Starting pitcher Tommy Hanson notched his sixth win at Birmingham Friday for the AA Mississippi Braves. Hanson went 6.1 innings, allowing three hits and no runs. He struck out TEN Baron's batters. Centerfielder Jordan Schafer had a breakout game, going 3 for 4 and driving in two runs.

The A Rome Braves extended their losing streak to four games Friday with a 2-1 loss at home to the Augusta Green Jackets. The powerful Braves trio of Jason Heyward, Frederick Freeman and Cody Johnson were held hitless in the contest.

A Myrtle Beach DH Phil Britton hit two homeruns and drove in three in a blowout win 8-0 over Winston Salem Friday. Atlanta Braves reliever Jeff Bennett threw another scoreless inning as he continues his injury rehab stint.

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As closely as I can recount it, here is a lunch time conversation I was involved in this week.  Enjoy.

P1--What was that sound?--My God I thought the building was coming down.  I was fixin to run.

P2--I think it was a car in the parking garage next door.

P1--Liked to a scared me to death.  You know, with all these disasters and everything.  My Sunday School class was just talking about all these disasters and how we're going to elect Osama Bin Laden and I'm gettin myself ready.  Don't you believe these disasters have the hand of God in them?  I do, the end times are goin to be here soon.

P3--I know.

TB--Blank Stare

P1--Osama Bin Laden scares the Hell outta me.  You know he don't put his hand on his heart and salute the flag.

P3--I know.

P1--You can't tell me he ain't gonna try to let them Muslims take over.  I wouldn't be surprised if he ain't got horns stickin outta his head. (TB note--I think the horns part was only half serious)

P3--I'm afraid of that too.

TB--Blank Stare

P1--What do you think (addressing P2)

P2--Well, I think we have two real choices for President this time.  I think Obama is a good, principled man, but I don't agree with them.  I think McCain is a real honorable man so I'm gonna vote for him.

TB--<Raises eyebrows, takes a bite of burger>

P1--Well, I think Osama bin Laden's gonna bring this country down.

P2--I can't stand them boom boxes them people are always blaring in my neighborhood.

TB--Blank Stare

P1--You ain't sayin much.  What do you think? (to TB)

TB--I'm votin for Obama.  <returns to hamburger>

P1--Blank stare

Appeal for Justice

The Coke Side of Life:
Work Hard, Retire Poor

Mr. J. Frank Harrison
Chairman and CEO
Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated

Dear Mr. Harrison,

For decades, workers at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (Coke) have helped build a successful company that has created many good jobs for Alabama. In return, they’ve always earned decent pay and benefits—and retirement with dignity.

But on July 12, your company spokesperson told Teamsters representatives that the company would no longer contribute to these workers’ pensions. Under Coke’s scheme, a worker would face a $795-per-month reduction in retirement income when he or she is 62, after working for Coke for 42 years.

Meanwhile, executives at your company made millions in 2007. Top management will retire in comfort—but unless Coke gives back its employer pension contributions, employees who gave their lives to this company will struggle in their old age.

We believe that Alabama’s seniors deserve to retire with dignity. We the undersigned support Teamsters Local Union 991 and their fight to preserve retirement benefits. We urge you to get back to the bargaining table and negotiate a fair and just contract with the workers who have given so much to your company.

Sincerely:

Name______________________________Signature___________________________

Organization/Company/Congregation/Union:__________________________________

Telephone ______________________ E-Mail_________________________________

Name______________________________Signature___________________________

Organization/Company/Congregation/Union:__________________________________

Telephone ______________________ E-Mail_________________________________

Name______________________________Signature___________________________

Organization/Company/Congregation/Union:__________________________________

Telephone ______________________ E-Mail_________________________________

Just a reminder--help these workers in any way that you can.

July 25, 2008

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We knew this was going to happen.  We knew these cowards,  these bullies,  would "cut and run."

They don't want you to know who finances the hate speech of Michael Savage.  The client list is now 404:

http://www.talkradionetwork.com/pg/jsp/adinfo/clientlist.jsp

Happily for us though we have the Google cache: 

http://urlet.com/stacks.fifteens 

or: http://209.85.141.104/search?q=cache:xajIjwvedPgJ:www.talkradionetwork.com/pg/jsp/adinfo/clientlist.jsp+%22Partial+Client+List+of+Advertisers+on+TRN+Shows&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us

Read it and weep, assholes.

