Near Death On New Years Eve ::

I had to run to the store early this morning and the fog was pretty bad. I was turning onto Hwy. 431 at New Hope as the light turned green and a silver van came right through the red light in his direction at a high rate of speed barely missing me!

Not a good way to end one year and start another, but we're wishing each and every one of you a Happy New Year as well as a safe one! I will celebrate by watching Clemson trounce Auburn this evening. (Actually I'm touting Clemson by 6 although the official line is, I believe, Clemson by 2 1/2.)

See you in the new year!

Heat Applied To The Gov?

I first came across this story on Raw Story earlier this afternoon:

Alabama's Republican Governor Bob Riley may have attempted to conceal illegal corporate donations to his 2002 and 2006 campaigns by representing them in campaign finance reports as having come from individuals, according to an an investigation carried out by the Montgomery Independent.

I'll be watching the local paper closely to see if they pick up on the allegations, but I have few doubts that the Huntsville Times is anything more than a corporate shill and will either not report the story at all or will bury it as deep in the newspaper as possible! Let's look at what the Montgomery Independent has to say:

Riley's campaign finance reports for the 2006 campaign list in-kind contributions for transportation totaling $7,929.47 from John Saint of Mobile. Saint is listed on the Secretary of State Web site as president of a number of Alabama corporations. When asked about the in-kind contributions Saint said he did not recall when Riley may have used his company's plane. He said: "Our plane gets used every day. A lot of charities use our plane for Angel Flights."

When asked if he had reimbursed his company for the Riley campaign's use of the plane, he said: "I don't recall." He said he would have to go back and look, but it would be after the first of the year. When asked who owned the plane he said JDC Support Services, Inc. and added: "I own the company."

Federal Aviation Administration records show that JDC Support Services, Inc. owns a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-2B16, a twin engine jet airplane. There are no aircraft registered to John Saint individually

All bold emphasis added here is mine!

But, there is more!

Neither Saint nor Wellborn, through his spokesman, are able to affirm that they reimbursed their corporations for the Riley campaign's use of their corporate airplanes. It appears that the Riley campaign may have improperly reported in-kind contributions from corporations, by listing the presidents of the corporations individually, rather than the corporations themselves, as contributors. If that is the case, it would appear to be a violation of the Fair Campaign Practices Act.

Also, under Alabama law, there is no limit on campaign contributions from individuals, but corporate contributions, whether cash or in-kind, are limited to $500 per election cycle. Riley's name was on the ballot in only two election cycles in 2006, the Republican primary and the General Election. That means any corporate contribution more than $1,000 would appear to be unlawful.

Seems as though Riley has some questions to answer! Go read the entire article from the Montgomery Independent. I see some interaction with with my state legislative representative in my future!

A Christmas Message From Don Siegelman

As posted over at The Legal Schnauzer via Pam Miles:

Merry Christmas to all of you, with heartfelt gratitude for your support.

Please enjoy this meaningful holiday season and appreciate your freedom, your homes, and your loved ones. I look forward to cherishing these precious gifts, more than ever, in the coming year.

With your continued hard work, I believe this Christmas will be my only one within these walls. Despite the grim conditions here, I will celebrate this special day by keeping my faith, and by maintaining the hope that, with your help, we can move Congress to expand their investigation and restore American justice --our once bright beacon in the free world.

I cannot thank you enough, or ask more emphatically that you continue and intensify your extremely important efforts. May the many blessings of this season bring joy to each of you.

Don Siegelman
Oakdale, LA

Don Siegelman # 24775-001
Satellite Prison Camp
Post Office Box 5010
Oakdale, LA 71463-5019

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We're wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and the safest of holidays!

Cinram

This story has lasted about as long as I thought it would before the powers that be who benefit from cheap labor in Huntsville succeeded in killing it. I had some responses from current and former employees of Cinram testifying to the terrible working conditions, but our local political and business leaders continue to support the exploitation of the north Alabama work force, not to mention the terrible treatment of the foreign workers they coerced into coming here for what should have been a positive economic experience for them rather than for the recruiting firm!

Why can't we keep Cinram's feet to the fire on this! Not to mention our elected politicians--they should be held accountable for this human resource debacle also!

A Firearm Shooting Range For Columbia High In Huntsville?

This item was buried on one of the back pages of today's (Friday) Huntsville Times:

The Huntsville city school board Thursday approved nearly $285,000 for construction of an indoor firing range at Columbia High School.

