drug war. And you know what??? I wouldn't give them a shotgun toke or even blow my wonderful intoxicating smoke in their general fucking direction.

HAPPY 420 Y'all!! Smoke'um if you got'um.

Rep. Cam Ward to Run for Senate

There are two good sides to this story.

1. I am a big Cam Ward fan. Of all the Republicans I have dealings with in the House and Senate Cam is the only one IMHO who actually understands what a Republican is supposed to be and do. Not that he and I agree on everything, we don't. But we do agree on a lot. He is also very easy to communicate with as he never fails to return an email or a phone call. I wonder how someone like Cam, who likes to get things done, will do in the Senate body where anything is rarely accomplished. Maybe some new blood will shake things up a bit.

2. We may finally be rid of the dinosaur who thinks women who are raped or victims of incest should not be able to have an abortion, thinks Hurricane Katrina was God's wrath for the 'sinfulness' of New Orleans and wants to keep Sunday alcohol sales illegal in his district (would like alcohol prohibition reinstated altogether truth be told) Senator Hank Erwin...one of the worst lawmakers in the history of Alabama. Most of the bills he has sponsored were designed to cram his religion down your throat by banning you from doing things he disagrees with on religious grounds (whatever happened to separation of state and church?) or dealt with punishment, punishment, punishment for the evil doers....like making it a felony to grow geraniums (salvia bill)when most of the people who would be affected by such a bill are young teens and college kids. Yeah, we really need a law that would fuck up the bright future of our youth by putting them in prison for possession of a plant, denying them college funds, public housing and food assistance over something the very God Hank Erwin believes in put on this earth. We already have a law like that pertaining to marijuana another of those pesky plants God surely must have been mistaken about...at least according to Hank Erwin. I think if Hank runs for Lt. Gov. he will get smashed and finally be OUT of Alabama politics. That is long overdue.

If Cam Ward is your Rep. then I hope you will vote for him for Senator.

Farm and Garden Update

Sorry to keep my readers waiting so long for me to update the blog. Been busy at my house with the addition of a goat, chickens, ducks and a rowdy puppy. Not to mention it is spring and I am spending every possible moment outside when it isn't raining. Hope you are all doing well. Below are the fruits of my labor on the farm.

Various flowers.

From top to bottom. Hydrangea, Purple cone flowers, Gerber Daisy (all four of mine came back this year) and Lithadora.







Clematis vines

The first bloom is from a clematis vine I planted years ago...but planted in a bad spot because it never puts out much growth and rarely blooms. This year was a stunner though. After it stops blooming I am going to dig it up and transplant it. The next two pics are of a clematis vine I planted in a big planter at the same time I planted the first one. It is doing fabulous this year. I've been using Alaska Fish Fertilizer on all my stuff this year and everything seems to just love it! Get some!






Chickens, ducks and Ervine the Goat.

The ducks and chicks and the goat are all growing. As you can see they share an apartment divided by wire. That little goat is the most precious thing. He is so docile and calm and loves to snuggle and be carried around in your arms like a baby. He walks on a leash or stays on a dog run pretty good when we are outside and he munches the plants we hate and instantly turns them into compost in the form of goat pills. He's like a composting lawnmower. He hates to be alone. We are looking for him a friend. This weekend we are buying them all a bigger place to live in the form of a double dog kennel made out of chain link fence which we will modify somehwat. We'll have to cover the top and bottom with chicken wire so the biddies don't escape and nothing can get in and eat them.




Various veggies already planted in the garden










Saul and Sadie Sue.

These two are real clowns. Never a dull moment or even a minutes peace unless they are both locked in their crates. It's a constant game of chase, chew, bite feet, toy swap and on and on. They love to be outside chasing each other around their fence or playing tuggy with a stick or whatever they find that serves that purpose. Sadie went to the vet on Tuesday and since I brought her home a little over two weeks ago she has gained a whopping 14 pounds nearly doubling her weight. The vet freaked out! "What on earth are you feeding this dog?" he asked. "Large breed puppy chow and cod liver oil like you said" I told him. "Wow, if you had been feeding her regular puppy chow she would have put on twice as much. This dog is going to be huge!" he said. And I agree. I still say her father was the largest GSD I have ever seen. Didn't know they got that big.

