Right back at ya', George!

George Francis of Dallas disagrees with those who feel our immigration laws should be enforced. He says, "Unless you are a 100 percent descendant of the Cherokee, Navajo, Sioux, Algonquian, Apache, Karankawa, Aleut, Comanche, Ute, etc., you just need to be quiet."

Until you show us your family tree, right back at ya', George!

"Denying our history." The Dallas Morning News; February 11, 2014; p. 10A.

Maybe it's not the braids.

Black women in the military are upset at the new personal appearance rules in the army regulations. They say the rules are racially biased, because they do not allow dreadlocks, multiple braids, twists, etc. So they're getting up a petition to send to Obama to relax the rules.

"I don't see how a woman wearing three braids in her hair, how that affects her ability to perform her duty in the military," said Patricia Jackson Kelley of the National Association of Black Military Women.

Maybe the braids don't, but Patricia's attitude might make her unfit for the military. It used to be that the Army was all about obeying orders whether you agreed with them or not. That made a good soldier. What if Patricia gets into a combat zone, and her commander tells his troops to take a certain position, but Patricia doesn't see how taking that position will further the mission, so she starts a petition to get him to change his mind?

Maybe Patricia doesn't see a valid reason for the regulation on braids, but that doesn't matter. The reality is that there is no valid reason for her not to obey the regulation. If her hair is a problem, she can cut it short -- it'll grow back.

By the way -- we have an all volunteer army now. If you don't like the rules, you don't have to sign up.

"Black women say hair rule biased." The Dallas Morning News; April 6, 2014; p. 6A.

Media Spin

Do you think more people on Medicaid is a good thing? I don't. It means the taxpayers are supporting more people they can't afford to support and our country is going deeper and deeper into debt.

But the media evidently thinks it's wonderful -- check out this headline and see if you agree:

"Obamacare helps boost Medicaid rolls: Enrollment up by 3 million since late last summer."

"The increase in Medicaid enrollments across the country is encouraging," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Am I missing something here? Doesn't that mean that we have 3 million more people who are so destitute they can't pay their own way? Why is that encouraging?

"Obamacare helps boost Medicaid rolls." The Dallas Morning News; April 5, 2014; p. 4A.

Where did they get those knives?

The media went a little nutty on the gun shop in Killeen that sold the gun to the man who committed the latest mass murder at Ft. Hood. Perhaps if we did away with the nutty law that says army personnel can't carry weapons on base, we wouldn't have to worry so much about no one being able to stop the nuts who bring guns onto the base despite the law.

Anyway, they've made a big deal about this being the same gun shop where Nidal Hassan bought his gun. That the two would buy guns from the same shop is not all that surprising since it is in close proximity to Ft. Hood.

I noticed in a recent edition of the paper several different reports of murders and attempted murders. There was Khyla Thomas who stabbed her brother to death. There was Mark McCay who was stabbed outside his business nine times by a stranger who fled. Then there was Anthaneta Bush who pulled a 6-inch steak knife from her purse and stabbed a 61-year-old man in a motel parking lot. And a trespasser at a downtown Dallas wrecking lot, Cobi Ben Bullard, stabbed the employees who were escorting him off the premises. And those are the reports from just one day.

But nowhere have I seen an outcry against the proliferation of knives, or demands to know where these people bought the knives, or demands that knives be registered. If we're going to get serious about dangerous weapons, shouldn't we be serious about all of them?

For that matter, there was recently a case tried where a woman stabbed her boyfriend 25 times in the face with the stiletto heel of her shoe. Wonder if she had a concealed wearing license for stilettos? Shouldn't there be a waiting period in the shoe departments at Neiman Marcus, Macy's, and Dillard's?

If employers don't provide contraceptive coverage, they are subjecting their employees to Sharia law.

Kate French says that if employers are not forced to provide free contraceptives to their employees, it's the same as a muslim subjecting them to Sharia law.

Kate and all the others who think as she does are missing the main point. Hobby Lobby and those other employers who don't want to provide free contraceptives aren't prohibiting their employees from getting them.

