AL State Senator Cam Ward seems sure that the Alabama Constitution doesn't have enough amendments and the Legislature doesn't have real problems to deal with this session. Why else would he be sponsoring yet another Constitutional amendment to ban - get this - "Sharia Law" in Alabama?
Ward pre-filed the "American and Alabama Laws for Alabama Courts" amendment (SB33) in the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 4th.The text of the bill mirrors model legislation written by David Yerushalmi, president of the "Society of Americans for Natural Existence." It's Web site is only accessible only by username & password. According to the SPLC:
Ideally, he would outlaw Islam and deport Muslims and other "non-Western, non-Christian" people to protect the United States' "national character." An ultra-orthodox Jew, he is deeply hostile toward liberal Jews. He derides U.S.-style democracy because it allows more than just an elite, privileged few to vote.
Ward is not the first Alabama lawmaker to introduce an anti-Shariah measure. In 2011, Republican state Senator Gerald Allen sponsored SB 62, a virtual replica of Oklahoma’s notorious anti-Shariah “Save Our State” amendment, which was struck down on Tuesday by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Allen’s proposal, which singled out Shariah law as its principle target, was not taken up for consideration before last year’s legislative session ended.
Though popular with secularists and religious conservatives, anti-Sharia legislation does not defend against theocracy but calls into question our society’s fundamental commitments to meaningful religious liberty and meaningful access to the courts. These commitments have been relied on by generations of Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and Jews, and to try to remove them for Muslims both is unjust to Muslims and sets a dangerous precedent for other religious groups.
The entire article is worth a read - particularly by Senator Ward and his co-sponsors - because it illustrates how this legislation can easily be used against people of all religions.
For instance, the traditional Jewish wedding ceremony includes the signing of the ketubah - the marriage contract - that spells out the obligations of the groom to the bride. It governs behavior, support, and monetary obligations. Muslim weddings have similar contracts. These are religious not legal documents, but their breach often forms the basis for secular divorces.
When bankruptcy courts apply canon law in determining property rights for a diocese or when courts enforce arbitration agreements based on biblical principles pursuant to widely invoked rules of “Christian conciliation,” the rule of law is not jeopardized. Anti-Sharia legislation proposes an unconstitutional double standard. Canon law and biblical principles are not dirty words in the American court system, and Sharia should not be either.
It would surely be delicious if this amendment passes and the first group to be caught up in it is a Baptist church in conflict with a pastor or something similar.
Do you remember the passage in the Bible where the leper walked up to Jesus and asks to be healed, and Jesus gave him a Band-Aid? Or how about the time the blind man asked Jesus to restore his sight, and Jesus offered him a seeing-eye dog?
Weren't you moved when Jesus commanded us to feed the hungry, heal the sick, give the thirsty something to drink and to welcome the stranger, using free market principles in an unregulated market that prove the profit motive leads to greater efficiencies and that market pressures alone will lead businesses to operate in an ethical manner?
Me neither. First of all, Jesus was not interested in half measures. The blind could see again, lepers were cured. And Jesus commanded his followers to care for the sick, welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, clothe those who need it...(Matthew 25:31-46). We were not told how to do it, just to get it done.
So if you are a believing Christian, the question is not if we, as a society should do these things, but how do we try to get it done. Anything less is a step away from Christ. And this is where religion and secular society meet.
The current Republican presidential primary selection race leaves me confused. Every candidate (except perhaps Ron Paul) flaunts his religion and they seem to compete to be the holiest. Yet they condemn "Obamacare" and offer no alternative, government or private. Heal the sick? Not on their watch.
Feed the hungry? No, attack food stamps. Newt Gingrich's plan is for the needy to cinch in their belts until they have good paying jobs.
Welcome that stranger? Each candidate tries to outdo each other to be harder on undocumented aliens. I'm not arguing for open borders, but haven't we lost some of our own humanity when we are cheering the breaking up of families? Haven't we given up on Christ?
Government is not the answer, nor is it the problem. Government is a tool that the people can employ to solve problems that are beyond us individually. What matters are results. Are we fulfilling all of Jesus' commands through our churches? No one could argue that we are. While churches work to bring the commands of Christ to the world, the job is bigger than churches can do alone. Will the private sector do the job? The profit motive does not willingly provide products and services to those who cannot pay.
So if you don't want government to heal the sick, and feed the hungry... please, fellow Christians, tell me your plan.
Part 3 - Why should the rich pay more? Coming soon.
In a story from the Daily Caller, Yahoo and other news organizations are burning up the internet with a speech Santorum gave to a conservative Catholic college in 2008. In it, the Republican nut-job presidential candidate further whittles down his pool of potential voters by attacking mainstream Protestant religions for being "in a shambles", and no longer part of Christianity.
