The Southern Foodways Alliance, run by the fine John T. Edge, knew this question was on your mind. So they held a juried competition to find out. You can find the winners here, both in the "Cow Milk" and "Goat and Sheep Milk" categories.

Newhouse News reporter Sean Reilly has stayed on the case of post-Katrina contracts in the Gulf, and has unearthed more dubious dealings, this time with a company called PBS&J. First there's the questionable revolving door of a FEMA-employee-turned-contractor-exec:

Eric Tolbert spent almost three decades on emergency response teams, starting as a paramedic in his native North Carolina and rising to a top job at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Early this year, Tolbert left government service for an executive post at PBS&J, a prominent Miami-based engineering firm. Since then, PBS&J has become a behind-the-scenes player in a contracting team that has garnered more than $145 million in government work related to the Hurricane Katrina and Rita recovery efforts, according to interviews and government records.

In an e-mail exchange this week, Tolbert said he played no role in winning that business and has "meticulously" abided by rules limiting contacts between former federal employees and their old agencies for at least a year. But the episode typifies the murky methods FEMA has used in shoveling billions of rebuilding dollars to private contractors.

"About as transparent as mud," is how Bill Allison of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity described the process.

Then there's the fact that PBS&J didn't list themselves as the contract beneficiary, but instead said the money was going to a small company in Alabama:

But PBS&J's name appears nowhere on the agency's list of contract recipients.

Instead, the lone contractor named is a small south Alabama water treatment and purification company, Clearbrook LLC, that had previously handled only one federal contract, according to a government database. Clearbrook has about 35 full-time employees, said Chief Executive Bruce Wagner, who confirmed PBS&J's involvement.

Government records suggest that putting Clearbrook out front may also have helped the consortium win preferential treatment as a small business.

Is it time to revive calls for an independent oversight commission of contractors in the Gulf?

'Tis the season of scandal, and the South is not immune from the plague of corruption and moral relativism sweeping the land.

To help you keep abreast of the wheelings and dealings of the ethically challenged (at least the ones getting caught), here at FS we are now launching a new semi-regular feature, Southern Scandal Watch (TM). Today's cast of characters:

RALPH REED: Former darling of the Christian Coalition, now candidate for Lt. Governor of Georgia, is losing mojo over his associations with "long-time friend" and shady lobbyist Jack Abramoff and for having two minds about gambling. The Gwinnett Daily Post reports Republicans are "spooked" by recent polls showing Reed is "viewed unfavorably by 19 percent and favorably by only 16 percent, with nearly two-thirds of the respondents undecided." "I've never seen that before," said Matt Towery, chairman and CEO of Insider Advantage, who ran for lieutenant governor on the Republican ticket in 1990. "I've never seen a candidate with more unfavorables than favorables be in a race."

DON SIEGELMAN: Alabama's Democratic ex-governor, indicted last week for soliciting more than a million dollars in exchange for political favors, has vowed to press on in his bid for re-election. In an example of journalistic restraint (or stating the obvious), the AP runs a story today headlined "Experts: Indictment makes campaign harder for Siegelman." You think? Meanwhile, Siegelman's partner in alleged crime, ex-Health South CEO Richard Scrushy (who paid $500,000 to cover Siegelman's campaign debts while the company was engaged in $2.7 billion worth of accounting fraud) maintains his innocence, saying he's a patriot: "I take my hat off to sing the 'Star Spangled Banner.' I was a Boy Scout, but I am broken right now, because I am seeing things that are wrong."

HAMMER AND FRIENDS: Rep. Tom DeLay, whose happy mugshot graced blogs across the world just a week ago, is now invoking the bogeyman of "judicial activism" to explain his legal predicament -- and to have state district Judge Bob Perkins, a Democrat, removed from his case. Meanwhile, the Public Campaign Action Fund still has up their list of the Top 25 Friends of DeLay in Congress -- how close is your rep to The Hammer? Reader BR notes that 13 of the Hammeristas are, perhaps not surprisingly, from the South.

GOV. ERNIE FLETCHER: Kentucky's embattled GOP governor, facing multiple indictments for improper hiring practices and then pardoning those involved, suggested over the weekend that members of the grand jury might be held "liable" if they keep handing down indictments. Fletcher insisted this was not "intimidation," but the state Attorney General's office disagreed: "The governor is trying to set a dangerous precedent of intimidating a grand jury."

OOPS, I SAID THAT? One of the funnest exercises over the coming months will be comparing the words of politicians about the importance of law and morality during the Clinton years, to their "evolving" opinions today.

For example, the Bluegrass Report points us to this gem from staunch conservative Sen. Mitch McConnel (R-KY) in 1999: "I am completely and utterly perplexed by those who argue that perjury and obstruction of justice are not high crimes and misdemeanors ... Perjury and obstruction hammer away at the twin pillars of our legal system: truth and justice." Tell Scooter, Karl and Dick.

As consumers ponder reports that Big Energy may be "forced" to drive up heating costs this winter, here's a story of what one utility did with the money another time they jacked up prices. From yesterday's Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Four years ago, as Georgia home heating costs soared, gas customers paid Atlanta Gas Light Co. thousands of dollars to throw a barbecue.

The company also charged customers for a canal cruise and cookout in Augusta, a quail hunt at Carrollton's Hog Liver Shooting Preserve, parties and gifts --- part of hundreds of thousands of dollars in entertainment and other unusual expenses that ended up on gas customers' bills from 2000 to 2003.

AGL's customers paid $1,200 for a man to have lunch with the mayor of Macon. They paid $200 an hour for an employee's time working on cards for Christmas baskets, writing letters and distributing news articles. They paid $50 an hour --- and sometimes $75 --- for workers to read the newspaper and monitor the Internet.

The money came from a fee, or "rider," on customers' bills intended to pay the costs of cleaning up toxic coal tar. The entertainment and other expenses were part of a $2.3 million campaign, run by an AGL subcontractor, to keep the public informed about the project, which was mandated by environmental regulators more than a decade ago.

