Jim could be right.

Jim Barber disagrees with George Will's contention that the poor state of our economy can be traced back to LBJ's war on poverty. I don't know what kind of education Jim has, but George Will has a Ph.D. in politics with an emphasis on philosophy and economics. However, since Jim has commented, I'm sure he feels he's more qualified on the subject.

Jim says that "only a conservative ideologue like Will would blame the continued high unemployment rate on a failure of Democratic policies implemented 50 years ago." Jim might just have a valid point there. Perhaps we should more correctly be blaming the failed Democratic policies enacted six years ago.

"Flaws in George Will's reasoning." The Dallas Morning News; May 24, 2014; p. 24A.

From the WIST File

Larry Mathys of Murphy wrote an excellent letter to the editor recently. Here are some thoughts extracted from it:

"My family has enjoyed going to watch the Texas Rangers or Dallas Cowboys. However,  it is becoming more and more difficult to do so without exposing  our kids to a constant barrage of the most vulgar profanity. I'm starting to think that 20-somethings cannot put a 12-word sentence together without at least seven F-words. Perhaps our school districts might consider lessons on public etiquette and situational vocabulary. Better yet, how about you 20-somethings start to take pride in yourselves . . ."

I highly recommend Larry's entire letter to Darrin Larson of McKinney. Darrin recently wrote an op-ed piece about his teenage daughter. He says she cusses like a sailor, but he overlooks her potty mouth. He said he just responds to her questions in this manner:

• Daughter: "Where the *?@!*+% did I put my earphones?"
• Father: "Did you check the pocket of the jeans you wore last   night?"
• Daughter: "Yeah, twice. *?@!*+%, where could they be. Can you help me look?"

He says she began spewing this filth in the seventh grade. He asked her to quit cussing. That was mistake number one -- you don't "ask" a know-it-all disrespectful 12-year-old to do anything. You tell them. Her response to his request was, "Why? It's how I talk."

So he doesn't worry about it now. He says at least they're "connecting." Too bad they didn't "connect" when he asked her to stop the foul language. If I'd been her parent, we would have connected -- right on the seat of her pants. Maybe if more parents were doing that instead of shirking their child-rearing responsibilities by accepting such disrespectful garbage, Mr. Mathys would have had no need to write his letter.

"The other air pollution." The Dallas Morning News; May 24, 2014; p. 24A.
"Cussing's fine if we're connecting." The Dallas Morning News; May 3, 2014; p. 19A.

Somebody's paying.

Marvin Plunkett of Reedsport, Oregon, likes Obamacare. He says that he's disappointed that public opinion of the program remains so low. It's been great for him -- his family is now on Medicaid. And he says that Sarah Palin's charge that death panels would be set up has been discredited. Perhaps Marvin hasn't yet heard all the recent news about rationed care at the VA -- in effect, death panels -- deciding who gets treated and who doesn't. If the government is doing it there, what makes Marvin think they won't do it elsewhere?

Henry Kulik likes Obamacare, too. He says before the law, his family was paying $2,400 a month for insurance. Obamacare tax credits have knocked it down to a few hundred. Henry says there's a lot of misinformation out there.

What Marvin and Henry don't seem to understand is that somebody is paying for their insurance -- it may be you and it may be me. Marvin doesn't get free care through Medicaid -- the taxpayers foot his healthcare bills. And Henry didn't just magically get lower premiums -- someone is paying the difference in the $2,400 and the few hundred.

Maybe that will explain to Marvin why people have a low opinion of Obamacare and correct for Henry some of the misinformation he's received.

"Many remain opposed to health law." The Dallas Morning News; May 24, 2014; p. 9A.

Stupid Women Who Pay with Their Lives

I wrote a week or so ago about stupid women who marry incarcerated murderers and rapists and have children by them. Here's another one.

