Church Usher's Run

This story is old, but it's funny. Because of the identities of those involved and the need for discretion, the pages of Alabama Confidential are the best place to tell the tale.

If you are from Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, or any other place in the South, you know the conflicts and attitudes about drinking booze of any kind. I call it the "Baptist Influence." Really, that is being unfair to the Baptists, because many denominations in the South have the same prejudices against partaking alcoholic beverages. The story I'm going to relate is a tale of four young men who boldly defied the prevailing attitude of the time - right in their own church. Well - maybe not exactly "in" the church.

It's okay to mention the town in this story because there are enough churches there that it would be impossible to figure out where the deed took place. The Episcopal and Catholic churches - because of their more liberal attitudes towards booze - are excluded from this tale...

Brewton, Alabama is the town and the church shall go nameless except to say it's a good place to be seen by the connected.

Like all churches, seating the congregation and collecting their money falls on the shoulders of the ushers. These men and women perform a critical function for any church. Leading the elderly to their pews, controlling the lines to the communion rail, making sure everyone has an opportunity to put their donation in the collection plate, and being on standby for the needs of the pastor are just a few of the functions of the usher. Each church does it different. Sometimes the designated ushers are rotated each Sunday and sometimes the same ones do the job every Sunday.

According to my corroborated sources, these,young, fairly good looking men did the task so often that they were familiar with the length of the service and all of its variances down to the minute. All the young men were below the age of 18 and were students at the local high school.

The largest gap in time during any church service is the time from the beginning of the sermon until the dismissal. Usually this takes from 30 minutes to an hour, depending upon the church. In this church the time was approximately 45 minutes for no other reason than to give the congregation a good head start in racing a larger congregation from down the street to Brewton's favorite buffet line. The young ushers had the time down.

We will never know which of the four teenagers started the tradition that contributed to their fame or better said, infamy, but here's how it went:

In Century, Florida near the point of the Alabama line, there was a beer joint. Not an ordinary beer joint, but one that had package sales through a drive-in window and sold beer on Sundays. At the time there was no such establishment in Brewton due to blue laws. The proprietor of the establishment didn't care about the ages of his customers and had no ethical problem with selling beer to underage young men.

Depending on the route, from Brewton to said beer joint in Century, a person driving a good fast car could be there in fifteen minutes. Breaking the speed limit, one could be there much faster. A round trip would take at least 30 minutes depending on legal speed.

So this became the game of the four ushers: Leaving the church at the beginning of the sermon and being back before they were needed at the dismissal, as well as chug-a-lugging, Lord knows how many beers.

Two of the ushers have turned out well as adults and two not so well. How long the usher's run lasted no one could tell me, but it leaves one question. Did the departing congregation think the "beery" smell in their church at the end of the sermon was a new type of shave lotion?

Drivers be careful when you're driving in the late morning hours of a Sunday on U.S. 29. You might be blown off the road by four young men on an "usher's run"

Another People's Republic of China Outlet Store to Open in Brewton

This from China Daily about the store who's slogan is "always low prices." A store who will open a new retail center soon in Brewton,Alabama.

The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, says its inventory of stock produced in China is expected to hit US$18 billion this year, keeping the annual growth rate of over 20 per cent consistent over two years.

The trend is expected to continue, company officials revealed.

"We expect our procurement stock from China to continue to grow at a similar rate in line with Wal-Mart's growth worldwide, if not faster," said Lee Scott, the president and CEO (chief executive officer) of Wal-Mart.

An unnamed company official also stated the firm will extend its procurement base from South China's Pearl River Delta to the North and East China in the coming few years.

A market rumour says the retailer has its eyes on a 340,000-square metre warehouse at a logistics garden of the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Bonded Area.

Scott covertly visited the site earlier this month, and hopes to own the whole warehouse to accommodate the firm's further expansion in China.

At present, Wal-Mart has quite limited warehouse resources in East China.

Xu Jun, Wal-Mart China's director of external affairs, ruled out the rumour, saying the CEO has never visited that or any other site for a warehouse.

Nevertheless, he said China is Wal-Mart's most important supplier in the world. The overseas procurement home office in Shenzhen, a city of South China's Guangdong Province, has played a key role in the firm's global purchasing business.

Wal-Mart shifted its overseas procurement centre from Hong Kong to Shenzhen in February 2002 to better serve the purchasing and exporting business.

"If Wal-Mart were an individual economy, it would rank as China's eighth-biggest trading partner, ahead of Russia, Australia and Canada," Xu said.

By the end of September, 2004, the top seven trading partners to the Chinese mainland are the European Union, the United States, Japan, Hong Kong, ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), South Korea and China's Taiwan Province, state statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

Last year, the firm bought US$15 billion products from China, half from direct purchasing, the other from the firm's suppliers in China.

