The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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America is at a crossroads, either we follow Nancy, Adam, Jerry and Chuck in their unceasing attempt to remove President Trump or we as a country participate in a historic 2020 landslide election and unleash Secretariat. Often when I write, there is an issue at the core of the discussion and I try my best to bring facts to the debate to substantiate my position. In all fairness, this is purely an opinion piece, where in my view the outcome for the future of this country is clearly dependent on...
The Berlin Wall, the most visible manifestation of Communist oppression, came down thirty years ago. This totally unexpected event was a triumph of hope and the human spirit. How can social scientists explain a seemingly impossible event? The Wall isolated West Berlin, part of democratic West Germany, almost 100 miles inside communist East Germany. The Wall and the Iron Curtain appeared to permanently divide Europe. The Wall was built in August 1961 to halt an East German exodus, including 30,00...
Back in the 1990’s, WACV Radio talk show host, Don Markwell, regularly featured Montgomery Mayor Emory Folmar as a guest on his program. One day, a caller chimed in and complained about people speeding in his residential neighborhood. After he disclosed the location, Mayor Folmar said he would step up patrols in that area. The very next day, the same man called again, and he was not happy. He reported that when he came home that previous afternoon, a policeman pulled him over and gave him a cita...
Our founders created the greatest country in the history of the world, where all men are created equal and anything is possible. We have the freedom to get an education, raise a family, travel, pick a career, and live in peace. The US is where private property rights and Individual liberties are protected like no other country on this planet. Innovation is king. Since 1902 when the first Nobel Praise was awarded to recognize achievements in the arts and sciences, Americans have won 362 times...
While the gun control debate escalates after mass shootings, I want to begin this article with a few simple questions that might deserve simple answers. Does a Saturday night special or an AK-47 on the counter kill innocent people? Does a spoon or fork cause obesity? Does a bottle of whisky or a six-pack of beer in the store cause a DUI? Does a needle filled with heroin cause drug addiction? Did a Boeing 757 become a weapon of mass destruction (WMD) killing innocent people at the World Trade...
"O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive." – Sir Walter Scott But identifying who is being deceitful here in this Watergate-esque scandal is less than clear. There is so much bias, incompetence, deception, and potential law-breaking that it is very difficult to be objective, and ultimately that is the problem. It is the type of scandal that removes one's faith in government and anyone involved with it. So in an attempt to untangle and better understand this mess, l...
Euthanasia is a painless and peaceful procedure of ending the persistent suffering and trauma of the terminally ill and others who have decided that death is a better option. In current usage, it is defined as the “painless inducement of a quick death.” People use this process on a regular basis when they see their beloved pets in distress from incurable diseases and/or unrecoverable injuries. But many are squeamish when it comes to applying the same mercy onto human beings. Some even sup...
Troy University will host an exhibition from The Remnant Trust from September through the end of November. The artifacts and books included afford an opportunity for Alabamians to see some history. Founded in 1999, The Remnant Trust is a foundation dedicated to preserving items important to the history of individual freedom and human dignity. Partnered with Texas Tech University since 2014, the Trust has a collection of over 1,400 documents for research and exhibitions like the one coming to Tro...
Recent ‘rocky’ times at Auburn University display a cult horror picture show Right thinking, fact driven Americans have hit their high water mark, frustrated with the liberal news media fabricating stories about conservatives. Every day, since the November 8, 2016 election (almost 3 years ago), liberal Democrats and members of the counterfeit media have worked around the clock fabricating, packaging and pounding this president with false claims, which have become hypotheticals on steroids. Wel...
Long considered harmless fun, many are now questioning its history, nature, influence and fruit. The revitalization of Satanism and Witchcraft and their obvious association with Halloween has caused Christians to wonder whether they should participate in it at all. There is no denying the bizarre and occultic nature of Halloween decorum (certainly witches, devils, ghouls, monsters, vampires and ghosts are not Christian in character!). But in spite of that, some Christians defend their participation in the holiday asserting their “liberty” in Ch...
In spite of what some people claim about the cruelty of capital punishment, there are some people who are just too dangerous to be allowed to exist. See my May, 2017 article for my argument on this topic. The question here is what is the best and most humane method to carry it out? Although there is a basic need to execute certain criminals, there is not a need to do it in a cruel manner. The object is to peacefully eliminate the culprits, not to demonstrate vindictive ways to carry out their...
I often find myself taking a life inventory at different weigh-points, assessing if I am adequately contributing to leave a positive mark in the world, on my watch. We can never give enough back. I was raised and I taught my children, whatever station assigned in life, or if we borrow something from our neighbor, always return it in better shape, than you received it. This mindset can be found in the “Parable of the Talents,” where Jesus spoke in Matthew 25: 14 – 30. One hallmark icon in my li...
