You can't vs. you must.

William Ogden argues that the Catholic church shouldn't be allowed an exemption from Obamacare mandates that it provide free contraceptives to its employees. He says that ecclesiastical law must take a back seat to civil law. He says that if the Catholic church is allowed an exemption, then the FLDS should be allowed to mistreat minor girls.

He misses the point. It is a valid role of government to protect children from harm. It is not a valid role of government to make an organization pay for something they deem immoral.

It's a matter of "you can't do" (molest/rape children) vs. "you must do" (provide something that violates your religious principles). If Mr. Ogden can't see the differences here, then he is either stupid or willfully blinded by his liberal bias.

"Church can't trump civil law." The Dallas Morning News; June 17, 2012; p. 2P.

Maybe you should downsize, Teresa.

Teresa Zdychnec of Fairview says it's ridiculous that CEO's make a lot of money. They're just greedy. No one needs that kind of income. They should forfeit their salaries and hire employees for their companies and increase the hours for current employees.

I looked up where Teresa lives. Her house is located right next to a golf course and is valued by the Collin County Appraisal District at $170,000. No one needs a $170,000 home. I think Teresa is greedy. I think she should downsize to an $85,000 home and buy some homeless person an $85,000 home. What do you think?

"D-FW CEO salaries sickening." The Dallas Morning News; June 19, 2012; p. 10A.

How's that again?

Recent headlines in the newspaper:

"New ancient Chinese writing discovered."

"Thurty-four arrests made over the weekend."

Funny or Blasphemous?

I guess Leonard Pitts thinks he's being funny in a recent column, but he comes across to me as nothing less than blasphemous.

 

His scenario is that he and God are standing in line for the movies to see Monsters University. He says God is a big Billy Crystal fan. Leonard strikes up a conversation. He asks God if He's heard about the religious atheists. God wants to know if this is a "two rabbis" joke. No, Leonard replies, it's from a Pew research poll that shows that 12% of those who claim to be atheists pray to a "universal spirit." God replies that He hadn't heard -- His internet is down.

 

And the whole thing goes on that way. Leonard has God saying that He doesn't mind being called a "universal spirit." Perhaps Leonard has forgotten that God does put a lot of importance on what He's called and reverence for His name. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him."

 

Then Leonard, obviously ignorant of the Scripture, presumes to know the mind of God by having God say, "Faith and doubt do not oppose each other. They define each other, like light and shadow." Well, Leonard, what about, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways"? What do you do with "I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." And how about "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." No, Leonard, I think you must have misheard, because I know that God does not contradict Himself. In fact, Leonard, I have a challenge for you. Get a concordance and look up all the references to doubt and unbelief and report to us how many of those references have a positive connotation.

 

Then God says that those people are just looking for Him someplace besides religion, and that's OK. Maybe they're not wrong, maybe religion is. He says that looking for Him is more important than finding Him. He tells Leonard that that's where true wisdom begins. I don't think so, Leonard. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." And what about all those people who looked for him but evidently didn't find him -- "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." It seems to me that finding Him was the eternally important part.
And then Leonard ascribes to God a global warming message -- God tells Leonard to recycle his water bottle. To which Leonard replies, "Yes, universal spirit."

 

Either Leonard is intentionally blasphemous, or he doesn't realize he's been duped by the master deceiver: "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." Either way, Leonard is treading on very thin ice! And to top it all off, he's not even remotely funny.

 

"In line at the movies with God." The Dallas Morning News; July 10, 2013; p. 15A.

 



How many chances?

How many more chances do you think Paul Harvey Andrews should have?

In 1975, he raped a girl in Garland. Also in 1975, he took a little girl from Mesquite and raped her. His sex crimes continued into the 1980's. He was released from prison in 1983 even though he told the parole board that he would offend again. Within six weeks, he had kept his word.

Later that same year, he abducted a 12-year-old girl and her 4-year-old brother from a playground. He took them under a bridge where he held a screwdriver to the girl's throat and raped her.

He was sentenced to 75 years in prison in 1985, but he was let out on parole in 2010 despite expert opinion that he is a sexually violent predator. Bill Bruner is a sex offender counselor, so I'm sure he's heard and seen everything in the book. He says that Andrews' crimes are the most heinous of any he has dealt with. In all Andrews has been convicted of four sexual crimes and two kidnappings. But remember, that's just the ones we know about. How many has he committed where he didn't get caught?

