Where's the ACLU when you need 'em?

Buried within Obama's multi-billion dollar spending plan is a provision to create a database of every citizen's health records. This database would be accessible to anyone on a "need to know" basis. The citizens cannot opt out of this database. This should scare the poo-poo out of every one of us! Who decides who needs to know? It is even reported that Google is pushing for this provision because it will allow them to sell your records to companies in the health care field. I have an even greater fear -- that someone at some time will begin to decide who should receive health services and who's too far gone to waste money on. Where's the ACLU?!!!

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=87322

Our first Muslim President?

Remember how during the Presidential campaign Obama's people repeatedly said all the internet talk about Obama being a Muslim was ridiculous? Did you hear about Obama appearing on Arab TV this past Tuesday?

He told the Muslim world that one of his main tasks was to communicate that "the Americans are not your enemy." He talked about his own background and his Muslim relatives. Hamas is deciding they like him -- "In the last couple of days, there have been a lot of statements [from Obama], some of them very positive," said Ahmed Youssef, a senior Hamas official.

We better watch him -- I'm afraid he may be a stealth Muslim! (By the way, this story was buried on page 13 of the newspaper. Wonder why it didn't make page 1?)

Paris News funny for the day: In a recent obituary, the newspaper reported that "Mrs. X was preceded in death by her only son, Bob, one of the greatest joys of her life." They really should watch those misplaced modifiers!

"Obama uses Arab TV to reach out to Muslims." The Dallas Morning News; January 28, 2009; p. 13A.

But I only meant to torture her.

I stand amazed at what people can do to their own children. Kimberly Dawn Trenor is currently standing trial for the torture and murder of her 2-year-old little girl. Jurors were brought to tears at hearing the woman admit what she did to the toddler.

It seems the child, at 2 years old, didn't have manners enough to suit her parents. She didn't say "please" and "yes sir" to Trenor's scumbag husband. So the couple spent the entire day teaching her by beating her with belts, dunking her in cold water, and repeatedly flinging her across the room until they fractured her skull. Then they hid the little body in a plastic container and finally dumped it in Galveston Bay. I don't think the baby was the one who needed a lesson in manners!

Trenor's defense attorney says she never intended to kill the child. I guess she expects that to mitigate all the torture Trenor did deliberately inflict. The kicker to all this is that while she was awaiting trial, she gave birth to a little boy. At least she gave up her parental rights to this child. However, the scumbag husband has not given up his rights. Hopefully, he will be convicted and never leave the prison walls so that his parental rights will be a non-issue. Too bad it's considered cruel and unusual punishment to do to them what they did to their own daughter.

"Mother: I took part in torture." The Dallas Morning News; January 28, 2009; p. 3A.

So much for bi-partisanship

U.S. Representative Joe Barton of Arlington, Texas, says that much of Obama's "stimulus package" amounts to "a big social spending splurge." That means we take what working people earn and give it to people who don't want to work. Governor Rick Perry is concerned that states that have mismanaged their finances will get rewarded with lots of money -- that sounds familiar (big banks, auto industry, etc.).

Some of the particulars which bear out these concerns: Texas would get $5 billion for Medicaid. The Dallas Independent School District, one of the most corrupt and inept districts I know of, would get $201 million. The City of Dallas would receive $7 million to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed properties -- this is the city mired in criminal charges against officials who misused low-income housing funds. Obama's tax breaks for low and middle-income workers will truly be a windfall for some -- even those who pay no income taxes will receive a check under the "Making Work Pay" plan.

As for Obama's pledge of unity -- here's his real attitude. When Republicans expressed to him their reservations on some of these points, according to House Republican leader Eric Cantor, Obama replied, "You're correct, there's a philosophical difference, but I won, and we're going to prevail on that." I won and you didn't - naa-naa-na-naa-naa!

"Stimulus package vexes GOP leaders." The Dallas Morning News; January 24, 2009; p. 1A.

"Obama enters stimulus fray, promising relief will be swift." The Dallas Morning News; January 24, 2009; p. 14A.

