national news, religious news

Protecting all civil liberties

“Well, the radical left believes that the freedom of religion is the freedom from religion. But it’s nothing the American founders ever thought of or generations of Americans fought to defend.”

The comment here is attributed to former Vice President Mike Pence, as if that’s any surprise.

I want to take a brief moment to challenge the ex-VPOTUS’s assertion.

When I took my oath upon being inducted into the U.S. Army in 1968, I presumed in the moment that I was going to protect the U.S. Constitution. That means all of the civil liberties enshrined in the document. One of those liberties includes the First Amendment’s protection against the government imposing a state religion.

Pence to revisit religious freedom act – High Plains Blogger (wordpress.com)

The amendment does in fact guarantee citizens the right to avoid religion if that is their choice. It isn’t mine, but I have no right to presume that every American should follow my lead. They are free to worship whatever or not worship any religious deity.

Are we clear? Good!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Candidate victimized by snickers

By any reasonable measure, Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman should be elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania in a few days.

His opponent in the midterm election is a former physician, Mehmet Oz, who boasts not one moment of public policy experience. Furthermore, Oz doesn’t even live in the state he allegedly wants to represent in the Senate.

As I write this brief blog post, Fetterman is running slightly ahead of Oz in the polling. Why is that? Because Oz and his Republican allies — led by Donald J. Trump — have made a stroke that Fetterman suffered a few months ago a campaign issue.

Has Fetterman lost any mental acuity? Is he less smart now than he was before the stroke? No and no. However, he has suffered what he admits to are “auditory” issues. He has trouble stringing sentences together.

I want to mention all this because of the nastiness that permeates the campaign to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey. The result of this election well could determine which parties controls the Senate in January; the Senate now is split 50 to 50. It’s a big deal, man!

I would hate for this campaign to turn on one side’s tittering over a serious man’s cognitive ability … which hasn’t diminished because of a stroke.

However, the cheapness of debate is exemplified in this contest and others featuring campaigns that include election denying/MAGA-loving Republicans and their Democratic foes.

That is what is playing out in Pennsylvania. It should not have come to this, with the result of a contest between a tested public policy veteran and a fraudulent carpetbagger now being too close to call.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, religious news

We are free from religion!

I want to express my outrage at politicians who continue to insist that the United States is a Christian nation and that the U.S. Constitution does not guarantee that we are guaranteed to free ourselves from religion of any stripe.

There. I just did express my intense anger.

Too many pols keep insisting that their Christian devotion is good enough for everyone. Therefore, they advocate foisting Christian beliefs on students in public schools.

There can be no greater perversion of what the Constitution lays out there than the idiocy being pitched by the likes of, oh, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado.

She recently declared that this country is a Christian nation. It is nothing of the sort. The First Amendment to the Constitution spells out in clear, concise language that “Congress shall make no law” that establishes a state religion. As I have noted already on this blog, I cannot find a single mention of the words “Christian,” “Christianity” or “Jesus Christ.”

Boebert’s congressional wing woman, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, called herself a “Christian nationalist.” Thus, she is proud to foist her religious beliefs on every other American simply because she was elected to Congress.

The Constitution makes it abundantly clear — and the courts have affirmed it — that Americans are free to rely on the faith of their choice and that they also are free to be religion free.

It is not illegal in this country to be an atheist, or an agnostic.

Politicians who imply that it is illegal are as un-American as anyone in public life … and they should be tossed out of office.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 98: Toby expands his BFF list

What you see in this picture are Toby the Puppy — he’s the one in the Superman shirt — and his newest best friend, Dolly.

I want to highlight this new friendship to illustrate how sociable Toby the Puppy can be, and how others of his, um, species relate to his sociability.

Dolly is a member of the Ed and Colleen Loos family in their home in the Phoenix, Ariz., suburbs. We visited the family and got acquainted immediately with Dolly, who took a few moments to, shall we say, sniff her way into Puppy’s good graces.

