It is obvious that I have not been around to post much in the last few months. I apologize to the few loyal readers who have visited this site, I wish there were more but I appreciate every single one of you in a manner that is hard to express. It is a tremendous compliment that anyone would tune in to read my thoughts and I want to thank you all.

It has been a rough year for the Biloxi family both personally and professionally in more ways than one. It is one of those years where we have lost loved ones at a rate far more than usual and the emotional toll can affect me at times. This has also somewhat affected my ability to write as much as I would like.

Professionally it has been a trying year, causing me to put increased effort into both of my jobs to adjust to changing markets. I also have two very demanding civic involvements that have required a fair amount of my “spare” time. Lastly, I may have hinted at the fact that Mrs. B and I have multitudinous Crawdads (6) and they deserve all the time we can give them. They are only young once and we don’t want to miss the opportunity to be there for support in these formative years. Put together, these issues have resulted in a time crunch of some magnitude giving me little time to pay proper attention to the Republic. Writing is my first love, though poor choices as a youth lead me in another direction instead of focusing on learning the craft properly and making it a career choice. Instead, it has become a labor of love that I struggle to allot the time for.

One of my civic responsibilities led me to a meeting and conversation with Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass this week. On top of being the best columnist in Chicago, he is as down to earth as can be, a son of immigrants sprung from the working class to achieve much; He is the embodiment of America and why we are proud to be citizens of this great country. During our conversation we discussed Chicago, politics, baseball, soccer and kids. Obvious though was his love of the work he does and it comes through in the writing. He is so good because he loves what he does and came up through the ranks doing so. Though I do not make a living at this I derive the same sense of enjoyment and can only aspire to do it on a full time basis. Instead, I speak to you and you indulge me by reading my thoughts on politics, pop culture and life. Thank you all for indulging me and if I ever get paid for this, it would most certainly be a bonus.

I write this to apologize for a scarcity of posts and will try to do better. Whatever form it takes, I will continue to write as life and family time allows. First things first though and I must concentrate on the well being of the family. If the readership grows I will be forever humble as I am grateful that you and those yet to come would honor me by spending a few moments of your precious time to read something I wrote. I do this for me, but it would mean nothing if nobody wanted to read it, 8 or 80 in count, I am grateful that even one would ponder my thoughts.

God Bless you all.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 10:30 AM EDT

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Atheist activist Rob Sherman along with his daughter Dawn have filed a suit in District Court challenging a new Illinois law providing for a moment of silence.

Sherman and his daughter Dawn, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School, contend that the law providing for “silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day” runs afoul of the constitutional separation of church and state.

First and foremost, the establishment clause of the First Amendment doesn’t mention any such separation and therefore the entire grounds for this suit are faulty. The Amendment does mention that the government shall not establish a state religion or prohibit the free exercise thereof, neither of which have been violated.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

First of all, I know of very few, if any 14 year old high school freshman who would be upset about a moment of silence. At best they might consider it stupid or a waste of time, Sherman should be ashamed of his crass use of his daughter as a prop to push his agenda. Secondly, how can one challenge a policy on this ill conceived and nonexistent “separation” argument when said law does not require prayer in any way shape or form? Reflection can involve anything, even prayer if one so desires. While the law may be ill defined it certainly isn’t some wholesale endorsement of forced prayer or support for any certain religion. Where was Sherman’s voice concerning the University of Michigan and their installation of footbaths for Muslim students?

It is clear that Sherman and many like him are not advocates of the First Amendment at all because their agenda is not the freedom of religion (including atheism) that the First Amendment specifically provides but the freedom from religion that his narrow mind selfishly demands.

I think the faithful will certainly pray whether the school provides them a moment or not, though providing a moment for reflection can certainly cause no harm. Sherman arrogantly wants religion banned from the public square in any way shape or form and true to his religion of atheism, he has shown the narcissism that is behind many non-believers; that being that they are the beginning and the end. Their own Alpha and Omega wherein all things rest. Their policy and position wishes to impose that on the rest of us. This world is too magnificent and people too complex to have just happened. God is the Lord of all creation and the Sherman’s denial cannot change that. His ability to publicly speak his bereft ideology is enumerated in the same amendment that he wishes to use to silence the faithful, kind of ironic don’t you think?

Posted by Biloxi in Illinois Politics, Social Issues at 9:54 AM EDT

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When playoff baseball returns to Wrigley Field on Saturday I hope that our hometown fans in the first two or three rows will keep their hands to themselves when the opposing team’s foul balls come near.

Unlike some, I do not blame Steve Bartman for the Chicago Cubs historic collapse when they were within 5 outs of the World Series in 2003, but I do not like the black eye of dorkiness it bestowed upon the Friendly Confines. While the poor misguided Bartman was the whipping boy for a frustrated fan-dom the real culprits at the source of the implosion were shortstop Alex Gonazales who booted a possible double play ball (he for sure should have gotten one out) and Dusty Baker who inexplicably refused to manage by going out and calming his team down. The meltdown following the Shortstop’s error is now legendary. Second, nearly all of the fans immediately surrounding Bartman hasd their hands up and would have deflected the ball if only it had come close to them and Third, there never was a guaranty that Moises Alou would have caught the ball.

Let’s let the nonsense end here, win or lose. It wasn’t Bartman’s fault, there is no curse of the goat and Cubs fans do not accept lovable losers. Go Cubs; may we see the team of July and not of August. 11 more games is the goal and 99 years is long enough. Play like champions and you will come home as champions.

Posted by Biloxi in Biloxi Says at 4:52 PM EDT

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