It's a topsy-turvy world: update on Covenant School

It is, indeed, a topsy-turvy world. The Dallas Academy girls who suffered the 100-0 basketball defeat have enjoyed appearances on several national television shows and have become the media darlings of the moment. Their coach continues to insist that a big deal is being made of nothing. If he believes that, why does he continue to appear on national TV? Isn't he doing to Covenant what everyone is criticizing them for doing to him -- kicking them while they're down? Why doesn't he tell the producers of these shows, "You know, we appreciate the offer and the support, but it's not a big deal, and we prefer not to appear on your TV show. We don't want to embarrass the other school."

I just heard on the morning news on television that Coach Micah Grimes has been fired from Covenant. Since when do schools fire coaches for winning? Coach Grimes tried to defend himself by posting on his website that he respectfully disagreed with the statement from the school administration that his team's win was "embarrassing" and "shameful."

So we now live in a world where losing is applauded and given national recognition while winning gets you criticized and fired. I agree with the coach from Dallas Academy -- there's been a big deal made out of nothing, and Dallas Academy basking in all the undeserved glory has cost a man his job! I think that's what's "shameful" and "embarrassing."

"Girls go from zero to national TV with invites in between." The Dallas Morning News; January 24, 2009; p. 1A.

Should they or shouldn't they?

I've been hearing about a brouhaha in the Dallas area that really had me a bit puzzled. Two private schools, The Covenant School and Dallas Academy, competed in a girls basketball game. Covenant won the game 100-0. The school took a lot of criticism and ended up apologizing for the "shameful" win and requesting to forfeit the district 3-2A game. I had never heard of a school asking to forfeit a game just because they won by a large margin.

Then I found out that Dallas Academy is for kids with learning disabilities. Well, that explains a lot of the reaction, I thought. But let's look at this logically.

If those kids aren't able to compete with other schools, why are they subjected to such humiliation? If they are able to compete, then the other schools shouldn't be ashamed of winning. Are they supposed to let Dallas Academy win and tarnish their own records?Admittedly, they maybe shouldn't have run the score up the way they did, but where do you cut if off -- 75, 50, 35, 25? Maybe they could have scored 150 but restrained themselves. Why doesn't Dallas Academy come up with a plan where the other schools, as a part of their community service, send their students to help the Dallas Academy girls with their skills and play with them on an informal basis?

We do people with disabilities no favors when we throw them into the mainstream and expect them to perform as well as others. On the other hand, we do them no favors when we throw them into the mainstream and expect others to put a halter on their own performance to keep from damaging someone's self-esteem. Let's be realistic -- let's expect of those with disabilities their very best. If that's good enough for them to compete in the world, then let them. If it's not, then give them a break and don't expect them to!

"Covenant asks for forfeit." The Dallas Morning News; January 23, 2009; p. 1C.

Obama needs a lesson in prophecy.

I was quite concerned to read that one of the very first world leaders Barack Obama called after his inauguration was Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The newspaper says the call was "an attempt to bolster the Palestinian leader's position and that of his secular Fatah party, which was severely weakened by Israel's just concluded assault in the Gaza Strip." Obama told Abbas that the Palestinian Authority should have a key role in rebuilding Gaza.

Obama can have the most brilliant domestic plan the world has ever seen (but he doesn't); he could be the most successful peacemaker the world has ever seen (but he isn't); he could implement the most gentle treatment of terrorists the world has ever seen (and it looks like he will, but that's another story); but if he doesn't understand that the fate of our country is tied to what we do with Israel and her enemies, then our country is poised for devastation. We must not forget that God said that those nations who stand with Israel He will bless, and those nations who stand against her He will destroy.

We need to pray that God will give American Jews and Christians the courage and the understanding to exert their influence in whatever way they can to insure that our government makes the right choices in the Middle East. We need to pray that God will raise up leaders of faith and integrity to turn America in the right direction. We need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

"Obama targets Guantanamo." The Dallas Morning News; January 22, 2009; p. 1A.

Essie May to post 321st blog.

This morning, the headline on the internet news website I check out each day was: "Obama to spend second full day on the job." Are we going to get this every day until the headline reads "Obama to spend 1460th full day on the job"? I thought it was news only if he wasn't on the job.