AGL says the community relations campaign was essential to explain the purpose of environmental work, quell rumors and stave off lawsuits.

Now, state utility regulators are taking a second look at the charges.

I would hope so.

A new poll finds trouble for President Bush -- and especially his Iraq war policy -- in North Carolina, which advertises itself on billboards as "the nation's most military-friendly state":

More than half of North Carolina military members surveyed in the latest Elon University poll disapprove of President Bush's handling of the war in Iraq and his overall job performance.

"We see that those most involved in the Iraq situation, the military, are not so different from the general public after all and share the same concerns about Iraq," said Hunter Bacot, the poll's director.

The poll shows that North Carolinians, especially military families, are turning against the Iraq war in a big way:

More than 56 percent of military members surveyed in an Elon University poll said they disapprove or strongly disapprove with how the president is running the war.

51 percent of those surveyed said the U.S. should not be in Iraq, while 43 percent agreed with U.S. involvement in Iraq.

More than 51 percent of military members said they did not know if the war was worth fighting. Roughly 29 percent said the war was not worth it and 19 percent said it was.

When only 19% of military members feel a war is worth it, isn't it time to be thinking about getting out?

The numbers for Bush's general performance were similarly grim. Only 41% of those polled approved of Bush's handling of the job of president.

A federal appeals court upholds the lower court opinion that Georgia's voter-ID law amounted to a "poll tax," just in time for the Nov. 8 elections:

In a case that some have called a showdown over voting rights, a U.S. appeals court yesterday upheld an injunction barring the state of Georgia from enforcing a law requiring citizens to get government-issued photo identification in order to vote.

The ruling allows thousands of Georgians who do not have government-issued identification, such as driver's licenses and passports, to vote in the Nov. 8 municipal elections without obtaining a special digital identification card, which costs $20 for five years. In prior elections, Georgians could use any one of 17 types of identification that show the person's name and address, including a driver's license, utility bill, bank statement or a paycheck, to gain access to a voting booth.

You'll remember that one of the small problems with the law was that there are no offices that sold the new ID cards in the entire city of Atlanta.

Kilgore runs from the President:

Jerry Kilgore, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia, was happy to have President George W. Bush at his side at a fundraiser last July. Kilgore won't be there today when the president makes a speech in Norfolk.

Kilgore, 44, is in a tight race with Democrat Tim Kaine in the Nov. 8 election, and Bush -- weighed down by the prolonged Iraq war, criticism of the government's response to hurricanes, high gasoline prices and the legal troubles of top Republican officials -- isn't an asset anymore.

"Bush is a drag, even in Virginia," said [analyst] Larry Sabato.

He should just be glad Scooter Libby wasn't planning a surprise visit.

Bet not too many outside deep geek circles know about this gem of Southern innovation:

Built up around the land grant university chartered there in 1785, Athens, Ga. is a college town, pure and simple. If it's known nationally, it's for being home to neo-hippie pop bands REM and the B-52s.

But on an April morning in 2002, the University of Georgia quietly started a telecommunications revolution, introducing the nation to the idea of municipally-sponsored wireless technology -- WiFi, a technology that prognosticators, major media, and ambitious politicians world-wide are hailing as the Next Big Thing in the evolution of the Internet.

Cities across the country, including Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Boston, are currently exploring their wireless connectivity options. The most promising of the initiatives, Philadelphia Wireless, is using the same technology developed in Athens and licensed from the University of Georgia.

Read the rest, it's a short but interesting look at how some "creative class" types and other free-thinkers in Athens got town WiFi going there.

The NY Times has a story today headlined "Big Rise in Profit Puts Oil Giants on Defensive," which shows how hard times at the gas pump for ordinary folks means good times for oil execs:

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, said yesterday that its third-quarter net income jumped 75 percent, to $9.92 billion. Its profit in the first nine months of this year - $25.42 billion - already equals its full-year earnings for 2004. This year's sales, which topped $100 billion in the last quarter, are expected to exceed those of Wal-Mart.

Another oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, reported a 68 percent jump in profits yesterday, to $9.03 billion. Chevron is expected to post a profit of more than $4 billion today ... BP reported that its third-quarter profit rose 34 percent, to $6.46 billion.

But for Big Oil to be on the defensive, there has to be an offense. Who's on the attack? On the GOP side of the aisle, David Sirota noted earlier this week that tough-talking Republicans get weak in the knees when faced with the idea of challenging energy interests:

The Financial Times reports that House Republicans are now publicly asking the oil industry to use its massive excess profits to increase refining capacity. The move highlights the unwillingness of the GOP to support a windfall profits tax on their oil industry donors -- a levy the public overwhelmingly supports. Instead, the GOP's public policy prescription amounts to them saying "please Mr. Oil Company Executive, be nicer." This from the party that is supposed to pride itself on being "tough" and "strong."

Not many Democrats are taking the lead either on this pocket-book issue of concern to working families and middle-class America, with notable exceptions:

Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, yesterday called on eight of the largest American energy concerns, including Citgo Petroleum, which is controlled by the government of Venezuela, to contribute 10 percent of their profits to heating-aid programs this winter.

It's interesting that Reed singled out Citgo, since Venezuela President Hugo Chavez has already promised that the company -- unlike other oil conglomerates -- will provide discounted heating oil to poor U.S. households this winter.

The reality is that a windfall tax on excess profits -- as used against war profiteers during World War II and gouging oil companies in the 1970s -- is the only way to recapture the ill-gotten wealth corporations have gained off the backs of everyday consumers.

GOP plans to press companies to invest in more refinery capacity is an ineffecient, indirect approach that could take months to see results. It doesn't address Big Oil's gouging and profiteering. And it also commits our country to expanded oil use when our energy system should be going in the opposite direction (indeed, as Jerome a Paris shows over at DKos, the companies making huge profits are seeing long-term declines in oil production -- all the more reason to boost conservation and renewables, not refineries).

