Alternative news and discussion for Scottsboro, Jackson County Alabama and the Tennessee River Valley as I see it. Responsible comments to articles welcome. As always, "Watch for Snakes," particularly those wearing suits.
JAMES MADISON QUOTE - 1822
"A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."
Jackson County Commission meets in the Board Room of the Jackson County Courthouse every Monday at 3:00PM. 1st and 3rd Mondays are Work Sessions, 2nd and 4th Mondays are Regular Sessions. Holidays result in moving the commission meeting dates. Dates of the Commission meetings are posted in the north side entrance foyer of the Courthouse. Photo by G. Morgan
AGENDA
Click on image for an expanded view.
The Jackson county Park portion of the agenda included discussion on the park renovation plans regarding the entrance-exit changes, design of the 9 cabins, new park office location, laundry room, bath house, playground. This section is not included in the video.
In other business it was stated that the following Boards have position openings needing filled: Jackson County Personnel Board, DHR Board, 911 Board, Jackson County Water Authority Board, Jackson-Marshall Mental Health Board, Mountain Lakes Tourism Board.
POSSIBLE POLL PLACE VOTER IDENTIFICATION CHANGE - E-POLL BOOK, CYBER SECURITY CONCERNS, "PROBLEMS WITH NO SOLUTIONS
(Univ. of Conn. study)."
E-Poll Book I-pad device similar to the type which may be utilized if the system were to be implemented in Jackson County, Alabama. Photo by "UrbanCitizen.com"-Fair Use for non-profit news reporting and commentary.
There may be a change regarding checking identification of voters at polling. The driver's license electronic identification information may be utilized as voter identification if a resolution is passed. The project is called the Electronic Poll Books.
During the next Regular Session a vote will occur whether to approve or not approve the resolution. The electronic Poll Book identification check before implementation may occur must be approved by the county commission. I-Pads will be utilized for this project. Which brings up the issue of identification security. HOW SECURE ARE THESE I-PADS CONTAINING ALL INFORMATION ON THE STATE DRIVERS LICENSE? This is an identified concern!
Identity theft and personal security concerns - This should not be approved unless there are assurances that the I-Pads and electronic system are secure from identity theft hackers. The basic outline of security measures must be made public. What happens when a registered voter does not have a state ID, e.g drivers license or state personal identification card, will they be turned away from the polls?
From the NCSL site, there are definitive personal identification security concerns with this program.
"Things to Consider - Jurisdictions that consider using e-poll books should also evaluate the following issues:"
-->Costs for purchase and maintenance.
Challenge of training poll workers on a new technology.
-->Safeguards against a cyber attack.
-->Physical security of e-poll book equipment and the data it contains.
-->Potential for a mass malfunction of e-poll books, whether by chance or deliberate attack, leading some jurisdictions to keep a paper poll book on hand.
Resolution on Electronic Poll Books
Click on image to expand view.
Failure to address security concerns regarding hacking the I-Pads or any other device by remote means, This system is a hackers dream come true regarding identity theft. This issue is not discussed in this article which is indicative of a security failure in our "brave new word.". Concern about "bugs," and “We do not foresee any issues or concerns,” does not provide a definitive answer regarding cyber-security pitfalls Link: http://lagniappemobile.com/officials-divided-new-voting-format-general-election/
A comprehensive study by the University of Connecticut regarding E-Poll Books. Summary quote: "...research results show that certain key problems in the distributed systems landscape in general have no solutions,.." (This report is 1 year old.) https://voter.engr.uconn.edu/voter/wp-content/uploads/2015-Seattle-4s.pdf
Jackson County Commissioners, Probate Judge, Citizens of Jackson County - without a dedicated Information Technology Specialist employed by the Jackson County Commission, either staff or contracted, it would not be prudent to implement an E-Poll Book system at this time. Again a quote from the University of Connecticut study, there are problems which "have no solutions" at this time. In times of massive financial problems within the county, and if the state is not going to fund this problematic system, how are the citizens of Jackson county going to afford the E-Poll Book System?
Clerk of the Circuit Court Ken Ferrell works on machine. An election packet tape stuck in the machine which Mr. Ferrell fixed with difficulty.
Election results, Jackson County Alabama Democratic Runoff elections. Click on image for an expanded view.
Vote count totals, 1 precinct missing, approximately 50 votes.
Winners: Matthew Hodges- Jackson County Commission Chairperson. He will face Chris Woods, Mayor of Pisgah, Al. in the November election.
Matthew Hodges, wife Dana and their child. Gordon Hodges, Matthew's Dad, looks on.
Sheila Cornelison won the Jackson County Commission Place 2.
All smiles, Sheila Cornelison wins in a close race.
Victor Manning won the Probate Judge position.
Victor Manning is happy over this close race. This is an upset over Donna Haislip. Mr. Manning will face Ricky Dooley, Republican candidate in the November election.