I agree with Leonard.

I don't usually agree with Leonard Pitts, but he wrote a column this week that perfectly articulated what I've been thinking for weeks. Despite Barack Obama's attempts to project the image that he and Abraham Lincoln are two of a kind, Leonard says that Lincoln would likely be appalled at Obama's election. Or as I said to Mr. Essie May last week when the Obama's visited the Lincoln Memorial one evening -- "Lincoln is spinning in his grave!"

Two major points Pitts makes are that Lincoln did not believe in equality of the races, and Lincoln did not free the slaves. People who honor him for those things either have never learned history or they've fallen for the revisionist junk taught in many schools today.

The truth is that Lincoln said in 1858, "There is a physical difference between the white and black races, which . . . will forever forbid the two races living together upon terms of social and political equality." Lincoln did not believe that blacks should be able to vote. Had Lincoln not been assassinated, it's possible we wouldn't even have very many blacks in the United States -- he wanted to exile the freed slaves to Central America.

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, in essence, freed no slaves. It freed only those slaves in the states in rebellion -- the states where Lincoln's authority was not recognized. States still in the Union were not included in the Emancipation Proclamation though there were slaves in some of those states.

Here's where Mr. Pitts and I part ways. Leonard Pitts believes in Barack Obama. My take on Barack Obama allying himself to Abraham Lincoln is consistent with my general opinion of Barack Obama -- all show, no substance.

"What would Lincoln really say?" The Dallas Morning News; January 20, 2009; p. 13A.

Oh, really?

I cannot believe the way people are looking at Barack Obama as a messiah. I would like nothing better than to see him completely turn this country around so that it is the great nation it used to be, but common sense tells me what he plans to do will drive us deeper and deeper into the hole. As for him being "the first African-American President" -- big deal! You would think from the way that people are talking that all the blacks have just been liberated from the plantations. The reality is that for more than 40 years, there has been no forced segregation -- quite the contrary. Integration is what has been forced, and we see what that has done.

Ruben Navarrette is one of those ringing the "free at last" bell. In a recent column, he referenced an appearance by Will Smith on Oprah Winfrey. Both Will and Oprah, of course, are black. Will Smith said that his mother and father had raised him to think that he could accomplish anything in life; it wasn't until Obama came along that he actually believed it. Will Smith began his TV series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, in 1990. I would suspect that's when his wealth began to significantly increase. He is now worth more than $60 million. Oprah Winfrey did The Color Purple in 1985, and I suspect that she was no pauper at that time. Oprah Winfrey's net worth is now $1.4 billion. Where was Barack Hussein Obama in 1990? He was in law school and no one had ever heard of him.

It appears to me that Will Smith is either stupid, a liar, or completely hoo-dooed by the Obama mystique, because Barack Obama wasn't even on the scene when he and Oprah Winfrey amassed their millions and billions!

"Even before taking office, Obama changed our world." The Dallas Morning News; January 19, 2009; p. 19A.

http://www.knowyournetworth.com/will_smith_net_worth.html
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/10/O0ZT.html

How many convictions would you like?

Jonathan Bruce Reed has been on Texas' death row for almost 30 years. He raped and murdered Wanda Jean Wadle, a Braniff Airlines flight attendant, in 1978. A three-judge federal appeals court panel in New Orleans last week reversed his conviction because there were no blacks on his jury. The odd thing about this reversal is that Reed is white. The scary thing is that he must be released unless he is granted a new trial within 120 days.

Reed claims he is innocent, but his defense attorney must not believe him. He said that Reed is a changed man and deserves to be released. "I'm innocent" is quite a bit different from "I've changed." "I've changed" leaves the impression that I did it, but I'm not like that anymore. By the way, Reed was convicted twice of this crime -- his 1979 conviction was overturned and he was retried in 1983 and convicted again.

An interesting side note: The Dallas Morning News says, "Reed, who has always said he was at work and his parents' home when Wadle was killed, could not be reached for comment Tuesday." Don't they know where he is?

"Conviction tossed in death row case." The Dallas Morning News; January 14, 2009; p. 1A.

Essie May predicts . . .

