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…
PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Watching a Brain and a Country Unravel is a Terrible Thing
American Youth Reject GOP Radical Conservatism, Shift to Support Democratic Party
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…
Hey Alabama: You Can’t Thank God for Mississippi Anymore
Mobile Planning Commission Defies Citizen Protests, Approves Blue Creek Coal Terminal
A Majority of Americans Choose Protecting the Environment Over Economic Growth
Gallup Finds the Largest Partisan Gap Ever on This Question – By Glynn Wilson – If given a choice, a majority of Americans by a 50 percent to 41 percent margin are more likely to say protecting the environment should be given priority even at the risk of curbing economic growth, even though the risk…
A Steady Majority, 57 Percent of Americans, Blame Human Pollution for Global Warming
By Glynn Wilson – A majority of Americans, 57 percent, believe increases in the Earth’s temperature during the past century are due to pollution from human activities, while 40 percent still say it is due to naturally occurring changes in the environment, in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence and incredibly rare scientific consensus showing that…
The State of The State: The Opinion of One Employed Alabamian-American
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…
President Obama to Sign Memo Strengthening Overtime Protections for American Workers
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…
It’s Time to Grow Up and Stop Playing Politics With People’s Lives
Canadian Tar Sands Crude Oil Threatens to Flood the Gulf Coast by Rail
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…
Mobile Alabama’s Historic Africatown At Risk From Tar Sands Oil Storage Tanks, Pipelines
Is the Mobile Watershed Oil Pipeline A Done Deal?
Comic Cowboys Satirize Mobile Establishment on Fat Tuesday
MOBILE, Ala. – The Comic Cowboys poked jabbing fun at the establishment in the rain on Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras Day. Big Oil pipelines came under fire, as well as the new Chamber of Commerce Republican Mayor and the cops. Alabama’s Nick Saban and Auburn’s Toomer Oaks were also the subject of the cowboy’s wit,…
Obama Administration Releases Cleaner Fuel and Auto Emissions Standards
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…
President Obama Will Ask Congress for $300 Billion to Rebuild Roads and Railways to Put Americans to Work
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…
UAW Files Appeal of Volkswagen Union Election Claiming Outside Interference
Company Officials Now Consider Closing the Chattanooga Plant – By Glynn Wilson – The United Auto Workers union has filed an appeal with the National Labor Relations Board claiming outside political interference by special interest groups in Chattanooga, Tennessee, when Volkswagen workers narrowly voted against union representation by 44 votes. Inside sources say now instead…
Climate Change Regulations Hit Supreme Court Docket
By Glynn Wilson – How the federal government fights climate change will be on the docket of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday in a rare 90 minute oral argument session, an indication that the court thinks cases against the Environmental Protection Agency filed by chemical industry groups, conservative states and the U.S. Chamber of…
Obama Justice Department Revises Rules for Spying on the News Media
By Glynn Wilson – The U.S. Justice Department has revised its rules for spying on news organizations in leak investigations, promising that in most cases the federal government will notify news outlets in advance of spying on them, according to the Associated Press. Attorney General Eric Holder, who came under criticism last year when it…
Lessons from the VW-UAW Union Defeat in Tennessee
By Chris Kromm – Facing South – Forty-four votes. If 44 workers at Volkwagen’s factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. — less than 3 percent of the plant’s 1,560 hourly employees — had voted “yes” instead of “no” in last week’s closely-followed union election, the United Auto Workers and labor would be celebrating a “historic” victory in…