Posted 06-19-04
Former Libertarian Attorney General candidate working in Iraq.

Posted 06-10-04
Two Tuscaloosa County Courthouse workers commit suicide in four days.

Posted 05-28-04
Scuba divers fight law that prohibits taking artifacts
Alabama bureaucrats prove they can be as vicious, petty, and arrogant as those anywhere else. This is a perfect case for jury nullification of a terrible law.

Posted 04-29-04
Former LPA officer kills business associate, self.
Story #1    Story #2

Posted 04-15-04
Alabama Libertarian survives 100 foot fall
Dick Clarke worked on the Sophocleus campaign in 2002.

Posted 02-26-04
Moore associate to run for Ala. Supreme Court

Posted 02-19-04
Smoking ban mulled by Montgomery council
Lew Rockwell, President of the Mises Institute, was [mis]quoted for this article. You'll see what I mean if you read it.

Posted 02-01-04
Last survivor of Tuskeegee Syphilis Experiment dies at age 96.

Posted 12-09-03
Diver's arrested for recovering artifacts from Alabama River.
More outrageous behaviour, courtesy of the Alabama Hysterical Commission.

Posted 12-09-03
Alabama tax collections increase again
"State tax collections in November were 8 percent higher than November 2002, the second straight month for revenues to exceed last year's pace, according to a report released Wednesday by the Alabama Department of Revenue."
Government revenue goes up every year, and yet they complain about having to cut spending. Yeah, right. Are we supposed to believe they are really cutting anything? If they have MORE money to spend, how can they not have enough if they are spending LESS than before?

Posted 11-27-03
Hogtied and Abused at Fort Benning
The author asks a good question--what ARE these soldiers being trained to do? And who will they be doing it to?

Posted 10-29-03
Unions targeting Alabama auto plants
"Alabama Gov. Bob Riley sent a terse rebuke to the UAW after hearing the union might be pushing to hire laid-off Big Three employees for the expansion at Vance. The state gave Mercedes $253 million in tax incentives and training funds to get the plant built. 'I've got the governor of the state calling me, he's upset,' Gooden said. 'He said We didn't give tax incentives for Michigan people to come down and take our jobs.'"

Posted 10-29-03
Constitutional reform will be back
This ugly monster will rear its head again.
"Samford University President Thomas Corts, who has served as chairman of the grassroots organization since it began in 2000, said he still plans to be intimately involved with ACCR after stepping down as chairman. He agreed that the new movement's strength is its growing popular support....The 2-1 rejection of the tax plan may suggest that many Alabamians are not reform-minded, but a recent survey of 1,000 residents by the University of North Alabama shows that 66.7 percent of those polled feel the constitution needs to be reformed."

Posted 10-29-03
Mayor scolds worker for writing negative review of "Gods and Generals"
Mayor Dow of Mobile has been at odds with Southern heritage groups in the past, but this time he's at odds with the SPLC.

Posted 10-7-03
Chukker forced out of business by City of Tuscaloosa
Early-closing laws and the threat of an imminent eminent domain action conspire to close Tuscaloosa's most historic bar.

Posted 09-23-03
DHR takes son of Guatemalan teen
Another outrage, courtesy of your state government.
"According to DHR documents and the Hendrixes, Marta has been banned from talking to unapproved family and friends, including the Hendrixes. She was prevented from attending the church of her choice. Her time with her baby has been gradually reduced to just two 2½-hour sessions a week, they said. Most important, the Hendrixes said, Marta has been denied an interpreter and did not fully understand why any of this was happening to her."

Posted 09-23-03
Troopers' use of camera nets arrests
The city said the cameras were just for "monitoring traffic." LIES! They're spy cameras.

Posted 09-15-03
Strip traffic camera follows pedestrians
Is anyone paying attention to this stuff? I told you this would happen.

Posted 09-10-03
Anti-tax rally held to counter Riley's, university's efforts
Despite overwhelming support from the University for Riley's rally, it was all for naught. Riley's tax went down to ignominious defeat in November, and the failed effort squandered most of his political goodwill among conservatives. In short, he blew it. That's what you get for listening to idiots like Susan Hamill.