My guess as to what Santorum meant (guessing is the only approach when Santorum speaks) is that the Episcopalian, Lutheran, United Church of Christ and other moderate denominations just aren't crazy enough for him. I am sure there are branches of Roman Catholicism of which he disapproves as well, but he doesn't dare attack his homebase. I have attached the URL, and I am sure one of the 'cats will make it into a link for me (God love 'em).
This is good news for Mitt (Magic Underwear) Romney, and possibly bad news for the President, but I don't think the re-election campaign is too worried about either of them right now, given the shape of the whole Republican brand. Makes me reach for my aspirin. WAIT- it is still used for headaches, isn't it?
"I was so astounded at how dangerously close Santorum treaded to his Google neologism namesake," Douglas says, "that I had to whip up a quick parody. Luckily, all the video I needed was already supplied by his advertising firm so I just had to slightly alter the audio…"
Consider this your Friday afternoon smile. It's is mostly work safe ...
This is what House Minority Leader Craig Ford (D) says about the HB159 vote, via Facebook:
"On Tuesday, we put five amendments on House Bill 160 that will protect the Education Trust Fund. This bill is a double-edged sword. It is far from perfect, but with these amendments I had to vote in favor of this bill because it was in the best interest of my district. We have a large manufacturing plant in Gadsden. It is largest employer in my district, and I have to balance the needs of our schools with the needs of all those hard working families. We are having to compete with other states to keep this plant and all of those jobs in Gadsden. Furthermore, House Bill 159 is a constitutional amendment which has to be approved by the voters in a statewide election. We live in a democracy, and I can't justify denying the people of Alabama the right to vote. That is also why I am also advocating for a constitutional amendment to institute a state lottery. It is time to let the people decide this issue.
The teachers in my district know my reputation and my voting record. I have always supported our teachers and our schools, and I will continue to do so. This year, I have introduced legislation to give teachers a 4% pay raise and reinstitute the DROP program. I have also sponsored legislation to repeal the Rolling Reserve Act so that our schools can get access to the $110 million dollars that should be going to our schools but are instead sitting in the bank. I appreciate teachers and all that they do for our children. I will continue to support them, just as they have supported me."
So far this year, dogs, cats, and chickens are receiving better treatment from the Alabama legislature than women and schoolchildren. Still, in this legislative environment, we have to take the good news where we can find it. Finally, meaningful animal protection legislation is moving through committees.
SB-175 passed out of committee yesterday. Sponsored by Senator Cam Ward, the bill raises the penalty for cockfighting from a slap-on-the-wrist maximum fine of $50 to a Class A Misdemeanor with a possible fine of $20,000.
This has amazingly been a controversial issue in the past. As AL.com reported last year, the "Cockfighting Lobby" was working hard to derail the bill:
Posting on an online message board, Lewis warned about the legislation and asked for contributions to help the Alabama Gamefowl Breeders Association, or ALGBA, fight it.
"Get your checkbook out and mail in your dues, no excuses, and make another check out for a donation to ALGBA because your hobby just got a lot more expensive," Lewis wrote.
Asked whether "hobby" referred to cockfighting, she said: "The majority of people who have gamecocks in Alabama, yeah they do cockfight as a hobby. ... That is not to say that all the members of the Alabama Gamefowl Breeders Association are cockfighters."
How creepy is it that Alabama has an organized "cockfighting lobby" and this incredibly cruel practice is viewed as a "hobby?" Yet another black eye for a state that already has too many strikes against its public image.
...the bill provides for an amendment to the state Veterinary Practice Law that would allow a veterinarian to work for a nonprofit spay/neuter not owned by another vet.
Last year, the Alabama Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners closed one of the state's four nonprofit low-cost spay/neuter clinics in Huntsville and threatened to close Alabama Spay/Neuter in Irondale. State board officials said the clinics were operating illegally because the vets who worked there were hired by a non-veterinarian. In the case of Alabama Spay/Neuter, the clinic is owned as a nonprofit entity by a Birmingham vet.
This bill is a big deal among animal welfare advocates - and anyone concerned about over-population. We wrote about the issue with the Huntsville clinic last spring and the clinic only managed to reopen last month.
Over and over again, the panelists returned to a moral argument, saying that while making a policy case against HB 56 is important, it is the personal stories of chaos and suffering that we cannot afford to move far away from.
Weitz’s short films do just that—present a diverse cross section of Alabamians talking about the law and how it affects their lives. In one, a drunken HB 56 supporter interrogates Jose Antonio Vargas about his own lack of papers. In another, a tearful mother describes her struggle to explain to her daughter why life in Alabama is different now. A third video discusses HB 56’s direct connection to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. And finally, the fourth interviews a small business farmer about his longtime close friend, an undocumented immigrant who might be forced to leave the state.