John Brown, director of operations for Huntsville City Schools, said the 1,400 square-foot facility could be ready in late spring or early summer. It will be used by the school's Junior ROTC program.

This is the entirety of the report in the paper and I find this proposal disturbing on many levels, as should any parent who has a student at Columbia High School. I have never, ever, heard of any high school in this country with its own shooting range and, given the problems throughout the country with school shootings, why are we building a shooting range in a high school. The story says that this range is for use by the Junior ROTC program, but this is just beyond the pale.

I attended a land grant college where ROTC was mandatory for freshmen and sophmores and our experience at firing a weapon was one time in a year on a local range off the university site. As it turns out I had classes when this was scheduled and missed firing the M14. The participation was voluntary instead of mandatory.

I think that some serious questions should be asked about this. Not only why someone felt that a shooting range should be built in a high school environment, but how did this proposal get approved apparently without much, if any, public notice.

I find this to be truly frightening and makes me wonder about the reasoning ability of the Huntsville city school board!

Thom Hartmann Follows The Siegelman Saga

I normally listen to the web feed of Air America while at work and Hartmann has really begun to follow and push the injustice brought on Siegelman by the Bush administration and the Republicans in Alabama. The story is beginning to really gain national traction and we hope that questions will soon be asked and answered!

The Siegelman Saga Grows Legs ::

I've been working on putting another web site together for the past few days and it has been time intensive, but the story of Don Siegelman's legal woes due to the Republican dirty tricks is beginning to gain well deserved national traction. Thom Hartmann on Air America has picked up on the story and has prominently featured it at least once this past week expanding on the time he had previously given it. It's gratifying to see Siegelman characterized as what he is: a political prisoner of the Bush crime administration!

Vivian Davis Figures-"I Believe"

Whew, her campaign has finally put up a web site with which offers information about her campaign and her policies as well as opportunities for donating and volunteering.
I am going to be tossing some dollars her way and I will volunteer in any way that I can!

More Cinram Madness

I don't watch much television of any sort although I right now I'm watching Martin Scorsese's No Direction Home DVD about Bob Dylan so I seldom get to see any of the newscasts from the local stations. Mooncat has a link to a WAAY story up on Left In Alabama which I found pretty interesting so I'm going to excerpt a bit of it:

After just three months on the job, Angela DeLaveleye decided she'd had enough with Cinram. DeLaveleye and her former co-worker Alison Glaze both quit the Huntsville plant earlier this month, and they now say what's going on inside is not only appalling, but illegal.

"At Cinram you don't go and make a big stink if you want to keep your job," said DeLaveleye. "I've seen 14-year-olds, i've asked them, they've said they're 14 years old. You have 14-year-old Hispanic people working here."

[snip]

Both women said many workers at the plant are too afraid to do anything because of their legal status. And there are other allegations as well.

"The conditions are filthy, it's dirty," DeLaveleye said. "The bathrooms are dirty, they're not cleaned, they smell. You walk into the bathrooms, someone has spit in them, left hair in the sink."

"When a friend of mine left, she was told by a security guard that there is TB at Cinram right now, and you need to go get checked," Glaze said. "(This happened) about four weeks ago."

I've had friends who worked at Cinram, and one that I see infrequently still works there, I think. I'll have to look Gordie up, but all characterize the company as little more than a sweatshop. I'm interested in seeing just how long this story will last until the local powers-that-be kill it!

[UPDATE]

Mooncat has an expanded post which expands on the entire situation regarding Cinram. Here's another excerpt:

The H-2B workers at Cinram are living in multi-person apartments and paying an exorbitant amount for a rent/transportation package. The apartments are no better than expected. A local reporter found some female Cinram workers from Jamaica living in a place with a non-working heater, a tub that won't drain, closet doors on the floor and drafty windows. One of the women said, "I have a pet goat and I would never let her stay here." They were paying a total of $1280 per month for that, a ride to work and twice a week rides to Wal-Mart.

The same reporter quizzed the women on earnings and expenses and calculated that if they only spend $10/day for food and necessities, they can save about $2000 each during their 8 month stay. Good, huh? Not really, because they had to pay $1400 in fees to an agency to get the job, $500 for airfare to get here and $100 for a visa application and background checks. So they spent $2000 to get the job and they will have $2000 left after working 8 months. Even, Steven. So much for "helping poor people get ahead."

This is the part of the story which really concerns me. The only term sticking in my mindright now is "economic peonage"!

