For mixed-status families, a “choiceless choice”

  Nora Sándigo has more presents stashed in a spare bedroom than her children could possibly open. They are stacked on top of each other, some wrapped, some in cardboard boxes, some in plastic tubs and trash bags. They touch the ceiling.

  The presents are not for Christmas morning. Sándigo keeps them for the more than 1,000 children who are counting on her to become their guardian if their undocumented parents are deported.

  She is, as Brooke Jarvis writes for The New York Times, “the most powerful person in many people’s worlds.”

Craig Ford: College professor gets it wrong on K-12 teachers

  Walter Williams, who is a professor of economics at George Mason University, has written an editorial where he insulted every school teacher and every university in the country (including the one that employs him) by claiming that, “With but a few exceptions, schools of education represent the academic slums of colleges,” and that “American education could benefit from eliminating schools of education.”

  The only thing more frustrating than the arrogance behind these statements is the ignorance in them, and I feel obligated to respond.

Alabama Juvenile Justice Task Force report is progress, but more needed

  The Alabama Juvenile Justice Task Force, with technical assistance from the Pew Charitable Trust, surveyed Alabama law and considered data-driven and evidence-based reforms to the juvenile justice system. Its final report contains a number of recommendations that, if enacted, would represent progress for Alabama and its most vulnerable children. For instance, the Task Force recommends ending fines and fees in the juvenile justice system, restricting out-of-home placement, and preventing unnecessary or inappropriate arrests of children from K-12 public schools.

  Unfortunately, because it does not recommend ending the practice of charging children as adults, the Task Force fell short of its goals of protecting public safety, containing costs and improving outcomes for children, families, and communities.

In Selma, Alabama, whose heritage?

  On each anniversary of Bloody Sunday, people from across the country and the world make a pilgrimage to Selma, Alabama, to listen to civil rights luminaries, walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and recommit themselves to the fight for equal justice.

  One place these pilgrims are unlikely to visit is Selma’s Old Live Oak Cemetery, home to a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general who lost the Battle of Selma and, after the Civil War, became the grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Those we lost in 2017

  At the close of each year, my tradition is to acknowledge the passing away of significant political leaders from the political stage in our beloved state.

  We lost some icons this year. As I sit in my office writing this year-end column, pictures of two of my favorite friends and legends adorn my walls. The photos of Governor Albert Brewer and Congressman Jim Martin look down at me. Both were Christian gentlemen.

Richard M. Ebeling: Capitalism and asymmetric information

  Capitalism is a wondrous human institution for the mutual betterment for all in society. Yet, critics often insist that market systems enable sellers to take advantage of buyers because those on the demand-side often lack the specialized knowledge that suppliers possess, thus, enabling a possible exaggerated misrepresentation of what is being offered for sale. What is missed is that market competition generates the incentives and opportunities to earn profits precisely by not misinforming or cheating the buyer.

Gary Palmer: The Christmas that saved America

  Given the current condition of the American economy, there might be a temptation to view what Americans are spending this Christmas as the Christmas that saves the American economy… or at least keeps it from going deeper into recession. But regardless of what Americans spend this Christmas, you would have to look farther back to find the Christmas that saved America.

  By the end of November 1776, American independence was on life support. Gen. George Washington had just suffered a devastating defeat and lost the city of New York to the British. Not only was New York City entirely in British hands, Washington made a strategic blunder by not evacuating his forces from Fort Washington and Fort Lee, on the Hudson River.

Christmas food around the world

  The following provides just a taste of favorite festive foods from around the world:

Austria

  Austrians celebrate Christmas in grand style with a Christmas Eve supper of carp simmered in a ginger and beer-flavored sauce and seasonal vegetables, followed by Topfenpalatschinken (sweet cheese crepes topped with an apricot caramel sauce) for dessert. The traditional fare on Christmas Day is roast goose with all the trimmings.

Australia

  Australian Christmas dinners vary from state to state and from one group of people to another. In general, however, traditional Australian festive fare consists of roast turkey, with ham and/or pork. Christmas pudding (containing a lucky token) and mince pies are also served.

Bulgaria

  As with many other European countries, the main Christmas meal is enjoyed on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day. A typical Bulgarian Christmas dinner consists of twelve different meat-free dishes such as beans, nuts, dried fruit (typically plums), cakes and Banitza (cheese and spinach filo parcels).

Brazil

  In Brazil, chicken, turkey, pork and ham are all popular meats for the main Christmas meal, served with rice, salad, and dried fruits.

Czech Republic

  Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve in the Czech Republic. Following a typical starter of cod roe soup, a main course of carp or Wiener Schnitzel is served with potato salad including carrots, peas, celery, onions, eggs, pickles and mayonnaise, or with sauerkraut and dumplings. Linzer (sweet vanilla flavored delicacies) are popular for dessert.

Finland

  Codfish cooked in a creamy, spicy sauce served with boiled or mashed potatoes, and roast pig, ham and vegetables are typical Christmas dishes in Finland.

France

  In France, Christmas fare varies from region to region. The Parisians, for instance, are fond of oysters and foie gras for their main Christmas meal, whereas in Alsace, goose is a favorite. In other regions including Burgundy, Christmas food is similar to a traditional British Christmas dinner with turkey, cranberry sauce and chestnut stuffing, followed by Christmas pudding and mince pies. But the French tend to take their festive fare one step further with a mouth-watering array of sweet pastries and petits fours.

Germany

  Christmas Eve, fondly referred to as "dickbauch" (fat stomach) is when the Germans gather together to enjoy their main Christmas meal. German and Austrian Christmas dinners are very similar, consisting typically of gebackener karpfen (carp), or roast goose served with potatoes, cabbage, parsnips and pickled vegetables. Sweets include Christbaumgerback, sweet, sugary dough delights cut into festive shapes and baked until crisp, as well as Stollen, the traditional German Christmas cake.

Greece

  Pork is the most popular meat for a Greek Christmas feast, served with sweet loaves called Christopsomo (Christ Bread).

Greenland

  Christmas treats in Greenland range from lamb to a dish of small auks, (seabirds, wrapped in sealskin until they decompose before they are ready for cooking), or whale steaks. After the meal, Mattak (whale skin with a strip of blubber inside) is passed around for the guests.

Italy

  A traditional Italian seven-course Christmas dinner (Cennone) may consist of antipasto, anchovies, various fish, pasta especially spaghetti, meat (only occasionally), salads, fresh broccoli, fruits, cheese, sweets and magnificent cakes and pastries that vary from region to region.

Malta

  Turkey and plum pudding are traditionally served for dinner on Christmas Day in Malta. Timpana (pastries filled with minced meat macaroni) are also popular.

New Zealand

  Barbecued meats such as pork, lamb or venison are served with roasted vegetables including sweet potato and pumpkin. Salads and coleslaw are also popular Christmas fare in New Zealand. For pudding, hot fruit compote with custard and ice cream is a "hot" Christmas favorite among New Zealanders!

Poland

  Christmas in Poland is celebrated on Christmas Eve (Wagilia) with a traditional feast of twelve different dishes, each representing a month of the year. Oplatek (Christmas wafers or sacred offerings) are also shared. Fish dishes, especially herring, pike and carp are generally served instead of meat at Christmas time. Other Polish favorites include fish or mushroom soup, or red borscht (beetroot soup served with soured cream), sauerkraut with wild mushrooms with pierogies (crescent-shaped, stuffed dumplings with a variety of fillings), and kutia (a rich dried fruit compote) for dessert.

Portugal

  The Portuguese are partial to a specialty dish called Bacalhau (dried salt cod). For dessert, Rabanadas (bread soaked in wine, sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and fried in eggs) or Bolo Rei (a fruit cake with a topping of glazed fruit and chopped nuts), are traditionally served at Christmas.

Scandinavia

  The focus in Scandinavian countries is on sweet foods more than on savory dishes. Pepparkakor (cinnamon and gingerbread biscuits) in the shape of stars, moons, hearts, and even pigs are traditionally baked for Christmas.

Sweden

  In Sweden, the main celebratory meal, consisting of pork, ham, fish (usually herring) and brown beans, is served on Christmas Eve rather than on Christmas Day.

Spain

  Similar in many ways to Portugal, Spanish festive fare focuses on seafood. White sea bass roasted in olive oil, onions and lemons and sprinkled with breadcrumbs is a traditional Christmas dish. Almonds and marzipan both feature prominently in most traditional Spanish Christmas "puddings" and sweets. Turrón, (nougat made from toasted sweet almonds and honey, similar to nut brittle, is particularly popular.

Ukraine

  In the Ukraine, it is customary to serve a special twelve-course supper on Christmas Eve. Traditional courses include borscht (beetroot soup), various fish dishes, cabbage stuffed with millet, and dried fruit compote topped with honey and crushed poppy seeds.

Christmas Dinner Past and Present

Did you know....

• In Britain during Elizabethan times, the well-to-do would feast on roast swan, peacock, boar's head and goose for Christmas dinner?

• More and more people in Britain today are foregoing the traditional Christmas dinner of turkey with all the trimmings in favor of vegetarian options such as chestnut pate, borscht, savory strudel parcels, chestnut stuffed mushrooms, cranberry sauce and walnuts, and vegetarian Christmas lasagne?

• In some European countries, including Slovakia and in the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas's birthday, December 6th, is also celebrated, with sweets pastries and goodies handed out to children who have been particularly well-behaved throughout the year. Naughty brats are traditionally handed pieces of coal, potatoes or onions!

  About the author: Paul T. Gregory works at the TheWrd.com and is an eclectic online writer.

  Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Schedules that work for working families

  Many workers in the United States are all too familiar with the pressure of managing work demands and family responsibilities. Now, imagine trying to juggle the two while not knowing your work schedule for the following week or how much your next paycheck will be. Unfortunately, this is a troubling reality for many workers with unfair work schedules. For example, among young workers, 38 percent receive their schedule with less than a week’s notice and 44 percent have no control over their work hours. Unfair schedules affect the health and economic security of workers and their families, harm employee morale, and may increase the likelihood of sexual harassment.

Black voters turned out in Alabama — despite suppression

  When it came time to cast her ballot in the presidential election last fall, Dechauna Jiles voted at the First Assembly of God in Dothan, Alabama. But when she returned to her polling place last week to vote in Alabama’s special election, poll workers told her she was “inactive.”

  “That makes no sense,” said Jiles.

  The African-American woman had always voted at the First Assembly of God.

Trump administration’s new tipping rule could make sexual harassment worse

  Months into our national reckoning with sexual harassment, media coverage shifted last week from the abuses taking place in elite circles—like Hollywood and Capitol Hill—to the restaurant industry, where prominent restaurateurs like Mario Batali, John Besh, and Ken Friedman face allegations of misconduct toward their staff.

  These allegations inch the media coverage closer to the reality many women face, in part because many of the people reporting are ordinary restaurant employees rather than high-profile actresses or news anchors. There’s also the matter of the industry they work in: Low-paid working women are often at the greatest risk for abuse, particularly if they are in service professions.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: 2017 was a dramatic year in Alabama politics

  Well, folks, we have had a more exciting and fun-filled political year than we expected. Usually, most of the fun is reserved for even-numbered years when presidential or gubernatorial elections are held.

  However, it’s been a good ride. Obviously, the Special Election for the remaining three years of Jeff Sessions’ U.S. Senate term monopolized the year. Although you will have to remember, that election was preceded by two events that set up that race.

Peter D Knight: Find the spirit of Christmas that you once had

  Every year the Christmas season comes earlier. It used to be that we put up our outside Christmas lights on the last weekend of November. Shortly after, we gradually transformed the inside of our house with Christmas decorations. This culminated with the purchase of a real pine tree, which we decorated shortly before Christmas, at times as late as Christmas Eve. The earliest that we went to get our tree was a couple of weeks before Christmas.

What Doug Jones’ win means for people in poverty

  Doug Jones’ victory in the Alabama Senate race is just a week old, but the hot takes are still pouring in. For some, the outcome is a signal that Democrats can win both houses of Congress in 2018. For others, it is an outlier—a race that a Republican not accused of sexually assaulting children would have easily won. And for the kind folks at Fox & Friends, it wasn’t much of a win at all—“a referendum on Harvey Weinstein, not on President Trump.”

  The only thing not up for debate is why Jones won: It’s because people of color—particularly African Americans from Alabama’s impoverished “Black Belt”—turned out to vote for him. But lost in the political discussion of the election is one key question: What does the election mean for the lives of Alabamans—especially those who voted for Doug Jones?

Craig Ford: All I want for Christmas is for every child to have a good education

  When my kids were growing up, I don’t know who was more excited on Christmas morning: the kids opening their presents or me and Gwen watching them!

  Ever since God gave us the original and best Christmas gift, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, giving gifts has been a part of celebrating Christmas. But as I thought about what I wanted most this Christmas, it wasn’t anything material or even something for myself.

  What I want most for Christmas is to finally see every child in Alabama be given a chance at the quality education they deserve. And believe it or not, that is a gift that we could actually provide.

Gene Policinski: Two wrongs do not make a ‘right’ — but they can misuse one

  Didn’t we all learn, long ago, that “two wrongs don’t make a right”?

  But two wrongs can misuse a right — as in our right to free expression, guaranteed by the First Amendment.

  First, there’s the wrong done by “Project Veritas,” a gaggle of self-proclaimed operatives on a purported mission to root out corruption and dishonesty in the media. The group uses deceitful tactics to wrong-foot reporters.

Is the American Dream alive and well in Alabama?

  A recent Pew Research study found that over 80% of U.S. citizens believe they’ve achieved the American dream, or at least that they’re on the way to doing so. Only 17% of those surveyed said the American dream is “out of reach” for their family.

  But what about Alabamians? This high level of satisfaction seems like it might not translate in a relatively poor state like ours.

Public school athletes can protest during the Pledge of Allegiance

I recently was asked during question-and-answer periods at conferences in New Hampshire and Tennessee whether public school students have a First Amendment right to protest by kneeling during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.

  Yes, they do, or at least they should. The U.S. Supreme Court declared back on Flag Day in 1943 that public school students did not have to stand, salute the flag, and recite the Pledge of Allegiance in West Virginia Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette (1943).

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Will Alabama lose a Congressional seat?

  The legendary Speaker of the U.S. House Sam Rayburn coined a famous phrase he used often and imparted to young congressmen when they would arrive on Capitol Hill full of vim and vigor. He would sit down with them and invite them to have a glass of bourbon and branch water with him. The old gentleman, who had spent nearly half a century in the Congress, after hearing their ambitions of how they were going to change the world, would look them in the eye and say, “You know here in Congress there are 435 prima donnas and they all can’t be lead horses.” Then the Speaker in his Texas drawl would say, “If you want to get along, you have to go along.”

Net neutrality is the free speech fight of our generation

  Late last month, the Trump administration’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a plan to effectively end net neutrality. To help unpack what this means for regular people who use the internet, I spoke with Katrina vanden Heuvel, the editor and publisher of The Nation.

Our Stand: Alabama needs Doug Jones

  Though the campaign to fill Alabama's vacant U.S. Senate seat his been marked by controversy - namely twice-ousted former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore's shady past and serial abuse of elected office - since the beginning of the race, it has been clear who is better qualified and suited to represent the people of Alabama: Doug Jones.

  As the U.S. Attorney for Alabama's Northern District, Jones successfully prosecuted two Klan members for their involvement in the horrible bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963, which killed four little girls. Those perpetrators had evaded justice for nearly 30 years by the time of their convictions, and Jones has been credited for taking the stalled case, putting in the work, and finally bringing the long nightmare to an end.

Tales and truth in the Masterpiece Cakeshop arguments

  In July 2012, Charlie Craig and David Mullins went into Masterpiece Cakeshop to buy a wedding cake. The store owner, Jack Phillips, refused to sell the same-sex couple a cake. The Colorado Civil Rights Commission and state courts have agreed that Phillips’ refusal to serve Craig and Mullins violated Colorado’s anti-discrimination act, which bars businesses such as Masterpiece Cakeshop from refusing service based on characteristics including religion, race, and sexual orientation.

  Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission and will decide whether Phillips’ has a constitutional right to discriminate under the First Amendment. At stake is whether nondiscrimination laws will continue to provide meaningful protection against discrimination, not only for LGBTQ people but potentially for other protected classes as well.

Six things President Trump got wrong when decimating America’s national monuments

  On Monday, President Donald Trump announced the largest revocation of protected areas in U.S. history. The two proclamations he signed removed protections of more than 2 million acres by eliminating both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments and replacing them with five much smaller national monuments. His illegal action could result in the destruction of Native American archaeological sites, widespread loss of wildlife habitat, and economic harm to local businesses.

Jacob G. Hornberger: No American is willing to die for South Korea

  Let’s engage in a thought experiment. Let’s assume that President Trump today ordered all U.S. troops in South Korea to immediately withdraw and come home, a position that I hold is the best and possibly only solution to the Korean crisis. After all, let’s not forget that the reason North Korea wants nuclear capability is to deter or defend against one of the U.S. government’s storied regime-change operations (e.g., Iran, Guatemala, Cuba, Chile, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Libya, etc.). Virtually no one suggests that the reason North Korea wants a long-range nuclear capability is to enable it to start a war with the United States. It wants nuclear capability for defensive, not offensive, purposes. Once U.S. troops are brought home, the incentive for North Korea to acquire nuclear capability that would strike the United States plummets.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1591: I am going to vote on Dec. 12th!

  I am going to vote on Tuesday, December 12, 2017. I am going to vote because my vote matters. I am going to vote because your vote matters. I am going to vote because my vote is my voice. I am going to vote because my mother and father were denied the right to vote for most of their lives. I am going to vote because I couldn’t vote in Alabama when I became of age. I am going to vote because too many are working to make it more difficult for me and others to vote. I am going to vote because people died so I and others could vote. I am going to vote on Tuesday, December 12.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Moore vs. Jones

  The final vote for the remaining three years of Jeff Sessions' six-year term in the U.S. Senate will be next Tuesday. The race is between Democrat Doug Jones and Republican Roy Moore.

  Jeff Sessions is probably sorry he left his safe Senate seat of 20 years to be at the Justice Department in a tentative position with constant ridicule from an irrational egomaniac as president.

  It would be highly unlikely that a Democrat could beat a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in the Heart of Dixie.  We are one of the most reliably Republican states in America, especially when it comes to federal offices.

Rosa Parks, #MeToo, and the nature of the struggle

  Three and a half years before Rosa Parks sat down, Pfc. Sarah Keys refused to get up.

  Keys was in the Army and traveling home on furlough. When a new bus driver took the wheel in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, he demanded that she give up her seat to a white Marine.

  Keys refused. So the driver emptied the bus, directed the other passengers to another vehicle and barred Keys from boarding it. She was charged with disorderly conduct and jailed, paying a $25 fine.

  She filed a complaint — and in a milestone for civil rights, she won.

High Court to examine Minnesota law banning all political speech near polls

  Pure political speech represents the core type of speech the First Amendment was designed to protect. A case this term, Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Mansky, before the U.S. Supreme Court will test the Justices’ commitment to this principle.

