Friday Doggie Blogging

You know what??? I really love my dog. Saul has proven to be an awesome choice for an addition to my family. He has had a pretty good week this week although no major accomplishments to report.

He has a couple of new favorite activities. The first one is sitting in front of the living room window and barking at the cats. He found his barky/growly box this week and has been putting in some serious overtime figuring out how it works. He is so funny....he'll start barking and it turns into a long hound dog sounding bay/growl by the end. Two tom cats were having a posturing match in the back yard yesterday and they kept Saul entertained for 45 minutes. When he gets hyper-excited the hair all over his head and down the center of his back raises up like a porcupine. He looks like an absolute demon killing-machine when he does that. It's neat....as long as you aren't what he is barking at. Needless to say if he ever barks at me like that my big ass will climb a tree in a very hasty fashion.

His other new favorite activity is his pet rock. It is one that my husband had in one of the houseplants. Saul discovered it and he absolutely loves it. It's a fairly sizeable chunk of stone that he treats like a ball. He rolls it around on the floor, bats it back and forth, barks at it, pounces on it and buries it under the couch. He wants to pick it up in his mouth but doesn't quite dare because of the size. In a few weeks he should be able to manage it as his growth is off the charts.

There have been a couple of times this week where I had to leave him home with daddy and kids for a little bit. Daddy Nall started this thing where he will let Saul jump up to the window in the back door when I have to leave so he can watch me go. It's so sweet. I'll step out and close the door and dad will raise the window. As soon as it is up this big old fuzzy head with sweet ears jumps up and pokes his nose out. I'll tell him to give me a kiss, which he does, and then he watches me until I am around the corner. When I get back the first thing I see at the door is that big old head waiting for me to come in and pet it. I can say without doubt that this dog loves his mama and he suffers serious seperation anxiety when I am not here. And yes I have spoiled him rotten!!

I haven't taken him back to the vet to be weighed again but I'd put his weight at around 85 to 90 pounds. Solid muscle, teeth and claws. I do need to take him back to the vet though because he has this worriesome rash where his forelegs meet his body. He also has it under his coat on his back and he scratches all the time. I am hoping it is nothing serious but from some of the things I have read it could be serious.

Yesterday we lost his leash. I have looked everywhere for it and had no luck. I think Saul has something to do with its disappearance. We came in from a walk and a cat jumped in the door with us. That of course sent puppy into wild fits and I had to drag him to his crate with the leash on until I could get the offending feline out of his territory. I went back and let him out of his crate and took off his leash and I haven't seen it since. I think I must have laid it down somewhere low where he could get it and he took it and hid it. I had to use a belt last night as a leash and that didn't work out too well for a couple of reasons. The belt is short and diminishes my control over him. When he decides to dart after a cat he drags me along. It is also too short for him to get a comfy distance from me when going to the bathroom. We've managed but I am going to buy a new leash today...and a pinch collar too because I am tired of him going after the cats....and dragging me along.

Saul is also teething these last few weeks. The first two to come out were the long front bottom ones. Sharp as razors. We were outside playing fetch and I noticed blood and a loose tooth. At first I thought he had knocked it loose playing. It came out the next day and then the matching one the day after that. A couple of days later I found one of his large back chompers by his food dish. I'm saving them because they are neat. The ones that replaced them are impressive to say the least. Easily twice the size of their predecessors.

Saul's mouth is something to behold. His whole body is a work of solid engineering and breeding. When you look at him there is no doubt that he is a killing machine. Made for that purpose. He is like the Mercedes of dog breeding. Aerodynamically designed, sleek, muscular and very powerful. He uses his forelegs like arms to move stuff from one place to another. It is such a human thing to do. That mouth though is just like an alligators and he uses it for everything. To pick things up, chew things up, to play and give kisses. I love to watch him chew stuff. I don't know why exactly other than it pleases me to look at him and see his powerful jaws and massive teeth working in unison to render just about anything to shreds.

We have decided not to get him neutered and instead to get him a girlfriend in about a year. I would love to get a litter of puppies from him. His blue coloring is so odd and his temperment so sweet that it would be a shame to not spread his genetics.

These Guys Are My New Heros

CHARLESTOWN, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Two men pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges they created panic by placing electronic light boards that caused a bomb scare Wednesday in Boston.

The boards depicted a cartoon character making an obscene gesture at passing motorists.

Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards "bomb-like" devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged transportation infrastructure in the city. (Watch suspects avoid answering reporters' questions )

Asked by the judge to describe what the figure on the light box was doing, Grossman said, "Colloquially, he was flipping the bird, your honor."

Judge Paul K. Leary told Grossman that, according to law, the suspects must intend to create a panic to be charged with placing hoax devices. (Watch a Web video of men placing the light boards on structures around Boston )

It appears the suspects had no such intent, the judge said, but the question should be discussed in a later hearing.

At a news conference after the hearing, Stevens and Berdovsky stepped to the microphones and said they were taking questions only about 1970s hairstyles.

When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We're taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.

Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, "That's not a hair question. I'm sorry."

------------------

What a scream! A couple of genuine smart asses making a complete mockery of the police state empire that America has become. These guys need some sort of award. Absolutely classic!!

Baby Dies After Cops Deny Medical Attention 21 Times

Woman Suffers Miscarriage Blames Cops
ABC News

VIDEO of the Traffic Stop

A woman who miscarried her fetus a day after she was thrown in jail is suing the police department and two arresting officers who ignored her pleas for medical help.
A police videotape released Tuesday shows Sofia Salva telling officers numerous times last Feb. 5 that she was three months pregnant, bleeding and needed to go to a hospital.

After the ninth request, the tape shows, a female officer asked: "How is that my problem?"

Salva was held overnight on traffic violations and outstanding city warrants. After being released the next morning, she suffered a miscarriage, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court.

"It's tragic, it's disappointing, it's frustrating, it's sickening at times," said Salva's attorney, Andrew Protzman. "This is a lady who was in severe medical distress and clearly needed emergency medical attention and medical treatment."

Salva sued officers Melody Spencer and Kevin Schnell and the department for wrongful death, personal injuries and failure to provide medical assistance. Salva is seeking actual damages exceeding $25,000 and punitive damages.

The videotape was released to the media after The Kansas City Star requested it under Missouri's open records law.

Police have opened an internal investigation, Capt. Rich Lockhart said.

"It's a matter of trust. ... We want to make sure the community trusts us to get to the bottom of this regardless of the way it reflects on the police department," Lockhart said.

No telephone numbers are listed for the two officers, and a representative of their union, the Kansas City Police Officers' Association, did not immediately return a call seeking comment Wednesday. Lockhart said both Spencer and Schnell are declining to comment.

The officers stopped Salva after they saw her placing a fake temporary tag on the back window of her car.

The tape shows Salva telling the officers she is having a miscarriage and is bleeding.

On the tape, an officer identified as Schnell, who has worked for the department for less than two years, walks away from the car and tells his partner: "She just gave me a line of excuses. She said she's bleeding. She said you can check her."

Salva said: "I'm three months pregnant and I'm bleeding."

The officer identified as Spencer, a four-year veteran, replied: "OK. Why are you driving to the store and then putting a fake temporary tag in your car?"

"I took it because I want to go to the hospital," Salva said.

The officers made Salva sit on the curb while they searched her car, purse and grocery bags.

Salva again told the officers she was bleeding and needed to go to a hospital.

"Well," Spencer said, "that will be something you can take care of when we get done with you."

