State news

Rant, but no rave, about state highway system

The following is a “rant” posted by a friend of mine on a social media outlet.

It goes like this:

Forgive me, but I need to rant for a minute. After driving through almost every state towing a camper over the last eight years, I can say without a doubt that the state of Oklahoma has the worst highway maintenance in the country. … Oklahoma has the audacity to charge tolls on many of these terrible roads and makes you stop and actually pay for these tolls rather than just taking a picture of your license and billing you later. Come on, Oklahoma, you can do better!
Rant over. Thank you for your time and attention.

I want to single out a particular point that deserves an endorsement from yours truly.

It’s the point about having to “stop and actually pay for these tolls rather than just taking a picture of your license and billing you later.”

My wife and I ventured to Oklahoma City a few months for an evening concert and to spend the night before returning home. The concert venue was along a toll road near Edmond. We’ve been spoiled by the Texas toll roads we use when we travel to the Dallas area to visit our granddaughter … and her parents.

We just zip past the cameras posted over the President George Bush Turnpike. It snaps a picture of the license plate of our vehicle and about two weeks later, we get a bill for using the highway. We send the North Texas Transit Authority a check. No fuss at all.

In Oklahoma City, we had to scramble for change when we saw signage warning us of a toll booth ahead. Some of the booths were manned, others were not, meaning we occasionally needed exact change to be let through to the next toll both.

Ugghh!

The sooner we got out of Oklahoma — pun intended, by the way — the better.

State news

Public education needs advocates, not adversaries

Public education, by definition, is intended — as I understand it — to be a resource for the entire public and it shouldn’t push agendas, such as religious beliefs, that need to be promoted at home or in places of worship.

So, it’s fair to wonder whether it’s wise put a home-school advocate into the chairmanship of the Texas State Board of Education. That’s the subject of an interesting essay written for the Dallas Morning News by a Wylie, Texas, parent.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150710-jamie-anne-richardson-a-home-schooler-at-the-helm-might-not-help-texas-education-or-home-schoolers.ece

Jamie Anne Richardson describes herself as a public school graduate who home-schools her children.

She also opposes Gov. Greg Abbott’s selection of Donna Bahorich — who home-schools her own children — as chair of the SBOE.

I prefer to think of SBOE members as advocates for public schools. They understand that since all Texans buy into public education, that all Texans’ needs to be considered. Bahorich, according to Richardson, has an agenda that likely doesn’t comport with all Texans’ belief systems.

Here’s part of what Richardson writes: “Bahorich has an agenda, and it has the potential to threaten both public schools and home-schoolers. She voted for highly controversial textbooks that many board members said distorted the facts of American history and included such ideas as how Moses helped shape democracy. Slate writer Amanda Marcotte wrote: ‘The school board battles that Republicans have been waging in Texas have nothing to do with improving the quality of the state’s public schools. Most of these efforts are about making the education experience less educational, by injecting conservative propaganda into history class and religious dogma into science class. Texas is bent on undermining public schools, not fixing them. This appointment only serves as further proof.’”

The SBOE has waged this fight in recent times. Social conservatives on the board battle with more moderate board members about textbook selection. Some board members want textbooks to emphasize faith-based theories. Others say — and I happen to agree with them — that matters of religious faith belong in churches, mosques or synagogues, as well as in families’ homes.

Public school belongs to all of us — believers and non-believers alike.

Here’s a bit more of Richardson’s essay: “A lot of families aren’t in the position to home-school, and they can’t afford private schools. Texas public education must appropriately meet these children’s needs without a conservative agenda. How will a parent who has never enrolled a child in a public school but who can afford private education for her kids’ high school years relate to the challenges of the teachers, administrators, student and parents?”

We are blessed to provide public education. I don’t ever recall hearing of a serious desire to establish a public church.

Indeed, isn’t that why we keep those things separate?

local news

Still missing Mom after all these years

Mom and Dad engagement

The beautiful young woman in this picture wouldn’t want me to do this, but since she’s not around to object, I am free to do what I wish.

Her name was Mnostoula. The fellow next to her was Pete. They were my parents.

Today would be Mom’s 92nd birthday.

She’s been gone for a very long time now. Not quite 31 years to be exact.

Mom’s name was an old-country Greek name given to her by her mother, our Yiayia. She felt it was too hard to pronounce, so when she went out into the working world at a young age, she adopted the name “Mitzi.” My sisters and I never liked the nickname, but that’s how she was known.

Truth be told, her name wasn’t all that difficult to pronounce. Just understand that the “n” was silent, and you could say it just as it appeared. Our late uncle Tom — one of Dad’s brothers — called her “Mno,” but Tom would stick the “n” into the shortened version of the name and it would come out “M-no.” Mom loved hearing that.

Mom didn’t laugh out loud, as in guffaw, the way, say, Dad did. She would giggle, often at her own quips, which were quick, unexpected and always funny.