There seems to be a constituency for reining in Big Oil -- will leaders in Washington act on it?

Posted by R. Neal

I try not to blog too much about our blog -- I mean, who wants to read about that? -- but we've had a surge of newcomers over the last few days so I wanted to again say hello, welcome and thanks for visiting.

If you are checking us out for the first time, you can find out more about the Institute for Southern Studies and Southern Exposure magazine -- the folks behind the blog -- here and here.

Our blog is now closing in on its 9-month anniversary, so a big thanks also to our loyal readers who have stayed with us, in spite of it all. Due to props and links from various quarters -- as well reaching new audiences like those of you who follow The Blogger Formerly Known as South Knox Bubba (who we pulled out of blogging retirement) -- we've built up a respectable and steady readership.

The last week has been especially busy: from Wednesday 10/19 to Wednesday 10/26, we've averaged over 74,600 hits and 11,500 page views a day.

We hope you'll come see us again, and keep joining in the discussion. We've got more juicy news and unconventional views in store. And hey -- where else can you find Friday Bird Blogging?

Posted by R. Neal

Here's an interesting article by Mitch Cohen at the Jackson Free Press:

Celebrities stood at the microphone, pouring accolades like anointing oil over the heads of the politicians in attendance. All but one of the Republicans representing the state in Washington sat front row beside and behind Griffith’s old buddy and business partner.

Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson and Gene Taylor (both somewhat critical of the federal response to Katrina, it should be noted) were nowhere to be found. Odd, that. Amidst standing ovations, a gigantic Mississippi outline filled with a waving American flag, photo montages, star-power, and tales of Barbour’s strength and surety, a sickening feeling set in. Something distinctly manufactured was occurring, something to which I’d unwittingly become party.

The article concludes: "There’s a circus coming to town; the smoke and mirrors are on the horizon." Read the article to find out about the ringmaster and the featured act in center ring. There are some interesting sideshows, too.

Posted by R. Neal

EX-Ala. Governor, Hospital Exec Indicted:

Federal prosecutors in Alabama have re-indicted two of the state's most recent high-profile defendants, former Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth Corp. founder Richard Scrushy.

The indictments announced Wednesday, which included two other former state officials, accuse the men of belonging to what the government called a "widespread racketeering conspiracy."

[..]

Siegelman, who was governor from 1999 to 2003, was charged with racketeering, fraud, bribery, extortion and obstruction of justice. The former governor was expected to turn himself in later this week.

[..]

Siegelman, a Democrat, called the probe a political witch hunt by Republican prosecutors, saying the charges were made by "obsessed government officials who spent millions in tax dollars in a pathetic attempt to control the election for governor."

According to the article, Siegelman is accused of accepting two $500,000 bribes "disguised payments" in exchange for appointing Scrushy to a state board which decides on hospital expansions. But here's the best part:

The charges come five months after Scrushy was acquitted of masterminding a $2.7 billion accounting fraud at HealthSouth. They also may complicate Siegelman's campaign to reclaim the governorship next year.

Gee, you think?

Posted by R. Neal

After "reluctantly accepting her withdrawal" today, Bush announced an interesting lineup of possible replacements, including Dr. James Dobson, Ann Coulter, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Steve Spurrier. The most surprising candidate, however, was Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, which set off a blogstorm of speculation among shocked and disappointed lefty bloggers about some sort of "deal". Developing...

Posted by R. Neal

Despite dire warnings of energy shortages and skyrocketing natural gas prices, the Senate this week voted down additional funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program that would assist low-income families with their heating bills this winter.

According to the article, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) "cited estimates that those who heat their homes with fuel oil will need $1,600 this winter, up $380, while the cost of using natural gas for heating could rise $500 to $1,400."

Some local governments are looking at ways to provide assistance. Louisville, Kentucky for example, is considering a proposal to make $250,000 available for assistance after the Kentucky Public Service commission approved Louisville Gas and Electric Co.'s request for a 64% increase in natural gas prices.

Here in East Tennessee, utility companies have been bombarding us for weeks with warnings about natural gas price increases. The Knoxville paper reported last week (registration required):

KUB customers' natural gas bills could increase 50 to 60 percent this winter, largely because of hurricanes' disruption to the flow of natural gas from the Gulf of Mexico.

[..]

Mike Bolin, KUB vice president of business services, said Hurricane Katrina "hit the (natural gas) producing facilities offshore in the Gulf of Mexico at the end of August. Less than a month later, Hurricane Rita came in and what wasn't hit by one hurricane was hit by the other. These hurricanes were very intense and caused a great deal of damage."

The Maryville paper reported nearly a month ago:

Natural gas prices are forecast to skyrocket this winter, as demand exceeds supply and distribution facilities reel from the effects of two Gulf Coast hurricanes.

A spokeswoman for Atmos Energy, which provides natural gas to 18,000 Blount County customers, said costs to Blount Countians will increase by 54 percent next month when compared to October [2004].

"The increase is totally due to increased gas cost," said Atmos public affairs manager Judy Moss.

She stressed the escalating cost of natural gas does not represent a "rate increase," as the corporation's rates as allowed by the state have remained static since 1996. The company is merely passing on its increased cost of supplying the gas, and Atmos will not realize any additional revenue, Moss said.

[..]

She said the effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita on distribution networks and an increase in the wholesale cost of natural gas led to the increased cost to customers.

This is the refrain we he hear from energy companies all over the country. Supplies are tight. The hurricanes disrupted supplies. Demand is high. Etc.

Except something doesn't add up.

Click "there's more" for the rest of the story...

Posted by R. Neal

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is taking the heat for another bungled hurricane relief response in Florida. Yesterday in a press conference he said "Don't blame FEMA. This is our responsibility." He also blamed the victims:

The governor added, however, that people seeking relief should have done more to prepare for the storm.

