Chris Estes

The first person from my college days is making a run for political office.  When you meet certain people you know they are meant for greatness. My Friend Mitchell Howie is running for congress.  Since I met Mitchell, or Mitch to me, I knew he was going to be somebody.  I have known Mitchell for years and have no problem putting my support behind him.  He is a natural born leader with a great heart.  He is a visionary and will be a great Congressman from Alabama.

The picture below is from an Ole Miss at Auburn University game in 2005 when I got Mitchell to go to a game with me.  In his true form he still wouldn’t wear the real burnt orange of Auburn instead he wore the burnt orange of the University of Texas his Alma Mater.  As you can tell Auburn won that game and he got to experience Toomer’s Corner in its prime!

As time goes on you are sure to learn more about Mitchell J. Howie from me as I will be helping out with his campaign as much as I can.  Mitch sent out a mass e-mail today that I thought you might enjoy:

by Mitchell John Howie, Alabama 5th Congressional District Candidate

For far too long Washington has failed to operate because of gridlock.  Gridlock due to party politics being placed higher than the desires of the American People.  Parker Griffith’s flip to a Republican after campaigning as a Democrat is a good example of this self serving problem.  Washington politicians are far too concerned with winning reelection than serving the people they represent.  The instinct of professional politicians (like Parker Griffith) for self preservation and their perpetual political posturing leads to these sorts of Washington-style games. When Parker Griffith takes a poll and flips parties, he abandons the values and principles he was elected on and betrays the public trust.  This is not what the people deserve. The people deserve someone who is dedicated to service, they deserve a military officer who understands service to this country.

Gridlock leads to our government not getting anything positive accomplished. Instead, we are left with a system of professional politicians attempting to score political points and one party is portrayed as failing and the other succeeding.  But the only folks succeeding are professional politicians.  Service to the country becomes a casualty in these political games and the people are left with each party’s political failures.

I am convinced that the American people, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Liberal, or an angry Tea Partier, you want our government to serve the people and stop playing tired Washington politics.  Just as I joined the military to serve my country, I am dedicated to serving North Alabama and doing what is in the best interest of the people and our country.  I am not going to congress to play political games, I am going for service.

Now I am a Democrat and I will not switch parties.  Not because of partisan politics but I believe folks should campaign on values they believe in and then legislate based on those same values.  It is a matter of my personal integrity and governing based on values I share with the residents of all the communities across North Alabama in District 5.

Those shared values are strength and growth.  I want to strengthen and grow all our communities by growing our economy, by strengthening our education system and ensuring our National Security.  Last week we announced our candidacy in every single county across North Alabama.  Since that time, I have met with seven mayors, 3 university presidents, a board member of the TVA, and countless constituents.

In meetings with the mayors and other local officials I explained my jobs initiative of a Green TVA and received a warm response.  My jobs proposal would replace many manufacturing jobs that have been lost over the years in North Alabama.  Once we implement this proposal, North Alabama will attract companies to North Alabama to manufacture solar panels and wind turbines.  By easing our reliance on foreign oil with this jobs proposal we will simultaneously ensure our national security while strengthening our economy.  When I am in congress I will work with state and local elected officials and private industry to make this vision a reality.  With your help Alabama will become one of the first leaders in this new technology just as we were pioneers with space technology.  It is time for a new day in Washington with a young patriot dedicated to serving this country with innovative ideas.

I need your help.  Will you help me defeat the likes of self-serving politicians like Parker Griffith and implement service oriented representation in congress?  I need you to take the time to donate $25 or more on my website.  This simple act will help elect someone who is dedicated to service and who will get the job done in Washington. You can send a clear message to all politicians that what is important is service to the people, not saving their political career or their next re-election campaign.  This is a message that needs to be sent, please send it with me.

The time is now!  We have our financial reports due at the end of this month, and people are waiting to see who is getting funding to make decisions on who to support.  I disagree with this dynamic but recognize that running a campaign is expensive and without funding, even the best ideas and noble values are lost. For my service oriented campaign to succeed I need your help and your contribution.  If you cannot afford to donate at this time then please go to our website and get involved with the campaign.

Thank you so much for your support and please forward this request to anyone you think wants to send the message to Washington to “stop playing political games in Washington and get to work!”