More than 5,000 Chinese enterprises have established steady supply alliances with Wal-Mart.

Good quality and low price are the major attractions of the retailing giant.

Insiders point out Wal-Mart's imports from China have largely influenced the US trade deficit in China, which is expected to reach US$150 billion this year.

Xu declined to comment if the anti-dumpling measures of the US Department of Commerce have impacted the firm's procurement of textile commodities and household appliances in China, saying again that China is an important sourcing base for the firm.

So far, more than 70 per cent of the commodities sold in Wal-Mart are made in China.

Experts say Wal-Mart's plan of increasing its procurement from China has granted the firm a positive corporate reputation in the country.

"Buying more products in China means more job opportunities, which helps the firm win not only the government's hearts, but also the customers' appreciations," said Wang Yao, director of information department under the China General Chamber of Commerce.

In the United States, poor people find it possible to afford cheap "Made In China" products for their daily necessities, Wang said.

Wal-Mart, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, entered China in 1996. It has opened 39 stores, including supercenters, "Sam's Clubs" and neighborhood markets in 15 cities around China, including Beijing, Harbin and Dalian.

It has recently announced the opening of its first store in Shanghai, slated for the middle of next year.

The firm has a total of 4,900 stores in 10 countries worldwide.

FROM THE ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE:

China's entry into the World Trade Organization was supposed to improve the U.S. trade deficit with China and create good jobs in the United States. But those promises have gone unfulfilled: the total U.S. trade deficit with China reached $235 billion in 2006. Between 2001 and 2006, this growing deficit eliminated 1.8 million U.S. jobs (Scott 2007). The world's biggest retailer, U.S.-based Wal-Mart was responsible for $27 billion in U.S. imports from China in 2006 and 11% of the growth of the total U.S. trade deficit with China between 2001 and 2006. Wal-Mart's trade deficit with China alone eliminated nearly 200,000 U.S. jobs in this period.

Here We Go Again! Who vandalized the Golf Carts?

The ever diligent Brewton Standard reports today of the apprehension and arrest of three teens who allegedly vandalized property at T.R. Miller High School. Everybody is in on this one. Brewton police chief Monte McGougin says:

The acts committed by the suspects are ones law enforcement officials find senseless, McGougin said. “This is something we simply are not going to tolerate,” McGougin said. “We will investigate any acts of vandalism and work to arrest those responsible for this type of activity.”

Then Brewton City School Superintendent Lynn Smith says:

Brewton City Schools Superintendent Lynn Smith said Friday he had not received a full report about the individuals charged in the case. “I haven't gotten any statement from the police on who the vandals are,” Smith said. “We will be waiting on a full report from them to determine what action we will be taking in the matter.”

Obviously these kids aren't as connected to the system as the ones involved in the Brewton Country Club vandalism several months ago which (unless it was done very quietly and out of the public eye) hasn't been solved. Here is that story:

(May 2)A Sunday morning discovery by workers at the Brewton Country Club has sparked an investigation concerning the vandalism of more than 25 golf carts.

“There are between 25 and 30 golf carts involved in this vandalism situation,” said Robert Lynn, Brewton Country Club manager. “I don’t want to give too much information, because I don’t want to jeopardize the investigation that would get these kids arrested.”

Lynn said Brewton Police were contacted on Sunday morning and Sgt. Eric Suarez was the investigating officer with the department.

Suarez said the department made the initial investigation and assessed the damage to the grounds and golf carts at the club.

“We went out and made a report about the vandalism situation at the Country Club,” Suarez said. “Workers at the Club arrived at work on Sunday morning to find the golf carts had been taken from the shed where they are stored. We found that the greens had been run over by the carts and some of them were wrecked where they were run into each other. We even found some of the carts stuck in the sand traps on the golf course.”

Suarez said since the Country Club is located outside the city limits of Brewton that the case has been turned over to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department for further investigation.

“We have done all that we can in the case,” Suarez said. “Since it is in the County’s jurisdiction, we turned any further investigation in the case over to the Sheriff’s office.”

Cameron Fillingin is the investigating officer for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.

“We are still investigating this case,” Fillingin said. “I won’t be able to release any additional information until the investigation is complete.”

So what happened with the golf cart vandalism investigation? Did it get solved? Was it ever in the paper again?

New Chapters added to fictional online serial novel about a modern secessionist movement

I have added two chapters to the online fictional serial novel, "Southern Split." Learn how a major city can be shut down with 45 motorcycles and special flashlights. Read the five completed chapters of Southern Split.

Feel free to contribute story ideas by emailing me at miket@thomsontalks.com.