It looks like Six Flags Over Texas has won its petition to sell alcoholic beverages at the Arlington park. A Six Flags spokesman says they hope to be selling beer when they open the 2009 season February 28.

Essie May predicts that before 2009 is over, the park will be sued by some idiot who drank too much and then got hurt by doing something stupid on one of the rides -- or by an innocent patron who was hurt by the drunken idiot.

Remember, you heard it here first!

Paris News funny for the day: Poor Krista Goerte doesn't know whether the word she wants is spelled "premiere" or "premier," so she uses both versions in her January 15 story about a 1959 Impala headed for the auction block. Judging from the context, the word she wants is "premier" meaning first in importance. But then she messes it up -- " . . .on the auction block at one of the world's most premier auction houses." It can't be "most premier." Either it's premier or it's not -- kind of like most unique. On the other hand, I have to say that Krista's writing style is most unique!

"Six Flags cheers decision supporting alcohol sales." The Dallas Morning News; January 10, 2009; p. 1B.

Duh!

I can't believe Ora Irby of Dallas wrote this letter to the editor. What I really can't believe is that The Dallas Morning News actually published it.

Ora thinks "scythe" is a stupid word. Her daughter misspelled the word in her high school spelling bee. Ora said neither she nor her daughter has ever heard the word before. She must not have grown up in Texas -- certainly not in rural Texas. She says she wonders if the people who use scythes know that's what they are. She wants to know why it's not called a weed cutter since that's what it's used for. I guess we could carry that further: "stove" is such a stupid word, let's call it a food cooker; "bed" is a stupid word, let's call it a reclining device; "camera" is a stupid word, let's call it a picture taker; "chair" is a stupid word, let's call it a butt prop; and on and on.

Ora sums up with "So, there we are: having a stupid word with which a speller must have been familiar in the first place in order to spell it . . . No matter our IQ, we cannot win all the spelling bees of life." Obviously, "no matter our IQ," we can have a letter printed in the newspaper!

"The tough contests of life." The Dallas Morning News; January 10, 2009; p. 4B.

More sex equals fewer babies.

Now I've heard it all. Our educational curriculum is the reason so many kids are having babies. Jon Pitt of Dallas says that "This is due to the current abstinence-based sexual education policy of our state's education board."

I guess maybe we should switch to "Go ahead and have all the sex you want-based sexual education policy." Seems Mr. Pitt thinks that might decrease the number of teen pregnancies. Anyone want to nominate Mr. Pitt for an Essie?

Paris News funny for the day: Mary Madewell quotes Mayor Jesse Freelen on the front page of last Tuesday's paper as saying that the city's health insurance costs are out of "sinc" with other local entities. Maybe she can avoid such an error in the future by using a "sinonym."

"Abstinence ed to blame." The Dallas Morning News; January 11, 2009; p. 3P.

We are doomed by global warming!

Today's high in Minneapolis - minus 4 degrees. Today's high in Chicago - minus 2 degrees. Lows could reach minus 48 in Minnesota. Coldest temperatures recorded in Chicago in 10 years. This global warming is gonna' kill us all!

He gave in.

On December 20, I wrote about the much ado about nothing over Rick Warren saying a prayer at the Presidential inauguration. I said that my respect for Obama would increase a tiny bit if he didn't give in to the rantings and ravings of the gays.

He gave in -- Warren will still be on the program, but so will Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop. He will say a prayer at the first inaugural event at the Lincoln Memorial. I agree with Robinson when he says that he believes "Obama will be the most supportive president ever for gay rights causes."

May God help us all!

Dallas Morning News funny -- from a subhead on page 1B of Tuesday's edition: "Traffic officer's caught stashing cocaine in squad car." I don't know about you, but I've never seen a caught stash cocaine before!

"Gay bishop to kick off festivities." The Dallas Morning News; January 13, 2009; p. 5A.

The Essie

Everybody gets awards these days, so I am inaugurating "The Essie." I like The Essie so much, that it will probably be given more than once a year. But the first honoree will always be able to say with pride, "We received the very first Essie!"

The Essie award is given on the basis of only one criterion -- pure stupidity.

