Birmingham city council's pattern of blaming the businesses instead the true problems

One thing I have noticed about the Birmingham City Council regardless of whom is sitting on it, is its level of ineptitude of on problem finding and solving especially when it comes to night clubs and bars.  First, in 2008, lead by then mayor Larry Langford, the Birmingham City Council pushed to have Banana Joe's night club closed via revocation of its liquor license after the shooting which led to the death of 21 year old by an underage teen.  Last year, Langford urged the City Council to have Club Zen shuttered on Morris Avenue in downtown after a Bessemer resident stabbed a club patron there.  Now on June 29th, the City Council moves to have the Continental ballroom and night club shuttered after allegations of complaints from police officers (not citizens) although there hasn't been any major incidents there in months.

It seems like to me that the Birmingham City Council is a pool of idiots more than they are a board of legislative representatives of the city.  You don't blame the business owners for the problems of the patrons when it clearly an issue that is nearly impossible to totally prevent.  You don't see in Atlanta governmental entities pushing to shutter every club or nightspot that has an incident occurs because they know that it is nearly impossible to remove that element from society only control it.  However, Birmingham has a pattern of shooting itself in the foot economically while attempting to claim to improve along the way.  NOT!!!! 

My advice is you know there will ALWAYS be a "hood club" in every city, but the business owners of these establishments should realize what type of cliente they are catering to while attempting to keep the potential of criminal activity to a minimum. 

On the other hand, this is the same entity that wants to vote fund $10,000 for the "Thunder on the Mountain" fireworks display over Red Mountain after the lead organizers said that is seeing a shortfall due to lack of sponsors.  This all the while Birmingham is facing a major budgetary shortfall themselves guaranteeing a 30% pay cut for civil protection such as police and firefighters.  SMH!

Links courtesy of the Birmingham News and al.com.

The South continues to be home of the most fat asses

Not surprise to me, but the report issued by Trust for America's Health and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation depicted that the South is home to 9 of the 10 fattest states in the nation for adult obesity.

Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and West Virginia are all in the top 8 depicted by the bright red color.  The other 2 spots in the top 10 is South Carolina at 9th with North Carolina and Michigan tied for the 10th place.  Georgia and Florida are the only Deep Southern states that lucked out this time around, but that may have much to do with the existence of Metro Atlanta for Georgia and the big 3 in Florida (South Florida, Tampa Bay, and Orlando).  This is embarrassing considering this region is also home to the nation's highest number of black Americans, but on the flip side home to the highest level of abject poverty as well.  It's like if you live in the South then you are already predisposed to be fat because of the lack of infrastructure conducive with mobility, economically or physically.  The region has the lowest amount of public transit infrastructure availability and usage amongst the nation's major metropolitan areas.  Let's not forget the lack of adequate health care services.  Pathetic and scary.

Oh Jeff Sessions...

You just had to prove to the world that you are an idiot, misanthrope, and bigot once again.  You came up with these bizarre line of questions in the three-ring circus they call the "senatorial hearing" for the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.







This is what Alabama has allowed to represent them in the U.S. Senate along with Richard Shelby.  WTF???

Some things about to occur

It irks me to no end to see Congress rejecting the extension of unemployment benefits for those who are trying to find another job in this abyssal recession/depression by a 261-155 margin. 

As the debate over unemployment benefits continue in Washington, here are somethings that those Democrats and Republicans blocking the extension saying it "makes people lazy" should think about.  One there are 1.7 million people who are looking for jobs for at least 6 months, but still no luck at all.  This will increase to nearly 3 million people if this isn't extended.  Second, these people are your constituents in primarily in swing states like Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Nevada, where jobs aren't as plentiful as in the past, but these people will vote against you because of your callousness.  Third, the states that seem to be hurting the most are the reliably socially conservative states in the Deep South like Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, where unemployment is well over 10% of the employment rolls, but those idiots in DC like that  over the top effeminate closet case Lindsey Graham, the racist Jeff Sessions, the demented one Jim DeMint, and greedy fool like Richard Shelby are from these states.

