OPINION

The Latest Jobs Report and the Supreme Court’s ‘McCutcheon’ Debacle

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By Robert Reich – What does the Supreme Court’s “McCutcheon” decision this week have to do with today’s jobs report, showing 192,000 new jobs for March? Connect the dots. More than five years after Wall Street’s near meltdown the number of full-time workers is still less than it was in December 2007, yet the working-age…

Watching a Brain and a Country Unravel is a Terrible Thing

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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…

How Big Oil Controls Local Governments

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Whom Do You Serve? Thoughts on Local Government and Dirty Industries – By Brad Nolen – MOBILE, Ala. – We the people of Mobile have long been organized to safeguard and promote the flourishing of our fair community. And part and parcel to this organization we’ve put together was the hiring of a city councils,…

Some of My Best Friends Are … Racists

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nig·gard·ly [nig-erd-lee] adjective – 1. reluctant to give or spend; stingy; miserly. – 2. meanly or ungenerously small or scanty: a niggardly tip to a waiter. – Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – Racism is alive and well in America. But it’s not your father’s racism. It’s yours. It manifests differently. Just as overt.…

The State of The State: The Opinion of One Employed Alabamian-American

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Guest Column – By Brad Nolen – If you listened to Governor Bentley’s State of the State address, you probably noticed that he mainly thinks of us, Alabamians, as workers, not citizens. Also that mean old U.S. Government can’t help anyone and just wants in on the dysfunctional ménage a trois between Americans, health Insurers…

On Baptists and the Separation of Church and State

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Let me humbly apologize in advance to my fans all over the state, the country and the world for what I’m about to say, although I suppose there is a timeless message here for those who have an ear and can hear. There is a little reunion…

Minimum Wage Increase Would Benefit Everyone in Alabama

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Op-Ed – By Al Henley – The Alabama State Legislature may take up a bill that would drastically improve life in Alabama – for all its citizens. The legislation, introduced by state House member Darrio Melton, a Democrat from Selma, would gradually raise the state’s minimum wage from $7.25/hour to $9.80/hour over the next two…

The Mis-Education of Mobile on an Oil Pipeline Through Africatown

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School Superintendent Instructs Adults in Non-Critical Thinking, Which Contributes to Environmental Injustice – By David Underhill – MOBILE, Ala. – Enabler. That’s the current jargon for a very old idea. The serpent was an enabler. He didn’t force anything upon Eve. He just helped her decide to do what she wanted with the apple but…

Righty Tighty Leftie Loosie

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Eschew Obfuscation – By Michael Douglass – I find myself battling with the insouciant left more these days than with the ignorant right. It bugs me. It’s not that I don’t understand. Egregious acts against humanity every day. Business as usual. Drones. Corporate lawyers being appointed to the judiciary. No prosecution of the pigs at…

How Fear Beat the UAW in Tennessee

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Connecting the Dots – By Joshua Holland – A three-day election process ended on Friday when Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tenn., voted against joining the United Auto Workers union 712 to 626. Coming into the vote, both sides knew what was at stake — the union drive was a direct threat to the low-wage economy…

Contemplating Hunger and Nature in the Jefferson National Forest

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Secret Vistas By Glynn Wilson MARION, Va. – Listening to a babbling brook and watching the snow flakes gently fall in one of Mother Nature’s most beautiful acts, I am pondering the legend of the hungry mother who inspired the name of this place along the Hungry Mother Creek. As the story goes, back during…

Reflections in the Snow From the Nation’s Capital

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – TACOMA PARK, Md. — Camped out in the media van surrounded by a foot of snow, there’s finally time and space in the schedule to reflect a little on the events of the past week and look ahead for a few minutes at the future. The plan…

Could Saban’s Pledge of Excellence Lead Us All to Greater Success?

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From the economy to the environment, success depends on commitment – The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – Now that Alabama’s achieved the ultimate success by winning the national football championship, and everybody by now should be aware of coach Nick Saban’s famous mission statement about “excellence” that made it possible, don’t you wonder…

A Groundbreaking Year for Environmental Journalism and Activism

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The Big Picture – By Glynn Wilson – It’s been one of the most interesting and groundbreaking years in a long time for environmental activism, environmental journalism and the Sierra Club nationally and in my home state of Alabama. Since I made the decision to cross the line and join the club to get personally…