The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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By the time this article is published we hope Wetumpka will be selected as the newest designated Main Street Alabama City. This program is designed to bring jobs, dollars and people back to historic communities. The focus to bring vitality and boost economic development in our downtown district will benefit our local businesses, continue to enhance the quality of life and increase the tax base which increases the services provided by the City. This will not be a City run program but a program...
Do you believe that certain days throughout your life are anointed? That God has an unexpected blessing meant just for you that day?? Boy, I sure do! And one of those blessed days occurred ten years ago this month. “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3: 5-6 Although I had completed my reign as Ms. Wheelchair America/Alabama 2005, the next year I was still receiving req...
At this time of year Washington, D.C. is a beautiful place to visit. The city is aglow with the blooming of the cherry blossom trees. The cherry blossoms offer a glorious scene as you stroll down the mall and look toward our nation’s capital. This scene has been glimpsed by tourists and visitors for over a century. Each year the National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates a 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Japan to the United States. The current Cherry Blossom Festival has grown t...
As I think about the increasingly vicious political climate we’re now experiencing, I reflect more often on just how we’ve reached a point in our nation’s history where more factions are fighting each other than ever before. No doubt there are reasons far more complicated than what I can comprehend or even begin to outline, but I can’t help but believe that so much of the animosity towards each other is a direct result of our escalating dependence on government to “do something” to correct an...
First, let’s focus on ignorance; then we can develop its relationship to evil. Ignorance certainly includes lack of knowledge, but ignorance is not merely absence of knowledge. Ignorance has a positive existence in human consciousness. It is incorrect beliefs more often than the mere absence of correct beliefs. The incorrect beliefs are strongly and passionately held and adamantly defended. Ignorance doesn’t just stand on a street corner and rant and rave; it talks on I-Phones, and moves in ema...
When and where is it all going to end? Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved Germany and the German people. When I was five years old, my father took my brother and me to see the movie, The Blue Max, starring George Peppard and Ursula Andress. It is the story of a brutal, callous, cold blooded killer named Bruno Stachel who flew for the Germans in World War One. I still watch this movie at least once or twice every year. But as a little kid, the aviation scenes and the cool German...
I first met attorney Donald V. Watkins in 2002 when he was interviewing candidates to support. He found my stance on limiting government to address very few things in our economy unworthy of his support. His appreciation of my championing our 5th Amendment civil right to property for ALL was nonetheless reassuring. One of the first black students to attend UA School of Law, his training is sound and accomplishment in practice profound over the years. At age 68, Watkins is well known for success...
On the subject of gambling, many people and politicians in Alabama are all over the spectrum on how much we should allow in this state. On one side are the ones who believe that it should be completely legalized with a free market. On the opposite, we have the extremists who want to abolish every last bit of it, lest the people overindulge in it and plummet into Hell. Do we have a practical solution to this argument? For starters, there is no way we can abolish it. The federal government has gra...
I am familiar with two forms of notary and three other forms that I would consider more or less as authentications. The notary public is probably what you are most familiar with. Notaries are appointed and commissioned by the local probate judges and in addition to the application must be bonded for $25,000.00. The notary is reported to the Alabama Secretary of State to include the expiration. If you want to make sure that your notary is authentic, you can look them up on the Alabama Secretary...
First, to make counseling truly Christian we must bring our faith and our counseling together in our mind. Christ-centered counseling requires more than devoted Christians who are expertly trained in the fields of counseling. It is the presence of God and the Holy Spirit into the counseling process that makes Christian counseling. This begins by recognizing Christ as the only wonderful Counselor. He becomes our model. Christian counseling is grounded in the Bible, and most often seeks to help a...
It has been very exciting to be a part of the arts in Wetumpka. The Abandoned Rural America Exhibition presented by a gentleman from Georgia, Peter Muzyka, has been a tremendous success and a huge draw to our community. The Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery has worked extremely hard on this exhibit and it certainly showed with a successful opening night. The performance at the Wetumpka Depot playing to a full house of people dealing with words and music tied to rural America was a pleasure to...
This month, Brian & I will celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. Without a doubt, there is no one on the planet I would rather go through life’s ups, downs & round abouts with. “I have found the one whom my soul loves”, Song of Solomon 3:4. As Brian builds his life around Christ, he is naturally a reflection of Christ in the way he treats me. And as I build my life around Christ, I learn to love my husband as God has called me to love him. That is what makes a marriage gain more and more beaut...
A nervous tension hangs heavily over the upcoming press conference. As usual, something major in the world occurs and the President of the United States is expected to step up to the podium and give not only his ideas of the event but will hopefully spell out exactly how his administration plans on reacting. Today is no exception. 80 members of the press corps huddles around waiting for the POTUS to step onto the stage. Over the din and confusion in the room, questions can be heard wondering...