Contacting Your Local Representative

I have been ranting for sometime about our state and national representation, but today I e-mailed my local county commissioner with a concern about a bridge. Within a couple of hours he had returned my call with a full explanation of how the matter was being handled and I firmly complimented him on his response.

Being involved starts at the ground up!

I listen to the webcast of Air America radio and I am a big fan of Thom Hartmann:

"Tag You're It!"

Cinram And Imported Labor

This story gets more and more bizarre and Mooncat is covering it nicely over at Left In Alabama. Just af few minutes ago I was in a local convenience store picking up something when the news piece of today's meeting between community leaders and the Cinram management was reported so I stopped in the aisle and watched it since I had seen the teaser earlier at home but knew I would miss the story.

Upon seeing the local newscast my first thought was that Cinram has spent a lot of money on PR spin given how big this story has grown in the past few weeks.

When I got to the cash register the cashier asked me what I thought of the story and I told her that I thought the entire episode has been despicable and that we should be expecting more of not only local companies, but also we should expect more from our local government. She proceeded to tell me that she had worked at Cinram until just before this story broke, she had been there several years and she was just about to be slated for upgraded benefits when she was laid off. The bitterness sort of dripped from her voice and we both agreed that there were more than enough local workers, given the wages to be paid, to fill the jobs which Cinram had open.

What also concerns me is the treatment of the foreign workers which I think will be documented even more in the coming days. From Mooncat:

The Jamaican women interviewed are not making as much money as they were promised, and the living conditions are, shall we say, piss poor.

"They told us they're nice people, and the housing will be comfortable," Erin said. "I have a pet goat and I would never let her stay here."

However, a call to the apartment manager reveals that the unit normally rents for $395 a month. Together these women pay $1280 a month to a man who drives them to work.

If I understand that correctly, that means someone is renting the apartment for $395, driving the women to work and back daily and charging them $1280 for room and transportation. That's $785 for transportation. There has to be a big profit in that deal.

In fact, it sounds like everybody is profiting, except the foreign workers. Stephens looked at pay stubs and figures that, if they can limit expenses for food and necessities to $10 per day, they can save $2000 over the 8 month stint in Huntsville. Sounds good, you say? Wrong! They had to pay $2000 in fees and transportation to get the job here.

So, they quit jobs in their home countries, come to Huntsville, work long hours at a dead end job, pay three prices to live in bad conditions and go home no richer. I'm sure they will leave with a wonderful impression of what a friendly, caring, Christian nation America is.

I have long believed that Huntsville is a large hearted city and I don't see why we can't arrange some sort of community transportation to get these people to work and back home. What would interest me would be who would be crying the loudest about the loss of the transportation fee! Doesn't the city offer public transportation? I have yet to see this being overused and I see no reason why bus schedules could not be rearranged to get these people to work and back in a cost effective manner.

I see more phone calls to the Huntsville City and Madison County representatives in my future!

Get involved!

Grrrrr!

I got the OS reloaded on the desktop computer, but it will take me some time to get everything reloaded and back up to speed. Luckily I have just recently backed-up most of my desktop stuff to my flash drive. Losing those items would have negated several days of work! I began noticing a problem a few days ago printing out of Photoshop to my Epson 2200 printer. I now wonder if this was a precursor to my OS problem?

Computer Problems

My desktop seems to have crashed so I'm posting here from the old PII 233 laptop. Actually the problems seem to be happening across web sites so we're going through all recovery ideas including re-installing the desktop OS! My thoughts at the moment include damnations for Microsoft!

I'll post later tonight or tomorrow morning with an update!

The Republican Debate

I thought that was pretty interesting and my feeling is that Guiliani and Romney both got hammered and Mike Huckabee came out far ahead. Ron Paul didn't hurt himself, but I still think that he has to be seen as a fringe candidate.

Romney certainly did not help himself and Guiliani was probably booed almost as much as he was applauded.

Fred Thompson is irrelevent.

McCain didn't hurt himself and had some great responses to the question of torture.

Tancredo=irrelevance

Ron Paul didn't hurt himself, but he is not going anywhere.

I'm tired and this has been a pretty draining experience. I'll have some more to say about this tomorrow

The Republican You Tube Debate!

I watched the Democratic You Tube debate and I enjoyed it immensely so I have been looking forward to this one for some time. I was surprised at just how tepid the crowd response was to the introduction of each candidate.

Guiliani and Romney start out with immigration fireworks and it's looking like immigration may be the hot topic of the evening!

I wonder who did the lighting for this set because it's certainly not flattering to any of the candidates.

