Democrat tiff, Chinese and land, Google 20G: Down in Alabama
Party penalty?
The Democratic National Committee is prepared to penalize Alabama Democrats for the rolling back of changes to the Alabama Democratic Party’s bylaws, according to a report from the Alabama Reflector.
The Reflector report said the DNC has sent a letter to Kelley, saying the latest changes may lead to unequal treatment of minority groups. And that if the issues aren’t addressed it could end up costing Alabama representation in the primary president election.
Redirection
The Alabama state Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation Committee reworked a bill that passed the House of Representatives last week, reports AL.com’s Mike Cason.
The bill, as written and passed by the House, was intended to ban Chinese citizens and businesses from buying property in Alabama. That includes Chinese citizens who live and work legally in Alabama.
The bill that came out of the Senate committee on Wednesday doesn’t ban Chinese citizens who live in Alabama from buying property. What it does do is ban the governments of China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from buying property in Alabama that’s used for agriculture or forestry or is within 10 miles of a military base or critical infrastructure.
Never too much bandwidth
Huntsville has been selected as one of four U.S. test cities for Google Fiber’s 20G internet connection, reports AL.com’s Leada Gore.
Green Bay is NOT a test city, by the way. The other three areas are Austin, Texas, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
This test is designed for companies or organizations that download or upload huge amounts of data and need ridiculous bandwidth.
A slow-cooked mea culpa
I haven’t said anything yet about its being National Barbecue Month.
To some people that’s a little like not acknowledging the opening of college football season, I realize.
It was brought to my attention when I read Mary Colurso’s story on rock musician Alice Cooper dropping by Full Moon BBQ in Hoover. And I mention THAT just because it feels like there’s all kinds of cultural clash to see macabre shock-rocker Alice Cooper in a Hoover barbecue joint. If you saw Lyle Lovett at Saw’s or Hank Jr. at Hooks it wouldn’t feel too out of place.
But Cooper’s a cultural clash anyway. He’s more likely to be caught playing Ross Bridge when it opens as doing anything spooky about town.
So the whole point to this story is … happy National Barbecue Month. And remember, brisket is great but needs to get its own month because, in Alabama, barbecue comes from a pig. That ought to be in our state Constitution.
Everything else has been.
The podcast
The “Down in Alabama” podcast is short and free. Listen to it by clicking on the player above or subscribe by looking for “Down in Alabama” on the device of your choosing.
You can find “Down in Alabama” in these places: