Well, this sucks

I got to bed real late last night, having spent some time with friends until early AM. My phone rang at 9AM when a friend called and wanted to go to the gun range. It looks like I was going to have to decline, since I have to fix a problem at work even though I am not working today. I got on the computer, was doing my morning thing, and my doorbell rang. I got to the door and nobody was there.

I stepped outside, looked around, and saw my cat, Fluffernutter, laying dead in the street. I immediately came inside and heard my cell phone ringing. It was my neighbor telling me about the cat. I told her I just saw it and would be out in a minute. I woke up Teresa and we all went outside. I picked her up out of the road. She was flat and limp. She had been run over lengthwise and she was crushed down but not stiff. It had obviously happened recently. I just finished burying her. Teresa is sitting in the back yard swing where Fluff would sit with us regularly and is mourning her death.

Fluff was a great cat. I really liked her a lot. For three years or more, she came to us, crossed that same street safely, and would visit inside from time to time. She would never stand for being left inside, though. She was probably abandoned and we were available to feed and love her. She sure knew love and had a lot of friends in the neighborhood. I will miss her.

I assume that she was run over accidentally. If I ever find out otherwise, someone is going to taste a bit of wrath.

What a stupid reason for an endorsement

I was reading last night about the upcoming election. The Smithfield Herald has released its endorsements for this year's election. Here is what they wrote about the race for School Board:

For Board of Education: This debate took the longest and not because the race has six candidates for three seats. Incumbent Larry Strickland and newcomer Butler Hall enjoyed the unanimous support of the Herald’s editorial board. Mr. Strickland because he’s willing to work with County Commissioners to put finite county resources into classrooms. And Mr. Hall because we believe his would be a moderate, consensus-building voice on a board that has become increasingly partisan. But how to choose among the other four candidates? Carol Brannock would bring a teacher’s voice to a school board that has none. Sylvia Herring would offer pragmatism and a southern Johnston County perspective. Incumbent Dorothy Johnson has a passion for helping schoolchildren, and she is the board’s lone minority and therefore a role model. But our nod goes to Brian Hale because he is the parent of young children, and young children are what the school board is all about.

My thoughts about what was written are this. I couldn't care less if Dorothy Johnson is a minority. She is only a role model if she has the character to be so. I don't care if Carol Brannock was a teacher or not. I only care if she has the right perspective to be able to guide the education policies of the county. I don't care what part of the county Sylvia Herring is from. We should be electing school board members by district, anyway.

I thought that the last endorsement was written by a third grader or a mentally retarded adult, so I read it again. Yup, it said what I thought it said. I decided to email the endorsed candidate. He doesn't write the endorsements. I did want to share with him some perspective and let him know why I would vote for him, or not. Here is what I wrote:

I was reading the online version of the Herald last night and saw their endorsements for the upcoming election. I see that "our nod goes to Brian Hale because he is the parent of young children, and young children are what the school board is all about." I wanted to let you know that I will not vote for you because you have young children. I will most likely vote for you because actually looked to see who the candidates were and read their candidate profiles. You seem conservative in your approach as well as practical.

You mentioned one thing in your N&O profile (something I am familiar with, having run for office myself) that is what I was looking for. "...allow us to continue to grow without having a higher tax burden on the Johnston County families." That is something that I always look for. The views about the burden on the people who pay the bills are important, since that tells me whether a candidate will think creatively or not, and give consideration to efficiency with the millions of dollars we already send to the county schools.

The Herald said one thing that I find absurd in the earlier quote. "young children are what the school board is all about." No, young children are NOT what the school board is all about. EDUCATION is what the school board is all about. They are not there to be elected babysitter supervisors or Big Brother. They are there to direct the way in which the county handles its education system. If people would get that concept down rather than all things being "for the children" as an emotional pull for power, then perhaps we could gain back ground in the quality of our education system that we have lost over the years.

