It honestly takes a lot to get me to feel sympathy for David Vitter, (R. La.) Like most of the world, I was floored by the voters of Louisiana returning Vitter, a religious right politician, to the Senate after his scandal involving high-priced prostitutes. However, that is precisely the unique skill of the current Democratic leadership — they seem eager to win any race to the bottom. Vitter this week opposed an Obama regulation that gives an exemption of members of Congress and their aides under Obamacare. The regulation allows Congress to pay for its own generous subsidies to avoid having to live under the new law like normal citizens. While there is a definite appeal to Vitter’s view that the Congress should live under the same law applicable to average citizens, there may be some legitimate argument that I am missing. What should be clear is that some Democrats reacted in worse possible way. Politico is reporting that it has legislation drafted by Democrats that would eliminate health care benefits for lawmakers where there is “probable cause” to believe they patronized prostitutes. If true, this is really a sophomoric act of retaliation. Politico is reporting that this is not a joke but something actually raised as a meeting of Democratic members.
Columbia River showed Skyview the cost of hubris on September 14, 2013 with this last minute touchdown.
Continue reading “High School Wins Game As Opposing Team Celebrates”
Fights over beer are hardly unknown, particularly in the hard drinking circles of Russia (though vodka would appear the more likely fuel). However, police were called to a fight between two men standing in line over beer where one shot the other after arguing over . . . the writings of philosopher Immanuel Kant. It is clear that Kant and beer do not mix.
The Eighth Circuit has handed down an important first amendment ruling in favor of Brain Johnson who was prevented from passing out Bibles at the Twin Cities Pride Festivals. United States District Court Judge Michael Davis had ruled last year that the Minneapolis Park Board could prevent him from passing out the Bibles so long as they gave him a place to do so. It was a troubling ruling because of the relative lack of support for the claim of the festival. The Eighth Circuit, with one dissent, reversed Davis’ ruling. The case is Johnson v. Minneapolis Park & Rec. Bd., No. 12-2419, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 18831.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Randall Kerrick (right) has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after he shot and killed an unarmed man who was reportedly looking for help after getting into a car accident. Jonathan Ferrell, 24, was a former Florida A & M football player.
Pia Zadora, 61, is back in the news but not exactly as the actress and singer would want after a long career hiatus. Zadora was arrested in Las Vegas last June after her teenaged son called police. The abuse included her spraying her teenage son with a hose and scratching him in an attempt to get him to go to bed. For that she ordered to undergo alcohol and impulse control counseling. She was originally domestic abuse and coercion in dealing with her autistic son, Jordon. The case raises some troubling questions over the treatment of her husband, a Metro police officer. Continue reading “Pia Zadora Sentenced To Alcohol and Anger Treatment For Bizarre Encounter Over Teenage Son”
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
I know it may not surprise you that banks may be screwing homeowners in light of their past bad and illegal tactics in foreclosing home loans. However, in light of the fact that five of the largest banks agreed in a settlement in 2012 to end their deceptive and illegal foreclosure actions, their refusal or inability to control the contractors they hire in the foreclosure process may end them back in front of regulators.
Recently, the State of Illinois filed suit against the largest property management company that some of these very same banks use, and alleged that the company, Safeguard Properties, LLC, illegally broke into homes of people who were involved in a foreclosure or about to be foreclosed on and removed possessions and in some cases stole or damaged borrower’s personal property. Continue reading “Bad Banks Continue to Screw Homeowners”
Submitted by Elaine Magliaro, Guest Blogger
Last week, we commemorated the individuals who were killed by terrorists on September 11, 2001—a terrible day in the history of our country. Today, I’d like to look back at an infamous day in our country’s history when four young Black girls were killed by terrorists—terrorists who were their own countrymen.
Klan Bombing of Birmingham Church 1963
Submitted by Darren Smith, Guest Blogger
While attempting to rediscover the procedures to replace a recently resigned mayor, city officials in Sisterville, WV noticed the 175 year old City Charter declared women are denied the right to vote.
While it certainly is unenforceable on account of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, city officials are raising objections to making the change to the charter due to cost.
Continue reading “Suffrage in Sisterville: City Charter Denies Right to Vote to Women and Officials Cite No Need to Amend Due to Cost”
By Mark Esposito, Guest Blogger
Author’s Note: Grace Under Pressure is an on-going series of posts honoring everyday people who courageously make positive differences in their own lives and consequently in the lives of others. It is my own personal affirmation that unexpected heroes reside among us and that they serve as quiet but unshakable proof that virtue really is its own reward – and ours, too.
4-year-old Meredith was heartbroken over the loss of her dog, Abbey. The dog,a black lab, was a member of her family for a decade before Meredith was born and became a fixture in her young life. The day after the tragedy, Meredith’s mom came up with a wonderful way to console her daughter. She and Meredith decided to send a letter to Heaven announcing Abbey’s homecoming. Meredith wanted to make sure God recognized her friend amid all the new arrivals:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? Abbey died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I ‘m happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to swim and play with balls. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her you will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith
Continue reading “Grace Under Pressure: The Letter From God”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
A recent article in the Daily Mail, and picked up by other media, claims an increase in Arctic ice foretells a cooling trend. The article boasts of a 60% increase in sea ice over the minimum that occurred in 2012. While the actual numbers from IARC-JAXA Information System (IJIS) show, as of yesterday, only a 50% increase, this is still a significant expansion.