This pygmy goat is the coolest thing ever

We got a pygmy goat on Saturday. The hubby has agreed to the name Ervine (pronounced Urr-vine). I think the little goat might be the sweetest animal ever. He walks on a leash pretty well and gobbles up nuisance plants like wild grape vines, saw briars and just weeds in general. He also loves wild strawberries, wild blackberries and is a big fan of my kale. I've been giving him the yellowish leaves I pick off the bottom of the plants. I think by far though his favorite food is the sweet gum tassels. They look like little bunches of grapes and he will flat eat every one he comes across.

He hates to be alone so we are getting him a buddy soon. He bleats and bleats and bleats and it sounds just like a human baby and tears at my heart. When I go out to get him to browse around the yard he just snuggles up to me and nuzzles his little head under my neck. God I could just squeeze him til he popped he is so sweet.

He is tiny, tiny, tiny. About 7 pounds. His front legs are much shorter than his back ones and sometimes when he is trying to pull a tasty morsel out of the ground his little back legs come up off the ground and it looks like he is doing a handstand. Hysterically funny to watch. He grunts like a billy goat, snorts like a billy goat and smells like a billy goat. Currently I smell like a billy goat too because I have been playing with him all morning.

My first baby Saul the giant German Shepherd flat wants to eat Ervine. I tried introducing them a couple times but Saul just goes wild and drools and licks his big sharp ass chops. To him Ervine looks like a mid-day snack. I've trained him to leave the cats alone...that they are not for eating and he minds. He sniffs and licks them when we go out and they roll over and submit to him. The goat though...boy that is gonna take some work. At night Ervine comes in the house and sleeps in Saul's kennel. and Saul doesn't bother him. Not even so much as a bark. I don't know why he freaks out so bad during the day. Anyone got any tips on how to train Saul to not eat my goat? He is a Shepherd after all and the natural instinct to guard is in there somewhere. How do I make him realize that Ervine is now part of our Motley pack and not a special snack like a slim jim that I sometimes bring him from the store?

Sadie is much better since she is still a puppy. She plays with him but I have to be careful even with that because she is already up to 20 pounds and her teeth are like needles and she don't mind using them. Nosiree Bob not at all. In fact she lives to sink them into sensitive fleshy parts at every opportunity. Mainly heels and calves. She is a fat turd. Saul sure does love her. They play constantly. Inside and out. Play play play. Must be fun to be a puppy. As bad as my last two weeks have been I am about ready to trade being human for being a goat or a puppy.

On that note I will leave you with the Walt Whitman poem Animals

I think i could turn and live with animals ,

they are so placid and self-contained

I stand and look at them long and long .

They do not sweat and whine about their condition ,

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins ,

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God ,

Not one is dissatisfied ,

not one is demented with the mania of owning things ,

Not one kneels to another ,

nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago ,

Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth .

HB434 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act

UPDATE: I just got the following note from Rep. Patricia Todd.

We have another delay with the bill. It seems that the Leg Ref Ser gave me a version of the bill that is NOT the same as the version passed by Judicary in 07. I will have to get LRS to draft a substitute bill that is the same so the committee will be able to pass it.

This means another week delay.....


Representative Patricia Todd
1320 58th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35222
205.599.2856 Home
205.567.9419 Cell
reptodd@gmail.com
www.patriciatodd.com

DO NOT SHOW UP IN MONTGOMERY TOMORROW!

Just a reminder that HB434 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act will be heard in judiciary committee tomorrow, April 8 at 9 a.m.

If you plan to attend we will be meeting up on the steps of the State House at 8:15 a.m. The State House is located at 11 South Union St. in Montgomery and the judiciary committee meets in room 123. If there is any way possible that you can be there we would love to have you.

If you can't be there please take a moment today to call the following members of the judiciary committee and ask them to vote yes on HB434 tomorrow. Currently, these members plan to vote NO and they really need to hear from a huge number of people today about this bill. 76% of Alabamians support medical marijuana and their NO vote indicates a complete disregard for the will of the people. Please take a moment and give them a call.