Posted 08-28-03
Alabama Troops Killing Time in Iraq
"'I don't see personally what good we're doing the people of Iraq,' said Sgt. Thomas Bennett of Charlie Company. Bennett, who lives in Double Springs, said he expected the 877th to help 'clean up what we tore up' in Iraq. 'I didn't expect to be sitting around here looking for (something) to do,' he said. "

Posted 08-28-03
Alabama Troops Injured in Attack in Iraq
Get US Out of Iraq! Bring the troops home!
"A mortar attack in Iraq injured six members of the Alabama National Guard's 1165th Military Police Company, family members said."

Posted 08-27-03
Riley tells landowners to shut up and pay up.
"Riley told Bowden he's not worried that landowners facing a higher tax bill would sell their land and go elsewhere, as one lady at another event claimed. "I thought about it, and I said, 'where they going to go?'" Riley said. "

Posted 08-27-03
UA Provost gets raise to $200,000
I guess the state needs more money so they can pay for more useless (and expensive!) bureaucrats like this.
"The University of Alabama’s new provost, Judy L. Bonner, will receive a $200,000 annual salary, an increase from the previous provost’s salary of $176,844. "

Posted 08-20-03
Riley aide calls Alabamians "stupid."
These arrogant SOB's need to be taught a lesson.
"Why is the plan doing so poorly? ‘The people of Alabama are too... stupid to know better,’ said David Stewart, Riley's chief policy wonk, showing his frustration with the polls."

Posted 08-20-03
"Loud Mouth" law professor trying to tax Tennesseans
Not content with stumping for taxes in Alabama, Susan Hamill is at it again, this time in Tennesee. These people won't be content until we're all taxed like Massachusetts.
"The loud-mouthed tax law professor from Alabama laid it on the line: 'The only way to look at tax policy is — 'Are we morally doing the right thing?'"

Posted 07-13-03
Downtown Tuscaloosa due for a makeover
Like the product of another federal project, this project is going to blast local businesses off their downtown properties with the ruthlessness of an A-bomb. A must-read!
“It's bull, and I don't like the idea," said Ronnie Harless, owner of Auto Trim and Tire on Sixth Street. “They just spent a $3 million facelift on the federal courthouse on Greensboro [Avenue]; it's ridiculous" . . . .“It's a big money project, and they're doing this for the doctors and lawyers. They need to look at the business downtown. We stay covered up with customers."

Posted 07-13-03
Pentagon balks at cost of raising Alabama artifacts
They sank 'em, so they should bring 'em up, right?
"The Pentagon is balking at providing $600,000 in congressionally earmarked funds for the continued recovery of artifacts from the Confederate sea raider Alabama, which lies at the bottom of the English Channel, officials report. A spokesman for the Mobile-based CSS Alabama Association contends that the Pentagon is required by law to provide the full $600,000 for the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, but is offering to pay only $156,000."
Meanwhile, the war, or occupation, or whatever it is in Iraq is costing $3.9 BILLION a month!

Posted 07-13-03
Alabama legislature adopts statewide smoking rules
How many of you had any idea this had happened? Not me, until I read this. What else don't we know about?
"The days of smoking anywhere you please in Alabama are coming to an end, but some local officials say residents won’t see much of a change now that the state Legislature has passed the law. Alabama is the last state to pass legislation restricting smoking in public places like hospitals, schools, theaters, museums and day-care centers, but most of these places already ask patrons to take their butts outside. "

Posted 07-07-03
Tuscaloosa Puts Public Records Online
This is a good idea that, as usual, the government is screwing up. If you read carefully, you will see that they make you open an account, and then charge you 25 cents per page to print out the documents on your own printer, using your own paper! A fee that makes sense when you are using the government's printer and paper becomes outrageous when you are using your own resources to reproduce public documents. Typical.

Posted 07-07-03
The Riley Tax Offensive Begins
Who's paying for these ads? Riley? Paul Hubbert and AEA? The taxpayers?

Posted 07-07-03
The Secret Tax Increase
If you're not already paying this one, you will be soon. What the hell is a federal court doing ordering the state to go to annual appraisals? This is the first I have hear of fedgov involvement. A few months ago, the word was that Riley ordered the annual reappraisals as a way to generate more tax revenue.
"Morgan County is switching to annual property appraisals, and the latest reappraisal will raise at least an additional $5 million a year, county Revenue Commissioner Amanda Scott said Monday. The county is among 10 designated by the Alabama State Department of Revenue to begin annual appraisals by next year. Scott said a federal court order requires that all 67 counties conduct annual appraisals by 2009."