Michigan Senator Carl Levin in the Huffington Post said that the claims that it will add to the deficit "lame", but he summed it quite well about the problem:

"The problem that exists -- 20 years ago I took a USA Today reporter out to an employment office and he interviewed the people in line waiting for their checks and it was a wide diversity of people, and it was a front-page story," Levin said. "The problem I have and you have is there's no place you can go to talk to the unemployment. They get their checks through the Internet -- the money's sent to them. So it's hard to put a human face on this, but there are 1.7 million human faces, plus their families, so we're determined to find a way to humanize this."

The media's negligence towards displaying the faces of this unemployment problem which should allow everyone including the recalcitrants in DC, who live off our dollars but couldn't give a damn about the people.

The 2010 BET Awards

I have to give it up to BET this year since they decided to give us some decency rather than usual fuckery.  This year's award show was in Los Angeles at the Shrine Auditorium.  First off, Chris Brown was able to finally give the well deserved tribute to Michael Jackson and was finally forgiven by the public.  The moments of the night for me were Monica's duet with soul singer Deniece Williams of "Silly", which was sampled by Monica's current hit song "Everything to Me".  The next moment was the Queen of Facial Expressions, Prince's mega side-eye towards Trey Songz as he failed at singing "Purple Rain" (as since above) in an unofficial tribute attempt.  I was LAUGHING MY ASS OFF at this incident.  Prince is A FOOL, but I would have been with him on the side-eye.  The majority of his official tribute conducted by Janelle Monae, Alicia Keys, Esparanza Spaulding, and Patti LaBelle was pretty good. 

Also there was a Teddy Pendergrass tribute lead by model/actor/singer, Tyrese, but it wasn't that good in my opinion... Then there is the foolishness of everybody on stage for the gospel number with the exception of Yolanda Adams.  Aubrey "Drake" Graham and Nicki Meningitis bring 35,000 nobodies on stage from Young Money on stage with them when they each won their tokens from EBT, I mean BET.

Somebody needs to find a cure to that audio/visual disease known as Nicki Meningitis aka Nicki Minaj because that bitch has no talent at all...

To sum it up, it was better than the last 3 years BET Awards, but not to the level of the first 3.  I guess happy 10th anniversary, BET Awards...

The continuation of Birmingham's population decline...

Last week the U.S. Census Bureau released their last population estimates before they release the official figures (which are currently being compiled).  However, Birmingham population still look as if it is in the ranks of the Rust Belt cities rather than the ones in the Sun Belt.  Birmingham has declined by an additional 5% according to figures to 230,130 from 242,840 in 2000.  This all due to the poor leadership and political baggage that seems to impede its growth seen in other fellow cities including majority black cities like Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans (although it suffered a huge blow with Hurricane Katrina), and Washington.  The only Southern city that has seen continual decline as Birmingham is Baltimore (and for similar reasons).

Meanwhile other fellow Sun Belt Southern major cities like Atlanta (climbed to 540,921), New Orleans (up to 354,850 after Hurricane Katrina's aftermath) Nashville (climbed to 605,473), Memphis (slipped to 676,540), Orlando (climbed to 235,860), Jacksonville (climbed to 813,518), South Florida: [Miami (climbed to 433,136), Fort Lauderdale (up to 184,892),  West Palm Beach (up to 99,504)] , Tampa Bay Area: [Tampa (up to 343,890), St. Petersburg (slipped to 244,324)], Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex: [Dallas (jumped to 1,299,543), Fort Worth (climbed to 727,575)], Houston (jumped to 2,257,926), Austin (climbed to 759,673), San Antonio (up to 1,373,668), Oklahoma City (up to 560,332), Tulsa (balancing out at 389,625), Louisville (up to 566,503), Charlotte (jumped to 709,441), The Triangle: [Raleigh (jumped to 404,718), Durham (up to 229,136), Chapel Hill (up to 51,247)], The Piedmont Triad: [Greensboro (climbed to 225,061), Winston-Salem (climbed to 229,828), High Point (up to 101,618)], The Upstate: [Greenville (up to 61,782), Spartanburg (balanced out at 40,387), Anderson (up to 27,181)], Richmond (up to 204,451), The Hampton Roads: [Norfolk (balancing out at 233,333), Virginia Beach (balancing 433,575), Portsmouth (slipped to 99,321), Hampton (slipped to 144,236), Chesapeake (up to 222,455), Suffolk (up to 83,659),] The DMV (District-Maryland-Virginia): [Washington, D.C. (climbed to 599,657), Baltimore (slipped to 637,418)]. 