She nipped at him a couple of times as Toby got a little too familiar. But then? It was all good.

The two of them pranced around the house together. One would follow the other one. They chased each other around the back yard. They shared water bowls, Dolly even let Toby the Puppy eat some of her food.

We never worry about Toby the Puppy’s interaction with others of his type. He is among the most sociable beings we’ve ever encountered.

The best news is that he found another pooch who shares his desire to get acquainted.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Youngsters will do just fine

I want to take up the cudgel for the younger generation of Americans who are going to inherit the nation from us old folks.

So very often I hear from those who lament today’s young Americans. They aren’t this or that; they rely too much on this or that; they are selfish; they are unmotivated; they are self-centered.

Well, if that sounds familiar, it should.

It’s the same kind of thing our parents said about us — and to us, for that matter. Their parents said the same thing about them. On and on it has gone … forever. My parents, especially my dad, bitched out loud about “today’s youth,” telling me that those of my age weren’t worthy of taking over the country he would leave behind.

I don’t recall challenging him in real time as he griped at me. I can’t tell him today what I have learned about myself and my generation, as he is no longer with us.

What’s more, I have noted already on this blog about the wisdom uttered by an ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, who griped five centuries before Jesus’s birth about how young people didn’t show proper respect to their elders.

I am leery of doubting the great man’s view of his world. I just know that generations of human beings since the beginning of time have said those disparaging things about young’ns, only to be proven wrong as the “next generation” comes of age and manages to keep our society forging forward.

I remain quite confident that today’s young people will be able to take the baton from us old timers and will lead the United States to its next level of greatness … however it will define itself.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Back to beginning for Amarillo’s council?

Amarillo’s governing council has received a kick in the gut, thanks to a judge ruling that its issuance of $260 million in anticipation notes is “invalid” and “void.”

What is that all about?

Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly had filed a lawsuit seeking to block the issuance of the tax notes. A visiting judge hearing the case in a Potter County district courtroom agreed with him.

From my vantage point, the city has been the chance to do it right.

The city issued the tax notes after voters had rejected a $275 million bond issue the city had called to repair the Civic Center and to relocate City Hall to a new site. The city wasn’t about to be dissuaded, so it issued the notes that sought to circumvent the will of the voters.

I believe the judge’s decision in favor of Fairly’s suit should send a message that City Hall needs to honor.

It seems like a complicated outcome. The City Council says it disagrees with the judge’s ruling and it will consider whether to appeal it.

Judge rules that tax notes for Amarillo Civic Center are ‘invalid,’ ‘void’ | KAMR – MyHighPlains.com

Fairly issued a statement, according to MyHighPlains.com: “I’m thankful that a regular, ordinary, everyday guy can still raise his hand and say, ‘I don’t think this is right,’ and get a fair day in court and a voice,” he said. “I think we all have that voice. It’s too expensive, I know that. But I’m so thankful that the system is there and we were able to use it and that it worked.”

Fairly questioned whether the city decided to impose the tax notes with proper notification. I happen to side with those who believe the city’s decision so soon after a November 2020 bond issue election denial smacked of arrogance that just didn’t set well with a municipal electorate that is angry with government … at all levels!

The city issued a statement: The City received the court’s final judgment this afternoon. We respectfully disagree with the judgment in this case, and we’re reviewing the decision with our legal counsel to determine our next steps.

Well, here’s a thought. The city could craft a new bond issue proposal and take it back to the voters for yet another decision. Maybe it can persuade enough of them to back City Hall’s desire to improve the Civic Center and find a new site for its government office.

If not, well … then the city has some serious soul-searching to do.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Sports news, State news

‘Sham?’ Uhh, yeah!

Brittney Griner is serving a nine-year prison sentence for committing a crime that in most civilized nations would be considered a misdemeanor.

Not in Russia. The Russians have locked her up and have denied an appeal to have her sentence reduced to suspension.

Griner is the former Baylor University basketball star, a native of the Dallas area and a star in the WNBA. She got caught with vape canisters and cannabis oil in her luggage while trying to leave the country via Moscow’s airport.