Posted 07-07-03
Alabama social workers will wear bulletproof vests for some home visits
Your government--spending money to solve problems that don't exist.
"Cost estimates for the equipment range between $100,000 and $200,000. Some of the department's 1,400 child welfare social workers will also be trained by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation in handling confrontations with crystal meth producers and other drug users. No child welfare workers have been injured yet, Fuller said."

Posted 07-02-03
Alabama Libertarian Helps Kill Occupational Tax
Matthew Givens was a key player in the fight against Montgomery County's occupational tax. He is running for Montgomery City Council, Dist. 2, and I can't think of a better candidate.

Posted 07-02-03
Alabama Libertarians Cheer Death of "Killer" Ballot Access Bill
This would have effectively ended the possibility of a third-party challenge to the Demopublicans.

Posted 07-01-03
Appeals court says Ten Commandments monument should be removed
Moore carefully declined to answer when I asked him whether he would defy the federal courts if he lost all the appeals and was ordered to remove the monument. If that day comes, we will see what Roy Moore is made of.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center, Americans United For Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Alabama attorneys, who said they had to walk past the monument every time they entered the court building and that it infringed on their First Amendment rights." Poor babies!

Posted 07-01-03
ALFA to Oppose Riley Tax Plan
The Big Mules over at ALFA finally had the good sense to see what Riley's plan is all about. This is very good news. Next to the AEA, ALFA is one of the most powerful groups in the state.
"'Alfa made it clear early in the process that they were opposed to putting any more money into education, or Medicaid or any of the other state services threatened by the fiscal crisis,' Azbell said." Good for them!

Posted 06-28-03
Saint Hamill
Repent Sinner! Thou shalt go to hell for greedily wanting to keep your own hard-earned money! So says this former IRS agent turned tax-crusading law professor. Where's Drew Carey when you need him?

Posted 06-26-03
Riley Disses Black Dems
This is going to really hurt his tax package's chances of passing. Alright!
"Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, said the Black Caucus would meet Thursday to decide whether it would support Riley’s tax plan but he said the veto hurt the chances of blacks voting for it. 'The governor double-crossed the Black Caucus,' he said. 'He knew there was an agreement that both bills would pass simultaneously. The governor showed no respect, no integrity and no principles. ... He acted as a snake in the grass.' "

Posted 06-26-03
Republicans Turn On Riley
This is outstanding! And isn't it big of Azbell to admit we still have the freedom to speak out against Riley's tax plan? I guess that new Alabama Dept. of Homeland Security isn't up and running yet--they'd put a stop to that.
"Former state Republican Party Chairman Roger McConnell of Mobile is planning a meeting Saturday in Montgomery to organize grass-roots opposition to Republican Gov. Bob Riley's tax plan...."
"Riley's press secretary, David Azbell, said, "Certainly we expect groups all over the state to meet for and against this plan - that's the freedom of assembly we all have."

Posted 06-26-03
Overspending Cause of State Budget Woes
USA Today confirms what I said in my article: Overspending, not revenue reductions, is the cause of Alabama and every other state's revenue crisis. Starve the beast.
"To make ends meet, some states have removed thousands of low-income adults from Medicaid and reduced benefits for others. Many states have raised college tuition, cigarette taxes and other narrowly targeted fees. Six states have increased sales and income tax rates, and several more may do so this week. But one thing has remained constant throughout the crisis: State spending keeps growing. "

Posted 06-21-03
Shock and Awe
Riley and his hordes plan to pull out all the stops with an all-out campaign of fear and deception to win voter approval of the largest tax increase in Alabama history.
"Although neither O'Connor nor anyone in the Riley administration will say it, Brown believes Riley's strategy is going to have to include fear in the last month or so of the campaign. And by fear he means telling voters what will happen if the plan doesn't pass, such as closing schools, ending football and band and not offering college scholarships, nursing homes closed and prisons releasing convicts."