Last October, the National Weather Service conference in Hoover Alabama reported that the extreme weather events of 2011 could be repeated in 2012.
The same La Nina weather pattern associated with this year's horrific tornado season is expected to continue into next year, said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center. "I don't want to hear about that," Carbin said in a presentation that recapped the major weather events of 2011, which included not only the April 27 tornado outbreak in Alabama, but the Joplin, Mo., twister and other storms stretching from Oklahoma to Massachusetts.
That prediction is gaining more likelihood. In February of 2011 the ENSO outlook was as follows:
Probabilities of approximately 94% for maintaining La Niña conditions, near 6% for returning to ENSO-neutral conditions, and nearly 0% for developing El Niño conditions during the Feb-Apr 2011 season in progress.
Probabilities for La Niña at 74% for Feb-Apr, decreasing to 42% for Mar-May, 25% for Apr-Jun, and down to 19% by May-Jul. Model probabilities for El Niño are near 0% for Feb-Apr.
Then there's this:
January, 2011: The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January 2011 was 0.38°C (0.68°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F). This is the 17th warmest January on record.
January, 2012: The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for January 2012 was the 19th warmest on record at 12.39°C (54.30°F), which is 0.39°C (0.70°F) above the 20th century average of 12.0°C (53.6°F).
It's as if the deck didn't get shuffled. Almost the same, exact hand, twice in a row. - Which, by the way: The ENSO is a natural cycle but those world temperature numbers make the AGW thumbprint even more unique. They remain almost static during the cool La Niña years (never dropping below average from time to time like they're suppose to), and spike up during El Niño years. Heat that lingers (year after year, decade after decade), as long as there's enough greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere to hold it... You know... The stuff our right-wing, scorched-earth, 112th Congress lied about to get their "Dirty Air" bills passed.
Severe Weather Awareness Week begins February 19th. We could have a sales tax holiday to help cut costs on some storm gear. But so far, the two most important items (for me) last April have not been mentioned. (Spam and batteries)
*note: The "current" link for the ENSO outlook will be available in the "archive" section of that page at the end of the month.
The Alabama Department of Tourism has a terrific Web site that celebrates Alabama's chefs, food traditions, and strengthens the local food movement: The Year of Alabama Food. It's a beautiful site that contains profiles of Alabama chefs, recipes, guide to farmers markets, and the very interesting "Farm to Table Blog."
Self-sufficient family farms are the foundation of our rural communities. Communities benefit from the local farmers as they purchase their goods from local merchants and provide jobs that enhance the local economy.
There's also a section with mouthwatering photos on famous dishes (including banana pudding!) as well as a recipe section that had me updating the family's weekly grocery list.
Check out the site and recommend it to your non-Alabama friends. We get so much (deserved) bad press, it's really nice to have something that gives Alabama some good publicity!
And there you have it, America! Speaking to Andrea Mitchell on her MSNBC show a few minutes ago, Foster Friess, chief donor to the Rick Santorum super-PAC, explained that in his day, the only contraceptive you needed was an aspirin tablet. You just put it between a gal's knees and if she keeps it there, she won't get pregnant. Ms. Mitchell was visibly offended as well as shocked by the remark, but managed to continue the interview. Friess eventually said that Santorum's personal views on birth control were not an issue in his campaign for the presidency.
Here's the exchange:
Mitchell: Do you have any concerns about some of his comments on social issues, contraception, about women in combat, and whether that would hurt his general election campaign would he be the nominee?
Friess: I get such a chuckle when these things come out. Here we have millions of our fellow Americans unemployed, we have jihadist camps being set up in Latin America, which Rick has been warning about, and people seem to be so preoccupied with sex. I think it says something about our culture. We maybe need a massive therapy session so we can concentrate on what the real issues are. And this contraceptive thing, my gosh, it’s such inexpensive. Back in my day, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.
Mitchell: Excuse me, I’m just trying to catch my breath from that, Mr. Friess, frankly.
Remember that Rick Santorum has said that birth control is the biggest threat to American security. (Exploding condoms? Nuclear diaphrams?) Remember also the hue and cry that goes up about Mr. Obama's personal religious views - is he a Muslim? Does he support a radical Christian minister? Did he actually quote Jesus Christ at that prayer breakfast?
There's no limit to what Republicans will try to pass off as a "jobs program." These two bills would divert income tax revenue from the Education Trust Fund to employers. That's right, corporations could receive the income taxes paid by their employees -- taxes that would normally go to fund Alabama schools. And who gets to decide which corporations reap the benefits of this taxpayer-funded windfall? The Governor. Period.