Spencer Collier - (334) 242-7719 spencer.collier@alhouse.org

Paul DeMarco -(334) 242-7740 paul.demarco@alhouse.org (REALLY BURN HIS PHONE UP)

Jamie Ison -(334) 242-7711 jamie.ison@alhouse.org

Yusuf Salaam - 334-242-7746

Steve McMillan - 334-242-7723 steve.mcmillan@alhouse.org

Howard Sanderford - 334-242-4368 howard.sanderford@alhouse.org

I hope to see you at the State House tomorrow. Please let me know if you will be attending by emailing me at lorettanall@gmail.com or by replying to this post.

Letter to the Editor

Christina Tidmore had the following letter published in the Anniston Star today.

Medical marijuana

I am writing in support of HB434, The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act. In February 2007, my father was diagnosed with cancer of the liver and the lymph system. He had a grim prognosis: six months with chemotherapy, or less than six months without. At the time, I was a teenager and a high school senior, so this was devastating. Not knowing whether my father would live to see me graduate was worse than knowing he would never get to walk me down the aisle or see his grandchildren.

Once Dad started the chemo, he began wasting away. The pharmaceutical medications hardly helped his pain. My mother and I felt helpless. Then we heard about medical marijuana.

Looking at me, one wouldn't suspect anything beyond a typical college sophomore. But in Alabama, I am a criminal, a willing participant in obtaining marijuana through the black market for my cancer-stricken father. For helping my dying father, I could have been arrested, jailed and lost my college funding. I'd risk it all again to help my dad.

But I shouldn't have to. Neither should anyone else.

My father passed away in October 2007 at the premature age of 53. I was 18, and while he saw me graduate, he spent more than eight months suffering from cancer, with only illegally obtained marijuana as relief.

Please make this drug more accessible to those who need it. Cases like my father's are why legislators should vote yes on HB434.

Christina Tidmore
Birmingham

New Additions to the Nall Mini-Farm

Today we added baby chickens, baby ducks and a baby mini-goat to the mini-farm we are starting. Here are some pictures of all the new babies.

Nothing says spring and new life like baby chickens. They're so sweet. They're like little peeping cotton balls with beaks and feet. The chickens are red sex link (yellow ones) and barred rocks (black ones).





These are the baby ducks. I have no idea what kind they are. Ducks are so funny. I can't look at one without thinking of Daffy Duck saying """"Your desssssssspicable""""




This is our new mini-goat. We haven't named him yet. It's technically my husbands goat (although I will be responsible for daily care Mon-Thurs) so he gets to pick the name out. I've been calling him Ervine (pronounced err-vine) but hubby says NO. No Ervine. I'll let y'all know when a name has been chosen. Anyway the little goat is really precious and cuddly. He is in the little hutch next to the chickens for now and seems to like it very much.

Sen. Larry Dixon Implies Medical Marijuana Turns Cancer Patients Lesbian

UPDATE: Many thanks to reader sixstring who fixed the audio for me so that y'all can hear this stupidity straight from the horses ummmmm mouth.



At least I guess that is the point Senator Larry Dixon and the hosts of Morris/Montiel were trying to make this morning on WACV 107.9 FM in Montgomery.

I got an email from a friend of mine who called in and asked Senator Dixon how come he never responded to repeated requests for his position on HB434 The Michael Phillips Compassionate Care Act. Senator Dixon's response was that he would never support it and that the sponsor of the bill was none other than Lesbian Patricia Todd.

Y'all reckon that pissed me off?

So, I called in and asked the following questions of Senator Dixon.

The first question was "Since you don't support medical marijuana does that mean that you support locking up cancer patients in prison?"

The second question was, "Why did you find it necessary to bring up Rep. Todd's sexuality in reference to this bill as it has absolutely nothing to do with medical marijuana?"

(Note: This was written before I got the audio straightened out and varies a little from what is below...but not in any way that changes the context)

He answered the second question first and said, "Well, she is a lesbian, and she ran her campaign on being a lesbian and she advertises it at the State House you know she does she advertises it at the state house...that she is a lesbian. She is a lesbian and she advertises it and I was just letting people know who she is. I'm older now and more accepting of people that ain't like me you know and I like Rep. Todd just fine...we get along just fine...but she is a lesbian."


