And they wonder why American schools are declining? Who the hell is going to want to be a teacher in this environment?

From the Miami Herald - see link at bottom of post.

In Ala., GOP dictates new landscape for education

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Self-declared education reformers have had considerable success across the country over the past few decades, from charter school expansion and private school tuition vouchers to new limits on teachers' job protections. But perhaps nowhere have the triumphs marked a bigger political upheaval than in Alabama, where the new Republican supermajority is dominating the state teachers' organization that was long the epicenter of power.

Alabama Education Association chief Henry Mabry accuses Republicans of hurting public schools with changes to teacher tenure, tax breaks for private school tuition, and limits on AEA collecting dues through the state payroll system.

"There seems to be an unspoken agenda to change the public education system to where it's not even recognizable," Mabry said. He called it "right out of the playbook" of a national movement to eviscerate government in favor of private and for-profit enterprises.

GOP leaders frame their efforts as improving a broken system more concerned with public employees than with children. "It's not that we're punitive toward AEA," House Speaker Mike Hubbard said. "We're just doing the right thing by the taxpayers, and they don't like that."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/04/27/3367933/in-ala-gop-dictates-new-landscape.html#storylink=cpy

Alabama Super-Illegalizes Gay Marriage

The Onion Radio Reports...

Did You Know - Crazy in Alabama

My mother had a theory about why there was always persistent fighting and political unrest in the mid-east. She said it was due to the constant heat. Her claim was founded on the belief that people who are too warm all of the time lose their patience and start acting ugly. Do you suppose that could be true? Do you suppose it could also explain some of the less-than-rational behavior of many Americans who live in the south?

From the Los Angeles Times...

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security has taken down a website it operated that included gay-rights and antiwar organizations in a list of groups that could include terrorists.

The website identified different types of terrorists and included a list of groups it suggested could spawn terrorists. The list also included environmentalists, animal rights advocates and abortion opponents.