How would Kate feel if Obama passed a law requiring her to provide Bibles for all her employees? If she doesn't do that, she'll be violating their 1st Amendment right to own a Bible.

"What's next, Islamic law?" The Dallas Morning News; March 28, 2014; p. 16A.

Who's footing the bill?

Stephen Foote of McKinney says that it is no violation of employers' rights to force them to buy contraception they believe is a sin. Stephen says that is backward thinking. "Employee health insurance does not belong to the employer," he says.

Maybe not, but the employer is paying for it. I've used this illustration before, but here's the twist Stephen's erroneous thinking adds. Suppose I don't believe in drinking, and I take my friend out for dinner. I tell him it's my treat and he may order anything he likes except that I won't pay for an alcoholic drink, because I don't believe in imbibing. However, I add, he won't offend me if he wants to buy his own drink. My friend says, "You have no right to refuse to pay for my drink, because it doesn't belong to you."

If that happened to you, you'd swear your friend just escaped from the loony bin. And you'd probably be right.

"Rick Warren is wrong." The Dallas Morning News; March 30, 2014; p. 2P.

Why did you get married?

Why did you get married? Was it because you were "eager to be part of history"?

That's the reason given by two queer guys who recently "married" in England.

I married for several reasons, but I don't think that one ever occurred to me.

By the way -- look at that headline. Do you really think these guys are the "first British gays"? Would that it were so!!

"First British gays marry." The Dallas Morning News; March 29, 2014; p. 12A.

I think some of the story is missing.

Sunnie Kahle is 8 years old. She goes to a private Christian school, Timberlake, in Forest, Virginia. When I saw the photo of Sunnie, I thought I was looking at a little boy. Her classmates have that problem, too. Her great-grandmother, Sunnie's adoptive mother, says Sunnie's peers sometimes ask her whether she is a girl or a boy.

Sunnie's school has asked that the family dress her in a more feminine way. In a letter sent by Principal Becky Bowman, she said that Sunnie and her family need to "clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity." It was suggested to the family that if they weren't comfortable with that, then Timberlake was not the best place for her education.

A spokesman for the school says this is not just about her clothing or a phase she is going through, but confidentiality laws preclude him from saying anything further to rebut Sunnie's family's allegations. He says they would like to have Sunnie back -- she is generally cooperative and obeys school rules. "The school has never called the girl immoral, has never evicted her and is willing to work with her," he said. "She is a precious little girl."

It appears to me that Sunnie's great-grandparents are using their child to get their 15 minutes of fame. Why would you subject a little girl to national attention over an issue so sensitive? Perhaps Sunnie doesn't have a problem at all -- perhaps it's her guardians who do.

"'Tomboy,' 8, is pressured to transfer." The Dallas Morning News; March 29, 2014; p. 8A.

I'm so GRATEFUL!

Veronica Valles of Dallas is in love! She's also quite proud of herself. She says that she provides great service to her community for low pay and no health insurance or unemployment benefit.

She says that health insurance has become a luxury instead of a right. That's sort of like saying that having an automobile is a luxury instead of a right. It's expensive, it's almost necessary to have it, but that doesn't mean that someone else should buy it for you.

She says she is GRATEFUL (her emphasis) to President Obama for "allowing middle-class and lower-income citizens the right to health care." Allowing? I believe he demands it. The right to health care? That's something they've always had. And if she'll check, I think she'll find that the vast majority of middle-class and lower-income citizens still won't be able to afford it. Except those for whom the rest of us will be paying the premiums.

As I am prone to do, I did a little snooping on Veronica. She is a "practitioner" at some fruitcake church that sounds suspiciously like scientology. This is her little blurb on the website:

"My life is a sacred expression of love. My path is one of awakening you to the magnificence of your life, recognizing the unique gifts you bring into this world. My artistry is from the place of living in wonder and awe of the beauty of being.  My love of the DIVINE is a way of celebrating the GOOD that is all life." In a video clip of her on Youtube, she says that Ashram, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus -- it's all the same.

Veronica, if you're reading this, it's not all the same. There is one way -- Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me."

Somehow, I'm not surprised she idolizes Obama.

"Grateful for Obamacare." The Dallas Morning News; March 26, 2014; p. 18A.

Two Sides to the Coin

Fred Speno of Dallas wrote recently about the national debt and the hypocrisy of Republican Jeb Hensarling. He says that he'll believe the Republicans are serious about doing something about the debt as soon as they propose a 1% across-the-board tax on all stock market, bond market and commodities transactions. He says that's a simple solution that would wipe out our debt in no time.

Fred completely neglects the other side of the coin. I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Fred, but our national debt has not been accrued because we don't charge enough in taxes. Our national debt has been accrued because we spend too much.

Fred then throws out some figures, which he says, if correct, would reduce our debt to zero. But I don't think Fred's figures are correct. He says this tax would take in $878 billion a year. Our current national debt is $17.54 trillion. And we're adding to it more than $2 billion a day. So, by my calculation, it would take 20 years even if we weren't adding the extra $2 billion a day. If you consider the extra $2 billion a day, it will take just a little more than 118 years.

Sounds good, Fred.

"Small tax would erase debt." The Dallas Morning News; March 26, 2014; p. 18A.

Project Providence Talks Update

February 15, I wrote about the Providence Talks project ("How many words did you hear today?") that tracks how many words pre-schoolers hear, because poor children don't hear as many words as rich children. There was an update in the newspaper recently, and, if it's possible, the comments in it are even more inane than the initial report.

One of the participants in Providence is 16-month-old Deisy Ixcuna-Gonzalez and her Guatemalan immigrant parents. The home visitor monitoring how many words Deisy hears counsels her parents: "When she grabs your hand and brings you to the refrigerator and points to the cabinet, that is an opportunity for you to say,'Deisy, are you hungry? You want cereal? Let's go look for the cereal.'" Someone who has to be told to ask his child if she's hungry probably should never have been a parent in the first place!

But I'm not being fair. "Educators say that many parents, especially among the poor and immigrants, do not know that talking, as well as reading, singing and playing with their young children, is important." My gosh! What do they do with them? Stick them in a corner and throw them a scrap every now and then? Why are these people having children? Is it possible they don't know what's causing them? According to Ann O'Leary, one of the do-gooders involved in this project, "We want to move the needle from this being an optional activity to a must-do activity."  And we wonder why this world is going to hell in a handbasket!!

"Don't wait to stimulate child's mind, parents urged." The Dallas Morning News; March 26, 2014; p. 11A.

Thank you for standing up for right!

A big thank you to Bishop Michael McKee who heads the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Bishop McKee suspended Bill McElvaney who "married" a couple of old queers in violation of church doctrine and policy.

A big thank you to the Rev. Camille Gaston who had the courage to file the initial complaint against McElvaney. And a big thank you to Rev. Tom Lambrecht who had the courage to support the Bishop in his action.

It is refreshing to see people who will stand on the Word of God despite the political consequences and public ridicule they may face. Hold fast, Bishop McKee, Rev. Gaston, and Rev. Lambrecht!

"Bishop suspends minister." The Dallas Morning News; March 22, 2014; p. 1B.

Could it be that they are more unruly?

The headline blares: "Black preschoolers get suspended at a higher rate."

The Education Department says that black preschoolers get suspended from public schools at a disproportionately high rate -- 18% of the enrollment is black, but blacks account for half the students suspended more than once.

Hmmmm - could it be that if the DOE examined the proportion of black offenses to white offenses, they might find the reason for the "disproportion"? Could it be that black students commit a disproportionate number of infractions meriting suspension?

So what's the answer? The same as every other answer that comes out of Washington -- let's throw some money at it. Instead of kicking the little brats out of school, they want to move "them to a different educational setting with additional services."

"Black preschoolers get suspended at a higher rate." The Dallas Morning News; March 21, 2014; p. 7A.

Jim and James are clueless.

A recent letter to the editor by Tom Wilson laid out the arguments against a minimum wage hike -- it will cause people to lose jobs and increase costs for everybody. Using the example of a teenager trying to make some money, he argues that we should let the free market work. If the teenager wants to mow your lawn for $20, and it's worth $20 to you for him to do it, you can strike a fair bargain. But if the government says you must pay him $50, you will probably decide that's too much, and you won't get your lawn mowed and the teenager won't make any money. Jim Scoggins and James Alstatt disagree with Tom.

