The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
Sorted by date Results 1456 - 1480 of 1604
Fall. It is a season that reminds us of endings. Once thriving leaves now drop from their branches bursting with color, but dying. Beautiful summer flowers have lost their grandeur. Colder temperatures flow in and bright, long days full of sunshine move out. We are inundated with change. We are regularly reminded of our helplessness to stop the flow of God’s creation. We are caught between summer and winter in the fleeting uniqueness of autumn. Though the season brings its own joy with f...
The October 2013 column entitled, “Losing Our Alabama Defense Force” evoked reader comments about the traditional role of militia and how we’ve morphed into the modern nomenclature of “National Guard” further eroding State sovereignty. The dearth of Alabama generals (only about half are State residents) in the Alabama Guard has finally received enough attention to be addressed in Montgomery. Thankfully our State Senate is NOT asleep at the wheel. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when and...
I have to admit, it takes a lot to impress me. I generally do not go all ga-ga over people or things, but every now and then I am taken by surprise. In my world, I have flown with all types of men and women. Good pilots and not-so good ones. I have met many athletes, celebrities, combat vets, you name it. Although many have been incredibly interesting, few have knocked my socks off. I have flown with Thunderbird pilots, a Canadian Snowbird pilot, a Blue Angel, an Italian Frecci Tricolori pilot,...
First, let us discuss what the divorce rates are to get a better understanding of the need for counseling or marriage and family therapy. Did you know that fifty percent of all North American children will witness the divorce of their parents? Almost half of them will, unfortunately, also observe the breakup of a parent's second marriage (Furstenberg and others -Life Course-). Did you also know that 24 million children in America—one out of three—live without their biological dad in the hom...
Arbitration amounts to privatization of dispute resolution. Many of the States, including Alabama, had a stated policy specifically excluding the possibility of contracting away the right to go to court before federal legislation preempted state law. In 1925, Congress enacted the Federal Arbitration Act to require dispute resolution through arbitration if the parties to a contract agree to binding arbitration for dispute resolution. In the 1980s, the Supreme Court upheld that legislation and...
While many in America are still debating the aftermath of the first GOP presidential debate and others count the days to college football season kickoff, we continue down the path of transformation deemed necessary by the Obama administration with little to no attention from either the mainstream media or the citizenry. Unless you pay very close attention to the barrage of executive orders and directives flowing from the White House, you have likely missed the finalization of the Affirmatively...
In a free society, welfare of any description is never a legitimate function of government. It is in fact, an important element of communism-i. e. "From each according to his abilities and to each according to his needs." It might seem like a great idea to some people, but Russia, North Korea, and several others have proven that it is both an economic and social disaster. Our founding fathers would have never considered even one of the numerous welfare programs that currently consume trillions o...
September 2, 2015: It is common knowledge that the Indian casinos in Alabama and throughout the country are granted federal sovereignty and are not subject to state intervention and authority. Several years ago state attorney general Luther Strange filed a hail Mary frivolous lawsuit against PCI Gaming Authority for political posturing purposes. The federal district court in Montgomery took about three weeks to rule against the state. It was ludicrous that it was filed. Federal District Judge...
Truly you have a troublesome car, but at this point your car has not met the definition of a vehicle with a nonconforming condition under the Alabama Lemon Law. I am assuming this car was purchased from a dealer whose manufacturer has dealers in Alabama. Though not apparent in your case, if you ordered an obscure new vehicle you could have an additional problem in that it may not meet the definition of a Motor Vehicle Dealer under the definition of Alabama Code, 1975, §8-20A-1. which says “The p...
Did you know that the Labor Day holiday originally started in the late 1800′s? I can only imagine how excited the people were to take a day off from working. Some may have thought, “What a wonderful and new idea!” Created and implemented as a day of rest by those hard working blue collar laborers in New York City, this day continues to be one, that we as a nation, look forward to every September. To put it rather loosely, Labor Day has become a man-made American Sabbath day. A yearly day of re...
Those who love Your law have great peace and nothing offends them. Psalm 119:165 Okay, this is not going to be a religious rant of any kind because I fully understand a large percentage of people out there reading this may not be believers. That is okay. It is what it is. At the same time, however, there comes a time when all people, regardless of their beliefs need to take a step back and get off of this ridiculous notion that everything "offends" them. In fact, most of the time we need to...
The concept of natural law was the prevailing philosophy of law throughout the formative period of modern nation states. The idea was that law occurs naturally. Nature, of course, includes human nature and the nature of human society. In general the created order of nature provides some solutions to problems that are better than others. Under natural law theory, the task of courts and legislative bodies is to find that law and declare it. At about the time the United States came into existence,...
