This new "Together 2016" organization in Columbus's preliminary campaign bothers me.. it's ambiguity of stated purpose makes one wonder whether it's for the area or for promoting themselves. We can only assume at this point that it has a goal, but it certainly doesn't appear to be promoting anything accept the members themselves. True charity work .. true concern...true philanthropy doesn't boast.. doesn't care who gets the credit.

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 We went to a movie Friday night called "Eye in the Sky".. Overall I'd give it an "OK", but it was still touch of a liberal message movie. Fortunately, the audience gets to see how liberalism hinders effective military decisions that could actually help shorten terrorism.

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Hillary wants a Trillion in increased taxes to "invest". "Invest"? The only money that can be invested is private sector money derived from after expenses' profits. What's worse is that taxes deplete corporate profits and personal investment gains, so the private sector is stripped of it's ability to reinvest or build on its current successes.

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Hillary says she will create an Office of Immigration..the phone menu will probably start with "No Habla Ingles"

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This Office of Immigration Hillary says she will create...did she say/mean Immigration or Emigration?

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L-E story: " Last year, three-fourths of the district’s schools scored below average on the Georgia Milestones Assessment System, the state’s new and more rigorous standardized exams. But the district has increased its graduation rate during the past three years by 11.8 percentage points, from 72.8 to 84.6, while the state’s rate has increased by 7.0 points, from 71.8 to 78.8. * The 2015 graduating class was the first not required to pass the Georgia High School Graduation Tests since the exams were phased out. Patrick Knopf, the district’s director of research, accountability and assessment, acknowledged when the results were released that this waiver could have factored into the significant improvements locally and statewide." --  "The 2015 graduating class was the first not required to pass the Georgia High School Graduation Tests...this waiver could have factored into the significant improvements "? ..Hmmm.. "could have factored"?  COULD have factored? Surely someone has looked into replacing "the Director of Research, Accountability and Assessment"!

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From above story: " District 4 representative Naomi Buckner, a special-education teacher in Chattahoochee County, wants the board to find a balance between questioning and supporting the administration." -- What's wrong with this picture? A MCSB member who works in another county's school systems  doesn't look like a decent fit with the needs and problems of the MCSD. Is this a recent "phenomena" or is it something the District 4 voters knew? Regardless. Buckner should step down,

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Also from the same story: "To better understand what’s at stake this election, the Ledger-Enquirer interviewed board members who aren’t running and politically involved residents who closely watch the board. They agreed that Myers, the board’s most controversial representative, personifies the key question: What is the school board’s proper role in public education? * The answers range from staunch support of the administration on one side to watchdog suspicion on the other. And the push-pull difference between blind loyalty and micromanaging is at various points in the middle." -- If the system is working and student progress is evident, then the Board should give support to new ideas.. if not, then the Board needs to demand answers from the "Super". Regardless. the Board's top  priorities (and in no particular order)  are to serve the kids, protect the community assets, and support our teachers. If the Super has other ideas, then the Super needs to be reminded of this. {ersonally, we are blessed that taxpayers were paying attention and supported Thomas and Myers.. I have met all most of the new candidates Myers encouraged to run, and they are all to be applauded for stepping up to the plate to serve our current and next generations.


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You know, if the MCSD conducted itself in a concerned manner that focused on the community and the students, a School Board shouldn't be necessary..Problems we constantly have now didn't exist so much until we voted for (under the-gun-to-the-head-edict of the state which was mandating such for the following year) an "elected school board". When was the last time we had a Superintendent  who served more than 4 tears? And let's face it, the turnover in Superintendents has caused most of the current problems.. a "Super" comes in. the previous S"Supers" plans which haven't had time to come to fruition are thrown out and the new "Super's" plans are installed, the 3 or 4 years later, a new "Super" comes in and the cycle starts over.

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One thing not mentioned in the above story is that someone of our high schools cannot get one student qualified for the S.T.A.R. Student Awards. Sadly, it basically only requires that a student make the average score on the S.A.T tests for college admission.

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LIV's L-E "soundoff": "The door swings both ways. If I don’t like you and your mean-spirited attitude toward your customers, I don’t have to buy from your store." -- Amen... and your point? You know, even when the store has a "the customer is always right" policy, the customer isn't always right, Stores actually like it when single issue gripers stop coming in.... and so are the majority of that stores customers who like what the store represents.. I have a personal knowledge of this...

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L-E headline/story: "Pope brings 12 refugees to Rome * Pope Francis says his gesture is “a drop of water in the sea” of Europe’s migration crisis. Yet for 12 Syrian refugees ( he three Muslim families, including six children,) , the pope’s decision to fly them back to Italy from Greece is an act of kindness that will resonate for the rest of their lives. * The Roman Catholic charity Sant'Egidio, which is providing the refugees with preliminary assistance, welcomed them at their headquarters in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood late Saturday. The mothers were given red roses, and they were applauded as they arrived." -- Good grief.. three families.. and you know they were all vetted to the max... were selected. What about bring in 12 strapping young men.. and housing them in the walls of Vatican City instead of in the neighborhoods of Rome.. like I've been saying.. POOP Francis is a better description. I can imagine what 12 refugees would think seeing how the Poop lives versus themselves in Syria.