If parochial and charter schools can educate children for far less money that we are spending per student and give a higher standard of education at the same time, perhaps it is time to reevaluate our system. Just within the past week, I was listening to charter school administrators who were discussing how their several schools receive the same amount of public money per student as other public schools. However, they do NOT receive any money for facilities. Within the amount of money they receive, they must pay for building construction or rental. They are doing so with great success, even building $12 million dollar facilities. That tells me that our existing public system is extremely inefficient and needs to change. The figure thrown around was that only about 50% of tax dollars for education make it to the classroom. The other half is eaten up in administration. If this is true, I want someone who is elected to work to change that. When our Superintendent of Schools makes more money than the Governor of North Carolina, something needs to change.

If you are in that paradigm, then you will certainly have my vote, not because you have young children.

WTF?

As some of you may know, I had an interview a while back with Dan Mansell, candidate for Congress against Bob Etheridge. I extended the offer to the Etheridge campaign and got no response. I am a conservative, so my personal choice for election is Mansell. A few things have bothered me about his campaign, but this one in particular I will share.

The day we had the interview, it was explained to me by the young campaign manager how their campaign was going to "redifine a shoestring budget" and spoke about their $40K budget compared to Etheridge's $700K of money just from PACs. I offered some professional services to their campaign. I offered to make CD copies of the interview FREE, make the interview available online FREE, and make any radio ads for them FREE. I have done radio ads for over 15 years. I know what I am doing. I have a professional recording set up for broadcast quality recording for radio and TV. I still do narration and ads from time to time.

Today I was on the way home during the 6PM hour and heard a familiar voice on the radio start to talk about the failings of Bob Etheridge as a Congressman. I knew instantly that the ad was for Mansell. I also have communicated with the voice over guy in the past. He does a lot of work for my employer. Actually, I even have the same mixing board, sound card, and software that he uses as a full time voice over announcer. This man's voice saturates the Triangle market. I have nothing against him as a professional and individual, but he is over used in this market. Also, each person has a voice suited for certain types of ads, not every type of ad. He is often contracted for voice over work unfitting to his voice.

This ad was simply and non-descript. Plain. Boring. I offered to make ads FREE for the campaign. I have an hour of audio clips of the candidate I can use. I have years of announcing experience. Most of all, I am a conservative that volunteered to work for the campaign FREE.

I have a hard time with the concept of having a man sit across a table from you, telling you that their campaign is low on funds and they can't afford to do much yet refusing help that has been offered to them. I offered on several occasions to assist in a few different aspects of sound and web media. I NEVER heard anything in reply.

Maybe this is for the best. Mansell is going to get his ass kicked in the election in November. I have known this since day one. Still, I offered to help the cause. I like what Mansell stands for, but I can only wonder WTF??? The campaign manager cries about the low amount of funds but pays for crappy, boring ads when they could have had better ads FREE? Not to mention that I would have professionally recorded the auto dialer message that they used to call every residence. It was done by the campaign manager (I have not mentioned his name for a reason), I recognized the voice. By the way, he actually did a better job than the guy who voiced their radio ad. Still, I would have done the freakin' job for them FREE.

For the record

Keep in mind that I don't write the headline to my columns, just the column itself. Even when I have submitted a column title, the staff at the paper writes their own. Today's column title was "Nation needs a voter revolution". For the record, NO, I did not write that title and it does not accurately reflect the content of the column. Furthermore, it does not reflect what I mean. I did not mean a voter revolution, I meant an ACTUAL one.

I noticed that there is still no apology from Jackie Lacy

I read "The Selma News" today and there is still no apology from Jackie Lacy. I didn't figure that I would read one today. In case you missed the reason an apology is needed, read this post.

I wonder if she will do so at the next Council meeting. Doubtful.

Read "The Selma News" today for a letter to the editor

The owner of Anderson Street Soap Company wrote a letter to the editor that was published today that hits home in some areas. Get yourself a copy of the paper and read it. Below is a response I sent.

