A Menace to Us and CreationBy David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Opposites appear at opposite ends of Alabama on June 5. At the upper extreme a rally in Florence is calling for tar sands mining to stop before it begins. Geologists have long known that gummy crude oil is locked into sandstone strata underlying…
By Robert Reich – For years Americans have assumed that our hard-charging capitalism is better than the soft-hearted version found in Canada and Europe. American capitalism might be a bit crueler but it generates faster growth and higher living standards overall. Canada’s and Europe’s “welfare-state socialism” is doomed. It was a questionable assumption to begin…
By Glynn Wilson – More Americans view the Democratic Party favorably than the Republican Party, although neither party is viewed favorably by a majority of the American people. According to the latest Gallup poll, 44 percent of Americans give the Democratic Party a favorability rating, while only 34 percent of those surveyed view the Republican…
Only 22 Percent of American Voters Say Members of Congress Deserve Re-election – By Glynn Wilson – With just six months to go before the midterm elections, 72 percent of registered voters in the U.S. say most members of the 113th Congress do not deserve to be re-elected, while only 22 percent say they do.…
Competitive Capitalism is the Answer, Not Socialism – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – If the film Reds is even close to an accurate historical portrayal of the relationship between Louise Bryant and Jack Reed, then there is a lesson here we can all use to plan the next phase of American democracy…
Alabama is No. 10 and Louisiana is Not Listed At All? – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – A new online celebrity tabloid is getting traffic from Facebook and Twitter for a story making the rounds claiming to rank the 10 most corrupt state governments in the United States based on “a national…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — While many local and state governments across the country are joining the federal government in turning away from the development of fossil fuel production in favor of clean, renewable energy to fight climate change due to global warming and create the good, high paying jobs of the future,…
By Robert Reich – We’re in a new gilded age of wealth and power similar to the first gilded age when the nation’s antitrust laws were enacted. Those laws should prevent or bust up concentrations of economic power that not only harm consumers but also undermine our democracy — such as the pending Comcast acquisition…
National Labor Relations Board to Begin Hearings on Workers Complaint Against Mercedes April 7 – By Glynn Wilson – BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Union workers and members of the public who understand the important role organized labor plays in public affairs across America will be watching to see what happens when the National Labor Relations Board…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Watching a brain unravel is a terrible thing. So is watching a state and a country go down the drain, along with the ideals that created it. It is torture not only for the person who experiences the onset of dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease but also the…
By Glynn Wilson – America’s youth are running from the radical conservatism of the Republican Party and choosing to call themselves Democrats in greater numbers than ever before, according to the latest Gallup poll on the subject. Young adults — those between the ages of 18 and 29 — have typically aligned themselves with the…
Alabama Citizens Rank Last in Ability to Afford Healthcare and Medicine – By Glynn Wilson – The poor people of Alabama can no longer afford to sit back and thank god for Mississippi. They might thank a doctor governor for not taking a pay check, but that’s about it. He has abandoned the people in…
By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – The video to show how foggers work to suppress coal dust didn’t work. An engineer pitching a coal terminal to the Mobile planning commission on March 20 had the opening scene of the video on a screen looming over the big crowd at the meeting to decide if…
By Glynn Wilson – After weathering the Bush “Great Recession” and five years of hard work and determination by the Obama administration, the United States of America is creating jobs and rebuilding its economy. But as a result of shifts that have taken hold over more than three decades, too many Americans are working harder…
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.†– Paul the Apostle, First Corinthians – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – FAIRHOPE, Ala. – It is time to…
Watch and Share the Video – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — Larry Godfrey owns the Escatawpa Hollow Campground and Canoe Rental along the Escatawpa River on the Alabama-Mississippi line just about 40 miles down the Canadian National Railroad line from New Augusta, Mississippi, where a train carrying tar sands crude oil and other…
Watch and Share the Video – By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. — Joe Womack of Africatown is not happy with the administration of his old school, the Mobile County Training School, from where he graduated in 1968. He is not happy with the administration of his home town of Mobile. And he’s afraid for…
By Glynn Wilson – MOBILE, Ala. – Is an oil pipeline through the watershed of Mobile Alabama’s sole source for fresh drinking water a done deal? One local paper says so. I made the trek to Mobile for the final week of Mardi Gras and to get the latest on the pipeline. I interviewed Larry…
Slashing Air Pollution and Providing Health Benefits to ThousandsBy Glynn Wilson – The Obama administration issued the final emission standards for cars and gasoline Monday to improve fuel efficiency in cars and trucks, significantly reduce harmful pollution and prevent thousands of premature deaths and illnesses every year. Based on extensive input from the public and…
By Glynn Wilson – President Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he will ask Congress for $300 billion to begin rebuilding the nation’s infrastructure starting with aging roads and railways, making the argument that the taxpayer investment is a worthy cause that will pay huge dividends by attracting businesses and helping get unemployed people back to…
