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Boom Boom, a little before noon yesterday. I looked out at the intersection to see who had run the red light and gotten hit. But before I got to the window, I realized it was the space shuttle Discovery cruising overhead toward a landing.
Space is fascinating. Yesterday on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer was a report about a new planet discovered in a distant (but near, by cosmic standards) system (I don't like to call it a solar system because I thought "solar" referred to "sol," our star, and the planets that revolve around it). Anyway, Geoff Marcy (smart guy from U. C. Berkley) explained how they learned about the planet and why they suspect it might harbor life. One thing...they have been looking at about 50 stars, and out of them several stars have a few planets...so out of the 200 billion stars in our galaxy, there must be billions of planets, and some of those (like the one in question) are in habitable zones that could support life. He said NASA has three missions planned to try to find planets and life...including one called the Terrestrial Planet Finder that will try to take pictures of planets, hopefully a blue one like earth. Listen to the report...fascinating.
Then back here on earth...Aqua Dots just sounds like something to be eaten. I am glad my kids are old enough that the things they get that are made in China (like electronics) are not likely to be eaten. I mean, eat a toy and end up in a coma from a date rape drug? Could you make this stuff up?
So what is going to affect Christmas shopping more...refusal to buy toys and products from China or rising gas prices that affect the amount of money consumers are willing to spend on Chirstmas?
And in Bessemer, the smoking ban takes effect immediately. According to the Birmingham News Sandy Bright, the owner of the Stadium Grill, where "nearly all of her customers smoke," is worried. I think she will see business increase, though, because their burgers really are the best in the area. Really they are...and now, more people will try them.
Bessemer also passed the noise ordinance this week, but I am not sure if it goes in to effect immediately or not. But every time you hear a car stereo that makes your windows rattle call the police. But don't use 911...call 425-4211. Even though they probably will not get there to address the problem, at least they can know that the public is aware of the law and expect it to be enforced. Program 425-4211 in to your cell phone as "Bessemer Police" so you can call whenever you hear "boom boom" and it is not a space shuttle.
Now to the water bond issue. Word is it did not pass because attorney Harris (the city council attorney...not the city attorney) has a fee associated with it that went from $20,000 to $72,000. There is the whole issue of why the hell does the Bessemer City Council need their own attorney anyway, and why he thinks he can have anything to do with running the city's business when it is the "city attorney" who has to be involved in these things, and whether he is billing us for the 4 hour trip up and the 4 hour trip back to Mobile each time he makes an appearance, and why even if they did need their own attorney they had to go to Mobile to find one...but I digress.
I think the council is right to refuse to pass that bond deal, and with Bill Blount's shady dealings being revealed and Gardnyr Micheal's problems mentioned in this blog a few weeks ago, the city shouldn't do business with either one of the firms. There are plenty of bond dealers out there, some of whom might even be reputable.
The mayor should just borrow the $5 million to complete the Alabaster project, then come back later and try to restructure the 5 million and the other 20 million using a different firm. Don't give any more business to either of those firms. And check out new firms before giving them our business.
So what is going to affect Christmas shopping more
Terrorists threatening to blow up malls (really an Amazon.com plot to increase sales, just kidding). Plan to spend as much as last year on Christmas, probably more...
I don't buy much from China anyway - so I've got lots of Legos... I think it was stupid for US companies to move manufacturing to countries with 'slave' labor and no safety or quality controls.
I have a hierarchy of purchasing behavior: local (Made in Alabama), regional (Southern or favorites), national (Made in USA), close allies (nations with troops in Iraq or Afghanistan - Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Germany, Denmark, etc), allies, neutrals, near enemies and communists (i.e., China), and enemies.
I don't buy from US lefty companies (i.e., Progressive Insurance, TradeFair stores).
The street lights were still on Wednesday when tactical units caravanned through town in unmarked vehicles, executing a plan they'd been working on for months.
"Our objective is to take back the streets of bessemer," said Detective MacMcKisson.
David Sullivan, the attorney for the Bessemer School Board, is set to sue the city of Bessemer if the city does not pay $3.4 million in sales tax revenue owed for over a year.