Jim says Tom is insulting because he mistakenly assumes that anyone who is underpaid doesn't already have skills and isn't already looking for a better paying job. That may be, but mowing the lawn is still worth only $20, and paying someone $20 to do it isn't underpaying him. It doesn't matter to me whether a Nobel prize physicist or the little kid down the block mows the yard -- the job is still worth only $20. I'm not going to pay the man with multiple Ph.D's more to cut the grass when my lawn will look just as good if I have the kid down the street do it.

James says that the lawn HAS to be mowed, so not paying $50 to get it done is not an option. He assumes that the home owner won't get out there and mow it himself or get his kid to do it. He says the home owner is too busy at the factory he owns to do it himself. He says that he will have to pony up the $50 which will help the one mowing his yard to buy the widgets he makes at his factory, and he'll have to employ more people to make widgets. James believes paying the lawn mower extra money will increase sales so vastly that everything will be hunky dory. But James forgets that if we have to pay the lawn boy more, by the same law, we also have to pay the factory workers more, and the price of the widgets will increase so that the lawn boy still isn't making enough to buy widgets -- it's called inflation. It's when the price of a product or service rises in relation to wages. If you make $100 more a week, but the cost of living goes up $125, you aren't getting anywhere. Indeed, if the cost of living goes up $125, and you lose your job because the minimum wage priced you out of it, you're fast losing ground.

And that's what happens when the government monkeys around with the free market.

"Not about pocket money . . ."
" . . . It's about the economy." The Dallas Morning News; March 19, 2014; p. 18A.

Did a gun control advocate write this?

A recent headline caught my attention. It read: "Neighbor mistaken for intruder is fatally shot."

My first impression is that a trigger-happy nervous Nellie shot an innocent friend who had a perfect right to be where he was.

But then I read the article. The shooter was a 64-year-old woman who was home alone. The "victim" was her neighbor; however, he was drunk, and he was trying to break into her house. Of course she shot him! I would have, too. He wasn't mistaken for an intruder -- he was an intruder! The shooter isn't the one who made the mistake.

My headline would have read: "Woman shoots drunk burglar who lived next door."

"Neighbor mistaken for intruder is fatally shot." The Dallas Morning News; March 19, 2014; p. 3A.

Shine the light, Mr. Davidson.

J. D. Davidson wrote several columns regarding "sunshine" in government. I agree that, as a rule, things shouldn't be done in secret. However, there are some things that need to be discussed without the public in general being prematurely privy to them.

At any rate, I question if Mr. Davidson is doing his job. He says, "What's more troubling . . . is individual school board members or council members talking one-on-one or three at a time about issues or situations or concerns about the city or school systems . . . It's this type of whispering we must demand stop."

Mr. Davidson, please tell us about the information you have on who, when, and where this is occurring. We have a right to know. You have made an accusation that should be backed up with the relevant facts. Let the sun shine in!

"Sunshine is still needed in government." The Paris News; March 16, 2014; p. A4.

I think I just saw a pig fly past.

I don't ever agree with Leonard Pitts. His usual philosophy is that if a black person gets into trouble, it's because of racism. If a white person is successful, it's because he trampled some black person to get there.

But I find myself agreeing with him on this one. He says that Justin Bieber acts the way he does because society treats him the way it does. He especially focuses on the deposition young Mr. Bieber gave when he was caught driving drunk and drag racing in Florida. According to Mr. Pitts, young Mr. Bieber "preens, he parries, he oozes with visceral contempt for the entire process."

When the prosecuting attorney asked him if his mentor, Usher, was instrumental to his career, Bieber replied, "I was found on YouTube, I think that I was detrimental to my own career." As Mr. Pitts aptly puts it "rarely have ignorance and arrogance ever combined so flawlessly to produce unintended truth."