Carnell Petetan was a crack dealer serving concurrent terms in prison for two attempted murders when Kimberly Farr decided she wanted to be his pen pal. She ended up marrying the scum. Petetan had been arrested 18 times by the time he was 16. He actually served 19 years and eight months of his 20-year prison term for shooting a man without provocation. This sentence was concurrent with the one for his drive-by shooting of a man in his 70's. He wasn't paroled earlier because of his many assaults against other inmates (one in which he threw scalding water on a man) and guards, the sexual assault of another inmate at knifepoint, and other misdeeds. When he was finally paroled, he killed Kimberly and abducted her 9-year-old daughter. Luckily, the child lived to testify against him. Now he's on death row looking for another pen pal.

http://www.wacotrib.com/news/courts_and_trials/several-testify-about-petetan-s-violent-past/article_22774824-9db3-5587-ae1d-d5364d1e497c.html.

Just how low are those living standards?

Tammie Hagen-Noey lives in Richmond, Virginia. She's featured in an article about the living standards of those who make only the minimum wage. She says it's impossible to get by on what she makes.

As she was being interviewed, Tammie "tapped at an iPhone." Tammie has several tattoos visible in the photograph which, I'm told, don't come cheap. One can only wonder about the tattoos that don't show. Tammie has addictions. Tammie has government liens against her. Tammie probably made more when she was a prostitute -- she was arrested in 2010 in Richmond, but the article failed to mention that.

She says every cent of her paycheck goes toward what she needs. Well, duh! Isn't that how most of us started out? I can well remember deciding between two items at the grocery store because I couldn't afford both. Of course, I might could have afforded both if I'd had food stamps. Then I might also could have afforded the latest technological gadgets and some body art, too.

Perhaps if Tammie had put a little more effort into her education instead of living the fast life, she might be doing something that pays a little more than flipping burgers.

"The Great Divide." The Dallas Morning News; May 2, 2014; p. 3D.

What's missing from these descriptions?

When the police appeal to the public for help in locating a suspect, don't you think they should give us as much information as possible?

Let's play a game called "What's not here that should be here?" Here are a couple of recent appeals:

1) "Lewisville police are looking for two suspects who robbed a jewelry store in Vista Ridge Mall around 1:45 p.m. Tuesday. . . After stealing an undisclosed amount of jewelry, the robbers . . . drove away in a red four-door sedan that was missing the mirror on the passenger side. The suspects were then involved in a hit-and-run collision on Round Grove Road. Anyone with information is asked to call the Lewisville Police . . ."

2) "Police are asking for the public's help identifying a man who is believed to have inappropriately touched teenage girls during five separate incidents. . .Police described the man as in his 20s. He was seen wearing a gray hooded top and fled the scene in a dark-colored Honda Civic. . .Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Grand Gildon. . ."

What vital piece of information is missing from these descriptions?

"Police search for suspects in jewelry store robbery."
"Two teenage girls report being grabbed by man."
The Dallas Morning News; April 30, 2014; p. 3B.

Not Guilty!

Markus Kaarma of Missoula, Montana, is in trouble. He shot a 17-year-old who was burglarizing his garage. Markus has been charged with deliberate homicide. The claim is that he set a trap for the burglar and his buddies.

Markus's home had been burglarized several times, so he put some alert sensors in his garage. When they went off, he checked the surveillance video, saw someone in there who had no right to be there, and went out shooting. How does that constitute a trap? The man didn't put a sign out in front of his house that said, "Free stuff in the garage." If he had done that, I'd be the first one voting GUILTY! But if I were on this jury, unless they have more than that he monitored what was going on on his own property, he'd be acquitted or the jury would be hung, because my vote would be an unequivocal NOT GUILTY.

"Prosecutors: Man's burglar trap was fatal." The Dallas Morning News; April 29 2014; p. 4A.

Doesn't it do your heart good?

Doesn't it do your heart good to help poor people? The IRS has paid out in error more than $13 billion (it could be as much as $15.6 billion) in earned income tax credits. That's where people who haven't paid in any tax to begin with get some of the taxes you paid in. And now we find out that they're evidently handing out our money to anybody who applies for it, whether they qualify or not.

