The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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In recent Alabama elections observers could predict how Alabamians vote simply by eyeballing them with better than 80% accuracy. 82 to 84% of White voters voted for the Republican candidate and 90 to 94% of Black voters voted for the Democratic candidate. That trend may be changing according to the Alabama Republican Party's post-election analysis. ALGOP reports that they have made significant gains with Black voters – particularly in rural areas. The Alabama GOP picked up three seats in d...
The 2024 General Election results have been certified by the Alabama State Canvassing Board. The canvassing board consists of Governor Kay Ivey, Secretary of State Wes Allen, and Attorney General Steve Marshall. "On November 5, Alabamians cast 2,265,090 ballots for president in a fair, secure, and transparent election," Secretary Allen said. "This election was administered with election integrity as the top priority, and I am proud to officially certify the results today." The certified...
When pilot Kenneth Arnold took off from Chehalis, Washington, in his single-engine airplane one afternoon in June 1947, he was looking for a lost military aircraft that had crashed. But what he found was something completely different—something that would set off a cultural obsession in the U.S. that persists today. While flying around Mount Rainier, Arnold reportedly encountered nine curious, wingless objects speeding through the sky at 1,200 mph, faster than any plane at the time could. Arnold...
It seems there isn't a day that goes by without a headline about contaminated food resulting in a recall or outbreak. In mid-November 2024, the Food and Drug Administration began investigating an E. coli outbreak from organic carrots sold at popular grocery stores like Kroger, Wegmans, Sprouts, and Trader Joe's, affecting people in more than a third of U.S. states. Earlier in 2024, a listeria outbreak from Boar's Head deli meats resulted in the recall of 7 million pounds of meat, 61 reported...
November 27, 2024 - Four years ago the military determined that the best place to locate Space Command was at Huntsville, Alabama's Redstone Arsenal. This decision was based on a nonpartisan analysis by a Pentagon team that evaluated a dozen contenders for the site. Huntsville won going away. Then Joseph R. Biden became President of the United States and national security concerns became subordinate to political concerns. Alabama was a red state that had voted for President Donald J. Trump (R);...
Today is the official observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. The original Thanksgiving holiday occurred 403 years ago. Most of the attendees were member of a Christian radical religious separatist group we now call Pilgrim and their Wampanoag Indian neighbors. The Pilgrims were supposed to have gone to the already established English colony in Jamestown, Virginia; but being religious dissenters enroute to America they announced their intention to form their own separate colony on the Hudson....
The holiday shopping season can be the most wonderful time of year for consumers—but it's the most important time of year for small business owners. Yet many small business owners find themselves in a tight spot, as the growth of online shopping transforms major retailers into the go-to for shoppers seeking both convenience and good deals. While e-commerce platforms take precedence, many small businesses don't even have a website—and those that do may lack digital accessibility. This puts the...
Pivot counties are the 206 counties nationwide Ballotpedia identified as having voted for Barack Obama (D) in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections and Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Media and political observers sometimes refer to these counties as swing counties. Trump won 179 pivot counties in all three of his presidential runs and won 175 of them by a larger margin in 2024 than in 2020. Harris won by a smaller margin than Biden in seven of the nine pivot counties they each won. Overall, pivot...
What is one of the busiest days of the year in many Veterinary Hospitals? If you guessed the Friday after Thanksgiving, then give yourself a high five. While Thanksgiving is a wonderful time for families to get together and enjoy bountiful food, that same food can be harmful to some of our pets if they eat to much or the wrong foods. Fatty foods are hard for many animals to digest, turkey (and other) bones can damage your pet's digestive tract, and holiday sweets can contain ingredients that are...
November 27, 2024 (Montgomery, Ala.) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall joined a multistate coalition suing BlackRock, State Street Corporation, and Vanguard Group, three of the largest institutional investors in the world, for conspiring to artificially depress output and increase the cost of coal through anticompetitive trade practices. Over several years, the three asset managers acquired substantial stockholdings in every significant publicly held coal producer in the United S...
Taking photographs used to be a careful, conscious act. Photos were selective, frozen moments in time carefully archived in albums and frames. Now, taking a photograph is almost as effortless and common as breathing—it's something that people do all the time in the age of smartphone cameras with seemingly endless digital film. But the downside to capturing every moment is that it creates a mountain of those moments to save for the future. Those photos can be easily lost if they're not a...
On November 5, 2024, the American people spoke in a loud voice to say that they did not believe any of the allegations of criminal misconduct against former President Donald J. Trump (R). On Tuesday, following a request by Special Counsel Jack Smith, a federal judge has dropped all the charges against President-elect Donald J. Trump. The futile attempt by the Biden Justice Department to use the court system to besmirch the character of the former President have final come to an end. "After caref...
