I love Jimmy Elder..my pastor at First Baptist Church of Columbus..In yesterday's sermon, he used a parable to demonstrate how we sometimes overlook the obvious while trying to help. A woman went to a pet store and bought a talking parrot. She took the parrot home, and after a few days went back to complain that the parrot hadn't talked. The store owner/bird expert asked if she had bought a mirror for the cage..he said parrots like mirrors because they think they have company. The woman bought the mirror, but three days later was back at the pet store because the parrot still wasn't talking. The owner asked if she had a swing for the cage, because parrots like swings..makes them feel happy and happy parrots like to talk. She bought the swing and went home. A couple of days later, she was back at the pet store because the parrot still hadn't talked. The owner then asked if she had a ladder. He said parrots love ladders because they can walk/jump to different areas. She bought the ladder. Three days later , she went back to the pet store, and told the owner her parrot had died. The owner asked if the parrot had ever said anything. The lady said yes, while the parrot laid on the bottom of his cage, it asked, "lady, did that pet store sell birdseed?"
> This is what we're dealing with now with our MCSD/MCSB SPLOST. The public keeps wanting to know how its children can get a better public education, and the people in education keep telling us they need new buildings and gyms. What the children need us "food".. the kids are starving for better curriculum and learning material, but " the experts" tell us the kids just need more shiny stuff. Vote "NO" now, and make the experts learn how to reach..to teach our kids.

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Fife Whiteside, local attorney and former MCSB member, has posted more information on the behind the scene efforts of the "Yes for US..uh..Kids" committee. It's lengthy but pithy, and an important read:

https://curmudgeoncommentary.wordpress.com/

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One particularly revealing item Fife includes in his posting is that on March 11th the "Yes for US... uh...Kids" committee filed an expenditure/donation form. One special item is an expenditure for $10,000.00 to "Influence Factory, 57 Forsythe St. NW, Unit 14F, Atlanta, GA 30303. Good grief.. these folks are paying Atlanta firms to "sell" Columbus taxpayers they should enjoy getting taxed again! Another thing it demonstrates is disloyalty to Columbus businesses, and it's lack of concern about spending SPLOST revenues within the Columbus area.

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You know.. at one time, the MCSD was prohibited with doing business with any MCSB member.. one John Wells, when he owned Bi-City Paint, lead an effort to get that rule rescinded. Maybe we need that rule reinstated that would prohibit vendors from contributing to campaigns to influence tax issues. It seems mighty self-serving, even influence peddling, especially in a situation that the MCSD/MCSD engages in no-bid contracts.

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One of the "Yes for US...uh...Kids" ad spokespersons has stated that "I have checked into this and have the dollar figures to show that millions of dollars have been spent on trying to maintain Spencer. I will be glad to share this with you if you are interested." -- My response: "you are going to have to publish certified work orders and receipts, and canceled checks on this claim. With the 85% of the MCSD budget being use for salaries/benefits, there's not enough money left over to provide a reasonable ongoing maintenance program.

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The 20 year-old "man" who shot those two police officers in Ferguson, MO last week has been arrested. Interesting is that the (_*_) had a warrant out for his arrest because he hadn't checked in with his probation officer for the past 7 months. Why had this (_*_) not already been pulled in?

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Online headline: "Oklahoma frat far from alone in racist incidents * Sigma Alpha Epsilon's barbaric chanting captured headlines, but it's merely the latest in Greek life's troubled history of bigoted acts." -- Perspective.. are there more black or white segregated fraternities/sororities in our colleges/universities? While there's no excusing the SAE's "chant" (no.. while beer probably contributed, beer is NOT an excuse!), we all have to thicken up our skin. Other people's stupidity should just bounce off us.

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L-E headline: "CAPITAL PUNISHMENT * EXECUTION SECRECY LAW CHALLENGED IN GEORGIA * Defense lawyers in delayed execution want more information on drugs used" -- Good grief.. how can the media even give this a second thought after accepting Hillewinsky's explanation of her actions concerning Benghazi... "at this point "WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!"

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The L-E's "Inquirer". Mike Owen second guessed his decision to get involved on another animal issue. I sent him this response: "Mike - Years ago, I was asked impromptu to be a temporary substitute umpire for a ladies' Church League softball game. One ump was running late, and the other ump, a longtime personal friend (who knew I had "umped" Little League games for about 20 years at that time) asked if I could/would start the game until his partner got there. With nothing urgent, I agreed.... NEVER MORE, though. Pitch one came into the plate a little "deep". "Ball", I called. No one said anything. The second pitch , similar to the first came and wasn't quite as "deep", and I called, "Strike!". Both the batter and the catcher turned on me thinking the pitches were identical so why the different calls.. it was like flipping a coin and neither captain agreeing on whether it was heads or tails. (Fortunately, the other ump got there before the 3rd pitch)

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L-E headline: "MUSCOGEE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD * Board set to vote on salary compression plan for district * Some employees have not received a raise in nine years" -- "some employees have not received a raise in nine years"? Hmmm.. well, the MCSD chiefs (the administrative employees) certainly cannot claim this.. just last year, the compensation of the administrative staff went up almost 10%!

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Jonathan Gruber go-directly-to-the dunce-seat LIV's L-E "soundoff": " A school board member urging you to vote no to a tax designed to help the district they represent — isn’t that identical to a football player urging you to root for the other team?" -- Good grief.. Myers and Thomas unseated two existing MCSB members based on their constituents wanting better accountability on the MCSB. You know, when you look closer at this "soundoff", the sender is calling those District voters irrational/irresponsible/stupid.

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To the Letter-to-the-editor writers: You know..I have but one question to ask the supporters of the SPLOST.. Do you think the MCSD/MCSB has done the best it could over the last 10 years with access to over $3 BILLION dollars in revenues to spend?

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On a pensive note.. if you haven't been swayed by the Kool-Aid of the "Yes for US...uh...Kids" campaign to have already voted, then you have doubts about the accountability of the MCSD/MCSB. Vote "no" to get their attention.. another better thought out SPLOST campaign can be conducted next year, so nothing will actually be "lost".

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A gets it" L-E "soundoff": "The Ledger-Enquirer has obediently endorsed the proposed SPLOST. I do not know how the benighted voters of Muscogee County could make decisions without the Ledger-Enquirer’s telling us how to vote." -- There's a bigger issue here.. Why does.. no, why can the L-E be in the political "endorsement" business when it accepts paid advertisements from any or both sides of an issue? Let's face it.. if a group contracts for a big advertising program, can the L-E even suggest it isn't influenced by the money? In plain talk.. this fits in the "bribe" category.

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Soapbox moment: The L-E front page headline/story focuses on whether a cloudy drug used to execute a committer of a heinous murder should matter, while the arrest of the (_*_) who shot two police officers in Fergus, MO gets printed on page A-3. Hey..L-E.. "priorities matter"!

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Stop and smell the roses..... pleasant and good advice...but what's truly amazing is the gorgeous visual explosion of the Flowering Peach trees Columbus is experiencing. Shut off your cell phones as you drive so the only "driving distraction" is from God.