The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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In recent years, healthcare has eclipsed agriculture as Dothan’s major industry. Dothan is the medical mecca for the entire Wiregrass, as well as rural northwest Florida and southwest Georgia. It has premier medical professionals only matched by Birmingham in the state of Alabama. Dothan doctors dominate the economy in the world’s largest peanut producing locale. One of the pioneers of this medical revolution was Dothan’s Dr. Furnie Johnston, who passed away a few weeks ago at 94 years old....
This month, Turkey will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its national Republic Day, which recognizes its transformation from a theocracy to an elected, representative democracy. And, while the contours of Turkey have been around as part of any number of empires, it has only been in recent memory that the nation turned from only facing Mecca and began to look West to the political systems more representative of Europe and Western civilization. Achieving this republic was not an easy task, but...
By now, everybody reading this Robservation is aware of the war that is raging in Israel. The Hamas attacks have been ruthless and bloody. Israel has responded and will continue to respond as necessary. Just to set the record straight, I believe Israel has EVERY right to defend itself. Period. I was reading my Bible the other day and came across Proverbs 12:24. It says, “The hand of the diligent will rule, but the slack will be put to forced labor.” It is interesting that it doesn’t say somet...
When the State of Alabama achieved statehood, an Attorney General was appointed by the legislature for a four-year period. In 1876 the Alabama Constitution was amended to provide that the Attorney General be elected by the voters of Alabama. While the term was changed to a period of two years for a time it was changed back to four years. The Attorney General can serve two successive elected four-year terms. Eventually, the Attorney General was allowed to hire clerical help and then other...
We know the basic Pilgrim story: The Pilgrims crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower to find the freedom to worship God as the Bible commands, established a colony at Plymouth, faced great hardships that took the lives of half of them the first winter, but somehow managed to survive and held a feast to thank God for bringing them through these hardships to a land of blessing. All true. But few realize that forced communal living was a major cause of the Pilgrims’ suffering. How did that h...
This month marks the 60th anniversary of the most controversial presidential assassination in American history—that of John F. Kennedy. It stands supreme in suspicions of corruption and cover-ups. In spite of tons of evidence to prove otherwise, the official historical record still claims that it was planned and performed by a lone assassin—Lee Harvey Oswald. Even today, there are still people who believe he acted alone. Evidence clearly shows that Oswald was actually a patsy to divert att...
Alabama Gazette’s 24th Anniversary evoked recalling a 25th anniversary. My first column submitted at the end of last century addressed Kelo type unconstitutional takings via eminent domain abuse. I’m a victim of armed robbery and one who’s exercised his 2nd Amendment civil right as intended by ’intelligent designers’ of the 1787-9 ratified Constitution. I hold more respect for the criminal who attempted pistol whipping me with a nickel plated revolver while robbing this former Shell Station ...
Let's not mince words: Joe Biden and his administration have been played like a Stradivarius by the Iranians and their proxy terrorists Hamas. Do you think the timing of the Hamas attacks on Israel was random? Think again. This attack was not only meticulously planned but also executed with the singular goal of causing maximum damage to Israeli society, timed perfectly to coincide with Simchat Torah—almost 50 years to the day after the Yom Kippur War began. How's that for Iranian planning? W...
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn stated: “To destroy a people, you must first sever their roots.” An example of Southerner’s historical ignorance is manifested in The Battle Hymn of the Republic, written by Unitarian “minister” Julia Ward Howe. Julia Ward was born in New York City in 1819 but spent much of her youth in Boston, Massachusetts. She was related to the affluent Astors of New York and her brother, Sam Ward, was a Wall Street financier (sometimes called “War Street” due to the promotion and...
I drove by Fannie’s old house last week. I don’t know what even made me take the long way home that way from Thomasville, but I did. I haven’t driven that direction in years, and for years…it used to be my way home. Granny lived on Clayhill Road, and I guess it is her absence that has kept me away so long. But time has a way of distancing us from sadness enough to remember the joy. The hillside where she lived was central to my life when I was young. It is where my mother grew up. It is where s...
Did you know that God has already forgiven you? You just need to forgive yourself. I do know what weigh that you are holding onto right now. It may be from something that happened a day ago, a month ago, a week ago, a year ago. But it does not matter because God has forgiven you! It’s out of His mind. It’s clear. Psalm 103 says “God has separated us from our sins as far as the east is from the west.” It’s gone. It’s erased! God has given you grace. And if it’s out of God’s mind…if He has...
On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe vs. Wade, ground zero for saving lives of the unborn children is taking place in approximately 72 pregnancy resource centers across the state. Post Roe Vs. Wade, the pressure at these centers has intensified. This good news is traffic has increased, yielding in saving more lives, but the interchange is soaring operating cost. Phone calls, office visits, counseling sessions, expanding office hours and demands on staff are being felt in these...