Mr. Pitts concludes by saying that one of the by-products of celebrity is that "it can induce people to treat the famous person as if his waste products produce no odor." Chances are, Mr. Pitts says, that if one is treated that way, that's the way he'll act. The best thing for Mr. Bieber is for people to stop making excuses for him.

As I said, I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Pitts on this issue. I wonder, though, if Bieber were black, would Leonard Pitts have written this editorial?

"Bringing up Bieber." The Dallas Morning News; March 17, 2014; p. 13A.

Business owners cannot decide for themselves how many employees they can afford.

Business owners concerned about Obamacare are stuck. Under the law, they are forbidden from laying off employees to get under the magic number where they must provide insurance.

Obama officials made clear in a press briefing that firms would not be allowed to lay off workers to get into the preferred class of those businesses with 50 to 99 employees. Firms will be required to certify to the IRS – under penalty of perjury – that ObamaCare was not a motivating factor in their staffing decisions. To avoid ObamaCare costs you must swear that you are not trying to avoid ObamaCare costs.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/11/thought-police-firms-must-swear-obamacare-not-factor-in-firings/

Secretary Sebelius either lies or is ignorant.

In an editorial last month urging people to sign up for Obamacare, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said, "Unlike the old system, once you enroll, nobody can take your coverage away from you just because you get sick." They couldn't under the "old system," either.

Under HIPAA, it has been illegal since 1997 to cancel someone's health insurance coverage when he is sick or has claims. (HIPAA law section 2742).

Wonder which it is -- is she a liar, or is she just stupid? Of course, in addition to those two possibilities, what she is now is unemployed. I wonder if she'll put on her resume that she directed the Obamacare rollout?

"Affordable coverage is a click away." The Dallas Morning News; March 12, 2014; p. 21A.

What is a job worth?

Jan Crockett thinks it's unfair that one person should make more money than another. She asks, "Are people who work in service industries less important to our society? Are working women and mothers who work in these jobs less valuable than an office worker?" She answers her own questions with a resounding, "NO."

Jan is comparing apples and oranges. The worth of a person is different from the worth of the job he performs. There are some garbage collectors who possess impeccable character and kind and helping hearts. There are some CEO's who aren't worth spitting on. Does that mean the garbage collector should be making as much money as the CEO?

I don't know what kind of job Jan has, but suppose she's one of those working women in one of those fast food joint jobs. And suppose she's managed to move from being a janitor who mops the floor to being a supervisor on a shift. Does she think the janitor should be making as much as she does? Does she think she should be making as much as the district manager?

Let's take it to another level. Do you want the orderly at the hospital to make as much as the RN giving you your meds and monitoring your heart machine?

Jan says that giving someone working 40 hours a week an extra $114 weekly gives them something that benefits all of us: buying power, etc. But does it? The business owner has to make that money up somewhere. He may do it by cutting the 40 hours down to 30 a week. Or he may do it by raising prices on his products. How does the worker or the rest of us benefit by that?  And why stop with only $114 a week? If that's good, surely we could mandate $250 extra a week and make it even better. Jan says raising the minimum wage creates a higher quality of living. I don't think so. I think it just makes the cost of living higher.

"Raise the minimum wage." The Dallas Morning News; March 13, 2014; p. 14A.

The Latest from San Francisco and Dr. Joycelyn Elders

A five-member panel convened by a think tank at San Francisco State University says that we should welcome transgender people to serve in our military. Regulations keeping them out are outdated, according to these geniuses headed up by Dr. Joycelyn Elders (the condom Surgeon General appointed by Bill Clinton).

Given where it originated and who headed it, I am not the least bit surprised by the conclusions of this "study." What does concern me and should concern every thinking American is that Elders and her cohorts say that there are currently 15,450 transgenders serving in the military. I'm worried about a person who is so confused he doesn't even know if he's a he or a she being expected to make decisions regarding the safety and security of this nation. Our military is there to protect us -- not to make a social statement.

"Panel: Lift transgender ban." The Dallas Morning News; March 14, 2014; p. 6A.

Hey! Look over here!

TXDOT has launched a campaign to make people aware of the dangers of distracted driving. One of the ways they plan to get the message out is by billboard. I can see drivers on the freeways now:

"Look over there! It says distracted driving is dange . . ." Skreeeech!