If you haven’t heard Larry Langford, Birmingham, Ala., Mayor, Convicted on 60 counts of Bribery and Corruption.  These charges alone can earn him 805 years in federal Prison not including the money he will have to return to the people of Jefferson County. Now that Langford is convicted felon he can not serve as Mayor of Birmingham City…

What happens to the Mayor’s office?

The president of the City Council takes over until a special election can be convened and certified.  Which has to be conducted within a certain period of time (perhaps 90 days) where the new mayor is chosen.

What does this mean for Birmingham?

Birmingham City Council President Carole Smitherman became Mayor after the first guilty conviction was announced today in Tuscaloosa, AL and Valerie Abbot Councilor Pro Tempore stepped up into the Council President position.  The problem with that a new city council will be sworn in the later part of November following an early October vote unseating a few current members and filling a couple vacant seats.

After the oath of office for the new and old members under the current Charter of the City of Birmingham’s Council President must be elected.  There is no guarantee that Mayor Carole Smitherman will be re-elected council president and in turn the newly elected council President would take the office of mayor until it can be filled by the special election. It is possible that the City of Birmingham have a 3 mayors in the span of only about 2 and a half months.

Analysis

Chaos in the making.  At this pivotal point in time a strong leader is needed not the in fighting and bickering of city officials.  Carole Smittherman has been much of the root of the in fighting and has a dwindling popularity rating with the city of Birmingham as she could have been unseated by an opponent in early October herself.  The likely hood of her winning the council president seat again is unlikely.  Interim governments or leaders are at best controlled chaos to add unpopular political figures in the mix is likely yo make matters worse.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Birmingham mayor convicted of taking bribes (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Prosecutor: Birmingham Mayor Took $235K in Bribes (abcnews.go.com)
• Birmingham Mayor Convicted of Taking Bribes (abcnews.go.com)
• Birmingham mayor convicted of taking bribes (sfgate.com)

Today I read a story about a little boy (Khidir - now only 8 years old), in Fullajah, Iraq that was tortured by Al Qaeda on a farm.  The boy was taken from his family for two years where he was beaten with a shovel, had both arms broken, a nail driven into his leg, and beaten for fun.  He was treated like slave being forced to pick carrots in the fields.  When I read stories of such inhumanity it makes my blood boil.  The boy’s only fault was being the son of a true patriot – an Iraqi Policeman.

Stories like these do nothing but advance the terrorist agenda…  But acts of inhumanity shouldn’t go untold or unpunished.

Terrorists kidnap, torture boy to bully Iraqi policeman

FALLUJA, Iraq (CNN) — Like many young boys, Khidir loves playing with toy cars and wants to be a policeman like his father when he grows up. But it was his father’s very job that caused the tiny child to suffer the unimaginable.

Khidir, now 8, was kidnapped and held hostage for two years by operatives with al Qaeda in Iraq.
Khidir was just 6 years old when he was savagely ripped away from his family, kidnapped by al Qaeda operatives in Iraq.

“They beat me with a shovel, they pulled my teeth out with pliers, they would go like this and pull it,” said Khidir, now 8, demonstrating with his hands. “And they would make me work on the farm gathering carrots.”

What followed was even more horrific, an ordeal that would last for two years in captivity. Khidir and his father spoke to CNN recently, more than half a year after his rescue by Iraqi police.

“This is where they hammered a nail into my leg and then they pulled it out,” he says, lifting up his pant leg to show a tiny wound.

He says his captors also pulled out each of his tiny fingernails, broke both his arms, and beat him repeatedly on the side of the head with a shovel. He still suffers chronic headaches. He remembers them laughing as they inflicted the pain.

“I would think about my mommy and daddy,” he replies, when asked how he managed to get through the agony. [...] Read the full story

Two Washington DC Metro Commuter Trains crashed into each other before 5 pm rush hour this afternoon. Reports says six were dead and many other injuries have been reported.

This is the second such major rail catastrophe in recent history. The first was the crash in California that resulted in text messaging being banned from commuter rail. Hopefully history has not repeated itself with the situation in Washington, DC. The train crash hits home for me as I could have been one of the passengers on these trains or even my friends. I have not heard reports on who all was involved so I still may know someone. Please keep the victims and families of Washington DC in your thoughts.

