Happy New Year!

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Please join me in a short moment of reflection.. at this time one year ago I got a phone call my older brother passed...

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I like what January brings.. changes in our local school board make-up, and more Republicans in both Houses in Washington.

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On a local note: The previous MCSD SPLOST tax has ended as of Midnight last night. We get a 12.5% increase in sales tax savings.. Let's not be stupid and put it back on. Vote "NO!" on any new MCSD SPLOST issues that don't list all the projects individually so the public can choose what the MCSD system "wants".

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Online story: "Activists in Boston staged a peaceful "die-in" during First Night, Boston's popular New Year's Eve celebration. Dozens of people participated in the brief protest in front of the Boston Public Library Wednesday evening while others held signs saying "black lives matter" and "a young black man is two times more likely to be shot dead by police than a white young man." -- "black lives matter"? "a young black man is two times more likely to be shot dead by police than a white young man"? Yes! but young black male is, what, 5 or 10 times more likely to have a gun and point one at a police officer. Bet this statistic would drop precipitously if an officer first heard, "Yes, Sir!" and first saw hands going up with nothing in them. It's basic math.

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L-E headline: "Cancer, heart disease, stroke deaths down, life span stays put" -- You know.. major causes of death down, but no rise in the life span expectations.. Hmmm...either this is an oxymoron blip, or we have reached maximum life expectancy.....

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Hmm.. the stretch of the RiverWalk under the 14th Street Bridge is now open.. the $244K bathroom isn't.. you know, you'd think for $244K, you could get a bathroom completed real quick..

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HuffPOO story: "In one of his final acts as governor of the state of Maryland, Martin O'Malley has commuted the sentences of four death row inmates to life without parole. * The likely 2016 Democratic presidential candidate helped shepherd in the abolition of the death penalty in his state in 2013, arguing that it wasn't a deterrent for criminals, could end up being applied to innocent people, and was far more costly to the state than other punishments." -- "arguing that it wasn't a deterrent for criminals, could end up being applied to innocent people, and was far more costly to the state than other punishments"? Huh? Name me a dead convict that has committed another crime, and show me how housing a prisoner for 'life" is cheaper than an injection or bullet...

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HuffPOO story: "A longtime adviser to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke donated money to House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), Federal Election Commission records show." -- Hmmm.. and how many HuffPOO stories were related to campaign donations made to the late Kleagle and Exalted Cyclops and US Senator Robert Byrd, D-WV.. who was the only Senator to vote against both African American U.S. Supreme Court nominees (liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas) and filibustering the Civil Rights Act of 1964, .. Hey..I believe the HuffPOO should report both sides of an issue if it continues to purport itself to be a news source.

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As a football announcer, with a choice between Howard Cosell and Brent Mushburger...I'd pick Cosell. Cosell... I'd even prefer Al-Sharlatan to Mushburger.

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Skipping over a couple of questionable (and should have been reviewed but weren't) calls, Mississippi State was outscored by GA Tech..Two Mississippi State people had particularly bad nights.. Josh Robinson announced he was going into the NFL draft..(bad.. BAD timing), and the coach who got his shot at a promotion to Defensive Co-ordinator...

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Attention! Your TV was not acting up yesterday during the Fiesta Bowl..those yucky colors were actually the Boise State & Arizona uniforms.

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Loved the look of disgust on Arizona's coach's face as time ran out. Arizona was the only team in regular season to beat Oregon, and he lost the game in his own neighborhood. Well, what did he expect..he picked those ugly uniforms he made the team wear.

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Ole Miss's coach must have trained under Pitino... Behind 42-0, he opted for a chipshot field goal rather than risk being shut out. Pathetic.

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I'm still wondering how Ole Miss still has 'spirit wear' emblazoned with "Rebels". The SEC & NCAA shouldn't allow non official names/symbols to be licensed. Of course, Ole Miss looked more like "bares" than Bears yesterday.

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You know..there was a time when university goals were to prod and nurture minds so students would leave and solve the problems of the world..then...liberalism happened

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I tell you what..thugs Ndamukong Suh and AU's Nick Fairly couldn't have ended up on a better NFL team than the Detroit Lions.. no one notices them when they are on the streets of Detroit.

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Online story: "A statewide sales tax increase and a hike in Georgia's gasoline tax are among transportation funding options laid before the General Assembly in a report released Tuesday." -- Good grief! Why is it so obvious that legislators do not know how to jumpstart an economy.. doesn't matter if they are Democrats or Republicans, but you cannot raise the taxes on the ground floor aspects of life and expect traction.

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Online story: "We’re halfway into the open enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act. And new numbers on Obamacare are out. In the first month of open enrollment, Nov. 15 through Dec. 15, more than 187,000 people in Georgia signed up for health care coverage. More than half bought insurance from the health insurance marketplace for the first time * So far, 89 percent of people who have signed up are getting financial assistance." -- Excuse me, but how is this helping? Einstein would have trouble connecting the relativity of government assisted healthcare and indigent healthcare at reducing the costs of healthcare.

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Online story: "Ferguson Police Respond to Burglary Call at Beauty Shop and End Up Dodging Bullets" -- A 911 ambush call.. there is going to a war soon...

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Parsing the MCSD SPLOST "wish LUST":

Item 19 - South Columbus Library addition: $600,000.00 - don't even know how this even fits in other than as a vote buying item.

Item 20 - Northside High School cafeteria expansion : $$500,000.00 -- "Expansion"? Excuse me? Northside was just constructed 12 years ago.. there no increases in students, so what is this about?

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Online quote source: "“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” - Edward Everett Hale" -- This is everyone's opportunity to to do what each of us can to stop government abuse of the working taxpayers. Voting "NO" on the next SPLOST will not be enough.. we must try to reform the process.. the best way is to make each proposed project the MCSD wants to be voted on individually.

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L-E story: " If you happen to be in Times Square during the next month, you can see them — depicted larger than life on North America’s biggest billboard. Or if you watched on TV as the New Year’s Eve Ball dropped there last night, the cameras might have given you a glimpse. * An image of Eric Crouch in his first-grade classroom at Double Churches Elementary School is among the five featured in the advertisement for DonorsChoose.org  , a website that helps teachers raise money for educational projects. In the past four years, the website has enabled Crouch’s classroom to receive items totaling at least $20,000, he said, including 20 iPads, 20 iPods, a 3D printer and hundreds of books" -- Don't get me wrong.. I am not against technology, but isn't this a little much for 1st graders when Common Core is eliminating them learning to write in cursive?

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Marshal Countryman has just wasted more money on brochures of what the public should do if pulled over by on of his employees. How about eliminating the cost and need for such a brochure by just having the Marshal's Office employees do what their jobs are.. delivering court documents instead of playing police officers.

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On the other hand.. I do what my parents and grandparents "suggested" I do when in the presence of a law enforcement official.. thank them for being there even if you're stopped for breaking a law. Believe it or not.. this usually works every time...