It's pathetic, but another fact of the Birmingham problem.  The city is still losing more residents than gaining them to balance out or increase city population.  At the rate it going, it will be a city that will wind up seeing a political coup in the next few years lead by yuppies and wealthy whites because there won't be enough black voters to keep the city the way it is politically.  This is all meanwhile the suburban areas in the Greater Birmingham area gaining major population boosts at the expense of the city and the region as a whole.  Birmingham is well on its way to becoming a Southern-version of Detroit, where everybody lives in the metropolitan area rather than the racially stratification city proper.

The Epic battle between Terri Sewell versus Shelia Smoot

 

Well, the sides have been defined and it seems that the battle to claim the helm of the Democratic nomination for Alabama's 7th congressional district seat.  Jefferson County commissioner and former WBRC "FOX6" consumer affairs reporter, Shelia Smoot, has made her amends to grab the endorsements of the black political interest group Alabama Democratic Caucus (ADC) aka "Joe Reed & Co." along with the Alabama Education Association (AEA) also co-headed by Reed and Paul Hubbard.  According to the Birmingham News, Smoot also has received the endorsements from South Carolina congressman and Democratic House Whip James Clyburne along with Homeland Security chairman Bennie Thompson.  Whereas, attorney and womens' rights activist Terri Sewell has lined up the endorsements from feminist interest group Emily's List, equal pay advocate Lily Ledbetter,  Alabama black interest group New South Coalition (headed by Alabama State Senator Hank Saunders), and amount of unofficial support from labor unions.

The lines have been drawn who supports whom, but the real question is who's the better candidate for Congress?  I can speak on this personally since I live in the district.  It's Terri Sewell.  She has clearly defined herself as a social progressive that stands on the right side of gay rights issues, women's rights, economic development, health care reform, equal pay for both genders, and financial reform.  Meanwhile, Shelia Smoot has been mired with baggage like Erykah Badu's song "Bag Lady".  Smoot has been on the Jefferson County Commission since 2002, and since then they have soared in bond debt from county-owed sewer system (and bond swaps administered by former county commission president Larry Langford), sued numerous times over personnel quips involving Smoot, and let's not forget when Jeffco couldn't even make payroll where Smoot along with the other commissioners with the exception of Bobby Humphryes refused to take a paycut.  

I'm absolutely loving Sewell's haters like RedEye on her little double-dutch short bus blog (this is same fool whom I've had to shut down numerous times on Left in Alabama for being so damn irrational and illogical while debating ).  I love this line:

"Sheila Smoot has street creds, which may be why she has so called "negative baggage". Anytime you are active in the community you will have favorable and unfavorable opinions."

First of all, it's "street cred", there is no "s" on "cred" (***EYE ROLL***), but I had to laugh at this fool because this person is another one of those retards that I talk about constantly suffering from delusions of misinformation and impropriety.  How in the hell does she have "street creds"  when all she has ever done is worked as a news station report and now a county commissioner that shows up at events so that her face is seen.  REALITY CHECK: Smoot's going to be unemployed without a full-time job for the first time in 8 years after December and needs this gig in Congress as an income.  She hasn't been that good of a commissioner considering she knew about state law that requires the posting of commission meetings minutes and county documents, but didn't even attempted to do it until the Birmingham News exposed her and the rest of the commission.

Then there is Smoot's shill on Left in Alabama, gradyw, whom was officially outed by one of the blog's moderators after constantly be relentlessly basing accusations about Sewell while blatantly omitting Smoot's baggage.