Seems there's no limit to embarrassment we must endure in Alabama from our political parasites as the next iteration of corruption tremors were felt in Montgomery last month. Some commented they'd never heard of ALEA (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency) until reading their March Alabama Gazette column on 'affidavit wars' in Judge Walker's adjudication of Speaker Hubbard's 23 felony counts which cited Special Agent Jack Wilson's conclusion. According to the Alabama Political Reporter after...
In early 2009, Dr. Robert Bentley came to see me about his race for Governor of Alabama. Bentley was finishing his second term in the Alabama House of Representatives and closing down his very successful dermatology practice in Tuscaloosa. I liked Bentley immediately and thought it was magnanimous that he would want to spend his retirement years as Governor. I did not give him much of a chance and predicted he would run a respectable third in the race. However, he surprised everybody, probably...
I find that most people detest election years because of the onslaught of ugly political advertising, never-ending robo calls, or roadside signage that is never fully eradicated. I detest it because while many of us are involved in campaigns to elect replacements in hopes of solving some of the problems created by the last election cycle, we tend to take our eyes off the shenanigans that continue to take place in our halls of government. I shudder to think of the damage likely being done in...
Qui tam actions are a part of the False Claims Act. Whenever a government contractor or payee defrauds the Federal Government, the Federal Government wants to know about it so that they might recover lost funds or in some cases the False Claims Act can cover illegal acts by companies. To do so the Federal Government encourages “whistleblowers” to report the wrongful action and if found to be legitimate, a private attorney and possibly Government inclusion (intervention) may pursue the wro...
Growing up in a gender-based family, there were distinct roles that my father and mother had, but there was some moderate flexibility ( e.g., my father played with children and my mother disciplined the children). I don't recall any argument concerning parental roles, but I also do not recollect ever seeing my Dad do what is typically considered a feminine role, in a historically Mexican family, of cleaning the home, washing clothing and cooking. My father died at an early age of thirty-nine,...
The cost of access to the legal system presents difficult, perplexing questions. The legal system is the last resort for dispute resolution. But access to the legal system costs money. Lawyers engage in the practice of law to make a living. They cannot provide their services free. The cost of a judiciary has caused the legislature to impose substantial charges in the form of various court costs. If the dispute involved involves only a small economic value, the cost of the legal solution may be...
Everybody in America knows that we have a serious problem with immigration. However, very few have offered any reasonable and workable solutions. One “solution” that will not be effective is building a “Berlin Wall” along our southern border. Building and guarding it would not only be outrageously expensive, but it could be easily bypassed on both ends by boats or even swimmers. Deportations to the other side of the border are also mostly ineffective. The illegals simply come back again and aga...
It is very exciting times in the City of Wetumpka. Things did not happen overnight. It took years of planning and working a plan to get into the development stage we have been in the last few years. It's a proven fact that with patience, stability and perseverance you will have successful opportunities come your way. We have enjoyed since 2000, by purchase, 109 acres of property on 14 bypass that joined 45 acres the City had owned for many years. With the acquisition of 25 more acres, we now...
Happy Spring! Time to open up the house and let the sunshine in. Perhaps, grab a few dozen trash bags, go through all the closets and the attic, and throw away everything that has cluttered up the house. I decided this spring I needed to clear the junk out of my head first. Only a few months into the New Year, and I already had too much on my mind. I still had a lot of questions built up from the past few year. God, why did this happen? Why did I pray for this, and it still fell apart? Why,...
Article III of the United States Constitution establishes a supreme court. The text of Section One and the first paragraph of Section Two of Article Three reads as follows: Article III. Section. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times,...
Many of my conservative friends, mostly those in my generation or older, continue to be amazed that an avowed socialist – disguised as “democratic socialist” – can be so popular with the youth of our nation. Like so many of my friends, I’ve attributed the appeal to the liberal bent of our public education system. While that absolutely has an enormous impact, I think there are other elements that those of us who call ourselves conservatives have been missing. But one factor has been apparent...
The current epicenter of Alabama corruption was quaking from recent affidavits submitted to Judge Walker’s Circuit Court on Speaker Hubbard’s [R - Auburn] criminal indictment. These rumblings prompted inquiries for my thoughts as an active participant in the District 79 campaign to elect Sandy Toomer. Some seem to think I may’ve been one of the architects of the ‘whisper campaign’ alleged in court documents surrounding Barron Coleman’s affidavit. I was aware of no whisper campaign. In a small...