Posted 06-21-03
Slow-boatin'
When this federally-subsidised porker sinks with a school-bus full of kids, it'll be a disaster.
"The last ferry was small, capable of carrying three or four cars, said Nazareth Major, a Gees Bend quilter. This one is much larger. The idea of school children crossing that vast lake-like river terrifies Major, whose two youngest children attend school in Camden. 'Don't you put my children on that ferry,' said Major, who also does not swim and is not quite sure whether she'll ride the boat herself."

Posted 06-21-03
Confederate Monument Restoration Resumes
It's about time. Siegelman put it on hold, and Riley started it back after finding out the state was spending $3,000 a month on renting a scaffold, but doing no work. This is the only thing I can think of that Riley has done right.

Posted 06-19-03
Faith-Based Taxes In Alabama
Following the lead of the odious Susan Hamill, Bob Riley says Jesus would raise your taxes. Christopher Manion says different.
"The nature of charity – its very substance, its essence, its content, and its eternal worth – lies in its voluntary nature. No one said it better than Mother Teresa: 'Our sisters are not social workers. They receive Christ every morning in the Blessed Sacrament, and then go out into Calcutta and find Him in the gutters.' No bureaucrats need apply. The Christian nature of charity requires freedom and gratitude on both sides: the recipient says 'thank you for your gift,' the giver says, 'thank YOU for letting me help a brother in Christ.' If it’s mandatory, it isn’t charity. Period."

Posted 06-19-03
UN Influence in Alabama
The UN plans to turn Alabama back into a [useless] wilderness.
"Morgan was asked: If all the comments received from the people were negative, opposing the management plan, would the plan be abandoned? His answer: 'No, the comments will be taken and duly noted.' This management plan is required by the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity. Why is this plan being implemented in Alabama, and throughout the United States, when the U.S. Senate did not ratify the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity? "

Posted 06-19-03
The House Never Loses
And neither does Alabama's most powerful lobbyist.
"One powerful figure who is not in either deck and won't ever be in a deck, according to Pate: Paul Hubbert , chief of the state teachers union and widely recognized as the state's most powerful lobbyist. Hubbert does not have his own card, Pate said, because he holds them all. 'Dr. Hubbert is the dealer, you see and the house never loses.'"

Posted 06-19-03
Republican Fratricide
Dick Armey plans to campaign against Riley's tax plan. I love it!
"Armey and Riley both retired from the U.S. House of Representatives in January. Riley became governor of Alabama and Armey became co-chairman of Citizens for a Sound Economy, a conservative, grass-roots lobbying group that advocates lower taxes and less government. "I love him like a brother," Armey said Wednesday, but he said Riley's $1.2 billion tax increase goes against everything he stood for during 18 years as a Texas congressman...."

Posted 06-19-03
Riley Creates Alabama Homeland Security Department
I feel safer already. Ugh.
"I've ordered this department's staff to immediately begin the process of making our state safer against a terrorist attack, and if we ever suffer such a terrible tragedy, ensure that we're fully capable of responding," Gov. Riley said. [Editor's note: If terrorists succeed in an attack, shouldn't the Ala. HSD be disbanded for failure to achieve it's stated goals? My guess is that they would ask for more money instead.]

Posted 06-19-03
Two Views of Bill Pryor:
Jeffrey St. Clair, Counterpunch (anti-Pryor)
Terrence Jeffrey, Human Events (pro-Pryor)
Pryor, despite his appeals to "federalism," is an unabashed advocate of state power. He defended Alabama's ludicrous anti-vibrator law, Northport's car theft ordinance, and many other intrusions into the rights of citizens. He may not like the liberals in Washington, but he merely wants to use the power of government to accomplish his own ends, not reduce or eliminate that power. He is no friend of liberty. May his nomination go down to defeat!

Posted 06-18-03
Legislative Blitzkrieg
The Legislature rushed through a lot of crap on the last day. It will be months before we hear about all the implication of the stuff they passed, probably without reading it. Well, at least now no one can burn a cross in my yard--wait, that was already illegal. Oh, well.
"The Legislature voted to remove outdated segregationist mandates from Alabama’s constitution, make cross burning a crime, and provide an automatic recount if Alabama has another disputed election like last year’s race for governor. The Legislature, busily acting on bills until midnight Monday, also made it a crime to execute retired greyhounds, as occurred in Baldwin County, and kept Alabama from having a second shutdown of its court system. "

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