Lions and Eagles

I voted today! Have you voted yet? Here's just a quick one-page cheat-sheet version of my voting guide, I printed this out and brought it to the ballot box this morning: Public Service Commissioner 1: Chuck Eaton Public Service Commissioner 2: Pam Davidson House of Representatives: Kent Kingsley Sheriff: Barry Babb Tax Commissioner: George Wingo County Commissioner 1: Charles W. Oddo County Commissioner 2: David Barlow County Commissioner 3: Randy C. Ognio Board of Education 1: Barry Marchman Board of Education 2: Mary Kay Bacallo State Court: Carla McMillian Magistrate Court: Jason B. Thompson Gambling: No Ending unlimited gifts: Yes Gun licenses for young military: Yes Closing primaries: No Personhood: No T-SPLOST: No Package sales: Yes

Quick update to my voting guide, I'm changing my vote for U.S. Representative. Details below.

Last part of my voting guide. In this one, I tackle the issues questions. As a bonus, I've looked at both the Republican and Democratic party ballots. Then there are a couple of really important Special Election Referendum items that are going to be on both ballots.

The county and local races can get very contentious. Just a standard disclaimer here, I don't know any of the candidates personally, and I don't have any connection to any campaigns. All that I have to say is based on wading through news accounts, campaign web sites, and other easily available information. I'm judging the candidates based on what they have to say about themselves, and what others have to say about them.

Consider this my little "civic duty" of the week. In the interest of trying to feel like I'm a "semi-informed voter", I've been doing some research into the various races for the upcoming July 31st ballot. I'm focusing on the Republican ballot, because that's the one I'll be using. I'll italicize my personal choices in the list below. For the first round, here are the Republican nominees for Public Service Commissioner and the House of Representatives.

In reply to my last post , I've been asked: So where do these inalienable rights you mention come from? And at what point die they emerge? And do animals have them? Are there any circumstances when these rights could be denied? We are getting into deep philosophical waters here. You asked, and I'll answer. I don't necessarily expect you to agree with me, but we can disagree respectfully. As I said, the idea of a "right" is as I understand it is tied up with the idea of what it means to be human, to be capable of ethical and moral judgement, with a sense of right and wrong. It has to do with living in right relationships with each other as human beings. Who can have the authority to impose such hefty definitions on humanity? That is, I think, a truly God-like power. I happen to believe in the existence of a Creator who exists ouside of time and the universe. As the Declaration of Independence says, I believe that all humans are "endowed by their Creator...

A Facebook poster made this comment on a discussion about "health care as a human right": Rights are something that emerge over time, but only after a fight of one kind or another. Consider the right to vote, for example. We have expanded that right over time, at least in modern industrialized countries. With regard to healthcare, the argument is whether we as a society are ready to acknowledge (or grant if you prefer) that right for every person. We can certainly afford it. It is only a matter of priorities. I was inspired to give this reply: Judith: You and I have different concepts of what rights are and where they come from. I'm not saying this to pass judgement, just to point out that we are going to come to different conclusions from our different starting points. I underst and that you believe rights are something created or granted by society, or government. From my perspective, rights are something transcendent, something intrinsic to what it me...