Wednesday, April 29, 2015


Elena Kagan and Sonia Soto-Mayor
Were Not Included in this Old Bit of Snideness 
Masquerading as Humor from the New York Times.

Nevertheless, Please Bear in Mind that These Distinctly-Odd Individuals Attired in Black Robes are Now Deciding the Fate of Untold Millions of Homosexuals who want to Marry and Live Like Everyone Else.

PRESUMING a LACK of CRIMINALITY 
SHOULD ANYONE HAVE the RIGHT to
DETERMINE the WAY INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS WISH to LIVE THEIR LIVES?

My personal views on the subject of homosexual Marriage 
are well illustrated in the verse below.


_____ TOO SOON OLD & TOO LATE SMART _____ 

Before committing Marriage Gay People should take pause
And consider the implications of Community Property Laws.

Lust may achieve satiety
With or without propriety,
So why become a martyr
To receive the imprimatur
Of a dull Bourgeois society
Whose strictures you flee gleefully?

Intimate relationships of each and every kind
Are blithely entered into by mad persons love made blind.
The stress and strain of living close together every day
Demands incessant giving causing tempers soon to fray.

The quest to reach Equality considers not, of course,
The Agony -- and vast Expense -- that comes with a Divorce!

~ FreeThinke




Tuesday, April 28, 2015

YOUR INTERPRETATION?
Is this an accurate portrayal of the situation 
in the Middle East, or not?

                                     
Please give us reasons for your opinion.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

This is One Picture Worth 
Many Thousands of Words




THE REPUBLICAN ROGUES GALLERY

TOP: Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen Rob Portman, 
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Sen Orrin Hatch, Sen. Mitch McConnell
BOTTOM: Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Thad Cochran, 
Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Mark Kirk, Sen. Jeff Flake

What Might YOU Have to Say 
About the Problem it Reveals?

Saturday, April 25, 2015


P O T  S H O T S

Frankly, I think HILLARY
Truly is GODZILLARY




If she gets elected,
Let’s buy out the DISTILLERY!



Friday, April 24, 2015


Who Would Be YOUR Nominee 
for the 
BIGGEST 
in the 
BLOGOSPHERE?
P l e a s e  b e  S e r i o u s

Wednesday, April 22, 2015


No. This is Not a Bird! 


This stunning item, just landed in
my inbox. I could not resist sharing it. The parrot is in fact a woman who modeled for the fine art body painter, Johannes Stötter.

Using breathable paint, he spent hours painstakingly turning this woman into the image of a parrot, brushstroke by brushstroke. The model's arm forms the parrot's head 
and beak, and her legs form 
the wing and tail feathers.

Remember. Always take a closer look at what you see, because "things 
are seldom what they seem."  

Once you see the woman, 
the parrot virtually disappears.

Now try to imagine how this optical illusion might apply to real life on any and all levels.

Friday, April 17, 2015



If ignorance is bliss,
‘Tis folly to be wise.

~ Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard


Wednesday, April 15, 2015




The Failure To Pay Close Attention


4/15/2015


The high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days.  2 Chronicles 15:17

Asa was not completely obedient in the outward, visible areas of his life. He was obedient in what he considered the most important areas, but he was not entirely right. Beware of ever thinking, “Oh, that thing in my life doesn’t matter much.” The fact that it doesn’t matter much to you may mean that it matters a great deal to God. Nothing should be considered a trivial matter by a child of God. How much longer are we going to prevent God from teaching us even one thing? But He keeps trying to teach us and He never loses patience. You say, “I know I am right with God”— yet the “high places” still remain in your life. There is still an area of disobedience. Do you protest that your heart is right with God, and yet there is something in your life He causes you to doubt? Whenever God causes a doubt about something, stop it immediately, no matter what it may be. Nothing in our lives is a mere insignificant detail to God.
Are there some things regarding your physical or intellectual life to which you have been paying no attention at all? If so, you may think you are all correct in the important areas, but you are careless— you are failing to concentrate or to focus properly. You no more need a day off from spiritual concentration on matters in your life than your heart needs a day off from beating. As you cannot take a day off morally and remain moral, neither can you take a day off spiritually and remain spiritual. God wants you to be entirely His, and it requires paying close attention to keep yourself fit. It also takes a tremendous amount of time. Yet some of us expect to rise above all of our problems, going from one mountaintop experience to another, with only a few minutes’ effort.

~ Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest


Tuesday, April 14, 2015


Inner Invincibility

04/14/2015

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me… —Matthew 11:29

“Whom the Lord loves He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). How petty our complaining is! Our Lord begins to bring us to the point where we can have fellowship with Him, only to hear us moan and groan, saying, “Oh Lord, just let me be like other people!” Jesus is asking us to get beside Him and take one end of the yoke, so that we can pull together. That’s why Jesus says to us, “My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Are you closely identified with the Lord Jesus like that? If so, you will thank God when you feel the pressure of His hand upon you.
“…to those who have no might He increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29). God comes and takes us out of our emotionalism, and then our complaining turns into a hymn of praise. The only way to know the strength of God is to take the yoke of Jesus upon us and to learn from Him.
“…the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Where do the saints get their joy? If we did not know some Christians well, we might think from just observing them that they have no burdens at all to bear. But we must lift the veil from our eyes. The fact that the peace, light, and joy of God is in them is proof that a burden is there as well. The burden that God places on us squeezes the grapes in our lives and produces the wine, but most of us see only the wine and not the burden. No power on earth or in hell can conquer the Spirit of God living within the human spirit; it creates an inner invincibility.
If your life is producing only a whine, instead of the wine, then ruthlessly kick it out. It is definitely a crime for a Christian to be weak in God’s strength.
~ Oswald Chambers - My Utmost for His Highest




Monday, April 13, 2015


Atlanta School Cheating 
‘Unindicted Co-Conspirators’ 
Not To Be Punished

By Rhonda Cook - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Those who opted for trial are a small fraction of the original 178 educators and administrators named in the governor’s investigative report of teachers changing answers on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.

Thirty-five were eventually indicted. Eighty-three were named unindicted co-conspirators. Sixty of those were given immunity. Ten of them testified.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard accepted pleas to lesser charges from 21 of the 35 indicted. Eleven of them finished their misdemeanor probation sentences, which included community service while their former colleagues were on trial. The rest either have time remaining on their probation or have not completed all their required community service.
Retired teacher Lavonia Ferrell changed answers on students’ standardized tests but she didn’t plead guilty to any charges in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating case.  Investigators did not charge Ferrell, who is now retired.


They also didn’t charge Sharon Pitts, who admitted in a court document that she destroyed copies of an internal investigative report about teachers and administrators changing answers on student tests, or Kathy Augustine, who investigators said lied about helping former Superintendent Beverly Hall cover up cheating by teachers.

Pitts now heads human resources for public schools in Grand Rapids, Mich. Augustine runs a consulting business out of her metro Atlanta home.

But for 10 lower-ranking former administrators and teachers, even getting to spend another night at home could be years away. They took their chances by going to trial rather than admitting guilt or turning on former colleagues, and they face the possibility of 20 years in prison when they’re sentenced today.
Some in metro Atlanta are upset about teachers who cheated being treated the same as someone who robbed a bank or ran a drug enterprise.

The difference in possible outcomes between those who were tried and those who were not strike many as unfair, but it is the way the justice system works: Cut a deal and you might be offered a chance to plead guilty to a lesser charge and get a lighter sentence, maybe even a chance to walk away. Demand a trial, and be ready to deal with heavy consequences.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter warned them early in the process they could pay a price for their choice to go to trial.

The 11 who were convicted now have to pay with prison time. Scott Smith, attorney for former Benteen Elementary School testing coordinator Theresia Copeland called that a “trial tax” for insisting on going to trial to seek a jury verdict. Copeland will be sentenced for one count each of racketeering and false statements and writings.