Yeah, it's pretty obvious along with that Sewell is the wiser choice since she isn't baggage ridden as Smoot.  Then all one has to look at the endorsements of the Reed & Co. and AEA to make continue to second guess on Smoot's candidacy.  I'm shaking my head at James Clyburne, but then yet doesn't he have his own state's Democratic party's foolishness to worry about?  Also I don't care at all for the New South Coalition aka "Saunders & Co.", but if it will get Sewell elected over Smoot then so be it...

This is the guy holding the Democratic nomination for South Carolina's U.S. Senate seat?

The information about that buffoon, Alvin Greene, keeps a coming.  He has proven to me to be the dumbest, most bizarre, and apparently a reprehensible individual.  The woman behind the allegations and case of Greene's felony obscenity charges, Camille McCoy, has spoken out in the past week to the Summerville Journal Scene newspaper in Summerville, South Carolina.  Guess what, McCoy is a white woman...oh, how typical of an idiotic minded fool like Alvin Greene...UGH! 

She had just sat down at one of the computer stations when an older black man, dressed as though he might be a repairman or custodian, sat down at the computer station next to her. She had noticed him when she had first entered the room, but had quickly forgotten about him as she concentrated on her work.


But then he started to become invasive — leaning toward her, talking close, trying to start conversations with her.
At first, Camille said she tried to politely ignore him. After all, the guy seemed more annoying than dangerous.
“To me, he seemed slow, “ she said. “He obviously wasn’t a student.”
Then he asked her if she liked football. When she offhandedly replied that she did, he told her to check out what was on his computer.
What was on his screen, however, was not football.
“It was porn – black on white pornography,” she said. “He scrolled through several pictures. I immediately told him that was offensive and he needed to leave. He laughed at me and said, ‘let’s go to your room.’”

WOW, WOW, WOW!  Greene is obviously something else, but this is what the voters of the Democratic U.S. Senatorial primary voted for the nomination...

Then there is the interview from a former fellow servicemen who knew Greene while in the military with Gawker:

Could you tell me a bit about your time working with Greene?


During the first couple of weeks of working with him, myself and most everyone else noticed that he wasn't all there mentally. Whenever he was given a simple task such as filling a temporary hand receipt it would never get done, mainly because he didn't know how to fill one out. And this is the most fundamental part of the job.
He also didn't show much interest in being a soldier. For instance, he was asked to do maintenance on the M249. This system is a little more complex than the regular service rifle. When it came to Greene's turn he was able to take the weapon apart but didn't know where to start when it came to put it back together. He showed no interest in learning and would mumble under his breath about not wanting to do it. So after a couple of months of trying and not getting anywhere, people just made sure he was where he was supposed to be and in the correct uniform. He would just basically come to work and stare at the wall till it was time for lunch and then do the same till it was time to go home for the day. The platoon sergeant tried to get him to go see a doctor for help but he would never seek help.


There have also been questions about his mental state, and whether he is mentally fit to serve. Frankly, judging from his interviews he doesn't seem to be all there.


What you see in his interviews is what we had to deal with. People have been saying he acts that way because he is nervous, but it's not true. He has a difficult time communicating and really doesn't enjoy people asking him personal questions. I noticed when he mumbles incoherently it means he is agitated.
But I think he is a smart person. I asked him why he didn't go to Officers Candidate School since he has a bachelors degree [from the University of South Carolina] and he answered, "Why would I do that since that would require more work?" After he said that I realized what he was doing. He was being very lazy and working the system to get by. Even though it's obvious that he suffers from some kind of mental illness, I have worked with people that suffer from alcoholism to bipolarism and they would put more effort into what they did during their day to day life then he ever did.

This guy is an IDIOT, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.  However, it gets even better with the CNN Newsroom interview with Don Lemon from last week.  Even Don Lemon felt this interview was bizarre:



Honestly, I don't know what the fuck went on there, and the fact that the South Carolina Democratic Party wants him to repeal from the ballot says a lot about the constituency.  This is idiocy at its very worst, yet some of the dumbass posters on Jack & Jill Politics have the audicity to want to support and find this dumbass "inspiring" because he has a "D" behind his name.  Uh yeah, this is just another reason why I'm an independent because some Democratic bloggers have proven they have juju beads for brains...