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I do agree with much of what you wrote in today's letter to the editor. I agree with trying to help support local businesses in so much as that they offer what I desire to purchase. I don't shop at the antique shops, since I am not looking for what they offer. I do visit local restaurants, the jewelry shop, the thrift store, and others that have what I need.

Unfortunately, in the case of The Royal Tea Room, she was not open on the occasions when we attempted to go there for dinner and the one time she was open when we stopped by, she really didn't have anything we were interested in at the time. I hate tea, by the way, so I don't typically go to a tea room. A coffee shop, on the other hand, now is something I would frequent if one was in town. When looking for a cappuccino and a sweet to share with the wife, the tea room did not have either. Not even a coffee with real creamer. That is just my personal experience. When we returned to try dinner one day, the hours were changed and the tea room was closed.

I don't cry over businesses going out of business if they can not compete. That is just a common marketplace occurrence. I patronize businesses that have what I want to purchase and at prices I am willing to pay. I don't patronize one gas station in town because they don't offer the convenience of location, of using a brand of gasoline that allows me to use my branded credit card should I choose to do so, and others do. That is no slight on that station, and I don't feel bad about not giving them my business. I don't go to the IGA any more for personal reasons, and Joe Moore is missing thousands of dollars of my business. I don't feel bad about going to Food Lion or Wal-Mart instead. He has made some business decisions with which I disagree and therefore don't give him my business. That is a part of the free market economy and has nothing to do with "being my brother's keeper".

I believe that you were dead on target concerning the security guard at The Waffle House and have written about it on troylaplante.com. The local police were way out of bounds in charging that woman with a crime. I even posted the text of the ordinance (which is publicly available on the town's web site). The ordinance does not even address her situation in a criminal or prohibitive manner. What that security guard did was specifically PROTECTED under that ordinance, yet some zealot decided to cite her anyway. That is sad.

I can see the town cutting business owners some slack on utility bills. Fortunately, the town did vote in the past council meetings to out the utility deposit to help businesses. The amount charged for utilities still seems high to me, and I have no problem giving new businesses a break. That is just plain good business, from a perspective that they are a customer of the town.

I can't see the town subsidizing rent, though. Private owners of property have the right to rent out their properties or sell them at fair market prices. Unfortunately, those prices have been a bit high here in town. We are still talking about Selma, not Raleigh. I looked at property and rental prices within the past year and was a bit disappointed in the high amount being demanded. That is just plain a market problem that needs to be rectified. I don't necessarily believe it to be a town government problem. I certainly don't want my tax dollars going towards subsidizing rent, regardless of the beneficiary.

You were right on about Railroad Days, as well. I have said the same thing for over a decade. It is no different than with the Ham and Yam festival in Smithfield. One year, when I was working at WBZB, the only things railroad related was the model train display, the spike driving contest, and the fact that we played a few Boxcar Willie songs on the radio. The same year at the Ham and Yam festival, the only thing remotely related to sweet potatoes or pigs were the hams and the cans of yams we gave away to listeners as we broadcasted live.

Selma has allowed gangs and thugs to thrive for years, as evidenced by the crowd at Railroad Days, as you noted in your letter. The police would serve the public better by dealing with them instead of with security guards doing their job.

Anyway, David, I don't have to agree with you on everything to still love and respect you, which I do. We do agree on a lot of things, and I probably need to expend more effort on keeping in fellowship with you. Come to think of it, your shop does have something we need, so I do believe we need to make a trip soon to resupply.

As if this were a bad thing

Book ties Johnston firm to CIA activity
A journalist claims the air charter company transported terrorism suspects to other countries for interrogation.

OK, first of all, there is a HUGE difference between interrogation and torture. Even if that interrogation is a bit heavy handed, it is still not torture. The torture is still alleged, not proven. In the N&O article, there is a quote "Aero President Norman Richardson said he has read a lot of insinuations in the book but few facts. Grey was "just grabbing at straws as far as guesswork and putting us in a business we're not in," Richardson said. Aero leases and maintains planes -- what others do with the planes is "their business," he said."

