I've never been a fan of Roseanne Barr. Her voice is grating and quite frankly, she never struck me as funny. Just annoying. I never watched her television show. I did see her try to sing (or pretend to try to sing) our national anthem before a baseball game, but her rendition was truly awful, very offensive and literally painful to the ears. I happen to love the country that gave her the opportunity to earn ridiculous wealth with marginal talent and didn't find her butchering of the anthem the least bit amusing. However, I'm beginning to suspect that Roseanne has been a comic genius whom I've simply failed to appreciate. After she pulled off a deadpan delivery of this skit disguised as a live interview in which she suggests we send bankers of a certain income bracket to re-education camps or the guillotine. I was about ready to ROFLOL, as they say here on the internet. Something stopped me, though. Specifically, it was the suspicion she had really been dead serious. Now if it was a joke, it was a good one. She really had me going there for a minute -- actually, she's still got me going. Though Roseanne's rant wasn't as funny as Sunny's take on eating the rich, Sunny had been able to edit out her outtakes. Without even a hint of breaking a smile, Roseanne calmly called for the confiscation of wealth and decapitation (if necessary) of bankers with accrued wealth in excess of $100 million dollars who refused to fork it over. It's kind of scary to believe she might have been serious. But Shirley, she's couldn't have been, could … [Read more...]

For a couple of reasons, I haven’t been writing much recently for online publication. First and foremost, I had no internet service at my mother’s house down in Savannah. But even after I got connected, I still didn't write much for online consumption. The truth is that I haven’t wanted to say anything about the execution of Troy Davis, the topic du jour. Frankly, I thought I might sound a little bloodthirsty or racist if I condoned his execution. Besides, several friends have written excellent articles that explored the relevant facts surrounding the Davis death penalty/MacPhail murder case. Therefore, I didn't believe it was necessary for me to voice yet another opinion. But opponents of capital punishment have refused to let go of the issue. They have also consistently neglected to mention some of the relevant facts beyond some eyewitnesses recanting their testimony. Those opposed to the death penalty have concentrated their argument on the possibility Davis might have been innocent as an excuse to insist his sentence should have been commuted to life without parole. His advocates must not appreciate statistical analysis. Troy Davis admitted being at the scene of two separate shootings the night Officer MacPhail was killed. He even acknowledged being in the parking lot when MacPhail died. The odds against an innocent person being found at two crime scenes on the same evening are simply astronomical. The odds against finding blood from the victims on the clothing of a bystander aren't very good, either. Nor do innocent people normally … [Read more...]

PolitiFact Georgia is supposedly a non-partisan media watchdog group that rates comments from politicians and political advocates on something called a Truth-O-Meter. The scale ranges from completely true and goes beyond completely false to a "liar, liar, pants on fire" category that denotes the most egregious offenders. PolitiFact Georgia recently declared a group known as Sovereign Citizens United (SCU) had their "pants-on-fire" given their claim that U.S. Congressmen from Georgia Hank Johnson and John Lewis were both socialists. The media watchdog gave that evaluation of the SCU statement U.S. Reps. Hank Johnson, John Lewis and other members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are socialists who are openly serving in the U.S. Congress. Agreed, making the unfounded accusation that a U.S Congressman is a socialist does cast that member in a negative light, in effect demonizing him (or her) in the eyes of many, but a hero in the eyes of some. And if SCU wasn't telling the truth, their accusation would be a rather insidious, terrible lie. That much is true. Which begs the question... Quid est veritas? The fact-checkers decreed The S-word [Socialist] is overwhelmingly considered a toxic label in American politics. Yet, it is used more frequently these days, most often as a way to demonize liberal politicians. I get it -- it's bad to call someone a socialist if it isn't true. And what irrefutable proof did the fact checkers procure making them confident enough to declare SCU such bold-faced liars with their pants on fire? Well...they did ask … [Read more...]

Investor genius Warren Buffett recently made headlines when he announced to the world that his tax bill was too low. In an opinion piece published by the New York Times, Buffett lamented that his secretary’s personal income tax rate surpassed his capital gains rate paid on investments. In doing so, Buffett created the clear impression that he would gladly pay higher taxes if only the government asked. There’s only one problem with this picture: the government has asked, and Buffett has repeatedly refused to pay higher taxes. Newsmax reported that Buffett’s firm Berkshire Hathaway is currently embroiled in a legal battle with the IRS over $1 billion in unpaid taxes. And it isn’t the first time – as recently as 2005, Buffett agreed to a favorable settlement with the IRS over a dividends-received deduction after a protracted 14 year battle. It seems that Warren Buffett believes everyone should pay more taxes – except him. … [Read more...]

Founder and editor-in-chief of publishing house epress-online, Ms. Margaret Carr was found dead of natural causes in her home last week after she failed to attend a company meeting. On October 30, 2000 Ms. Carr announced to the world the pending arrival of epress-online into the publishing world. She helped pioneer electronic publishing, a world about to explode with the advent of the Kindle and other reading devices. I never had the opportunity to meet Margaret Carr to thank her personally for all she has done for me. ePress-online published my first book and only book to date, Divine Evolution. With no small amount of pride I can say that I am a published author (not self-published) thanks to her. She will be missed by all of her friends, and aspiring authors everywhere. … [Read more...]