Good Luck on Voting come next year especially if you are non-white, lower income, or elderly

 
I actually had high hopes that US Attorney General Eric Holder was going to announce the issuance of stay or motion in federal court that would place a hold on the voter suppression laws that have been passed across the nation, but primarily in the South by GOP-led state legislatures. 

Instead US AG Holder did a speech today in Austin on the discussion summed up in the quote "don't take voting rights for granted."  Well, that is comforting but has no legal teeth behind it.  It seems like AG Holder is holding back on doing anything or is the US Justice Department although voter suppression will be widespread come next year.  He also expressed there are ongoing investigations involving some cases of voter suppression but no specifics. 

Le sigh!  I guess it will be another episode of rewind that has been orchestrated by the social regressives/conservatives that love to expressing their false accusation of voter fraud when the real agenda is to block the ability to vote of those unconventional citizens such as non-whites, college/graduate students, and seniors. 

Also I find it sad that the case of Dorothy Cooper, the 96-year-old black woman from Chattanooga, was swept under the rug in October after the state of Tennessee passed a new law that requires voters to have a photo ID to certify voter registration.  In Mrs. Cooper's case, she needed her marriage certificate along with other documents including her birth certificate, rent receipt, copy of her lease, and voter registration card to verify herself to get a photo ID from the Tennessee Drivers Service Center in east Chattanooga, but was denied anyway.  The new law creates this situation where all documents including documents verifying name changes, in case of marriage, has to be present when registration occurs.  Obviously, Mrs. Cooper was prepared because she had all the aforementioned document in a sealed Manila envelope with the exception of her marriage certificate.   Mrs. Cooper never learned to drive so she didn't have a Tennessee Drivers' License, but prior to was able to vote in every election except 1960. Instead the Hamilton County Administrator of Elections, Chattanooga's home county, told her to vote with an absentee ballot, and that is the provision is the thing allowing the federal courts to uphold this regressive law in TN as well as Indiana (no surprise considering how non-whites are pretty much in Chicago suburbs of NW Indiana and Indianapolis).

What has gotten me about this whole situation is the fact it took the voter suppression of a 84-year old elderly white woman, Ruthelle Frank, of Brokaw, Wisconsin being forced to pay $200 to get a birth certificate in response to the new law in Wisconsin requiring such to register to vote.  The ACLU of Wisconsin along with the National Law Center on Homeless and Poverty is filing a lawsuit in federal court against the state due to the hardship it causes for those.  The suit names embattled Wisconsin governor Scott Walker among the defendants.

Le sigh!  It's a good thing this problem has been exposed and I'm socially egalitarian and all for the fight for the everyone to have a fair and equitable society.  However, why does it take even in 2011 (almost 2012) the suffering of whites to spotlight the oppression of the 'undesirables' in our society including non-whites?  That's all I'm asking, why are we still a myopic society where this still occurs? 

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.

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.

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.

Road rankings and Georgia still fairs better than Alabama

In the Readers' Digest ranking where they looking at the quality of roads and the most deadliest states for DUI, speeding tabulated from the Federal Transportation Administration from 2009.  According to the rankings, Alabama is the 9th deadliest state for roads in general and driving under the influence of a controlled substance and #1 for speeding.  The good news is Alabama has the 28th best roads in the nation based on the quality rankings.  However, our eastern neighbor, Georgia, has the 9th best roads based on the quality rankings, but is 20th deadliest state for roads overall.  Other Southern states are as followed: Tennessee was #19 for best roads, #15 for deadliest roads; Mississippi was #38 for best roads, 6th for deadliest roads and DUI, and 2nd deadliest for speeding; South Carolina was #35 for best roads, 3rd deadliest roads and deadliest for speeding, and 2nd deadliest for DUI; North Carolina was #36 for best roads and 17th for deadliest roads; Florida was 20th for best roads and 14th deadliest roads; Louisiana has the nation's worst roads (#50), 2nd deadliest roads, and 3rd deadliest for DUI; Arkansas was #31 for best roads, 5th for deadliest roads and #10 for deadliest for DUI; Texas was 29th for best roads, 16th for deadliest, 8th for deadliest for DUI, and 10th for deadliest for speeding; Oklahoma was 46th for best roads and 11th deadliest; Virginia was #9 for best roads and 40th for deadliest; Finally, Kentucky was 34th for best roads and  7th for deadliest.  The link for the full list is here.

However, the Southern states got mixed reviews, but the larger states were the ones with better roads than the smaller ones who seem to all rank poorly on the good rankings.