The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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While the gun control debate escalates after mass shootings, I want to begin this article with a few simple questions that might deserve simple answers. Does a Saturday night special or an AK-47 on the counter kill innocent people? Does a spoon or fork cause obesity? Does a bottle of whisky or a six-pack of beer in the store cause a DUI? Does a needle filled with heroin cause drug addiction? Did a Boeing 757 become a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) killing innocent people at the World Trade...
Euthanasia is a painless and peaceful procedure of ending the persistent suffering and trauma of the terminally ill and others who have decided that death is a better option. In current usage, it is defined as the “painless inducement of a quick death.” People use this process on a regular basis when they see their beloved pets in distress from incurable diseases and/or unrecoverable injuries. But many are squeamish when it comes to applying the same mercy onto human beings. Some even sup...
Recent ‘rocky’ times at Auburn University display a cult horror picture show on how ‘warped’ private interests extract wealth from students and taxpayers. No surprise to frequent readers of this column how AU gave rise to felon Mike Hubbard, who perfected ‘The Art of the Steal’ of using governments for personal gain in Alabama. Bobby Lowder mentored Felon Hubbard in the dark arts when Hubbard began in AU Athletics having just ‘grifted’ in from the Georgia jock adulation scene. The ‘plot sicke...
Recent ‘rocky’ times at Auburn University display a cult horror picture show Right thinking, fact driven Americans have hit their high water mark, frustrated with the liberal news media fabricating stories about conservatives. Every day, since the November 8, 2016 election (almost 3 years ago), liberal Democrats and members of the counterfeit media have worked around the clock fabricating, packaging and pounding this president with false claims, which have become hypotheticals on steroids. Wel...
In spite of what some people claim about the cruelty of capital punishment, there are some people who are just too dangerous to be allowed to exist. See my May, 2017 article for my argument on this topic. The question here is what is the best and most humane method to carry it out? Although there is a basic need to execute certain criminals, there is not a need to do it in a cruel manner. The object is to peacefully eliminate the culprits, not to demonstrate vindictive ways to carry out their...
I often find myself taking a life inventory at different weigh-points, assessing if I am adequately contributing to leave a positive mark in the world, on my watch. We can never give enough back. I was raised and I taught my children, whatever station assigned in life, or if we borrow something from our neighbor, always return it in better shape, than you received it. This mindset can be found in the “Parable of the Talents,” where Jesus spoke in Matthew 25: 14 – 30. One hallmark icon in my li...
There, I've said it. Perhaps I’m a little giddy penning my first column in retirement. More likely as the so-called ‘Cold Civil War’ gets hotter, I recall those of Antonin Scalia’s Spirit, intellect and understanding on issues of supremacy, sovereignty, power and authority. Witnessing Justice Scalia’s courage to be a more explicit fool for Christ helps, given his station and “originalist” reasoning. Long time, regular readers of my column will not find this opening surprising. A decade ago, w...
I painfully witnessed ‘unonimous’ [sic] installation of Leath as AU’s 19th President at the University Ballroom March 20th 2017; it was a sound forecast he would “crash and burn” if/when sabotaging the gains of President Gogue’s stewardship. AU’s Board of Trustees [BoT] unanimously selected Steven ‘Crash’ Leath after a six-month national ‘search’ which provided little on how it was conducted. Eerily similar to our Lee County Commission Chair who correctly misspoke affirming something p...
The concept of civil asset forfeiture is one of the cruelest impositions our government has ever imposed onto the people. In essence, it allows law enforcement officials to become legal pirates to literally steal, at will, people’s money and property on the slightest pretense that it might in some way or another be associated with a crime. That includes the mere possession of a “large” (undefined) amount of cash. In many cases, police have pulled people over on our highways, demanded to searc...
Governor Hunt once told me, “John, before anyone runs for office or becomes a journalist, they would be well-served to have met a payroll first. What a profound statement and I agree 100%. If you have kept up with my resume, I worked for the Hunt administration in economic development during the late 80’s early 90’s. I worked primarily in the area of Small Business and later with all exiting business and industries. My father was a small business entrepreneur and that mantle passed down to hi...
Dixie lost a great patriot of Southern heritage and longtime champion of our Southern way of life. Many in the Sons of Confederate Veterans [SCV] Alabama Division and small government activists at large likened it to losing a modern Stonewall Jackson, similarly difficult to replace as the 1863 General. William George “Bill” Anthony, a Kentucky boy whose roots harken back to the Commonwealth of Virginia and shores of Greece, has crossed over the river, no longer among the living on the attenuatin...
This year’s legislative session has been one of the most counterproductive we have had in recent years—from the rammed in gasoline tax increase, to overspending, to more extreme seat belt penalties, to the brain-dead 1.5 mile limit for driving in the left lane of a highway. These and other violations of our liberty are not only terrible, but they were shoved down our throats by our mostly Republican representatives and senators by ridiculously huge margins. And then, our governor, Kay Ivey, just...
