Hillary Clinton famously claimed "it takes a village to raise a child." Meet Jose Longoria, village idiot. In his court, young mother Rosalina Gonzales recently pled guilty to a felony charge of injury to a child. Her heinous crime?  Ms. Gonzales dared to spank her two year old daughter. Prosecutors described the charge as a "pretty simple, straightforward spanking case." Then why bother to prosecute? Ms. Gonzales did not use a belt or bruise her child, but the spanking did apparently leave some red marks on the toddler's rear end. Charging this mother with any crime, much less a felony, is appalling. It's a farce. The meddlesome grandmother rushed the little girl to the emergency room merely because she'd been spanked. Did she panic, thinking the red marks were some sort of unusual allergic reaction? Nothing about this story implies child abuse was involved, only parental discipline. Yet in his wisdom, presiding Judge Jose Longoria admonished her and said, You don't spank children today. In the old days, maybe we got spanked, but there was a different quarrel. You don't spank children. Then what do you do?  Read them a story? Now the courts can even decree how to raise a child... I remember as a young boy once being spanked by my father hard enough to leave bruises. I also remember that I richly deserved it. I'd thrown an object at a moving car, then ran away. It was a toy plastic "Tony the Tiger" paw from a box of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. The cereal might be great, but it really isn't a good idea to throw anything at a moving … [Read more...]

In case you weren’t aware, “Doctor” Al Gore branched into a new literary genre; he wrote a poem, included it in his book Our Choice: a plan to solve the climate crisis. The plan in Al’s book is rather simple. It can be condensed into four words: give me your money. If you’re interested in hearing Al read his own poem, click here. Personally, I preferred Porter E. Porter’s “beat” version.  The bongos add a nice touch. Only about five minutes of my life were wasted writing this poem in response to Al’s; my own lackluster effort to tell the real inconvenient truth. I do not expect this throw away effort to be compared to one of my favorite poets, William Butler Yeats.  Al, neither are you equal to W.B. Yeats. This is no "Lamentation of the Old Pensioner." Yeats's poem still sends chills down my spine, more than 30 years after my first reading. These poems, written by Al and me, are more like something that might have been written by Wile E. Coyote. Please keep in mind that I only spent about five minutes on mine during lunch, as you read…   Ode to Al Gore Climategate fraud Peer-pressured reviews An Inconvenient Truth, my butt Vapid brains soak in  kool-aid Feverish demands thirst for carbon taxes Nobel rolls over in his grave People flee the low-lying coast Al steals a bargain on beachfront property Powerpoint slideshows and hockey stick graphs B.S. is shown in the classroom Give me an Oscar, fool Shadowy scientists Hide the decline Greed seeks your money The blame of Chicken Little On air is … [Read more...]

Last week while driving around Atlanta, I saw a new bumper sticker that made me chuckle at first. I love my country, but I think it's time we started seeing other people. It then occurred to me the owner of this vehicle most likely meant this interpreted as protest of various efforts to draft laws attempting to consistently define how to treat the very serious problem of illegal immigration.  These laws have been proposed because the federal government has failed to secure our borders. I have not forgotten that we are still in the midst of crisis in national security and a financial meltdown. Our country faces imminent bankruptcy, but Nero fiddles while Rome is burning. If given the opportunity I would say to this fellow motorist that it is not racist to support law enforcement and legal immigration, or to oppose illegal immigration. If the driver in front of me really wants to "see other people" besides the legal residents and visitors to our country, let me remind him of the slogan of our locally based service provider.... Delta is ready when you are. … [Read more...]

I prefer news to lift my spirits, but for every story like the one I just wrote about great sportsmanship in a college softball game, I come across at least two stories that frankly depress the hell out of me. First comes this story of a SWAT team that invaded a private residence at 6:00 a.m. looking for defaulted debtors on a student loan.  In their infinite wisdom, the U.S Department of Education sent the SWAT team to the wrong address, where the cops detained an innocent man for six hours while they sorted out their mistake. Then on the local front, I read where officials in College Park decreed certain canine breeds to be "dangerous dogs"requiring special registration for an annual $25 fee under the guise of "improving public safety." If you don't enter my house without permission, my German Shepherd will not bite you. If you do trespass, you're getting what you richly deserve -- a bite taken out of your butt. The public is perfectly safe.  Any burglar stupid enough to enter my house will be toast but taste like chicken. No longer do the authorities wait until after a dog it has bitten someone to deem it dangerous. Owners of pit bulls, Rottweilers, Doberman Pinschers and German Shepherds in College Park must pay this annual tax or they will face both fines and possible confiscation of their pet. You know, I'm starting to believe in vampires.  The government is full of blood suckers! … [Read more...]

In truth, most news stories depress me. The latest one to do so was the story where thieves in Massachusetts stole a wheelchair from a disabled dog. Our world is often harsh and cruel. Some people we believe are human significantly worsen our human condition. What's wrong with them? Do you really need a canine wheelchair that badly but can't afford one?  People steal stuff they don't even need or want, just for the thrill of stealing. Mindless stupidity. Playing sports can be a wonderful means of escape from the drudge of our daily routine and the cruelty of our world. We may relax for a few hours of pleasant respite spent in purposeful exercise formed into game. But as soon as we begin to organize ourselves into teams, it tends to bring out the worst in us. It is demonstrated most often by our competitive nature. The desire to win for the group by any means necessary can lead to "taking one for the team." Screw the individual player; if it's a game, you might get away with legal homicide. You've got an opening to take a blind hit on a player with the opposing team?  Hey, take him out.  It's a cruel world. Now, you'd hate it if the skate was on the other foot and you were the one in the cross hairs, but it's dog eat dog, right?  Then you can steal the wheelchair because the dog won't need it anymore. You could have broken the guy's neck or killed him, but it was a great opportunity for a cheap shot, wasn't it? It's all about winning for the team. Or is it? That inhuman mentality of the worst in sports is precisely why we all should sit up and take … [Read more...]