The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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Merry Christmas, my friends! In our Christmas card this year, my husband, Brian, and I chose the verse Romans 15:13. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 Paul's prayer for the Christians in Rome found in this verse is often used in churches today as a closing benediction. It is a powerful statement about what God can do in the heart and mind of every Christian. Paul makes this r...
This 2022 Election Year in Alabama has been monumental and memorable. Any gubernatorial year is big in the state. It is the brass ring of Alabama politics to be governor. However, the race to succeed our Senior Senator Richard Shelby has been the marquee contest. This year will be the last hurrah for our two leading political figures in the state. Senator Richard Shelby is retiring after 36 years in the U.S. Senate at age 88. Governor Kay Ivey will be elected to her final term as Governor at...
One hundred two souls left England in 1620 to land in Virginia where they were to receive land through contract by the Virginia Company. The Virginia Company was chartered by King James I to set up English colonies in Virginia. Yes, it’s the same King James that commissioned that version of the Bible. We often think of the Mayflower as a ship of Pilgrims but only forty-one were on that voyage to separate themselves from the Church of England. The others, whom the Pilgrims referred to as s...
FECKLESS: lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible, useless, worthless, incompetent, inefficient, inept, good-for-nothing, idle, slothful, indolent, shiftless, spiritless, apathetic, aimless, unambitious. At 2128 local time, on the night of 16/17 May 1943, the first of 19 British Royal Air Force (RAF) Lancaster bombers took off on OPERATION CHASTISE: The raid to attack German dams in the Ruhr. In arguably the most perfect example of a center of gravity analysis turned...
One hundred years ago this month, Italy succumbed to a new political order that would ignite a worldwide struggle for freedom. Completely abandoning its rightful claim as the birthplace of republican self-government, Italy embraced the fanatical politics of Benito Mussolini and embarked on a sad journey of prioritizing rhetoric over reason and ideology over experience. The permanent scaring and disability of the veterans who suffered the horrors of trench warfare were a constant reminder of the...
To those who don’t want to be a part of the Bloods or Crips political gang…. https://www.alabamagazette.com/story/2018/12/01/opinion/the-scourge-of-straight-ticketers/1518.html Straight-ticket voting enables a voter to cast all their votes for one party with a single mark at the top of the ballot. This duopoly party enhancing practice finally died in most States. Little surprise it remains in uncompetitive/ballot access blocked Alabama which is among the last with six other States still sufferin...
On the 8th of this month, we will be going to the polls to vote for and against various candidates in this year's mid-term general election. For some offices, we won't have much of a choice-the lesser of two evils-typically a lack luster Republican against an even more lackluster, if not tyrannical, Democrat. That is the routine of many elections, and this year is no exception. Nearly all of our really fine candidates met defeat in the Republican primary. These include our brightest star, Mo...
I bought a purse last week I will probably never use. It is small. A simple zippered change pouch. I don’t need it, and it doesn’t particularly suit my taste. It is not my shade of pink. Typically, I think it might would appeal to someone much younger, but I touched it. I felt the texture of the beadwork…and it reminded me of a similar beaded change purse I had when I was a kid. The church my family attended would have an annual Family Day. Or at least that is what we called it. It was meant...
Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and so I’ve been thinking about gratitude a lot lately. What is it? When should we show it? What does God say about it? 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tell us, “Give thanks in all circumstances”. This verse doesn’t command us to feel thankful in all circumstances. Instead, it says we should “give thanks in all circumstances.” When I begin to praise God in a difficult situation, even if I don’t feel like it, many times the scales fall from my eyes and I begin to se...
A driving under the influence (DUI) offense carries serious fines and jail time especially if the same individual is arrested multiple times for a DUI. In 2017, Alabama was 5th in drunk driving related deaths.There are some special rules that apply. Interestingly the special rules apply to whether (1) the individual is driving a school bus/ day care vehicle, or (2) it is a commercial vehicle, or (3) the individual is under the age of 21, or (4) the individual does not fall into any of the above...
School board members are some of the most selfless public servants in Alabama. This accolade goes to the Alabama State Board of Education, and more specifically local school board members. These members are tasked with a very important mission but receive very little compensation for their time and efforts. They are indeed public servants. The Alabama State Board of Education is a nine member body that sets public education policy for K-12 schools. The governor is an ex-officio member of the...
NIHILISM: The rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. A viewpoint that traditional values and beliefs are unfounded and that existence is senseless and useless. Extreme skepticism maintaining that nothing in the world has a real existence. A doctrine or belief that conditions in the social organization are so bad as to make destruction desirable for its own sake independent of any constructive program or possibility. It is also a political belief...
With supersonic air travel, it takes less than three days to travel around the world. Five hundred years ago, it took three years. When Ferdinand Magellan left Spain in 1519, he embarked on an adventure that was rife with danger and uncertainty. His flagship, if you can call it that, was a mere 75 feet long and had room for just over 60 people. He had no map and would be guided primarily by a crude form of celestial navigation. In reality, his destination was undetermined. But, his ultimate...