It’s official and final, Alabama will elect our seven member congressional delegation under new lines next year. The federal court has spoken. The special master drawing the lines has acted and the final omnipotent power, the U.S. Supreme Court, has concurred and confirmed the decision. It is over. The result that the plaintiffs desired has been decreed by the courts. There will be a new second majority Black Congressional district. This accomplishment has been sought for decades. Now the q...
In 1978, Congress passed a new tax code which included a new provision in the Internal Revenue Code, being section 401(k). The 401(k) provision is used by employers in the private for-profit sector. The 403(b) provisions are very similar but used by non-profits. Since the 1980’s the 401(k) and 403(b) section retirement plans have become generally favored over pension plans. Pension plans were entirely driven by the employer. Pension plans make the employer consider the length of service of t...
As I write this Robservation, I must admit that I am angry. I once got some words of wisdom from a writing mentor and he told me that you should never write when you are angry. Once your words have been set loose, they can never be recalled. It is much like the spoken word. That is exactly the reason I refuse to argue with my wife. We have been married for 38 years now and I cannot tell you the last time we had an argument about anything. 30 years? Probably. When I was young and dumb no doubt....
America is falling far behind in the global arms race – specifically in the realm of hypersonic missile technology. With China and Russia making leaps and bounds, boasting speeds of Mach 10 and Mach 27 respectively, the United States finds itself in an unfamiliar, even precarious, position: playing catch-up. To truly grasp the magnitude of the challenge we face, it's essential to understand the sheer speed of these hypersonic missiles. Mach 10 is an astounding 7,672 mph, while Mach 27 is an a...
Imagine a country in the 20th century that in a matter of 30 years went from a per capita income of $500 to one of $50,000. Imagine further that the country had no natural resources and was roughly 150 times smaller than Alabama. And what would we think about a leader who achieved such spectacular results? Meet Lee Kuan Yew, who, had he lived, would be 100 years old this month. From 1959 to 1990 he served as prime minister of Singapore and was largely responsible bringing a third world country i...
If you have read any of my previous work, we talk a lot about economic, social, moral and constitutional conservatism. This level of conservatism does not happen by accident. It takes years to develop a depth in conservatism; this is why you do not want a novice Republican running for office, they will always disappoint you. One cannot wake up one day and say Republicans are winning, decide to qualify, color in the conservative squares and off you go. Very Shallow Thinking!! Let’s discuss the S...
As expected, the three Judge panel in Birmingham rejected another disingenuous Congressional district voting map submitted by our Montgomery politburo. Much ink has spilled w.r.t. keeping ‘communities of interest’ intact… one manifestation of ever cascading collateral damage driven by addressing symptoms instead of repairing the problem as population continually increases. We’ve witnessed far too much rhetoric evoking the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and Section 2 of the Voting Ri...
During a recent speaking engagement in Columbus, Ohio, I asked to see the Columbus statue near City Hall. My hosts sadly informed me that, after a protest that claimed Columbus had engaged in violence and enslaved Native Americas, in 2020 the statue had been placed in storage and will be replaced by “a work of art that better represents the people of Columbus.” Why, we should ask, did Columbus come to America? It wasn’t to prove the world is round; every educated person in 1492 knew that. Isaia...
This month marks the 483rd anniversary of Hernando de Soto's great battle at Mauvila, a location that so far has not been found and examined. But one thing that has been discovered is a small mound complex that yielded the graves of important natives who had fought there, possibly including the great chief, Tascalusa. The Pine Log Creek site (1Ba462), in the Alabama-Tombigbee Confluence Basin, might have seemed to be a routine native-American burial at first, but it has turned out to be a...
WASHINGTON, D.C – This week, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Joni Ernst (R-IA), John Boozman (R-AR), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in introducing the Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act to protect U.S. agriculture while ensuring that the food which appears on U.S. store shelves meets U.S. health standards. The Prioritizing Offensive Agricultural Disputes and Enforcement Act establishes a joint task force o...
Recently, the Native American Guardians Association (NAGA) lobbied the Washington Commanders football team to bring back the Redskins name. Billy Dieckman, Kiowa Tribe member and NAGA adviser, described Redskins as “a status symbol for elite warriors.” (Fox News) A poll was cited showing 90% of American Indians see it as a positive term. It is also likely that some American Indians do not appreciate being canceled, such as the way Land O Lakes terminated the “Mia” image (some Indians support...
Did you see the report – “Parenting priorities: international attitudes towards raising children” – conducted by King’s College London that found American parents are the least likely to think good manners matter for children? The survey included participants from 24 countries asking them to choose five qualities they thought were essential for children to learn at home. Those choices were good manners, tolerance, independent, hard work, and respect for others. In Egypt, parents evidently...
Hi friends! Thought of the day…Can we please stop doing two things? Adding “and” and “but” to the end of God’s plans. Here’s what I mean by that. We have a tendency to want to put our own spin on things. So often when God shares His plans with us, we say “Yes, I will do that AND I’m also going to do this other thing that I want to do.” Or God will tell us to do something and we’ll say “I will follow the plan, BUT maybe not this one part of it because I don’t want to do it.” God’s plans are perf...