"People had ample time to prepare. It isn't that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water," said Bush, repeating the advice that officials had given days before Wilma hit.

Well, he certainly seems to have gotten the White House memo on how to play the blame game, and he's a loyal GOP subject to take one for the team.

One wonders, though, if he knows what it's like out in the real world. I know from personal experience that employers often won't let people take off work to prepare. They want everyone working up until the last minute, or until a mandatory evacuation is declared. Even if you are able to get time off, Home Depot runs out of plywood, plastic sheeting, and duct tape days before the storm arrives. Grocery store shelves are emptied of bottled water, pork & beans, toilet paper, and diapers. Long lines form at gas stations, and many run out. That's the situation even in affluent communities where people have money and transportation. That's the real world.

Which reminds me of a story from when we lived in Florida. A storm was approaching and even Disney had shut down for the first time in their history. On the way home from scavenging for hurricane supplies, we stopped by the local 7-11 store looking for batteries. I walked in and announced "OK, I need Spam, beer, batteries and ammunition!" Folks in the long checkout line chuckled, and the cashier said "Sorry, we're all out of Spam and batteries." "That's OK," I replied. "If you've got ammunition I can get everything else."

OK, then.

Rep. George Miller, who played the pivotal role in organizing cosponsors for reinstating the Davis-Bacon wage rules for workers rebuilding the Gulf Coast, explains what happened over at TPM Cafe:

It was announced today that the President will overturn his Gulf Coast wage cut on November 8. This was a direct result of intense pressure from Democrats and labor and religious leaders.

Every single House Democrat has been on record since September in opposition to the President's wage cut. I recently wrote on this site about an unprecedented Joint Resolution I introduced last week that would have forced a vote in Congress to overturn the President's wage cut. That vote would have had to happen - you guessed it - not later than the week of November 7. With the support of every House Democrat and 37 House Republicans, we would have won that vote. Boxed in by that embarrassing scenario, the White House chose to reverse itself.

This wage cut was a mistake from the beginning and never should have been ordered. But today's news is a victory for workers in the Gulf Coast and all over America. The President chose to undermine workers' wages at a time when they needed the most help. Democrats had a better idea: pay people a decent wage for the hard they work do. Democrats will fight the Bush Administration and the Republican Congress every time they try to undermine American workers.

The Associated Press is reporting that, at the prodding of GOP congressmen, the administration is changing course and reinstating the Davis-Bacon wage rules for rebuilding in the Gulf:

The Bush administration will reinstate rules requiring that companies awarded federal contracts for Hurricane Katrina pay prevailing wages, usually an amount close to the pay scales in local union contracts.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., was among congressmen critical of the administration's decision to waive the requirement and who met Wednesday with White House chief of staff Andrew Card. He said Card told them the wage requirement would be reinstated Nov. 8.

"We thought it was bad policy and bad politics, and I guess they accepted our argument," King told The Associated Press.

Guess the astroturf editorial campaign by Freedom Communications newspapers didn't do the job.

Posted by R. Neal

Didn't they teach Sen. Dr. Bill Frist in right-wing boot camp that you never admit you were wrong?

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist acknowledged yesterday that he could have been "more precise" two years ago when he told the public in a televised interview that he wasn't sure if he still owned any HCA stock because his holdings had been placed in a blind trust.

Frist claimed in 2002 and on television in 2003 that he didn't know how much HCA stock he owned, and might not have owned any. But in fact, since 2001, Frist received notification 15 times of sales or deposits into his trust accounts of various stocks, including HCA shares.

I guess "could have been more precise" is GOP-speak for "I could have told the truth, but chose not to." It's like 1972 all over again, except "could have been more precise" sounds a little better than "those statements are no longer operative."

In Sen. Dr. Bill Frist's defense, however, he hasn't really done much to help the family business. The GOP's Medicaid cuts certainly aren't good for business in states where HCA has big provider contracts. On the other hand, he hasn't done much to threaten the family business, either, such as open up the floor for debate on a single-payer national health insurance program.

Meanwhile, in his (and HCA's) home state of Tennessee more than 120,000 people just lost their health insurance when Tennessee's TennCare/Medicaid program was gutted. Haven't heard a peep from Sen. Dr. Frist on how he proposes to help these people.

Posted by R. Neal

Congressman Artur Davis (D-AL7) has introduced the Displaced Citizens Voter Protection Act of 2005 (HR3734) that would allow displaced Katrina evacuees to vote in their home state elections by absentee ballots under the same protections afforded absent military and overseas voters. Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced a similar bill in the Senate (S1867).

The legislation would require evacuees to certify their status and former address and attest that they intend to return to the area. They would then be allowed to vote in their home state by absentee ballot according to the state's rules.

To date, 38 Democrats and no Republicans have cosponsored the House bill, and two Democrats (Kerry and Landrieu) cosponsored the Senate version. Republicans are reluctant to sign on. According to the Birmingham News:

Birmingham's Republican congressman, Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, opposes the bill.

"It's a departure from established voting procedures and obviously opens the door to potential abuse," Bachus said Tuesday.

[..]

Louisiana's other senator, Republican David Vitter, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that Congress should be working on helping displaced residents return to Louisiana, first and foremost, and that the voting legislation should wait.

Of course it "obviously opens the door to potential abuse", because, you know, many of the evacuees are poor black people, not to mention Democrats. Give me a break. Rep. Davis has a good counter-argument:

"It is not a partisan bill," Davis said Tuesday. "It may allow Democrats to vote in Louisiana but it may also preclude Democrats from voting in Tom DeLay or Richard Baker's districts."

DeLay and Baker are Republicans from Houston and Baton Rouge, respectively, where many evacuees are staying.