Andrews has recently been hauled back to court for failing to abide by the terms of his parole. This time, he's received a life sentence. That is, life until they let him out on parole again. Just how many more chances to you think we should give him?

"Child sex predator gets life." The Dallas Morning News; July 10, 2013; p. 1B.

Essie's ITIMTU File

For some time now, I've had a WIST file -- "Wish I'd said that." It is now time to add the ITIMTU file -- "I think I may throw up."

Without further ado -- the first entry in Essie's ITIMTU file. I think you'll agree that it's a worthy one.

"We are so blessed to have him. We are so blessed . . . This president has brought us out of the dark and into the light."

~Michelle Obama

RIP, Trayvon!

I don't know about you, but I'm sick and tired of hearing about the "child" Trayvon Martin and his Skittles and tea! From all indications, he was a little punk who got more than he bargained for. If he were truly afraid of George Zimmerman, why didn't he get off the phone with his illiterate girlfriend and call 911?

And I'm tired of the President of the United States standing up and talking down to "white folks." Yes, we white folks may press our door locks and clutch our purses a little tighter when we see someone like Trayvon Martin. But, just as you say you view George Zimmerman through the eyes of your shared experience (I think that's called profiling, Barack), we white folks also have shared experiences -- I knew a lady and her daughter who were raped and tortured and the daughter murdered by a black teenager who looked like Trayvon. I knew another lady who was raped and tortured and murdered by three animals who looked like Trayvon. Another thing, Mr. President, where were your comments and your outrage over the two black thugs in Georgia who looked like Trayvon and murdered a 13-month-old baby in his stroller while his mother begged them to spare her child? Where were your comments on that one? If you had a son, would he have looked like them? So don't give me that holier than thou claptrap. Let's look at the statistics here and see who has the better basis for "profiling."

According to U.S. Department of Justice statistics, blacks commit 54 percent of murders, 42 percent of forcible rapes, 59 percent of robberies and 38 percent of aggravated assaults in this country. Ninety-three percent of murdered blacks were murdered by a black. Yet blacks make up only 13% of the population.

With all that in mind, I don't profile blacks. If a black man looks suspicious, I grab my purse and make sure my doors are locked. If a white man looks suspicious, I grab my purse and make sure my doors are locked. If I see a gang of blacks walking down the street toward me, I lock my car doors. If I see a gang of whites walking down the street toward me, I lock my car doors. So is it more likely that George Zimmerman had a legitimate concern about an unknown person of unknown race (remember, he told the dispatcher only when asked that Trayvon looked like he was black) skulking around late at night at his apartment complex, or that Trayvon Martin just didn't like "crazy-a_ _ crackers"?

I hereby resolve that this is my last comment on "justice for Trayvon." If everyone else will make that resolution, and if the media will stop covering vigils and protests and marches, then this thing will die, because the only reason it's still alive is because black media hogs like Al Sharpton are getting the attention they crave. Trayvon got more justice than he deserved -- the man who defended himself against him was brought to trial on flimsy evidence and rightly found not guilty. RIP, Trayvon!

P.S. I am also tired of people talking about the 3/5 rule as degrading to blacks when they have no clue what it is. Cynthia Timmons in her editorial about Trayvon and his Skittles said we can't hide behind trusting the system because "Article One, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution codified counting slaves as three-fifths of a person and their descendants still have compromised rights." Uhh, Cynthia, that has nothing to do with the rights of slaves. It has to do with how many representatives would be allotted to the states. Since slaves didn't vote anyway, I think it hardly mattered to them. All the 3/5 rule said was that in counting population for the purpose of representation, they would count 3/5 of the slave population. That was a compromise between not counting them at all as the non-slave states wanted to do and counting them all as the slave states wanted to do. So if you want to look at it Cynthia's way, it was the anti-slavery people who wanted to "compromise their rights."

Who would have thunk it?

Here's a bit of astonishing information. Banks are experiencing an increased rate of missed loan payments. They "think" it's because they've been extending more loans to people who are a bit less than credit-worthy. Gosh -- who'd have thought there could possibly be a connection!

"Missed payments are up." The Dallas Morning News; June 26, 2013; p. 2D.

Sorry, sir, but you've already voted today.

Alan Kazdoy of Dallas says he doesn't agree with the voter ID law and he will not comply. He says it's a "scurrilous attempt to disenfranchise qualified voters." No, it's not. It's an attempt to make sure the person who votes is a qualified voter. I suppose Alan does not show ID at the bank or the airports or his medical providers, either.