We have boneheads who protest the use of our little airport for alleged torture runs. First, so what? The planes need to fly to and from somewhere. Second, the torture is alleged, not proven. Third, the flights are contracted or chartered, not CIA owned and operated. For all we know, some of the protested or alleged CIA flights may be business flights, not prisoner transport flights. Either way, I really don't care. If some evil adherent of "the religion of peace" who has waged war on our troops gets harshly interrogated, I am not going to complain.

A profound concept

I dropped most of the email lists and newsletters that I used to subscribe to, especially theological ones. They often were full of fluff, were a cleverly disguised way to make merchandise of the subscribers, were full of bickering or false doctrine, or I just plain didn't take the time to bother reading them any more.

One that I do still get I actually enjoy reading. Today's newsletter deals with an often misunderstood topic on both sides of the discussion regarding the roles of men and women in the Church.

There is one quote by Martin Luther in the newsletter that is rather profound. Wow, is it the truth. "God has created men with broad chests and shoulders, not broad hips, so that men can understand wisdom. But the place where the filth flows out is small. With women it is the other way around. That's why they have lots of filth and little wisdom." I know that women will get mad about that, and the newsletter is disputing the alleged hatred of women by Luther, or at least his theological interpretation of why a man should be in charge of a woman. Any man who has been married knows how true that quote can be.

There was one woman who disputed something I wrote in my blog months ago about women being more emotional rather than logical in their thought processes. He was a liberal from the midwest. He has worked in and around his state legislature and for the media, as I recall. Need I say more as to why he believes as he does?

Don't get me wrong, I disagree with many of Luther's masculine domination theology. He was quoted as saying things about women such as "If they become tired or even die, that does not matter. Let them die in childbirth -- that is why they are there... So that you could by God's will of suffering and perhaps dying (go) through these delicious pains." Luther was the originator of the saying "A woman's place is in the home." Another fun one is "There is no dress that suits a woman as badly as trying to become wise." I don't necessarily agree with Luther in these thoughts. Being married, I understand them of course, but don't necessarily agree.

Web site accomplishments

Over the past month or so, I have been working on improving my web site, i9570.com to be a more pleasant, useful, and user friendly web destination for local users. I have installed features such as a new classified ad system, an auction site (still in development stage), a wiki section, a photo and file hosting gallery, a web based calendar system, and now a web search designed exclusively for the Johnston County area. Of course, there are still the message board, all the web tools, Bible study tools, and the most complete source for area news, financials, and helpful articles that you will find anywhere in the area. Just poke around the site and see for yourself. I don't think that you will find any single site around that is as comprehensive of the Johnston County area as mine.

Feel free to make use of these features. They are all free and are there for your use. Pass the word along to others, as well. I spend a lot of time creating, installing, and refining the site as a community service and would love to see it utilized to its fullest potential.

I love creative ads. It is why we all watch the Superbowl, isn't it?

What happens to some clown when he disses a king

Interesting bit of information

I ran across this bit of information about Chuck Norris, the actor and martial arts champion that I did not know about until today. Thank you, Lord.

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One of America's great action stars of film and television is not ashamed that he's returned to the faith of this youth. Early in his life, action star Chuck Norris was reared by a strong Christian woman -- but things changed quickly. "When I got into the film world, I got sucked into the secular aspect of the entertainment field and I really drifted away from my faith," says Norris. "It's amazing -- as successful as I was as an actor, and the money and the fame, there was still something missing." Norris married a Christian woman named Gena and, through her witness, rededicated his life to Jesus Christ eight years ago. The actor says the Holy Spirit has filled the emptiness he had and has given his life new meaning. He is now an advocate for getting the Bible back into the public school curriculum.

Surprised

I am a bit surprised that I have only gotten ONE comment on my last column dealing with the racist comment and call for an apology by Town Council member Jackie Lacy. Just one that came last night, and it was positive. I was expecting a lot of complaints, but then again, the paper has not come out this week, yet.

