The president-elect isn’t the one you want, and you’re exploring your options abroad for the next few years. OK. Deep breath. I can only tell you about the one country I know well outside of the United States, and that is my home country, Canada. For other countries, you’ll need to look elsewhere. CIA factbook Wikipedia entry Caution: I am… Read more →
Category: civics
Post-election, November 11th, 2016
I’m not sure how useful this post is going to be. Consider it capturing a time, a place and a sentiment. We’re five days past the US federal election of November 8th, 2016. Being a bit pedantic about including dates as you may be reading this well after the date. Donald J. Trump is the president-elect. He won the majority… Read more →
The BJCTA Board proves it sucks at governance – again
The Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Agency board of directors has fired Ann August, the very effective executive director who lead the transit agency through a successful reorganization, acquisition of new buses, development of two new commuter routes, and the development of plans to optimize use of resources within the agency. Coverage from The Weld about her initial decision to leave in… Read more →
The Machine in Alabama politics
“The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club.” — Tyler Durden, in the 1999 film, Fight Club. The same rule applies to The Machine. The Machine consists of representatives from 28 white fraternities and sororities (out of 65) at the University of… Read more →
Birmingham transit – a trail of tears
When I married, moved to Birmingham, and returned to school, my original plan was to take the bus to and from my suburban apartment to the downtown UAB campus. I was a heavy transit user in Toronto, using the city buses and subway when my destination was too far to reach easily on my bike. In my inner west end… Read more →
Is Alabama Ready for Its Next Century?
This entry is based on a paper I wrote in the spring of 2011 for my political science class on state and civic government. Any errors or omissions are my own. As of early 2011, Birmingham has been through some tough years. As part of banking reforms put in place after the 2008 stock market crash, available credit across the… Read more →