Perhaps it was only my increasing feelings of unease concerning the direction of our nation and world that I chose to pack an old copy of Brave New World to re-read during a recent beach trip. More time than I care to admit has passed since the days of my high school required summer reading lists, and many of the details of this book had become a distant memory. Given some of the news headlines during the week of my trip, that book choice seemed eerily appropriate, and I have since been...
*Rites v. Rights... not surprisingly the Roberts Court once again gets it wrong in their crusade for bigger government. A friend called it DC still drunk on the 'Grapes of Wrath.' Marriage is a religious rite. There is no authority for the federal government to impede or subsidize this rite. It was a source of despair when I went to marry. The State of South Carolina would not allow me to pursue this solemn rite I hold dear without a State license, polluting this blessed event. I do not look to...
July 29, 2015: During the press conference three weeks ago announcing the historic BP settlement and windfall for the state, Gov. Bentley repeatedly said, “The $55 million a year to the General Fund is fantastic but it will not solve the state’s long term financial woes. It only accomplishes about 12 percent of what we need. We’re still going to have a Special Session to address the need for new revenue and we will call it for late summer.” Bentley and the Legislature were unable to agree o...
Some recent reactive changes in perception of heritage and rulings by the Supremes have recently left me quite dismayed. Not the legendary singing group but the men and women that don the black robes as Justices of the United State Supreme Court. Five of the nine are Baby Boomers and Republican presidents nominated five of the now sitting Justices. Some of the truths in my life were no longer deemed truths and for the past several weeks I have tried to make sense of them and wondered what would...
This month I will be hitting one of the many milestones that we celebrate during our life time. Some people dread it, while others could care less. I guess you could say that I am somewhere in the middle. What is it? You ask. Well…I will be joining my hubby along with many of our dear friends in what we affectionately refer to as the “fabulous decade”. That’s right! Yours truly will be turning the big 4-0 this month. I know! It’s hard to believe, right?! I barely look a day over 20. Ha-Ha!! W...
My father had been sick for a while. He had recently lost both of his legs due to injuries he sustained while serving in the Army during and after the Korean War. The injuries never fully healed and as he got older, poor circulation took its toll on his legs. I used to call my dad every day, sometimes three or more times, just to check on him and talk. I loved hearing his voice and discussing life in general. I always asked him how he was feeling and his usually annoying answer was, “The same a...
As our Declaration of Independence carefully and specifically enumerated well-reasoned grievances for seceding from the British Empire, the cycle of tyranny which results from any command economy is once again upon us. One of the most active political operatives in Alabama working to reverse our corrupt path to tyranny recently reminded me of the power a well organized ‘militia’ can muster. Showing significant numbers at the right time can make a great difference in our long-run course of hum...
Last week’s verdict that VictoryLand be allowed to reopen is justice served. The people of Macon County voted for a constitutional amendment to allow for electronic bingo. The issue of pari-mutuel style casino betting and the closing of the ultra-modern and successful luxury gaming resort in Macon County has been laid to rest. There have been extensive studies and articles that crystallize several obvious observations. First of all, gambling or gaming is an extremely profitable venture and it i...
Individualism in the legal profession, like other walks of life, thrives on legends and myths. The profession cherishes certain images. One of these images is the image of the rugged individual. Rugged Individualism is an important part of the American tradition. Pioneers were rugged individuals. The legal profession, an adversaria profession, fits right into this picture. Up until the Civil War the primary method of legal education was apprenticeship. Would-be lawyers “read” the law in the off...
Another Independence Day celebration is upon us, yet I have to wonder if the meaning of the day hasn’t been lost to the America we’ve become. Holidays that once celebrated the history of our nation have seemingly become little more than retail sales events or long weekend relaxation trips rather than reflection on the significance of the day in history. But given the trend in certain segments of our culture to trivialize and/or demonize America and its accomplishments, the change in how man...
There are several things to consider and much of that is based on the type of entity that your business may fall under. For starters is it a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), a Corporation or a couple other forms that no longer exist? Have you talked to your accountant to consider tax implications? How are you valuing the price of the business? Are you selling the whole business or only a part of it? Are you selling the...
July fourth is Independence Day. All across U.S.A. people will celebrate the tremendous freedom we enjoy. Truly we are blessed! We who know Jesus Christ as our Savior have another kind of freedom to celebrate. We are free from the bondage of our sin and death. I Corinthians 15:3-4 gives a concise picture of the freedoms we have in Christ. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that He was buried, a...
Because of the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash where the copilot Andreas Lubitz intentionally crashed his Airbus 320-200 into the French Alps killing all 150 people onboard, my previous Robservation focused on the aviation industry's need to develop and maintain robust selection and training programs. In addition to these two aspects, however, any organization that wants to succeed must also implement training's evil twin, Standardization/Evaluation. I say evil with tongue in cheek, but...