Those who opted for trial are a small fraction of the original 178 educators and administrators named in the governor’s investigative report of teachers changing answers on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.

Thirty-five were eventually indicted. Eighty-three were named unindicted co-conspirators. Sixty of those were given immunity. Ten of them testified.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard accepted pleas to lesser charges from 21 of the 35 indicted. Eleven of them finished their misdemeanor probation sentences, which included community service while their former colleagues were on trial. The rest either have time remaining on their probation or have not completed all their required community service.

Two of the educators indicted did not accept pleas but did not go to trial. Hall was excused from the trial for health reasons, and she died last month, before the jury had begun deliberating. D.H. Stanton Elementary School principal Willie Davenport died of cancer a few months after she was indicted.

It’s all within the district attorney’s discretion “as to whom they will charge and whom they will not,” said Georgia State University law professor Russell Covey.

Sometimes evidence is lacking or prosecutors made a deal in exchange for information. Also, Covey said, prosecutors “might believe the interest of justice might not be served by prosecuting that individual.”

Howard declined to discuss why anyone was or was not indicted early on. But the indictment of those charged refers to school employees who “admitted to cheating but have not been charged due to their confessions, cooperation and truthful testimony.”

The only mark against those who cooperated is the label “unindicted co-conspirator” that will forever be theirs, said attorney George Lawson, who represented Michael Pitts, a former regional administrator who is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

“If they were truly co-conspirators… they go unscathed,” said attorney Akil Secret, who represented now-convicted former Deerwood Academy assistant principal Tabeeka Jordan.

The specific impact that ‘unindicted co-conspirator’ label had on many of them is hard to gauge. Almost all attempts to get comments from them were not successful. Messages weren’t returned. Phones had been disconnected. And a few declined to talk, saying they had new careers or new lives and wanted that troubled time to remain in their past.

Stacey Smith, one of the unindicted co-conspirators, was a third-grade teacher at Usher/Collier Heights Elementary School when she cheated, she testified. Smith now teaches at an area Head Start program. She cried while she testified, explaining she had been new to education, scared, and wanted to fit in at Usher/Collier Heights.

Smith couldn’t be reached for comment.

At least one unindicted co-conspirator continues to teach at an Atlanta elementary school, and others are in classrooms at schools throughout the metro area and the state, according to state and APS records.

Two are teaching in other countries. Former Finch Elementary School teacher Sharona Thomas-Wilson is in Dubai, and former Benteen Elementary School Diana Quisenberry is reported to be in Southeast Asia, according to their attorneys.

Those who did not face prison time are trying to move on.

http://www.myajc.com/news/news/crime-law/atlanta-school-cheating-unindicted-co-conspirators/nkqC7/?ecmp=ajc_social_twitter_2014_sfp#78a615de.3828699.735700

Sunday, April 12, 2015


Timeless Wisdom from 
ALBERT SCHWEITZER

Dr. Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

Constant kindness can accomplish much. 
As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes 
misunderstanding, mistrust, 
and hostility to evaporate.


Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.


Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.


The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.


There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.



Do something wonderful. Someone may imitate it.



Hear Dr. Schweitzer performing Bach's great G-Minor Organ Fantasy in the post immediately below


Dr. Albert Schweitzer 
performing
The G-Minor Fantasy of J.S. Bach


Unfortunately, the Fugue is not recorded here as stated.
Dr. Schweitzer in addition to being a physician, and great humanitarian, was also an unusually gifted Organist and Music Scholar who left a highly successful career in music to pursue what-he-regarded-as a higher calling, ministering to the needs of African natives at his hospital in Lambarene.