The officers handcuffed Salva after learning she had outstanding warrants for mistreatment of children, trespassing and several traffic violations.

She again told Schnell she was bleeding.

"I don't doubt that you're possibly bleeding, but you got a lot more problems with us," Schnell said.

No tapes were available of Salva's time in the jail, but she contends in the lawsuit that her continued pleas for help were ignored. The department said videotapes from that period had been recycled before it became aware of Salva's claims.

Mobile Court Cops Test Positive for Drugs

Drug tests bring down 2 court cops
Thursday, February 01, 2007
By GARY McELROY
Staff Reporter Press Register

Two officers are no longer with the Mobile County Court Police after a drug test of the entire force, officials said Wednesday.

Presiding Circuit Judge Charles Graddick and Circuit Judge Joseph "Rusty" Johnston both confirmed that the officers lost their jobs.

The chief of court police, James Collier, was not available for comment Wednesday.

Johnston, as a circuit judge, serves as the director of the police unit.

Consisting of approximately 25 officers, court police, among other duties, control the security checkpoints at the entrance to the elevators on both sides of Government Plaza -- the city side in the south tower and the courts in the north tower.

According to the judges, every officer on the force was asked to submit to drug tests during the second week of January. Out of 25 officers administered the test, two tested positive for illegal substances, Graddick and Johnston said.

According to Johnston, one of the officers indicated to a superior prior to the test that he would likely fail it due to marijuana use.

Johnston said the officer acknowledged smoking marijuana on New Year's Eve, saying he was not a regular user. Johnston said the officer took the test but resigned before the results could be processed.

Johnston declined to provide the resigned officer's name, saying the officer confessed and voluntarily left the force.

The other officer, whose employment was terminated due to the presence of Valium in the test results, was identified by Johnston as Edward Pears, a court police officer for more than 10 years.

The officer was asked to provide copies of any prescriptions for Valium. Pears was unable to do so, Johnston said, and he was terminated.

Johnston said Pears later said he had been given a Valium tablet during a visit to the dentist on Dec. 26.

Valium is in a class of tranquilizer-type drugs.

Johnston said the officer who tested positive for marijuana had been on the force about two years prior to the drug test.

Sheriff's deputies, police officers and other area police must secure their firearms in special lockers before making their way to Government Plaza courtrooms and chambers.

The only officers allowed to wear firearms there are the court police.

"Obviously," Johnston said, "with sworn officers carrying guns, we need to make sure they are absolutely drug free and in good physical and mental condition."
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I love it when things like this happen. Two men that watched regular non-badge wearing citizens get sent to jail every day for years for doing what they themselves did when they had the opportunity. You can bet, however, that these two men will never face charges or see the inside of a jail. They won't have DHR come out and investigate their house keeping abilities or ask their children if they have ever been sexually molested. They won't lose their homes and cars in asset forfiture. No. they will get to go on with their merry lives while thousands who are guilty of nothing more than what these two are guilty of rot away in government cages.

Get Rid of that Ugly Tie!

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Homeland Security Blows Up Aqua Team Hunger Force

My son says Bugs Bunny is Next!



Suspect is pictured below in full technicolor


Think maybe these guys are a little too tense? I mean....they blew up Meatwad for God's sake!!

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Will Montgomery be Dry?

Looks like it :(
Police seize 445 lbs of marijuana
Then again probably not. 445 lbs. is but a smidgen and I'd wager that much is bought and sold in neighborhoods all over Montgomery on a daily basis.

Add this to the list of things I never thought I would do

Near the end of the 2006 Gubernatorial Election when all of the national and international press hit over the fact that I have mammory glands I got a strange invite.

A friend and fellow drug policy reformer in Texas told me that she is a member of MENSA and that they are having their annual gathering in Birmingham this year. She asked me if I would be interested in speaking to the group. I told her that I would and this morning I got an email in my inbox from the MENSA folks in Alabama extending the official invite. This will take place in July at the Sheraton. I will be discussing what it was like as a female running for Governor of Alabama. I am very excited.

Who would have ever thought that a dope-smoking, high school drop-out would be invited to speak to the most intelligent people on earth in the state of Alabama? For all those that say "Pot makes you stupid" I have one comment.....I'm speaking at MENSA and YOU'RE NOT!!!

Reporter seeks to unseal Drummond Coal documents

By Mike Linn
Montgomery Advertiser

An Alabama journalist wants a federal appeals panel to unseal documents in the case against a Birmingham coal company accused in the killings of union leaders at its operations in Colombia.

Stephen Flanagan Jackson, a professor of journalism at Stillman College in Tuscaloosa, said he would ask the panel to unseal "mountains" of documents Thursday at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Montgomery.

"Just on the principals, we should be able to monitor this case -- as members of the press and the public," said Jackson, associate editor of www.LatinAmericanPost.com.

"What I'm trying to do is make all this behind the scenes maneuvering that reaches from Washington D.C. to Alabama to Colombia, available to the public and the media," he said. "It's an important case."

A March 2002 civil case filed in U.S. District Court in Birmingham alleges that "agents or employees" of Drummond Company, a Birmingham coal company doing business in Colombia, killed three union representatives in 2001, allegations the company denies in court papers.

A woman who answered the phone at the Drummond Company's public relations department in Birmingham said the company had no comment.

Jackson said he appealed a federal judge's ruling to seal the documents.

Jackson said one of the documents, which he says he has, reveals sworn testimony of a Colombian who saw a former high-ranking Drummond official pay hitmen $200,000 "to kill trade union leaders" at Drummond's coal mines in La Loma, Colombia. The Miami Herald reported on the sworn affidavit in May before a judge ordered it sealed.

Drummond Company has mined coal since 1935, according to its Web site. Drummond produces coal from Shoal Creek in the Warrior Coal Basin, which stretches across Jefferson, Tuscaloosa and Walker counties in Alabama.

Drummond Ltd. produces steam coal in La Loma in northern Colombia, according to the Web site.
--------------------

I am very happy to see this happening. Colombia has the highest rate of murdered union workers and labor organizers in the world. In 2003 I believe 97 were murdered inside Colombia. These include labor organizers and union workers trying to organize in Drummond Coal and Coca-Cola to name a few of the US companies, who at the very least are complicit in these murders and in the worst case scenario may have been actively involved by hiring para-military groups to carry out the murders.

I traveled to Colombia in the summer of 2004 to study the effects of aerial fumigation on peasant subsistence farmers and the environment. It was a life changing experience. If you have never read it you can do so HERE.

Woman jailed after reporting rape

Yahoo News
By PHIL DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 30, 3:43 PM ET

TAMPA, Fla. - A woman who told police she had been raped was jailed for two days after officers found an old warrant accusing her of failing to pay restitution for a 2003 theft arrest.

While she was behind bars, according to the college student's attorney, a jail worker refused to give her a second dose of the morning-after contraceptive pill because of the worker's religious convictions.

The 21-year-old woman was released Monday only after attorney Vic Moore reported her plight to the local media.

"Shocked. Stunned. Outraged. I don't have words to describe it," Moore said. "She is not a victim of any one person. She is a victim of the system. There's just got to be some humanity involved when it's a victim of rape."

Moore said the woman was not allowed to take the second emergency contraceptive pill until Monday afternoon, a day late, after reporters called police and jail officials.

Tampa police said they were changing their policy to give officers more discretion on when to arrest a crime victim who has outstanding warrants.

"Obviously, any policy that allows a sexual battery victim to spend a night in jail is a flawed policy," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. "So our city attorney is writing a new policy right now."

