The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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Friday September 14, 2001 – President Bush Called For Prayer – On Friday September 14, 2001, I was awakened at 3:00 am with overwhelming grief for our nation on the heels of the September 11th attack. All I could see was the Statue of Liberty crying over her nation and was compelled to pour my heart out on paper, reflecting the pain felt by every American during this time of a national tragedy. Her name is Liberty and she is a 22-story tower of strength overshadowing the NY Harbor, which sym...
Most states have one General Fund Budget. We are only one of five states that have two. Some of you have asked why we have two budgets – one for the General Fund and one for Education. Here is why. During the era of the Great Depression and even afterwards, education in Alabama was woefully underfunded and that is really being generous to simply say underfunded. Our schools were similar to a third world country. We had two separate systems, one for white students and one for black students. M...
Few calendars in this part of the Western Hemisphere will note it, but on July 28, Peru celebrates 200 years of independence. Two centuries of anything is a big deal; it demonstrates generational resilience and that’s something to celebrate. But the occasion also offers us cause to examine, and understand the international, liberating forces unleashed by the success of American Independence, how these ideas permeated through other nations to create a culture of liberty and freedom, and the l...
I first wrote this Robservation back in 2013. Yeah, eight years ago. Sadly, in the context of this subject, things have not gotten better. Not by a long shot. I decided to revisit this subject of our national debt after reading on Breitbart News how the Democrat infrastructure bill will cost U.S. tax payers $5.4 trillion, which will be much more expensive than previously promised. Hmmm, imagine that. Politicians not telling the truth. Who could have seen this coming? www.breitbart.com/politics/2...
Aside from being a practicing attorney I have had an almost lifelong interest in my family history and especially those that were southern soldiers in the War Between the States. I am proud to claim ten, either great-great or great-great great grandfathers that fought to separate the people of the South from a Federal army under Lincoln that had decided they would force the South back into the Union. There are many causes for the War, unfortunately the only cause taught in schools written by...
State and local governments lure businesses with incentive packages. Yet these governments impose rules stifling entrepreneurs starting new businesses, forgetting that Amazon, offered multi-billion dollar deals for its HQ2, started out of Jeff Bezos’s garage. A new Cato Institute study, “Entrepreneurs and Regulations” by Chris Edwards, details the state and local government burdens on startups. Elected officials should carefully weigh these policies’ benefits against the burdens. The adminis...
Our next chapter of “Malice in Hubbardland” type corruption in Lee County reveals even more malfeasance while observing flawless (from jury selection to plea agreement) intendance by the jurist our Alabama Supreme Court appointed to preside over Lee County DA Brandon Hughes’ ethics case, Judge Pamela (Willis) Bacshab. This “retired” Colbert County Judge has many decades of experience ‘in the trenches.’ According to a UNA biography, Baschab started as an Assistant DA in Mobile County before...
In 2022, Alabama will elect a U.S. Senator to fill the seat held by Senator Richard Shelby for four decades. In 1986, as a skilled personal injury trial lawyer and shrewd Democrat candidate, Shelby beat the esteemed GOP A|dmiral Jeremiah Denton in a character assassination campaign. As Chairman and now ranking member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations committee, Shelby has channeled billions into Alabama, which has been good for the state economy, federal contractors, but used by Shelby as a...
During the last several decades, various people and groups have proposed term limits as a solution for stopping abuses done by politicians. The big argument is to return political offices back to people who actually want to serve for the public good instead of using the offices for their careers and political objectives. The idea sounds like a noble one. Our country was founded on the principle of citizen legislators—people who volunteered for limited times to perform public services for very m...
There are voices in other rooms tonight. Soft voices. Young voices. Granddaughters’ voices. Their brother – the baby – is asleep in an adjoining room. We were all worried if he could sleep, or would sleep. This is his first night ever away from his mama…and when you are one, being away from your mama is a big deal. His being the baby is about to change. He will have relinquished the title and become a big brother before daybreak. He doesn’t know. He will never remember a time before her. He i...
Sometimes God’s Word can feel like an impossible order, don’t you think? Take for example: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6 (NIV) Not partial grace. Not halfway grace. Full of grace. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried this, but it’s hard. It’s hard when one of the precious people living in your house gets on your last good nerve. It’s hard when a trusted friend deeply wounds you. And it’s incredibly h...
There were two major issues not resolved during the just completed regular legislative session. Gambling and prisons were left on the table and up in the air. It is foolish to not address a resolution to get some revenues for the state from gambling, which currently exists in Alabama. However, it is not imperative that the problem be solved. The prison problem is another question. It has to be addressed. The federal courts will take over Alabama’s prisons and tell the governor and legislature w...
If the 4th of July has a pre-game, it is June 15th. On that date in 1215, the Magna Carta was signed, beginning a gradual process of defined individual rights and limiting the power and authority of the British crown. The Declaration of Independence, which outlined the colonists’ desire for freedom from the edicts of King George, is a direct descendant of the Magna Carta. It would be foolish to argue that the Magna Carta anticipated all the rights and freedoms we enjoy today, but it certainly p...