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to curb climate change will require enormous sacrifice. The enormity of the required sacrifice suggests that we should have consensus on the goal before acting. Recent discussions of the Green New Deal have highlighted some of the required sacrifices, but I suspect that the full implications of an all renewable power electric grid remain obscure. The Green New Deal was sponsored by New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey. The proposal highlighted measures like a...
The concept of civil asset forfeiture is one of the cruelest impositions our government has ever imposed onto the people. In essence, it allows law enforcement officials to become legal pirates to literally steal, at will, people’s money and property on the slightest pretense that it might in some way or another be associated with a crime. That includes the mere possession of a “large” (undefined) amount of cash. In many cases, police have pulled people over on our highways, demanded to searc...
Governor Hunt once told me, “John, before anyone runs for office or becomes a journalist, they would be well-served to have met a payroll first. What a profound statement and I agree 100%. If you have kept up with my resume, I worked for the Hunt administration in economic development during the late 80’s early 90’s. I worked primarily in the area of Small Business and later with all exiting business and industries. My father was a small business entrepreneur and that mantle passed down to hi...
“If I were the devil … If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee. So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please. To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a...
This year’s legislative session has been one of the most counterproductive we have had in recent years—from the rammed in gasoline tax increase, to overspending, to more extreme seat belt penalties, to the brain-dead 1.5 mile limit for driving in the left lane of a highway. These and other violations of our liberty are not only terrible, but they were shoved down our throats by our mostly Republican representatives and senators by ridiculously huge margins. And then, our governor, Kay Ivey, just...
By Perry O. Hooper, Jr. 06/12/2019 Democrats have proven that they will do just about anything to obstruct President Trump’s agenda in order to win in 2020, no matter how dire the consequences are for the country. It also does not matter to them that the Mueller Report was a complete and total exoneration of the president and his campaign. They still waste valuable time yelling collusion and obstruction. The will of the American people for the Trump agenda is of little consequence to the D...
The topic of abortion is probably the most controversial political issue that exists today. Opinions range all the way from abortions on demand to outright prohibition in all cases no matter what. These two polar opposites could be at each other’s throats until the end of time. Is there any way we could arrive at a solution that would satisfy both sides? This past April 30, the Alabama House passed the most extreme anti-abortion bill in United States history with a 73 to 4 vote. On May 14, t...
Recidivism rate is the tendency of a criminal to commit a crime and return to prison. This is one of those areas where fuzzy math drives you crazy getting to the facts. According to the National Institute of Justice, 68 percent of 405,000 prisoners released in 30 states in 2005 were arrested for a new crime within three years of their release from prison, and 77 percent were arrested within five years. According to a 2018 report from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 1960 the U.S. prison...
The current measles outbreak has brought new criticism of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children over vaccine safety concerns. Measles was declared to be eradicated in the U.S. in 2000, and yet this year 550 cases have occurred through the second week of April. Anti-vaccination attitudes, I think, reflect a decline in trust in government. The research “anti-vaxxers” cite linking vaccines to autism, multiple sclerosis, and other ailments, has been called “junk science.” The Centers...
In our nation’s beginning, our founding fathers wrote our Constitution to specify that American citizens must be 21 years old to be eligible to vote. This was considered to be the minimum age for a person to be mature enough to make wise decisions in the selection of our elected leaders. Our founders also set minimum ages for Senators (30) and the President (35). But in 1971, the American people very foolishly ratified the 26th Amendment which lowered the minimum voting age to 18. The a...
Democrats are calling the newest single-payer healthcare proposals “Medicare for All.” America has three major systems of government healthcare: Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans’ Administration (VA). Is a single-payer system more likely to resemble Medicare or Medicaid? President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society established Medicare and Medicaid in 1965 to cover elderly Americans and the poor and disabled. The programs cover 55 and 66 million Americans respectively. Medicare cost $706 billion...
As I watch what is happening to core philosophies and belief systems internationally, domestically, and now in our own state, I am just shaking my head and looking down in dismay. The question I am asking myself, am I this dated, is there room anymore for an economic, moral, social, and constitutional conservative ideas; or have these definitions changed also? I was raised with three things you could always count on to be steadfast; facts, the Constitution and the Holy Bible. What has me...
This past March 8, during a special session called by Governor Kay Ivey, 83 of our state representatives voted to pass a ten cent increase in our gasoline tax. Then on March 12, the Senate railroaded it in with a 28 to 6 vote. Governor Ivey immediately signed it into law. The people never got a chance to vote against it in a referendum, and only a few days to hold a rally and say, “Take this tax and shove it.” Are our public servants infinitely stupid? We elected them to cut back on spe...