A courtyard at Harlem's Polo Grounds Towers, home to roughly 4,000 residents, was once characterized by several dilapidated wooden benches with remnants of red paint from years ago. Now, after a four-month community design process to engage residents, the courtyard has been transformed into Sprout, a playscape created by and for the residents of the public housing development, Next City reports Finished in June, Sprout features four bright green play structures built on the foundations of the...
The number of books banned in public schools over the past year skyrocketed to more than 10,000, with two states—Iowa and Florida—responsible for most of them, according to preliminary findings released by PEN America on Monday. The report comes during Banned Books Week, which first began in 1982 to raise awareness about the importance of free and openly accessible information. The rise in banned books during the 2023-'24 school year—nearly tripling from 3,362 bans PEN recorded the previ...
December 1, 2024 – WASHINGTON, D.C. – Hunter Biden received an early Christmas present from his father, President Joseph R. Biden, in the form of a pardon for gun and tax charges. President Biden issued the pardon on Sunday despite previously having pledged not to. "Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter," President Biden said in a statement. "From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my s...
College comes with a lot of expenses. On top of tuition, fees, books, and housing, students also want to go out and have fun. But going shopping, to see a movie, or to meet friends for lunch or dinner isn't always easy on a student budget. Fortunately, there are widely available deals and discounts designed just for college students. Here's a roundup of student discounts from SoFi. Key Points - Major retailers like Amazon and Sam's Club offer special pricing and membership benefits to college...
Key Takeaways - Laxatives are designed for constipation, not weight loss, and can lead to serious side effects and dangerous complications when used incorrectly. - When you lose weight on laxatives, it's from water weight and stool, not body fat. This weight loss is temporary, and you'll likely regain the pounds once you rehydrate your body. The use of laxatives for weight loss is one of those diet fads that never seem to go away. They've been touted by celebrities, on TV, and in film as a way...
Quick question: How long does it take you to look at an email after you receive it? Okay, now how about a text message? For most, it's no contest; we check our emails when we get around to it, but we'll typically look at a text right away. That's why many people are receiving a lot more marketing texts lately. Companies have discovered that texts are a powerful way to reach customers and, more importantly, to get a response. Unfortunately, scammers and hackers have learned this, too, so understa...
The holiday shopping season in the United States has steadily shifted earlier each year, with consumers now seeing Christmas decorations, holiday discounts, and seasonal marketing campaigns as early as September or October. This trend, often referred to as Christmas creep, has altered the retail landscape significantly, influencing consumer behavior and shaping retail strategies for major supermarket chains. A range of studies have explored these trends, providing valuable insights into the...
In 2024, staying small on purpose seems to be paying off big for small businesses. They're keeping operations small and targeting niche, highly specialized customers. And some business owners find this strategy results in more time, energy, and money to intentionally capitalize on unique, small cap opportunities. The data tells the story of growth in small businesses for the year. According to NEXT, the Small Business Administration (SBA) reports awarding 38,000 SBA 7(a) loans under $150,000:...
December 2,c 2024 - MONTGOMERY, AL - Wes Allen, Alabama's Secretary of State, will host the 2024 Meeting of the Electors to cast their votes for President-Elect Donald Trump and Vice President-Elect JD Vance on December 17, 2024. Under state and federal law, the electors for President and Vice President of each State meet and give their votes on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December next following their appointment. The 2024 Meeting of the Electors will convene at 12:00 noon...
Inflation has strained consumers' finances in recent years. It is also having an impact on the charities that depend on donations to do their mission-driven work. Even as charities feel the economic squeeze, however, those in the grant-giving, civil rights, social causes, and educational sectors have seen substantial growth in donations over the last year. Windfall analyzed Giving USA data, a collaborative study between Bank of America and Indiana University, as well as its own proprietary data...
Many movies, cartoons, and television shows often depict pets in a lighthearted way, showcasing their cheerfulness and laissez-faire attitude. On the contrary, modern science suggests that pets possess a deeper level of intelligence than we ever dared to imagine, and they experience the range of feelings we once assumed were just felt by humans. "The visible expression of grief is widespread in the animal kingdom," Barbara J. King, author of "How Animals Grieve," told Stacker. "A cat wails in...
December 2, 2024 - WASHINGTON, D.C.- the day after President Joseph R. Biden Jr. pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama) released a statement condemning the move by the lame duck President. "This is yet another blatant broken promise by President Biden and exemplifies why he has been the most unpopular president in modern U.S. history," said Sen. Britt. "From concerned parents at school board meetings to President Trump, the Biden Administration has spent four years...
Car buyers weary of electric vehicles often share the same concern: "What if I run out of juice and there's nowhere to charge my car?" That was a fair question in 2007. At the time, there were only 139 public EV charging stations. But in the years since, public and private entities have invested billions into building out charging infrastructure to make EVs a more practical option. As of 2023, there are over 64,000 public EV charging stations across the U.S.—more than twice the number in 2020 an...