According to a 19th century legend, the Truth and the Lie meet one day. The Lie says to the Truth: "It's a marvelous day today"! The Truth looks up to the skies and sighs, for the day was really beautiful. They spend a lot of time together, ultimately arriving beside a well. The Lie tells the Truth: "The water is very nice, let's take a bath together!" The Truth, once again suspicious, tests the water and discovers that it indeed is very nice. They undress and start bathing. Suddenly, the Lie...
Key was a lawyer and obviously had other talents as well. Key was born in 1779; his father was a lawyer and a judge. Though Frances considered becoming an Episcopal priest, he decided to go into law instead. He “read” law under his brother-in-law and Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase. He passed the Bar in 1801. He was considered a good lawyer, practicing in Frederick, Maryland and Washington, D.C. His law practice was successful and was involved in several important cases, appearing even before the...
Full disclosure mandates that I aver that I graduated from Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery in 1968. Technically, the actions of a governing organization in the Capitol City regarding name changes for three high schools aren’t anybody’s business if he/she doesn’t live there. And my family now resides in a rural area of Elmore County. However, a lot of folks who now reside in the Lake Martin area attended Montgomery public schools when the integration of that school system was in its i...
Inveterate readers won’t be surprised I found it timely to revisit ongoing “Malice in Hubbardland” type corruption given the observed persistence here in Lee County… even while former House Speaker Hubbard serves his inconsistently reduced sentences in State corrections. In fact, ALDoC facilities he shepherded toward the current unconstitutional result while ‘serving’ in Montgomery. The spirit of Sponge Bob Riley, Yella Grubber, Bride of Felonstein, et al remains alive and thriving. Long time fe...
The 12-month change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeded 4 percent in April for the first time since 2008. Many economists have been predicting inflation following a 25 percent increase in the money supply in Spring 2020. Has inflation finally arrived? Inflation was a major issue in the 1970s and early 1980s. We experienced double-digit inflation between 1974 and 1981, hitting 14 percent in 1980. The U.S. has dramatically reduced inflation since then. Economists distinguish between...
Your silence is not only viewed as an endorsement, but adversarial notions will prevail with no visible opposition. A Change Agent has their finger in the dyke, while a Conformist runs for cover. The human body has been divinely created with adrenal glands, producing the natural chemical Adrenaline, which triggers the flight or fight reactions. America was born out of opposition to Great Britain’s overreach; America can be defeated without the first shot being fired. Nikita Khrushchev, former P...
What are PGMs, you ask? They are platinum group metals. There are six of them—ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum. They are noble metals—highly resistant to corrosion, acids, and decomposition. Like gold, they are also very rare—the rarest and least abundant stable metals in the Earth’s crust. Here they are listed in milligrams per kilogram (below right). Below, they are listed in parts per billion. Two sources show considerable disagreement on some of them. The discrep...
President Biden and the Democrats led by Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, self-avowed Socialist Bernie Sanders, have proposed an unbelievable $6 trillion budget for fiscal year 2022. This budget would have the federal government spend more as a share of the economy than at any other time since World War II when we were fighting for our survival as a country. According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation this level of spending would immediately slash economic growth while killing tens of...
Critical Race Theory at its face is racism and a violation of our Constitution. The United States started as a country with many different people and different cultures. Our history has dark elements, specifically slavery, something everyone should recognize and be willing to face. However, our history does not define our present. Instead, we should study history so we may avoid its pitfalls. Unfortunately, for many in our higher education institutions and government it is being ignored. Yet...
It is July. The hydrangeas are blooming. It has always struck me odd how it is that we can know something is coming up…we know it is on the way, and yet, we are still taken back a little by its arrival. I knew July was on the calendar. Knew it was next. But when I turned the page in my planner to the month of July…it didn’t seem possible. The clock seems to tick too quickly sometimes. It’s equal opportunity, but it waits for nobody. Turning the page to a new month feels like a fresh start....
In what seems like another life to me now, I worked in my family’s firework business. During the more than 30 years of selling fireworks, I often wondered why people were so draw them. And one day while pondering this thought, I saw a banner hanging outside with the word “Joy” in the middle. Indeed, fireworks are designed for joy. They are constructed with specific elements that radiate certain colors and patterns...barium chloride for green, copper compounds for blue, lithium carbonate for r...
When Senator Richard Shelby announced he would not run for reelection to a sixth six-year term in 2022, speculation immediately began as to who would run for our iconic senior senator’s seat. Numerous names were floated as to who might lineup for the coveted seat. It is expected to be a fairly large field. The winner of next year’s May Republican primary and ultimately the summer GOP runoff will be our next junior senator. Winning the GOP Primary is tantamount to election in the Heart of Dix...
