En mi clase de literatura Española del siglo XVI, el Profesor William Worden nos asignó esta tarea tal de escribir un soneto al estilo del período. Éste es el que yo escribí el 11 de marzo de 2003.more ›
Alabama’s Misdemeanor Trial System
I was once obliged to deep-dive Alabama’s insane misdemeanor trial system, the explanation of which requires some 2,000 words. I choose to make the research available as a public service so that idiot legislators and lazy attorneys get the facts right. more ›
How I Got Skirted
I see skirts as a matter of practicality and equality. It started one roastingly hot July day in 2016 along the Florida border. Elsewhere countless Scotsmen, Japanese, Indonesians, Fijians, Samoans, and roughly one billion Indian and Arab men would agree. The American celebrities Jaden Smith, Marc Jacobs, and Jared Leto regularly wear skirts and skirt-like garments. So I adamantly deny and dispute any notion that skirts are intrinsically feminine. Skirts and tunics are clearly comfortable and the right skirt is plainly practical. One does not wear a tuxedo to the pool nor bermuda shorts to the office. But one can wear a kilt to a wedding and also to the park. Dress codes that deem skirts acceptable for women prove that skirts are equally acceptable attire for men. Period. End of story.more ›
Alabama Gender Recognition, Equity, and Enforcement (A.G.R.E.E.)
This is a bill that I authored and endeavored to present to the Alabama legislature. No senators or representatives were willing to take the risk. TO BE VERY CLEAR, THIS PROPOSED BILL NEVER BECAME LAW. In 2023 I decided to make it available online in hopes that the right eyes might find it and effect the change that I could not. more ›
Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Hardgainer No More”
This old article from Muscle & Fitness magazine (July 1998) was so simply stated that I (with permission) removed it from the rec center’s copy and put it in my files. Some years later I scanned it; more years later, I distilled it as a pdf. Neither this article nor its text is anywhere on the internet except right here! The advice is basic, but golden for ectomorph hardgainers.more ›
Fake Doctorates (feat. Christopher Hylton)
Christopher Hylton claims to have a “Doctorate of Theology [from] Piedmont Bible College of Theology,” but Piedmont does not confer theology doctorates (Th.D.). Piedmont also does not confer divinity doctorates (D.Div.). Piedmont narrowly offers a “Doctor of Ministry” in “biblical preaching, church revitalization, and ministry.” It is a non-academic, thirty-six credit online program “designed for those who aspire to excel at the highest level in the practice of ministry.” No dissertation is required for Piedmont’s D.Min. Whether a “Piedmont Bible College of Theology” ever existed is doubtful. There was once a Piedmont Bible College that merged with other schools. It now exists as Piedmont Divinity School within Carolina University (a college with a flimsy accreditation claim and a troubling percentage of adjunct faculty). All this reminds me of another blogger’s post on televangelists buying fake doctorates. This shit bothers me.more ›
The Crimson White: “Social Security numbers should not be student ID”
The University of Alabama student paper (The Crimson White) April 19, 2002
The last SGA, like so many of us around test time, got a lot of its best work done at the last minute. The 2001-02 Senate passed one of its most important bills just weeks before leaving office.
Resolution 53-01, authored by former graduate school senator John Woodruff and sponsored by 2001-02 Sens. Aubrey Collins and Mario Bailey, asks the University to stop the practice of assigning student identification numbers identical to students’ Social Security numbers.more ›
Woodruff v. City of Pelham
Woodruff v. City of Pelham (1 So. 3d 157) began with a petty traffic citation and reached courthouse shenanigans that I just could not tolerate. I won this appeal and the appellate decision has been cited more than two dozen times in state and federal courts. Most significantly, it laid the foundation for vacating Deangelo Thomas’s conviction and three life sentences. But Alabama never lets anyone skate and true to form, Greg Shaw wrote a separate concurring opinion in which he unleashed a vitriolic ad hominem attack. Following the opinion, I will explain the ways that Shaw twisted his pen.more ›
The Birmingham News: “Bill to expunge records stalled in House panel”
I am asking for your help in raisíng public awareness of Senate Bill 178 and House Bill 81. I and many others need these bills to pass so we wiIl have a fair standing.
Unlike our neighboring states, Alabama has no provision for expunging the proceedings against a person once he is exonerated of a criminal charge. This might not have mattered 10 years ago, but the digital age puts information on the desktops of anyone who wants it.more ›
La música Hermanos Cintrón
Conocí primero la música de Cintrón en Antigua, Guatemala durante la navidad de 2000. Un día yo me ocupé paseando por un mercado enorme donde, muy cansado ya, hallé un vendedor de discos compactos. No vi ni escuché nada que me interesó pero al decidirme abandonar mi búsqueda, yo vi este tal 
Abre tu corazón. Le pedí al vendedor que me lo tocara y cada vez que yo dije Cintrón, él me corrigió diciendo cinturón. Pero fui yo quien tenía razón, y de todos modos, yo tenía el presentimiento de que me gustaría este álbum aun antes de escucharlo o tenerlo entre manos.more ›
Anoche, cuando dormía
En mi clase de poesía en la Universidad de Alcalá, la Dra. Susana Cavallo nos asignó una (entre las otras) tarea de buscar y recitar un poema que «nos conmoviera». Luego de una larga búsqueda, una amiga madrileña me sugirió el siguiente, escrito por Antonio Machado (1875 – 1939), y fue aquél que elegí.more ›
The 16 worst places to stash your stuff
The 16 worst places to stash your stuff
Location, location, location: Store owners aren’t the only ones concerned with finding the perfect spot in which to situate their stuff. Researchers in a wide variety of fields know that how you organize your environment — from where you stand in fitness class to the place you choose to store your meds — has a surprising effect on everything from your weight to your chances of staying well. In other words, when it comes to how you feel, it’s not just what you do, it’s where you do it. Here, surprisingly bad locales for your health — and the best places to optimize it.more ›
The Crimson White: “Response to evangelist should affirm truth in minds, hearts”
About a year before I came to UA, I had an interesting encounter with a man who called himself “Brother Jim.” Brother Jim upset a lot of people on the University of Montevallo campus. A few students cried; some vociferated rebuttals; still others did nothing.
What I had trouble understanding that day was why my intelligent peers continued to congregate around that man when few, if any, supported his assertions. My pal Kristin tried to explain her compulsion to me this way: “I need to be here so that others will know that what he’s saying isn’t the truth.”more ›
Mobile Devices while Driving in Alabama
Birmingham has always had incompetent broadcast journalism. For the last year, television and radio outlets claim “Alabama prohibits holding a mobile device while driving.” That is flatly untrue. Journalists should verify facts, not parrot words.more ›
Xenophobia (feat. Joshua McKoon)
Georgia Senator Joshua McKoon proposed a state constitutional amendment to require that all government business be conducted in English and it makes no good sense. As a citizen with one foot still in Georgia (and the other foot looking for better soil to tread), this moronic initiative bothered me when I first heard of it, but it has really stuck in my craw and I must now speak out.more ›
Marty Bruce
Marty Aaron Bruce was once a canine deputy sheriff in Valdosta/Lowndes County, Georgia. He was forced to resign after repeated abusive conduct culminating in a civil rights lawsuit for assaulting an airman stationed at Moody Air Force Base.more ›
Libertarians
Libertarians are the truest conservatives and advocate liberty, not liberalism. Libertarians are governmental minimalists, politically more conservative than Republicans, socially more tolerant than Democrats. The Libertarian mantra sums, “as much liberty as possible” and “as little government as necessary.” more ›