Bush in Africa vs Obama's Roots in Africa

Today is the one year anniversary of Bessemer Opinions!!!

President Bush is in Africa, visiting a country that seems to like him. While he promotes PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) in Tanzania, republican strategists have other goals for his trip. Kenneth Walsh of U.S. News and World Report surmises that GOP leaders are hoping the trip will soften opposition to Bush among African Americans and help the GOP nominee (McCain) make “inroads into the black vote this fall.”

Well I am not African American but let’s just pretend for a moment. On the one hand we have the president, dilly dallying around the Continent continuing his commitment to spend millions of dollars fighting AIDS. On the other hand we have Barack Obama, who has actual roots in Kenya and realizes that Africa is more than just a photo op stop.

Well, sort of. A photo op doesn’t hurt. Here’s Obama in 2006 speaking at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. Hear a little from his sister, Auma Obama, and Barack about their father and Obama’s views of Africa today (2006).



I don’t think there is any chance the GOP candidate would get more than a handful of black votes if Barack is the Dem’s candidate. Same for Clinton if she is the candidate, actually.

In Birmingham the City Council will begin voting electronically, but the real news out of this story is that there will be live web streaming of council meetings with time stamps added so the public can later watch particular agenda items, according to this article in the Bham News.

Can you imagine if the Bessemer Council acquired this type of system? The public could actually watch council meetings, either live or archived. And for only $96,000. That is what it cost Birmingham. Surely the council can find a hundred grand here or there to do this.

The News makes for a Good Weekend

This is a feel good weekend, and you can’t help but feel good after listening to this song. In fact, you can hardly resist standing up and dancing while it plays. This is how the nation (U.S.) will feel during the days between the election in November and the inauguration of our next president. The lyrics are posted below the video. this is Carbon/Silicon with "The News."




People started caring about what they eat
And people started smiling at everyone they meet
And people started looking for good instead of bad
Realize what they could lose in what they always had

People started growing, instead of being crushed
And people started slowing down instead of being rushed
And people started looking with very different eyes
And this information now comes as a surprise

Good morning here's the news and all of it is good
Good evening here's the news and all of it is good
And the weather's good!

People started calling those in power to account
And people started saying, "I want my voice to count"
And people started learning that they don't need to fight
And they control their future and try to make it right

And people started feeling that better's on the way
And people started feeling some peace and calm today
And people started liking the way that good life feels
And every precious moment becoming what is real

Good morning here's the news and all of it is good
Good evening here's the news and all of it is good
And the weather's good!

People started caring about what they eat
And people started smiling at everyone they meet
And people started looking for good instead of bad
Realize what they could lose in what they always had

People started growing, instead of being crushed
And people started slowing down instead of being rushed
And people started looking with very different eyes
And this information now comes as a surprise

Good morning here's the news and all of it is good
Good evening here's the news and all of it is good
And the weather's good!

Good morning here's the news and all of it is good
Good evening here's the news and all of it is good
And the weather's good!

Great Backyard Bird Count

Today begins the Great Backyard Bird Count…lasts all weekend.

Visit Great Backyard Bird Count . Over to the left are some tabs about what the count is and how to do it. Get a checklist and get started. Turn them in online or by email. It’s fun and gets you in tune with your backyard in the winter.

You just count for at least 15 minutes on whichever days you can. Last year we had 12 lists submitted from Bessemer, with 30 species of birds, and 1 from nearby Lipscomb, with 11 species. That may not sound like much, compared to, say, Fultondale, which led Alabama with 171 lists with 48 species. But well to do neighbors like Hoover and Vestavia residents must be too busy to sit around counting birds...only 1 list from each city.

Trey, from The Human Animal, now writes a column having to do with gardening and horticulture for The Western Tribune. More bloggers moving up in the world. More local talent in the Tribune.

Oh, gee, something happened to the comments feature. Overloaded I guess. I will work on that later. Until then, remember, this is a blog. A place for me to log my progressive, sometimes entertaining views. Not a forum, which is for the exchange of views and ideas.

Ok that’s it for today; I’m out of town seeking an internship. Wish me luck.

Happy Valentines Day

Today it is all about the heart.