"Tricks are for kids," is the old cereal commercial jingle. In the world of local politics dirty tricks are for adults and the adult political incumbent on the county commission is pulling some dirty tricks out of her bag of deceit. Reference the current Jackson County Chairperson of the Commission, Ms. Sadie Bias. Recently several handouts and internet mailings have been circulating. None have the required statement, paid for by the political committee.
One set of political flyers says an interested citizen asked questions of the candidates; as it turns out the questions were never asked and the questions along with the fake answers are right wing extremist oriented. Blaming the United Nations and agenda 21 for our problems. These flyers were passed around town to businesses. The flyers faux answers are a direct attack on the Democrat Party while supporting candidates who seemingly support right wing extremist agendas.
Another flyer was sent forth containing an inaccurate budget breakdown report in internet form with a statement by Commissioner Clemmons to support Ms. Bias for Commission Chair. The political ad was comparing the city and county budgets, supporting the alleged managerial abilities of Ms. Bias the current chair of the commission. This political ad has also been circulated by supporters of Ms. Bias; the internet advertisement nor the handout contained the required political committee paid for statement. However, the news paper ad of the same chart comparison did have the required statement. The comparison and the figures listed are not accurate.
Fellow citizens. I'm not asking you to support any one candidate, I am asking you to vote come Tuesday with your eyes wide open. Do not allow extremist organizations and dirty tricks to sway your voting. Vote for the candidate who has the highest character and excellent moral values; vote for the candidate who tells you their positions on issues, not a candidate who has no platform other than the negative bashing platform whose advertisements are highly questionable and false. Vote for those who offer forth sensible leadership.
Problems were encountered with the Unity electronic display. Seems there was an official that was not aware of how to work the equipment. Persons who regularly operated the equipment could not do so as they were running for office, a lack of training was evident. Another disturbing question - some persons appeared to have inside information concerning the voting boxes in outlying areas (Stevenson & Bridgeport) before they were posted, which raised questions of why and how did that come about?
Voting Results - reported to be absentee tabulations. Some members of the press seem to be given access to this data while others were not. There was considerable confusion.
Problems with equipment.
By 9PM it began to come together.
Dennis Miller wins the Democrat primary.
Ken Ferrell wins the Jackson County Circuit Court race. Now he can deal with the County Commission attempting to move the court records without his permission. Daily Sentinel article:
Facebook has permanently suspended my account, CENSORED, for telling the truth about Donald Trump's criminal history and disclosing facts about racial discrimination in Scottsboro and our nation. Garry Morgan : 03/15/2025
Copyright Info
All Rights Reserved for writings, video, photographs and art by Garry L. Morgan.
U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Rule: "Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, nonprofit educational purposes and research. Link: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
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Scottsboro Police Department Web Site
""The police are the public, the public are the police. The police are the only members of the public who are paid to give full time attention to duties that are incumbent on every citizen in the interest to community welfare and existence." - Sir Robert Peel, 1829 https://www.scottsboropd.org/
The Sunlight Foundation uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Click on image to learn more.
THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
"I can say with confidence that the federal government needs a major overhaul. Don’t get me wrong, most public servants in government are highly educated and dedicated professionals who are committed to “the greater good.” At the same time, the government has become a bloated bureaucracy that is based on past conditions and in too many cases, federal programs and policies can’t demonstrate that they are generating real results that benefit the American people."
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David Walker President and CEO The Peter G. Peterson Foundation http://www.pgpf.org/ ; former, recently served for 10 years, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
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NPR's story on David Walker: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124460237
"public intelligence"
"What is Public Intelligence? Public Intelligence is an international, collaborative research project aimed at aggregating the collective work of independent researchers around the globe who wish to defend the public’s right to access information." http://publicintelligence.net/
A Nuclear Engineer's Report on the Bellefonte Nuclear Plant
Danger Zone: Aging Nuclear Reactors
Incident at Browns Ferry (PBS 1977)
History of nuclear power safety issues which the 1975 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant fire brought forward. This video has been censored by the nuclear industry. The trillion dollar multinational nuclear death industry prefers to keep you the citizen in the dark and feed you crap.
Renaissance artists including Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Pietro Perugino, Pinturicchio and others. Click on image for a tour. Left click & hold mouse to move image.
Bellefonte Efficiency and Sustainability Team/Mothers Against Tennessee River Radiation http://www.matrr.org/
"TVA at the Crossroads" a SACE Film.
"America is at an energy crossroads and the Tennessee Valley Authority has a choice to make: Will it cling to old coal power because of its historic significance or will it retire its oldest, dirtiest and least efficient plants and lead America into a clean energy future?" TVA At The Crossroads from SACE.
****************************I'm GARRY MORGAN, a Christian, U.S. Army (AMEDD) retired, Race Relations/Equal Opportunity Specialist (U.S.Army, Retired DOD-DRRI-DEOMI) a citizen of Scottsboro Alabama, a Baylor University grad-Go Bears, a political activist and a political Independent as I believe political parties divide the citizenry whom they are suppose to represent. We must learn the lessons of our history or we will surely repeat our mistakes. I think the greatest problem facing our nation is the massive national and personal debt.
