Let us open with a song. Oh, little Jeff Sessions It’s a mystery how you made it this far The devil messes with God’s best-laid plans You prayed and gave the country Donald Trump Then he dumped you in a Mobile trash heap You get no spare change It must feel mighty strange To say…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, N.C. – In all my travels, with the exception of Yellowstone, this view looking west toward Mount Mitchell is the best spot I’ve found. In some ways, however, it inspires sitting in a comfortable camp chair, staring off into space and doing nothing. But…
Even While Social Distancing Apart“Instead of complaining that the rose bush is full of thorns, be happy the thorn bush has roses.” – Buddhist Proverb The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, N.C. — The polar vortex swooped down into the Southland this Mother’s Day weekend and not only froze the…
By Doug Jones – U.S. Senator – This is a difficult day for all of us. New unemployment numbers released this morning, some of the worst in our nation’s history, paint a grim picture of the economic devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The official U.S. unemployment rate hit 14.7 percent, and the Labor Department…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MARION, N.C. — If May flowers spring from April showers, and adversity is followed by good fortune, then maybe the month of May in the year of the Big C might be a harbinger of better days ahead. We could all use the scent of some flowers…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ala. — The whole world is in shock. If the coronavirus doesn’t kill you, the stress from the economic collapse may. What to do about it? Maybe look on the bright side? This will probably be the coolest summer in a couple of decades. It’s…
By Robert Reich – Both our economy and the environment are in crisis. Wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few while the majority of Americans struggle to get by. The climate crisis is worsening inequality, as those who are most economically vulnerable bear the brunt of flooding, fires, and disruptions of supplies of…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – At this sobering time in Earth history, perhaps we should take a moment on this milestone 50th anniversary of Earth Day to reflect a little on where we are as a people in our relationship to the planet. (Earth Day is April 22. We are posting this…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ala. — Are you getting your affairs in order? I know I am. If this is not the end of the world as we know it, I don’t know what else that could go wrong to make it so. Yellowstone could blow and we would…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ala. – It’s a tough business always being brutally honest. But somebody has to do it, right? Sorry in advance. There’s no funny little ditty to sing you this morning. This is just not funny anymore. As I sit here isolated and alone on the…
By Trace Thompson – I grew up in a small conservative town in northwest Alabama. In high school, I played football, drove a truck, and wore my favorite pair of blue jeans day after day. Most importantly I attended church my entire life. I read and studied the Bible and, to this day, live by…
Editor’s Note: Back in January 2019, I put out the call for writers to help us cover the Democratic Party’s 2020 primary, since I didn’t think I could do it with so many friends on Facebook on all sides. Julie Slama answered the call, and got things started by profiling the amazingly large and diverse…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ala. — The dots on the coronavirus map and the color representing the Republican Party are not the only bright red things around here right now. In the mountain woods of North Alabama, the pollen count is on “Very High.” So your runny nose, sneezing…
“When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” – — Hunter S. Thompson – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — On the last Saturday afternoon in March, the Pensacola Bay Bridge should be jammed with Spring Break traffic headed to the beach. But Highway 98 was almost without traffic…
A Teachable Moment – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — The news is changing so fast on the health and economic impacts of the novel coronavirus pandemic that no matter what I write this minute and this day, it will likely be obsolete by tomorrow. But I do believe strongly…
The Big Picture -Â By Glynn Wilson -Â PENSACOLA, Fla. — This feels surreal, but reality is beginning to set in. It feels like Murphy’s law is in full effect: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” As the novel coronavirus health pandemic continues to grow, and a global economic recession and maybe a…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — The sun was shining and everyone seemed happy and full of fun on Saturday at the Palafox Market even as the first two deaths from coronavirus were reported in the Sunshine state. Talk among progressives at the Polonzo Bistro included jokes that since COVID-19…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – The dark cloud threatening democracy around the world is spreading like the evil cloud coming out of Mordor hovered over Middle Earth in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series, and the current occupant of the White House in the United States is a big part…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – PENSACOLA, Fla. — The sun was shining and it felt a little like spring was in the air as we pulled out of the Conecuh National Forest this week and crossed over the Alabama state line into Florida. After working on a house in need of renovations…
The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Driving into the Alabama capital city always feels like a nostalgia trip. It’s impossible to drive down the exit ramp off I-65 on Herron Street, make my way over to Dexter Avenue and head up the hill to the old capitol without having a…