Bill Britt (4/18/18 Alabama Political Reporter) stated current and former BCA [Business Council of Alabama] members thought the board’s vote demanding Bill Canary’s resignation was good news for our State’s future. Some were angry BCA Chairman Perry Hand wanted to keep Canary until fall. APR’s sources said Hand’s timing was designed for BCA to further influence election outcomes; control campaign donations and win enough races to rally a comeback. Hand seemed willing to risk everythin...
From 2017 through 2021, under the Donald Trump administration, America’s inflation rate remained steady at about two percent annually, a rate that will underwrite a strong, robust economy. But after the beginning of Joe Biden’s regime, reckless government spending and meddling cranked it up to 7% in 2021 and 8.5% so far into 2022. Why did it happen? The handwriting is right there on the wall. Joe Biden’s ruthless and abusive tampering with our petroleum industries produced the expected short...
Just mentioning the name Nathan Bedford Forrest stirs many emotions. As Abe Lincoln has been falsely deified, Forrest has been falsely demonized. Remember, the winner writes the history and they have done a massive disservice to the legacy of Forrest. Nathan Bedford Forrest was born in Chapel Hill, Tennessee, and moved with his family to Salem, Mississippi, in 1834. Often characterized as “Scots-Irish”, Forrest had a Norman French surname and considerable English lineage (his Mother was a Bec...
Labor Day was established in 1894 to honor America’s workers. “Quiet quitting” refers to working no more than necessary to keep your job and then bragging about it on Tik Tok. Does quiet quitting disrespect Labor Day? Each Labor Day we should celebrate the labor market. The labor market is part of the market economy, an economic system based entirely on voluntary participation and the freely given consent of all parties. The labor market is a foundation of personal freedom. By contrast, throu...
Remember how legendary columnist Lewis Grizzard used to write about how he could hardly wait for Cathy Rigby to go through menopause so she wouldn’t be in commercials advertising feminine care products anymore? He said he didn’t care if it absorbed the entire Atlantic Ocean, he didn’t want to sit in his den and hear about it on television. There wasn’t much that was off limits for Lewis. He wrote unapologetically from his perspective as a man who had been raised in a small Georgia town. He cont...
I love fall!! The color change, the weather change, the smell change...it’s about change. I see it happening right now. Leaves falling. What was once a tree deep in rich green, then a tree with vibrant shades of red and orange, now is soon becoming a tree that will be empty. Nothing left but the branches. We wish the color stayed. We think the only thing that makes the tree beautiful is the colorful leaves. We may ask, “why does it have to be so bare?” Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former...
This is the final version of a three week series of stories that illustrate that Alabama is a Big Front Porch. James E. “Big Jim” Folsom was one of our few two-term governors. In the old days, governors could not succeed themselves. Therefore, Big Jim was first governor in 1946-1950. He waited out four years and came back and won a second term in 1954, and stayed through 1958. Big Jim was still a young man when he was first elected in 1948. He and his wife, Jamelle, had their firstborn chi...
Prior to the American Revolution and more than a decade before the French Revolution, there was the Swedish Revolution, which marks its 250th anniversary this month. While often out of the orbit of discussions of western civilization, Sweden was and continues to be a repository of enlightened democratic values. With a remarkable history of military conquest and constitutional government, the semiquincentennial of the Swedish Revolution is worth noting. Sweden is known for having divided...
In the news everyday now, we are hearing about the 87,000 new IRS agents being hired by the federal government. At base level, this seems to be a bit egregious and threatening. Let’s be honest, there has never been a human being in the history of this country who has received a letter from the IRS and looked at that envelope and smiled. Never. Although some good news may be hidden within, it always seems to portend the end of someone’s financial world. Time, money, audits, you name it. It is...
Champions of political competition often cite Alabama with the most restrictive ballot access laws in 50 States. Any non-duopoly political party wanting access/inclusion on the upcoming Nov. 8th general election ballot printing was required to submit over 51,000 verified signatures. Given the history of being blocked from ballots, debates, media coverage, etc. the LPA [Libertarian Party of Alabama] submitted almost 80,000 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office reducing ‘wiggle roo...
There are a few ways to approach your estate planning and even if you don’t think you have anything you most likely have more than you think. Some people however, do literally have nothing and live month to month and have more debt than assets, but most people do have enough to where they should at least talk to a lawyer. But let’s say you live month to month and have next to nothing in the bank. Let’s also say you have a car payment, you rent a place to live and maybe credit card debt where...
What has happened to our butterflies? Have many people even bothered to notice? On a typical summer day, how many do you see? Up until about 1980, anybody could step outside in most places and spot a dozen or more in a few minutes. Since then, gradually at first, their numbers have diminished, and the decline has continued every year. When we passed Y2K, it began to accelerate. Finally, in mid-summer 2021, the remaining 10% of our butterflies suddenly almost completely disappeared, even in...