I have had my share of death today

When I woke up this morning, I found our dog, Daisy, laying on the floor shivering a lot. She would not come eat breakfast and would not come near me. I woke up Teresa and she took Daisy, snuggled up to her with a blanket, and helped the shivering. We called the veterinarian's office at Bitterroot Animal Hospital. Dr. Reed is an elderly gentleman whom I rather like and has seen Daisy before. He is our new vet here in Johnston County. The office set a 10:30 appointment, so we went in.

After an exam and a blood sample, Daisy seemed OK and we were instructed to keep an eye on her for any more problems. She went to the groomer's yesterday and was tired after her trip. We expected that, but she was almost "dead to the world" and was panting more than usual at times. She panted quite a bit today, too. A while after coming home, she seemed to be feeling better but not 100%. Overall, however, she still seems better.

As we were leaving, a lady came into the vet hospital in tears saying that she wanted her dog to be put down. She had an old, large female who could no longer walk. She had total paralysis in her hind legs. She was apparently under her house for several days and wouldn't/couldn't come out. She and her husband got her into the back of their mini van on a blanket. She said that the dog was too heavy to just pick up and carry into the hospital. I offered to help. Her husband and I went out to the van, which was backed up to a door at the side of the building. We tried to take each corner of the blanket and carry her. She fought a bit and lost balance a few times, making our efforts futile. When she fell over on her side, I wrapped the blanket around her, scooped her up, and carried her inside to the exam room.

That poor old dog reaked of death. She smelled bad from having soiled herself and had the smell of death about her that I have smelled before. When I got home, I had to take off my clothes and shower to get rid of the odor. At least that old dog was loved and was going in a peaceful manner with the people who loved her right there.

Later on, I went with a buddy of mine to see "The Flags of Our Fathers", the new Clint Eastwood movie about the Battle of Iwo Jima, the famous photo of six men raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, and the story of the three men who became unwitting heroes. It was actually a very good movie. One reviewer on IMDB said, "What it lacks in popcorn-munching entertainment value, it replaces with gravitas." I found that to be accurate, and quite honestly, that is exactly what I wanted in this movie, or from any historical portrayal, for that matter.

I don't expect Hollywood to get any movie totally accurate from a historical perspective. However, since I never knew the details about Iwo Jima and the time period, I really enjoyed the portrayal. There were certainly enough photos, news stories, and news reels to document the actual events, so the movie should be pretty accurate (I hope). I did some research on Iwo Jima after getting home from the theater. One read that is worth the time is the Wikipedia entry for The Battle of Iwo Jima. Follow the external links, too. They are worth your time.

I did learn several things about the time period, the war bond effort, the politics, and the truth behind the famous photo from both the movie and from doing some reading.

I wish that Wikipedia would condense their listings from multiple into ONE common listing. That is the pitfall of having an open format, though.

If Mansell loses the election...

it isn't because I didn't offer to help. I did not give cash, but offered to help the campaign in several areas. I offered to make copies of the interview I did with Dan Mansell for distribution, even donating CDs, labels, and the duplication service. I also offered to create any radio ads, internet audio, etc. So far, I have yet to get a return communication regarding any of this. These professional services are not cheap. Oh, well.

One crazy cat and a bunch of psycho but slow squirrels

On our property, we have a lot of squirrels running around. I routinely hear them scurrying across my roof. They are in my trees a lot, raid my bird feeder, and eat the pecans that grow in the tree in my back yard. They love to hop on our swing in the back yard to eat their nuts, leaving shell fragments all over the seat. They have destroyed several plastic bird feeders to get the seed out of them. My latest feeder is an open gazebo looking thing that allows them to sit in the feeder, but at least they don't destroy it.

I also have a cat that lives outdoors. She was an abandoned kitty in the neighborhood. Since she was a youngster, she has come by here and adopted us. We took her in, fed her, loved on her, got her spayed after she had a kitten (that died within 48 hours), sprung her from cat jail after getting trapped by animal control, got her shots, and flea treatments. I guess we could consider her our cat, since she spends most of her time here. She goes across the street and loves our neighbors, too.