Oh, and by the way, this isn't a "free speech" issue.  Michael Savage has the same rights we do.  Under the Constitution he has the right to stand on the corner and express his vicious abusive opinions.  He doesn't have any right to a radio show.  That is an imaginary fantasy of the corporate fascists.

Reply to: comm-768719876@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-24, 3:57PM PDT

646-781-9469 for more information.

• Location: San Francisco
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 768719876

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/com/768719876.html

You Can't Fix Stupid (Part 1)

"Despite the devastation hurricanes Katrina and Rita wrought on Louisiana in 2005, a large number of coastal residents still say they would refuse to evacuate if another hurricane zeroes in on the state, a Harvard University survey shows."

You Can't Fix Stupid (St. Pancake edition)

Moonbats attempt to break Gaza blockade ... "Taking the protest against the Gaza blockade to a new level, two boats packed with foreign left-wing activists will attempt to sail from Cyprus to the sealed Gaza harbor in two weeks' time.

The operation is being directed by members of the International Solidarity Movement and the Israeli Commission against House Demolitions."

You Can't Fix Stupid (Obamessiah edition) ... Barry Soetoro's global wealth redistribution plan, S.2433, has been placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar for pending debate.

"Cliff Kincaid at Accuracy in Media has published a critique asserting that while the Global Poverty Act sounds nice, the adoption could "result in the imposition of a global tax on the United States" and would make levels "of U.S. foreign aid spending subservient to the dictates of the UN."

You Cant Fix Stupid (Paleo edition) ... "

You Can't Fix Stupid (UN Edition) ... UN tells Brits, "you must be nicer to Muslims ... "Britain was told yesterday by a United Nations committee to take firm action to combat 'negative public attitudes' towards Muslims.

The nine-member human rights committee also criticised some of the UK's antiterror measures.

The body, which is composed of legal experts, said it was concerned ' negative public attitudes towards Muslim members of society' continued to develop in Britain."

It is a complete mystery to me why anyone might have a "negative attititude" towards Muslims. /s

You Can't Fix Stupid (Moonbat edition) John Hawkins takes a quick trip in his time machine and brings us this memory jogger... "What Democrats Were Saying About The Surge" ...

-- Wesley Clark, -- Hillary Clinton, -- Howard Dean, -- Christopher Dodd, -- Dick Durbin, -- Ted Kennedy, -- John Kerry, -- John Murtha, -- Barack Obama,-- Nancy Pelosi

+++++

Itza Shokka! ... Media Favors Dems 100-1

"The contributions of individuals who reported being employed by major media organizations are listed in the nearby table. (Click To Enlarge)

The contributions add up to $315,533 to Democrats and $22,656 to Republicans — most of that to Ron Paul, who was supported by many liberals as a stalking horse to John McCain, a la Rush Limbaugh's Operation Chaos with Hillary and Obama.

What is truly remarkable about the list is that, discounting contributions to Paul and Rudy Giuliani, who was a favorite son for many folks in the media, the totals look like this: $315,533 to Democrats, $3,150 to Republicans (four individuals who donated to McCain).

Itza Shokka! (Part 2) Guess Who? Hint: They probably used their supernatural rats in this operation ... Hizbullah convoy likely hit in Iran ... "A mysterious explosion in a suburb of Teheran that killed 15 people last Saturday was likely an attack on a Iranian military convoy carrying arms to Hizbullah, the Telegraph reported Friday.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guards imposed a news black-out immediately after the blast, but the UK newspaper reported that it looked like sabotage was responsible for destroying the convoy as it traveled through Khavarshahar.

Bits and Pieces... "just buying gas that others won't buy" ... Gas and diesel prices at less than $3/gal? Yup, and a lot of Texicans are taking advantage...

"The cross-border commerce is raising the ire of some Mexican fuel consumers in Juarez; they don't like the idea of U.S. consumers taking advantage of fuel prices kept artificially low courtesy of their own tax dollars."

Speaking of the Mexican border, I don't know how I missed this ... "Last week,columnist Paul Weyrich reported that there is credible evidence that Osama bin Laden has acquired twenty suitcase-sized nuclear bombs from Chechen rebels in the former Soviet Union and smuggled them into the United States by way of the Mexican border."

+++++++

This is the World Famous Friday Open Thread. A Free Speech Zone. Comments, linkage, track-backs welcome.

WFFOT: "as Robert Pirsig puts it, "The world's greatest fool may say the Sun is shining, but that doesn't make it dark out."