The woman is not being identified by The Associated Press because she reported being the victim of a sex crime.

Moore said it was too soon to say if his client would sue. Her first priority was making sure detectives find her attacker.

"She is brave," Moore said. "We are going to work with police to catch this monster."

She was in Tampa on Saturday for Gasparilla, an annual pirate-themed parade that draws thousands of people. She said she was walking alone to her car when a man pulled her behind a building and raped her, McElroy said.

She reported the rape Saturday afternoon, and officers took her to a rape crisis center where she was given the first of two doses of the morning-after pill, McElroy said. The second dose is supposed to be taken within 24 hours.

Later, as she was riding in a patrol car trying to locate the crime scene in the dark, police found the warrant stemming from a 2003 juvenile arrest for grand theft and burglary. It said she owed $4,585.

"They stopped the investigation right there," and put her in handcuffs, Moore said.

Authorities arranged a special bond hearing Monday. "When the chief's office learned we had a rape victim in jail, we began working very aggressively to get her out," McElroy said.

Jennifer Dritt, executive director of the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence, wanted more explanation from the jail, saying the woman's arrest "makes people think law enforcement doesn't have a victim-centered approach."

Moore said his client believes she paid the fine for what he described as a childish mistake. He didn't have details of that arrest, but the woman has no criminal history as an adult, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The sheriff's office, which runs the jail, said in a statement Tuesday that it is investigating the complaint and declined to comment further.
-------------------

That is fucking atrocious! If it had happened to me then I would be in jail for murder not long after they let me out. I'd get the cops I reported the rape to who put me in jail for a bullshit fine and then I would get the jail worker who denied me medication based on her 'religious convictions.' Then they'd have a reason to put me in jail.

I seriously question any 'religious conviction' that holds it is perfectly alright to lock up a rape victim and deny her medication that would prevent a pregnancy of the most unwanted sort.

I can't imagine a fitting enough punishment for these fucktards!!

FBI Using Program Worse than CARNIVORE to Datamine Internet

The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed.
Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations appear to be assembling the activities of thousands of Internet users at a time into massive databases, according to current and former officials. That database can subsequently be queried for names, e-mail addresses or keywords.

Such a technique is broader and potentially more intrusive than the FBI's Carnivore surveillance system, later renamed DCS1000. It raises concerns similar to those stirred by widespread Internet monitoring that the National Security Agency is said to have done, according to documents that have surfaced in one federal lawsuit, and may stretch the bounds of what's legally permissible.

Call it the vacuum-cleaner approach. It's employed when police have obtained a court order and an Internet service provider can't "isolate the particular person or IP address" because of technical constraints, says Paul Ohm, a former trial attorney at the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section. (An Internet Protocol address is a series of digits that can identify an individual computer.)

That kind of full-pipe surveillance can record all Internet traffic, including Web browsing--or, optionally, only certain subsets such as all e-mail messages flowing through the network. Interception typically takes place inside an Internet provider's network at the junction point of a router or network switch.

The technique came to light at the Search & Seizure in the Digital Age symposium held at Stanford University's law school on Friday. Ohm, who is now a law professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and Richard Downing, a CCIPS assistant deputy chief, discussed it during the symposium.

In a telephone conversation afterward, Ohm said that full-pipe recording has become federal agents' default method for Internet surveillance. "You collect wherever you can on the (network) segment," he said. "If it happens to be the segment that has a lot of IP addresses, you don't throw away the other IP addresses. You do that after the fact."
"You intercept first and you use whatever filtering, data mining to get at the information about the person you're trying to monitor," he added.

On Monday, a Justice Department representative would not immediately answer questions about this kind of surveillance technique.
"What they're doing is even worse than Carnivore," said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who attended the Stanford event. "What they're doing is intercepting everyone and then choosing their targets."

When the FBI announced two years ago it had abandoned Carnivore, news reports said that the bureau would increasingly rely on Internet providers to conduct the surveillance and reimburse them for costs. While Carnivore was the subject of congressional scrutiny and outside audits, the FBI's current Internet eavesdropping techniques have received little attention.

Carnivore apparently did not perform full-pipe recording. A technical report (PDF: "Independent Technical Review of the Carnivore System") from December 2000 prepared for the Justice Department said that Carnivore "accumulates no data other than that which passes its filters" and that it saves packets "for later analysis only after they are positively linked by the filter settings to a target."

One reason why the full-pipe technique raises novel legal questions is that under federal law, the FBI must perform what's called "minimization."

Federal law says that agents must "minimize the interception of communications not otherwise subject to interception" and keep the supervising judge informed of what's happening. Minimization is designed to provide at least a modicum of privacy by limiting police eavesdropping on innocuous conversations.

Prosecutors routinely hold presurveillance "minimization meetings" with investigators to discuss ground rules. Common investigatory rules permit agents to listen in on a phone call for two minutes at a time, with at least one minute elapsing between the spot-monitoring sessions.
That section of federal law mentions only real-time interception--and does not explicitly authorize the creation of a database with information on thousands of innocent targets.
But a nearby sentence adds: "In the event the intercepted communication is in a code or foreign language, and an expert in that foreign language or code is not reasonably available during the interception period, minimization may be accomplished as soon as practicable after such interception."

Downing, the assistant deputy chief at the Justice Department's computer crime section, pointed to that language on Friday. Because digital communications amount to a foreign language or code, he said, federal agents are legally permitted to record everything and sort through it later. (Downing stressed that he was not speaking on behalf of the Justice Department.)

"Take a look at the legislative history from the mid '90s," Downing said. "It's pretty clear from that that Congress very much intended it to apply to electronic types of wiretapping."
EFF's Bankston disagrees. He said that the FBI is "collecting and apparently storing indefinitely the communications of thousands--if not hundreds of thousands--of innocent Americans in violation of the Wiretap Act and the 4th Amendment to the Constitution."

Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., said a reasonable approach would be to require that federal agents only receive information that's explicitly permitted by the court order. "The obligation should be on both the (Internet provider) and the government to make sure that only the information responsive to the warrant is disclosed to the government," he said.

Courts have been wrestling with minimization requirements for over a generation. In a 1978 Supreme Court decision, Scott v. United States, the justices upheld police wiretaps of people suspected of selling illegal drugs.

But in his majority opinion, Justice William Rehnquist said that broad monitoring to nab one suspect might go too far. "If the agents are permitted to tap a public telephone because one individual is thought to be placing bets over the phone, substantial doubts as to minimization may arise if the agents listen to every call which goes out over that phone regardless of who places the call," he wrote.

Another unanswered question is whether a database of recorded Internet communications can legally be mined for information about unrelated criminal offenses such as drug use, copyright infringement or tax crimes. One 1978 case, U.S. v. Pine, said that investigators could continue to listen in on a telephone line when other illegal activities--not specified in the original wiretap order--were being discussed. Those discussions could then be used against a defendant in a criminal prosecution.

Ohm, the former Justice Department attorney who presented a paper on the Fourth Amendment, said he has doubts about the constitutionality of full-pipe recording. "The question that's interesting, although I don't know whether it's so clear, is whether this is illegal, whether it's constitutional," he said. "Is Congress even aware they're doing this? I don't know the answers."

Cops Kill 80-year-old Grandpa in FLA

In Jacksonville Florida police officers have killed an 80-year-old grandfather when he tried to stop them from conducting a drug buy in his front yard.

