Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours was. We enjoyed family and good food and a restful day. With Christmas coming, I'm sure you won't have any more time to read this blog than I will to write it, so I'm taking the few days left in November and the month of December to rest my typing fingers and reflect on what the season is all about.

May you all have a very merry Christmas, and may 2012 hold God's richest blessings for you and your family. And in the new year may God grant us Christian leadership who will guide our country back to a position of strength and honor.

And with that -- so long until January 2, 2012!

Happy Thanksgiving!

May each of you have a blessed and bountiful Thanksgiving!

It's called personal responsibility.

Colleen McCain Nelson is complaining about the lack of response from the City of Dallas on an illegal dumping site. She toured a South Dallas neighborhood with the mayor, and a bunch of trash he had earlier reported was still there. They stopped to talk to two of the neighborhood residents.

The two residents were men standing out in the driveway drinking beer. When Mayor Rawlins introduced himself, it became apparent that neither of them spoke English. Not to worry - Mayor Rawlins had a translator with him. "What's the best thing about your neighborhood," he asked. "There's nothing good here," was the reply.

The trash in question was pictured. It would easily have fit in one of the two pickups in the driveway in the photo. If there were trash dumped across from my house, and the city had not picked it up when I reported it, I'd try to contact the owner of the property. If that failed, I'd back my truck up there and haul it to the dump myself. Maybe if those two guys busy drinking beer had that attitude, there might be something good about their neighborhood. But that would require a little personal responsibility and pride in one's surroundings.

"On tour with mayor." The Dallas Morning News; November 18, 2011; p. 25A.

Thank goodness for Obamacare!

Since Obamacare has passed, how many of you have noticed how affordable your healthcare is getting to be? Our premiums continue to rise and our benefits continue to decrease. We are now paying co-pays on drugs that previously were 100% covered.

According to the newspaper, we're not the only ones experiencing these benefits of Obamacare. A new study shows that co-payments for brand-name drugs will increase by 40% on average next year, and generic brands will average nearly 30% more.

Thank goodness for Obamacare!

"Co-pays climb for prescription drugs." The Dallas Morning News; November 17, 2011; p. 7A.

Granny should have had better sense.

The media seems incensed that Dorli Rainey, age 84, was hit with pepper spray during an Occupy Seattle protest. But I think Granny should have had better sense.

Dorli was on a downtown bus when she heard the helicopters overhead guiding the police as they moved a bunch of protesters who were blocking the streets. She said she thought to herself, "Oh, boy, I'd better go show solidarity with New York." I think Dorli would have been better served if she'd shown solid reasoning instead of solidarity.

Mayor Mike McGinn says Rainey is a well-known local activist. Un-PC translation: We know this nut. Police said officers used pepper spray only against those who refused a lawful order to disperse. If Dorli wasn't willing to take the consequences of "solidarity," she should have stayed on the bus.

"Pepper spray victim becomes icon." The Dallas Morning News; November 17, 2011; p. 7A.

Huh?

I thought newpaper publishers were supposed to be good communicators. If that's the case, publisher J. D. Davidson is certainly in the wrong profession. How's this for convoluted:

"When is the least anyone can do ever enough to save a child?"

This gobbledy-gook headlines Davidson's editorial about Joe Paterno. He says Paterno has a "gravely" voice. Does that mean he's a very serious guy, or does Davidson mean a "gravelly" voice?

When is the least any publisher can proofread ever enough to sound half-way intelligent?

"When is the least anyone can do ever enough to save a child?" The Paris News; November 13, 2011; p. 4A.

From each according to his means . . .

I saw this scary quote in the newspaper last week: "It makes us wonder whether the extraordinary amount of resources we spend on retirees and their health care should be at least partially reallocated to those who are hurting worse than them." Harry Holzer, Labor economist at Georgetown University.

We better start reining in the socialist movement in America, and we need to start with the White House.

"Talking Points." The Dallas Morning News; November 13, 2011; p. 1P.