  A Minnesota law forbids voters from wearing a “political badge, political button, or other political insignia . . . at or about the polling place on primary or election day.”

  The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the law, reasoning that a polling place is a nonpublic forum instead of a traditional, designated or limited public forum where free-speech rights are greater. Under the Court’s public forum doctrine, restrictions on speech in nonpublic forums are constitutional if the restrictions are viewpoint neutral and reasonable.

Craig Ford: State leaders have lost their credibility on prisons

  With all the attention being given to the special election for the U.S. Senate, you may not have seen what has been happening in Montgomery with the prison crisis.

  Last year, Gov. Robert Bentley proposed a plan to build four new “super prisons” at a cost of about $800 million. At the time, a lawsuit had been filed claiming that the state’s prisons were overcrowded and did not provide adequate safety and healthcare services, which is a violation of the 8th Amendment that prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.”

  State leaders claimed that building new prisons would solve all the problems by allowing the state to house the same number of prisoners without having to hire more guards or mental health care professionals.

Ulrich Boser: The value of guardrails in education

  The real estate crash of September 2008 provided a powerful lesson about the nature of government oversight. After federal regulators failed to rigorously manage the real estate industry, a pool of bad loans caused a housing bubble that nearly destroyed the world economy.

  While schools are much different than houses, education reformers should take note of the value of government oversight because the core lesson remains the same. Markets function better when government plays a strong role, and education policymakers should help to inform consumer decisions and police bad actors.

Jason Fernandes: The quiet attacks on your rights you probably haven’t heard about

  Last Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a plan to repeal Obama-era net neutrality rules. Their proposal would allow internet service providers to charge consumers more for higher streaming speeds or for access to certain websites, effectively opening a legal route to deny people access to a free and open internet based on their ability to pay. This came just a week after the FCC voted to roll back Lifeline, a program that helps low-income Americans pay for phone and broadband service.

The Paul Ryan guide to pretending you care about the poor

  Once, at a town hall in Wisconsin, someone asked known anti-poverty crusader Paul Ryan (R-WI) the following question:

    “I know that you’re Catholic, as am I, and it seems to me that most of the Republicans in the Congress are not willing to stand with the poor and working class as evidenced in the recent debates about health care and the anticipated tax reform. So I’d like to ask you how you see yourself upholding the church’s social teaching that has the idea that God is always on the side of the poor and dispossessed, as should we be.”

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Jim Martin's place in Alabama political history

  Jim Martin passed away recently in Gadsden at 99 years old. His beloved wife of 70 years, Pat, was by his side. He was a true Christian gentleman. Jim was one of the fathers of the modern Republican Party in the South.

  In 1962, John Kennedy was President. Camelot was in full bloom. The Congress was controlled by Democrats only because the South was solidly Democratic. The southern bloc of senators and congressmen were all Democrats. Because of their enormous seniority, they controlled both houses of Congress.

Jacob G. Hornberger: A basic principle about capital

  Imagine a farm in an impoverished country, a farm where the workers are using hoes to do their work in the fields. The farm produces 1000 bushels of wheat a year, which is sold for $10,000. The farmer’s income statement reads as follows:

Five reasons communities of faith should be alarmed by the tax bill

  President Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and many other GOP lawmakers have continually referenced faith and religion when referring to public policy. President Trump’s public remarks have increasing been laced with religious rhetoric—from invoking the Lord to support his declaration of opioid addiction as a national health emergency to his appeal to God to bless the world after launching military strikes in Syria. Similarly, when a policy crisis on gun violence reemerged in the wake of the Sutherland Springs, Texas, massacre, Speaker Ryan immediately reverted to religious rituals urging prayer for the community, but stopping short of a call for legislation to address gun violence—something he is well positioned to do.

Leigh Hixon: Saving our sovereignty

  While it is difficult to persuade a state that relies on the federal government for 42% of its budget that it should begin to unwind some of those funds, there is arguably more for a state to gain than lose by shedding some of its dependence on the federal trough. But even if voluntarily forgoing such assistance is a bridge too far, it is becoming more and more essential for the state to assume greater financial responsibility.

  Alabama voters are looking at legislators to do just that.

The Trump administration’s slow but steady undoing of the Department of Education

  On November 23, 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump announced that he would nominate Betsy DeVos, a pay-for-play billionaire with no experience working in public schools, to be his secretary of education. This move signaled to students, parents, educators, and public school advocates that Trump intended to make good on his promise to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education. During his 2016 campaign, Trump rarely mentioned education except to call repeatedly to eliminate the department or to chastise urban public schools and districts. Once in office, he quickly nominated DeVos to turn his campaign rallying cry into a reality.

Jacob G. Hornberger: A basic principle about trade

  In every trade, both sides benefit from their own individual perspective. The reason is simple: Each side is giving up something he values less for something he values more.

  That means, then, that trade, in and of itself, raises people’s standard of living. At the moment of the trade, both traders are better off than they were before the trade.

Joseph O. Patton: Taking back Thanksgiving!

  I am genuinely elated to report that I have survived another Thanksgiving… or rather what remains of this rapidly deteriorating national holiday. I ate, I watched football, I napped. God ordained back in the Plymouth Rock days that we adhere to this sacred ritual, right? And doing so enables me to show my Turkey Day pride, get my festive gobble-gobble swerve thang on, but mostly just suffer from indigestion as a result of all that sweet, blessed gluttony.

  But increasingly each year something else is ominously creeping into the view from my yam-tinted glasses, vulgarly tinkling on my Thanksgiving joy and ruthlessly pushing all the pilgrim imagery to the side - its name: Christmas.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Turnout is everything

  The big question in the Alabama U.S. Senate race: Will allegations against Roy Moore and his purported propensities 40 ago cause him to lose? We will soon see. The election is less than three weeks away.

  The book on Moore is easy to read. The polls have consistently revealed that 30 percent of voters like him, and 70 percent do not like him.  He is a polarizing figure and is well known.

Building their own future, one house at a time

  The bad news about the criminal justice system can seem overwhelming: vast racial disparities; an incarceration rate unprecedented in world history and more than quadrupling over the past four decades; a school-to-prison pipeline that short-circuits our children’s futures.

  It’s a bleak picture of American justice.

  That’s why a prison re-entry plan conceived by — and for — Indiana women is such a breath of fresh air.

Jacob G. Hornberger: A positive shift among Americans on foreign policy

  One of the burning issues of our time is the role of the U.S. government in foreign affairs: Should the United States embrace interventionism or non-interventionism?

  Should the U.S. government be destroying democratically elected regimes? Should it be installing into power right-wing dictatorships? Should it be partnering with and supporting brutal dictatorships? Should it be using U.S. taxpayer money to fund foreign regimes? Should it be invading and waging wars of aggression against independent countries? Should it be intervening in foreign civil wars or revolutions? Should it be kidnapping, torturing, and assassinating people in other countries, including foreign leaders? Should it be maintaining military bases in foreign countries? Should it be spying on foreign regimes? Should it be imposing sanctions and embargoes on foreigners?

Richard Cohen: Hate crimes rise for second straight year

  As we feared, the FBI’s hate crime report for 2016 shows a second straight year of increases – the first time that’s happened in a decade. It means that in the last two years, the number of reported hate crimes has risen by nearly 12 percent.

  Government studies show that the actual number of hate crimes may be as high as 250,000 – more than 40 times the 6,121 incidents that the FBI reports for 2016. But the FBI figures do serve as a rough barometer for what’s occurring in our country.

Craig Ford: Remembering our veterans this Thanksgiving

  Every Thanksgiving, I like to write an editorial about the things that I am thankful for. I’ve written about how thankful I am for my family, and for public servants like Alabama’s educators. But this year, I want to say how thankful I am for our country’s veterans.

  We just celebrated Veterans Day, of course, and we are blessed to live in a part of the country where our nation’s veterans are still revered and respected. Still, I feel that Thanksgiving is the perfect time to say thank you to the men and women who have served our great nation.

Gene Policinski: For source of fake reporter ‘robocall,’ look under a rock

  I know where that fake Washington Post reporter robocall, with its anti-Semitic undertone, came from.

  From under a rock.

  It’s a rock where, no doubt, guffaws went around at seeing real journalists having to report on this shameful, bigoted prank.

  It’s a rock where, no doubt, those responsible for the prank are slapping themselves on the back for folding anti-Semitism in with an anti-news media tactic.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1588: One moment! One chance! One vote!

  I spoke for fewer than five minutes. I had to leave Montgomery immediately to travel to Atlanta and on to Boston. The speech, if one can call it that, was at the Alabama New South Coalition Annual Fall Convention in Montgomery. Some people have asked for a copy of the video or audio. I did not know that it was recorded. After these requests, I thought I might as well use Sketches to share some of what I said, or tried to say, on this occasion. I say, “tried to say,” because I don’t recall exactly what I said.

  First, let me state that it was not a political speech in the usual sense. No candidate was endorsed. No candidate was attacked. No names of living persons were ever called. However, the power of voting was detailed. Changing Alabama for the better was raised loud and clear. Changing America for the better was lifted high and clearly. But no names were called and no officials or prospective officials were held responsible.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Alabama's community colleges are stepping up

  In March of this year, the Alabama Community College System took a giant leap forward when it brought on a giant in state government and one of Alabama’s preeminent leaders, Jimmy Baker, to be Chancellor.

  When you have a conversation with Chancellor Baker, he uses words that you do not normally hear in the same sentence, like exciting and community college. He says it is an exciting time. For many reasons, Alabama's community colleges and technical training have been viewed as second best when it comes to higher education options. Sit down with Chancellor Baker and you will leave convinced that Alabama’s community colleges can do more to move the state forward than any other entity in the state.

