UGH!!! There are too many idiots in this world, but way too many in the Nashville area

The foolishness of the fighting over a Muslim mosque in suburban Nashville has once again reaffirmed idiocy still is prevalent in modern society.  The on-going fight over a proposed mosque in Rutherford County, Tennessee, near Murfreesboro, has boiled down to the argument that Islam is attempting to take over the Westernized world to enforce Shariah law.  ***EYE ROLL***.  The attorney of the opponents of the mosque, Joe Brandon, Jr., has been pedaled ignorance involving this case to the point of absurdity in the Rutherford County Chancery Court.  Brandon has used random accusation saying the Rutherford County Planning Commission has predeclared the case prior to the vote on it over the summer to saying that Shariah law promotes pedophilia.   According to the Tennessean, even the Rutherford County Attorney, Jim Cope, has said this case has turned into a circus.

All I have to say about this is, "See I told ya that there are still some lunatic white Southerners whom will say ANYTHING to perpetuate fuckery that they feel is justified..."  You don't see any black Southerns that damn stupid to take some bullshit like this to court because they know it wouldn't fly.  Idiots.

Another lesson, states' rights

So there is another lesson and mini-rant about the whole states' rights issues involving the health care debate.  In Tennessee State Legislature there is another issue where states' right is being discussed about how the federal statute mandating health insurance for all citizens by 2014 involving the current bill titled "Tennessee Health Freedom Act".  Tennessee like 14 other states believe the law is "unconstitutional" and should weasel their way out of providing some form of social welfare services to those who are unable to afford health insurance at current market-rate levels for themselves and/or their families.  (Very typical of most Southern states where social welfare of the low-income and impoverish citizenry is seen as contributing to their destitution with a broad brush as if all are "lazy" rather than aiding them until get out of their present conditions).

The whole topic of states' rights within itself is very subjective.  The origin of states' rights lies with the abolition of slavery during the antebellum era where most Southern states argued that it was their choice to allow it.  However, it carried over into the creation and enforcement of Jim Crow law prior to the American Civil Rights Movement.  Of course their are suburban, exurban, and rural predominately white legislatures attempt to forge some type of argument that the federal statute is about the federal government overstepping their legal authority while over giving states back so little.  Case and point from The Tennessean:

State Senate Mae Beavers, a Mt. Juliet Republican, proposed the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, which essentially says Tennesseans don't have to abide by certain components of the federal health-care law and would require the state attorney general to block parts of the reform effort.Beavers said the issue is the federal government's interference in state business.
She said the notion of states' rights should not be misconstrued to mean anything else.

"I'm sure people have different connotations of all of that, but to me what I've been pushing is, I'm tired of the federal government interfering with our lives, taking part of our money and only sending part of it back," Beavers said. "I'm tired of the federal government mandating that we pass laws and in general trying to run our state government."

O'rly Mae Beavers?  Last time I remember (and anybody can google this), most Southern states receive nearly twice as much back in federal funding than its citizens pays in taxes.  BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...

Now on to the foolishness of those like Vanderbilt School of Law professor and author Carol Swain giving life to the foolishness of states' rights.

Swain said she understood why "older blacks" would have a specific point of view about the 10th Amendment. But Swain refuted the notion that renewed arguments in favor of states' rights had a racial subtext. 

"I think it is sad that so many older blacks are so rooted in the past that they seem incapable of moving ahead...What they need is a new way of looking at issues.

Everything is not about race and racism. They need to educate themselves about the constitution, federalism and the burden that federally imposed unfunded mandates impose on state and local government."

Apparently, she doesn't realize that you can't equate such silliness with an age bracket.  There are younger blacks that feel the same way about due their knowledge of history of how the concept is enforced.  Swain apparently wants to believe it is an egalitarian issue when it more about equity and access.  Her over simplistic view on this in addition to showing up to a tea party really last month in Nashville during the "TEA Party Express" stop, then fine.  However, your own ignorance and selective memory of how subjective the law and concept has been applied will be her own undoing when subjected to arguing and debating its usage.  But I digress, as I've been saying it boils to down to equity and access along with class and race.

TEA Party Convention in Nashville????

