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.