As we travel down the road of life, we often meet extraordinary people, who enrich our path beyond measurable standards. This is an amazing story about a rare, yet simple man named Kayo, who in my estimation is a legend. One day his skills, trade and livelihood will be extinct like so many other rural treasures, when he passes on. I have wanted to commit this story to paper for quite some time but needed to ensure the timing was right and did not want overlook any of these rich details of this s...
The topic of abortion is probably the most controversial political issue that exists today. Opinions range all the way from abortions on demand to outright prohibition in all cases no matter what. These two polar opposites could be at each other’s throats until the end of time. Is there any way we could arrive at a solution that would satisfy both sides? This past April 30, the Alabama House passed the most extreme anti-abortion bill in United States history with a 73 to 4 vote. On May 14, t...
Another horrific crash at this infamous “T” of US 280 & AL 147 has many decent folks angry again and our corrupt county commissioners running for cover. It broke my heart to once again see a medical helicopter taking off from the intersection to rush another terribly injured member of the Auburn Family to the trauma centers in Columbus. The course of this deadly result was set over two decades ago. Long before land (used as a rest area until widening) was wisely acquired by more economically eff...
Recidivism rate is the tendency of a criminal to commit a crime and return to prison. This is one of those areas where fuzzy math drives you crazy getting to the facts. According to the National Institute of Justice, 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years. According to a 2018 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 1960 the U.S. prison...
Kudos to Sen. Cam Ward [R-Alabaster] head of the Senate Judiciary Committee blocking the ethics bill proposed by Marsh and Albritton. Reported dead in Ward’s committee by Bill Britt [APR 4/18/19] who wrote, “However, since then, the pair have continued to lobby Republican caucus members to climb on board with the measure. Albritton is even suggesting that he and Marsh go around the Judiciary Committee to get the bill to the Senate floor” to circumvent the usual process. Amazing to watch polit...
In our nation’s beginning, our founding fathers wrote our Constitution to specify that American citizens must be 21 years old to be eligible to vote. This was considered to be the minimum age for a person to be mature enough to make wise decisions in the selection of our elected leaders. Our founders also set minimum ages for Senators (30) and the President (35). But in 1971, the American people very foolishly ratified the 26th Amendment which lowered the minimum voting age to 18. The a...
As I watch what is happening to core philosophies and belief systems internationally, domestically, and now in our own state, I am just shaking my head and looking down in dismay. The question I am asking myself, am I this dated, is there room anymore for an economic, moral, social, and constitutional conservative ideas; or have these definitions changed also? I was raised with three things you could always count on to be steadfast; facts, the Constitution and the Holy Bible. What has me...
Gov. Ivey and our Goat Hill legislators ‘passed the gas’ tax to fuel a more over-built/unsustainable road system in Alabama. Pray for our posterity and those of limited means weathering the next contraction after our current bubble pops. No doubt our low class, high end political prostitutes will prosper as usual. Montgomery has not generated such loud, foul flatulence since all the Republocrat rhetoric following the 14% special election turnout result (49 days before a general election) to rob...
This past March 8, during a special session called by Governor Kay Ivey, 83 of our state representatives voted to pass a ten cent increase in our gasoline tax. Then on March 12, the Senate railroaded it in with a 28 to 6 vote. Governor Ivey immediately signed it into law. The people never got a chance to vote against it in a referendum, and only a few days to hold a rally and say, “Take this tax and shove it.” Are our public servants infinitely stupid? We elected them to cut back on spe...
I’d like to preface this by saying, this is my opinion. While I feel that technology and social media are key to living in today’s world and while there are some good things that can come from the web and hand held devices, I feel that there is more harm being done to the masses. What if everyone that picked up their device, picked up the Bible instead? Picture this: You’re at a sporting event supporting a child and you look around and all you see are people hovered by the nearest power outle...
As designed, the $80,000 rigged special election on February 19 tax votes in Lee County proffered low (3.6%) turnout results similar to convicted felon Hubbard’s $3 million wasted on our 2012 Statewide special election sham result (14% turnout 49 days before a general election) to rob the ETF back in 2012 and 4.5% turnout to get the last Lee County sales tax to pass after failing twice on a general election. I’m confident most of my readers are familiar with Mark 8:36-38 (KJV) scripture the tit...
During this past December and January, the United States suffered the longest government shutdown in its history—over a month. But was it really a shutdown? Of course not. Like all of the previous ones, it was only partial. Only “nonessential” functions were cut. And to really rub it in, many departments that were truly nonessential kept on trucking with no layoffs at all. Politicians are constantly afflicted with the syndrome of spending more to fix problems they created by spending more....
Friday, March 29, 2019 Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, Prattville, AL (Senator Course) Central Alabama Aging Consortium, the Area Agency on Aging for Autauga, Elmore and Montgomery counties, established the Dementia Friendly Alabama Initiative in 2016 to provide dementia education, training and resources to those serving and those living with dementia. This year we have partnered with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) who will perform a rescue on the course to highlight their efforts...