For the 50% of us who pay taxes, that averages about $190 each for the errors, not counting those who legally got a payment. Don't you just love liberal giveaway programs? Isn't it gratifying to you that your money gives some extra spending money to people who sit on their rears in their Section 8 houses except for when they're chowing down on the food they bought with SNAP funds or chatting/texting/playing games on their Obama phones or procreating with the aid of the Viagra they are guaranteed through Obamacare? Isn't this a great country!

"IRS ripped for improper credits." The Dallas Morning News; May 14, 2014; p. 13A.

A Heathen Society

Duncanville High School sent home a bunch of students for violating the dress code. I understand why the students are upset. The dress code is completely unreasonable -- tucked-in shirts with collars, no sagging pants, belts, closed-toe shoes. What teenager would want to be caught dead dressed like that???

At any rate, all-out anarchy ensued as the students had a food fight and rioted. They intend to continue breaking the dress code until the end of school.

My question: where are the parents? Don't they care that their children are defying legitimate authority figures and legitimate rules? Don't they care that their children think they should be able to do whatever they want when they want? Of course, the answer to that may be that the parents are where the children learned the behavior in the first place.

"150 suspended for breaking dress code." The Dallas Morning News; May 15, 2014; p. 1B.

At this point, what does it matter?

Tom Shane of Garland shares Hillary Clinton's philosophy about the four Americans who were murdered by terrorists in Benghazi. "At this point, what does it matter?"

He asks, "For what purpose do we need to have another hearing on Benghazi?" He says we've had plenty of hearings, and we'll learn nothing else from more of them.

He may be right about the stonewalling continuing. I have a feeling he is. But we should continue to have hearings until those four dead men are avenged. Old Tom might feel a little differently if it were his son or brother murdered in the service of his country. He just might expect some answers as to why, when we know who did it, the terrorists have not been brought to justice. Until that happens, we need to keep asking questions

"Benghazi witch hunt a waste." The Dallas Morning News; May 15, 2014; p. 13A.

Stupid Women

I never cease to be amazed at how stupid and silly some women can be. Leydi Figueroa Uceda is 22 years old. She is 5 month pregnant by Joran van der Sloot. He's the scum who most likely is responsible for the disappearance and almost certain death of Natalie Holloway. He is serving a life sentence for the murder of another young woman. Leydi met this animal while selling goods inside the prison where he is confined. I guess they are madly in love -- they will be married soon. I guess Leydi should be grateful she didn't meet him before he was arrested, or she'd most likely be dead, too.

"Suspect in Holloway disappearance to wed." The Dallas Morning News; May 15, 2014; p. 8A.

It's very simple.

What's wrong with Obamacare? Why is it a bad idea to put the government in charge of our health care? I can explain it in 3 words:

Veterans Administration Hospitals

 

But if you need more than three words, here's another fact: more than a million people are drawing incorrect amounts on their Obamacare subsidies, and the vast majority of them, I'm sure, are drawing more than they should. How do they know? The incomes they reported on their health care applications don't match the incomes on their IRS paperwork. Now for the kicker -- they can't fix the problem, because their computer won't do that. And that doesn't even take into account the one million others who have applied and who have questionable citizenship status.

 

"Many get wrong subsidies." The Dallas Morning News; May 17, 2014; p. 1A.

Total Nonsense

Steve Chapman says that Republicans make much ado about nothing regarding voter ID. He says that there are no documented cases of voter impersonation. That's total nonsense. My question to Steve is, if we don't require a voter to prove he's who he says he is, how are we to document it if he's not? See, Steve, you unwittingly make the argument FOR voter ID.

Steve says that requiring voter ID is akin to prescribing morphine for a hangnail. We don't have problems with voter fraud. Since we aren't checking ID's, how do we know there is no voter fraud? I guess Steve missed the recent news about 35,000 double votes in North Carolina and all the voters who cast votes in more than one state. And that doesn't even include the 81 dead people who voted.