From what I gather Mr. Singletary was a man who did not tolerate any kind of criminal activity around his home and the whole neighborhood knew it. So, when he saw a drug deal taking place in his front yard he went outside with his gun and was BLOWN AWAY by the UNDERCOVER COP who was making the drug buy.

How about that?

Medical Marijuana in Alabama

Dear All,

Thanks you all so much for the help and support during my recent campaign for Governor of Alabama. Together we made a huge impact in the way people in Alabama think about drug use, marijuana and prisons. I plan to run again in either 2008 or 2010 and hopefully by that time I will have been able to either gather enough signatures for ballot access or perhaps will have gotten the law changed so that third parties and independents are not discriminated against and kept off the ballot in what should be a fair and open process for those who wish to participate.

In the meantime, I have a big project on my plate with the passage of the Alabama Compassionate Care Act and if you reside in Alabama then I need your help with this.

The first things I need is for those receiving this email who wish to help in some way to please send me contact information for my database. I need names, phone numbers, mailing addresses and email. No one will see this database but me and your information will not be sold or shared. It will only be used to contact you regarding the passage of the Medical marijuana bill. The next legislative session begins on March 6 so time is of the essence. Please send me this info ASAP.

Second, I am trying to put together a meeting this weekend for my core group as well as expand my core group. This meeting will most likely take place in BHAM on Sat. Feb. 3. Please let me know if you would be able to attend on that day. I'll get a time and place established before the end of the week.
For those of you who cannot make it to BHAM but want to help in your area of the state...simply let me know what day is good for you to meet and where, round up as many people as possible to attend and let me know when and where to show up.

I hope to hear from all of you very soon.

Best,
Loretta Nall
lorettanall@gmail.com

JOY!

More Federal Government Militarization of Local Police Forces

Friday Doggie Blogging

This is the end of week 6 for Saul with his new family. I still absolutely adore him.


Saul has had a fairly busy week. On Monday I had to go to Montgomery for a meeting with my state partners on medical marijuana, probation and parole reform and prison reform. I decided to take Saul with me to try and get him a little more used to riding in the car and to socialize him more. I packed him up in his crate with his toys and took off. Unfortunately squeaky moose, which is one of his favorites, got caught up in a torrent of doggie vomit when Saul lost his cookies. Squeaky Moose can be saved after a good washing.

He did pretty well other than getting sick. He is very quiet when riding. Doesn't make any noise. I have to check on him often to make sure he is still breathing. After the meeting I got him out to walk around and meet people. Everyone loved him and commented on his unusual color. A few people walking by asked what he was. One said he raised pit bulls and asked if I fought my dog.

Dog fighting is cruel and I think anyone who engages in it should be put in jail for a very long time. That is one of the few things I would actually pick up the phone and call the cops for.

On Wednesday I had to go to BHAM. I didn't know how long I would be gone and did not want to leave my baby in his crate all day long with no one here to let him outside. So I packed him up again. This time he didn't get sick. After my meeting I sat with him on the street in Five Points. He sat down with his back againist my leg and watched everyone that walked by. People admired him greatly....mostly from a distance. He did not get hyper and try to run away or jump around. He didn't bark or growl at strangers. He was an absolute gem.

Saul also seems to have gotten over his jumpiness around the kids in the house. Yesterday my son was out of school and all day long he and Saul played fetch and scratch my tummy and all sorts of things Saul usually only let's me do. I was very pleased.

We have been building him an outside pen which should get finished this weekend. I know he will be very happy to have a place outside where he can conduct covert surveillance of the cats, join in the neighborhood barking chain and sniff all of the wonderful things there are to sniff in the country air. He will still be coming in at night to sleep in my room. Dad Nall isn't very happy about that. He claims Saul lays in the floor on his side of the bed at night and let's farts that smell so bad they wake him out of a dead sleep. He said if we could bottle the funk then we could put the smelling salts people out of business. All I have to say is that the smell has never woken me up although it has made my eyes water when awake.



There has been no progress on getting him enrolled in obedience school taught by the drug dog cop. That is a real shame as I was looking forward to the challenge that adventure would have presented. For now Saul and I will jut have to make do with a couple of books, lots of determination and unconditional love to turn him into a well mannered member of the Nall family. I'm sure we will do just fine.

Was Forced Integration Bad for the African-American Community?

Wheeler over at Alablawg is reporting that Rep. John Rogers (who I am a big fan of) reportedly said he thought forced integration was bad for the African-American community on the Matt Murphy radio show.

According to reports;

Rogers was trying to explain why the House Black Caucus won’t allow new Rep. Patricia Todd to join the group, even though she represents a majority black district. When confronted by Murphy that his group was not about black interests or ideas but only about race, Rogers said, “Integration may have been the biggest mistake ever made.” He then went on to say that he never was so down on seperate but equal, just that he wished it could have been equal.

Apparently this has caused an uproar.....which I find very odd. Many African Americans think forced integration was a bad idea. I can’t say that I disagree completely. When you think about it in terms of what African American children are taught in integrated schools you can see that maybe it was a bad idea. What public school in Alabama has ever taught accurate black history to black children? Not one. They do not know where they came from, who their tribes were, what their history was before they were sold into slavery. Hard to have any pride when you don’t know what to be proud of.

Malcolm X was for seperate but equal and against forced integration. He believed in black businesss hiring black workers and so forth to help the community economically prosper.
If you have never read is autobiopgraphy I’d recommend picking it up. It covers much of this line of thinking and is an excellent book.

The Biggest GANG of All

Is most unfortunately one that has the government's stamp of approval. The Police.

From the Mobile Register

Ride dirty -- and lose your wheels
Thursday, January 25, 2007
ROBERT McCLENDON
Staff Reporter

If Prichard police catch you ridin' dirty -- carrying illegal guns or drugs in a car -- they will take your wheels, and you might just see the officer who busted you patrolling the streets in your former ride.

Prichard police are seizing criminals' cars along with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cash and other property in a new effort to take the war on drugs and violence to the perpetrators. Billboards emblazoned with a simple message announce the program across the city: "Drugs + Guns + Cars = Ours, Don't get caught Ridin' Dirty in Prichard."

The Ridin' Dirty initiative, which began in April of 2006, is more than just a new slogan slapped on old police habits, said Chief Lawrence Battiste.

(yeah right....it's plain fucking thievery)

A slogan on a billboard sends a message to criminals, but driving around in one of their cars, as Assistant Chief Jimmie Gardner does, sends a message of another kind.

His canary yellow 2006 Dodge Charger, complete with 5.7-liter eight-cylinder HEMI engine, was seized in an August 2006 drug arrest when, police said, they stopped the driver, Christopher Seals. A K-9 unit sniffed out marijuana hidden in his car, investigators said. Police also found $3,000 in cash in the car and more money and drugs at the man's apartment, investigators said.

Seals is awaiting trial on felony drug charges, court records show.

Battiste said Seals bought the car, which retails for about $36,000, with an $11,000 down payment, taking out a loan for the rest.

"We took his car and used his drug money to pay off the bank," said Lt. Marvin Whitfield, coordinator of the teams that do many of the raids associated with the program.
----------------

Property seizure and asset forfiture are INCENTIVES for police corruption!!!

Say some young black man has a nice car that he came by through honest, hard work. What is to keep the cops from pulling him over, planting evidence and taking his car and any cash that he has? NOTHING!! And they do it every day.

