|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Venus flytraps caught in shrinking natural habitat
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Hungary 4 dead, 26 injured in train collision
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Iraqi lawmaker urges resolution of minority issue
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Curfew in Indian Kashmir to prevent protest rally
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Kashmir police threaten to shoot curfew violators
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Supreme Court to open new term with heavy workload
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Congress hears Lehman sought millions for execs
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Designers play it safe as economy sours
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
Jimmy Kimmel returns as American Music Awards host
Southern Ledger - October 6, 2008
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
JUDGES GONE WILD!
June 19, 2008 -
June 26, 2008
In recent years many black-robed judges have shown themselves to be legislators at heart, as they impose their political ideology and agendas from the bench. Though they apparently lack the willingness, or ability, to win such legislative battles at the ballot box they are able to succeed in both writing the laws AND interpreting them thanks to the weak-kneed acquiescence of the Legislative and Executive branches of government. But having achieved the ability to dictate their will to society at large, many judges are now setting their sights on more individual control.
The latest example of a judiciary run amok comes from Canada. A Canadian father had become concerned over his daughter’s internet activities. After the 12 year old girl had violated several instructions from her father regarding her online activities, her father ordered her to remain off the internet. She disobeyed, and continued to enter chat rooms that her father had ruled off limits and posted “age inappropriate” photos of herself online using a friend’s internet portal. She got caught, and dad punished her by “grounding” her, which included forbidding the girl from going on a scheduled end of the year school trip.
Now, most 12 year old girls would have then relied on a tantrum, or begging, or both, to seek relief from the punishment; but in our modern era she instead sought the help of the Canadian judicial system. Thanks to the efforts of a court appointed, and taxpayer paid, attorney and a compliant judge, the “grounding” was overturned by a court order issued by Justice Suzanne Tessier in the Quebec Superior Court. The father reportedly plans to appeal, in part to prevent the case from becoming precedent for judicial intervention in parental decisions, but the trend lines are certainly clear regardless of what happens in this particular case.
The 12 year old girl has apparently learned the lessons of using the courts for personal advantage, and perhaps even a measure of revenge, from good teachers: her parents have been engaged in a ten year custody dispute over the child! Nevertheless, her father had legal custody and when she didn’t like his decision she fled to her mother’s house and sought help from the courts.
While the girl’s behavior might be understandable, if not excusable, the decision of the judge in this case is all too typical of the “government knows best” mentality that has overwhelmed Canadian common sense and threatens the same result in the United States. The court’s, particularly in domestic cases, have become heavily involved in making decisions that adults, acting like adults, should be able to resolve. This case will add momentum to the already slippery slope of inappropriate judicial interference in the lives and decisions that properly belong within families -- not courthouses.
### |
 |
 |
WILL NEW NASHVILLE CONVENTION CENTER BE NAMED FOR TAXPAYERS? -
June 12, 2008 -
June 19, 2008
The planned new convention center for downtown Nashville is back in the news with the selection of a Maryland-based Clark Construction Group as construction manager. The costs for the project have already risen from a “mere” $455 million when first announced two years ago to what is expected to be an amount in excess of $635 million. The ultimate cost is almost certain to be much higher than that, since public projects seldom come in at the promotional “sticker price.”
In fact, the cost... |
 |
|
ECONOMICS 101 REVEALS THE TRUTH ABOUT HIGH GAS PRICES -
June 5, 2008 -
June 12, 2008
As gasoline prices nudge closer and closer to an average of $4 a gallon there is a lot of hue and cry in Washington about who to blame. The blame game makes for interesting political banter, but it is highly unlikely that drivers will see any relief at the pump coming from the posturing and posing bureaucrats and political hacks in D.C.
The Democrats blame Big Oil, despite the fact that Big Government actually takes a much larger share from the price of a gallon of gas in the form of l... |
|
|
ELECTORAL MAP MAY GIVE GOP A GLIMMER OF HOPE IN THE FALL. -
May 28, 2008 -
June 4, 2008
2006 was a bad year for Republicans. Democrats took control of the U.S.
House and Senate as the tide turned strongly against President George W.
Bush and his party. 2008 has been shaping up as a year when GOP fortunes
could swing from bad to even worse. While some Republican leaders in
Washington have been claiming to see some light at the end of the
political tunnel three straight special election losses in Illinois,
Mississippi and Louisiana in House races that were co... |
|
|
WHAT TENNESSEE BUDGET CRISIS? -
May 21, 2008 -
May 28, 2008
When Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen first took office in 2003 he
inherited outgoing Governor Don Sundquist’s final budget. That year the
State of Tennessee spent a total of $20.7 billion dollars. In the past
several weeks the Governor and the Legislature have been grappling with a
so-called budget crisis that forced consideration of lay offs for 2,000
state employees, elimination of the planned expansion of the Governor’s
pet Pre-K program, and other “dire” cuts in serv... |
|
|
ARE TERRORISTS RUNNING PHONE BANKS FOR OBAMA? -
May 14, 2008 -
May 21, 2008
The 2008 Presidential campaign has already seen a number of outlandish, and patently false, attacks. The idea that Islamic terrorists are picking a side in selection of an American President might seem to be yet another for the list…if it wasn’t true.
Ahmed Yousef, a top political adviser for terrorist group Hamas, said in an interview on WABC radio in New York a few weeks ago that the group supports Obama. “We like Mr. Obama. We hope he will (win) the election and I do believe he is li... |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Keep up with Steve, join our G-Mail List to receive Gill Show updates and Steve's weekly column... |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