One of the hosts pointed out that Rep. Todd is a 'liberal democrat' and that the medical marijuana bill is a liberal bill. I wonder if he thinks that cancer, HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, Cerebral Palsy, Alzheimer's, chronic pain, glaucoma, epilepsy and illness of that nature are liberal illnesses that only attack those bad liberal people who just beg to be attacked?

They of course never answered why they thought it was important to discuss Rep. Todd's sexuality in the context of the conversation about HB434. I guess maybe they were trying to imply that smoking medical marijuana for cancer might turn you into a lesbian. I suppose if Ms. Laura Hall had still been sponsoring the bill they would have implied that smoking medical marijuana would turn you black.

How can people be so deliberately ignorant and willfully stupid? Are the listeners of that show equally ignorant and willfully stupid? I hope not. I know at least two that do not fit that description and that would be the friend who emailed me about Senator Larry Dixon being on the show and a gentleman named Andrew who called in after me, identified himself as a conservative and said he supported medical marijuana and the right of people to be gay as long as no one was being hurt. I'd say Andrew is a TRUE CONSERVATIVE.

Back to the first question which was, "Since you don't support medical marijuana does that mean you support locking cancer patients in prison?"

Sen. Dixon, "No, No I don't support locking cancer patients in prison. There are no cancer patients in prison. I have just as much experience with cancer as you do (and how much would that be and how much experience do you reckon he thinks I have with cancer?) and there are oncologists studying this thing and"

At this point one of the hosts jumps in and says "Yeah and there's pain doctors"

Sen. Dixon, "Yes pain doctors and Marinol which is Tetra-Hydra-Cannabinol (boy he sure knows a lot about marijuana if he knows the scientific name for THC and how to say it for someone who does not support the bill) in pill form that can be prescribed. There's just no way to enforce such a law about who can smoke it and who can't."

Unfortunately they control the phones at the station and cut you off as soon as you ask your question so I didn't get a chance to respond. I did record it but messed up the file because I didn't have the audio turned up loud enough so it can barely be heard. If anyone out there knows how to boost the audio on a WMA file please let me know.

If I had gotten the chance to respond I would have pointed out the obvious, which is that Marinol isn't covered by most insurance companies and costs about $700 a month for 30 pills. Plus the fact that cancer patients often have trouble taking pills because they cannot keep anything down due to nausea and vomiting caused by the chemo/radiation. Not to mention that the government has no business interfering in the doctor/patient relationship and as 'conservatives' who oppose 'large government' in general (yuk yuk) and socialized medicine (on the grounds that it will put the government between you and your doctor) they sure aren't acting 'conservative' on this issue.

It's amazing how two radio hosts and one Senator think their uninformed opinions mean more than what a doctor says regarding medical marijuana. I'd wager that none of them have ever been to medical school. I'd also wager that if anyone in their family is ever stricken with a terrible ailment that medical marijuana can help they will go and find some.

This is also not a partisan issue. As I stated earlier disease and terminal illness and chronic pain don't discriminate between liberals, conservatives, libertarians, independents, black, white, straight or gay, so how can medical marijuana be a 'Liberal' issue?

For those of you who would like to tell the show what you think you can do so by signing up on their forum here. Also feel free to let Senator Dixon know what you think.

Not an Isolated Incident

The title of this post should scare the hell out of everyone after they read this story in its entirety. Then, it should piss you off so bad that you call the Mayor of Irondale and the members of the City Council express your displeasure.

I am posting the entire article because the URL at al.com keeps not working/disappearing.

Irondale repeatedly jails indigent woman over 4 years for inability to pay traffic fine causing her to lose her job and have to move to a homeless shelter with her three young children.

Irondale has been repeatedly jailing an indigent woman since 2005 because she is unable to pay fines for traffic offenses a year earlier, according to a federal lawsuit filed on her behalf.


Her lawyer says 30-year-old Kim Williams did not have any hearings on the charges and for most of that time no attorney.

"It seems in this case a number of indigent people were being warehoused because they couldn't pay fines and court costs," said lawyer Stephen Wallace, who successfully argued a similar case against Birmingham.