"Nobodies" in Alabama get Busted for Drugs while "Somebodies" skate free

In almost every city in Alabama you read about the such and such "Drug Task Force" arresting some "nobody" for drug possession or distribution. That's very good and I applaud it because I think illegal and some legal drugs are the bane of American society.

Steroid abuse has become so common place in all sports that most fans grudingly accept it, causing me to wonder why baseball, football, and certain track and field events don't just set up different leagues and classifications for steroid and non-steriod athletes. If the steriod users want shorter lifespans in trade for weight gain and hitting the ball out of the park consistently so be it. Forget the argument about being role models for kids - it's not convincing. Pull your 15 year old football player,baseball player,soccer player,or high school weightlifter into the den for a chat. Do they know any of their peers who take steroids? You betcha! Have they ever thought about taking steroids - be tipped off by the nervous foot shuffle.

We live in a culture where drugs are becoming more and more acceptable. The police and enforcers of drug law are conflicted. They want to do a good job of ridding Alabama society of marijuana,cocaine(crack and powder),and certainly want to shut down methamphetamine production and distribution, but struggle with the issue of going after the "big fish" in their town and locality who regularly use drugs,check in frequently to rehab centers, and feel they are "untouchable" and immune from the force of the law. These "untouchables" may be attorneys, county commissioners, wealthy mill and plant owners, and successful business people. It's okay for them to use drugs, but not so for the "scum."

So what does Law do? To make good theatre for the law abiding folks who are in every Alabama community, the drug task force goes after "nobody" scum that everybody would suspect would be on or selling drugs anyway. It's called the "path of least resistance" and it keeps them out of trouble with their bosses who play golf and suck up to the "somebodies," who, by the way, prefer their cocaine powdered.

If I ain't telling the truth, shoot me!

More Growth for South Alabama

At last Brookley Field in Mobile is getting something worthwhile.

With the Thyssen-Krupp steel mill headed for the Mobile area, Mobile is soon going to be the hottest ticket in the southland. But there's more! This from German paper Spiegel Online:

According to a report in the Monday edition of the Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, Airbus is looking into building a final assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama. The prerequisite for such a move, the paper reports, is a contract for 180 refueling aircraft the United States Air Force has tendered. Airbus is competing against Boeing for the sale, and a final decision won't be made until the beginning of next year. Airbus is targeting the relatively poor state of Alabama in an effort to win political support for its bid.

Were it to win the contract, Airbus would modify the passenger jet A330 to meet the US military's requirements. The factory would also be able to produce the civilian version of the plane, resulting in massive exchange-rate savings to Airbus. Because the plane-maker sells its products in dollars, a $0.10 change in the exchange rate cuts a €1 billion (nearly $1.5 billion) hole in the Airbus bottom line. Furthermore, the company's Power 8 savings program, announced earlier this year, is based on an exchange rate of $1.35 to the euro.

Recent drops in the dollar's value have led Airbus CEO Thomas Enders to warn that more savings measures may be on the way. On Monday, the euro climbed down further from last week's high of just under $1.50 and was trading at $1.466.

Full text of interview between David Gow of British newspaper The Guardian and representative of Marketplace business publication, David Krizer. This was published earlier this month:

Doug Krizner: European plane maker Airbus is reportedly considering a new factory in Alabama. A weak dollar and a soaring euro are the reasons why.

Let's bring in David Gow from London's Guardian newspaper. David, you describe this as the chief of Airbus issuing a wake-up call for Europe.

David Gow: Those were the words he used. He said that Europe has to wake up to the decline of the dollar and the impact that this has on European industry and manufacturing in particular. That it's going to force companies to outsource or relocate more and more of its production to the dollar zone.

Krizner: Now, is the relationship between the dollar and the euro a life-threatening situation for Airbus, do you think?

Gow: Yes. Because basically, every 10 cents fall in the value of the dollar costs Airbus 1 billion euros, which in American terms is the equivalent of $1.4-$1.5 billion.

Krizner: So you are reporting in your article for the Guardian that Airbus officials are confirming that they are considering a plan to set up this new factory in Alabama. What would they produce there?

Gow: First of all, they would produce, if they win the Pentagon contract for these air-to-air refueling planes, they would build them there. But at the same time, they could also build parts for planes which would be destined for the U.S. airlines.

Krizner: So I want to zero in here. What you're saying, then, is that this entire move toward Alabama is contingent upon Airbus winning the Pentagon contract, or not?

Gow: That's right. There's a huge -- it's one of the biggest lobbying campaigns in aerospace that the military in America you've seen for many, many a year. Supposedly, a decision will be taken early next year.

Krizner: David Gow is business report for The Guardian in London. We've been speaking to him this morning from Brussels. David, thanks so much.

Gow: OK, thank you!