Maybe their PR guy needs to rethink this one.

OOPS!

A militant Sunni teaching recruits how to make car bombs just outside Baghdad accidentally set off the explosives during his recent demonstration. The huge blast killed 21 insurgents and resulted in the arrest of two dozen more, some of whom were wounded and were caught trying to hobble away from the scene of the devastation. The group was an off-shoot of al-Qaeda.

In reading about this "uh-oh" moment, I couldn't help but envision Achmed the dead terrorist. I'd like to hear his comments on this situation.

"Mishap in bomb exercise kills 21 militants." The Dallas Morning News; February 11, 2014; p. 9A.

Your Tax Dollars -- Or Maybe Not

Have you heard of the Healthy Marriage Initiative? You should have. You paid $800 million for it. It's vague mission was to promote healthy marriages.

Has it worked? Most likely not. According to Susan Brown, co-director of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research, there's been no "bump up or down" in marriage and divorce rates since the initiative was implemented.

So how, exactly, was this money spent? The answer to that is about as vague as the project's mission statement.

"Federal push has little effect on divorce." The Dallas Morning News; February 8, 2014; p. 4A.

I don't understand it.

Texas State Representative Trent Ashby of Lufkin has some sense! Last year, he authored a bill banning marriage by proxy by Texas prison inmates. And it passed. However, predictions are that the ACLU or some other group will contest the law in court.

I say that if an inmate wants to marry, he shouldn't break the law. Then, he can marry whenever he wants to. There has to be something wrong with a person who wants to marry someone who is in prison. Before the law went into effect, Lori Wallace Wilson married an inmate who is serving two life sentences for aggravated sexual assault (that's rape) and assault on a public servant. What kind of woman wants to marry a rapist??? Lori says she feels she was "born to be his wife." What a kook!

"A hitch in inmate weddings." The Dallas Morning News; February 24, 2014; p. 1A.

More Lame Excuses

I've written in recent days about these poor victims who, through no fault of their own, have committed rape. Now comes the father (and I use the term loosely) who murdered his two little girls while their mother listened over the phone.

Don't blame John Battaglia, however, for this heinous act. He loved his children so much that he now has rose tattoos with their names on his arm. He insists he is a loving father -- why, he even keeps track of his little girls' passing birthdays. I believe that's 13 each they've had now since their father brutally gunned them down while they begged him not to. However, he says he's not concerned about their deaths.

"I don't feel like I killed them," he said. Two little girls are dead, and John Battaglia pulled the trigger, but it wasn't John Battaglia's fault. It was his ex-wife's fault, it was the DA's fault, and it was the fault of The Dallas Morning News. Heck, it was probably your fault!

"In killers' minds, love never left." The Dallas Morning News; February 23, 2014; p. 1A.

We should be able to save on the grocery bill.

At least 750 illegal aliens being detained for deportation hearings have initiated a hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center in the State of Washington. Immigrant rights activists say they are "concerned for their welfare, and we support their brave stand against inhumane treatment."

I say this is a good way to save on the grocery bill. If they don't want to eat, so be it. The detention center authorities should tell them when they want a meal, let them know and they'll serve it. Until then, the kitchen is closed.

"750 on hunger strike." The Dallas Morning News; March 9, 2014; p. 7A.

Another Consent Case

I wrote the other day about the man who raped without his consent. Here's another one -- a 6-year-old girl who raped Fausto Frias, age 25.

When charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child (that means rape), Fausto said it wasn't his fault -- the child initiated the attack.

"Police: Man blames sexual assault on girl." The Dallas Morning News; March 9, 2014; p. 3A.

From the ITIMTU* file

"You are doing God's work." ~ Michelle Obama to counselors enrolling people in Obamacare.

*I think I may throw up

A New Defense for Rape

I swear this is not an April Fool joke.

Cesar Benitez has raped at least three women. But don't blame him. At his sentencing hearing, explaining to the judge that he is a victim, too, he said he "did it without my consent."

"Serial rapist gets 85-year sentence." The Dallas Morning News; March 8, 2014; p. 1B.