The anti-voter ID people are amusing. They insist that Republicans don't want people to vote. However, Republicans haven't said one word about not allowing people to vote. It's much more accurate to say that Democrats want to steal our votes by flood the polls with people who don't have the right to vote at all, much less two or three times or posthumously.

"Voter ID overreach." The Dallas Morning News; May 13, 2014; p. 11A.

But what is the net effect?

Janice Sexton of Garland complains about companies getting tax abatements. I assume she is referring to Toyota moving to Texas from California. She says we need our streets repaired, more firefighters and police, more money for education and programs to take care of "us Texans." She is upset that a $3.5 million tax abatement has been give to this company (whether it's Toyota or another is really irrelevant).

But has Janice considered the net effect? Toyota will mean 3,000 to 4,000 jobs for Texas. And each of those 3,000 to 4,000 people, will be paying taxes. That will mean a considerable increase in revenue. Some of these people will be coming from California, and that's new revenue. Some of these people will be Texans, who, if they take a job with Toyota, will leave open a job they currently have for someone else to fill. If the new Toyota employees are currently unemployed, then the effect will be even better -- someone who was not contributing taxes will now be able to do so.

Not only will these people be paying taxes themselves, but they will be spending money that Toyota pays them. They will be buying clothes, food, housing, vehicles, paying for hobbies and entertainment and supporting hundreds of local businesses who will in turn be able to keep people on their payrolls or even hire more people.

And we get all this for a measly (in the big scheme of things) $3.5 million. I consider that a bargain!

"Good for business, but . . ." The Dallas Morning News; May 11, 2014; p. 2P.

Bad Science Gone Berserk

A few interesting excerpts from a blog by John Coleman, co-founder of the Weather Channel and longtime weather forecaster. John disagrees with the global warming madness.

"If you accept the picture painted by this report [the Federal Assessment of Climate Change issued by an Obama administration team of more than 300 specialists who were guided by a 60-member federal advisory committee], the weather was just right, steady and nice in the historic past but because our industrialized society has powered its heating and air conditioning, its transportation by train, plane, cars and trucks, generated it’s electric power to run our lights, computers, television and smart phones with fossil fuels it has triggered this nightmare of awful storms, droughts and heat waves. . . The climate of Earth has never been 'normal' or stable. It has continuously changed through this planet’s 4.5 billion year history. Powerful storms, floods, droughts, heat waves and ice and snow storms have come and gone as long as Earth has existed."

". . .the politically funded and agenda driven scientists who have built their careers on this theory and live well on the 2.6 billion dollars a year of Federal grants for global warming/climate change research cling to this theory and bend the data spread to support the glorified claims in their reports and papers."

"They call people such as me who debunk their non-scientific silliness as 'deniers' and claim we are flat-earthers and shills for 'big oil'. It is insulting and maddening. But I will not be silenced. And neither will the thousand others, many of them with Ph.D.’s and on the faculties of major universities who are working to stop this bad science that labels CO2 as a pollutant and blames it for every shift in the weather."

http://www.climatedepot.com/2014/05/07/600-page-litany-of-doom-weather-channel-co-founder-john-coleman-slams-obama-climate-report-a-total-distortion-of-the-data-and-agenda-driven-destructive-episode-of-bad-science-gone-berserk/

Politically Correct Run Amok

You better not use the number 88 on anything. It's not politically correct as Procter & Gamble has learned. They were so stupid as to put a white soccer jersey with 88 on it on Ariel laundry detergent boxes. They wanted us to believe that they were just advertising how white Ariel gets your clothes, but we know better. When their duplicity was exposed, they apologized for it and removed the highly offensive number.

