The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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We are now well into the 2018 hurricane season, and a major storm may or may not hit us this year. But when one does, the news media will always mention a little consequence called “price gouging.” Reporters usually hype it up as something terrible, selfish, and even criminal. But when disasters strike, entrepreneurs are quick to respond by trucking in critical supplies and selling them for prices far above the norm. And people in need will be willing to pay for them. Are these suppliers rip...
The purpose of a law, any law, is a singular objective—protecting people from the wrongdoings of other people. To be moral, just, legitimate, and Constitutional, it must meet that criterion. Otherwise, it is usurpation and oppression. Laws that are obviously just are those against murder, bodily harm, theft, destruction, and any other actions that hurt or violate other people and/or their property. These can be readily understood by any civilized person. Common sense dictates that only a few l...
Don’t laugh. Little Zimbabwe could be a model for providing prosperity for the entire world. Most people remember this African nation for creating the most rampant hyperinflation in recorded history—a rate of 231 million percent annually. In the end, people were carrying boxes of $100 trillion dollar bills. Some also recall the ancient granite structures of Great Zimbabwe, from which the country derived its present name. Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) has some of the most fertile farm land in Afr...
Dear Alabama Christians, In my 50 years of following national political races I don't know if I've ever seen one as strange as the current U.S. Senate race in your state. First, we had the national Republican Party in the September Senate run-off working against the state's more popular candidate Judge Roy Moore in favor of their establishment candidate, and former D.C. lobbyist, Luther Strange. The D.C. Republicans flooded Strange with money only to see him lose by a significant 9-point...
Right now, a sizable portion of America’s elected officials and military leaders is running around like chickens with their heads cut off in response to Kim Jong Un’s belligerent displays of military aggression in North Korea. Most of them are screaming about what they can do to restrain him and are probably planning reckless actions that could very well start World War III. Let’s set the record straight. North Korea is a sovereign nation just like any other. Yes, it is currently under the r...
While campaigning for office, Donald Trump, like any respectable candidate, promised to defend the people’s right to keep and bear arms along with the remainder of the United States Constitution. And, during his inauguration this past January 20, he formally swore to uphold that same Constitution. But then, early this past month (July), Trump made a dirty deal with the Chicago Police Department to continue an oppressive drive begun by Barack Obama to confiscate “illegal” guns and ammun...
Right now, in the United States Senate, the Sword of Damocles is hanging right over our heads. Keep an eye on it. Don’t let it drop and chop our heads off. It is Senate Bill 1134, labeled as the “Back the Blue Act of 2017.” It was introduced by Texas Senator John Cornyn and co-sponsored by our newly appointed Senator Luther Strange. This is a frightening piece of legislation that gives police and all other “first responders” near absolute immunity against legal action for almost any wrongdoin...
It's easy to put things off. There are so many things that we have to deal with on a daily basis that when it comes to some things that we know we need to do, we just put it off until tomorrow. The next day rolls around and we either forget that we were going to do it or we find yet another reason to put it off. That is not always a bad thing, but when it comes to important matters in our lives and the lives of our family members, then it could be devastating. One of those important matters is...
Anytime an individual or a group of people set out to accomplish an agreement that is meant to have a favorable outcome for all participants, you better be good at negotiating or you just might come out with a raw deal or even a bad deal. This is what happened to our Nation in the Paris Climate Accord. Fortunately, we now have leadership in place that has seen just what kind of deal the former administration made on our behalf which would be described by all standards, a very bad deal. In fact,...
DID YOU KNOW that right here in America, “The Land of the Free,” we have FIVE TIMES the percentage of our population in prison than the rest of the world? Of every 100,000 of our people, we have 756 locked up behind bars. This is a sharp contrast to the world average, which is only 158. And of our 50 states, Alabama has the third highest incarceration rate [after Louisiana (1) and Mississippi (2)]. Yes, the Gulag Archipelago is right here in our own back yard. Since 1977, our prison pop...
Capital punishment is a topic that many people want to avoid discussing. Opinions about it are all over the map—from people who are totally opposed to the ones who would like to round up huge numbers of criminals and “fry ‘em till their eyeballs pop out.” Arguments about the right thing to do for various crimes have persisted for many decades and will likely continue through the foreseeable future. The death penalty dates far back before the dawn of written history, and multitudes of differe...
In 1966, Ray McKinley Dunwoody Jr. was a USAF chief master sergeant stationed in Roswell, New Mexico. During this time a friend of his, a retiring master sergeant, held a small party with a number of his friends and associates, including Ray. During a casual conversation, Ray mentioned chess. His friend eagerly announced that he was a member of the local chess club and held a high ranking. He then asked Ray about his chess experience. Ray told him that he only played once in a while, was just...