====

Trackposted to Rosemary's Thoughts, 123beta, Maggie's Notebook, Right Truth, Shadowscope, Cao's Blog, Leaning Straight Up, , Democrat=Socialist, Conservative Cat, third world county, Allie is Wired, Woman Honor Thyself, McCain Blogs, DragonLady's World, Walls of the City, The World According to Carl, , Pirate's Cove, The Pink Flamingo, , Dumb Ox Daily News, and Right Voices, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Friday, July 25, 2008 Julie E. Washington
Plain Dealer Reporter

Michael Savage's controversial remarks about autistic children have gotten him booted off Cleveland's airwaves.

WHK AM/1420, the only Cleveland-area station carrying Savage's radio talk show, is break ing its contract with Savage's syndicator, Talk Radio Net work, said Mark Jaycox, who manages the Cleveland stations under the Salem Com munications corporate um brella. WHK is owned by Cali fornia-based Sa lem Communi cations.

"This guy's a knucklehead, and I want to get rid of him," Jaycox said.

http://urlet.com/leaving.created

I was also told by a Teamsters spokesperson that the strike was going well and that only 6 of the 275 strikers have crossed the picket lines.

Remember:  These strikers are out in the heat and sun, if you are in the area show them your support.  Stop by and shake hands, bring some water and some snacks.  These strikers are fighting for their economic lives and need your help.  Please give them all the support you can, it will will appreciated.

12:30 p.m. Friday Autism United and State Senator Craig Johnson announce companies that are pulling their advertising off radio host Michael Savage's program over autism comments; in front of the Wall Street bull, between Broadway and Whitehall Street.

http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/events-friday-july-24-2008

Headlines
A main artery in and out of downtown York, Pennsylvania was reopened after repairs were made to a broken water main.

In Delaware, with the municipal election just around the corner, Rehoboth Beach’s mayoral candidates quickly squared off over wastewater disposal alternatives.

The town of Porter, Indiana on will need a 60 percent sewer rate increase, in two phases, to bring the town's system into compliance with Indiana Department of Environmental Management requirements.

Sewer Rate News
DeSoto County, Mississippi
Elkland, Pennsylvania
Los Altos, California
Ogunquit, Maine

By The Daily Progress Staff

Published: July 24, 2008

A Charlottesville news radio station has removed the Michael Savage talk show after Savage's comments on July 16 saying that autism is a "fraud" and "in 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."

1070 WINA-AM NewsRadio announced its removal of Savage's show in a Wednesday statement on its Web site.

"We also understand that sometimes people make mistakes," the statement said. "However, Michael Savage has shown no remorse and offered no apologies for his factless tirade and has, in fact, tried to justify his insensitive remarks. Our mission at WINA has always been to offer the best possible and most stimulating talk for Charlottesville. It is clear that Michael Savage no longer fits with our, or your, high standards."

http://urlet.com/patterns.appearing

BY CAROL POLSKY | carol.polsky@newsday.com

July 24, 2008

 

We, organizations representing people with disabilities, family members, professionals and other concerned citizens, are calling upon you to withdraw support for Talk Radio Networks in response to the outrageous comments by TRN personality Michael Alan Weiner, also known as Michael Savage.

On July 16th, Weiner announced: “Now, you want me to tell you my opinion on autism, since I’m not talking about autism? A fraud, a racket…You know what autism is? I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is…What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, "Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.”

These comments represent dangerous misinformation. The refusal by Talk Radio Networks to condemn the comments or undertake any steps in response to them, as well as Michael Savage’s refusal to apologize, is absolutely unacceptable. The autism spectrum is a very real developmental disability affecting millions of Americans. It includes a series of impairments in social interaction and communication, executive functioning, sensory processing, and motor skills. Adults and children on the autism spectrum often require substantial supports, services and education across the lifespan. Comments like those on the Savage Nation do real damage to autistic people by increasing public ignorance and misinformation about autism, thereby putting at risk vital education, supports and services. Contrary to the remarks by Mr. Weiner, there is no evidence whatsoever to suggest that autism is over diagnosed – in fact, research suggests that there is substantial under-identification of the autism spectrum, resulting in a lack of vitally needed services and education. In addition, these remarks revive outdated and damaging misconceptions about the source of autism, recalling the “refrigerator mother” myth in which parents were blamed for having autistic children.