Just riding down the road with more than what is perceived to be a 'normal' amount of cash is reason enough for that cash to be seized by the police. They somehow got to decide what a 'normal' amount of cash is, although they haven't shared this new guideline with the public, and if your amount of cash exceeds what they think is 'normal' for you then they take it. You generally don't get it back.

In California Donald Scott, a 61 year-old millionaire was shot dead in front of his wife in a raid where the county DA later discovered that police had lied to obtain the warrant to search for marijuana and that the raid was motivated by a desire to forfeit the multi-million dollar ranch. There are many other cases such as this.

I am sick of living in a police state in what is suppossed to be a free country. Laws such as asset forfiture breed hatred and contempt for law in general and more directly for the officers charged with carrying out those laws.

This government enforced policy of harm maximazation with regard to the drug war has got to change.

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Justice System Keeps Drug War Going

I submitted the following letter to the Mobile Press-Register yesterday in response to Drug Cases Dominate Mobile Docket. Thanks Press-Register for printing it so quickly.

Justice system keeps drug war going

In response to the Jan. 20 article, "Drug and murder indictments dominate in January grand jury report," I offer the following.

The fact that 70 percent of the indictments are for drug offenses is astounding. How many of those offenses actually involved violence of depriving another person of life, liberty or pursuit of happiness?

Without the "drug war," the employees of the criminal justice system wouldn't have that much to do. This just goes to show that the drug war is nothing more than a government jobs program that creates the crime it claims to protect us from, while destroying our constitutional and civil rights in the process. It is an attempt to centralize power with local police officers who are loyal to the federal government and not the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect.

Without the drug war, police and prosecutors would have to find a different line of work. As long as drug use is dealt with by the criminal justice system, you can always expect the results to be terrible.

The criminal justice system has a vested interest in keeping the drug war raging, which is why things always seem to get worse and not better.

LORETTA NALL

Alexander City

Montgomery Public Schools Debate Corporal Punishment

By Antoinette Konz
Montgomery Advertiser

It was shortly before noon one day last spring when Monique Jones got the phone call from the principal at her son's Montgomery school.

Michael, 9, was in trouble for talking back to his teacher and disrupting his class.

"She asked me if I wanted her to use corporal punishment or if she wanted me to come pick him up and have him serve a one-day suspension," Jones said. "I went with the paddle."

According to new figures released by Montgomery Public Schools, corporal punishment was administered to students in 1,571 incidents last school year. That number is down 7 percent from the 2004-05 school year when 1,693 incidents were reported.

Although more than half of the United States has outlawed corporal punishment, Alabama law permits it, allowing each school district to decide whether to use it.

In Montgomery, the use of corporal punishment depends on where the child goes to school, said Lois Johnson, an administrator in MPS' Parents Advocate & Liaison for Students (PALS) office.

"Our school board has left it up to the principal of each school to decide whether or not they want to use it as a form of discipline," she said.

Incoming Superintendent John Dilworth said Friday he does not think corporal punishment is a good idea.

"I think there are other ways to deal with misbehavior," said Dilworth, who officially becomes Montgomery's next superintendent on March 1. "I would be interested in talking with my principals and school board about this policy after I take over.

READ MORE
-------------

I am glad to see that the new superintendent is against corporal punishment and has plans to address it when he formally takes over.

I am against corporal punishment for a number of reasons. I do not strike my children and I'll be damned if I will let someone else strike them. Using corporal punishment is a lazy persons cop out. It promotes and condones violence while doing nothing to teach the child why what they did was wrong. When I was a kid and would do things I wasn't suppossed to do I got my ass tore slam up with a hickory switch but no lesson in why what I did was wrong. All spankings ever did were make me angry and more determined not to get caught next time.

It's hypocritical to tell kids that violence won't solve their problems yet resort to violence as the first option when a kid is a problem or creates a problem. It's that "Do as I say and not as I do" mentality that never works in any other situation.

For all of you out there who would say "Spare the rod and spoil the child" I'll have you know that I have to very well behaved children that mind their manners, are not spoiled, are very polite and know how to employ problem solving techniques when problems arise instead of lashing out in a violent way at the person who is causing the problem. My kids argue with words but never with blows.

I hope that corporal punishment is soon BANNED in all public schools. It is barbaric, humiliating and a weak, stupid persons cop out.

This Michael Vick thing

By now everyone is probably more than aware of the whole Michael Vick/Marijuana story. If not then here is the short version.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick had a water bottle confiscated by security officials at Miami International Airport yesterday. A police report says the bottle had a hidden compartment and that it contained a small amount of residue that is "closely associated with marijuana."The police report says Vick was at first hesitant to turn the bottle over to security screeners and that the compartment was hidden by the bottle's label. The effect was that the bottle appeared to be full of water when held upright.
The bottle and its contents were sent to a crime lab and police say the results of the investigation may not be known for weeks.
No charges have been filed.

A police report says the bottle had a hidden compartment and that it contained a small amount of residue that is "closely associated with marijuana."

That sentence doesn't even make sense. A residue closely associated with marijuana??? What does that mean?

Many professional athletes use marijuana. Let's see Ricky Williams comes to mind. Thurman Thomas, Randy Moss, Nate Newton, Mark Stepnoski....the list goes on and on. I say if these guys are able to smoke pot and still perform in a 60 minute brutal slam-fest that is the NFL....then what's the problem? It obviously isn't having a negative effect on their athletic abilities.

Drug Cases Dominate Mobile Docket

Drug and murder indictments dominate in January grand jury report
Saturday, January 20, 2007
By GARY McELROY
Mobile Press-Register Staff Reporter

The deaths of a 3-month-old boy by beating and shaking, a woman killed in a DUI-related car crash, the slayings of two women in domestic violence incidents and the strangulation of a 70-year-old man were among cases processed this month by the Mobile County grand jury.

In a relatively modest 47-page report, January grand jurors announced they considered 338 cases, and of those handed down 232 indictments -- 201 felonies and 31 misdemeanors.

Drug crimes accounted for 70 percent of the grand jury's docket, along with a smattering of cases such as resisting arrest; criminal mischief; dog fighting and cruelty to animals in a related incident; obstruction of justice; and impersonating a police officer.

READ MORE
-------

You know....they wouldn't have that much to do without the drug war. This just goes to show that the drug war is nothing more than a government jobs program that creates the crime it claims to protect us from while destroying our constitutional and civil rights in the process. It is an attempt to centralize power with local police officers who are loyal to the federal government and not the citizens they are sworn to serve and protect. Without the drug war they would have to find a different line of work. They have a vested interest in keeping it going.

Charged with Stealing Handcuffs?

Montgomery Advertiser

Woman escapes officer's arrest

A woman escaped during her arrest Wednesday, pushing a police officer in the side of the head and fleeing on foot, still wearing handcuffs on one of her wrists.

According to police, Channell Morrell, 24, is accused of giving a false name to a police officer in the 500 block of Auburn Street about 7 p.m. Wednesday. The officer, Cpl. F. Farrin, had placed one handcuff on Morrell's wrist when she pushed him and ran.

In his report, Farrin said he tried to chase Morrell, but she escaped.

If apprehended, Morrell will be charged with one count of escape and one count of theft for the handcuffs, which were valued at $45.
---------------

You know....I don't think it is stealing if you are physically unable to detach yourself from the object in question. Besides, who is gonna stand there after pushing a cop in the side of the head during an escape attempt and ask him to please remove the cuffs? I wonder....if you are running away and they shoot you do you get charged with stealing a bullet?