Right-wing partisan hackery notwithstanding, this legislation seems like a good idea. As Sen. Feingold says:

"We must make sure that those who intend to return are given the opportunity to elect the federal leaders who will shape the recovery process," Feingold said in a written statement. "This is a common-sense measure that can assure those who have lost so much their right to participate in elections that will have a direct impact on their lives."

Who could argue with that?

OK, then.

P.S. What's up with the right-wing's predilection for opposing the people's right to vote? Democrats may be accused of getting lots of dead people to the polls, but they're not generally accused of vote suppression.

As Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) announced on DKos last night, and the AP confirms in a story today, Miller and fellow NC Rep. David Price (D) have introduced a resolution that urges President Bush to set a timetable for Iraq withdrawal. Here's part of Miller's speech on the House floor:

The Price-Miller resolution calls for more than the platitudes that we 'stay the course' or 'finish the job.' We demand that the President state clearly the remaining mission of our military in Iraq, and to state the time period that the president believes will be required to accomplish that mission. What needs to happen for our men and women to come home, and when does the Bush Administration think that will happen.

And Mr. Speaker, there is no better way to persuade the Iraqi people that we really intend to withdraw than to begin withdrawing. The Price-Miller resolution calls for a partial withdrawal as soon as possible.

It's undoubtedly significant that two representatives from North Carolina -- "the most military-friendly state in the country" -- are now positioning themselves as leaders in the timetable/withdrawal movement.

It's also worth noting that the announcement comes soon after polls showing a pluarality of the public supports "rapid pullout" from Iraq, as well as a large and boisterous Democratic Party forum on withdrawing from Iraq in Price's district earlier this month.

Charlie Cobb, a key organizer in the civil rights movement who conceived the idea of "freedom schools" to bring real education to dispossessed black children in Mississippi, sent these short thoughts on the importance of Rosa Parks:

381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott

“Sick and tired of being sick and tired,” as Fannie Lou Hamer once said, Rosa Parks was fed up with racial insult and on December 1, 1955, refused to surrender her seat to the white man who demanded it on a public bus in Montgomery Alabama. She was arrested.

This was not the first challenge to racial segregation in Montgomery or in America, but this time Rosa Parks’ challenge lit a fire that powerful winds of disatisfaction spread through the community.

Almost a century of post-slavery insult and oppression was the tinder for those flames. But also, the times too were changing; history was asserting itself to right old wrongs. And at the pivot point of history in Montgomery was one woman in one seat on one bus.

There was no great long range plan; just a decision to act. Some 50,000 black citizens united for a one-day bus boycott and realized that victory would be neither easy nor quick. At great personal sacrifice, they then held the line ­against bombs, police harassment and other acts of violence and intimidation­ for 380 more days.

This story, ­like freedom, ­ is rooted in specifics: a people, a place, a time, and ­also like freedom ­it rises above all of these. It makes self-evident a basic truth that no democracy can afford to ignore or forget if it is to survive: freedom, equality, and justice must be for all.

The Montgomery bus boycott turned local news into international headlines, local leaders into national symbols, and a local protest strategy into inspiration for a national grassroots civil rights movement that changed America and touched the world.

Charlie Cobb

No sooner did I hit "publish" on the previous post about Wal-Mart's highly-publicized list of proposed good deeds -- a new low-cost health plan, a zero-waste environmental policy, supporting a minimum-wage hike -- than I find this story, due to appear in Wednesday's New York Times:

An internal memo sent to Wal-Mart's board of directors proposes numerous ways to hold down spending on health care and other benefits while seeking to minimize damage to the retailer's reputation. Among the recommendations are hiring more part-time workers and discouraging unhealthy people from working at Wal-Mart.

In the memorandum, M. Susan Chambers, Wal-Mart's executive vice president for benefits, also recommends reducing 401(k) contributions and wooing younger, and presumably healthier, workers by offering education benefits. The memo voices concern that workers with seven years' seniority earn more than workers with one year's seniority, but are no more productive.

To discourage unhealthy job applicants, Ms. Chambers suggests that Wal-Mart arrange for "all jobs to include some physical activity (e.g., all cashiers do some cart-gathering)."

Whether the billionaire heirs to the Wal-Mart fortune will be encouraged to pitch in with cart-gathering to stay limber and otherwise avoid becoming a drain on the company's bottom line was not disclosed.

Read the memo here (pdf). This is going to set the PR campaign back a bit.

Just a day after unveiling a new "low cost" health insurance plan for its employees (which includes, critics note, a $1,000 deductible), Arkansas-based Wal-Mart came out with another startling revelation, noted in today's Wall Street Journal news roundup via Arkansas Daily Blog:

Taking on critics of its treatment of employees while acknowledging the needs of working-class customers, Wal-Mart Stores Chief Executive Lee Scott, called on Congress to consider raising the minimum wage.

In a speech to Wal-Mart directors and executives, Mr. Scott unveiled a series of initiatives designed to present a kinder, gentler face for the world's biggest retailer, which has come under stepped-up criticism for everything from its wages and benefits to its impact on small businesses, The Wall Street Journal notes.

But the proposal to lift minimum wage "is particularly likely to raise eyebrows," the Journal says. Though Wal-Mart pays above the current $5.15 an hour minimum wage -- the average hourly wage among its 1.3 million U.S. workers is just under $10 an hour -- some of its smaller competitors don't pay as much. As a result, a boost in the minimum wage could pressure the profitability of Wal-Mart competitors, the paper says.

Ah, the dilemma of the corporate class -- when is squeezing workers dry not such a great idea, since it means they can no longer buy your stuff? This basic contradiction of our economy has been delayed by "the plastic safety net" -- i.e., working families going into billions of dollars of debt to make up for low wages and economic insecurity. But with the bankruptcy bill kicking in, ringing up the credit cards isn't such a hot option for ordinary families, either.

So you might call this enlightened self-interest on Wal-Mart's part: throw a little more to workers, and maybe they'll step up their spending this holiday season.