Since at first, we didn't know what to call her, as we thought that she may belong to someone in the neighborhood, we called her a generic name like "Fluffy", even though she isn't really fluffy. She is a short hair mixed breed. She is gray with a white saddle and is rather amorous.

Fluffy loves to hunt. Over the past couple of years, she has come home with dead birds and squirrels. She loves to eat squirrel. We give her fresh food and water, but her carnivore predator instincts are strong and active.

This morning, I opened the door and found her laying under the car with another dead squirrel. This is her third or so within the past several months. She found the stupid or slow ones. Natural selection at work.

I can't imagine that raw squirrel tastes very good, but to Fluff (Fluffernutter, officially), it must be a delicasy. She always starts eating at the head and usually has it down to the waist by the time we see the prey. Only once I can remember that she had it down to just the shoulders by the time we saw her latest kill. Nutty cat.

What boneheads, and I mean that in a good Christian way

Seminary passes resolution against speaking in tongues

Follow the link if you want to read about a Baptist seminary forbidding people to speak in tongues. Sure, play God. Quench His Spirit. Ignore scripture. Paul said 1Corinthians 14:38-39 "But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant. Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues." And they will continue to be ignorant. Certainly at that seminary.

Update

Four days ago, I wrote about a security guard that fired three shots in the air to disperse a mob at Waffle House. The article on WMPM's site was not clear about whether she was charged or not. "The Selma News" did state that she was charged. I am disappointed in this, since the town ordinance specifically protects this sort of thing, not prohibit it. I posted the ordinance in my previous writing. This is sad and inappropriate. Someone who should be commended is being treated as a criminal.

Is anyone actually buying this? I'm not

Does anyone actuall believe the following sentence from a news article? "North Korean leader Kim Jong Il said Pyongyang didn't plan to carry out any more nuclear tests and expressed regret about the country's first-ever atomic detonation last week, a South Korean news agency reported Friday."

China must be leaning heavily on the little gargoyle for him to apologize for the nuke tests. Either that, or it is a ploy.

Alternate site for audio clip

In case the audio clip I uploaded to my account is not working (the site host is having issues that count my bandwidth usage over four times higher than actual usage and therefore shutting my site down), I have uploaded the file to another site of mine. Here is the link. You still need Real Player.

Online voters' guide for Nov. election

The "News and Observer" has published a voters guide on their web site for the upcoming election. Click here for the guide.

Audio file I promised in my column

Here is the audio file that I promised in my "LaPlante's Rants" column for October 19th. You will need Real Player to hear it. If anyone wants an mp3 copy of the clip, instead, email me.

Good times, noodle salad

There is a movie that many of you may have seen starring Helen Hunt, Jack Nicholson, and Greg Kinnear called "As Good As It Gets". There is one scene in that movie that I absolutely love. It is the scene where the three aforementioned actors are in the car on the way to Maryland and a conversation between the characters of Simon and Carol gets interrupted by Melvin (Nicholson's character). It has to be one of the best lines in movie history.

Carol: "OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you---"

Melvin: "It's not true. Some have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good."

The movie has been on cable several times recently and we finally put it on tape today. I have got to get some audio of that scene. I wanted to get the URL www.goodtimesnoodlesalad.com, but some squatter has had it for over a year and a half and has done nothing with it. The URL expires in two years. We will see if the female registrant ever lets it go.

The good news is that regardless of how bad you had it in life, Jesus will bring the picnic lunch complete with noodle salad.

Thoughts on some issues in today's news

Just some thoughts on what I see on The Drudge Report at the moment:

"MCCAIN JOKES ABOUT SUICIDE IF DEMS WIN SENATE" -- If only he was serious.

"Bush warns against selling nuclear arms..." -- The warning was to North Korea. What about those who sell to them?

"FBI WANTS INTERNET PROVIDERS TO KEEP RECORD OF USER'S ACTIVITIES..."