Talk Radio Networks’ sponsors must consider whether or not to associate with the hateful and offensive comments spoken by Michael Weiner. Because TRN has taken no action, we urge you to communicate the need for Mr. Weiner’s immediate removal by withdrawing sponsorship for TRN’s programming. There are over 50 million people with disabilities in the United States, representing approximately $200 billion in disposable income. We represent a market that cannot be ignored. By disassociating your businesses from the ignorant and hateful remarks made this past week and taking practical steps to help educate the public about the true nature of the autism spectrum and other disabilities, we can move forward towards creating a world that will recognize the rights of all people to respect, dignity, support and inclusion.
Regards,
Ari Ne’eman
President
The Autistic Self Advocacy Network
http://www.autisticadvocacy.org

Andrew J. Imparato
President and CEO
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
http://www.aapd.com

Jim Ward
ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights
http://www.adawatch.org/

Marcie Roth
Executive Director
National Spinal Cord Injury Association
http://www.spinalcord.org/index.php

Barbara Trader, MS
Executive Director
TASH
http://www.tash.org

Marca Bristo
President
Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago
http://www.accessliving.org/

Jean Arnold
Co-founder and Chair
National Stigma Clearinghouse
http://www.stigmanet.org

Phil Schwarz
Vice-president, Asperger's Association of New England
http://www.aane.org/
Member, Board of Directors, Autism National Committee
http://www.autcom.org/
Deirdre C. Wright
President & Co-Founder
The Asperger Syndrome Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
http://www.ascendgroup.org

Stephen Drake
Not Dead Yet
http://www.notdeadyet.org/

Alex Plank
WrongPlanet.net
http://www.wrongplanet.net/

Lawrence Carter-Long
Director of Advocacy
The Disabilities Network of NYC
http://dnnyc.net

Amber Smock
Feminist Response in Disability Activism
http://www.ourfrida.org/

*********************

The above letter may be found at:  http://www.wrongplanet.net/article373.html

Bill Holmes, http://www.aspies.org  You can add my name.

I never thought I'd live to see Mississippi Talk Radio ban a right-wing tool like Michael Savage, but it appears that he finally went over some imaginary line in their heads (when that line was passed in normal people many years ago).

But just as Steven D., of the Booman Tribune questions, wonder why on this subject, after all the other intolerable subjects he has attacked Americans with previously. Any sane person who thinks this guy has a pulse on America is nuts themselves. He is worse than Scamnity, O'Liely and Limpballs all rolled up in one. The thing that gets me the most about some conversations I have had about him with Mississippians is that they are mostly religious Baptists, or what-not.

I simply cannot get my hands around such a thing. First, Savage pronounces to be a Universalist (but his hatred and fear mongering betrays such a claim). But I know of NO baptists that agree with a Universalist. Secondly, Savage savagely attacks people in a manner so unlike Christ's methods, he is more attuned to an anti-Christ personality than the Christ's. Yet, they fall for it (I suspect for the faux power they assume by holding such a vile belief in a God of wrath and horrible tortures).

I dunno, but it doesn't take a lot of oil. From Jeff at CottonMouth:

419,000 gallons of oil spilled into Mississippi River

While we sleeping last night a large ecological disaster happened in the Mississippi river around New Orleans. Close to a half million gallons of oil were spilled into the Big River when a barge collided with a Liberian oil tanker. CNN has the story:

The spill is much smaller than the ones that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the Coast Guard estimated that more than 7 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Mississippi and nearby waterways.

But Wilma Subra, a chemist who advises the Louisiana Environmental Action Network, said the oil could affect wildlife and work its way up the food chain into residents, many of whom fish for subsistence.

"This is a spill that occurred in a very urban area, and it can impact a very large number of people," she said.

The oil, widely used as marine fuel, is heavier than diesel but lighter than crude, and it is likely to stick to rocks, trees and wildlife, Stroh said.

According to a Birmingham News article by Dave Parks, a report released by the Southern AIDS Coalition on July 21 warns that "HIV has burrowed into the Deep South, feeding off some of the most impoverished people in the nation and creating a health catastrophe."  (I definitely recommend reading the whole article, or this summary from the Kaiser Network.)

The report paints a grim picture of a growing HIV/AIDS crisis in the rural South, fuelled by underfunding, logistical difficulties, cultural factors, and deep poverty.

The Southern AIDS Coalition points to a number of factors making HIV/AIDS an increasingly deadly problem in the Deep South, as this excerpt from the Birmingham News article describes.

"Rising infection rates coupled with inadequate funding, resources and infrastructure have resulted in a catastrophic situation in our public health care systems in the South," the report says. "Unless we act to correct funding and treatment disparities, we endanger not just isolated communities, but our states and our nation."

Kathy Hiers, chief executive officer of AIDS Alabama and co-author of the report, said HIV/AIDS has settled into remote areas of the South inhabited by black people who are at great risk for infection. "The ruralness of the epidemic is what's becoming painfully clear," Hiers said.

The report notes that the number of deaths from AIDS decreased in the rest of the nation 2001-05, but continued to rise in the South. During that period, more than 190,000 Southerners died from AIDS. [...]

Now experts have zeroed in on the Deep South - Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina - and found HIV infections spreading in rural areas inhabited by blacks with overwhelming financial, health and social problems.

The South consistently gets less than its fair share of funding from both government and private sources.  Though recent changes to the way the federal government divvies up HIV/AIDS funding has provided some help, "the South, which ranks No. 1 in new HIV cases, still ranks last out of four regions in overall federal funding."  Meanwhile, the South -- the home of about 40 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in America -- the region got only about 19 percent of "U.S. philanthropic commitments for HIV/AIDS."

The report discussed the situation in Alabama at some length.

"Like much of the Deep South, Alabama faces a growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the context of broader health care challenges," the report said. "Alabama is among the three poorest states in the nation and ranks 45th among all states in overall population health."

High rates of other sexually transmitted diseases, a rural population, poverty, mental health problems, lack of insurance and a host of other factors make fighting HIV/AIDS in Alabama difficult and complex, the report said.

The article goes on to discuss problems arising from inadequate education, substance abuse, and widespread stigma.
  

When I first read this article, I was pretty surprised.  The rural South doesn't exactly spring to mind when I think about HIV/AIDS in the US.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I really shouldn't be surprised.  It makes a tragic sort of sense.

I spent most of my growing-up years in Canada, but after that and before I moved to my present location in the Chicago area, I lived for a while in central Florida.  (I also lived for a few years in North Carolina when I was pretty little -- yes, I have a strange geographical history.)  People can and do debate about whether Florida can be properly considered part of "the South," but I would say that much of rural Florida has more in common with the archetypal "Deep South" than it does with the chic urban centers on the coasts (or the surreal, Disneyfied atmosphere of Orlando, which -- in my opinion -- offers about equal parts glitz and kitsch).

Based on my admittedly limited experience, the Birmingham News article rings painfully true.  The rural South is home to many very, very poor people.  The poverty I saw in many places between Florida's coasts saddened and frankly astonished me.  It's well-known that poverty is a major factor driving HIV/AIDS, and you get a whole added set of logistical challenges when you're dealing with relatively remote rural areas.

I don't think it's surprising that the southern US suffers from a lack of HIV/AIDS funding, especially from private donors.  The rural South is geographically and culturally distant from America's main money and power centers.  Unfortunately, it often gets overlooked.  I would guess that when most people think of poverty in the US, they think of inner cities.  Urban ministry is hot stuff in the Christian subculture -- I don't know if the term "rural ministry" even exists.  The problems described in the Southern AIDS Coalition report just don't seem to show up on too many radar screens.

And then there are cultural issues.  (I'm not trying to stereotype anybody here, just to point out some broad trends that I think you can see in many southern communities.)  Let me quote again from the Birmingham News article:

A further complication is that people in rural counties know each other well, and there's a stigma attached to HIV. [Executive director of Selma AIDS Information and Referral Mel] Prince said some ministers still tell congregations that the disease is God's punishment for homosexuals. (The state Department of Public Health reports that about as many people in Alabama are infected with HIV during heterosexual activity as are infected during homosexual activity.)

Given the stigma, people don't want to get tested and don't want to get treated, Prince said. "They'd rather die."

Again, this doesn't surprise me.  Small-town gossip can be a powerful thing, and southern communities tend to be quite conservative (in any number of ways).  It would probably be safe to say that homophobia is, if not more common, at least more socially accepted, than it is in the broader American culture.  (Just for the record, I'm not talking about religious or ethical codes that view homosexual activity as morally problematic.  I'm talking about serious, deeply-ingrained, often vitriolic, sometimes hateful, prejudice against gay people as people. . . . Let me note again, I'm not saying everyone in the South holds these kinds of views!)  My brother, who attended a Florida high school for a couple years, once described a bitter debate on gay rights in a classes, where defending even as simple a position as "gay people should be treated with kindness and respect just like anyone else" got him a ton of flack from many classmates.  So -- I say it with deep pain and regret --  I find it easy to believe that some churches still promote the "punishment for homosexuality" stance on AIDS.