The announcement drew a couple responses at the Arkansas Daily Blog:

Wow does Wal-Mart have this game figured out or what? Mark your prices so low that your competitors MUST pay their employees minimum wage to compete and then push for an increase in minimum wage so that you further their demise. What a fool-proof plan!

And:

Lee Scott will be believed when supporters of raising the minimum wage in Arkansas can collect signatures for the ballot inititive outside WalMart stores without being arested for criminal trespass.

UPDATE: Somehow I missed this -- the company has also announced it's going green:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has unveiled an environmental plan to boost energy efficiency, cut down on waste and reduce greenhouse gases tied to global warming as part of a wider effort to address issues where it has been pummeled by critics.

Wal-Mart Chief Executive Lee Scott said the world’s largest retailer wants to be a "good steward for the environment" and ultimately use only renewable energy sources and produce zero waste.

Wow -- this is a full-court press.

If you've read the eulogies to Rosa Parks today, you've probably read the same story I have about the event that made her a civil rights legend: on December 1, 1955, a tired seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama gets on a bus, sits down, is told to stand up for a white passenger, refuses, gets arrested, and the freedom movement is born.

This focus on the defiant acts of one individual quickly became a symbol of the entire civil rights struggle -- a myth especially liked by the media, with their interest in creating celebrities and telling personal stories, as opposed to the stories of broad movements for change.

Of course, the reality is much more complicated and interesting. There's a whole alternative story about Rosa Parks, which you can see in jre's post today at DKos, as well as our recent post here. Another well-known take is that of journalist Paul Loeb, in his much-forwarded piece "The Real Rosa Parks." Here's a key passage:

[The familiar rendition of Parks' story strips] the Montgomery, Ala., boycott of its most important context. Before refusing to give up her bus seat, Parks had spent 12 years helping lead the local NAACP chapter. The summer before, Parks had attended a 10-day training session at Tennessee's labor and civil rights organizing school, the Highlander Center, where she'd met an older generation of civil rights activists and discussed the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision banning "separate but equal" schools.

In other words, Parks didn't come out of nowhere. She didn't single-handedly give birth to the civil rights efforts. Instead, she was part of an existing movement for change at a time when success was far from certain. This in no way diminishes the power and historical importance of her refusal to give up her seat. But it does remind us that this tremendously consequential act might never have taken place without the humble and frustrating work that she and others did earlier on. It reminds us that her initial step of getting involved was just as courageous and critical as the fabled moment when she refused to move to the back of the bus.

I couldn't agree more. Our history books and media caricatures don't tell us enough about the daily, grinding work of grassroots organizing and movement-building that went into pivotal events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott -- both on the part of Rosa Parks and countless unsung heroes that make up such society-changing struggles.

At the same time, I think it's also true that all movements have their symbols, whether it's Rosa Parks 50 years ago, or Cindy Sheehan in the peace movement today. These figures have helped draw badly-needed attention to previously ignored causes and struggles. They've also helped personalize and humanize issues that can often drift into muddy abstractions.

So on this day of Rosa Parks' passing, let's honor her actions on December 1, 1955, as a true movement hero. At the same time, we'll remember her longer-term battle, and the broader movement of which she was a part, which included thousands of risk-taking people in the trenches who helped -- in the words of another leader Parks helped elevate to national prominence, Martin Luther King, Jr. -- bend the arc of the universe towards justice.

Here are short statements from two of my favorite freedom movement historians, Charles Payne and John Hope Franklin, both here in North Carolina.

As we reach the terrible 2,000 milestone of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, let's not also forget the 1 in 4 Iraq war veterans that are returning with problems that require medical or mental health treatment, and the 26,000 to 30,000 Iraqi civilians that have been killed directly by military intervention.

Tom Baxter, a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Gold Star Families for Peace in Talahassee, Florida also sends us this message:

Of all the articles about Iraq, I've seen few about the almost 10% or 100,000 of Iraqi children suffering from "acute malnutrition," with the associated "stunting" or "wasting syndrome," in layman's terms, starving to death. Nor much mention of the additional 20% or 300,000 Iraqi children with "chronic malnutrition." These rates have doubled since our victory in Operation Iraq Liberation and have not been seen in Iraq since the United Nation's "Food for Oil" program ended the embargo.

Nor have I seen any plans to divert an hour's worth of our war budget to fund the United Nation's World Food Program in Iraq, the only thing that is keeping millions of children and pregnant women from joining the 100,000s in acute malnutrition.

The failure of the Coalition Forces in Iraq to honor their obligations under the laws of war is clearly a war crime, a violation of paragraphs 384 and 385, US Army Field Manual, FM 27-10, Law of Land Warfare.

May God forgive us and our leaders,
Tom Baxter
USAV 1967-69

Given our previous blog entry, perhaps it's not surprising that of the five U.S. servicemen confirmed this week by the DoD to have been killed in Iraq, four were from the South:

10/25/05 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander, Jr., 34, of Killeen, Texas, died at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, on Oct. 22, of injuries sustained in Samarra, Iraq, on Oct. 17, when an IED detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

10/25/05 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Jacob D. Dones, 21, of Dimmitt, Texas, died in Hit, Iraq, on Oct. 20, when his forward operating base was attacked by enemy forces using indirect fire. Dones was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Irwin, Calif.

10/24/05 DoD Identifies Navy Casualty
Petty Officer 3rd Class Christopher W. Thompson, 25, of N. Wilkesboro, N.C., was killed in action on Oct. 21 from an IED explosion while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq.