Not in a million years: The House’s proposed windfall for donors

  Congressional proponents of the House Republicans’ tax plan, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, claim that it will benefit the middle class. But in reality, it is a huge giveaway to the donor class—including a handful of top donors who have bankrolled the campaigns of Republican leaders in Congress. In fact, just the bill’s estate tax cuts alone would allow the families of 11 prominent donors, listed below, to pocket up to $67.5 billion. The typical U.S. family couldn’t earn that much in a million years.

  That’s not a figure of speech: The typical American family would have to work for 1,144,020 years to make the same amount of money as congressional majority leaders want to give away to the heirs of just these 11 wealthy individuals who helped them get elected.

Policing for profit, not justice

  If law enforcement agencies in Alabama want to seize and keep someone’s property — cash, cars, real estate, guns, TVs or other assets — they don’t have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was used in drug trafficking or obtained through criminal activity.

  As in many other states, they don’t have to show that the property owner was convicted of a crime — or even charged with one.

  They can just take the property. And in the vast majority of cases, they get to keep it.

Leigh Hixon: We dare defend our rights

  From Obamacare to Common Core, Alabama is known for being among the first to react in high-profile cases of DC overreach. Under the banner of the state motto, “We dare defend our rights,” Alabamians seem to share an innate sense of self-determination.

  Yet, despite its long-standing reputation, the state has essentially welcomed much of the federal interference that jeopardizes voters’ treasured autonomy. Case in point, a 2017 study ranked Alabama the fourth most federally dependent state, having accepted enough federal funds to comprise more than 40% of the state budget.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1587: How do we deal with the death of our young as a result of violence?

  Sometimes death comes creeping into our lives. Other times death comes storming into our lives, our homes, our families, and our communities. We are born to die, but some die all too soon. It’s hard when death comes no matter the circumstances. But it’s really hard when death comes all too soon. It’s really, really hard when death comes violently and too soon at the hands of other human beings. Last week, death came storming into our lives all too soon.

The most horrifying provisions hidden in the House Republican tax plan

  Last week, House Republicans released their tax plan, finally providing long-awaited details on what they really mean when they promise “tax reform.” While they billed it as a middle-class tax cut, the new legislation is filled with gifts for wealthy corporations and the richest Americans. Meanwhile, middle-class and working families would at best get scraps—and in many cases, see their taxes increase.

  Many of the most extreme tax increases come in the form of eliminated tax credits or deductions buried deep in the text of the bill—and ignored by lawmakers and the media. With tax increases affecting groups ranging from seniors and people with disabilities, to families facing costly medical bills, to immigrant children, to people with student loans—to name just a few—the bill is a virtual laundry list of tax increases on populations who are often struggling to make ends meet.

Gene Policinski: We’re a big part of the fix for ‘junk news’

  Let’s stop talking so much about “fake news.”

  Not that we should ever cease identifying, talking about or countering misinformation, be it accidental error, the result of negligent work, or deliberately false — to which we must now add propaganda tactics aimed at destabilizing our democracy.

  We face all those types of misinformation today; amplified as they are by platforms that allow for instantaneous, worldwide communication.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: On to 2018

  We still have the culmination of the race for the seat of Jeff Sessions set to be determined in less than five weeks on December 12. Roy Moore, as the Republican nominee, is the favorite. However, the Democrat, Doug Jones, could make it a closer race than first thought. He has raised some money and gained some traction, and Moore has a good many detractors among Republican and independent voters.

  The 2018 races are looming on the horizon. All of the horses may not be at the gate yet. However, we are only seven months away from the GOP Primary. What at one time looked as though it would be a titanic race for governor may not be as good as first thought. Governor Kay Ivey is in the catbird’s seat to win a four-year term of her own. Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle appears at this time to be her most difficult hurdle. Birmingham evangelist, Scott Dawson, is poised to be a dark horse.

4 losers and 1 big winner in the House GOP tax plan

  On November 2, House Republicans released a tax plan that would provide an enormous windfall for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. In fact, of the more than $1.4 trillion in tax cuts included in the bill over the next decade, $1 trillion would go to businesses and corporations, and nearly $200 billion would go towards reducing, and eventually eliminating, the estate tax. Millionaires would enjoy the biggest tax cuts of all thanks to the corporate tax cuts, the elimination of the estate tax and alternative minimum tax, reduced tax rates on higher incomes, and the creation of a special new loophole on so-called passthrough business income.

Emily L. Hauser: Sexual assault is universal, recovery isn’t

  When news broke of the seemingly bottomless Harvey Weinstein scandal, it released a flood of similarly harrowing tales of sexual harassment and assault in music, academia, science, media, restaurants, government, libraries, on and on and ever on. Near countless numbers of women and a decent number of men shared their own stories in private conversation, public essays, and as part of the #MeToo hashtag on social media. One inescapable fact immediately became manifest: Sexual harassment and assault are everywhere in the human experience, regardless of profession, ideology, ethnic identity, or financial privilege.

Hate in the White House

  President Trump’s pick to lead NASA, U.S. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, faced criticism last week for his skepticism of climate change and his conservative stances on homosexuality.

  But it was Bridenstine’s associations with anti-Muslim extremists like Frank Gaffney, Jr. that was perhaps the most alarming revelation to emerge from his Senate confirmation hearing.

  Gaffney is the founder of the anti-Muslim hate group Center for Security Policy (CSP), known for propagating paranoid conspiracy theories about the supposed infiltration of the federal government by the Muslim Brotherhood. Gaffney’s CSP is so extreme that it has been banned from participating even in the conservative conference CPAC.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1586: Doing what we’ve always done will get us what we’ve always gotten

  Habit is a powerful thing. Habit is when we do what we have always done. There is great security in habit. There is great stability in habit. There is great comfort in habit. However, habit does not change things; it maintains things. If we do what we’ve always done, we will get what we’ve always gotten.

  The author of the preceding statement is unknown. Some say it came from comedian Jackie “Moms” Mabley. Others say Henry Ford. Still others say Albert Einstein. Others say Tony Robbins and so on. We don’t really know the original source. But we do know the power of the statement.

Craig Ford: Repealing the Accountability Act should be a priority for the legislature

  When the Alabama Legislature returns to Montgomery in January, you won’t hear a whole lot about education. What you will hear a lot about is prisons (since a federal court ordered the state to solve the problems with staffing and mental health) and social issues that legislators hope will benefit them in next year’s elections.

  And that’s a real shame because one of the most important things our state government is responsible for is providing a quality education for all – and not just some – of our children.

Lata Nott: Shouting down free speech

  Is the First Amendment truly in danger? It can certainly seem like it when every week some new and alarming event happens that makes people wonder if our freedom to express ourselves is slipping away.

  But is that just a feeling that we get from being plugged into the 24-hour news cycle, or from listening to pundits argue with each other on cable television?

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The Silver Haired Legislature

  With all the changes and uncertainty surrounding Alabama government in recent months, including political appointments, high level resignations, special elections, runoff elections and a host of new candidates tossing their names into the 2018 election circus, Alabamians might be relieved to know one thing remains steady and solid and many may never have heard of it – Alabama’s Silver Haired Legislature is one of Alabama’s crown jewels.

10 things you didn't know about the history of Halloween

10) While today's costumes channel an inner fantasy, they started with a much more solemn purpose.

  One of the earliest examples we have of people donning costumes comes from Hallow Mass, a ceremonial mass dedicated to prayers for the dead. People appealed to their ancestors for everything from happy marriages to fertility, and costumes were a part of that.

  It wasn't until the Victorian era that the idea of dressing up really went mainstream, and a lot of that started with the Robert Burns poem "Halloween." Originally, the best costumes were the ones that were creepy, which isn't entirely surprising. The Victorians were obsessed with the idea of spirituality and the afterlife, so pioneering the ghost costume made a lot of sense.

Women are driving the resistance

  The 2016 election season was a troubling reminder of the stubborn persistence of sexism and misogyny. Whether or not they chose to vote, millions of women across the United States were forced to confront a stark reality: Their country had elected a president who built his campaign on division, professing to want to empower women even as he consistently embraced and deployed hostile, disparaging rhetoric about and toward women. President Donald Trump has also surrounded himself with and elevated men—such as Vice President Mike Pence, former chief strategist Steve Bannon and Attorney General Jeff Sessions—who have consistently supported anti-women policies.

Trauma, not rehabilitation, in juvenile detention centers

  Elord Revolte died a tragic death in Florida’s juvenile justice system after he tried to get a carton of milk without permission.

  In a gut-wrenching series called “Fight Club,” The Miami Herald investigated more than a decade’s worth of records from the state’s juvenile justice system and found a culture of inconceivable violence that has resulted in at least 12 deaths of detained youths since 2000.

  It was such violence that cost Elord his life.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1585: Crazy can be good!

  Crazy. He is crazy. She is crazy. You are crazy. I am crazy. You are so crazy. Crazy can mean so much from a “low down put down” to a term of endearment. It can also mean beyond exceptional. I want to explore the beyond exceptional. Have you heard people say that “crazy” people are stronger, run faster, lift more, have greater stamina and perform all kinds of feats way beyond the ability of “normal” people? I don’t know whether there is truth in this perception of “crazy,” but I know I have heard it a lot. In fact, I sometimes apply it to myself. When we are crazy, we don’t know our own limitations so we keep exceeding them.

Jacob G. Hornberger: Isolationism and open borders

  In an implicit rebuke of President Trump, former President Bush delivered a speech last week in which he warned against “isolationism sentiments.”