The White House calls the decision to uphold Griner’s prison sentence a “sham.” Do you think?

It just goes to show the world what kind of “justice” is practiced in Russia, where its leader — thug and goon Vladimir Putin — longs for a return to Marxist doctrine in the Kremlin.

The White House is demanding Griner’s release so she can join her family and resume her life. The decision to keep her locked up, though, bodes poorly — in the short term — for Griner’s release.

Sickening.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, national news, political news

Politics delivers bruising blows

LAVEEN VILLAGE, Ariz. — I guess it was the late Sen. Lloyd Bentsen who I heard say that in Texas, “politics is a contact sport.”

Yes. It is. However, a brief visit to a real-deal battleground state such as Arizona has exposed my bride and me to what has become a “contact sport” that can draw a good bit of metaphorical blood.

Arizona is where Donald Trump sought to delegitimize his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race. It has carried over to the midterm election, where the ballot in Arizona is peppered with election deniers seeking to overturn the results of the election that President Biden won freely, fairly, legally and morally.

My favorite commercials happen to be those featuring Republican voters who say that GOP governor candidate Kari Lake is “too dangerous” to become the state’s next governor.

It’s been fun watching this campaign play out from our ringside seats. It’s a brief look, to be sure. We’ll get to watch the Texas campaign play out as Midterm Election Day approaches.

It’s coming on. Rapidly.

I am ready to cast my ballot and then get on with the rest of retirement living.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Old friends: priceless

2 Comments

LAVEEN VILLAGE, Ariz. — There is precisely one reason — or maybe two of them — for my wife and I to visit this suburb of Phoenix.

It would be to get caught up with an old and dear friend and to meet his wife, who instantly became a friend as well.

I’ve known Ed Loos for 55 years. We worked together as high school boys at McDonald’s Hamburgers in Portland, Ore. I left that job in August 1968 to be inducted into the U.S. Army. I came home two years later and lost touch with Ed.

Then I met the girl of my dreams the following January. We got married and we invited Ed to our wedding.

My memory is foggy, but I believe that was the last time we saw Ed. After that glorious day 51 years ago, he went about living his life and we embarked on our own life journey.

Now we have reconnected and I find myself filled with joy at being able to get caught up with all that has transpired in our respective lives. Man, it’s been a hell of a journey for both of us.

I long have believed that most of us have few actual “friends.” Ed Loos has filled that role for me for the past five-plus decades. His wife, Colleen, has eased nicely into that role as well for my bride and me.

Those long-ago days working, laughing and carrying on the way kids have done since the beginning of time came rushing into our memory banks.

I am not sure whether all this is worth sharing. I find myself yearning to break away from the stresses of public policy and the headaches associated with contemporary politics.

So, having done that with this visit with one of my dearest friends on Planet Earth, I simply feel the need to share it here.

Life is so very good.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Newspapers: Where are they?

NEEDLES, Calif. — My wife and have ventured through much of southern California and tonight I just thought of something I haven’t seen with my own eyes.

The sight of people reading newspapers.

Not at breakfast in a tiny diner in Keene, Calif. Not at any of the truck stops and travel centers we visited on our journey. Nowhere, man!

There was a time when we would travel to hither and yon and spot newspapers spread out on people’s tables at restaurants. I would spot a newspaper — sometimes crumpled up — on the floor of men’s restrooms. We would stop for gasoline along the way and would see news racks full of newspapers waiting to be purchased by those wishing to learn what was occurring in their community or their nation or around the world.

These days? Newspapers are MIA!

OK. It’s a sign of the times. Newspapers are becoming part of our history. I consider it a glorious part, too. They are fading faster than yesterday’s news.

It makes me sad.

However, they still have their place as a chronicler of a community’s life and its future. I am delighted to be a freelance writer for a company that owns a group of weekly community journals that do that for our communities in North Texas.

If only there were more of them out there.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience