Why now?

Jefferson County employees rally at courthouse on eve of indefinite leaves – al.com

Gosh, guys, if you wait a couple of day you’ll have all the time to rally you need. My suggestion is that you get together and bus down to Montgomery; there’s not much the people here can do.

Betty Fine Collins, meanwhile, was in San Diego for the RNC meeting. Way to stay in the game, BFC!

Take that, Chavez!

Venezuelan national team shows up in Birmingham, but no tournament – Breaking News from The Birmingham News – al.com

So this guy invited the Venezuelan national basketball team to a “tournament” in Birmingham. But there were no other international teams, just a local semipro outfit. (The Venezuelans lost to them. Venezuela is not a basketball power.) The guy says that the other teams couldn’t get visas. Really, none of them? And from what I can tell, nobody around here had heard about the tournament. Certainly, I hadn’t. The Venezuelans wound up having to throw themselves on the mercy of the local Hispanic community just for food and shelter. Amazingly, from what I can tell, Larry Langford is not involved in this. Next stop: Olympics!

So, what’s happening in Lipscomb?

Former Lipscomb police chief sues mayor, council – al.com

Ah, the usual.

Conlin Payne has been indicted for child abuse, but the government says that this is not why he was fired. Why not?

Iraq? What Iraq?

Fox News graphics department has shaky grasp of Mideast geography | Media Matters for America

Posse Comitatus? What Posse Comitatus?

NYT: Bush nixed using GIs in U.S.

Guess what — Cheney wanted to. I know, what a surprise, huh?

Heal the sick, comfort the downtrodden, etc.

Update: Officials say dome will bring jobs, other benefits – Breaking News from The Birmingham News – al.com

It won’t do that, but then it won’t benefit the economy either. People have been over this and over this… Anyway, they did actually start building the Birmingdome on Tuesday. What will happen when they run out of money, which will happen fairly soon since the county is broke, I don’t know. There were protesters, including one with a sense of history who came up with “Crackpot Dome Scandal”. You don’t see a lot of Harding-era references these days.

For some reason, I love this paragraph

Vote keeps half of building in district | TuscaloosaNews.com | The Tuscaloosa News | Tuscaloosa, AL

Gene Carpenter, owner of College Park Shopping Center, wanted his property removed from the College Park Historic District. Part of the building is in the historic district and part of the building is in the historic district buffer zone.

I think it’s the “buffer zone” part. This is good, too:

Historic district advocates said they didn’t want to set a precedent of allowing property to be withdrawn from historic districts. They feared a “domino effect” in historic districts throughout the city.

This is basically the same thinking that got us involved in Vietnam, of course. In case you’re wondering, the building was constructed in 1986, and has little or no historic value, unlike the parking lot, where any number of future professional athletes have thrown up.

Because “Tuxedo Court” wasn’t a fancy enough name, I guess

Revamped Tuxedo Court public housing community to become Tuxedo Terrace – al.com

Well, it’s better than Godzilla again

Japanese fishermen brace for giant jellyfish – CNN.com

I know I’d be praying

Church of the Highlands members to host prayer walks around Leeds, Alabama schools – al.com

A short one. “Jesus, is it hot!”