So since Mr. Kazdoy doesn't plan on complying with the law, let's just assume he goes to vote. And the election official says, "I'm sorry Mr. Kazdoy, but we show you've already voted today." And Mr. Kazdoy says, "No, I've not voted today." And the election official says, "Well, there was a man in here earlier who said he was Alan Kazdoy, and he refused to show us a photo-ID. He said he's been voting for 40 years, and he will not be forced to show an ID. Of course, we let him vote so as not to appear to be scurrilously disenfranchising him. So, the bottom line is, Mr. Kazdoy, you've already voted, and you cannot vote again."

My question to Mr. Kazdoy is -- were you disenfranchised by showing a photo ID or by not showing a photo ID?

"Voting is my right." The Dallas Morning News; June 27, 2013; p. 14A.

The Height of Hypocrisy

The Reverend Jesse Jackson has offered to redeem Paula Deen and help her make amends for her racial slur.

This is the same Reverend Jesse Jackson who said, "Barack...he's talking down to black people...telling niggers how to behave."

This is the same Reverend Jesse Jackson who referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown" in January 1984 during a conversation with a black Washington Post reporter.

This is the same Reverend Jesse Jackson who said in a CNN interview with Paula Zahn, April 17, 2006, "And the idea of white males fantasizing about black women is -- is quite old, quite -- and quite ugly, and now quite illegal."

Doesn't that warm the cockles of your heart?

"Jesse Jackson says Deen can be redeemed." The Dallas Morning News; June 27, 2013; p. 6A.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2420533/Jesse-Jackson-forced-to-apologise-again-for-racist-slur.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/frenzy/jackson.htm

More Ingratitude

Representative Gohmert of Texas recently made an impassioned speech about the fraud and abuse rampant in the food stamp program. In response, a New York social worker who says she understands the decision-making process of a food stamp mother wrote a letter as if she were one. She offers up all sorts of excuses why a person on the dole should not be ashamed to be seen in the checkout at the grocery with king crab legs when those of us who are paying for our own groceries have hamburger meat and chicken.

She says in her fake letter that if we saw her buying king crab legs, it was an exception to her usual purchases. After all, we are so stingy that we only give her $4.50 per day per family member. And we don't even keep her up with inflation! Well, for your information, she informs us, children should eat fish. I can agree with that -- we buy tilapia at about one-third the cost of king crab legs. Sometimes we buy canned tuna fish; but we buy king crab legs only on those special occasions when we visit a Red Lobster.

She then decries the perks that our elected representatives get and says that we spend much more on those than we do on food stamps. I want to see her references for that, because I've found statistics that say otherwise. She says she gets $400 a month for food -- multiply that by the more than 23 million on food stamps. Last year the cost was $78 billion. And these people do nothing to earn it. For Senators and Congressmen, the approximate yearly cost for salaries and benefits (which they, in theory, earn) total about $6 billion. Sounds to me like food stamps cost us more than 12 times what congressional salaries do.

Then this fictional food stamp queen wants to know what the senators and reps buy at the grocery store. Well, honey, it's none of your business. They're buying it with their money. You're spending our money. Big difference!

Then this fictional mama says that people like her keep welfare food in the cupboards -- that is, they defraud. She says they keep empty rice and cereal boxes and bean cans so that when child welfare comes calling, the workers don't know they don't really have food. So, I'm wondering, if you're on food stamps, does that automatically mean you are subject to calls from child welfare? I thought there had to be some indication of child abuse or neglect for child welfare to come calling.

Then Ms. Entitled says that they could cut food stamp costs if she just didn't have to fill out so much paperwork. She said it's hard to follow all the rules, and she doesn't like being criticized for buying high calorie foods. Then she does the martyr thing -- "When I buy king crab legs for my kids, I go without so my kids can have a nutritious meal." Ms. Entitled says, "I do what I have to do." Hmmm - would that in any way include getting a job or having the kids' father(s) get off his (their) duff(s) and support his (their) offspring? That, of course, assumes that this poor, unfairly criticized woman knows who the father(s) of her offspring is (are).

"Food stamps, crab legs, childhood obesity." The Dallas Morning News; June 28, 2013; p. 23A.

Let's send an Arab as the ambassador to Israel!

It seems to me that Obama is either stupid, or he goes out of his way to be in-your-face about his agenda and power.