  Isolationist sentiments? Is he kidding? Don’t make me laugh. Trump has made it very clear that he is firmly committed to continuing the forever wars that Bush launched in Afghanistan and Iraq more than 15 years ago and Bush’s perpetual “war on terrorism,” which he used to justify the adoption of such totalitarian powers as indefinite detention, torture, and assassination.

Poverty expert explains how we make it a crime to be poor

  Officially, the United States ended debtors’ prisons in 1833. Unofficially, as we saw in the Justice Department’s report on racially biased policing in Ferguson, there is a system of fines and fees for minor crimes that often result in jail time for the poor, mostly black citizens who cannot afford to pay them.

  To provide more context on the issue, I talked with Peter Edelman, Georgetown University law professor and former staffer for Robert F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, about his new book Not a Crime to be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Around Alabama

  There have been quite a few political happenings in the Heart of Dixie during October. Birmingham has elected a new mayor. 36-year-old Randall Woodfin defeated two-term mayor William Bell. 

  I never got to know Bell that well; however, the few times I visited with him he seemed to be an affable fellow. He surely looked like a mayor. His distinguished demeanor and exquisite diction and appearance gave an elegant impression for Birmingham. He looked like he came out of Hollywood central casting.

Trump is the reason the Constitution has an anti-corruption clause

  The investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into the Trump campaign’s involvement in the Russian attack on the U.S. election system has garnered significant attention. But, more quietly, another effort to limit foreign influence over our government continues apace.

  On October 18, a federal district court in New York heard arguments in Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Trump, in which the plaintiffs argued that President Donald Trump has violated the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, an anti-corruption clause that prohibits government officials from receiving anything of value from foreign governments without the consent of Congress. While these cases are just beginning, the ongoing investigations into Trump’s ties to Russia have made clear that the problem of foreign influence in this administration is both very real and very dangerous.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1584: God bless the child that’s got its own

  Mama may have, Papa may have, but God bless the child that’s got his own. That is a key verse in the Billie Holiday song, "God Bless the Child." It captures a profound truth about the power of ownership. I will change the word “his” to “its” as I employ the verse as a refrain in this Sketches. God bless the child that’s got its own.

  I learned the power of ownership through an unforgettable childhood experience. Our family lived on heir property (real property inherited upon death resulting in multiple owners). However, my father Sam Sanders was not an heir to the property because my grandfather, Miles Sanders, was still alive. We had no ownership.

Craig Ford: Career tech should be just as much of a priority as college prep

  The largest school district in Maryland recently received a report from a consulting firm they hired to help improve their education system. The report’s conclusion was simple: career preparation has been marginalized as a priority, and the school system’s programs are not keeping pace with the changing nature of employment.

  More specifically, the report showed that the school system is putting most of its energy and resources into college preparation despite the fact that most of the available jobs are middle-skill positions that require less than a bachelor’s degree.

  Why should people in Alabama care about a report on Maryland’s school system? Because we – and the rest of America – have the same problem.

For the cost of repealing the estate tax, Congress could buy everyone in America a pony

  You know how you’ve always wanted a pony? How as a child you dreamed of feeding carrots and sugar cubes out of the palm of your hand to a little chestnut-colored horse named Maple?

  It may sound fanciful to adults, but President Donald Trump and Republican leaders in Congress put together a wish list of tax cuts for the wealthy that are far more extravagant than ponies. It turns out for the cost of just one of these tax cuts—repealing the tax on wealthy estates—we could literally buy every single American a pony.

  A lovely little Shetland pony, specifically. For all 325 million of us. In fact, the benefits Trump’s own adult children could get from his estate tax repeal would fund nearly 1.4 million ponies—that alone is enough to cover giving a pony to everyone in the state of Maine.

This is how much average Americans will pay for Trump’s tax cuts for the 1 Percent

  On the heels of their humiliating health care debacle, President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are stepping up efforts to push a tax plan designed to benefit the wealthy. The plan makes vague and unspecific overtures when it comes to provisions that could benefit working- and middle-class taxpayers, but it is crystal clear about the benefits it would bestow on rich individuals and wealthy corporations.

  For example, the plan removes taxes on extremely wealthy estates, slashes the top income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent, and abolishes the alternative minimum tax, which ensures that higher-income households—which are often able to take advantage of lucrative deductions and credits—contribute at least some modicum of taxes. It also gives a special low tax rate to owners of pass-through businesses, who are already able to avoid corporate taxes by instead paying personal tax rates on their portion of the businesses’ profits, allowing them a lower effective tax rate. All of these provisions would benefit the wealthiest Americans, including Trump himself.

How a mass shooting made my town an advocate for gun safety

  My rough, unscientific estimate is that we are about three-quarters of the way through the national grieving process for Las Vegas. Americans are pretty familiar with the rhythmic mourning of mass shootings: Widespread shock, political chest-beating, internet rage, and then silence. Then our wounds start to heal and the nation moves on, leaving the thousands of people who were injured or lost someone they loved to recover on their own. Those individual broken hearts will keep bleeding for years—many, like mine, will burst open again every time there’s another shooting.

  My mind still flashes back to my hometown every time news of a shooting breaks even though Tomasz was killed almost five years ago. It was early on Christmas Eve in 2012 when a man set his family home on fire and shot the firefighters who responded to the blaze from a berm across the street. He used the same model of assault rifle that was used in the Sandy Hook massacre two weeks earlier.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Kay Ivey's stealth campaign

  Now that the dust has settled from the Republican Senate primary, we can focus on the much-anticipated 2018 elections.

  Kay Ivey is definitely running for governor. She raised over one million dollars in a few short weeks in August through an exploratory committee. As of the last reporting period, she has raised $1.2 million followed closely by Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, who is at $1.1 million.

  Ivey has been running a stealth campaign, traveling the state and looking gubernatorial. On a recent day in Tuscaloosa, she visited the University of Alabama and then mid-morning visited a pre-kindergarten class in the Druid City. Allow me to share a story surrounding the governor's Tuscaloosa visit. 

Taylor Dawson: Religious liberty for all

  Free exercise of religion is a bedrock principle of American governance. As schoolchildren, we’re taught that Pilgrims fled to America to avoid persecution by the Church of England. While many of America’s founders were Christians, they prohibited government from favoring one religion over another. Our constitutional protection for religious exercise is listed first in the Bill of Rights. That wasn’t a mistake.

Bigotry is not an American value

  On October 14, 1979, more than 100,000 people marched on Washington to demand equal rights for LGBT people.

  But nearly four decades after the National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is intent on rolling back their rights.

  Just over a week ago, Sessions issued a memo to Department of Justice lawyers asserting that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect transgender workers from employment discrimination. His directive overturned the protective policy established under President Barack Obama.

Gene Policinski: To Trump on NBC ‘license’ tweet: No!

  There’s only one appropriate, spirit-of-freedom response to the “Trump tweet” on Wednesday asking when it’s “appropriate” for the government to punish NBC News for a story the president didn’t like:

  Never. And yes, the repetition of “appropriate” and the use of italics are for emphasis.

  Trump is disputing an NBC report earlier in the day — based on interviews with three officials in the room at the time — that during a July meeting Trump had proposed a massive increase in the country’s nuclear arsenal, which critics immediately pounced on as evidence he was naïve and ignorant of the cost, policy and treaty barriers to such an increase.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1583: Vision is really, really powerful!

  Vision is powerful. Vision is really, really powerful. Vision helps us to know where we are going to. Vision helps us to understand where we are coming from. Vision helps us to know where we are in relation to where we are going and where we are coming from. Vision helps us to know how to take what we have and make what we need to get to where we are going. Vision helps us know that it is not what we are going through but what we are going to. Vision is really, really powerful.

Craig Ford: Committee looking into school suspensions and expulsions is a step in the right direction

  The late actor Nelsan Ellis, who grew up in Bessemer and went on to become famous for his role on the HBO series “True Blood,” was interviewed by al.com back in 2009. When asked about his experience at Jess Lanier High School, he said, "It's hard to get an education when teachers spend 70 percent of their time trying to discipline students. I grew up knowing I wanted to escape that life, and the only escape was education."

  I believe he hit the nail on the head. Discipline issues are at the heart of why some schools are failing, and addressing those discipline issues is essential for fixing failing schools.

Mississippi police called ICE then an agent shot an unarmed man

  Police in riot gear. Protesters blocking highways. A heated discussion about the acquittal of a white police officer for his role in the shooting of a black man.

  It’s becoming a familiar scene for St. Louis, Missouri.

  More than 300 protesters have been arrested in just 18 days following an innocent verdict in the non-jury murder trial of former St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley, who fatally shot 24-year-old Anthony Lamar Smith in 2011.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Partisan drama in JeffCo and how it affects the race for Alabama AG

  Jefferson County is transitioning from a Republican to a Democratic county. In the process, they are having an interesting array of intriguing political happenings. You may recall that a few months back I wrote about the indictment of the newly-elected Jefferson County District Attorney, Charles Todd Henderson, on perjury charges. To say a lot has happened since then would be an understatement. 

  Dr. Robert Bentley has vacated the governor’s office under a scandalous cloud. Lt. Governor Kay Ivey has ascended to the governorship and appears to be the favorite to win election to a four-year term of her own in next year’s general election. We have had a special election to fill the remaining three years of Jeff Sessions’s six-year Senate term. Former Governor Bentley’s appointee, former state Attorney General Luther Strange, was overwhelmingly defeated by former state Chief Justice Roy Moore, and the Ten Commandments Judge is poised to become our junior U.S. Senator. And that brings me back to Henderson. 