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Now that Spring Fling is over,, how was attendance following the opening weekend's shooting spree?

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L-E guest commentary: "The foreign policy of a President Hillary Clinton * BY TRUDY RUBIN * Philadelphia Inquirer * How would President Hillary Clinton conduct foreign policy? After decades of public exposure, including four years as secretary of state, one would think the answer to that question would be obvious. But it isn’t entirely clear. *  it’s because her role as secretary was constrained by the fact that, during her tenure, foreign policy decision-making was closely held by the Obama White House.  *     We do know that Clinton’s instincts were more muscular than her boss." --  "Clinton’s instincts were more muscular than her boss? How could anyone deem this as a fact when my 4-year-old granddaughter is more muscular that ZERO-bama?  In a court room, if the writer spoke this, both the defense and prosecutor would be objecting "on the basis that it assumes a fact not in evidence"

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Online headline/story: "North Korea lashes out at 1 'absurd' GOP candidate  * North Korea is evidently not too fond of Donald Trump's nuclear strategy for Japan and South Korea. * "The U.S. tells us to give up our nuclear program, is preparing a nuclear attack against us, and on the other hand would tell allies to have nuclear weapons. Isn't this a double standard?" Ri Jong Ryul, deputy-director general of the Institute of International Studies in Pyongyang, said." -- "Isn't this a double standard?"?-- Hmmmm... actually it's a revised OLD STANDARD..something the world has missed since ZERO-bama took office. What's clear is that North Korea shares the same interest as the DNC and RNC.. "stop Trump"...this IS an omen about who should be out next president..

I guess, maybe.. that North Korean officials have figured out that Trump will not re-appoint Hilary. Kerry, or Dennis Rodman as his Secretary of State.... OH!.. and that Trump WILL cross lines drawn in the sand.

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Online headline: "Obama teaches NBA all-star Stephen Curry how to play basketball" -- Good grief.. and the saddest thing is that ZERO-bama left feeling he actually is responsible for Curry's success.. sorta like he felt he was deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize.

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There's HuffPOOPOO story about the Top 10 countries with increased military spending in the past year.In reverse order, they are: Paraguay, Poland, Kenya, Uruguay, Philippines, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Mali. There are domestic and territorial reasons for Kenya and the Congo, but the rest of the countries increasing their spending just confirms that they don't feel comfortable that their relationships with the US are very stable with ZERO-bama still in office.

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Mainscream media and Hollywood seem to have waged war on States with Religious Freedom Acts.. pending or already in force... "they" consider it "anti-LGBTQ".. The truth is that such acts just give non-LGBTQ people protection from an overly liberal court system.

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You know, if ZERO-bama were an actual Christian, he would have already been been doing something to protect the Christians being persecuted by ISIS.

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Tell you what, you'd think the RNC/GOP leadership would remember how badly Ross Perot's Independent run in 1992 cost them, but should Trump do the same in 2016, the RNC/GOP would irreversibly damage its future as a Party. If Trump runs as an Independent, the GOP candidate would come in third

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You know, a simple measure of whether one's term as the Mayor of a town is whether there were more unfixed pot holes in the streets when you left than when you came in..accordingly, Mayor TomLYINGson's time in office here is a bust..... so have been a lot of tires...

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A "gets it" L-E "soundoff": "  I was born a human male; however, I identify as being a Labrador retriever. Thus, I am requesting my right to use trees and fire hydrants when I need to use the restroom." -- Well presented "point", but what if you identify yourself as a female dog.. will you sue the City for discrimination because you can't use the trees and fireplugs?

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Another "gets it" L-E "soundoff": "   If the city will sell me a 1.75 acre parking lot in the Historic District for $50,000, I will be happy to run a valet parking business there. New jobs, no construction headaches, everyone’s happy." --  You know.. with all the hubbub about the hotel parking lot the Development Authority "sold" for $50,000. when the PEZ-soldout Company deemed it a $500,000.00 piece of property?  Well, now that the courts have agreed with PEZ-soldout, is the Development Authority going to demand that their hotel buy that property for such in order to keep parking cars on it? Until something is worked out, the Development Authority should "rope it off" from current use.

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L-E story: "   In an interview with the Ledger, Green, an insurance agent, said she has been an effective voice for District 1 (Muscogee County School Board) as a three-term representative. In addition to her role as vice chair, she also serves on the finance and audit committees." -- Vice chair, finance committee, audit committee, and representative of 10 perpetually failing schools.. District 1 voters need to  say, "Strike FOUR".. you're outta here!

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At her confirmation hearings, Justice nominee Ruth Bader Ginsburg made this statement: "“It would be wrong for me to say or preview in this legislative chamber how I would cast my vote on questions the Supreme Court may be called upon to decide. A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.”  In addition, she has made the statement she would not retire if her replacement might be someone that would not defend Roe v. Wade. She should be impeached because she has not lived up to her word. Unfortunately, impeachment is not an option.. hmmm.. how about her mental competency?