Duncan Hunter loves fences!

Mike Huckabee looks like Gomer Pyle, but Romney thinks he's a "liberal". Everyone loves piling on Mitt! They're fighting over educational benefits for immigrants while I would much prefer to hear what they propose for universal affordable education for everyone!

Ah, on to the economy. McCain loves him some veto power over wasteful spending, but he seems to have been silent for the past few years when the Republicans were spending! Guiliani wants to cut the federal work force (He obviously has not thought this position through).

Ron Paul is a master at playing to his base and he wants all troops brought home from all over the world. Huckabee wants to do away with the IRS totally.

McCain wants to change the tax code, but he draws boos when attacking Ron Paul's proposal to bring the troops home! This is getting really interesting now!

A question from Grover Norquist about the positions on increasing taxes? WTF is that all about?

Mitt Romney loves him some farm subsidies, but I don't think he has much of a grasp of American subsidies as opposed to subsidies throughout the rest of the world!

Anderson gets to the root of the question of Guiliani's expensing of visits to his then (now wife)on consecutive weekends! Guiliani sloughs the answer off to his security detail!

Duncan Hunter wants everyone to buy American-just how clueless is he on just what manufacturing capability is left in this country!

Huckabee is pretty good with those souther witticisms we have come to love:

"when your getting kicked in the rear it means you're still out front" (or at least something like that.

[commercial time=guess which room I'm about to visit]

Duncan Hunter says all usns need guns for protection!

Guiliani is shooting himself in the head with the gun loving 2nd amendment crowd and drawing boos! This is perfect television theater!

Thompson also wants everyone to own a gun.

Some bozo asks about the candidate's gun collections?

The question is black on black crime. Romney wants every kid to have a mother and a father and he wants to change the values of the black community. Romney wants to put criminals in jail as if they're not terribly overcrowded now.

Guiliani seems to be at good butt-pulling of statistics. I was in interested in his statistic of crime in Harlem since by all accounts he was never a visitor to Harlem due to his irrational fear of black neighborhoods!

Abortion.

Ron Paul thinks it should be up to the states, but Thompson wants Roe overturned toute-suite! He wants Doctors jailed for providing the service.

Curiously all of the questions to this point about abortion have been asked by young adults.

Romney would not hesitate to sign a federal bill outlawing abortion.

What would Jesus do in regards to the death penalty. This has to be the best question of the night and it's directed to Huckabee. Huckabee dances around the question to a great degree. Jesus was too smart to run for public office? What does this tell us about the morons we ultimately elect?

Do the candidates believe every word of the bible?

Guiliani is killing himself with the evangelicals!

Romney believes that the Bible is the word of God? Please, someone ask him about the Book Of Mormon!

Huckabee, as a Baptist minister, is fairly transparent to the evangelicals and I think that he probably has that vote firmly in hand.

[another commercial break and another visit to that little square room where the square paper resides]

Guiliani: noun+verb+9/11

McCain loves him some surge! I think he wants some more rugs! He hates Democrats for their defeatist strategy!

Waterboarding?

Romney opposes torture, but will not say that waterboarding is torture. He doesn't care as long as he is not waterboarded and he wants to keep the prisoners in Guantanomo there with no rights.

McCain jumps right on Romney and increases tremendously in my estimation of his morality!

Romney dances around his response to McCain regarding torture. I hope that the American people are watching Romney on this and McCain is hammering him on the immorality of using torture.

Long term commitment to staying in Iraq?

Thompson wants to stay as long as it takes, whatever that means! He is scared crapless of the Muslim infidels!

Ron Paul draws some boos by advocating an immediate pull-out from Iraq.

Mc(Cain wants to stay--he too is scared crapless!

Tancredo--he be scared crapless of Muslims also!

Guiliani is asked about his record--He hates himself some immigrants? Single-handedly
destroyed the Mafia and was lionized by George Will!

(noun+verb+9/11)

Presidential and Vice-Presidential power.

Thompson loves him some Dick (shooter) Cheney.

McCain loves him some Dick (shooter)Cheney.

[last break]

An openly gay retired Brigadier General asks a question!

Duncan Hunter would not share a foxhole with a gay man!

Mike Huckabee loves himself some UCMJ, but he would not share a foxhole with a gay man!

Mitt Romney thinks hates him some gays!

This retired gay general officer served 43 years and is very articulate in stating his position.

McCain dances around the question of gays in the military, he loves himself some "don't ask, don't tell".