Laurence M. Vance: Decriminalization is not enough

  According to recently released FBI crime data, there were 1,572,579 drug arrests in the United States last year. That’s an average of one drug arrest nearly every 20 seconds. The total number is up by about 5.6 percent from the 1,488,707 arrests for drug crimes in the United States in 2015.

  Because of a change in how the annual law enforcement numbers are publicized, it’s harder to determine just how many people were busted for marijuana and how many were busted for other drugs. However, Tom Angell — founder of the nonprofit Marijuana Majority and editor of the cannabis news portal Marijuana Moment — was able to determine that “marijuana arrests are on the rise in the U.S., even as more states legalize the drug.”

Trump administration's guidance on religious freedom undercuts LGBT rights

  Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued guidance Friday setting forth the views of the Department of Justice about how federal agencies should protect religious freedom.

  The guidance directs agencies to give the broadest possible protection to people, companies and government contractors who cite religious beliefs to avoid compliance with anti-discrimination and other laws.

  This latest memo reflects the Trump administration’s continuing campaign to roll back the rights of the most vulnerable members of society, including LGBT people. By saying virtually nothing about how the invocation of religious exemptions can cause real harm to real people, it invites taxpayer-funded agencies, government employees, government contractors and government grant recipients to discriminate against LGBT people, as long as they cite a religious reason for doing so.

Myth vs. Fact: Debunking the gun lobby’s favorite talking points

  The gun lobby, led by the National Rifle Association (NRA), pursues a number of different policies in state legislatures across the country and in Congress, including eliminating permit requirements for concealed carry; expanding locations where guns may be carried; weakening regulation of the gun industry; and overriding duly enacted state laws that limit gun carrying. While each of these policies have different elements, all are united by a core set of dangerous and misleading arguments perpetuated by the NRA that more guns in more hands will lead to increased personal and community safety.

Trump’s anti-worker judges will outlast his administration

  President Donald Trump is transforming the federal judiciary through dozens of nominees to lifetime positions as federal judges, and many of his nominees have a record of siding with corporations over workers. By appointing Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump has ensured that the U.S. Supreme Court will become the same pro-corporate, anti-worker tribunal that it was when former Justice Antonin Scalia was on the court. With a reliable fifth conservative vote, the court has brought back cases that could hobble public employee unions and make it harder for employees to have their day in court if their employer does something wrong.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1582: The Invitation

  I received an invitation to attend services at a “White church” (a church whose pastor and members are all White). I wondered about the invitation. This may have been the first time in 46 years of living in Selma and 34 years of serving in the Alabama Senate that I was specifically invited to a “White church” on a particular Sunday. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Eleven o’clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour of the week in America.”

Kate Bahn: Economics of misogyny

  The term misogyny is often used in feminist analysis but not often used to analyze the government and market institutions that make up our society. Outright misogyny—from catcalling to gender-based violence—has been gaining more acknowledgment recently, as society develops a better understanding of concepts like consent and toxic masculinity. But though society has gotten better at identifying misogyny, the systematic role it plays in our world remains largely unnamed.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: How Moore beat Strange

  Judge Roy Moore and his wife, Kayla, made their traditional horseback ride to their voting place in Gallant in Etowah County last Tuesday, and when all the votes were counted that night, they won a resounding victory. Moore’s capture of the GOP Senate nomination was impressive. A 55-45 margin is not a total trouncing, but it is considered a landslide.

  Despite being outspent by the Washington establishment 15-to-1, Moore prevailed. His solid bloc of conservative evangelical voters stood strong against an avalanche of negative ads.

The Little Rock Nine – and America – 60 years later

  Sixty years before Colin Kaepernick took a knee, nine black teenagers in Little Rock, Arkansas, took a stand.

  The pictures have since become iconic: Elizabeth Eckford stoically walking as a white mob jeers and shouts at her; Terrence Roberts and Carlotta Walls LaNier clutching textbooks under the cover of armed soldiers; Minnijean Brown arriving at Little Rock Central High School, escorted by the 101st Division of the Airborne Command.

Supreme Court Preview: A Momentous Term

  As rumors of major changes circulate around the Supreme Court, the stakes have never been higher. The court has only set approximately half of its cases for the term, and the schedule already includes five blockbusters. These cases span issues from political representation and discrimination to the right to trial and the ability to form strong unions; several stand to affect the fundamental rights of millions of Americans.

Craig Ford: Sports teach lessons you might not learn in the classroom

  We all know that education and jobs go hand-in-hand. If you want to get a good job, you have to have a good education. And having good schools is an important part of recruiting jobs and industry to a community.

  Education gets a lot of attention in Alabama. You hear a lot about how we need to invest more in reading, math, science and computer courses, and we absolutely do need to invest more in those areas.

  You also hear a lot about sports. But what often gets overlooked is the educational benefits that come from playing sports.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1581: “Vote or die!”

  Vote or die! The slogan shouted at me. I stopped in my tracks. I wanted to think. The “Vote or die” slogan kept ringing in my head. It had such power. The slogan kept shouting at me, “Vote or die!” My mind asked, “How do we die if we fail to vote?” The first answer came easily: Health care! Health care is central to our existence. Virtually every “developed country” makes health care a right and therefore a priority. But not in these United States of America, the most “developed country” in the world.

Angela Rosa: Fighting for my life, again, under Trump

Content Warning: The following article contains graphic depictions of domestic violence.

  For 22 years, I did what many Americans do: I worked, I attended college, and I worked some more. I paid my taxes, I voted with my heart just as much as with my mind, and I obtained a career. I did everything right.

Arpaio claims he was target because of ‘birther’ involvement

  Former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, a guru of right-wing conspiracy theories, is spreading a new one, and this time it’s about him.

  In his first “interview” since being pardoned of a crime last month by President Trump, Arpaio claims he was prosecuted by the Justice Department because of his earlier involvement in the “birther” movement.

  “I don’t think it was so much the illegal roundups. . . I think it was the birth certificate issue they [the Obama administration] were mainly after me about,” Arpaio told American Free Press.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Jim Allen's place in Alabama history

  As one of America’s most conservative states, we have a history of electing very conservative senators. Jeff Sessions proved to be one of the most arch-conservative members of the U.S. Senate during his 20-year tenure.

  Another arch-conservative that served 10 years in the Senate from 1968 to 1978 was the great Jim Allen. Jim Allen had an illustrious career in Alabama politics. He was born and raised in Gadsden. He served in the Alabama House and the Alabama Senate from his native Etowah County. He was elected to his first term as Lieutenant Governor of Alabama in 1950, and to a second term in 1962. He was Lieutenant Governor during George Wallace’s first term as Governor. He was also a very successful lawyer in Gadsden.

Gene Policinski: Patriotism, respect for flag cannot be ‘ordered’

  Donald Trump is singing the wrong song about freedom, patriotism and First Amendment values.

  Over the weekend, Trump:

    -Called on NFL owners to fire players who kneel or otherwise protest during the national anthem and display of the American flag

    -Said fans should stop going to games to punish NFL team owners who fail to dismiss those players

    -Observed that patriotism should be required of athletes in return for “the privilege of making millions of dollars” on the field.

House Republican budget would eliminate critical disaster relief funding

  Families in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands are beginning the hard work of rebuilding their lives in the wake of Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma. House Republicans, however, are proposing to eliminate some of the critical tools people will need.

  When a natural disaster hits, affected communities rely on federal resources to rebuild homes, schools, and highways. But the proposed fiscal year 2018 House majority budget eliminates programs that provide disaster relief and the administrative resources needed to deploy funding quickly and effectively. If implemented, the budget will eliminate the Community Development Block Grant program, the office within the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that administers relief funds; eliminate the Legal Services Corporation, which provides free legal services to affected families; and eliminate AmeriCorps, which sends volunteers to help with disaster cleanup.

Trump's anti-immigrant crusader

  Stephen Bannon may have left the White House, but anti-immigrant nativism didn't go anywhere.

  President Trump made that abundantly clear when he trumpeted an “America first” philosophy at the U.N. General Assembly last week, touting the importance of national sovereignty and warning that “major portions of the world are … going to hell.”

  Behind the speech was none other than Stephen Miller, Trump’s anti-immigrant chief policy adviser.

Quiet attack on the ADA making its way through Congress

  In the current political climate, the assault on Americans with disabilities is no longer limited to attempts to strip them of health care, take away the services millions need to live independently and to work, or make deep cuts to programs that help many make ends meet. Now a bill making its way through Congress threatens to roll back the civil rights of people with disabilities by exactly 27 years. The bill, misleadingly titled the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, would hack away at the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and mandates that people with disabilities have “equal opportunity” to participate in American life.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1580: Earth is shouting: Stop!

  The Earth is protesting. The Earth protests when terrible storms rage. The Earth protests when tsunamis ravage our coasts. The Earth protests when earthquakes shatter our communities. The Earth protests when fires burn our lands and homes. The Earth protests when waters flood our communities. The Earth protests when droughts invade our lands. The Earth protests when polar ice caps melt and oceans rise. The Earth is protesting. The Earth is shouting out in its most powerful language.

Veterans living paycheck to paycheck are under threat during budget debates

  President Donald Trump and congressional Republican leaders have promised to “take care” of America’s veterans—but the congressional and presidential budgets, which will be debated this fall, threaten several programs that help ensure basic living standards for veterans and their families, including Medicaid, affordable housing programs, job training, and nutrition assistance. Rather than taking care of America’s veterans and their families, the budget resolution is expected to pave the way for massive tax cuts, 61 percent of which would benefit the richest 1 percent of Americans.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The final stretch

  The very interesting and entertaining Republican Primary for our open U.S. Senate seat culminates Tuesday with a clash between two titans. Judge Roy Moore and Big Luther Strange will be in a Titanic battle to fill the seat left vacant when Jeff Sessions became U.S. Attorney General.