After watching some of the coverage of the TEA Party Convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in the east Nashville community of Hertimage, I've come to the conclusion that most of those who are attendees are nuttier than a fruitcake.  The coverage has shown people continue with their "Obamanation" signage to the prayer rallies where they are calling President Obama, "Satan's helper".  Special as hell if you ask me because these (white) people are obviously just as lost as compasses without needles since they don't know what the hell they are talking about or saying. 

The speakers at the convention includes the moron and former GOP VP candidate, Sarah Palin.  However,  my favorite idiot in the U.S. House, Michelle "Bach-Bachhead" Bachmann of Minnesota (Republican), who is the queen of word-vomit and idiocy along with U.S. House Rep. from suburban Brentwood in Williamson County, Marsha Blackburn, pulled out of the convention for fear of violating campaign finance rules. LMAO

The sudden change from non-profit to for-profit status of the Tea Party Nation seems to be beacon of contraversy with this convention and its organizing organization. 

What's even more twisted and screwed up, that The Tennesseean newspaper in Nashville was denied media credentials to enter the convention, but the Nashville area attorney and Tea Party Nation Corp. founder and convention organizer, Judson Phillips, wouldn't even tell the newspaper why.

This is just a H.A.M. sandwich.

Birmingham population problem and some possible solutions

In midst of all this controversy with the removal of the mayor Larry Langford and the speculation of who will be the next mayor, the U.S. Census' American Community Survey (ACS) division released their numbers for Birmingham this week.  According to the ACS, the 2008 numbers for the city of Birmingham has 209,639.  However, that greatly conflicts with the numbers that were released by the U.S. Census' 2008 population estimates of 228,196.  One says the city lost 14% of its population whereas the other says only 6% population loss compared to the 2000 numbers of 242,820 inhabitants. The only bright side to this is that population loss has slowed compared to other decades and Birmingham remains Alabama's largest municipality, but the gap between the 2nd largest, Montgomery, is now only about 10,000 to 20,000 depending on which numbers you use.

Regardless, the city is still hemorrhaging population and it's not just white flight as it used to be.  There are a number of black inhabitants that are leaving or bypassing the city although because of the leadership void, crime, and other urban issues that plagues Birmingham.  As usual, the ignorant posters of the Birmingham News website posted their comments talking about blacks being the blame to former mayor Langford and crime.  However one poster's comment stood out the most to me:

Posted by eleoh

October 31, 2009, 12:37PM

What I find so funny is that people want to blame political parties (which really have nothing to do with mayor/city council elections) on the downfall of this city. Quit trying to express your personal disdain! You have corrupt republicans (choose anyone of Bush's closest "friends) and you have corrupt democrats (like Blagojevich) It's politics! The real reason why Birmingham is in a decline is that whites moved away from the city in a mass exodus after Arrington was elected. A lot of these whites also relocated their businesses outside of town (some within a month afterward) and blacks kept in him in office for far too long. I actually had a guy complaining to me about not having a white mayor in the past 30 years! I can appreciate his honesty in him stating the fact that there are some people out there that are frustrated about that alone if nothing else. Yes this leadership could use a good overhaul (and it's coming), but the funny thing is for all of the crap that people talk about over the mountain and Huntsville, they sure love to come here on the weekends and act like imbeciles at these bars and nightclubs. If Birmingham is so dangerous and so bad and run down, why don't they stay where they are? Oh that's right beacuse it's boring as hell in those places that they live in so they have to talk their appeal up so that no visitors would want to hang themselves upon arriving at their bland little town! If these folks have such a haven, then don't further taint our city with your existence. Just stay out if it is that repulsive around here! We don't need the further negativity! Furthermore I am sick and tired of these "keyboard ronin" that talk trash that has either been fuelled by falsehoods or hearsay. If you have not experienced something then you should remain silent about it before you are called out on it. As for those thinking that Birmingham should be like Trashville (there's enough racism here. Why would we want to be like them?), Hot-lanta, or the "scenic" city (which I've been to all three in the past year and after a few hours I got pretty bored with them all) has it ever occured to you that this would be the problem with Birmingham. It's having a bloody identity crisis! Perhaps if this city could profit from it's own place in history (and yeah I'm including civil wars and civil right movements....we can all learn from those mistakes) then it could probably do a lot better than it has been doing. But people are too busy trying to perpetuate their b.s. superiority complexes, their unfounded angst, and their self serving agendas to do anything positive. Once again I'll say it:
"The Birmingham Pledge, as beautifully written as it is, is still b-llsh-t!"