Well, there you have my two cents on HIV/AIDS in the South.  I really hope that this recent report focuses more attention on the situation and stirs policy-makers, advocates, donors, and churches to make anti-AIDS efforts in the southern US more of a priority.  I hope to hear more about this issue soon.  (By the way, it will be interesting to see if and how all this is reflected in the CDC's new batch of stats, set to be released in early August.)

The state does have vestiges of its conservative Democratic past; Democrats still control the state legislature, and both parties have held the governorship in recent years. But in most other respects, Mississippi has become a reliably Republican state. President Bush won the state by 20 percentage points in 2004, and Trent Lott and Thad Cochran easily defended their Senate seats in recent elections. Few expected that Lott’s retirement and the subsequent appointment of well-regarded Wicker, a House member for 13 years, would give Democrats much of an opening. But a combination of a good Democratic year, the recruitment of Musgrove and the wild card of Obama’s effect on black turnout have made the race too close to call.

Mississippi is 36 percent African-American, the highest percentage of any state. It also displays some of the country’s most racially polarized voting patterns. In 2004, according to exit polls, Bush won 85 percent of the white vote, while Democrat John F. Kerry took 90 percent of the black vote.

It is possible for a Mississippi Democrat to win in a statewide election, but it would likely require 30 percent of the white vote along with nearly the entire black vote. In 2003, Musgrove lost his reelection bid for governor to current Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican. Musgrave took about 22 percent of the white vote, and lost the election 53 percent to 46 percent. In 1999, when Musgrove beat Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Parker in one of the closest races in Mississippi history, he performed even better among white voters, running well ahead of typical Democratic performance in Northeast Mississippi, a Republican stronghold.

The formula that has sometimes worked for Mississippi Democrats is directly at odds with Obama’s strategy for putting Southern states in play. Obama and his aides have made the case that Obama could increase black turnout so substantially — by 30 percent or more — that Southern states with large African-American populations would become competitive even without much of a change in the white turnout. But the math here is much harder than the Obama campaign asserts. If you take the 2004 presidential election results, increase the black vote by 30 percent and assume that the white vote stays the same, Obama would still lose Mississippi by more than 100,000 votes. And most analysts think that a 30 percent increase in the black vote is extremely optimistic. Obama will surely draw African-Americans to the polls in record numbers, but even a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in African-American votes would be historic. Add to that Obama’s problems in attracting white Mississippi voters even in the Democratic primary, where he attracted only a quarter of white Democrats.

• Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated (NASDAQ: COKE) is the second-largest bottler and distributor of Coca-Cola products in the United States and employs 5,800 workers. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) owns approximately 30 percent of COKE.
• COKE bottles and distributes Coca-Cola products throughout the Southern U.S., including Coke, Diet Coke, Powerade, Dasani water, and Sprite, to major customers such as supermarkets, liquor and convenience stores, universities, and restaurants.
• COKE is headquartered at 4100 Coca-Cola Plaza, Charlotte, NC 28211, USA, (714) 557-4400. J. Frank Harrison, COKE’s Chairman and CEO for the last 14 years, is also the great-grandson of company founder J.B. Harrison.
• Although COKE is a publicly traded company, the Harrison family holds 91 percent of COKE shareholder votes, and has irrevocable, lifelong rights to vote the shares owned by the Coca-Cola Company.
• COKE lost $4.3 million in the first quarter of 2008.
• CEO J. Frank Harrison’s total actual compensation for 2007 was more than $5.4 million, exceeding the median for a company of this size by 20 percent.
• Corporate governance analysis firm The Corporate Library downgraded COKE’s rating from “D” to “F” in 2008 due to very high risks arising from its corporate governance structure, including no standing nominating committee for the board, high levels of CEO compensation, and disproportionate control of shares by the Harrison family.

Employees at Coca Cola

• For more than 100 years, workers have been making, bottling, and delivering soft drinks at COKE facilities. The Teamsters represent 450 workers in Ala. and W. Va.
• Teamsters Local 991 in Mobile, Ala., has represented 275 production and distribution workers at four plants for more than 40 years with a long history of labor peace.
• The Mobile contract between the Teamsters and COKE expired on July 12, 2008. The parties cannot come to agreement on retirement benefits, wages, and health care costs.
• COKE has tried to take away Mobile workers’ retirement benefits for the past two contract negotiations by eliminating their Teamster pension plan—yet they agreed in April 2008 to increase contributions to the Teamster W. Va. pension plan by more than 12.5 percent.
• Under the company’s bargaining proposals, senior employees in Mobile would lose hundreds of dollars per month in retirement income. A 42-year employee alone would suffer a $795 reduction in monthly benefits if he retired at 62 years of age.
• The company is demanding a 29 percent increase in workers’ contribution for health care coverage costs.
• COKE made its final contract offer on July 12, 2008. The Teamster workers overwhelmingly voted the offer down and authorized a strike.
• The Teamsters Union is available to negotiate. Jim Gookins is the Secretary-Treasurer of Local Union 991, 112 South Broad Street, Mobile, Alabama, U.S., 251-433-1521.

I would also like to mention that if any of my readers are near a Coke plant, go by and show your support of the strikers.  They can always use some water or snacks and you encouragement.

The state of Mississippi has committed murder. No doubt the red-neck, white-trash, blue-collar trolls who think that it can't happen to them or one of their family members are dancing with joy, reveling in their temporarily-sated bloodlust inbetween pious and completely phony exhortations about the sanctity of life.

Now how bizarre is it that Mississippi's governor, Haley Barbour, could see fit to commute the life sentence of murderer Michael David Graham and set him free, but not show the same clemency to a mentally-ill man who didn't kill anyone?

Graham, 54, has served 19 years of a life sentence. On April 7, 1989, Graham pulled up next to his ex-wife, Adrienne Klasky Graham, aimed a 12-gauge shotgun at her as she sat in her car waiting for a traffic signal at the Jackson Avenue and Pascagoula Street intersection, fired and killed her. The couple had been divorced three years, yet Graham reportedly stalked and threatened his ex-wife during that time. It is easy to assume she lived and died in a state of terror.

A retired Pascagoula police officer, Jamie Hunter, said the close range shotgun blast to the head was "gruesome. "

Klasky's father, Lyle owner of the old Brumfield's Department Store, was across the street when the murder occurred, according to Hunter. One can only imagine the horror that father experienced when he viewed the crime scene...

The gravity of the crime would seem to preclude parole. Graham publicly executed the mother of his two boys.

Oh, wait. Maybe this explains Barbour's unusual action:

For the past eight years, Graham has been a trusty at the governor's mansion. Perhaps it is in that setting that Graham gained the favor he was denied by the parole board.

Wonder what Graham is blackmailing Barbour with? If only Bishop had been a position to do the same, I bet he'd be alive.

We were wondering whether 2008 could also be declared the year of radioactive, chemical and oil spills, too, almost certain of the knowledge that Areva, EDF and the likes would not "disappoint" us!

French Nuke Industry, Again!

Sure enough, in the third incident of uranium spillage in two weeks, it was revealed that about 100 employees at a nuclear power plant in southern France were contaminated with radiation during maintenance work at the Tricastin reactor number four.

Nuke Leaks, USA: Contaminated US site faces 'catastrophic' nuclear leak

More than 210 million liters of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State. Most are over 50 years old. Already 67 of the tanks have failed, leaking almost 4 million litres of waste into the ground. New Scientist reported.

Mississippi Oil Spill [Though Not the Largest Ever!]

Meanwhile, back home, A chemical tanker broke a fuel barge in half on the Mississippi River. About 420,000 gallons (1,589,700 liters) of fuel oil No. 6 [described as lighter than crude oil, but heavier than diesel] were spilled forcing the closure of a 58-mile (93km) stretch from New Orleans southward.

"It's not the largest spill we've ever had, but it's a large one," said Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Rodney Mallett. [Well, isn't that a relief!]

Vanadium mine leak in China

Sludge from a vanadium mine in northwestern China contaminated two nearby rivers, Shuanghe River and Donghe River in Shaanxi province, when a spillway collapsed on Tuesday and sent authorities scrambling to protect drinking water supplies, Xinhua news agency said.

"The black-colored waste water with a layer of white bubbles on the top is being stopped by multiple (makeshift dams) and stored and diverted to low-laying areas," Xinhua said.

"In April, ore tailings from another vanadium mine in Shanyang county polluted and literally blackened three rivers, state media reported at the time." Reuters reported.

[All vanadium compounds should be considered highly toxic. Generally, the higher the oxidation state of vanadium, the more toxic the compound is. The most dangerous compound is vanadium pentoxide.]

Oil Spill in Amur River

Russia informed China of oil pollution in the Amur River On July 8. last week, the Ministry of Environmental Protection ruled out the possibility that the fuel oil pollution in Amur, or Heilongjiang River, was China.

Mystery oil spill in Patagonia: January 2008 [Don't you just love the murder mystery spin?]

“The overall spill is made up of several slicks, two to three kilometers wide along a total extension of approximately forty kilometers,” reported the local newspaper El Chubut.

"Argentine government is analyzing recent satellite imagery to determine the cause of the spill but has yet to determine where the oil came from. According to local media reports, several corporations are suspected of causing the spill." IFAW reported.

Penguins warm up after being affected by the oil spill in Patagonia.
© IFAW. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Black Sea and San Francisco Bay Oil Spills: Environmental disasters follow oil spills

"In the Black Sea and San Francisco Bay, tens of thousands of birds, countless marine creatures and a half-dozen people died following oil spills. The spills in the Black Sea were caused by ships running aground and sinking during the worst storm the region has seen in decades, while the spill in the Bay Area was caused by a lone container ship hitting a bridge in fog. Environmental groups working in both regions call the spills ecological catastrophes." GEOTIMES wrote.

In Russia, a severe storm struck the Black Sea on Nov 11 damaging or sinking 11 ships and tankers. a total of about 1 million gallons (1,378,500 liters ) of oil was spilled into the Kerch Strait, which ends in the Black Sea, killing as many as 15,000 birds. It's thought as many as 11 endangered species of birds inhabit the area, and many more migrate through the fragile eco-region.

San Francisco Bay oil spill. Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

A container ship in San Francisco Bay struck the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, causing substantial damage to the vessel and spilling about 60,000 gallons (~ 227,00 liters) of fuel oil into the bay. Some 2,500 birds died as a result. Experts say the region may be affected by the spill for the next 20 years.

Although the two incidents happened in November 2007, the full environmental impacts are now beginning to appear.

Norwegian oil spill raises concern about future oil plans

The second biggest oil spill in Norway occurred in December 2007, reviving concerns of the possible expansion of oil and gas exploration in Norwegian waters.

The spill of around 25,000 barrels left an oil slick 5 kilometres wide and 10 kilometres long. Fortunately the accident was mostly contained by favourable winds. The accident occurred as a tanker was loaded at energy group StatoilHydro’s Statfjord field. IceNews reported.

Norway Again: Oil spill on Draugen

The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway (PSA) has conducted an investigation of the incident that occurred on Draugen on 10 January 2008, which led to an oil spill of about 6 m3 to the sea. On the basis of our findings we have issued an order to A/S Norske Shell (Shell) and Teekay Shipping Norway AS (Teekay). The Petroleum Safety Authority Norway reported.

Oh, NO! Not Norway Again!

During oil offloading from the Statfjord A platform in the North Sea, about 4,000 cubic meters (~ 1.1 million gallons) of crude oil was spilled into the sea on the December 12 causing marine pollution. The Statfjord field is located around 200 kilometres west of Bergen, close to the border of the UK continental shelf. Statfjord was discovered by Mobil in 1974, and Statoil took over the operatorship on 01 January 1987. The field is likely to remain in production until 2019. MarineBuzz reported.

Stril Pioner and seagoing booms at Gullfaks. Imagt credit: MarineBuzz [click link for more photos.] Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Oil Spill Lebanon

"war on Lebanon brought about the biggest environmental catastrophe in the history of this small country. 15,000 tons of oil spilled from Jiyyeh power [plant] after Israeli bombardment spilling oil onto most of the Lebanese coast. "

“A lot of oil is still on the beach, but all oil spill cleanup operations have stopped due to lack of funding. The last organization doing cleanup is 'Bahr Loubnan' NGO that was cleaning rocks from oil near Jiyeh using high pressure water jets. A lot of oil can still be found on shore all along the coast in Jiyeh, Beirut, Tabarja, Jbeil and Anfeh. The Ministry of Environment has issued a call for the second phase of cleanup and is looking for funding." Oil Spill Lebanon reported.

The oil pollution on the Lebanese Coast (Rena Karanouh). Image may be subject to copyright. See FEWW Fair Use Notice!

Oil Spill Korean Style

In South Korea's worst oil spill [December 2007,] a crane barge punched holes into Hebei Spirit tanker which spewed 10,500 tons (3.4 million gallons) of its crude oil load into the sea.

Folks, it's time to drill the Arctics some more. There's too much pollution out here!

Related Links:

• 2008: Year of the Fire
• Will 2008 be year of the tornadoes, too?

• 2008: Year of the Expected Unknowns!