You don't know why 88 is offensive? Well, let me explain before you unwittingly use it and get yourself into trouble. There are is a neo-Nazi group in Germany that uses 88 as a code to get around the ban on Nazi slogans. "H" is the 8th letter in the alphabet, so 88 stands for HH. Still confused? The only thing I could think of that it stood for was Hubert Humphrey, but I am informed it stands for Heil, Hitler.

So we are no longer allowed to use 88. If you happen to live at 88 ABC Street, you better petition the post office for an address change. If your telephone number is 555-123-4588, you better ask for a new number. You won't celebrate your 88th birthday -- you'll skip from 87 to 89. And, boy, are you in trouble if your Social Security number is 345-88-6789!

By the way, if I had been the person in charge at Procter & Gamble, I'd have said, "Get a life!" and left my detergent boxes just like they were.

"P&G apologizes for neo-Nazi gaffe." The Dallas Morning News; May 10, 2014; p. 12A.

More on yesterday's post.

I wrote yesterday about Merle stealing the BB gun. Here are a few more observations from that same article.

Jordan Henderson, age 18, says he saw just two options for his future: death or jail. With an attitude like that, no wonder he's a failure. What about the options of go to school, work hard, be honorable? He says he got involved in drugs and criminal activity and prayed he'd live to see 21. Do you find that a bit ironic? Criminals and drug dealers praying and expecting their prayers to be answered? Jordan says he wasn't involved in that lifestyle by choice, but because he was condemned to it.  Rationalize all you want to Jordan, but you chose it.

Jordan says, "We all like to think we can outsmart the system . . . We all end up in jail or dead." No, we don't.

We can see how seriously we should take this study by the question asked of the 1,300 juvenile offenders who participated: How long do you think you'll live. Answers ranged from 16 to 200 years old.

Merle doesn't have all his BB's.

In a do-gooder article about how poor inner city teens lead a life of crime because they don't think they'll live very long (and I have lots of comments about the article, but I'll save them for another time), the authors used the example of 15-year-old Merl Lovings.

Last year, poor Merle stole a BB gun from Walmart. He was caught. Merle's reason for the theft was that his little brother needed a pair of shoes, and he was going to sell the gun so he could buy the shoes. "For the short term, man, I was just like, if I do this I can get my brother some shoes . . ."

Now, Merle, let's think about this. You are at Walmart. Why wouldn't you just trot over to the children's shoe department and steal the pair of shoes and save yourself the trouble of trying to sell a hot gun? Not to mention that a pair of kid's shoes is probably easier to conceal than a BB gun.

What's really troubling is the do-gooders didn't find anything odd about Merle's explanation. They evidently fell for his sob story hook, line, and sinker. I titled this post "Merle doesn't have all his BB's," but that may not be quite accurate. It looks like Merle knows how to play the social workers quite well, and that they're the ones missing the BB's.

"Teens who expect to die young are drawn to crime." The Dallas Morning News; May 12, 2014; p. 1A.

Was this your best example, Leonard?

Leonard Pitts thinks Scott Walker's prison sentence is unjust. Scott is serving a sentence of life without parole. The sentence is unjust, Leonard says, because it was his first felony conviction for selling drugs. But let's hear the rest of the story.

Scott received his sentence at the age of 26. He had two prior convictions as a juvenile -- for stealing a bike and aluminum gutters. He had two adult misdemeanor convictions. He was addicted to meth. When he was caught, he had over a pound of marijuana.


The evidence against Scott showed that he was a middleman in a drug ring that sold marijuana, LSD, cocaine and meth. His cheerleaders claim he was a non-violent offender. Maybe so, but have you ever seen what someone high on LSD or meth can do?

Take, for example, Ryan Zachary Drake, who went on a 5-day crime spree while high on meth. According to police reports, Drake robbed two businesses at gunpoint. Several hours after he robbed the second business, he entered a stranger's garage and forced hin to drive about 20 miles before making the man get out of the car at a dead-end road and taking the man's wallet and cellphone. That man is, indeed, fortunate to be alive today. Someone like Scott Walker provided the meth to Ryan Drake.