He recently appointed an openly gay man as the ambassador to the Dominican Republic, a very conservative country. Religious groups there are "outraged." U.S. Embassy spokesman Daniel Foote said that Wally Brewster was appointed because of his skills as an international businessman. Is he saying that no heterosexual person in this country of 300 million could possibly do the job? And isn't it defeating the purpose of having an ambassador when we purposely send someone we know to be distasteful to the designated country?

At any rate, Dominican President Danilo Median may very well reject the nomination. If he does, it means he has a much more accurate moral compass than our President does!

"Dominican groups oppose gay diplomat." The Dallas Morning News; June 29, 2013; p. 12A.

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says, "The health care law guarantees millions of women access to recommended preventive services at no cost."

That's an out and out lie. Somebody is going to pay! The patient through insurance premiums, the insurance company, the employer, or the taxpayers will foot the bill, but the service will cost!

"Birth control rule is tweaked." The Dallas Morning News; June 29, 2013; p. 1A.

The Height of Ingratitude

First Presbyterian Church in Dallas runs a charitable organization called the Stewpot. The Stewpot offers free meals and community programs for children and social services for homeless and "at-risk" individuals. For many years, it has run a summer program for low-income children.

The Stewpot is in trouble. In an effort to help the children they serve during the summer assimilate, they strongly encourage them to speak English while in the program. A bunch of Mexicans are griping about it on social media and insisting that the staff member asking the kids to speak English be fired and other staff members be forced to take "sensitivity training."

Here's my suggestion: you no like a de way dey run de program, you no come. In the meantime, perhaps you should learn how to say "gracias" to an organization feeding and taking care of your bambinos gratis.

"Camp: Language isn't a mandate." The Dallas Morning News; July 4, 2013; p. 5B.

I don't care what he's done . . . you have to hire him anyway.

Can you imagine that some employers are so blatantly biased that they routinely refuse to hire people who have criminal convictions? The EEOC has updated its policy on criminal background checks in order to "rein in practices that can limit job opportunities for minorities with higher arrest and conviction rates than whites." The EEOC also recommends that employers stop asking about criminal convictions on job applications.

I can just see it now. You don't ask, you hire a child-rapist, one of your customer's children is attacked, and you get sued. But the good news is that the EEOC can't get you for discrimination!

"EEOC says arrest not a job barrier." The Dallas Morning News; April 26, 2012; p. 6A.

We must get our priorities in order!

Remember the couple that was in prison and had left their children alone to live in an old school bus with only a relative checking on them every now and then? CPS put the children in foster care. Well, the mother, Sherrie Shorter got out of prison and fixed up the bus for her 5- and 12-year-old kids. She boasts that it now has a flat screen TV and a computer. Last January, she got her kids back. They may live in an old school bus, but by golly they have a flat screen TV and a computer so Sherrie can keep her Facebook page updated! I'm so glad the judge recognized that this mom has her priorities in order.

 

"Mom says bus where kids lived is fixed up." The Dallas Morning News; April 26 2012; p. 4A.

What kind of people are these parents?

 

How many of you would find it acceptable to subject your children to national public ridicule? I do not understand the reasoning and the logic of the parents of Coy Mathis, one of a set of triplets.

 

Coy Mathis is a little 6-year-old boy whose parents have allowed him to believe he is a girl. Coy's school refused to allow him to use the little girls' restroom but told him he did not have to use the little boys' room, either. He could use the restroom in the nurse's office or the restroom in the teacher's lounge.

 

Now, if Coy didn't announce to the world that he was going to the restroom, how many of those kids do you think would have even taken notice that he wasn't going to the same restrooms they were? But Coy's parents raised a big ruckus and put him in the national spotlight. Little Coy was suffering humiliation, stigmatization, and discrimination, they claimed. Well, he certainly is now! At a press conference (where Coy was dressed in a glittery pink top and pink tennis shoes), the parents celebrated a ruling by the Colorado Division of Civil Rights that said Coy could use the little girls' room.

Who do you suppose dressed Coy in the girly clothes? His mother says that from the time he was 18-months-old, he wore a little fairy dress with a tutu and a Dora the Explorer bathing suit. I don't think Coy went out and bought them and dressed himself. His dad says that when they sent out photos of him dressed this way, they began to "detect a pattern." No foolin', Clyde??!! They say that at around four years of age, Coy began to ask when he was going to the doctor to get his "girl parts." How did a four-year-old even know of such a thing? Maybe Mama and Daddy, for some hinky reason, told him they were going to get him some "girl parts"? No, I don't think Coy's school has had anything to do with humiliating and stigmatizing him -- his clueless parents are handling that very well by themselves.