"Iran cuts Internet speeds to homes, cafes..." -- Any real surprise? Politically, they can't just cut it off net access all at once, but they can frustrate people by cutting speeds. And who is the oppressor? I would almost classify slow internet as torture.

"For First Time, Airport Workers Nationwide To Face Intense Security Screening..." -- For FIRST TIME? Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??? Five years after 9/11 and this is the first time? Assinine.

"Calif. city may bar illegal immigrants from renting..." -- Yay! Another one!! Three cheers for Escondido, California! I wish Selma would do the same. With a three of our town council members being rental property owners, I doubt it would ever happen here. Remember that in a year when the municipal election comes around again. I don't own any rental houses or apartments, by the way. Just my own. If I did, my policy would be simply "no Green Card, no rental. No English, no rental."

"N Korea informs China of plan to conduct 3 more nuke tests..." -- China has it right about wanting separation from North Korea and has built a wall on their common border. I hope that China comes down on Korea harshly over all of this. I wish we had the guts that China does and would build a wall on our border with Mexico...and fast.

Other comments: If you look at the N&O web site, you will see nothing about the scandals in the NC Legislature with Jim Black, nothing for follow up on stories about mismanagement of taxpayer money and state employee time by the D.O.T., and nothing about the projected $1 billion dollar budget shortfall after a budget surplus of over $2 billion last year that was frivilously spent. I wish they would KEEP this stuff on the front page of their web site. In all fairness, there is a full section of stories about Jim Black and Kevin Geddings. You just have to hunt for it.

Berlin Wall? I've got 2 words for ya'!

On a recent visit to Texas, Mikhail Gorbachev compared the proposed fence on the Mexicon border to the Berlin wall. I already addressed this in another post. The Berin Wall was not built on a nation's border. It divided a nation. It was not built to keep people out and prevent invasion. It was built to keep people in oppression. It was built for domination and conquest, not national protection. Gorby, shove it.

Mansell campaign not doing to hot today

Below is a story that was carried on WPTF news. They did not release the name of the candidate, but I pretty much knew who it was. I decided to look it up online and there was the story.

I am a Mansell supporter. We see quite a few things alike. I had the opportunity to interview him a while back and posted the interview online. Unfortunately, I have known for quite some time that Mansell was going to be defeated pretty badly by Etheridge. It is an unfortunate future event. Now it seems more inevitable. Just three weeks before the election, the Associated Press released the news that Mansell owes a lot of money in back taxes.

My views of the tax system, its unethical application, and my disdain for big government aside, I find it amazing that someone would even consider running for Congress knowing that you own a few hudred thousand dollars in income taxes. Sorry, but this is just plain stupid and gives ammunition to your opponent. When you are a strong conservative, you will have opponents that are more than just the other candidate. You also battle the liberal media.

I find it of little coincidence that the story comes out just three weeks before the election. News like this will help ensure an Etheridge victory. I have my suspicions about the timing of the lien, or at least the news thereof.

Mansell says that the tax lien is a "non issue". To voters it is, Dan. I like you, and I feel it is an issue.

Below is the story from the WPTF web site.

GOP Congressional Candidate Owes More Than $220K In Unpaid Taxes

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) - Liens filed in Johnston County show a
Republican congressional candidate who wanst the federal income tax
eliminated owes more than 220-thousand dollars in unpaid taxes.

Danny Mansell is trying to unseat Representative Bob Etheridge,
and he blames the years-old tax problems on a time when he
neglected to manage his business while his mother was dying and his
wife battled cancer.

Mansell says the tax liens are a "non-issue."

Department of Revenue records show Mansell's business has also
owed the state nearly 50-thousand dollars in taxes since 1999. But
Mansell says that lien record was already paid in full.

While he has pushed to replace the federal income tax with a
nationwide sales tax, Mansell said his liens are not connected with
his policy proposals.

Etheridge's campaign had no comment on Mansell's tax history.