  We will see if Moses with his Ten Commandments and Hebrew children of rural Alabama can slay the Philistine Mountain Brook giant.

Gene Policinski: Speaking your mind, when free speech has consequences

  Some people like Donald Trump and say nice things about him.

  Some people don’t like Donald Trump, and some say things about Donald Trump that are unkind, hurtful and downright insulting. Some people say those things on social media.

  And sometimes people who like Donald Trump respond to those comments.

  All of that is fine in free speech terms. And all of that pretty well sums up the tempest in a TV teapot over ESPN host Jemele Hill tweeting last week that the president was a “bigot” and a “white supremacist who has largely surrounded himself with other white supremacists.”

Déjà vu: Fighting for school integration in 2017

  History was repeating itself for U.W. Clemon.

  More than 40 years after winning a school desegregation case in Alabama, he found himself in a courtroom arguing once again for the integration of the very same school district.

  “I never envisioned that I would be fighting in 2017 essentially the same battle that I thought I won in 1971,” Clemon told The New York Times Magazine. “But the battle is just not over.”

Two million parents forced to make career sacrifices due to problems with child care

  Child care is a pressing economic issue for working families across the country. At a time when 65 percent of young children have all available parents in the workforce, high-quality child care is a necessity. The exorbitant cost of child care has become a significant burden for parents who need it to support their families. Millions of parents must make an impossible choice between paying more than they can afford for child care; settling for cheaper, lower-quality care; and leaving the workforce altogether. Parents who decide to leave the workforce to become full-time caregivers stand to lose much more than just their salaries, earning less in benefits and retirement savings over the long run.

Richard Cohen: President Trump must push back against the hate he's unleashed

  As events in Charlottesville last month reflect, President Trump’s incendiary rhetoric has energized the white supremacist movement.

  By signing the bipartisan congressional resolution against hate, he now has committed himself to undo the damage he has caused. We hope Congress will hold his feet to the fire and ensure that he lives up to his commitment.

Household incomes are rising again, but share going to middle class is at record low

  The latest Census Bureau data show that for the second straight year, the typical U.S. household saw its income rise in inflation-adjusted terms in 2016, the last year of the Obama administration, and incomes have now recovered to approximately pre-Great Recession levels. The median U.S. household income was $59,039 in 2016, a 3.2 percent increase from real 2015 levels.

  While the data contain some good news, the overall story is still quite bleak.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Previewing 2018

  As I mentioned last week, we will have a plethora of political contests to follow next year, and the field is beginning to formulate.

  The governor’s race is always the marquee event. However, the most important races will be for the 35 Senate and 105 House of Representatives seats. These legislative races will be where most of the special interest money will gravitate.

Craig Ford: Should Alabama Superintendent of Education Michael Sentance be fired?

Editor's Note: Multiple Alabama news sources reported September 13 that Michael Sentance had resigned his position.

  On Thursday, the Alabama Board of Education will meet to discuss terminating State Superintendent Dr. Michael Sentance’s contract.

  Politics has surrounded Dr. Sentance’s time in Alabama, starting even before he was hired. And if the Board decides to fire him, his supporters will claim that politics was the driving factor.

  Dr. Sentance was the preferred choice of those who support charter schools and diverting tax dollars away from public schools to fund scholarships for private schools. And with his job on the line, most – if not all – of those who have publicly supported him have been those who support charter schools and the Accountability Act scholarship program.

Lata Nott: State high courts can provide greater free-speech protections

  Forty years ago in the Harvard Law Review, U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Brennan described state constitutions as “a font of individual liberty, their protections often extending beyond those required by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of federal law.” Brennan urged state high courts to provide needed protections to individual liberty, particularly as the U.S. Supreme Court began cutting back on individual freedoms.

5 Ways Congress can help to rebuild stronger and safer communities after Harvey

  Hurricane Harvey delivered a devastating and deadly blow to Houston, southeast Texas, and parts of Louisiana. The storm unleashed unprecedented amounts of rain—more than 50 inches in some areas—and caused catastrophic flooding that consumed communities, including the entire Houston area. As of this writing, the storm has killed at least 70 people, destroyed or damaged more than 185,000 homes, and inflicted economic costs that could rise as high as $190 billion.

  It will take years for many Texas and Louisiana residents to recover from the storm. For others, recovery will never happen unless federal, state, and local officials channel disaster assistance into rebuilding strategies that will reduce the costs, health impacts, and loss of life brought on by floods and extreme weather events. Scientists are confident that climate change will only intensify storms like Harvey in the future, as sea level rise contributes to bigger storm surges, warmer oceans fuel more powerful winds, and rising air temperatures trigger heavier downpours.

We need activists now more than ever

  As Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the termination of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program last week, he said, “We are a people of compassion.”

  But there is nothing compassionate about rescinding DACA for Mohammad Abdollahi. Iranian, gay, and a DACA recipient, Abdollahi would be in extreme danger if he were deported to a country that carries out the death penalty for “repeated acts” of homosexuality.

Jacob G. Hornberger: Interventionism and the Korean crisis

  If war ends up breaking out in Korea, President Trump, the Pentagon, and the CIA will be announcing that it was all North Korea fault. They’ll say that North Korea was “begging for war,” and that the United States was “forced” to act to protect “national security.” Of course, in the process they will be ignoring the interventionist sanctions that the United States and the United Nations have imposed on North Korea for decades, an indirect act of war that has targeted and killed countless North Korean citizens.

LaShawn Y. Warren: Race and the creditability of the church

  Since President Donald Trump came to office in January, many have expressed outrage, disappointment, and sheer disgust over his inability to exercise moral leadership. At no time has that deficiency been more evident than in the wake of the August white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Instead of offering words to catalyze healing and unity, the president made racially inflammatory remarks that not only pandered to the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and other terrorist hate groups, but also drew moral equivalence between hate groups and anti-racist demonstrators. Ideally, the nation would look to the office of the president for moral clarity. It is increasingly clear that this leadership will not come from President Trump.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1578: When we lose our health, we lose everything

  When we have our health, we have everything. The old folks repeated this saying to us over and over. I have come to understand that while we may not have everything when we have our health, we have a great deal that is a critical foundation to our getting everything we need. Moreover, I’ve heard people say, “I would give everything to have my good health again.”

  We must have doctors to have our health. We must have nurses to have our health. We must have hospitals to have our health. We must have nursing homes to have our health. We must also have other health-related institutions to have our health. When we have our health, we have a chance to get everything we need. When we lose our health, we lose everything.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: The 2018 election pot is already boiling

  Labor Day is the traditional kickoff to an election year. Folks, our quadrennial gubernatorial election year is going to be a doozy. We are in for one heck of a political election season next year.

  Besides the governor’s race, we have an open lieutenant governor’s race, an open attorney general’s race, an open treasurer’s race, and an open agriculture commissioner’s race. We have statewide races for Alabama Secretary of State and Alabama Auditor. We have five seats up for election on the Alabama Supreme Court. One of those will be a hotly contested battle for Chief Justice. We have two seats up for election on the Alabama Public Service Commission.

The War on Medicaid is moving to the states

  In the early 1960s, as the Johnson administration worked to enact Medicare and Medicaid, then-actor Ronald Reagan traveled the country as a spokesman for the American Medical Association, warning of the danger the legislation posed to the nation. “Behind it will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country,” he said in one widely distributed speech. “Until one day … you and I are going to spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.”

  Reagan set the tone for a conservative war against Medicaid that is now in its 52nd year. Recent congressional proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act would have reduced Medicaid enrollment by up to 15 million people, and, despite being defeated, congressional Republicans aren’t done yet: It’s likely they will attempt to gut the program during the upcoming budget debate. Meanwhile, more than half a dozen conservative governors are trying to take a hatchet to the program—at the open invitation of the Trump administration—through a vehicle known as a “Medicaid waiver.”

DACA recipients’ economic and educational gains continue to grow

  Since it was first announced on June 15, 2012, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy has provided temporary relief from deportation as well as work authorization to approximately 800,000 undocumented young people across the country. As research has consistently shown, DACA has not only improved the lives of undocumented young people and their families but has also positively affected the economy more generally, which benefits all Americans.

Disaster might not discriminate, but recovery does

  There was nowhere to go from the kitchen counter.

  Trina Moore had already called the Coast Guard. The four children in her care were stretched out on top of the dishwasher, clutching pillows almost as big as they were while they slept. One little girl, hooked up to a ventilator, sat awake: She was watching the brown, murky water still rising towards her. It was 4:30 in the morning.

  Moore and her family are some of the countless Texans who had to fend for themselves this past week in the face of what the University of Wisconsin has determined was a one-in-1,000 year flood event that occurred when Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston.

Sharon Lauer: Why celebrate Labor Day?

  Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor, summed up this holiday's importance with these words: "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day... is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Tax cuts hidden in Congress’ tax reform, explained

  In a joint statement on July 27, top Republican policymakers in the House and Senate, along with President Donald Trump’s top two officials responsible for tax policy, re-upped their commitment to passing “comprehensive tax reform.” With the help of business groups and conservative organizations backed by the Koch brothers, they plan to ramp up their campaign for tax reform over this Labor Day weekend.

  The language that Republicans are using to push these proposals—“make taxes simpler, fairer, and lower” for American families—sounds appealing. But the policies on their wish list are almost entirely tax cuts, and almost all of the benefits (99.6 percent under House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan) will go to the top 1 percent of taxpayers.