In addition to repealing the catastrophic Obamacare health care plan, one of President Donald Trump’s absolute top priorities must be to resist the military industrial complex and put an immediate end to the carnage and destruction our nation has been spreading all over the Middle East under the guise of saving the local people from their leaders and civil unrest. For the past 50 years and more—from Vietnam to the Middle East—our involvement has produced no benefits whatsoever. The result has b...
At last, the reign of the Great Traitor is coming to an end. And his hoped for successor, the Hildabeast, is also passing into the pages of history, squelching his dream of becoming a corrupt Supreme Court Justice. Right now, they are both whining about voter fraud and accusing the Russians of rigging the election. Nevertheless, much damage has been done during these past eight years, especially during 2009 and 2010, when this despot had a filibuster-proof majority in both houses. The task of...
The term “good old days” has been around for many years. Older people have and still do like to sometimes reflect on how much better their lives were at various times in the past than they are now. The subjects are varied. They range from how much less things cost back then to how much less crime we had. For the most part, these things are true, but most of these people have not been able to comprehend the fundamental reason why few things have turned to the better and most have gone the oth...
In the 2008 Presidential election, the people of America granted immense power to one of the most dangerous men in the world. In 2012, they re-elected him. Now after almost eight years of treasonous treachery, the Great Traitor and his minions have saddled us with a catastrophic, outrageously expensive, unsustainable health care burden, needless war-mongering and meddling in the Middle East killing thousands of people and making new enemies, releasing dangerous terrorists from GITMO while...
As years go by, politicians never cease to stoop lower and lower to scheme up new ways to milk more money from the people and place numerous additional roadblocks into the American economy. One of the newest targets for government ripoffs, of course, is the internet. Up until now, it has been a bastion of free-market success, where people and corporations, both large and small, have equal opportunities to make the best of a world-wide market. Anyone who claims to know Constitutional law should...
For many years, I have wondered about the procedures employers use to select applicants who apply for jobs. The first qualifications that come to mind are education and experience—presumably the more of each, the better. From my observations, employers like to see resumes that have a complete list of previous employment, with exact dates and other trivia, with no gaps, going all the way back to high school or earlier. Other qualifications, like talent, honesty, dependability, health, and o...
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark…And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” – Revelation 13: 16-17. Just how, exactly, does the mark of the beast relate to anything we do today in everyday living? Most people need some help comprehending it. But the answer is simple. It’s a nasty little government practice called licensure. Are you self-employed? Do you own or op...
This will be my final article for the Alabama Gazette. As I compose it, my mind goes back to the hot August day 3 years ago when I first visited with Loretta Grant to propose this series of articles. I had grown up in Macon County, chosen law as a profession and watched tumultuous changes that had been wrought by law. I had deliberately chosen to stay close to a primary site of those changes. I had served as a circuit judge for 18 years. It had been a great learning experience. I felt burdened...
It won’t be long before we get into football season, and “Roll Tide” and “War Eagle” will be screamed across Alabama and surrounding states to root for our teams. It is a tradition of tailgating, get-togethers, and… ticket “scalping.” It is a known fact that our universities make big bucks with their sports. If anyone wants proof, he should have a look at the Alabama and Auburn campuses and note the numerous fancy buildings and facilities that have mushroomed everywhere. Parts of the Tuscaloo...
Child Abuse- Child abuse can result from physical, emotional, or sexual harm; it can even result from neglect. There are multiple causes and connections which can contribute to child abuse such as alcoholism, substance abuse, anger issues, and poverty just to name a few. But child abuse has no limits--it affects all strata of life. It does not see or care about who you are, where you come from, or where you have been. Studies show that one in eight boys and one in four girls are sexually abused...
When I was in the third grade, I raised my hand one day and asked the teacher for permission to "go to the bathroom." She nodded, and I hurried down the hall to the door designated "Boys." When I had relieved myself, I headed back in the direction of my homeroom. As bad luck would have it, the doors in the hallway all looked alike, and I opened the wrong one. Two second-grade girls were standing there with their mouths open in disbelief. Then they both screamed and pointed at me. The loudest...
Public education was and is the great American dream. Nevertheless, since the 1950s, we have seen a broad-based movement toward the privatization of education. It is against this background that I tell my story. Stephen Covey who wrote The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People suggested that one of those habits is “keeping the main thing the main thing.” For public education, excellent, effective education is the main thing. I was born in rural Macon County and attended Shorter High School, a pub...
Once again, there is a lot of noise being made across the country to raise the minimum wage in a make-believe effort to help the poor workers at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. And once again, if any of this crap should ever become law, it will have the exact, opposite effect its promoters are touting. What are our so-called “leaders” thinking? What is going through the minds of these people? Do they honestly believe they are helping anybody? Is it going to help workers pull the...
