What Biden meant

BREAKING: Biden Unloads On Clinton, Obama, Edwards | TPMCafe

“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

It’s an attack on Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton for various scandals in the past. That’s what he’s trying to do. What he winds up doing is look like a clueless old racist, which in many ways he is.

Seriously, why?

At least five expected to vie for office

Why would you want to be mayor of Birmingham? It’s a totally thankless job. Someone named “Bell” apparently wants it, though the paper doesn’t further identify him. I assume it’s William but there have been at least two Bells on the City Council in my memory.

The unbearable lameness of spam

I have noticed on my WordPress blog that the spambots are now leaving text like “please dont delete i need money” which just tugs at my heartstrings, it does. I hope they all starve.

More me

I’m running a couple of other blogs for classes:

Print Culture Journal
Imaginative Blog Title Goes Here

If anyone cares.

Dome on the deranged

Langford blames city for no dome decision despite county pledge

So apparently it’s the city of Birmingham’s fault that the Birmingdome hasn’t been built yet. At least according to Larry Langford, who wants to be Mayor of Birmingham even though he doesn’t live there. The current Mayor, however, blames the county. Let’s all agree to blame someone else, possibly Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos, who has nothing to do with the issue.

It depends

Daily Kos: Titles

Senator Clinton wants to be called “Hillary”, so she gets called “Hillary”. But I have a problem with this:

I don’t go around calling people by their last names. I actually have a quick way of gauging how “grounded” a politician is. Upon first meeting them, I refer to them by their first name. If they flinch (and it happens), I immediately form a negative opinion. If they don’t, then I feel more at ease with the person. Schmitt suggests first-name use breeds a false sense of familiarity. I agree, but unlike Schmitt, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Politics should be personal, not the domain of Greek Gods on Mt. Olympus, far removed from the plebes below.

People may talk about “respecting the office” and all that jazz, but I’m not interested. What some consider disrespect, I consider an homage to our representative democracy. They are OUR employees, not royalty.

That’s one way of looking at it. On the other hand, I don’t think you call anyone by their first name if you’re not a friend or family member, and you certainly don’t call someone significantly older than you by their first name. Kos is six months younger than I; any Presidential candidate would be older than us. (Well, I’m 35 so I guess someone my age could run, but none is, at least nobody of significance.) Obama is the youngest, and he’s ten years older. In writing, I would call the junior senator from New York “Hillary”, and have. But to her face, she would be “Senator Clinton” or “Mrs. Clinton”. That isn’t about politics, that’s simple civility.

Return of Faith-based crime prevention

Nunn enlists faithful in fight against crime

Birmingham’s chief of police wants:

to get local churches, mosques and temples involved in rebuilding the community by supporting mentoring programs, clean-ups, neighborhood revitalization and programs to help former inmates successfully return to society.

Which is actually a pretty good idea. I am struck, however, by the name: The Nehemiah Project. Didn’t Nehemiah build a wall? Yes, the story mentions it — he built the walls of Jerusalem. Does Chief Nunn see Birmingham as one big gated community now?

Dome again

Council gives BJCC deadline

I have decided that I want the Birmingdome built somehow. Hey, I live in Tuscaloosa County now, it’s not my tax money. Anyway, I have come to this decision because I figure that until it’s done the idea of building it will be held over our heads forever and we should just get it over with. I should point out that this closely resembles my rationale for originally supporting the Iraq War, and look how that turned out. I hope the City Council has an exit strategy.

I don’t want to loiter in Chelsea

Chelsea eyes law against loitering

Those darned kids! Hanging around, doing… nothing.

You would think it would be the other way around

Siegelman bemoans bills, possibility of prison time

There are ways to get around bills. If you have to, you can declare bankruptcy. As yet, there is no provision for ethical bankruptcy, but it’s probably only a matter of time.