Read the full Report from CNN.com

Six killed in Washington-area Metro train collision

WASHINGTON (CNN) — A rush-hour collision Monday between two Metro trains north of downtown Washington, D.C., killed at least six people and injured scores, Mayor Adrian Fenty said.

One train was stationary when the crash happened, according to Metro General Manager John Catoe.

He called it the deadliest crash in the history of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, known as Metro. One of the dead was the female operator of one of the trains, Metro officials said.

“The scene is as horrific as you can imagine,” Fenty said in a news conference. “One car was almost squeezed completely together.”

Seventy-six people were treated for injuries, including two with life-threatening injuries, said Chief Dennis Rubin of Washington’s Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department. Two of the injured were emergency responders, Rubin said. See location of crash »

The crash happened just before 5 p.m. on an above-ground track on the Red Line in the District of Columbia near the border with Takoma Park, Maryland.

Both trains were on the same track, and one of them was stationary when the crash happened, said John Catoe, Metro general manager.Video Watch woman say she, fellow passengers “went flying” »

Video footage of the scene showed two cars of one train lying atop the cars of the other train. Emergency personnel carried injured passengers, some on stretchers, from the wreckage. Video Watch injured passengers limp from the scene »

“Metro officials do not know the cause of the collision and are not likely to know the cause for several days as the investigation unfolds,” a Metro statement said.

Fire department personnel cut through the trains to help people from the wreckage, officials said at a press briefing. Some three hours after the accident, fire department sources said rescue operations had ceased, with ongoing work focusing on recovery. Photo See pictures of crash site »

A survivor, Jodie Wickett, described feeling a bump on the track, and then being flung forward when the train suddenly halted a few seconds later. She said she hit her head, but managed to get out and go to where the collision occurred a few cars up, where one subway car lay atop another.

“There was debris, and people pinned under in-between the two cars,” Wickett said. “We were just trying to get them out and help them as much as possible, pulling back the metal.”

People were badly injured, she said. “Ones that could speak were calling back as we called out to them.”

One car was “about 75 percent compressed,” and recovery workers aren’t sure if any more bodies are inside, Fenty told CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Monday night.

“We just haven’t been able to cut through it to see if there’s bodies in there,” Fenty said.

A certified nursing assistant who was on one of the trains told CNN affiliate WUSA she was trying to help those in severe condition after the crash, including a lady who appeared to be in her 20s.

“She is very, very torn in her legs — the muscles and everything are torn, ripped through. She had metal pieces in her face,” said the nursing assistant, who said her name was Jeanie.

Other witnesses described seeing more blood than they had seen before.

Tom Baker, who was in the train that hit the stationary train, told WUSA that after the collision, he looked toward the front of the car, and when the smoke cleared, “all you could see was sky.”

Jasmine Gars, who also was on the moving train, told CNN’s “Larry King Live” that the collision “was like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

“It was like we hit a concrete wall,” Gars said. “Almost immediately I fell off my seat. Another person — I don’t know who — flew off their seat. And the lights went off and smoke started filling the train car.”

Four people were taken to Providence Hospital in Washington, including two with back injuries, one with a hip injury and one complaining of dizziness from hitting her head, hospital officials said.

Washington Hospital Center reported seven patients from the crash with injuries ranging from serious to minor, while Howard University Hospital reported three and Suburban Hospital in Maryland reported two.

Groups of people wearing green plastic ribbons to show they had been checked by paramedics left the scene about 90 minutes after the crash. Some were crying, and a woman with her arm in a sling who gave her name as Tijuana described the crash as “an earthquake.”

The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash, NTSB spokeswoman Bridget Serchak said.

At least two FBI officials were at the scene, and the FBI confirmed it was assisting as part of the National Capital Response Squad.

advertisement

Amy Kudwa of the Department of Homeland Security said “at this early stage,” there was no indication of anything other than an accidental collision.

It was the second Metro crash to involve fatalities in the 33-year history of the transit authority. In January 1982, a derailment killed three people. The only other collision between Metro trains occurred in 2004.

“We are extremely saddened that there are fatalities as a result of this accident, which has touched our Metro family,” Catoe said in a statement.

“Our safety officials are investigating, and will continue to investigate until we determine why this happened and what must be done to ensure it never happens again.”