 

As for Coy, he says, "Not even my teachers know I'm a girl!" If Coy has male genitalia, he is not a girl. My question is how the parents of all the little girls in that school feel about a little boy using the bathroom with their daughters. If I were those parents, I'd be demanding a separate bathroom for my daughter!

Note of interest: I did a little internet research and found that this family lived in the Austin, Texas, area when the triplets were born. Wouldn't you think that a woman pregnant with triplets would be at a higher risk than one with a single baby or even twins? Well, this dodo had the kids at home, and one of the children is profoundly disabled from having contracted an infection. I found a website where they were seeking donations of diapers, gift cards, formula, etc. It included this interesting note from the mother: "Thank you all so much for continuing to care. My family has just stopped
coming over or trying to really help at all." Why do you suppose that would be? I cannot imagine a grandmother, aunt, or uncle not offering help in a situation like that. What could these people have done to estrange their families?

And here's another perspective I found from the mom of another set of triplets: "My opinion, based on my knowledge, is the mom of this child is a fame-seeking attention [expletive deleted], who will stop at nothing to prove how edgy and non-mainstream she is, even at the expense of her child's privacy. I 'met' her online six years ago when she came to the Triplet Connection and made a huge ruckus because she was dead-set on homebirthing her 'natural' triplets in a kiddie pool in her living room. I thought she was a faker, so I immediately set out to see if she was real, or not, where I discovered that she didn't, in fact, have 'natural' triplets. She had ordered clomid from Mexico, and gotten pregnant using non-prescribed fertility drugs."

And yet another perspective on how her little girl became disabled:
 
And then there was the "Donate to buy a wheelchair van for Lily" campaign. For $1, they'd friend you on Twitter or Facebook or some such nonsense. For $10 you'd get a public Facebook thank you. For $100 you'd get a picture drawn by Lily (the child the mother claims is helpless as a 2-month-old -- can't say that I've seen much art by infants that young). And for $500 you'd get a playdate with Lily. One mother blogged back that she'll let you come play with her kids for $500, too!

Some of the blogging moms of triplets think this woman is guilty of Munchhausen's by Proxy. They may just be on to something there.

 

http://fourtimesthefun.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-one-where-i-weigh-in-on.html

"Transgender girl wins ruling." The Dallas Morning News; June 25, 2013; p. 4A.

We just want to be tolerated.

Exodus International was a ministry that stood up for the Bible in its proclamation that homosexual behavior is an abomination in the sight of God. But I guess the PC folks finally got to them. Alan Chambers, the leader of the ministry, has apologized to homosexuals.

Of course, the queers are ecstatic. But it seems it's about more than "just toleration." Sharon Groves, the director of a gay-rights organization, said, "Now we need them to take the next step . . . and persuade all other religious-based institutions that they got it wrong." Persuade all you want to, Sharon, but when it comes to what Sharon says or what Alan Chambers says or what God says, guess who I'm going with?

"Ministry tells gays it's sorry." The Dallas Morning News; June 21, 2013; p. 8A.

Everything's a health crisis.

 

Everything's a health problem now. I've posted about how the CDC is now in charge of the health problem of gun violence. And now violence against women is a "global health problem of epidemic proportions" according to Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization.

 

Make no mistake -- this isn't just words. There is an agenda behind declaring all the meanness in the world as "health problems." And the agenda has to do with power. If it's a health problem, then Obama can throw it under Obamacare and weasel his way into tossing the Second Amendment and the Fourth Amendment and the First Amendment and any other that happens to be getting in his way.

 

"Report: 30% of women abused." The Dallas Morning News; June 21, 2013; p. 14A.

Have a mirror handy, Anna?

 

 

People really amuse me sometimes. Anna Gutierrez says that what's wrong with our country are the people who are quick to blame someone else. She says everyone is busy telling someone else how to live his life. What we really need, Anna says, is for all those people who are at fault to quit blaming others and look in the mirror.

 

She says if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself. Uhhhhh, Anna -- do you have a mirror handy? Or are you too busy blaming all these other people for our country's ills and trying to tell them how to live their lives?

 

"Take a look inside." The Dallas Morning News; June 24, 2013; p. 12A.

You do have a place prepared.