And the first Essie goes to -- (the envelope, please) -- PETA for their campaign to abolish the word "fish" and replace it with "sea kittens."

You see, no one would want to eat sea kittens, but people think nothing of eating fish. On second thought, that might not be such a bad idea -- I can see eating sea kittens with my hush puppies!

CONGRATULATIONS, PETA!

http://www.peta.org/sea_kittens/about.asp

Duh!

I recently had occasion to conduct a transaction with the Federal Communications Commission. I filed my information online. A couple of days later, I received an envelope in the mail. It was a document from the FCC thanking me for filing my report online. It also included a paper copy of the report I had filed with additional pages advising me of the federal paperwork reduction act. In keeping with the paper work reduction, I was asked to review the information I had already submitted via internet and return the signed paper copy to them. Looks like this paperwork reduction thing is really working!

Then I read a small item in the newspaper about James Howarth. He received one of those dreaded letters from the IRS. It seems the IRS spent 42 cents to bill him for the 5 cents he owed them. He must pay, they said, or face additional penalties and interest. Ah, but the IRS had made a mistake. James received a second letter saying that the government actually owed him 4 cents. If James wants his 4 cents, he must request it. So our government spent 84 cents to tell a man if he wants the 4 cents he's entitled to, he'll have to spend 42 cents to get it. If he does, the government will have to spend another 42 cents to mail it to him. Multiply this by thousands of unreported instances, and we wonder why we have a deficit!

http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/laws/paperwork-reduction/3501.html

"Detroit man tries to make cents of the IRS." The Dallas Morning News; January 4, 2009; p. 9A.

Is time travel possible?

The Paris News featured Elbert Desmond on its senior citizen page last Sunday. Elbert is 76 years old, and the newspaper hailed him as a font of Lamar County history. May I encourage you to be just a little skeptical of his stories? Here's why.

According to Mr. Desmond, his father formed a baseball team when Elbert was 15 years old. They traveled throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado, playing semi-pro teams. Elbert accompanied the team as the batboy. The baseball tour lasted from June 18 to Sept. 23, 1947, and Desmond said they traveled about 2,500 miles total. Elbert said after the baseball tour ended, he and his father traveled to Houston where they watched the first two baseball games ever played in the Astrodome.

Now, there are several possibilities here.

1. The reporter didn't get the story right.
2. Mr. Desmond is a liar.
3. Mr. Desmond is just a bit senile and forgetful.
4. Mr. Desmond can travel through time.

The Astrodome didn't open until 1965 -- 18 years after Desmond's baseball tour. Obviously possibility number 1 puts the reporter at fault. Possibility numbers 2 and 3 also put the reporter at fault as she did not check out the facts of Mr. Desmond's story. Possibility number 4 really puts the reporter at fault -- if it's true, she completely missed the real story!

"Memories of Paris from days long past." The Paris News; January 4, 2009; p. 4C.

Kwanzaa or Communism?

In an article about the made-up celebration of Kwanzaa, The Dallas Morning News reports that sales of Kwanzaa related items have sky-rocketed this year in the wake of Barack Obama's election. The reporter included the seven principles of Kwanzaa. I find the principles to be contradictory.

One of the principles is self-determination. I don't know what they mean by self-determination, but to me it means working hard, studying hard, and setting personal goals to strive for. If my definition is correct, the next two principles, collective work and responsibility and cooperative economics, are diametrically opposed to it. Collective work and cooperative economics are euphemisms for Communism.

I guess that explains why the Kwanzaaites are particularly elated with the election of Barack "share the wealth" Obama.

"Taking culture to the streets." The Dallas Morning News; December 27, 2008; P. 1B.

New Year Illegitimate Babies

I dread the new year because of the announcements of the first babies born. In the past several years, most of them have been illegitimate -- a word that's never used any more because it's politically incorrect.

The first baby born in Dallas County was born to Kelly Houk. The baby's father is Josh Myers. They may be married, but I doubt it since the mother's name is different from the father's. April Juarez was the first new baby in Fort Worth. Happily, her parents are married -- unhappily, they seem to be in the minority. The first baby born in Collin County may be the first miraculous birth in over 2000 years -- she has a mother, but no mention of a father.