Bessemer is having a hard time making payroll, if recent council ...no, city clerk ...no wait, we don't have a city clerk...uh, senior accountant acting as a city clerk... yeah, that's it...anyway, his actions, are any indication. And now we are reminded the city can not meet its obligations to the school system?
Superintendent Deborah Horn says the money would be used to hire extra teachers for music and art. A worthy and much needed use of the money.
This is just one more reason we need an audit of the city's finances done by the state. Why does the city not put this money away as sales taxes are collected, into an account and let it sit and draw interest until the payment is due to the school system. Then the money would be there to make the payment. What a novel idea.
Eventually every juggler drops a ball, and it looks like the jesters in city hall who are juggling the city finances have done just that. And while court jesters' roles were to entertain the king, when the king becomes the jester the entertainment stops. You don't see anyone laughing, do you?
As much as education is talked about. With Jess Lanier High School being labeled a dropout factory. And then we expect improvements to be made with $3.4 million in funds being withheld from their budget?
Maybe it 's not the school board's fault that our schools are not up to standard. Maybe it is the city council and mayor's fault for not suporting the board and the system.
Oh, and the school system also has not received property tax payments from earlier this year. I wonder how much that is?
I know council president Jesse Matthews is getting the message. Unless he has something to hide, he should be calling for an audit soon.
I'm making up the number, but Patrick Cooper's support for his lawsuit to try to disqualify Larry Langford just increased 7 fold. Who knows, really, but Langford has been in office about two days and has proposed a 1 cent sales tax increase to build the dome.
There will be a revolt in the streets of Birmingham if this tax increase passes. He already passed the 1 cent sales tax for education as a county commissioner without a vote of the people.
Ed May and his lodging tax increase proposal...just about as bad. They think hotel guests don't look at that kind of stuff, but believe me, business travellers do. And the last lodging tax increase was passed to go to the Chamber of Commerce for promotion of tourism, with the blessing of hotel operators. But then the city took the money from the chamber for their own use leaving the chamber high and dry. Hotel operators are against this increase.
So I say...No to the lodging tax in Bessemer. No to the sales tax in Birmingham.
The Birmingham News mistakenly reported that Congressman Artur Davis would hold his town hall meeting at Bessemer's City Council Chambers tonight. The meeting will actually be at the Bessemer Civic Center...from 6 to 8 PM. I spoke to someone in the congressman's office this morning and confirmed that the meeting would indeed be at the civic center. This is a good chance to hear our congressman speak and ask questions and maybe get answers regarding some of his questionable votes. (or maybe you support all of his votes...still a good chance to go and see him).
But first...for this week at least, Bessemer Opinions was recognized as the 11th most influential blog in the state. See the list here. It changes each Sunday. Keep coming back and Bessemer Opinions will move up in the rankings. Bessemer Opinion's ranking will appear over to the left (Blogging Communities) on weeks that we are ranked.
Also, Bessemer Opinions now has a link on the Alabama Democratic Party's page. See the list of links on their page here.
Yes Artur Davis showed up last night, accompanied by his good friend, earliest supporter, and the "first person to give me a $1000 check," (a paraphrased quote), the Mayor of Bessemer, Ed May. The congressman's assistant said there were 122 people present, an SRO crowd.
I was somewhat surprised that not one question was raised during the hour and a half question and answer period about the War in Iraq or about the patriot act. People are more concerned about the economy, gas prices, education, health care and infrastructure. The was one "big issue" question and that was about immigration.
Davis supports tight border security, and a guest worker program. He would allow undocumented aliens that have been in the country working for 7 years to have guest worker status and a path to citizenship that puts them at the end of the line and requires them to pay a fine. For those who have been here 2 - 7 years, he supports guest worker status, but no path to citizenship. For those here less than two years...sorry Charlie, you are out of here. He also favors continuing to allow children of illegals to receive food stamps (the ony benefit they qualify for...and who wants to see kids starve) and attend schools (better to educate them than keep them on the streets from 8 to 3 every day).
