God Bless the U.S.A.!

Good news.  Despite the International Volleyball Federation's no longer requiring that beach volletball players have to compete while wearing bikinis, the U.S. team will continue to do so.  Slate, that fine internet magazine, gives the reasons why in this article:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/07/27/beach_volleyball_bikinis_american_beach_volleyball_players_explain_why_they_ll_continue_to_wear_skimpy_attire_.html?wpisrc=obnetwork

According to the article, here are the top four reasons:

1. Tradition/inertia. If the current uniforms work, why switch them up?

2. Physical pride/screw the body police.

3. West Coast pride.   They're not uncomfortable in bikinis.

4. Sand. Apparently, it sneaks into the folds of extra fabric and makes players itchy.

This is a healthy tradition.  Don't mess with it.

Michelle Jenneke

Michelle Jenneke has a sexy warmup before a hurdles race.  Isn't she adorable?

A View of the SEC

"The girls are prettier, the air is fresher, and the toilet paper's thicker." -- Missouri wide receiver T.J. Moe, on what he'd heard about the SEC.

His priorities seem to be correct!

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/07/21/2128179/best-quotes-from-sec-media-days.html#storylink=cpy

A Joy Forever

Evidence that a pretty girl is a joy forever.

Coon Dog Cemetery

The Coon Dog Cemetery is located just south of Cherokee, Alabama in the woods of Colbert County.  Only reputable coon dogs may be buried there.  This is a touching place to visit.

Colbert County was named for an Indian chief, not Stephen Colbert.

Alabama

Okay, I was a bit partisan and sharp a few days ago when I posted my perscriptions for what Alabama needs to do.  But my remarks were related to the fact that a few years ago, as a result of the economy tanking and NASA-related cutbacks (at about the same time as the government was bailing out GM and the banks), Huntsville very painfully felt the recession. And yours truly had to scramble for a job for a while. 

Nearby Florence is even worse; as a matter of fact, the whole North Alabama corridor has felt the recession. 

Because of this, we should play for keeps.  Now the State Government has had success in getting car manufacturing, and recently theAirbus contract, but we need more.

It sucks that our best and brightest and cutest have to go off to other states, when most of them would rather be in Sweet Home Alabama, however scorned it seems to be by so many people who have never been here.



Another Poll . . . .

What should be the top priority for the University of Alabama’s new president?

Academics: 400 votes (90%)
Athletics: 25 votes (6%)
Fundraising: 20 votes (4%)

Again, from the Times-Daily.

This is a good sign that we're not totally loony about football. 

Let's Play Serious Hardball!

Let's not kid ourselves -- we're in competition with other states and cities when it comes to getting corporations to come here.  If we're going to succeed, we have to play up our assets and minimize our limitations. 

So what do we have going for us?

1.  We have a good supply of workers  who have an excellent work ethic that are not constrained by union contracts.

2.  A willingness to make concessions to corporations for locating in Alabama.  Former Governor Bob Riley really showed the way on this.  His farsightedness is paying off with the automobile assembly plants near Vance and Montgomery.

3.  A reasonable transportation grid.  I know there's backwoodsy areas, but they're not going to be where this kind of development will take place.

4.  A good, accessible port city (Mobile).

5.  High tech presence in Huntsville.

6.  The Medical Center in Birmingham.

7.  Good major universities (Alabama and Auburn), and strong secondary ones like Jax State and UNA.

And what are our deficiencies?

1.  Frankly, the overblown history of racism and backwoods politicians.  When George Wallace was in his heyday, the politicians in the North ate that shit up:  he was shooting Alabama in the foot, and making us appear less desirable as a place to move to.

2.  Limited natural resources for extraction.

3.  Birmingham, with its high crime rate and it being bankrupt.

4.  Some of the clowns we send to the legislature in Montgomery.

What do we need to do?

1.  Attempt to develop Birmingham or Montgomery as an airline hub.

2.  Work on the highway corridor between Memphis and Huntsville, ultimately linking with I-59 near Chattanooga.

3.  Get rid of the residue of blue laws.

What is not where to go?

1.  Tourism.  Our one tourist asset is the Gulf Coast.  And we don't have as much of that as Florida.

2.  Play up the Civil War and Confederate flags.  Sorry, but it makes some people uncomfortable and unnecessarily divides us.  If we're going to win this thing, we better get this into our heads that, white or black we're in this together.  I'd rather the good stuff come here than elsewhere.

Legalization of Marijuana Poll from Florence, AL

Yesterday, the Florence Times-Daily asked that, with the following result:

Should marijuana be legalized?

Yes 785 votes (71%)
No 320 votes (29%)

Three Chicas or The Three Graces

These three beauties will grace any beach.
Aglaea, Thalia, and Euphrosyne

Send Congress to Buck's Pocket

Here in Alabama, there's an in-state legend that losing political candidates go to Buck's Pocket State Park to lick their wounds.  Well, it's more genteel and more political correct than tarring and feathering them, and running them out of town on a rail!

Here's a little about Buck's Pocket:

http://www.alapark.com/BucksPocket/

Unfortunately, there's no resort cabins, so they will have to be content with tent camping.  Buck's Pocket is a by-word in Alabama for utter remoteness; it's near nowhere at all.  Maybe our non-performers might like like in the sticks, and not be heard of.

On the other hand, maybe that explains the Sand Mountain yeti.  This cryptozoological manifestation allegedly hanging out on Sand Mountain might have been an abandoned politician who went into a complete hariy state of nature.

If they could also send those sons of bitches who cut back on aerospace in Huntsville a few years ago, that would be fine with me.

Really Great News for Alabama!

Airbus has announced that it will build an aircraft assembly factory for A320s in Mobile.  It will be located on this site of the old Brookley AFB. This gives Alabama another role in aerospace; and gives another high tech presence in our state's economy.

The plane’s direct competitor is Boeing’s 737, manufactured in Renton, Wash.

The agreement to build an assembly line in Mobile is the result of a seven-year on-again, off-again campaign by Alabama to build an assembly line for its larger A330 as part of a bid for a $35 billion U.S. Air Force contract for aerial fueling tankers.  However, it was awarded to Boeing last year.  Boeing was trying to keep the Airbus competition out of expanding into the U.S. market.  And, of course, Boeing is located in Seattle. 

Airbus officials said the Mobile plant should help them win additional orders from U.S. airlines.

Thank you, Airbus.  Kiss our red asses, Boeing and Seattle!  We can built aircraft too.

It's So Hot and Dry in Alabama

It's so hot and dry in Alabama:

. . . . that the Baptists are sprinkling instead of dunking.
. . . . that the Methodists are using wet wipes.
. . . . that the Presbyterians are giving rain checks.
. . . . that the Catholics are praying for wine to be turned back into water.

Hot Nerd

In honor of the heat wave affecting over half of the country.