Editorial: Utilities companies on a power trip
"Extremist groups" with "fancy San Francisco environmental lawyers" are launching a "full frontal assault" on you and I and this great state.
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"Extremist groups" with "fancy San Francisco environmental lawyers" are launching a "full frontal assault" on you and I and this great state.
On the day we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Barack Obama was sworn in for his second term as president, having won the 2012 elections.
It's been a full eight days after the break of the Manti Te'o story. Through the magic of smart phones, the Internet and the many other devices that bring the news to our fingertips, we've all had a chance to pore over the Te'o hoax, laugh at the expense of the South Bend Tribune and blame every news organization imaginable.
"Sometimes it just doesn't pay to be smart, breathtakingly beautiful, nice and kind. Not when there are blobbies who are willing to take their clothes off in public."
"But we have always understood that when times change, so must we; that fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges"
The odds of a quarter coming up with heads just once in 17 flips are less than one percent. It's about a hundredth of one percent actually. But Auburn's board of trustees selection committee managed to do almost just that.
In the last several years, we've seen drought in the South, tornadoes in the South and Midwest, floods in the Mississippi River basin, hurricanes Irene and Sandy in the East, wildfires in the West and thousands of high temperature daily records across the U.S. Munich Re, the largest reinsurance company, stated North America has experienced almost a five-fold increase in weather disasters over the past three decades and such events will continue. What to do? Increased use of alternative sources of energy will help. Using job-creating incentive funds Alabama voters approved in November, production facilities for solar energy equipment could become a reality. Installations utilizing solar energy are already operational at the Lee County Justice Center, the Opelika City Hall and at Ft. Rucker. If Alabama law makers would modify the tax structure, solar equipment and installation would be more attractive for builders and consumers. The production of solar energy in Alabama would create manufacturing and installation jobs and also improve human health by reducing air and water pollution. It could also help reduce the frequency and severity of the weather events mentioned above. We really ought to get on with it, without delay.
One of my earliest memories is my dad teaching me the word "compromise." (He thought that would make me an obedient child. His strategy did not work.) If a 5-year-old can grasp the concept of compromise, one would expect grown men and women to understand it--especially when the stakes are high. But as we saw with the fiscal-cliff disaster at the end of 2012, this isn't always the case. In typical Washington style, neither party would bend--at least, not enough to strike a deal--until the deadline had passed. We could argue about which side is more at fault. We could debate whether Sen. Harry Reid was right when he accused House Speaker John Boehner of running a "dictatorship," and whether Boehner was justified in his not-so-subtle response (yelling expletives at Reid in the White House lobby). We could talk about what some consider a failure to lead by President Barack Obama; others contend that Obama couldn't take any more of a hands-on approach until the Republicans managed to get their acts together. But regardless of the details of the fiscal cliff saga, the most important question to be asking ourselves is: What can we learn from this about our political climate, and what can we expect in the future? As for the latter question, more of the same, folks. The 24-hour news networks preach apocalypse during every political showdown-- looking at you, Wolf Blitzer-- which only feeds a splintered political climate. And in that climate, we see a broken system. Both parties have moved so far from center that they can't see the middle of the road anymore. As we all know, trying to drive a car, or run a government, becomes perilous when you ignore your own blind spot. But how can they get away with being such extremists? Voters hold them accountable for their actions, right? Wrong. As Tom Brokaw pointed out on "Meet the Press" Dec. 30, a huge chunk of representatives hail from gerrymandered districts-- meaning they don't have to worry about voters giving them the boot. "They only play to one constituency," he said. "They don't go home and have to prove their case, because they've got a choir back home." It makes government of the people, by the people and for the people feel more like government of, by and for party radicals. In the absence of bipartisan compromise, we see bipartisan fault for the situation. And until our leaders in Washington acknowledge that the fault lies on both sides of the aisle, the outlook is bleak. Of course, politicians will blame each other. We, the people, may also feel inclined to blame the opposing party. If so, we must take a good, hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we too have a blind spot.
For most of us in Auburn, Jan. 1 began a new year and a new semester with fresh hopes and perhaps clean starts where needed. For nearly everyone in the Syrian cities of Damascus and Homs and Aleppo, it simply rang in the third calendar year of a relentless and bloody civil war that has largely been ignored by the rest of the world's media and governments. For dozens of families it was the day they lost a parent, spouse or sibling to yet another car bomb or air raid.
The first time I will step foot in the Auburn Arena, I will be graduating.
When I wake up for my 8 a.m. class, the first thing I do is turn on the coffee pot. Before I even get dressed, I pour myself a bowl of cereal or grab a granola bar from the cabinet. If I'm running late, I can stop at Starbucks on my walk to class. I swipe my TigerCard filled with my parents' money. My stomach barely starts to growl before I fill it again.
Mr. Sherer’s letter on evolution and Christianity (Nov. 29) must be responded to from theological, educational, and scientific points of view. He claims that “one cannot profess both Christianity and evolution.” Nonsense! Millions of Christians of many denominations in the U.S.A. and around the world accept the fact that evolution has occurred and continues to occur. Perhaps evolution is incompatible with Mr. Sherer’s personal version of Christianity, which apparently demands that one read all of scripture as prose and none of it as poetry. What a shame. He is missing out on so much. Mr. Sherer’s views, and others with views like his, reflect a failure of our education system, whether it be public, private, or home. Scientific illiteracy is epidemic in our country, and we will pay the price in security and lost leadership if it is not successfully addressed soon. The common ancestry of all living things has not been controversial within the scientific community for over a century. It is confirmed by the accumulated understanding of life from the disciplines of genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, comparative anatomy, biogeography, ecology, geology and paleontology, microbiology, biochemistry, botany, and zoology. I suggest that Mr. Sherer begin his education about evolution by reading the short, final chapter (Recapitulation and Conclusion) in Charles Darwin’s famous 1859 book, "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection", or "The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life." In fact, I seriously suggest that these few pages be added to Auburn University’s core curriculum.Jim BradleyProfessor EmeritusBiological Sciences
In the most recent issue of The Plainsman, an article was written concerning the matter of evolution. The comment was made that evolution and Christianity could be reconciled by saying that God started the evolutionary process by creating one species and allowing everything to progress. My response does not intend to disprove evolution for everyone but rather to show fellow Christians that evolution and Christianity are incompatible.
I am writing this on the afternoon of Gene Chizik's termination because I honestly believe Chizik made one costly mistake; he switched offensive schemes.
We can't say we didn't see it coming.
Republicans obviously suffered a loss on Tuesday, Nov. 6. As a former delegate candidate to the Republican National Convention, I was pulling strongly for Gov. Romney and was on the edge of my seat the whole night.
Was this season not supposed to be the rebuilding year?
In Alabama, we live inside a bell jar.
Anyone who took Alabama history in the fourth grade knows that secession is probably not the best idea. But that bit of knowledge seems to have escaped a few of our fellow Alabamians.
Since the announcement of Disney's $4 billion purchase of Lucasfilm, fanboys (and girls) have been taking over the Internet with overwhelming opinions on the matter.