10/24/05 DoD Identifies Marine Corps Casualty
Cpl. Seamus M. Davey, 25, of Lewis, N.Y., died Oct. 21 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the vicinity of Haqlaniyah. He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 4th Force Reconnaissance Battalion

10/24/05 DoD Identifies Marine Corps Casualty
Lance Cpl. Kenneth J. Butler, 19, of Rowan, N.C., died Oct. 21 from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Al Amariyah, Iraq. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment

Posted by R. Neal

By way of journalism teacher/blogger Bob Stepno, here's the incredible story of how a small band of New Orleans Times-Picayune reporters kept the news coming in the face of incredible adversity:

It had come to this: During the worst natural disaster on American soil and the biggest story in its 168-year history, the Picayune's roughly 200-member city-based editorial staff had been reduced to about a dozen editors, writers and photographers. We'd set out four days earlier, as the rest of the paper evacuated to Baton Rouge and Houma, to cover the storm out of one delivery truck. Since then we'd gathered a canoe, a kayak, two bicycles and several staffers' cars. We'd foraged in journalists' homes for food, water, housing, computers, notebooks and sporadically working landlines. A wind-up radio served as our only connection to fast-breaking news of the storm.

My crying bout that morning had been hardly unique, for myself or for the rest of the New Orleans-based crew. I had watched a woman die on the street. Arkansas National Guardsmen had carted her body away to put with the others inside the food service entrance at the rear of the Convention Center. They'd been murdered, or they'd perished, like the woman in front of me, from simple lack of food, water and medicine – here in America, here in my hometown.

What broke me wasn't the horror but the beauty of the sight just a few feet away, of refugee Anita Roach defiantly belting out gospel standards, leading a chorus of family members and complete strangers. We locked eyes, a poor black woman who had barely escaped death in the Lower 9th Ward and a relatively well-fed white reporter with a dry Uptown house and a rented SUV.

I lost it. My notebook and pen fell to my sides in my limp arms. I mouthed the words "Thank you" as she finished. She smiled and nodded. I walked to her through the filth, and she wrapped me in a bear hug. I sat her down and bled her and her family of the details of their suffering and the strength that now poured out of them in song. I knew then I'd never forget the privilege.

Reporter Brian Thevenot's amazing account is a must read.

During the first days after the storm, the mainstream media almost seemed to find a voice they lost sometime around five years ago. It didn't last long, though. There's little, if any, coverage of the massive rebuilding effort unless there's a scandal or corruption involved, and they don't even seem particularly interested in that. As Wilma tore across Florida, there were the obligatory talking head idiots standing out in the wind and rain (is there some sort of dead pool on who will be the first one killed?), but once the storm passed it's back to business as usual. Hurricanes are routine. Yesterday's storm is already old news. Last month's storm is ancient history.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune, on the other hand, is no longer part of mainstream media. It's in a class of its own. Katrina tore the newspaper down to its most basic element - reporting. For anyone paying attention, that reporting may very well have transformed journalism, with heroic reporters and staff leading the way.

OK, then.

Reporter James Crawley does some valuable number-crunching in a news story today about the impact of the Iraq war on Southern communities:

More than half of the U.S. troops killed in Iraq either came from the South or were assigned to military bases in the region, according to an analysis of Pentagon records.

As the U.S. military death toll nears 2,000 deaths since March 2003, the South continues to bear a heavy toll from the war, said national security analysts.

The story also draws on the Institute's report, "Missiles and Magnolias: The South at War 2005." As the story notes, the disproportionate impact of the war on the South is affecting public attitudes in the region:

A September CBS poll, Kromm said, showed that 34 percent of Southerners thought the Iraq war was having a "major impact" on their communities - 10 percentage points higher than any other region.

UPDATE: This story clearly is even more relevant now that we've passed the 2,000 mark for U.S. deaths in Iraq. And according to a new Scripps poll, a plurality of the U.S. public now favors "rapid pullout" from Iraq.

Rosa Parks, one of the countless heroes of the Southern freedom movement whose symbolism of defiance to injustice inspired millions, has died.

Since her passing comes in between the devastating events of Hurricane Katrina and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott that she helped launch (which we recently blogged about here), it seems appropriate to begin our tribute with a song from The Neville Brothers, New Orleans' own freedom singers, and their wonderful album Yellow Moon:

SISTER ROSA PARKS

by The Neville Brothers

December 1, 1955, our freedom movement came alive. And because of Sister Rosa you know, we don’t ride on the back of the bus no more.

Sister Rosa Parks was tired one day
after a hard day on her job.
When all she wanted was a well deserved rest
Not a scene from an angry mob.
A bus driver said, "Lady, you got to get up
cuz a white person wants that seat."
But Miss Rosa said, "No, not no more.
I’m gonna sit here and rest my feet."

Chorus
Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.
Thank you Miss Rosa you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.

Now, the police came without fail
And took Sister Rosa off to jail.
And 14 dollars was her fine,
Brother Martin Luther King
knew it was our time.
The people of Montgomery sit down to talk
It was decided all gods’ children should walk
Until segregation was brought to its knees
And we obtain freedom and equality, yeah

Chorus
Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.
We’ll sing it again
Thank you Miss Rosa, you are the spark,
You started our freedom movement
Thank you Sister Rosa Parks.

So we dedicate this song to thee
for being the symbol of our dignity.
Thank Sister Rosa Parks.
Chorus 2x

Calypso Freedom
by Sweet Honey In The Rock
Original tune, "The Banana Boat Song" from Jamaica
New Arr. By Bernice Johnson Reagon & Evelyn Maria Harris
Songtalk Publishing

Freedom, freedom now
Freedom has come and it won’t be long
Freedom, give us freedom, now
Freedom has come and it won’t be long

Well I took a trip on a greyhound bus
I got to fight segregation now this we must
I got to fight segregation around the nation
We gotta keep fighting all around the world

Well, I took a trip down to Alabama way
Oooh and met a lot of violence on Mother’s Day
I ain’t scared of no violence
No, I wont
I gotta keep on a fighting

Well, on to Mississippi with speed we go
Of the blue shirted policemen they meet us at the door.
But I ain’t’ scared of no policemen, they don’t scare me, no
It’s a coming and it won’t be long
They can wear blue shirts or black shirts, any color shirts, I don’t care.