And what about LSD? Is selling someone LSD really non-violent? Read these effects of LSD use and see if you think it is:

"The ability to make sensible judgments and see common dangers is impaired. An LSD user might try to step out a window to get a 'closer look' at the ground. He might consider it fun to admire the sunset, blissfully unaware that he is standing in the middle of a busy intersection. Many LSD users experience flashbacks, or a recurrence of the LSD trip, often without warning, long after taking LSD. Bad trips and flashbacks are only part of the risks of LSD use. LSD users may manifest relatively long-lasting psychoses or severe depression. Because LSD accumulates in the body, users develop a tolerance for the drug. In other words, some repeat users have to take it in increasingly higher doses to achieve a 'high.' This increases the physical effects and also the risk of a bad trip that could cause psychosis." The people Scott Walker provided LSD to were subject to these effects.

At any rate, if Scott is a non-violent offender, why did he need a gun? That's one of the reasons his sentence was enhanced to life without parole. Other factors include that he recruited teenagers to help in his drug ring. He also wrote an "angry" letter from jail to one of the witnesses against him.

Then, there is the fact that if he had pled guilty, he wouldn't have received the life sentence.

By all accounts, Scott is now remorseful and has been a model prisoner. But that doesn't tell us how many, if any, lives were ruined by the crimes in which he engaged.

But back to Leonard and his feeling that Scott got a raw deal. Leonard notes that journalist Matt Taibbi observes that "prosecutors have actually told him they no longer go after white-collar criminals because such people are not considered 'appropriate for jail.'" (Note that he doesn't name the prosecutors who told him this). Leonard opines that we don't even have to ask who is appropriate. It's "Black people. Brown people. Poor people of whatever hue." Oops! Scott Walker is white. Was that the best example you could find, Leonard?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/13/life-without-parole_n_4256789.html

http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/article_11a5d9b0-0f65-5e71-a1f8-855dcd9dc897.html

http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/lsd/what-are-the-risks-of-lsd.html

"The sentence: liberty and justice, for some." The Dallas Morning News; April 28, 2014; p. 13A.

You cannot condemn love.

Steve McCluer is mad at the Methodist Church. He says they should change the name from United Methodists to Exclusive Methodists because they will not allow homosexuals to hold key offices in the church. (Remember, homosexuals only want toleration -- yeah, right.)

Steve McCluer says that if you want to believe that God created us all, then you must accept that God must have a reason for creating people of all stripes. I can go for that. I won't argue that point. What I will argue is that God did not create us for perversion. He created us for His glory: "Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him . . . For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

Steve says that "You cannot preach 'love' and then condemn love when it does not match your preconceptions." I suppose Steve is trying to wax poetic and philosophical on us with this one, but I can tell you that what God has called abomination has nothing to do with preconceptions about love. Homosexual behavior has nothing to do with love and everything to do with fleshly perverted lust.

Incidentally, Steve, if you're reading this, suppose you answer a question for me, and we'll see how you really feel about accepting "love" that doesn't match your "preconceptions." Two consenting adult males want to get married because they are true soul mates and have been in love since they were teenagers. Should they be allowed to marry? By the way, they happen to be brothers. Does that fit in with your preconceptions?

"Methodists hypocritical." The Dallas Morning News; March 25, 2014; p. 10A.

Which came first -- the cig or the poverty?

A new analysis of federal smoking data shows that "Smoking, the leading cause of preventable death in the country, is now increasingly a habit of the poor and the working class . . .This growing gap in smoking rates between rich and poor is helping drive rising inequality in health outcomes . . ."

So which came first? Are these people more likely to smoke (an expensive habit) because they are poor, or are they poor because they waste money on expensive cigarettes?

"Smokers crowd lower income levels." The Dallas Morning News; March 25, 2014; p. 7A.

Is Mac's certainty justified?