The poster hit the nail on the head because none of these other Southern cities like Nashville or Atlanta can be used as models to fix Birmingham.  Nashville does have a huge racial issues, but that's whole 'nother entry and doesn't have as large black populous as Birmingham.  Then Atlanta sold its soul to the become the mammoth it is today, although it has demographic percentages similar to Birmingham, it would be damn near impossible for Birmingham to achieve the amount of investment as Atlanta in this day and age.  In other words, Birmingham has to find its own solutions to its population and image problem.

Honestly, I don't blame some because Langford was a beacon of controversy with his perverse use of religion to block some things that are vital to the city's revitalization such as allow LGBT groups hold their pride celebrations.  Let's be honest, along with young professional singles, LGBTs are the main individuals willing to locate into a urban core that has been abandoned by middle class families.  Also Birmingham has suffered greatly from a leadership void due to the continuous electing of individuals like Richard Arrington after he outstayed his usefulness/affectiveness as a leader then the de facto city manager Bernard Kincaid and finally the beacon of controversy now former mayor Larry Langford.  After the series of poor choices of mayors, the city as further suffered from business leaving, which were mostly white-owned or retailers too busy trying to chase the majority white households.  That can be overlooked and forgiven because those who left in that aforementioned groups, but none of the last 2 mayors really made it their mission to recruit out-of-state businesses that would have helped Birmingham grow.

In the numbers game, Birmingham for the sake of recognition should try to remain the state's largest city since it is by far the largest metropolitan area with 1.25 million inhabitants in 8 counties.  Only the Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope area is half the region's size with only 540,000 inhabitants, so there is no competition there.  However, in my opinion the city should remain the largest because Birmingham doesn't want to be like Cleveland in Ohio, where it has been dwarfed by Columbus, but still the largest metropolitan region in the state with 2.9 million inhabitants.  The backwards relationship between the 2 cities is interesting since Columbus has the third largest metropolitan area in the state with 1.9 million inhabitants, but is the largest municipality.  Honestly, Birmingham doesn't want wind up as 3rd or 4th in size in the state since 2 of the 'Big 4' in the state around 200,000 and Huntsville is 165,000 or 175,000 (depending on which set of numbers), so if Birmingham doesn't get control on this problem it could come to fruition.

As I see it right now, Birmingham is likely going to bottom out in population around 200,000 like Richmond, Virginia, but unlike Richmond, Birmingham doesn't have 9 Fortune 500 and 15 Fortune 1000 in their region.  Birmingham is only home to 1 Fortune 500, Regions Financial Corp. and 4 Fortune 1000 companies, so we are seriously lacking in the business incubator category.  However, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is located in Birmingham, which is the state's largest employer and is a major hub for medical care, HIV/AIDS and biotechnology research.  There has been some cooperation between Birmingham and UAB with the Innovation Depot located on the western portion of the City Center, but it will take years for it to take-off and create major business spin-offs.  If the city's leadership would work more cohesively with UAB then it could create a major point for research and knowledge-based businesses in Birmingham.  Luckily, there was a state law passed earlier this year that allows the Alabama Development Office (ADO) to recruit more white-collar and knowledge-based business to the state via tax incentives.  Also the recent merger of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce, Region 2020, and Metropolitan Development

The leadership should work more diligently towards getting a hold on its crimes, and once again I will used Richmond as a model.  I don't buy into the lists that rank violent crimes per city since, every city has a variety of factors that contribute to its ranking.  In Birmingham's case it's the balkanization of its governmental entities, so empirically speaking Birmingham is actually less dangerous statistically than Chicago, which there have been more cases of random violent crimes although it doesn't rank as high on list like Morgan Quitno. 

Birmingham can fix its problems, but it will take time, patience, diligence, effective business recruitment, fixing of infrastructure, and good leadership.  If we can achieve those things then Birmingham could greatly slow