It's a license to steal from the education budget, and Republicans have broken it up into two bills, making it harder to understand. HB160 passed the Alabama House on Tuesday. It contains the gory details:
... to allow Alabama companies which undertake certain qualifying projects to retain a percentage of state income taxes withheld from eligible employees.
... the application of this act or the offering of any of its incentives as to any particular approved company shall be in the sole discretion of the Governor upon the written recommendation of the ADO Director and the Director of Finance.
HB159 is before the House today and Republicans are pulling out all the stops to pass it. This is a proposed constitutional amendment that will allow Republicans to divert money that would otherwise go to the Education Trust Fund into a slush fund under the guise of "job creation" incentives. This slush fund would hand millions in tax money to some of Alabama's biggest corporations without requiring them to create a single job.
Find your Representative by your zip code and ask them to vote no on HB159. Republicans are trying to get off the hook by saying a vote for HB159 is "just a vote to let the people vote" and doesn't indicate actual support for this giveaway. What a copout! We send them to Montgomery to decide issues, not to kick the can down the road to a statewide vote. The time to stop this cockamamie idea is now, not after an expensive referendum on a constitutional amendment.
An internal memo from House Republicans says it all: "[the bill would] divert from state coffers an unlimited amount of income taxes that would otherwise be deposited into the Education Trust Fund."
They cut the education budget to the bone last year. Schools don't have enough textbooks, teachers are having to buy their own classroom supplies, the system has already lost hundreds of teachers. The education budget is facing a $23 million shortfall this year. And the Republican solution is to divert tax dollars from education directly to corporate coffers -- for NO guaranteed job creation? In what universe does this make a lick of sense?
I notice several bills introduced this session in Alabama have to do with drugs. This one, SB 26, probably has less to do with drugs and more with money—but it will fail to solve either our drug problem or our budget crisis.
This wrong-headed bill, which seems to be modeled on one that didn’t pass in Kentucky, would require any adult applying for state-subsidized health care benefits to first pass a drug test. Current recipients would have to pass a test yearly to keep their benefits. Whoever fails the drug test gets kicked off Medicaid and has to wait a full year to try again. I guess they are hoping that this will cut down Medicaid expenses in 2014, when we start adding more adults.
The only exceptions are people who are in nursing homes (that’s right, Grandma and Grandpa can keep sneaking out back to get high) or other institutional facilities. No exception for two extremely important groups—pregnant women and those disabled by serious mental illness who live in the community.
If Mitt Romney were president.... you wouldn't be reading that headline. He clearly stated his position in 2008: "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Romney's lede in that column shows he definitely broke his crystal ball - maybe he strapped that to the top of the car along with his dog:
IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed.
Fortunately, President Obama ignored Romney's advice and saved 1.5 million American jobs along with much of our country's manufacturing base.
By funding General Motors and Chrysler Group as they worked their way through bankruptcy, and providing needed cash to auto parts suppliers and finance companies, the Obama administration saved an estimated 1.5 million jobs, according to a study by the Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan think tank.
Without the bailout, GM and Chrysler could have been forced out of business. Other automakers, including Ford Motor and even some foreign automakers with significant operations in the U.S., could have been forced to shut some operations due to failures across the supplier base.
How does Mitt Romney respond to success? By continuing to criticize the bailout in - of all places - The Detroit News, just days before the Michigan presidential primary. What a gift to Rick Santorum.
This was crony capitalism on a grand scale. The president tells us that without his intervention things in Detroit would be worse. I believe that without his intervention things there would be better. [...] Health and retirement benefits alone amounted to an extra $2,000 baked into the price of every car they produced.Shorn of those excess costs, and shorn of the bungling management that had driven them into a deep rut, they could re-emerge as vibrant and competitive companies.
So workers' health care costs and older peoples' retirement benefits are "excess costs" that need to be "shorn" from the company books? Welcome to Mitt Romney's Vulture Capitalist world, folks!
What a gift to Rick Santorum, who's now leading in Michigan polls. And what a gift to President Obama...
For long-term care, which includes in-home, nursing home and community based care, each region will get a lump sum amount to cover everything—regions will distribute the money to care providers.Instead of paying for each service provided, the nursing homes and other care providers will get a global budget based on their past expenditures, performance, utilization and expected changes in service.There will be an effort to favor care in the home or community instead of in institutions.
How many of you are struggling to take care of aging or disabled family members right now, with or without long-term care insurance?I’d love to hear some stories.
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f 2011 could be repeated in 2012. 