Log Cabin Republicans:

Mick Huckabee loves him some gay republicans as long as they vote for him.

Fred Thompson (actor, lawyer, former senator) wants to change social security.

Mitt Romney loves himself some Ronald Reagan on the economy.

NASA:

Huckabee in favor of expanding the space program but he ends with a personal attack on Hillary by offering to send her to Mars.

Tancredo doesn't want to go to Mars.

Guiliani hates himself some public schooling as well as welfare! His crime busting in New York brought opportunities to African-Americans.

Huckabee sees race as a medical problem?

Confederate flag:

Romney has nothing to say. "Reach out to all Americans" and attacks John Edwards.

Thompson just doesn't care a whole lot as long as the display is private.

Infrastructure:

Which candidate will commit to repairs?

Guiliani say the solution is multi-generational!

Ron Paul turns the question around to rebuilding Iraq as opposed to rebuilding American infrastructure.

McCain will veto all pork (while brandishing a Sharpie)

Ron Paul to run as an independent?

Ron Paul says he will not run as an independent! This disappoints me as I have been counting on him being a divisive force in the Republican party.

Happy Birthday To Me !!!!!

I turned 60 years old today! My thoughts on aging have naturally changed quite a bit in the last few years and I find it interesting to think about just how I look on life now versus how I viewed it even 20 years ago. I'll have some more to say about this later!

The wonderful co-workers surprised me with a birthday cake today. They're great people and we care a lot for each other!

The Sock Industry In Fort Payne

Just before I got home this evening NPR was running a story highlighting the decline of the sock production industry in Fort Payne, Alabama and how it has impacted the region. I didn't get to hear it all, but the story as well as the podcast is up on NPR web site.

There were several interesting aspects to this story of how a major portion of the sock production was exported to Honduras (and other Central American countries). I had never realized just how mechanized the sock industry is, but I was amazed to find that the major labor involved, manually closing the toe, has been outsourced to 3rd world countries based on as little as 1¢ cost differential per sock! Some excerpts:

There were more than 150 sock factories, churning out a big chunk of the socks worn in the U.S. But lately, there has been a flood of cheaper socks coming in from China, Pakistan and Honduras. It has devastated Fort Payne. Two-thirds of the town's sock mills have closed.

[snip]

Sock workers are paid per sock, rather than an hourly wage. They generally make 22 to 30 cents for every dozen pairs of socks they sew. In Honduras or China, it's a penny per sock cheaper to sew a toe closed than in the U.S.]

Here's where it gets interesting. The bill to pass CAFTA was deadlocked with Robert Aderholt, Fort Payne's representative, being the swing vote.

Bush met with Fort Payne's congressman, Robert Aderholt, to talk about tariffs and the sock business.

That meeting was, most likely, the moment Aderholt had more power than at any other time in his life. The House was voting on CAFTA, the Central America Free Trade Agreement. The vote was an exact tie. Aderholt was the holdout. And President Bush very much wanted CAFTA to pass. So, Aderholt offered the president a deal: He could get his big free-trade deal only if he rolled back free trade on one industry, the sock industry.

"I told him this was what I needed," Aderholt said. "This was the one thing I had great concerns about."

That night, President Bush agreed to Aderholt's deal. CAFTA passed. And the White House gave itself a self-imposed deadline of Dec.19, 2007, to put back tariffs on sock exports from Honduras.

What do you suppose happened? According to the NPR piece Fort Payne is not doing badly and new industries have taken up where the sock factories left off when they closed. Color me skeptical that the workers who lost their jobs are doing better, but the bright side to the story is that the citizens of Fort Payne have learned the value of education and seem to be aggressive in its pursuit!

I was struck this morning by a story in the N.Y. Times about outsourcing the purchase of manhole covers to India. I have a difficult time understanding the concept of worldwide prosperity predicated on cheap labor! There seem to be only a few winners and billions of losers based on this concept!

I hope that Aderholt's constituents will hold his feet to the fire on the sock tariff agreed to between he and George Bush, but I shall not hold my breath!

Raw Story On The Siegelman Saga

Part 2 of the Raw Story piece is up here.

I'm fairly well pressed for time with some projects right now, but I will try to post the PDFs to the server for download in a couple of days.

[update] I see at the bottom of part 2 of the story that there will be a part 3. Let's bring on as much heat as we can!

Raw Story On The Don Siegelman Case

Part 1 is up here.
I'm running late this morning and I will try to post some excerpts and comments later this evening.