Friday, April 10, 2015

Death for Boston's Joker?
"Joker" Tsarnaev, Islamic murderer and maimer
Or Not?
Either way, please tell us why.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015



Conservative Activists Target Republican State Lawmakers Blocking Constitutional Convention
Leaders of movement to rein in federal spending set sights on Virginia state Sen. Richard Black

By David Sherfinski - The Washington Times 

Martin Meckler, president, Citizens for Self-Governance


Conservative activists pushing to amend the Constitution to rein in federal spending are preparing to delve into state legislative elections across the country, specifically targeting Republicans who are standing in the way of a convention of the states.

“Our attitude is if state legislators won’t stand against Washington, D.C., then they need to be replaced by somebody who will,” Mark Meckler, president of Citizens for Self-Governance and a leader of the state convention movement, told The Washington Times in an interview this week.
Mr. Meckler already has one target in mind: Virginia State Sen. Richard H. Black, a Loudoun County Republican who helped derail an effort in Richmond earlier this year to add Virginia’s voice to the states seeking a convention to rein in federal spending.
“My personal opinion is, and the plan’s not in place, but my personal opinion is — got to remove him from office,” Mr. Meckler said. “He’s irrational on the issue, he’s unreasonable, he’s outrageous.”
Mr. Meckler, a co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots, is part of the growing movement among conservatives to have the states exercise their right under the Constitution’s Article V to call a constitutional convention to consider amendments. If two-thirds of the states’ legislatures issue a call, the federal government is compelled to organize the convention.
The effort has raised plenty of questions, including thorny legal issues over when enough states have issued a convention call and whether a convention can be limited to a single idea, such as a balanced budget amendment.
Mr. Black said he opposed a convention call because he fears such a gathering, without a more defined process for selecting delegates, could be hijacked by its liberal opponents.
“The odds of winning the game are pretty good, but the consequences of being [wrong] are profound,” he said. “It is remarkable that people who claim to be so [dedicated] to the Constitution are willing to roll the dice and create a totally unknown form of government and basically do away with the Constitution.”
He led opposition this year to passing a convention call through Virginia’s General Assembly, where separate measures calling for a convention for the purposes of reining in the federal government and for a balanced budget advanced to the floor of the state House and Senate.
But state Sen. Ryan T. McDougle, Hanover Republican, and Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter, Prince William Republican, ended up nixing their own bills, which were supported by Mr. Meckler’s group, for lack of support.
Other applications calling for a convention for the purposes of a balanced budget amendment also died.
Republicans have a sizable advantage in the House, but hold only a 21-19 edge in the Senate, meaning Democrats can effectively block a majority if one Republican defects.
Mr. Meckler said he considered Mr. Black the major impediment in Virginia, though an immediate bid to oust the senator could be an uphill climb. The Republican became his party’s nominee for the fall election after no other candidates filed before a deadline last month.
Others could be targeted as well, Mr. Meckler said.
A number of conservative leaders have been pushing for a convention, with varying degrees of success. Such conservative luminaries as Mark Levin and Sean Hannity have helped catapult the idea on the national stage,
Utah, North Dakota and South Dakota passed applications this year on a balanced budget amendment, and advocates have targeted a handful of other states.
It takes 34 states to issue a call, and by some counts Michigan met that threshold when it approved a convention call last year. Some scholars, though, say states that have rescinded their applications, which applies to about a dozen of them, should not count.
Congressional Republicans tried earlier this decade to add a balanced budget amendment through the more traditional route of having both chambers of Congress pass a resolution by a two-thirds vote, but the measure didn’t clear either chamber.
In the 1990s, such a proposal did clear the House and came within a single vote of clearing the Senate, but a Republican who previously supported the amendment doomed it by voting against it.
Mr. Meckler said he would judge progress based on the number of states where a convention call is introduced, which he said has been a good test for grass-roots organizing.
He said that is an important step forward from where the tea party was a few years back.
“The most important thing we’re doing is building a powerful grass-roots army infrastructure,” he said. “I’m a tea party guy through and through. Where the tea party movement didn’t achieve its objective is it never had hard and fast goals. It didn’t actually have a plan.”