Beating Heart
(The producer of this video disabled embedding, so you have to go to the link, but it shows how to make an origami beating heart. 3 minutes)

It is, after all Valentine's Day. And whether you are single and loving it, or single and looking, or partnered or married or whatever'd, take care of your heart and the heart(s) of those you love.

But it all comes down to this. You have to take care of your own heart. Often that means losing weight. And like the mayor of Oklahoma City believes and Kathleen Parker writes, "real, sustained weight loss takes patience, discipline and commitment, not a calculator."

We can justify anything we want today, like dark chocolate containing anti-oxidants or red wine being good for you. So go out and eat a nice, satisfying Valentine's Day dinner. Enjoy the box of chocolates. But today is just one day of the year, and your heart needs to pump 366 days (it is leap year, after all).

This video is a real beating heart...so don't watch if you don't like that kind of stuff.



According to CDC data heart disease is still the number one killer in America. And everyone of us...everyone...can do something to reduce our risk of heart disease. This is from the final data for 2004.

Number of deaths for leading causes of death:
Heart disease: 652,486
Cancer: 553,888
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 150,074
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 121,987
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 112,012
Diabetes: 73,138
Alzheimer's disease: 65,965
Influenza/Pneumonia: 59,664
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 42,480
Septicemia: 33,373

U. S. News and World Report had a section on heart disease and cholesterol and statins this week, and I am borrowing this information from an ad (Quaker Oats) in that section.

Be Heart Smart

This simple checklist shows you what you can do today to prevent heart disease.

• Be Pressured Know your blood pressure - high pressure will age your arteries. Keeping it around 115/76 can make your body up to 10 years younger.
• Floss & Brush Periodontal disease, such as gingivits, affects more than the gums. Chronic infections require the body to defend itself and inclrease clotting to protect against bleeding - a recipe for heart attack.
• Move it Walking 30 minutes each day can add years to your life - regular movement is a powerful anti-aging treatment.
• Easy takes it An aspirin each day greatly reduces your risk of a stroke.
• Get some shut eye Try for seven hours of zzz's each night.
• Dish up fish Three times a week, dine on omego-3s to help your heart and arteries function, plus fish protein that packs an additional cardiovacular boost. Not nuts about seafood? Walnuts shell out a good dose of omega-3s.
• Skip the smoking section An hour of second hand smoke can cause the same body aging as smoking up to four cigarettes.
• Turn off the TV When you pay attention to what you eat, you enjoy it more and you're likely to sense when you're full - before you've eaten too much.

I come from a family with a history of heart disease and my father had three heart attacks (and just kept on smoking) before finally dying of respiratory disease (caused of course by that smoking). That puts me at some degree of risk.

When I was younger I ran. And ran and ran. Not Forrest Gump type of running, but 6 or 7 miles a day several days a week. I had a running hero, Dr. Jim Fixx, author of The Complete Book of Running. When I graduated from college (the second time ) in 1981, and got a job, my running was reduced by a good bit, but I didn't quit altogether. But imagine my shock when my running hero collapsed and fell dead of a heart attack at age 52 after a run.

Fast forward 25 years and here I am. I've made it past Jim Fixx's age of death and feel pretty good about my heart. I am like the OK City mayor though, and have just a few more pounds to lose...the hardest ones.

I will tell you a couple of things I do. I park in a parking garage, usually on level 4 (not by choice) and take the stairs down and when I return, I take the stairs up. The walk to class is up a hill and down a hill, 2 blocks. Once in the building, my classes are on the 4th floor. I take the stairs.

I have cut down on sugared drinks. Not completely, but cut back to less than half of what I used to drink. I eat a hand full of nuts every day. I'm working on adding more fruits and vegetables. My blood pressure is great. My cholesterol is borderline, and by George I am going to get it within desired range by exercise and diet (I have been on Crestor and don't like it).

I enjoy good food, though, and I don't deny myself, but I now cook a little more healthy than I did 10 years ago.

So, there are things everyone can do. Walking is a good start. One flight of stairs at work is a good start (take the rest by elevator). Then in 2 weeks, take 2 flights of stairs. Whatever you do, start out easy and work your way up. You will feel better, and you will live better.

Why Gary White was Prosecuted

To coerce him into supplying false evidence against Don Siegelman and to score points with Bettye Fine Collins.

