Mary, Mary, quite contrary

Has she lost her mind?  Mary Landrieu has been elected and re-elected to the Senate by the overwhelming support of the black vote in New Orleans,  but she is going to learn that other people vote too.  She gave an interview stating that Louisiana voters who do not support Obama are racists and those who vote against her are waging war on women.

I have never supported  Mary because  I believe she votes against what most Louisiana people want.  I oppose Obama because his policies are wrong.  Remember that Mary cast the key vote for Obamacare.  Enough said.

Poor City of Shreveport

Sadly, my impression of the three   leading candidates for mayor is far from optimistic that the leadership from the city's highest office will be much improved.  I hope I'm wrong and our days of incapable and uninspiring leadership from the mayor's office will come to an end.

Rights as an individual vs. overall good of the public

The idea of jailing someone for 21 days -- which is what a forced quarantine would be -- is foreign to our constitutional idea of liberty, but a voluntary quarantine would not work.   Much as I am against government taking away any of our rights,  I find myself on the side of a forced quarantine.

I have experienced a quarantine, and it is no fun.  When I was about 12, scarlet fever struck our family, infecting six of the seven children.  A big orange sign was nailed to the front of the house, warning people not to visit us.  We felt like pariahs -- we could not visit anyone including going to school, and no one could visit us for weeks.

Adults and children over 12 are usually immune to the disease, but adults can infect children.  That is what happened to us.  A man whose grandchildren had scarlet fever but never reported it lifted up in his arms two our  siblings too young for school.

They are Islam terrrorists --- I don't care about political correctness

Terrorist attacks are not just "random acts" or "workplace violence" and this country must overcome its insistence on "political correctness." Let's look at recent  terrorist attacks:

Ft. Hood doctor kills 13 and wounds more than 30 while yelling Allah Agbar.

Recent convert to Islam beheads woman when she refuses to convert.

Two brothers set bombs that explode killing and maiming runners at Boston marathon.

Two Canadian soldiers run down soldiers, killing one and injuring the other.

Terrorist kills one soldier and attacks Canadian parliament.

Man attacks with axe, killing one and injuring another.

Man attacks in Jerusalem, injuring Americans among others.

          What two things did these acts have in common?  They were all committed by radical  Islam extremists and  Obama refuses them to be called acts of terror.

Remembering Bill Bailey

I lost a good friend this week.  Bill Bailey passed away at age 8l.  I had not seen Bill in a number of years but friendship  feelings remain if they are real.  I first met Bill the first year I was in Homer.  He was showing an animal on 4-H Achievement Day.

Bill played basketball for Athens High School and later Louisiana Tech.  He coached at Summerfield High School and later served as principal.  He was a regular poker player but the day he was selected as superintendent of Claiborne schools he gave up that activity.

Goodbye, Bill

We visit my sister and an old friend

Jen and I returned home Thursday night from two days in the Dallas area, visiting my sister, Jenny Louise  (Bit) and a long-time friend, Ken Dooley.  Both celebrated birthdays this month -- Ken was 90; Bit was 83.


Ken, who directed the choir of Christ United Methodist Church for 18 years, is singing in the choir of  a Presbyterian Church.  He stays busy pursuing such activities as studying languages.  We  had lunch at his favorite restaurant, which offers a wide selection of vegetables.

Thursday we had  a long visit with Bit, who has so many medical appointments we were fortunate to catch her Thursday, a rare day she was free.  As we age we all have many aches and pains, some more limiting than others.  Bit has to have treatments for macular degeneration and  glaucoma..

We had not seen each other in quite a while so we spent hours swapping news of both families and of our other siblings.

Who is your beloved veteran?

The cover story of  the November American Legion magazine is titled "America's Most Beloved Veterans." Iturned to the article wondering which war was the most popular only to discover Legion it referred to individual heroes, as voted by American Legion media audience members.

Most beloved of all was, not surprisingly, Audie Murphy, decorated World War II veteran who became a movie star.  Second was George Washington, hero of  the Revolutionary War and first president, followed by Theodore Roosevelt, third; Alvin York, hero of the first world war, and George Patton, general in World War II.

Probably a surprise to some was the selection of two Southern heroes of the War Between the States --Robert E. Lee, eighth, and Stonewall Jackson, 22nd.  Leading Northerners in being loved was Ulysses S. Grant, l0th.