Well, you can hinder me here; you can hinder me there
But I go right down on my knees and pray
Yes I will pray for freedom, I will sing for freedom
I keep fighting for freedom, I keep marching for freedom.

My freedom is a comin’ and it won’t be long
My freedom is a comin’ and it won’t be long

D. Johnson, C. Moore, C. Neville, C. Neville, Jr., J. Neville
L. Neville Irving Music, Inc. obo Neville Music, Inc.
Johnson Music; Wm. Claffey & Associates
(p) 1989 A&M Records
Courtesy of A&M Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

The don of Mississippi journalism, Bill Minor, thinks so:

Is the Grand Old Party — a.k.a. the Republicans — coming apart at the seams? At least among the faithful followers among Mississippi officialdom, that could be the case.

Ironically, it seems that Hurricane Katrina and the meltdown of George W. Bush's image as a strong leader are at the core of dissension in what had been such a happy marriage between Mississippi GOPers and the Bush crowd.

You can also throw in several other matters roiling around in the West Wing — Karl Rove's involvement in unlawfully outing the identity of an undercover CIA agent whose husband disproved Bush's WMD "evidence" for attacking Iraq, and the defrocking of House GOP powerhouse Tom DeLay.

From our Mississippi perspective, the GOP hegemony down here seems to have taken a bad turn.

The latest Austin Chronicle has an eye-opening expose about race, the drug war, and Lone Star justice in a rural Jackson County, Texas, home of the small town of Edna:

[I]n the fall of 2002, Edna's institutionalized rural racism overmatched Justice's balanced scales when 29 African-American residents – nearly 4% of the town's black population ... were rounded up and charged with felony drug offenses in connection with a six-month undercover drug sting, a joint operation of the Edna Police Department and the Jackson Co. Sheriff's Office coyly dubbed "Operation Crackdown."

But, in what has become an all-too-typical tale of rogue criminal justice in rural Texas – epitomized by the infamous 1999 Tulia drug sting – it appears that the Edna "crackdown" had much less to do with eradicating drugs than it did with institutionalized, small-town racism. Under the guise of removing drugs (specifically, crack cocaine) from the streets, local lawmen may have themselves broken state law, primarily by relying on a local crack addict as their sole informant to send 28 of the 29 defendants to prison for sentences from one to 20 years. Only two of the defendants, including Patterson, dared to challenge the charges in court; the rest accepted plea bargains offered by longtime Jackson Co. District Attorney Bobby Bell. They did so, it seems certain, in large part out of fear of challenging Bell's authority and thus receiving even heavier sentences ...

One white Edna resident who requested anonymity, fearing retaliation, said bluntly that Bell's attitude is "'I'll break you, I'll take everything you've got; so take the plea [or] I'll make sure you go to jail.' He does as he pleases."

This may sound familiar: The story bears an uncanny resemblence to the infamous Tulia case in western Texas, where in 1999, 15 percent of the town's African-American population was arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to 750 years of prison time based on the uncorroborated testimony of a disgraced undercover officer. They were pardoned by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, after scathing international criticism and a judge accused Coleman of being a liar, thief and racist. (See Tulia Friends of Justice for more info; Nate Blakeslee, then a reporter for the Texas Observer, deserves credit for breaking the story).

The larger issue, though, is the reckless and virtually unregulated National Drug Task Force and its state/local variations, and the inherent racial biases in the "war on drugs." As the ACLU said (pdf) in supporting "No More Tulias" legislation before Congress (which went nowhere, despite an interesting alliance of progressive Democrats and libertarian Republicans):

[T]hese drug task forces around the country haven't had to answer to anyone. As a result of this lack of federal and state oversight, they've been at the center of some of the country's most egregious law enforcement abuse scandals."

As an excellent report by the Open Society Institute ("Tulia: Tip of the Drug War Iceberg") argues, "the events in Tulia were not an isolated case of one cop gone bad, but instead represent systemic problems in the U.S. justice system."

The NY Times reports today that Wal-Mart -- long criticized for failing to offer affordable health care coverage, forcing many employees onto Medicaid and other public assistance or to go uninsured completely -- is introducing a cheaper plan which includes monthly premiums "as low as $11." The new "Value Plan" also includes health savings accounts.

Wal-Mart wasn't willing to conceed that the move was a response to years of investigative reports and grassroots advocacy drawing attention to the fact that only about half of Wal-Mart employees are insured -- compared to 80% at their leading competitor Costco -- but that seems clear:

"We are lowering the costs to make health insurance more affordable," said a Wal-Mart spokesman, Dan Fogleman, who declined to comment on how much the plan would cost the company. Asked if the new insurance plan was in response to growing criticism, he said, "It's fair to say we are listening, but more so to our associates than anyone else."

There's no question that, for some Wal-Mart employees, this will be an improvement. But the devil is in the details. Here's how how the Arkansas Daily Blog puts it:

The company deserves points for trying. But ... it's not going to do much for a low-wage family.

First there's a $1,000 deductible to satisfy before you get any coverage ... Then there's $65 a month for family coverage or $780 a year. [the "$11 premium" will only be availble "in some areas.] So a poor family eking by on minimum wage is out, at a minimum, $1,780 a year before it gets any coverage under the Wal-Mart plan and then it still has co-pays.

And then, first-year coverage is capped at $25,000. So, if you enroll, you're betting nearly $2,000 that you'll need more than $2,000 or so in coverage, but less than $25,000. And the health savings account feature is worthless to someone who needs every penny to cover rent, utilities, food and clothing for a family of three or four.

Single-payer universal health insurance is the solution.

In the meantime, we can also follow the lead of the Maryland legislature, which passed the Fair Share Health Care Bill (later vetoed by Gov. Robert Ehrlich-R) to force large employers like Wal-Mart to pay more for health benefits, a short-term but important policy solution that doesn't leave workers needing health coverage at the whim of the CEOs.