Another curious case of irrationality involving Democrats, but this time in South Carolina

Normally, I wouldn't even say anything about the South Carolina unless it's just ubber-partisan or socially foolish since it is South Carolina (home to no real large Southern metro and the Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson region doesn't count).  Anyways, apparently on Tuesday the state Democratic voters have shown why there isn't any Democrats or progressives on the ballot to challenge seating U.S. Senate Jim "Demented" DeMint (google the son-of-bitch and see why I call him "demented"). 

The Democratic senatorial primary had to 2 candidates one a former justice and state legislator Vic Rawls and the other was an unemployed, military veteran, who lives at home with his parents, Alvin Greene.  Now I don't crap on vets, but this one is a doozy.  According to the Associated Press and the Hill, Greene has a pending conviction of felony involving obscene acts involving showing unwarranted displays of his penis towards a University of South Carolina female student and attempting to come to her dormitory residence.  (UGH!).  This Greene guy is a piece of work, but the idiocy amongst a number of Democratic voters on Tuesday like last week in Alabama is AMAZING.  Now the South Carolina Democratic Party is trying get Greene to step down, but he refuses quoting this statement from NPR and the Associated Press:

"The Democratic Party has chosen their nominee, and we have to stand behind their choice," Greene told the AP at his home in Manning. "The people have spoken. We need to be pro-South Carolina, not anti-Greene."

This foolishness has generated some major issues for the South Carolina Democratic Party as well as the DNC.  According to The Hill, U.S. House Whip and South Carolina Democratic Congressman James Clyburn said that "there is some shenanigans going on" and wants the U.S. attorney for South Carolina's Midlands district to investigate this.  Clyburne thinks Greene is a "plant". 

"I think there's some federal laws being violated in this race, but I think some shenanigans are going on in South Carolina," Clyburn explained. "Somebody gave him that $10,000 and he who took it should be investigated, and he who gave it should be investigated."

This is all because how can somebody unemployed come up with $10,000.  I would like to know because shit I could a cool $10,000 right now...

Oh yeah, Greene didn't even campaign or anything yet won 100,000 votes beating seasoned politicians who spent over $100,000 on the campaign by 59% margin.  Yeah, Democrats you guys are setting a precedent, but it's not well thought out one that will cost you an election in a time when Jim "Demented" DeMint is at his weakest.  Oh well, more proof that the Democratic party is a big ol' tent, but a number of them are idiots and fools...

Rationale wins over idealism in Arkansas senate race

Rationale wins out this time in Arkansas with Blanche Lincoln securing her spot as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate race in November in Tuesday's run-off against Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Bill Halter.  However, her Republican opponent has already had a 3 week headstart on her in the race after winning his race outright on May 18th.  According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Lincoln beat Halter by a 52-48 margin in the run-off. 

Meanwhile, a number of whiners including Rod McCullom of Rod 2.0, gawking at Lincoln as "conservative Democrat" along with her vote against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in 2008.  Reality check, she is a moderate meaning she will vote progressive sometimes but not all the time.  

As I refuted in March, rationale is what the majority of Democrats have to use to maintain power and push foward with a progressive agenda.  Expecting an overnight takeover and change of direction of Congress.  Rome wasn't built in a day.  Otherwise, electing a liberal group-supported candidate would have guaranteed a loss for in November.  Anybody with an inkling of political knowledge could have seen the Republicans using Halter's win via outside influence as a clear liability and tag to paint him as a 'liberal'.  Lincoln isn't perfect.  As a matter of fact, Lincoln has a lack of discernment on a number of economic and fiscal issues, but she at least has shown her ability to rationalize a moderate to progressive stance on social issues such as hate crimes legislation in these crucial times. 

That's the reality of things, you have to work with those who show willingness to support you instead of attempting to be vindictive.  As I've said time and time again, vindictiveness isn't going to win an election.