A local pastor asked a question about hate crimes, and showed that he has been influenced by the misrepresentations of the legislation spread by the religious right. He said he had heard that preachers would be restricted from preaching about homosexuality and if they did they would be charged with a hate crime. Not so, said Davis, who helped draft the bill that passed the house. Nothing in the bill restricts our first amendment right to free speech. The bill only provides for harsher penalties for physically attacking a person because of their real or perceived sexual orientation.
I raised my hand at every opportunity and was finally recognized for the last question, and I asked about recent vote against ENDA, the Employment Non Discrimination Act, adding that a no vote gives the appearance that everyone should not be given the same rights and protections. He said he agreed that the government should not be making employment decisions based on sexual orientation, but that he doesn't think the government has the right to tell individuals who they can hire and who they can't. He mentioned that churches were exempt, but countered that religious individuals were not, and he thinks they should be.
Of course he didn't mention that it is the churches and the religious individuals who are at fault here for not recognizing that gay people came about just like everyone else and that the church should accept gay people for who they are. Actually, he did sort of allude to that, saying the churches should be more open and not restrict themselves to people who are just like they are...if they do they are missing the point.
I visited with Davis after the event and reminded him that I serve on a committee for which he is the chair (the Health Committee of the Black Belt Action Commission)Commission). He remembered.
I give him credit for the work he has done in helping the Black Belt, but he pointed out that while improvements are being made there (such as unemployment rates in all the Black Belt Counties being in single digits...a change from just a few years back) we are slipping in urban areas when it comes to poverty. The poverty rate in Jefferson County is over 19%. He tied this in with the unemployment rate in Jefferson County, at 2.7% and drew the conclusion that there are a lot of poor people out there who are working.
He might have read my blog yesterday because he mentioned the Army Corp of Engineers as being the most dysfunctional and least efficient government agency known. He was speaking about flood plains and water but levees tie right in there with that.
ENDA passed the house without Davis's vote. He admits that attitudes are still evolving on gay issues and that in a few years as young people grow up and vote that more and more rights and protections will be afforded. It's a shame that he is not on the forefront of that effort, but maybe, as he said, his own attitude toward the LGBT community will evolve and he will see that most gays, like most blacks or most poor or most women, are hard working spiritual people who just want to move forward with their own lives and see our country do the same.
Minutes from November Niehgborhood Association Meeting!
The Bessemer Neighborhood Association met on Monday November 5, 2007 at the home of Elvira Kidd.
Elvira spoke briefly about the situation involving pastor Donald Moulton at Broken Vessel Full Gospel Church. She let us now that there may be a new direction for the church, more to come.
She reinforced that the BNA is separate from Broken Vessel, and that even though we have previously met there, we are not affiliated with the Church in any way.
Elvira discussed the possibility of holding meetings with the city, where the BNA would meet and the mayor or a representative would be there to inform the citizens of their plans and agenda. A twice monthly meeting schedule and an assurance that the meetings would be held in each district at least once a year were considered but it was agreed that probably one BNA meeting a month with just us, and the other with the city officials would be best.
Sam reported a meeting with Forrest Davis who said there was not grant money left. He spoke with Regions and with Buffalo Rock and got a positive response, but both entities want prices and proposed statistics for reducing crime before making a commitment.
Sam sent letter to State Senator E. B. McClain and Attorney General Troy King regarding dog laws. He also found that there is a vicious dog law and that Bessemer is not enforcing the law.
31 Center Street is an area of crime, next to Cynthia’s Barber Shop. Some increase in police presence was reported, but not decrease in crime has been noticed.
Elvira reported that at the upcoming council meeting, noise, smoke and water bond were on the agenda. Also she reported the $72,000 fee requested by Atty. Harris in relation to the water bond. This is an increase from $20,000, but no one knows why. In fact, no one even knows why the original $20,000 is being charged. Also, the proposed water bond is requesting $1.5 million more than they need. What is that money for?
Lodging tax increase. Elvira wants it to be used for retiree’s increase in benefits.
The school system is suffering. Elvira questioned whether our organization should be focused on education as well as our usual business. Elvira proposed we get with the PTSO and city council and all work together to improve the school system.
Our next meeting will be November 26, 2007 at Food World Community Room at 7:00.
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Minutes from November Niehgborhood Association Meeting!
