What would the world be, once bereft of wet and wildness?
Let them be left, O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
Alabama, Alabama, We will aye be true to thee,
From thy Southern shores where groweth,
By the sea thy orange tree.
To thy Northern vale where floweth,
Deep blue the Tennessee,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
Broad thy stream whose name thou bearest;
Grand thy Bigbee rolls along;
Fair thy Coosa-Tallapoosa
Bold thy Warrior, dark and strong,
Goodlier than the land that Moses
Climbed lone Nebo's Mount to see,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
From thy prairies broad and fertile,
Where thy snow-white cotton shines,
To the hills where coal and iron
Hide in thy exausted mines,
Strong -armed miners -sturdy farmers;
Loyal hearts what'er we be,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
From thy quarries where the marble
White as that of Paros gleams
Waiting till thy sculptor'ss chisel,
Wake to life thy poet's dreams;
Fear not only wealth of nature,
Wealth of mind has no fee,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
Where the perfumed south-wind whispers,
Thy magnolia groves among,
Softer than a mother's kisses,
Sweeter than a mother's song,
Where the golden jasmine trailing,
Woos the treasure-laden bee,
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
Brave and pure thy men and women,
Better this than corn and wine
Make us worthy, God in Heaven
Of this goodly land of Thine.
Hearts as open as thy doorways.
Liberal hands and spirits free.
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
Little, little can I give thee,
Alabama, mother mine.
But that little - hand, brain, spirit.
All I have and am are thine.
Take, O take, the gift and giver.
Take and serve thyself with me.
Alabama, Alabama, we will aye be true to thee!
The Encyclopedia of Alabama is a "comprehensive online reference work on the state’s history, culture, geography, and natural environment" which will be available in 2008. A rather dauting task, but I look forward to seeing the result.
Dan at Between the Links has a good post on legislation he'd like to see pass this year in Alabama.
Legislation to call a constitutional convention
Legislation to make Alabama the 25th state to have I&R
A resolution to oppose the federal REAL ID Act
Legislation to further increase the tax threshold
Overall tax reform to bring a more equitable system of taxation to Alabama
Legislation to overturn the Prohibition-era beer laws in Alabama so that consumers can have a choice in what they can purchase with the money they earned.
A ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers
Legislation requiring financial disclosure from organizations who advocate for political objectives
Legislation to require lobbyists to report all money they spend on legislators.
Legislation to place a moratorium on the death penalty while it's fairness is studied.
Any thoughts on these? I agree with all of them except the second and the last, the second because I don't know what "I&R" is and the last because the fairness of the death penalty has already been studied and it really depends on personal opinion anyway. There are lots and lots of other bills I'd like to see passed but these seem like a good place to start. Kathy weighs in over at Birmingham Blues.
Although Alabama is my home state and I'll always have a fondness for her southern soul, at times I am downright flabbergasted. I can put up with the popular media version of Alabama, mostly wrong, of the gap-toothed NASCAR rednecks in trailer parks, etc. I can tolerate the (possibly) worst commercial ever, the hijinx and the hoopla, but what I cannot tolerate is actual bona fide official stupidity. Boing Boing has drawn my attention to the recent 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision allowing a ban on the sale of sex toys in the case Sherri Williams v. Attorney General of Alabama (pdf). The court stated with approval that "Alabama's Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act prohibits, among other things, the commercial distribution of 'any device designed or marketed as useful primarily for the stimulation of human genital organs for any thing of pecuniary value.'" Not that I'm a big user of sex toys or anything; what gets me is the pointlessly puritan nature of the law. After all, if people want to use sex toys, let 'em. How can their private use hurt society? What really gets me though is that the court upholds the law based on the fact that the state has the power to "restrict the sale of sex." How on earth does a ban on the sale of french ticklers restrict the sale of sex? Isn't sex an act, not a product? But the legal aspects aside, the law is just another obvious attempt to impose a strict moral code on the citizens using the state's police power, which never works. Ban prostitution and child porn, fine. But it's backwards to legislate the private, ultimately harmless decisions of normal everyday folks just because they like to use vibrators. Sheesh. Meanwhile, Alabama lawmakers are against extending the assault weapons ban? Ah, good ol' moral hypocrisy, served up southern style.
