The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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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...
As we approach the summer of 2015 it is significant to know, as research studies show, that violent crimes occur at a higher rate in the summer season than any other season. There is a current heightened dissatisfaction and anger among some individuals, groups and communities across America toward law enforcement officers. Distain, threats and acts of violence against police have existed for decades whether it is state, county, district, municipality, university or other special police jurisdict...
Alabama Foundation for Limited Government (AFLG) President John Rice launched another campaign last month in opposition of Speaker Mike Hubbard’s (facing 23 felony indictments) plans to raise taxes on Alabamians and further promote Poarch Creek Indians’ gambling monopoly power. For those who may not know, Mr. Rice is a former State Representative and Senator with a long established record of opposing unnecessary tax increases to support deleterious government expansion. Many consider Rice the...
This has been an eventful year. Thousands of tourists have flocked to Alabama to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March for Civil and Voting Rights. The events that happened in Alabama spurred the enactment of the landmark acts that broke down the legal barriers prohibiting African Americans from voting in the South. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it unlawful to discriminate based on race. It was followed up the next year with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that...
For several months this column has focused on various causes of ineffectiveness of the legal system. Most recently we dealt with the extreme ineffectiveness and waste of time that is involved with grand juries in the State of Alabama. Before that we had focused on ineffectiveness that results from the economics of law practice. This column will continue the focus on reasons for ineffectiveness in the legal system. The judicial system itself has certain built in problems. Trial court judges are...
Many Americans have serious concerns about the vulnerability of our unsecured southern border and the danger it presents in allowing easy access to those who are determined to bring destruction on our nation. But while our attention is focused primarily on that southern border, little notice is paid to a federal program that may well be allowing those with evil intent into our country via legal and taxpayer-funded means. The Refugee Resettlement/Asylum Program has existed with relatively little...
God is constantly trying to plant new seeds of victory in YOU…and your heart is the soil from which those seeds will grow. However, if you harbor bitterness, jealousy, or pride in your hart, those seeds will not be able to take root and develop in your life. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, “Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flows the springs of life.” Jesus told the story of how the enemy comes to steal the seed of God’s word through temptat...
May 6, 2015: There is an ominous cloud hanging over this legislative session. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court surprisingly agreed to hear a Hail Mary complaint filed by the black legislative caucus over the 2014 redistricting plan. In an even more surprising opinion, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the complainants and remanded the case back to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals instructing the lower court to tell the legislature to try again. The super majority Republican legislature fully...
United States lawyers or attorneys practice in many areas such as insurance defense, consumer issues, elder law, social security, admiralty, estate planning, bankruptcy, tax, business entities, criminal, health law, military, divorce, adoption, probate, immigration, government related and many other areas. As a guess there are probably more than forty or so practice areas. Additionally, beyond the Juris Doctorate (JD) degree or older LL.B (Bachelor of Laws), attorneys may seek a Master of Laws...
A recent opinion piece from James Spann, Chief Meteorologist for ABC 33/40 in Birmingham regarding severe weather explored the various reasons that Alabamians fail to heed the warnings of approaching dangerous storms. Based on meteorologists’ collaboration with social scientists studying why there was such a tremendous loss of life from the April 27, 2011 tornadoes despite the timely warnings of that day, Spann relates that he learned many things. Given that my interest leans towards all t...
In our current episode 'as the corruption churns' in the Heart of Dixie, Big Daddy Bob and step-child Mike Boulevard are having a spat over inability to pay future legal bills without Daddy's help. Seems as serial felony indictments proceed through the process, Mr. Boulevard is having trouble acquiring more unsecured loans and contributions as more political hacks discount the probability he can retain his ‘Spender of the House’ position as auctioneer of future theft from taxpayers. Sad to wit...
On 24 March 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525, an Airbus A320-200 crashed into the French Alps killing all 150 people onboard. Things instantly didn't seem right and almost immediately authorities knew for sure that the 27 year-old German copilot, Andreas Lubitz, intentionally flew the airplane into the mountains. Having flown for Delta for 18 years and 12 years before that in the Air Force, I know a little about the subject of flight safety. I know many of you have questions because I am...
Sometime after William the Conqueror successfully invaded England in 1066, the new line of kings decided they needed help rounding up local criminals to prosecute. Accordingly, they organized groups of local citizens who could keep up with what was going on in the local area to report crimes to the king and his court whenever they visited town. The result was the origin of grand juries. The process evolved so that prosecutors began to utilize the grand jury to bring about indictments....
For months now, my hubby, Brian & I have talked about purchasing a selfie stick. After all, we mainly take photos with our cell phones these days. So, how nice it would be to be able to take photos together ourselves. Recently, I was running errands and went by a popular box store. I saw they had selfie sticks. So I bought one for us. When I got home, I decided to go ahead, open the box & get our new toy working to surprise Brian. Simple right? WRONG! I worked a good 45 minutes...even reading...
Sen. Ted Cruz announcement of his bid for President of the United States wasn’t surprising news, nor were the long knives from critics on the left and the establishment right that were immediately drawn for him. Because I assumed that a Cruz presidential campaign was simply a matter of time, I didn’t watch his speech at Liberty University until later that day, and frankly, it was the social media furor on Twitter that prompted me to take the time to watch it without interruption. I have no int...
April 1, 2015: In recent years, the Republican Party has taken control of the legislatures in all of the southern states. Alabama’s legislature is overwhelmingly Republican. The GOP holds a 25 to 9 majority in the State Senate and an equally dominating 72 to 33 majority in the House of Representatives. Our supermajority GOP legislative body appeared to take on every conceivable ultraconservative reactionary issue during their first four year reign from 2011 to 2014. However, they forgot one. C...
Real estate practice among lawyers can be difficult when determining who has rightful ownership of real property. It’s just about as difficult to begin a generic discussion. The best form of ownership is, fee simple absolute. It is absolute in ownership and allows the owner to sell to whomever and to bequeath to whomever. An earlier form called fee tail, was many years ago abolished in Alabama and called for land inheritance of certain heirs. If those heirs ran out, then the land went back to t...
On July 16, 2014 under the leadership of the US Department of Treasury Secretary, Jacob J. Lew, in an apparent response to Russia's attempts to destabilize the eastern Ukraine as well as its advances in and occupation of the Crimea, broad-based sanctions were levied against Vladmir Putin's government. These sanctions targeted financial services, the energy sector, select areas of the Russian arms industry and identified institutions directly related to the undermining of the Ukrainian...
In recent columns I have concentrated on the economics of law practice. We have discussed the economic motives of plaintiff lawyers, the economic motives of defense lawyers, and the fact that the combination may impact adversely on the ability of the legal system to efficiently resolve disputes. This column will focus on liability insurance and will complete the current discussion of the economics of law practice. Liability insurance companies exist because of litigation, and have a major...
Happy Easter! To many this time of year means the Easter bunny, a day of food, and celebration. For some it is an obligatory church-attending holiday, after which life goes on as usual. How sad that we have so quickly forgotten the true meaning of Easter. Our God reigns! Jesus Christ died, yes. But even more importantly, He rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father, as we say in the Lord's Prayer. Jesus Christ literally defied death. But He did more than just a Houdini...