Mac McCann is a student at UT-Austin. He doesn't like people of faith. He says that "religion protects itself from criticism by claiming the support of God and encouraging faith, which inherently discourages learning." I'm not sure where he came up with that brilliant idea, but I have known of many great men and women of faith who were among the most learned individuals the world has ever know.

Mac goes on to say, "By glorifying faith, we glorify what we don't know; by glorifying learning, on the other hand, we glorify discovering what we don't know." I'm not sure what Mac means by that, but I challenge him to show me a scripture that says one has to be ignorant to have faith.

Mac insists he is not opposed to religion. He says he is opposed to "unjustified certainty." Let me put your mind at ease, Mac. Those of us who follow Jesus follow Him through justified certainty . . . "For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast . . . these things are written unto you that ye may know that ye have eternal life." Be careful, Mac, of boasting of your learned superiority. It smacks of unjustified certainty.

"What Easter means to us." The Dallas Morning News; April 29, 2014; p. 19A.

Are you ready for more U.S. Senators?

SMU is in a bit of controversy right now. LGBT groups want a seat on the Student Senate. I've not yet heard of being allowed governmental representation as a practitioner of perversion, but if they get this thing through on the college level, you can be assured that it will eventually get to the federal level.

Will that translate into 102 Senators -- two for each state and two for gays and lesbians? Or will it translate into the same 100 Senators with one Senate seat from each state being reserved for a pervert? Or will it translate into 150 Senators -- our present 100 plus one queer from each state? Who knows.

"Help LGBT students at SMU." The Dallas Morning News; April 8, 2014; p. 12A.

Today's Edition of Stupid Criminals

Evelyn Hamilton thought she was cheated by her drug dealer -- she paid for primo weed and got something less than satisfactory. So she reported the dealer to the police and gave them the evidence. They gave her a ride to the jail.

Stupidity -- life would not be amusing without it!

"Woman tells police she wanted better marijuana, ends up jailed." The Dallas Morning News; April 8, 2014; p. 3A.

Unbiased reporting?

Here's how liberal reporters slip in their views on what is ostensibly unbiased reporting.

In an article by Terrence Stutz covering the recent speeches at the LBJ Library, he reports that Bill Clinton "took aim at recent efforts in Texas and elsewhere to restrict voting rights through voter ID laws. . ."

FYI, Terrence, Texas wasn't trying to "restrict voting rights." She was trying to protect voting rights. Big difference, Terrence. If you were truly unbiased, your report would have read:

"Former President Bill Clinton took aim at recent voter ID legislation in Texas and elsewhere. . ."

Your reader doesn't need your input to figure out the reasons behind the legislation. Admittedly, it has been a long time since I had a journalism class. I guess they no longer teach the difference in reporting and editorializing.

"Clinton faults voter ID laws." The Dallas Morning News; April 10, 2014; p. 3A.

When's your garage sale?

William Lee of Euless says that Ted Cruz has no right to oppose Obamacare -- he especially noted Senator Cruz's address at Liberty University. He says he wonders if Ted knows the quote by Jesus: "Sell all that you have and give it to the poor and follow me."

Say, William, have you followed that advice yet? If not, when is your garage sale? I looked you up on Google, and you live in a pretty nice house. You might have something I'd like to buy.

As you say, William, faith apart from works is dead, and speech without actions is hypocrisy.

"Cruz and the Pharisees." The Dallas Morning News; April 11, 2014; p. 16A.

Wouldn't a climatologist be helpful?

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently released a report saying that humanity is in a "critical situation" due to rising gas emissions. We can't achieve "climate stabilization" unless we act immediately warns Ottmar Edenhofer, the committee's co-chair.

The thing I found most interesting about this report was the expertise of the committee participants. A committee to study climate change should include meteorologists/climatologists, wouldn't you think? Yet the three-chairmen of the committee are an economist, an electrical/mechanical engineer, and a Cuban social scientist. Kind of boggles the mind, doesn't it?

"Panel: Crisis can be averted." The Dallas Morning News; April 14, 2014; p. 1A.