Jacob G. Hornberger: Only one way to end drug-war violence

  Two police officers in Kissimmee, Florida, were recently shot and killed while investigating illegal drug activity in a dangerous part of town. According to the New York Times, government officials praised the officers for their service and asked Floridians to pray for other law-enforcement personnel. President Trump weighed in with a tweet in which he offered his thoughts and prayers for the Kissimmee police and their families.

  There is one big thing about that picture, however: It is the drug war itself, which Trump and, no doubt, most of the Kissimmee Police Department, favor, that is the reason that those two police officers are dead. If drugs were legal, those two dead police officers would not have been investigating illegal drug activity because there would be no illegal drug activity.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Senate runoff too close to predict

  Most people would assume that as the race for the open U.S. Senate began that Luther Strange, the appointed incumbent, was the favorite. However, polling indicated that Roy Moore was the favorite and remains the favorite as we head towards the September 26 runoff.

  The initial polling showed that Moore had a hardcore 30 percent. It was and is as solid as a rock. He had 30 percent from the get-go. He had 30 percent midway in the race, and he had 30 percent at the end. It was also a fact that with a low voter turnout that his 30 percent would become accentuated because the final poll, and the one that counts, is election day and who actually shows up to vote. Moore’s supporters are more ardent and are going to show up to vote for him come hell or high water. They are also older, and older people tend to vote; 65- to 80-year-old voters are always more likely to vote.

Lawmakers must protect protesters — not the drivers who hit them

  Marissa Blair was walking down Fourth Street when the car struck. Her fiancé, Marcus Martin, had just a split second to push her out of its path.

  When she got up, all Blair could see of Martin was his bloodied baseball cap lying on the ground, she told The New York Times.

  “It terrified me,” said Blair.

  She found Martin, his leg broken. But the couple couldn’t find the friend who had been with them on Fourth Street — 32-year-old Heather Heyer.

Jacob G. Hornberger: The illegality of Trump’s Afghanistan war

  When President Trump attributed his flip-flop on Afghanistan to his team of military generals who informed him that a withdrawal from America’s 16-year war would leave a “haven” for terrorists, I couldn’t help but think of former presidential candidate George Romney during the Vietnam War. After opposing the war, Romney traveled to Vietnam and returned with the same flip-flop mindset that Trump has experienced. Like Trump, Romney blamed it on the generals, who, he said, had “brainwashed” him into supporting the war. Romney’s brainwashing, however, wasn’t permanent, as Romney later returned to an antiwar position. So maybe there’s hope that the same thing will happen to Trump.

Craig Ford: A crisis is coming to Alabama, but you aren’t hearing much about it

  Our state government is no stranger to crises. We’ve had multiple budget crises, Medicaid crises, and most recently, a crisis related to our prison system.

  But there is another growing crisis that hasn’t received the media attention these other issues have. It’s a crisis that could have a devastating impact on Alabama’s families, our economy, and the taxpayers.

  I’m talking about the opioid crisis.

House Republican cuts to nutrition assistance would harm families in every state

  Budgets, it is often said in Washington, are moral documents meant to convey priorities. House Republicans’ fiscal year 2018 budget makes their priorities crystal clear—namely, delivering tax cuts to millionaires at the expense of America’s struggling working families.

  The budget’s radical, sweeping cuts to programs that everyday Americans rely on should be a wake-up call for anyone who believes that congressional Republicans are more reasonable than President Donald Trump. Like the budget the Trump administration released in May, House Republicans’ budget would gut services for people with disabilities, eviscerate Medicaid, cut Social Security, and hike costs for families struggling to afford college.

Hank Sanders: Senate Sketches #1576: What President Trump did is so dangerous

  What President Trump did is so dangerous. It’s dangerous for me. It’s dangerous for you. More importantly, it’s dangerous for this country. Let me tell you why. But first let me remind you of what President Trump did.

  On August 11, hundreds of Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, white nationalist, etc., marched near the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. They held high flaming torches as they chanted Nazi slogans used by German Nazis during the 1930s and 40s. “Blood and Soil!” they yelled. “Jews will not replace us!” they yelled. They also shouted slogans such as “Heil Trump!” and “Make America Great Again.”

The American people deserve more answers on Afghanistan

  Eight months into his term, President Donald Trump is finally paying attention to the ongoing Afghanistan War, where thousands of U.S. soldiers are currently fighting. Trump’s new plan seems a lot like the old ones, with even less detail about how the war—or American involvement in it—will end.

  For 16 years, America has been fighting terrorists in Afghanistan and trying to help stabilize the country. America’s longest war has claimed the lives of more than 2,400 U.S. troops and 1,136 allied troops, with tens of thousands wounded. In addition to the loss of life, combat in Afghanistan has cost the American taxpayer an estimated $841 billion (if the fiscal year 2018 budget request is met) in defense costs alone.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Moore holds edge in U.S. Senate runoff

  When the race for the open Jeff Sessions seat began, it appeared to be a Roy Moore versus Luther Strange contest. Well, folks, that’s how it ended last Tuesday. We’ve got a runoff between our Ten Commandments Judge, Roy Moore, and Big Luther Strange.

  Roy Moore has been around Alabama politics for a while now. Alabamians know who he is and what he stands for. He has been standing up for Fundamentalist Christian values since his days as an Etowah County judge where he displayed a wooden Ten Commandments plaque on the walls of his courtroom. He became so famous for his stand that he rode that notoriety to being elected Chief Justice of Alabama’s Supreme Court.

Danyelle Solomon: Black journalists are critical to our democracy

  The election of Donald Trump and the actions of his young administration have spotlighted the importance of facts. Since President Trump’s inauguration, truth and honest analysis have become rare commodities in the White House. In addition to promoting false narratives and condoning unrepentant lying, the Trump administration has also made it difficult to access government data, research, and other forms of information. His administration has directed government agencies to limit news releases, updates to agency websites, and communication with the press.

It took Charlottesville for Silicon Valley to stand up to hate

  Silicon Valley has a reputation as a liberal place, but it was a critical partner in the deadly “Unite the Right” rally that cost a counter-protestor her life.

  Hate groups of all stripes used their websites to advertise their participation in the rally. They turned to social media to urge their followers to join them. And they used services like PayPal and Patreon to fund their invasion of Charlottesville, Virginia.

  Such partnerships may soon be a thing of the past. By Monday morning of last week, service providers had begun to pull the plug on hate groups and individual extremists alike.

The Trump premium tax will increase premiums up to $2,500 next year

  Since he entered office, President Donald Trump has taken numerous steps to sabotage the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by driving up costs and driving out insurers. With the failure of ACA repeal in the U.S. Senate, Trump has threatened to accelerate his efforts. In particular, by undermining enforcement of the ACA’s individual coverage mandate and threatening to stop billions of dollars in cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments that help lower consumers’ deductibles and copayments, Trump will significantly increase 2018 premiums.

Charlottesville shows that states must amend their open-carry laws

  We’ve all seen the pictures from Charlottesville.

  Peaceful protesters being met with men carrying military-style weapons. Many of those unarmed were probably intimidated. I certainly think I would have been.

  What did the scene represent? Were we looking at a clash of grand constitutional values, a clash between the cherished First Amendment right to protest peacefully and the revered Second Amendment right to bear arms? Or were we looking at something much more mundane?

  The answer is the latter. Our Founding Fathers didn’t tie us into a constitutional knot. Our state legislatures, bowing to pressure from groups like the NRA, did so not too many years back.

Confederate monuments expert explains how we memorialized white supremacy

  In the wake of the neo-Nazi attacks in Charlottesville, officials in several Southern states have renewed calls to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces.

  This week, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) called for the removal of all Confederate monuments in North Carolina. Mayor Jim Gray (D) of Lexington, Kentucky, announced the removal of two Confederate statues from a historic courthouse in the city. And officials in Florida and Maryland made similar announcements.

Gene Policinski: ‘Freedom’ is best response to white supremacy hatemongers

  Let them march in Charlottesville. Let them speak.

  Hate-propagating neo-Nazis and bottom-dwelling white supremacists — the dregs of our open society — have and should have First Amendment rights to speak and march in public.

  We need to see them for what they are: a disappointing collection of the disaffected; some parading around in silly costumes, often ignorant of the real meaning and history of the symbols they display, carrying torches meant as much to intimidate as to illuminate.

Steve Flowers: Inside the Statehouse: Will the next junior U.S. Senator from Alabama even matter?

  You know the results of Tuesday’s primaries for our U.S. Senate seat. I had to go to press before the vote. However, the assumption was that there would be a runoff in the Republican Primary. It is safe to say that the winner of that runoff on September 26 will be elected as our next junior U.S. Senator. We are such a reliably Republican state that winning the GOP Primary will be tantamount to election in December.

  It may surprise you for me to say that it really makes very little difference as to who ultimately wins this seat. Whichever Republican prevails will vote no differently than the other. Despite all the money spent, name calling, and campaigning, whoever the Republican Primary victor is will vote conservatively right down the line. They will have the identical conservative voting record as Jeff Sessions. They all would vote right on the litmus test, hot button GOP issues like abortion, immigration, balanced budget, pro-military, pro-gun and pro-agriculture. Whoever wins will support President Donald Trump and the most conservative Supreme Court nominee available.

Don’t let Trump start a war with North Korea

  North Korea’s recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that might be able to reach the continental United States is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by the rogue regime in Pyongyang. With the stakes so high, too often policy options are presented as a false choice: attack North Korea or allow it to have nuclear weapons. Instead, the United States needs a clear, consistent approach to deter threats from North Korea—one that ensures North Korea does not attack the United States or our allies or proliferate its nuclear and missile technology, while at the same time makes possible a path to the eventual denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.