But the one that really takes the cake is the first baby born at Parkland. Justin Daniel Ramirez's mother, Fernanda Rios, is in the eighth grade. She is 15 years old. The child's father is 20 years old. I looked up the Texas law on statutory rape. It says that it is "a sexual assault for anyone to intentionally or knowingly penetrate a person under age 17, other than his spouse. " The father should be arrested. If we start prosecuting for these crimes, we just might see the teen pregnancy rate begin to decline. The authorities might also check the citizenship status of these folks while they're at it!

"Wait a minute ... '09's first baby born in FW." The Dallas Morning News; January 2, 2009; p. 1B.

Another National Crisis Averted!

With Israel and Hamas going at it, with our economy in the tank, with natural disasters abounding, we have another crisis!

On the social scene in Washington ladies are facing the "horror of turning up for an inaugural ball wearing the same dress as another guest." Do not fear, however, for Andrew Jones has a solution. His website, www.dressregistry.com, allows ball goers to register their gowns with the color, length, designer, neckline description, and other distinguishing characteristics.

The problem with Andrew's idea is that most women want to make a grand entrance in their dresses, and they certainly are not going to spoil the surprise by posting on his website. I can forsee, though, that with a crisis of this magnitude, Congress will soon mandate that dresses must be registered. Oh, and as long as we're requiring registration, let's just charge a fee for it as well! Thank Congress for another crisis averted!

Paris News funny for the day: This caption appeared on a page 5 photo in the December 31, 2008, edition -- "Models grace the stage of the Paris Community Theatre Saturday during 'A Grand Affair,' the spring fashion show benefiting the Grand Theater marquee sign restoration." Must be global warming -- the vernal equinox seems to have come about three months early this year.

"Dress duplication? Try gown registry." The Dallas Morning News; January 2, 2009; p. 10A.

Once is enough!

The publisher of The Paris News makes it a point to let us know that he finds it difficult to write 52 editorial columns each year. That's pretty obvious. His column in the January 1 edition rehashed the columns he had written from January through June of 2008. He promises that his next column will be the same for the columns written from July through December. I may be mistaken, but I believe somewhere about the middle of last year, he also had a column telling us about the previous columns he had written. At the end of 2009, will he tell us that he wrote columns in January telling us what he wrote in 2008? You know the effect you get when you see a mirror reflected in a mirror? You see the scene repeated into infinity. Reminds me of his columns. When you have to resort to writing columns about your columns, maybe you should just quit writing. With these columns, once is more than enough!

Paris News funny for the day: December 31, 2008, front page headline -- "Official offices close for the holiday." Is that opposed to unofficial offices closing for the holiday?

"2008 columns touched on a variety of topics." The Paris News; January 1, 2009; p. 4.

Who's responsible?

Jamie Schield, co-chair of the Texas HIV/STD Prevention Planning Group, says one of the big reasons for the high rate of HIV, STDs, and unplanned pregnancies in Dallas County is that the County does not distribute free condoms. I disagree. The main reason for a high HIV, STD, and unplanned pregnancy rate is people having promiscuous sex. If they're too poor to go buy a pack of condoms, they should be concentrating on something besides lust!

Paris News funny for the day -- front page photo in yesterday's paper was of two children playing on a "jungle-jim." Do you think their proof readers work out at the jimnasium?

"Thanks for condom debate." The Dallas Morning News; December 30, 2008; p. 12A.

Get a clue!

Steven M. Hanes of Garland is concerned. He and his "partner" went to see the movie Milk. He's upset because there was "an absence of openly gay actors in any of the leading roles." He says Hollywood should get a clue.

If I get Mr. Hanes gripe correctly, he wants gay actors to portray gay roles. I bet Mr. Hanes wouldn't like the shoe on the other foot, though. I bet he wouldn't like it if only straight actors could portray straight roles. I think he would call that discrimination.

I do find myself agreeing with him on one thing. The very few G-rated films that come out each year are usually box-office hits. Hollywood should get a clue!

"Why no gay actors?" The Dallas Morning News; December 30, 2008; p. 12A.