This, according to Harpers Magazine.

And while there is an ongoing discussion here about the two (count ‘em, two) Bessemer newspapers, the reputation of The Birmingham News is called into question by this article.

“Both of them are having their credibility tested severely, and neither has much of a record to stand on.”

“Both” refers to The Birmingham News and Alice Martin, who is getting more coverage in this blog than anyone of late. Well not quite, but she should.

If you want to keep up with the goin’s on about the Alice Martin, Don Siegelman and other's case read Legal Schnauzer every day. You can jump in anytime and just read a few days worth and be hooked. It's better than Days of Our Lives (which you can watch once weekly or monthly or yearly and still be up to date).

Here is a quote in the Harpers article from Judy White’s (Gary’s wife) affidavit. The full affidavit can be linked from the article.

(federal agents) repeatedly and insistently told my husband that they ‘needed’ for [a particular] meeting [between Governor Siegelman and Richard Scrushy] to have occurred at the particular and specific date, and that they wanted him to testify that it did. My husband maintained that he could not do so, as he did not know when the meeting occurred. They even attempted to persuade him that the meeting ‘could have’ taken place on the date they stated, and reminded him that he had no calendar saying that it did not.

The article is pretty long, but juicy, in my opinion.

If you were an outsider and had no clue about Alabama politics, would you have ever guessed that the Siegelman case and the Gary White case were related? Or that the Birmingham News wa involved in more than just reporting? Or not reporting?

Scott Horton, the author of the Harper's piece, offers this too, about the Siegelman case.

• sworn evidence by a Republican campaign operative, corroborated by documents and other witnesses, that White House figures including Karl Rove manipulated the prosecution to support G.O.P. election campaign projects,
• well-documented evidence of conflicts of interest by the two U.S. attorneys involved (Alice Martin and Leura Canary),
• admission that the two most senior career prosecutors on the case recommended against a prosecution of Siegelman,
• testimony before Congress that political appointees overrode their determinations in directing a prosecution,
• confirmation that evidence of criminal wrongdoing by William Pryor and Jeff Sessions, far stronger than any of the charges against Siegelman, was swept under the carpet by a prosecutor assigned to handle the matter, who was the wife of William Pryor’s lawyer (Pryor and Sessions belonged to the “home team,” as Time’s Adam Zagorin was told).

At any rate, it looks like Alice Martin should be placed under oath again in the near future. If that happens, let's see if she tells the truth this time. And let's see if the Birmingham News reports it.

Uno Takes the Title

Snoopy must be proud. For years he has been the most celebrated beagle in the country, even claiming a favorite spot in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.


But now, move over Snoopy. Uno is Numero Uno. Uno is the first Beagle ever to win Best in Show. Uno looks so cool, so sharp compared to all the fluff of the poodle and and fur of the Aussie. Go Uno!!!

Family blogging, and Democratic Mess

If you want a good read on the primaries go to Cousin Wayne's blog where he answers my question from the other day:

My preference of course is Clinton, and while she did not win in Alabama, look at the difference between Alabama and Georgia. Obama won by 34% in Georgia, but only by 14% in Alabama. Are we that different than Georgia?

Well, he comes close to answering it anyway. But he did a great analysis of the results in Georgia, Alabama, Illinois, New York, California, Missouri and Tennessee. You will have to scroll down past (or preferably look at) the post about the turkey vultures...the Primary Analysis post is from Sunday February 10.

I want comments on the following (actually I want comments everyday but it seems most people only comment when they can insult someone). On this blog, and in my column in the Western Tribune this week, I write about the problem the Democratic Party will have if they allow the super delegates to vote and change what looks like is the will of the voters in selecting a presidential nominee. But a caller on a talk show this morning said something that might make a little sense. She said that for the most part states where Obama is winning big are open primary and caucus states,where Republicans and Independents are allowed to vote in the Democratic Primary or caucus.

This is not a national election, she said, It is a political party, determining who they want their candidate to be. By allowing Republicans and Independents to vote, the choice is being taken from the Democrats. So the Super delegates, all being members of the party, could provide a better idea of who the party wants than the primaries that allow non-party members to vote. Allowing the Super Delegates to vote (sort of) balances out the effect of the non-democrats who voted.

Twisted Logic? or Good Point?