 

Laura Cox is an atheist. She and her family celebrate "Giftmas" instead of Christmas. She says, "What motivates me is that as a human, discrimination bothers me greatly, and I want there to be a safe place for atheists."

 

Well, Laura, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that there has, indeed, been a place prepared for you. The bad news is, I don't think you're going to like it.

 

"A cross they hate to bear." The Dallas Morning News; April 3, 2012, p. 1B.

From the WIST File

 

"The difference beween stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."

 

~Albert Einstein

But is it constitutional?

 

 

Teresa Rousseau has my deepest sympathy. Her daughter, a teacher, was killed at the Sandy Hook School massacre. I understand Teresa's zeal to do something about what happened. But in her grief, Teresa is completely missing the boat.

 

Teresa recently participated in a rally calling for gun control. She said, "I think it's time the average American gets a little louder in what he has to say." So Teresa is all for the First Amendment right to say what she wants as loudly as she wants. And that's good. But what she's loudly calling for completely negates the Second Amendment. Our right to keep and bear arms "shall not be infringed." I'll grant that our government has already imposed an unconstitutional onus on us by requiring gun owners to jump through all sorts of hoops, but that doesn't mean we have to let it keep going.

 

Teresa is right -- the average American should stand up and speak loudly as our constitutionally protected liberties are slowly chipped away. We no longer have the freedom to practice our religion anywhere we choose. We no longer have the freedom to openly carry a firearm. Our private records are now public fodder for the NSA. We no longer have the right to associate or not associate with whomever we choose. The IRS confiscates our money in order to give it to someone else. And the list goes on and on.

 

So we need to stand up with Teresa and shout, "ENOUGH! We will not allow another liberty to be trampled upon by an out-of-control government that's grown way too big for its britches!"

 

"Rally doubles as call for gun control." The Dallas Morning News; June 15, 2013; p. 4A. 

Should there be white people in a school if there are no white people in the community?

 

 

Melinda Henneberger bemoans the continuing segregation in our society. She says, ". . .we may think we no longer need to engineer experiences that bring kids of different races together. . ." Her conclusion is that we do.

 

Melinda is upset that Mountain Brook School in Alabama is all white and Fairfield School is all black. Could that possibly be because Mountain Brook, Alabama, is 98.8% white and .3% black while Fairfield, Alabama, is 90.23% black and 8.9% white? Melinda conveniently left that little fact out of her argument. Would she like to force those kids to go to a school outside their own districts just so she'll like the color mix?

 

Melinda doesn't seem to realize that you can make people go to school together or work together, but you can't make them socialize when they're uncomfortable with each other. And that goes both ways in the racial spectrum. If Melinda were truly as colorblind as she thinks she is, she wouldn't be worried about how many black kids are in school x or how many white kids are in school y. She'd only be concerned that the kids in school x and school y were getting both getting quality educations.

 

"Ugly truths persist." The Dallas Morning News; June 17, 2013; p. 11A.

 



In Memory

 

 This post is written in memory of Boyd and Doris Haynes.

 

I didn't know Boyd and Doris Haynes, but they tragically left this life together to unite with their heavenly family on July 13, 2011. Boyd was born April 8, 1924, in El Reno, Oklahoma, to Clyde and Hazel Haynes. Doris was born exactly one year later, April 8, 1925, to John and Myrtle Mae Keef in Union City, Oklahoma.

They were united in holy matrimony on March 20, 1943, in Oakland, California, and later that year Boyd entered the U.S. Army serving during World War II in Germany. After the war ended, they returned to their home state and lived in the Oklahoma City area for the remainder of their lives.

Boyd and Doris owned and operated B&B Hearing Aid Service for many years before retiring in the 1980s. They were charter members of the Willow Creek Golf & Country Club and active in the South Oklahoma City community until health issues restricted their involvement.

The Haynes Family tremendously enjoyed golf which sometimes included family tournaments. Besides golf, Boyd enjoyed making wooden patio chairs and other woodworking projects. But the family really relied upon him for “fixing things” in his garage. When a small appliance or item was broken, family members easily responded, “It’s okay because ‘Dad’ or ‘Granddad’ or ‘Pampa’ will fix it!”