Irondale's city attorney, Greg Morris, said Williams was released from the jail last Thursday. He did not comment on the charges in the suit. Morris was not a lawyer in the case, which took place in Irondale Municipal Court.

"We are still looking into this matter," Morris said. "We believe our policies and procedures are sound. We vigorously will defend our rights in court."

Wallace argues, as he did in the Birmingham case, that it is unconstitutional to jail someone for a debt unless the accused has a hearing, where a judge determines the person is willfully refusing to pay, Wallace said. The U.S. Constitution prohibits automatic imprisonment for failing to pay a debt, Wallace said.

"There's no such thing as a debtors' prison," he said.

Birmingham settled its similar case last year and agreed to create a program for defendants unable to pay fines. The Irondale case was filed in federal court last week.

Circuit Judge Tommy Nail last week ordered Williams freed from the Irondale Jail.

According to Nail's order, Williams pleaded guilty on three traffic offenses in April 2004. Her lawyer says Williams was driving with a revoked license, without insurance and with a license tag that had been moved from another car without registration.

She was fined about $1,000, Wallace said, and put on 18 months' probation. She made payments toward the fines, Wallace said, but could not pay the entire sum while working minimum-wage jobs.

Beginning in 2005, she was jailed at least three times, for two to three weeks each time, according to Nail's order. The charges apparently were related to her failure to pay off the fines, although there aren't adequate records to show the basis of the charges, Wallace said.

She lost her job because of a 2006 incarceration, the judge wrote, and has not worked since.

She has been living in at least two shelters since then, with her three children, ages 3 to 14, Nail wrote in the March 26 order.

According to Nail's order, records do show that at least once Irondale added to Williams' debt to the city by fining her for a probation violation. Wallace said Irondale records don't show what that violation was, although it appears to have been failure to pay the fine.

He said there is no record of Williams having any trouble in Irondale that was not related to the initial 2004 traffic stop.

Williams' probation expired in October 2006. Wallace said he does not believe Irondale has had jurisdiction over her since then.

Still, she was jailed again in 2007 with no lawyer, no hearing and no notice of what the violations were, he said.

Wallace was representing Williams when she was jailed last week, but he said she still was not given a hearing. He said he asked Irondale if she could perform community service in place of her fines, similar to a deal he struck with Mountain Brook on Williams' behalf for a similar violation. He said he was told Irondale had no such program.

So Wallace filed a request in circuit court to free her, involving Nail.

Nail's order states that last week's jailing resulted from a charge of contempt of court, although lawyers did not provide him with any records to explain or support that charge.

Wallace said many parts of the Williams case are blank or missing because Irondale kept few records. As a result, he said, it's impossible to know the basis for the charges or fines after Wallace said there are no records that Williams ever had a hearing or a lawyer before.

"We believe her situation is not unique," Wallace said.

Wallace said Williams was referred to him while she was staying at First Light, a women's shelter in downtown Birmingham. He said he was looking for a pro bono case, to do some legal charity work.
###

Not an isolated incident! Simply a microcosm of what happens all over Alabama in small town court rooms every day of the week. The smaller the town the more corrupt the court system. I've had a couple of personal experiences myself, but this is really, really extreme.

Here is what happened to me. Once in 1999, when I was about 8 months pregnant I appeared before Judge Kim Taylor here in Alexander City for an expired tag ticket. I had the money to pay the $95 fine in the form of a check from my mother, who lived in Clay County. The court refused to take the check because it was from out of town. So, they put me in jail until either cash or a local check could be brought in. At 8 months pregnant, and it was a very difficult pregnancy too, the municipal court Judge jailed me, even though I tried to pay my fine, for not having the right method of payment.

Then in 2000, right after the baby I was pregnant with in the above paragraph died from SIDS, I was jailed in Coosa County for inability to pay a fine for not having car insurance. It was very traumatic and had it not been for the angelic court clerk shelling out nearly $700 to bail me, a complete stranger, out of jail, I might still be in jail.

All who read this ought to take a day sometime and go sit in your local court room and observe the proceedings. I promise you will be appalled by what you see.