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Friday Doggie Blogging

This will be a short one because I have contrated the flu. JOY! I feel like maybe I have been eat by a bear and shit off a cliff. My chest hurts, my head hurts....my everything hurts.

My puppy Saul is still progressing nicely. He is so sweet. Yesterday, the first day of the flu, he was so good. He took naps with me, didn't get into things he wasn't suppossed to get into, was very calm and he didn't even try to chase the cats when I would take him out. I think he knew I was sick and didn't feel like any foolishness. I was so weak yesterday that, had he tried to pull away from me I would have lost his leash. But he didn't try...he didn't even lollygag at the door looking for kitties like he usually does. He is a sweet baby.

We started building him an outside pen last weekend. We got the metal stakes in the ground and tomorrow we will put up the wire and gate. He will still be a mostly inside dog, and always in the house at night. I like him laying in the corner by my head at night. I know he will enjoy a place outside where he can watch the cats til his heart is content. He will also enjoy having some dirt to bury his bones and things in. Every time I give him a chewy bone or a rawhide trip or hell even an empty milk jug he picks it up in his mouth and walks around whining and looking for a place to bury it. His current favarite places are under the couch and under my bed. His whine is so pitiful and urgent.

Last night I was sitting on the floor in front of the fire and daddy Nall came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. Saul was up immediately and checking out what was going on. He looked dad in the eye for a long second, then looked at me as if to ask "Should I eat him?". I petted him and told him it was ok. He curled up at my feet and went back to sleep. I think even at almost 5 months he would really hurt someone if he thought I was in danger. That gives me a very secure feeling.

Still no call back from the drug dog cop on training. I think Saul and I will do just fine with the book that I have. We don't need no stinkin' cop to help us. He already knows the basic stuff and I don't think I need to train him in personal protection as that comes natural to him where I am concerned. So wadda we need a trainer for?
Thanks to everyone from across the country that has written me with advice and stories of their own shepherds. I now understand why these dogs are so beloved. I love my baby like he was of my own flesh and blood.

Do you have a will?

It is a question I have been asked before. It is something every person should have no matter what their age or health condition. My answer to the will question is no, I do not have a will. I am not planning on dying soon, but who does? I'm young and fairly healthy....but death comes in other than health related forms. I could give up the ghost in a car crash for instance. Today I asked myself, 'What would happen to my kids if something happened to me and my husband? Who would raise them? Where would they live?' I realize how important it is that my wishes for them be made known and have a legal standing.

It would be so awful to lose your parents and then not know where you would live or if you might be seperated from your siblings. What of your parents had no living relatives? Your children might risk becoming wards of the state. Without a will there is no guarantee that your wishes will be followed.

I found a place online called www.itsmylife.com where you can create a last will and testament and do things like name your child's guardian in the event that something happens to you.



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NEWSFLASH! Congressman Kucinich to Oversee ONDCP

Stop the Drug War is reporting that Rep. Dennis Kucinich has been named chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Government Reform Committee, giving him jurisdiction over the Drug Czar's office.

This is WILDLY GOOD NEWS for Drug Policy Reformers like myself and the millions of Americans who have been adversely affected by the US war on drugs.

Back in 2004 I traveled to Austin, TX to attend a Kucinich for President fundraiser. While there I got to attend a concert bash with Willie Nelson, Bonnie Rait, the Doobie Brothers, Michelle Shocked and members of the Dave Matthews band. I was also able to ask a question about marijuana legalization at a press conference.


Congressman Kucinich & Willie Nelson

You can watch that video HERE. I also worked as a drug policy advisor to Congressman Kucinich's presidential campaign in 2004.


Loretta Nall & Congressman Dennis Kucinich speaking at a fundraising event in 2004

I predict huge changes in the very near future for the drug czars office. It is astounding to see the complete shift of power in this case. You could not get any worse drug warrior than Mark Souder and you cannot get a better drug policy reformer than Dennis Kucinich.

OH!! I am so EXCITED!!!!

Do you have health insurance?

Up until very recently my family was one of millions of American families that did not have health care coverage. We have it now and I must say it is nice to see how the other side lives. It was always very difficult to take my kids to the doctor and have the money to pay for the office visit, as long as nothing major like lab work was required, but not be able to for prescriptions. The doctors would always ask in an accusatory tone, "Why don't you have health insurance?" as if not having it was something that I chose.

When my husband or I would have to go to the doctor they always herded us through like cattle. They gave us minimal treatment, ineffective remedies and no follow-up appointment. My husband has recently been diagnosed with disk space narrowing and suffers from constant sciatic nerve pain. Since his insurance kicked in the doctors office has actually treated him like a human being. The transformation has been quite amazing.

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Cause of Inmate Death Undetermined

Cause of inmate's death undetermined
The Jefferson County Coroner has not yet determined a cause of death of a man who died in the Gardendale City Jail early Monday morning.

Christopher Shane Dingler, 20, of Brookside was picked up Sunday afternoon on suspicion of shoplifting and booked into the jail about 4 p.m.

Gardendale Police Sgt. Roland Crawford said routine checks throughout the night revealed no problems, but when breakfast was carried in at about 7:30 a.m., on Monday, Dingler was not breathing. Paramedics were called, but were unable to revive Dingler.

Coroner Jay Glass said his office is awaiting toxicology reports, which may not be ready for another week.

Wayne Martin

Worley Enters Race for Dem Vice Chair because of Patricia Todd

What a rukus!!

It appears that state embarassment, Nancy Worley, has decided to further damage her party by announcing that she will run for the Vice Chair of the Alabama Democratic Party. Her decision to run against current Vice Chair Amy Burks suppossedly has something to do with Burks decision to support Patricia Todd (Alabama's first openly gay legislator) in the big bruhaha that followed Todd's (who is white) election to a majority black district by 59 votes.

The story is long and convoluted....butu you should read it anyway.

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AL's Chief Justice Vows to Correct Prisons

Chief Justice Cobb promises changes in prisons, elections
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
KIM CHANDLER
News staff writer

MONTGOMERY - Sue Bell Cobb took the oath Tuesday as Alabama's first female chief justice and told young women they can achieve whatever they put their minds to.

Cobb is the first female chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and one of only six women to serve on the court during its 188-year history. Her election is part of a slow trend of women gaining political power in the Deep South.

Cobb, after being sworn in in front of an audience of about 450 people, said her priorities will be dealing with Alabama's crowded prisons and changing the way judges are elected in the state.

"I hope what we are going to be known for is fixing people rather than filling prisons," said Cobb, who has 25 years experience as a judge.
----

GO SUE BELL GO!!!

Where's the Justification?

Woman charged in traffic death, tests positive for pot

DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) -- Police say a Dothan woman charged with the traffic-related death of a Ozark man tested positive for marijuana use. That's according to Dothan Police Chief John Powell. He said 24-year-old Tabitha Shae Farmer, who was already charged with murder, was rearrested last night and now faces a single count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Powell said Farmer's two-year-old daughter was a passenger in her vehicle when she allegedly struck 60-year-old Larry Downing in the parking lot of Southern Family Market. He died several hours later at a local hospital.

Powell said officers also found drug paraphernalia in Farmer's vehicle and she could face additional charges.
------

What does testing positive for marijuana use have to do with this case? NOTHING!
Driving under the Influence of Drugs laws are non-sense because they do not measure impairment of the driver. They simply check to see if there are any by-products of drugs that have already been metabolized. So, say you smoked a joint last week and you get in a traffic accident today. Nothing major....say you are tapped from behind...the cops take a blood sample and WHAMMO! you are charged with driving under the influence of drugs....even though you were not under the influence of drugs and the accident was not your fault.