Hats off to the Monroe Journal

Truthfully, during the 12 years I lived in south Alabama I didn't read the Monroe Journal very often. That is not to say that I didn't have the opportunity. As a military recruiter during the first 4 of those 12 years, I was in Monroeville every Thursday to bring in applicants for Military Entrance Processing tests at George B. "Buster" Singleton's National Guard Armory. I say it belonged to Buster because he ruled the place with an iron hand. I enjoyed listening to Buster's observations on local history,particularly his authoritative knowledge of William Weatherford, so I didn't have too much time to read the Journal. However given that George is a contributing writer to the Monroe Journal, I suppose I had more exposure than I realized.

Even though I grew up in Tennessee and currently live in Virginia near Washington D.C., my heart adopted Alabama long ago. I keep up with what is going on in the state by reading online editions of papers such as the Montgomery Advertiser, Mobile Register, Brewton Standard, Atmore Advance, and for the last year, The Monroe Journal.

I would include the Tri-City Ledger in Flomaton/Century, but unfortunately outstanding journalist and publisher Joe Thomas does not have a web presence.

With the Monroe Journal I have been particularly impressed by the courageous stand they have taken in their reporting on the proposed Conecuh Woods Landfill. I say courageous because landfill interests have a lot of money to either buy out or stifle opposition. In some communities in America it's literally citizens against the mob.

I became interested in the Monroe Journal because of their landfill stories, but I have become hooked on their other stories as well and their objective "letters to the editor" section i.e. they are confident enough in their own skin to subject themselves to reader criticism. This paper, folks, packs as much wallop in it's once a week paper as some of the surrounding papers manage to get out in six weeks.

Hats off to a fine paper and a great tradition of unbiased reporting!

Have Pro-Landfill Forces Politicized the Battle?

The proposed Conecuh Woods Landfill in rural southwest Alabama will be the largest landfill in the United States when completed. Up until now, the citizens engaged in opposition to the landfill have more or less been involved in a fair fight. With a change in public relations firms, from the Patrick Slevin Group of Tallahassee, Florida to Matrix LLC of Montgomery, the dynamic has changed tremendously. Below is a post I wrote for the Stop The Conecuh Woods Landfill blog:

With the defacto mouthpiece of the Conecuh Woods Landfill being a former Alabama Democratic State Executive Director, has Conecuh Woods politicized the process? Does this mean that Democratic Chairmen in Monroe, Escambia, and Conecuh counties have been enlisted in the big money fight to bring an environmental atrocity to Southwest Alabama? If you are opposed to the landfill and live in one of the most affected counties mentioned above, you might want to ask your local Democratic chairman if they are opposed to the landfill or for it. You might want to ask them what their relationship is to Conecuh Woods mouthpiece and former State Democratic Executive Director, Phillip Kinney.

In case you don't know who your local Democratic chairmen are, I am happy to provide contact information for you:

Conecuh: The Honorable Tommy Chapman home: 251-578-1406 work 251-578-4977

Monroe: Mr. Milton Coxwell home 251-743-4055 work 251-575-2146

Escambia: Mr. Reo Kirkland Jr. home 251-578-5115 work 251-867-5711

Just so you don't think that I am invading these gentleman's privacy by publishing their phone numbers, this information is easily accessible on the State Democratic website.

What's going on at the Escambia County Jail?

"There wasn't a melee. Mr. Presley slipped and fell and hit his head on the floor," he said. "They're after money. That's what a lawsuit is." Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith responding to allegations of prisoner abuse in pending federal lawsuit.

The plaintiff's attorney, Charles Morris III, attempting to show a chronology of "systemic" problems at the jail, cites over 20 news articles in the Mobile Register:

"When you read the records, you'd have to answer that question, 'yes.' They've had problems back to '93," he said. "They have people breaking out of jail. They have people breaking into jail. They've had indictments of inmates. They've had indictments of staff. They're sorely understaffed."

The plaintiff, Rodney Stewart Presley, has filed suit asking for unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for head injuries he sustained in a melee in June of 2006. Presley was a pre-trial detainee at the time for a charge of burglary which was later dropped.

Also named in the suit against Sheriff Grover Smith is the Escambia County Commission.

According to a story in the Mobile Register by staff reporter, Brendan Kirby:

A federal magistrate judge in Mobile on Wednesday[November 28] ordered Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith to provide records about his jail's policies to a Bay Minette man who is suing over injuries he suffered at the jail last year.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bert Milling Jr. ruled that Rodney Stewart Presley must use the Policy and Procedures Manual for the lawsuit only and cannot give it to anyone other than his attorney and expert witnesses who might testify.

Milling also ruled that Smith and the Escambia County Commission can have access to Presley's medical records, but they likewise must keep the information confidential.

Stay tuned, this promises to be serious for Escambia County Sheriff Grover Smith.