Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman has been held in mostly solitary confinement in a Louisiana prison since mid-October, his son said Thursday.

“He is not allowed to see any family or speak to anyone including family,” said Joseph Siegelman, serving as one of the former governor's defense attorneys, in a phone interview. “He is completely and utterly in isolation.”

Calls seeking comment from officials at the Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, La., where Siegelman is serving out a sentence for his 2006 conviction on corruption charges, were unsuccessful Thursday afternoon. An email sent to the prison was not immediately returned.

Siegelman served as governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. A jury convicted Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy of bribery charges stemming from $500,000 in donations Scrushy gave to Siegelman’s 1999 campaign for a statewide lottery. Following the contribution, Siegelman appointed Scrushy to the state’s Certificate of Need (CON) board, which oversees hospital improvements and expansions.

Prosecutors said Scrushy’s contribution was a bribe to win back the seat on the board. Siegelman and his attorneys say the contribution was a normal part of politics. The governor was also convicted on a separate obstruction of justice charge related to payments involving a motorcycle.

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More at http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/local/alabama/2015/12/10/son-former-alabama-governor-held-solitary-prison/77111936/

http://alpolitico.com/ag-strange-being-drunk-doesnt-invalidate-pistol-permits/

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA – The office of Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange issued a statement Wednesday concerning complaints about possible “violations of Alabama’s gun law” in Selma.

The statement says that several prohibited weapons signs in various government buildings in Selma have been removed in response to inquiries made by the Attorney General’s office after complaints were made that the signs interfere with state open carry laws.

The statement said those complaints said that Carl C. Morgan Convention Center, Joe T. Smitherman Historic Building, Walton Theater, St. James Hotel, Selma City Hall, Selma-Dallas County Public Library, Larry D. Stripling Performing Arts Center, Central Alabama Animal Shelter, Selma Interpretive Center and the Selma City Ceramic Art Program building violated state law by prohibiting weapons.

“The complaint further stated” the AG’s statement says, “that the Dallas County sheriff used language in its pistol permit stating that the permit is not valid if the holder is under the influence of alcohol.”

In reaction to the latter complaint, according to the press release, AG Strange “communicated with the Dallas County sheriff that state law does not allow a sheriff to place conditions upon issuing a pistol permit,” effectively telling the sheriff pistol permits are indeed valid despite any intoxication of the gun owner.

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Doncha' love these "common sense" gun laws?

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/12/everyday-class-privilege/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=SocialWarfare

When I landed my first-ever full-time, salaried job, I experienced firsthand what class mobility felt like. Just like that – in what felt like an instant – everything changed.

I could finally go out to happy hour without counting my drinks. I could budget to buy really good gifts for my family during the holidays. I could afford to buy fresh produce every week at the grocery store.

But I never stopped being aware of how different life had been when I was underemployed, underpaid, overworked, and stretched for cash.

Class privilege can show up in really big, visible ways in our world.

...

2. You Paid for Convenience

You’re running late, so you scrap your plan to make coffee and run to Starbucks instead. You’re working late hours, so you pay a little extra for Instacart delivery to grab groceries for dinner. You’re applying for jobs and going to interviews, so you hire a sitter. It’s late and you’re hungry, so you order take-out.

The ability to choose convenience – even in moderation – despite its added costs is very common in our culture.

Nobody thinks it’s gaudy to be seen with a pizza box, and people aren’t going to be shocked and awed by the fact that you hire a nanny for the weekends. These are seen as normal, everyday choices.

But for lots of folks, they’re experiences that are financially out of reach.

Most parents earning minimum wage or working in other low-wage jobs can’t afford child care. Some folks budget so tightly that even that $2.50 iced coffee will break the bank. And close to 50 million Americans are food insecure.

<SNIP> The entire piece at the above link. Worth the read if only for a reminder.

http://www.rawstory.com/2015/12/michigan-woman-pouts-after-losing-gun-permit-for-shooting-at-shoplifters-i-will-never-help-anybody-again/



Michigan woman complained after her sentencing that she was only trying to help when she opened fire at a pair of fleeing shoplifting suspects.

Tatiana Duva-Rodriguez pleaded no contest shortly after the October shooting to reckless discharge of a firearm, and she was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months of probation.

Her concealed carry permit was also revoked until 2023.

The 46-year-old Duva-Rodriguez said she opened fire on the getaway car in a Home Depot parking lot in Auburn Hills after she heard a scream and feared the incident was worse than a theft.

More at the above link.

Donald Trump is an extremist leader who came out of nowhere. He's self financed, recruits through social media, attracts his followers with a radical ideology to take over the world and is actively trying to promote a war between Islam and the West...

From http://www.cc.com/video-clips/0org9p/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-donald-trump--the-white-isis?xrs=synd_FBPAGE_20151209_300154341_The%20Daily%20Show_N/A&linkId=19449474

Well worth the taking a look at the video.

First in line are words such as penis, wanker and Dick even if it's someone's name as in my old friend Wanker Jones.

It is winter. While I have always been somewhat penilely challenged, in the winter some things that get cold tend to want to go and crawl back within my body... that can make it very frustrating when suddenly having to urinate badly. It is both embarrassing and traumatic especially when seen by another. That, and it's obvious disrespect to those of us who will never be auditioned for coveted porn roles. At any time that I read one of these words it reminds me that I am but a fraction of so many other men and that's a terrible thing for you to do to me. It means even more to me today as my ex wife got my penis in the divorce. Please be considerate.


2nd: PUPPIES. As a child, I made the mistake of being prostrate on the floor in a room with 17 puppies of ages 12-16 weeks whereupon they all ran to my prostrate body and put their mouths, tongues and cold noses over every bit of bare skin that they could while yipping in devil tongues threatening to eat my flesh to the bones. Now when I read the word puppies I fall into a faint and must take time to get myself together before moving on with the rest my day.

Please know that if I ever see the use of any of these words I shall message my friends and alert on your terrible transgression upon my personal comfort on the internet.

WTF? They can't hack an app? How fracking stupid do these MFers think we are?

On edit: This was from a CNN live interview at the time of the posting. No links at the moment.