Additionally, many studies have been conducted that show people who smoke marijuana and drive are NOT more likely to have an accident and some studies show they are even less likely to have an accident. You see, when people have pot in the car or they have been smoking it they are MORE CAREFUL because they do not want a police encounter.

Alabama Bloggers Roundup

Dan over at Between the Links has a number of great articles with commentary on recent political happenings in the Alabama Senate, a running tally of all of Attorney General Troy King's major fuck-ups (they are getting to be numerous)and an article from the Birmingham News against a payraise for our legislators. Well, at least the BHAM News got something right for a change.

Jeff over at Politics in Alabama gives us a rundown on the Inaugurationand tells us about the new house he and his wife are buying. Congrats on the new house Jeff!!

BlueGal is stocked with her usual hilarity and brilliant commentary on US politics and, as always, panties.

Bitter Old Punk is MIA since early November. Hey man if you're out there let someone know you are alive....would'ya?

Wheeler at AlaBlawg has some other opinions on Attorney General Troy King, and some great clips on the new war on trans-fat in doughnuts.

Kathy over at Birmingham Blues is mourning the loss of her beloved father. You and your family are in my thoughts Kathy.

Alabama Moderate has a state political roundup as well.

Alabama Senate Committee Assignments

The Montgomery Advertiser has posted a list of Alabama Senate committee assignments which were made yesterday during the organizational session.

List of Senate committee appointments

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- State Senate committee appointments announced Wednesday, with three senators - Majority Leader Zeb Little, D-Cullman; Deputy President Pro Tem Wendell Mitchell, D-Luverne; and Minority Leader Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills - allowed to vote on every committee except the local legislation committees:

Economic Expansion and Trade: Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Hank Sanders, D-Selma; and Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.

Rules: Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, chair; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, deputy chair; Ted Little, D-Auburn, vice chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Tom Butler, D-Madison; Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals; Vivian Figures, D-Mobile; Steve French, R-Birmingham; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb; and Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Confirmations: Myron Penn, D-Union Springs, chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham; Vivian Figures, D-Mobile; Ted Little, D-Auburn; Del Marsh, R-Anniston; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Hank Sanders, D-Selma; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro; Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb; and Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Finance and Taxation-Education: Hank Sanders, D-Selma, chair; Phil Poole, D-Moundville, deputy chair; Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals, vice chair; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, vice chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Tom Butler, D-Madison; Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham; Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery; Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile; Jimmy Holley, D-Elba; Ted Little, D-Auburn; Del Marsh, R-Anniston; Larry Means, D-Attalla; and Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Finance and Taxation-General Fund: Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, chair; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, deputy chair; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, vice chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Charles Bishop, R-Jasper; Steve French, R-Birmingham; Rusty Glover, R-Semmes; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; E.B. McClain, D-Midfield; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega; and Hank Sanders, D-Selma.

Fiscal Responsibility and Accountability: Ted Little, D-Auburn, chair; Wendell Mitchell, D-Luverne, vice chair; Scott Beason, R-Gardendale; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Ben Brooks, R-Mobile; and Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville.

Judiciary: Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, chair; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs, deputy chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Ben Brooks, R-Mobile; Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope; Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Ted Little, D-Auburn; Del Marsh, R-Anniston; Hank Sanders, D-Selma; and Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.

Governmental Affairs: Wendell MitchellGovernmental Affairs: Wendell Mitchell, D-Luverne, chair; Scott Beason, R-Gardendale; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham; Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals; Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery; Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile; Larry Means, D-Attalla; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; and Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb.

Education: Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, chair; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope; Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals; Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo; Rusty Glover, R-Semmes; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; and Hank Sanders, D-Selma.

Constitution, Campaign Finance, Ethics and Elections: Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Ben Brooks, R-Mobile; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; and Hank Sanders, D-Selma.

Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry: Kim Benefield, D-Woodland, chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Charles Bishop, R-Jasper; vice chair; Tom Butler, D-Madison; Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo; Pat Lindsey, D-Tom; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro; and Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb.

Banking and Insurance: Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals, chair; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, vice chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Steve French, R-Birmingham; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega; and Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb.

Small Business and Economic Development: Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega, chair; Scott Beason, R-Gardendale; Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham; Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile; Rusty Glover, R-Semmes; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; and Ted Little, D-Auburn.

Industrial Development and Recruitment: Larry Means, D-Attalla, chair; Scott Beason, R-Gardendale; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Tom Butler, D-Madison; Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals; Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo; Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro; and Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Commerce, Transportation and Utilities: Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, vice chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Charles Bishop, R-Jasper; Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham; Rusty Glover, R-Semmes; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega; Hank Sanders, D-Selma; and Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb.

Health: Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham, chair; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, deputy chair; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, vice chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery; Steve French, R-Birmingham; Larry Means, D-Attalla; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; and Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb.

Energy and Natural Resources: Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville, chair; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, deputy chair; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Kim Benefield, D-Woodland; Charles Bishop, R-Jasper; Rusty Glover, R-Semmes; E.B. McClain, D-Midfield; Larry Means, D-Attalla; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; and Hank Sanders, D-Selma.

Tourism and Marketing: Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Charles Bishop, R-Jasper; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Del Marsh, R-Anniston; E.B. McClain, D-Midfield; Myron Penn, D-Union Springs; Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery; and Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Business and Labor: E.B. McClain, D-Midfield, chair; Charles Bishop, R-Jasper; Bobby Denton, D-Muscle Shoals; Jimmy Holley, D-Elba; and Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham.

Children, Youth Affairs and Human Resources: Tom Butler, D-Madison, chair; Scott Beason, R-Gardendale; Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile; Parker Griffith, D-Huntsville; Ted Little, D-Auburn; and Phil Poole, D-Moundville.

Veterans and Military Affairs: Jimmy Holley, D-Elba, chair; Larry Dixon, R-Montgomery; Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Hinton Mitchem, D-Union Grove; and Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery.

Local Legislation No. 1: Zeb Little, D-Cullman, chair; Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe; Roger Bedford, D-Russellville; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Arthur Orr, R-Decatur; Hank Sanders, D-Selma; and Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb.

Local Legislation No. 2: Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, chair; Steve French, R-Birmingham, vice chair; and all other Jefferson County senators.

Local Legislation No. 3: Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, chair; Pat Lindsey, D-Butler, vice chair; and all other Mobile County senators.

From what I have alredy witnessed in the first few days of the organizing session it will be a very long four years. Yesterday the senate voted of adjournment and the vote was 18-17. It was the same a few days ago when they were voting on the new senate rules. Why the people tolerate this bullshit is a mystery to me.

Have Teens that Drive?

My son Alex will be 15 this year and he is already excited about getting his learners permit. Needless to say, I am less than excited to think about him out on the roads. I remember when I took drivers ed. in 10th grade. I wrecked the car. Not bad...but bad enough that my instructor jammed his knee slamming the extra brake in his floorboard.

One of the things that scared me the most when I was just learning to drive, and one of the things I still hate to this day are 18-wheelers on the interstate....especially in the rain. They are so dangerous and getting sandwiched between two of them is the worst.

I was looking at my insurance policy online at Geico and I noticed that they have added to their online library of safe teen driving tips. The brochure includes valuable information for teens on how to safely share the highway with large trucks. I found it to be very helpful and I will be using it when Alex starts to drive. If you have a teen and need auto coverage please take the time to compare car insurance at Geico and also download their informative brochures on teens and driving.