Submitted By: Mike Spindell, Guest Blogger
I’m an easy mark for those who want to approach me emotionally. My own life, with the normal tragedies of living seven decades has let me be attuned to others pain and to view that pain with an empathy born of my own suffering. Working out my own problems via years of therapy in my twenties and thirties, allowed me to finally let myself cry at the early death of my parent’s years before. I had put a “bottleneck” on tears since a teenager, choking sad emotions by constricting my throat and being in intellectual denial of the mourning I felt at their loss. This is not to say that I had no emotional outlets in my years prior to therapy, but they were limited to events far outside the ken of my life. Thus I could identify with wronged characters in movies and could cry at the death of Marin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. In my personal life though, I acted out the role ascribed to me in my High School Yearbook “Mike thinks that life is just a snap of his fingers”. Therapy changed that and allowed me to let myself be aware of and be guided by my emotions.
Emotionally, I am as patriotic an American as you might find. I love this country and I love the fact that I’m a citizen of it. My tears well up at the playing of our National Anthem. The Constitution is a sacred document to me and the aspirations of our “Founding Fathers” seem noble and just. In sports I often find myself moved to tears when athletes or teams overcome adversity and triumph. My family knows this emotional side of me since I cry at movies like “The Little Mermaid”. In personal relationships I am also ruled by emotion. People who treat me with kindness are not only repaid in kind, but I find myself rooting for their happiness and sad at their sadness. It is therefore quite easy to become someone I consider to be a friend and difficult for me to note imperfections in the friendships I’ve made. However, that is on an emotional level and as all humans, I am far more than just my emotions. Intellect and experience play important roles in shaping who we are. On a personal level I have experienced betrayal by “friends” and lovers. In my career I’ve experienced betrayal by those I thought of as friends and co-workers. However, I think those “let downs” are merely a normal part of the human experience. We humans learn and grow from our social interactions, allowing them to inform our interactions with each other.
We humans co-exist though in a larger context than mere personal interactions and that is a society known as “country”. Through the norms and mores of that society we find that our emotions are stimulated by the commonality of our existence as part of a whole. We rely on that society to protect us from predators and from those from other society’s that would do us harm. We unite emotionally in times of crisis and we feel warmth and comfort from being part of the whole. The most emotionally jarring event of the past five decades was the attack on 9/11 that galvanized this country almost as one entity. We commemorated the twelfth anniversary of this overwhelmingly sad event this past week. I need not describe the effect of this event on all of us, since I know that we all have sharp personal memories of that day and the days of anger, fear and confusion that followed. The reactions politically that followed 9/11 has personally scarred those who lived through it and have done great harm to our country. People from all sides of the political spectrum feel betrayed by the events that followed 9/11. Some feel betrayed because the majority of the country no longer supports the military interventions that ensued. Others feel betrayed because there is clear evidence that our government “lied” us into a costly war against a country that had nothing to do with the 9/11 attack. We have become then a nation of cynics when it comes to our government and I will explore why this can be either good or bad for the future of our country. Continue reading “In Defense of Being a Political Cynic”
There is an interesting case out of North Carolina where Dorothy Hoogland Verkerk, a professor at the University of North Carolina, has objected to her arrest for drunken driving on rather novel grounds: she was pulled over by a fire truck. In May 2011, Fire Lt. Gordon Shatley spotted Verkerk driving in an unsafe manner and pulled her over. She was found to be intoxicated but Verkerk insisted that the stop was illegal because fire fighters are not empowered with such authority.
Continue reading “North Carolina Professor Challenges DUI Arrest By Durham Fire Fighter”
Since his elevation to the head of the Catholic faith, I have become a fan of Pope Francis — a pontiff who has become truly revolutionary in his faith and his lifestyle. As someone raised in the Catholic Church, I have never seen his equal. He has washed the feet of a Muslim female prisoner, declined the pomp and formality of past popes, and remained a humble priest in his lifestyle. Now, Pope Francis has written a long letter to a non-Catholic saying that he believes that even atheists can go to heaven and that God cares more about your heart than your profession of religion. At one time, such views would have gotten you burned at the stake. Even today, conservatives in the Catholic Church, like those associated with Opus Dei, are grumbling about this new Pope. Mark recently discussed the same view of the Pope on non-believers and now there is a report of a possible consideration of dropping celibacy for priests.
Continue reading “Pope Francis: Atheists Can Go To Heaven And Priests May Be Able To Marry”
Finally an undercover operation I can enthusiastically support. The Seattle Seahawks has hired undercover police to wear San Francisco 49ers gear to catch thugs. It is an inspired idea. As many know, I love football (and of course God’s team The Chicago Bears) but I do not go to games anymore with my family because I cannot stand the drunken fans screaming profanities throughout the game. It has gotten out of control and the violent thugs have added an element of actual fear for some fans that they could be physically attacked.
Continue reading “Seahawks Hire Undercover Officers To Dress As 49er Fans To Catch Thugs”