Doris, also known as “Mother”, “Grandmother” and “Great” was known for her baking skills. She loved giving birthday dinners for her family which would always include their favorite birthday cake or pie. And if you were lucky enough to be a recipient of her famous cookies, chocolate sheet cake, peanut brittle, coconut bon-bons, or any other of her numerous treats, then you were special. But then, that was just Doris…she made everyone feel special when you were around her. When weather prohibited golf with her golf buddies, the ladies settled for a weekly game of “tripoly”.

As Terry stated, “Mother and Dad were the greatest parents and grandparents in the world.” Their legacies will live on in each of us, and their presence on earth will be deeply missed.

 

Boyd and Doris were murdered. Tristan Owen, a neighbor boy who was high on drugs, threw two molotov cocktails and set their house on fire. They were scheduled to move into assisted living the following day. Tristan has been sentenced to six years in prison. I don't think that's justice.

 

"Teen gets 6 years in deaths of couple." The Dallas Morning News; June 17, 2013; p. 3A.

http://www.vondelsmithmortuary.com/book-of-memories/819598/Haynes-Boyd/obituary.php

Who was Tony's English teacher?

Tony Torres makes fun of Midge Douglas who is impatient with the lack of English skills of the employees of stores and salons she patronizes. Tony says most people who are monolinguals are paranoid and xenophobic.  

 

Tony says, "Douglas apparently prefers having her nails done at Vietnamese nail salons instead to having them done at a 'regular' nail salon." "Instead to"? Who taught you English, Tony?

 

"Fluent in paranoia." The Dallas Morning News; June 14, 2013; p. 24A.

Profiling?

The George Zimmerman trial is big news right now. I don't know whether George Zimmerman was a trigger happy vigilante or not. He may be guilty as sin. I do know that Trayvon Martin was not the angel his family portrays him to be.

 

At any rate, I find it amusing that the charge of profiling is front and center in this case. Rev. Gerald Britt (I don't really know what gives him any expertise in this area) says that the recording of Zimmerman's 911 call "profiles Martin." I guess that's a matter of perception, but Zimmerman did not specify a race until prodded by the dispatcher.

 

Now let's look at the other side of this "profiling" thing. Have you noticed that anytime a white person kills a black person, the "community organizers" come out in full force claiming racism? Isn't that profiling? If you're white, you must be a racist?

 

Kind of like the pot calling the kettle . . . oh well, I don't want to be accused of profiling here, so I'll just let you finish the thought.

 

"Denials aside, Martin case is about race." The Dallas Morning News; April 9, 2012; p. 11a.

Wouldn't it be better to change the behavior?

 

Some of these high dollar government studies just boggle the mind. When any junior high student could come up with the answer without spending any money, our government spends millions on useless studies and usually comes up with the wrong answer.

 

U.S. health officials are now recommending that doctors give to people who shoot heroin, methamphetamines or other illegal drugs a daily dose of an AIDS drug. They've already made the recommendation for gay men.

 

So you and I must pay for a bunch of druggies and perverts to have their fun without facing any consequences themselves. So we keep them from getting AIDS -- they inject heroin and meth long enough, they'll die from that anyway. Shouldn't we just save the money? Wouldn't the best solution be for them to stop doing drugs and having gross sex?

 

"Drug can protect addicts." The Dallas Morning News; June 13, 2013; p. 6A.

I guess that's a matter of opinion.

 

Misha McLamb says she's not a loser. She's been homeless in Washington, D.C., but the last I could find of her she was in  government-funded transitional housing.

 

Misha is a Navy vet -- an aircraft specialist. She says she drank heavily while in the Navy. Doesn't that inspire you with confidence? How would you like to be one of the pilots flying a plane she worked on?

 

She continued to drink when she left the Navy. She lost her job, and spent nights in her car until she lent it to a "friend's boyfriend" who wrecked it. She moved to a homeless shelter where her insulin needles were stolen.

 

Poor judgment, poor decisions, and an alcohol addiction despite being diabetic. She had a good job in the Navy until she left to come home to care for her daughter -- which didn't last very long, because the daughter was taken away from her.  Misha says, "Some people just have bad circumstances with no resources. . . they owe me."

 

Misha and I disagree on what constitutes a loser.

 

"Homeless female veterans increasing." The Dallas Morning News; April 9, 2012; p. 7A.

Why Photo ID is a Good Idea

 

At least sixteen counties in Texas have more registered voters on their rolls than there are qualified citizens of voting age. The over counts range from 100 to more than 3,000. And we wonder how Obama was elected!

 

"Texas voter rolls show discrepancies." The Dallas Morning News; April 9, 2012; p. 3A.