If you're a felon, we'll give you a $164,000 home.

The do-gooders in Dallas have come up with another way to solve the homeless problem. They are going to build 50 400 square foot cottages on Malcolm X Boulevard. The qualification for being allowed to occupy one of these cottages is quite simple -- be a loser. Felons are preferred. The construction cost is $8.2 million, then footing the bills for the occupants will cost an additional $15,000 each annually.

Fifty cottages for $8.2 million? That's $164,000 per cottage. That figures out to about $410 per square foot. I looked up a mansion in University Park, and the estimated square foot value on it was less than $210.  Are they gilding these with gold?

The argument is that this is cheaper than "cycling them through the prisons and the jails and the emergency rooms." Do they think that they'll quit their criminal activity just because somebody is giving them a place to stay? The thing is, they are not criminals because they had no home -- it's highly possible they have no home because they are criminals. As far as emergency rooms, do these cottages come complete with health insurance? Do they really think a drug addict will say, "Oh, I have a place to sleep so I don't have to do drugs anymore"? I highly suspect that the taxpayers will still be paying for prisons and jails and emergency room care for these folks in addition to their $164,000 homes and their $15,000 annual upkeep.

"Cottages closer to fruition." The Dallas Morning News; April 17, 2014; p. 1B.

He knows how many hairs are on your head.

Jon Caswell of Lake Highlands says, "I just can't believe that God gives a hoot what we do with our genitals. If he is the ruler of the universe, surely he's too busy to micromanage our sex lives." Jon goes on to say that he knows that there is a biblical prohibition against homosexuality; however, Christians that believe it are "self-righteous bigots." I think Jon is a little intolerant.

I think he's also quite ignorant. Jon obviously knows very little, if anything at all, about God. A sparrow doesn't fall without him knowing it, Jon. He knows how many hairs are on your head, Jon. And if He doesn't give a hoot about our sex lives, why does He mention the subject at all?

"Christians and gay rights." The Dallas Morning News; March 27, 2014; p. 13A.

D-Con will do the job very well.

Condemned murderers' lawyers' have come up with another tactic to get their clients out of paying the penalties for their crimes. They are "concerned" about the safety, purity, and potency of the drugs used in executions. They want to know the source of the drugs. Pharmaceutical companies are understandably reluctant for that information to be released -- some of those people who claim all life is sacred, blah, blah, blah, are the very ones who might cause trouble for those companies in the name of keeping a convict from his just punishment.

And now we have the case this week of the convict in Oklahoma who took 43 minutes to die from a heart attack. No one deserves that, they say. Pardon me if I'm not very empathetic, but, yes, the man did deserve it. Here's why:


In 1999, Stephanie Nieman and a friend happened upon Lockett and his buddies attacking a man they knew when they stopped by the man's house. Neiman's female friend told authorities she was pulled into the house and hit in the face with a shotgun. With a gun at her head, she was forced to call Neiman inside where she was also hit with the shotgun.

The young women were bound with duct tape. Neiman's friend was raped by all three men. Then the original victim, his infant son, and the two girls were driven to a rural area. Clayton Lockett told the captives he was going to kill them all, the surviving victims said. He told Neiman to get out of her pickup, and he shot her twice. Then Lockett and his buddies dug a grave and buried her. For some reason, the other victims were taken back home and the murderers left in a stolen vehicle.

So, yes, he did deserve what he got and more. It took Stephanie Nieman a lot longer to die than it took him. And her surviving friend, I'm sure, will live forever with the memory of being violated by three men.
 All that aside, does it really matter how safe and pure the execution drugs are? Why can't we just run down to the hardware store, pick up a pack of D-Con, mix it into a solution, and run it through the IV? Administered thusly, I doubt it would take long to do the job, and they'd know where it came from. After all, it was made for exterminating vermin.

http://newsok.com/three-face-charges-in-perry-crime-spree/article/2656291