Get Rid of CPC Fraud

I am learning my way around the world of blogging for money. I have found that there are many different ways to do it. One way is by signing up at PayPerPost and accepting payment for blogging about a company's product or service.

Another way to earn money with your blog is to sing up with a company that pays per click. However, there is a great deal of fraud happening with that method. A ned company, AdVolcano has come up with a new way for bloggers to earn money and advertisers to be assured that they will not be victims of fraud. It's called Cost per Term advertising and it works by selling ad space for a pre-determined amount of time instead of the pay-per-click system.

If you are a blogger who is looking to sell ad space on your site or an advertiser wishing to purchase website advertising for a pre-detemined amount of money then check out AdVolcano for more information.


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Mom, dad risk arrest if child misbehaves

Mobile Press-Register

Monday, January 15, 2007
By RENA HAVNER
Staff Reporter
Bayou La Batre parents can now be arrested and fined $100 if their children misbehave in school or have excessive unexcused absences, according to a recently passed city ordinance.

State education officials say Bayou La Batre is the only municipality in Alabama to have such a policy.

To that, Bayou La Batre Mayor Stan Wright said: "Shame on all the other cities."

The ordinance applies to about 3,000 students enrolled at the four Mobile County public schools that are inside the city's limits: Booth Elementary, Dixon Elementary, Alba Middle and Alma Bryant High.

Wright said it's up to a principal's discretion to determine when legal action is warranted. He said principals at the four schools now have forms in their offices, requesting what is known as a citizen's arrest.

From there, a police officer would arrest the parent, who could avoid actual jail time by putting up $500 bail, Wright said. The case would eventually go to municipal court.

"Right now, we're just not seeing parents supporting the discipline that's going on in schools," Collier said. "Twenty years ago, when you got in trouble at school, you got a second dose of it when you got home. That's not happening anymore.

In Bayou La Batre, action can now be quicker, he said, adding that the city plans to arrest the parents as soon as students have five unexcused absences or the principal reports that a child is being too unruly.

"If the student misses another five days, we'll arrest (the parent) again," Wright said. "We're going to prosecute them every time they mess up."

The ordinance states that parents or guardians who fail to have a child enrolled or regularly attending school is guilty of a misdemeanor, as are parents who "fail to compel the child to properly conduct himself or herself ... in accordance with the written policy on school behavior." Those parents can be fined up to $100 and sentenced to hard labor for the city for up to 90 days.

Wright said the four schools have sent copies of the ordinance home for all parents to sign, saying they have seen it.

"We're going to enforce it as soon as we get the first warrant signed," Wright said. "We're waiting on them."
------------------------------

And there you have it folks...schools have become nothing more than an additional weapon of the state against the family unit.

principals at the four schools now have forms in their offices, requesting what is known as a citizen's arrest.

Future headline for the next story in this series:
"Principal gets ass kicked by parent who got a gut-full of state meddling"

"Right now, we're just not seeing parents supporting the discipline that's going on in schools," Collier said. "Twenty years ago, when you got in trouble at school, you got a second dose of it when you got home. That's not happening anymore.

Translation - Many parents no longer engage in barbaric corporal punishment and we are going to pass a law that says they have to beat the snot out of their children.

Wright said the four schools have sent copies of the ordinance home for all parents to sign, saying they have seen it.

"We're going to enforce it as soon as we get the first warrant signed," Wright said. "We're waiting on them."

He sounds like he wishes he was a cop instead of a city councilman. He is just a little too eager to arrest someone if you ask me. I genuinely hope he meets up with a red-neck, deep-country shrimper who hands him the worst ass whoppin' he's ever had. I know I shouldn't wish that....but I do just the same. Maybe it will teach him to mind his own damn business.

Southern Center Seeks to Close Tutwiler

Montgomery Advertiser

Groups seek shuttering of Alabama women's prison

MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- An Atlanta-based law firm that has fought to improve conditions at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka is now shifting its focus to shutting down the prison altogether.

The Southern Center for Human Rights has been involved in a legal battle over conditions at the 65-year-old facility for the past five years. But the center said in a recent job announcement that it is seeking someone to lead a campaign "to close the brutal Tutwiler Prison and transform Alabama's women's criminal justice system into one that is small, family-oriented, community-based and rehabilitative."

"The kind of real solution that Alabama needs isn't something you can litigate your way into," Lisa Kung, the center's director, told the Press-Register in an interview last week.

The e-mailed announcement set a Dec. 15 deadline for applications, but the position remains open, she said.

Alabama Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett was unfamiliar with the planned campaign but said such a makeover would require the Legislature to change state sentencing laws. Last month, Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen said that he wanted to replace Tutwiler by next year.

Corbett last week called that "a best-case scenario."

Finding alternatives to prison "is not a women-specific issue," Corbett added. More than half of Alabama's 67 counties now have community corrections programs offering drug courts and other options to keep minor or first-time offenders out of jail.

"The goal is to expand that statewide," Corbett said.

Joining the center's campaign are two Montgomery-based groups, Kung said: Aid to Inmate Mothers, Inc., and the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

A campaign of this type would apparently be unprecedented for Alabama, but there are some successful parallels elsewhere, said Jason Zeidenberg, executive director of the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C., organization that promotes alternatives to incarceration.

A confluence of circumstances typically drives such changes, he said: Among them: "the mix of a budget crisis, people pressing for different policies and the prisons themselves are of such decrepitude that it makes sense to close them."

As of November, Tutwiler, Alabama's lone prison for women, held 985 inmates, well above its current capacity of 702, Corbett said, citing the latest corrections department numbers.

In 2002, the Southern Center filed a federal lawsuit alleging that conditions at the maximum-security lock-up north of Montgomery violated the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In a ruling that same year, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of Montgomery described conditions as "essentially a time bomb ready to explode facility-wide at any unexpected moment."

While Gov. Bob Riley's administration agreed to reduce overcrowding and make other improvementsofficials have since struggled to comply with the settlement. In August, after inmate lawyers sought to have the state found in contempt, the Corrections Department agreed to six years of court-ordered monitoring instead of the original four years.

Green to Gold & Silver

I've been hanging around my friends at The Mises Institute and they have about convinced me to invest some of my meager cash into gold and silver. I like the idea because precious metals retain their value. Sometimes the Libertarian Party of Alabama will hold contests and the prize is in gold or silver. And, I once saw Dick Clark (our former chair) pay for an Arby's meal with silver and he paid a signature gatherer with gold.

One of the companies I am looking at is Monex. They have been around for over 30 years. You can purchase gold, silver and other precious metals and they will arrange for personal delivery or delivery to a safe at a bank or independent depository.

With the world in the awful shape it is in and the dollar losing value every day I think now is a great time to look into this. If you are interested in the current silver price or prices on other precious metals be sure to pay Monex a visit.

Tax Forum

Friends,

It's that time of year again. The time of year that poor people love and rich people hate. Poor people love it because they generally get a refund check and rich people hate it because they usually have to write a big fat check to Uncle Sam.

I am talking of course about tax season. For years I had my taxes done at one of the popular tax refund chain stores who always took a sizeable chunk of my money for helping me with my taxes. Last year I did my own taxes online for the first time. I then understood wht the chain tax refund places charge what they do.

However, there are websites, such as United States Tax Forum where you can find useful information related to DIY taxes. If you plan to file your own taxes online this year and have questions then pay United States Tax Forum a visit.



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