Well, Obama agrees with me

Oh well to Peanuthead aka James Carville, his wife, and them...

***SHRUG***, another chapter in black politics

Well in the case of Alabama, polls have closed and it has been reaffirmed to me and others that something is inherently wrong with the political landscape.  I've relentlessly time and time again made it known that even as early as last fall that Artur Davis was damned if he did and damned if he didn't, but he didn't give himself much slack when decided to stay in Congress long after "jumping the shark" with getting President Barack Obama elected to office.

But this post isn't about Artur Davis so as it is about how schadenfreudean individuals across the internet and nationwide are gleeful at Davis' loss Tuesday.  His interpolation of progressive and moderate political stances did confuse many, aggravate some, and infuriated a few.  However, Roland Martin's pious interpretation of Davis' lack of attention to black media outlets like his show on TV One, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, or Joe Madison's Sirius/XM radio show as "arrogant as hell".  Roland Martin himself is an arrogant and homophobic, so he doesn't have room to even talk about anybody considering his grandiose delusion of being the "sociopolitical voice of the black community".  To other idiots like Rod McCollum proving yet again he doesn't know shit about Alabama other than what others tell him, where he dedicates an entire post to rehashing the same tired mantra and half-truths about Davis while giving his sycophants an attempt rejoice at Alabama's loss of its only real progressive gubernatorial candidates for sometime to come.  Finally, the duplicity of Jack & Jill Politics poster "rikyhah" proves that it doesn't know shit either when it comes to Alabama politics.  Alabama black folks didn't vote against him because of his lack "loyalty" rather the fact that there was a rather low turnout and most (like myself) where ambivalent about the whole race in general because the Alabama Democratic party operates.  NOTE TO THEM: Numbers, facts, and knowledge of the area's local media outlets are your friends not The New York Times, Politico, or The Huffington Post when it comes to having the incite to make an informed comment about anything.

Davis along with his campaign miscalculated the willingness of the moderate to progressive voting base within Alabama to go to the polls.  This is symptomatic of the Alabama Democratic Party (ADP) lack of fortitude to move from being a post-Dixiecrat state party with black tokens to a modern Democratic National Convention state op where it's a big tent and a multitude of interest and individuals.  I've regurgitated over and over again a number of times why in this state it's so hap-hazardous for a southern state to allow black politicos to be elected to public office. Interesting, Josh Goodman of Governing magazine who summed it up quite accurately, "AL-Governor: Did the Voting Rights Act Doom Artur Davis?" , where he talked about how detrimental minority-majority districts have and can be for black politicians running for statewide offices in the South.  However, the barons of ignorance like Joe Reed & Co. aka "Alabama Democratic Coalition" and Hank Sanders and the Alabama New South Coalition are all against the removal of gerrymandered minority-majority districts where guarantees of black politicos are elected.   This does more of a disservice to those black voters in the long run than anything else since allows stalwarts of status quo want to maintain the racially pure mindset of politicians.

Kyle Whitmire summed it up in his commentary this past weekend on the site Second Front:

Sometimes you’re dealt a loser, and there’s no surviving no matter which cards you throw away and which ones you keep.

FYI, I don't care if Alabama and Mississippi are home to the most elected black politicians in their state legislatures in reference to their states' black population composition especially when it comes down to the fact in the case of Alabama nothing has essentially changed since the 1970s.  The next chapter will be about direct versus substantial representation, and why the curious case of Congressman Steven Cohen of Tennessee (D-Memphis) is probably going to be the best thing that ever happened to TN-09 congressional district.  Future chapters will be about black LGBT/SGLs and the relentlessly sanctimonious black community on progressive social issues along with a discussion on why The Boondocks exposes how stupid and retarded some black folks will carry on about anything.

Some black folks have brought this shit on themselves and it's about time somebody exposes it for what it is, fuckery.  Now I know why some black folks will run to the oddest places in the world just to escape the "black community", and these folks are probably most afrocentric individuals you would ever meet.