SOME OCCASIONAL COMMON SENSE FROM THE SUPREME COURT

Is privacy dead in America?  Many of us thought it was after a disastrous year of almost total usurpation of both freedom and privacy by the federal government. Since the founding of our country more than 200 hundred years ago, Americans have enjoyed the core rights and liberties that have made our country not just unique, but exceptional in protecting basic freedoms. But no more!  The Patriot Act was the beginning of stripping basic American civil liberties, and it’s been all downhill with one assault after another on basic freedoms.  There was a slight blip or light at the end of the tunnel this week, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement officers cannot arbitrarily attach a GPS  to your car to monitor everywhere you are going.  They have to get a search warrant.  Take a look at the positives of this Supreme Court decision, and more commentary on the erosion of basic liberties in this week’s column now posted.  You can read it by Clicking on the Red Flashing Box above, or by Clicking Here.  Still not concerned!  Check out the video below.

Sunday means the Common Sense show is close at hand with a solid program for all our listeners.  Mitt Romney pays a 15% tax rate because of capital gains.  Is that fair?  We will talk to Wall Street Journal columnist John Berlau who will help us analyze the pros and cons of the tax system.  Bestselling author Col. Brad Taylor will also visit abut his new book, “All Necessary Force.”  It is fiction but reads like present day confrontations with the U.S. and terrorism.  Are counterterrorism tactics really effective?  You can read all about the Col. Taylor’s new book by Clicking Here.

Placing a bet on the Super Bowl?  Jim will have a Las Vegas odds maker tell us the current line, and just how much is bet every year.  And be sure to mark this Friday’s date, February 3^rd.  Jim will host the popular nationally syndicated radio show, hosted by popular host Jason Lewis.  Jason is a regular fill in for Rush Limbaugh, and he has asked Jim to fill in for him on Friday.  The show airs  from 5pm until 8pm central time, in major cities coast to coast on the Genesis Communications Network.

In the present presidential campaign, few words are ever spoken about international confrontations and the plight of our troops serving all over the world.  Many of us do not know any family that has a son or daughter serving overseas, so we can’t comprehend the anxiety and worry that they go through every day.  It’s almost like they are mercenaries who are far removed from our concerns. Pity.  There is so much at stake.  But are politicians in both parties see clueless, out of touch, as to the price so many of these soldiers and their families pay.  I hope much more concern is expressed and discussed as this campaign continues.

North Carolina has always been my second home, since I went to Chapel Hill as an undergraduate and we travel up to the western North Carolina mountains several times a year.  I always drive through Hendersonville and pass by the We Buy Gold store on the route through this small town.  I’ve never stopped in, but I can tell you, there is one tough Dude working there.  Take a look at the “Rocky” video below.  A great job of protecting his store.

I don’t know what’s happening where you live, but in my home state of Louisiana, property insurance rates have skyrocketed since 2005 — by an astounding 40%. No other state in the country has experienced such dramatic increases. And we continue to read that it’s all the fault of Katrina. There have been no major weather related losses in a number of years, but the rates continue to go up. There must be something rotten in Denmark. Sure the cost of living causes everything to be a little more expensive. But 40%? That’s confiscatory. And we continue to pour taxpayer dollars into the coffers of companies like AIG. Read over my column that is now posted and see what you think? Are you happy with your current insurance rates? And is your legislature doing enough to protect you against unscrupulous insurance practices. You can read my column now by Clicking on the Red Flashing Box above or by Clicking Here.

Well, most of you have never heard of little Lindsey Williams College.  But they pulled the upset of the year in beating might Georgetown (well, not that Georgetown) with a final shot at the buzzer.  The announcer, obviously excited, goes wild.  So take a look at the final shot.