A heart warming testimony

Reading news about this woman and her testimony brings a warmth and love to my heart. Pray for Crissy as she develops and walks with Christ.

One thing wrong, one thing right

Here are two stories on the WMPM web site. One has the proper outcome, the other did not. I will add my commentary after each story.



Grand Jury Refuses To Indict Homeowner Who Shot Burglar - A grand jury on Monday determined there was not sufficient evidence to indict a Selma homeowner who shot a burglar fleeing from his home. District Attorney Tom Lock said the grand jury did not desire to consider a bill of indictment against the homeowner, Randall Holmes, who shot an alleged burglar. Therefore, Lock said, he would not pursue criminal charges of any kind against Holmes. The accused burglar, Derrick Barnes (pictured right), was shot while in the passenger seat of a car driven by his girlfriend, Crystal Morrison. Both were arrested after Barnes went to seek medical treatment hours after the predawn burglary on September 13. No person may be tried without his consent for any felony in North Carolina unless a grand jury has indicted him for that felony, District Attorney Lock said.

The right outcome on that story. I realize what the law states regarding shooting at someone who is leaving the property. However, you don't know if a burglar is armed or not, whether they will stop and shoot, or what danger there may be otherwise. If someone is bold and stupid enough to break in to someone's home, they are stupid enough to die. Period. Jury nullification can be a good thing.

Now the wrong...

Security Guard In Trouble After Firing Gun - A security guard who fired a gun while trying to disperse an unruly crowd is now in trouble with the law. Selma Police said the security officer, Mary Jean Pounds, broke the law by discharging a firearm in the city limits. Pounds was working at the Waffle House when an altercation broke out inside the business around 3:00am. Before police arrived, as many as 15 people gathered in the parking lot. Pounds allegedly fired her handgun three times in the air to disperse the crowd. Police seized her firearm and three spent shell casings they recovered in the parking lot.

So the property owners (in this case, Waffle House) hire a private protection firm to provide security. The security officer, if an armed guard, is qualified to possess the firearm and use it. If the guard is unarmed, then it was inappropriate to have the gun to begin with. I used to work as a supervisor and write some standards at a guard company, by the way.

The woman was doing her job, in my opinion. If she was hired as an armed guard and an altercation was about to or has broken out, then I say she did the right thing. She should be congratulated for stopping a possibly dangerous incident before it got out of control rather than charged with a crime. The firearm should be returned to the owner immediately. To deprive someone of personal property and self defense over this incident is inappropriate. The term "shall not be infringed" comes to mind. Yes, I am a big time 2nd Amendment supporter. Firearms were created for just such an occasion. There are reasons for the town ordinance, and this is one within its scope of protection.

For clarification, here is the town ordinance regarding to discharge of firearms within the town limits:

Sec. 13-3. Discharge of firearms, fireworks.
(a) Any person who shoots any firearm for sport or pastime or uses any fireworks or explosive within the corporate limits of the town shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply to firearms used in defense of person or property or pursuant to lawful directions of law-enforcement officers.

Unless there are circumstances not mentioned in the news article, the discharge of the firearm was lawful. The article does not specifically say that the guard was charged with a misdemeanor. If I was in the same situation, I would be tempted to do the same thing. If my firearm got taken, I would just go home and get another one. My lawyer would get involved, and I would be incessantly on someone's case until my property was returned.

NOW, if the guard is in trouble with her employer, THAT is another issue entirely.

Thanks, China, for our precedent

There was a lot of whining by the Mexican government about the U.S. building a fence along our border with Mexico. They even threatened to take the issue before the United Nations (as if that is really going to do any good) to stop our sovereign authority to govern our own national borders. Today I found an article online about China building a wall on its border with North Korea. China may be getting wise to the insanity that is North Korea.

If it is fine for China to protect their own border, why is it not perfectly fine for us to do the same? If we don't build a fence, I at least want to see the Rio Grande full of sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads!

OK, so that went way over the heads of those people who I know read this and have never seen the Austin Powers movies.