She and Dad were married for 34 years. Then tragedy struck in September 1980, when Dad died in a boating accident. He was just 59. But tragedy already had taken hold of Mom by that point. She had been diagnosed earlier that year with Alzheimer’s disease. She was just 57 at the time. But the sad fact is that she likely was exhibiting symptoms for years prior to that; we just weren’t alert enough in the late 1970s to figure it out.

Yes, she was dealt a terrible hand when that dreaded disease stole her humor, her liveliness. She would live only for another four years before passing away from Alzheimer’s-related complications.

We can’t change the past. We can think, perhaps, of how matters might have changed if fate hadn’t intervened. Mom always talked of her younger years — such as when this engagement picture was taken with Dad. She remembered how full of vim and vigor she was. Her future was bright, she would tell me. She would recall how she was a pistol.

She left us far too soon.

Wherever she is, I know she hears me.

Happy birthday, Mom. I love you.

Uncategorized

Can city return to semblance of calm?

Now that the knee-jerk faction of the Amarillo City Council has gotten its scolding out of the way, it appears the city can return to conducting business and moving ahead with some ambitious plans intended to improve everyone’s outlook and perhaps even their economic well-being.

The council had intended to take City Manager Jarrett Atkinson to task for things not entirely specified. Instead, it decided to table that talking-to. It’s now going to wait until next January, when Atkinson’s normal job performance review is scheduled.

It also had planned to seek the resignation of the entire Amarillo Economic Development Corporation board, which when you think about it is an even goofier idea. The council took that idea off the table altogether.

So, where do we stand?

I hope we stand on firmer footing than it appeared when the final of the three new council members took his oath and then that same day called for Atkinson’s resignation.

A lot is riding at this moment on Amarillo’s political stability.

We’ve got this downtown project to consider. There’s a number of projects all linked together that need to happen. The multipurpose event venue should be built; the city is negotiating a little more with a hotel developer to build a downtown convention hotel; and we have this parking garage under consideration.

No MPEV, no hotel. Neither of those two things, no parking garage.

The $90-some-million project is worthwhile. It’s concept is sound. It would turn Amarillo’s downtown district into a place worthy of the city residents’ pride.

Assistant City Manager Vicki Covey already has retired; City Attorney Marcus Norris has resigned and is slated now to “pursue other interests.”

To toss out the city manager and the entire AEDC board now would be foolish in the extreme.

I hope it doesn’t happen. I trust now that council members will have told Atkinson what they expect of him and if Atkinson intends to stay on the job, I also expect he has agreed to do what they have requested.

Let’s give this entire process some time and careful study before plowing ahead with the “change” that some folks think was mandated by the May 9 municipal election.

International news

What was Greek referendum all about?

Those nutty Greeks are driving me nuts.

They spend themselves into near oblivion. The European Union has bailed them out more times than I can remember. They run out of money, default on their debt payment, close the banks and then call for a referendum.

Greeks vote overwhelmingly to reject further austerity plans and, in effect, endorse the principle of pulling out of the EU.

Then the Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, goes to the EU, offers a compromise package that includes — yes, indeed — more austerity in exchange for more bailout money.

Now the Greek Parliament has approved the deal and is awaiting word from the EU whether it will accept it.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/greek-parliament-backs-government-bailout-proposals/ar-AAcPiCc

All of this forces me to ask: What was the referendum all about?

I’ve been to the country three times. It’s a beautiful place, with lovely people, priceless antiquities, breathtaking landscapes, great food and — in Athens, at least — legendary traffic jams.

They threw over their currency, the drachma, to join the EU, adopting the euro as its currency. It staged a fabulous Olympics in the summer of 2004 — and went bankrupt in the process.

I do not want Greece to relegate itself to becoming an outlier nation in Europe. Its history is too rich, vivid and important to the development of the rest of the continent.

However, I’m tellin’ ya, they’re driving this Greek-American insane watching this drama unfold.

If a bit more austerity is what it takes to pull the Greeks’ chestnuts out of the fire, then the socialists who run the place need to suck it up just a little while longer.

local news

Clouds = answered prayers

clouds

Those clouds over yonder — I’m quite sure — are the result of answered prayers.

I snapped this picture just a little while ago as I drove home from work. They’re to the southeast of Amarillo. They might be dumping some rain on Palo Duro Canyon.

The prayers? Well, I also am quite sure a lot of folks around here have lifted them up to the Almighty himself.

He listened and he answered them.

How do I know that? Well, I don’t. Faith in prayer allows us to just believe something happens for the better.

We’ve had a lot of things happening for the better around here all year long.

The National Weather Service says we’ve exceeded our annual average precipitation amount for the year, which is about 20 inches; it’s not even mid-July yet. Every drop we get from here until the end of the year is a bonus.

Why the dramatic change? Scientists contend El Nino is out there in the Pacific Ocean, producing warmer currents, resulting in greater storm frequency, which then blow inland — and over this part of the world.

That sounds good.

But what brought about El Nino? Might it have been, oh … some prayer?

We’ve had a lot of violent weather the past few days. The weather gurus are calling for more of it tonight. Our plays already are full. McDonald Lake, just about a mile north of our house, was in danger of spilling onto Coulter Street this morning.

Did prayer make all this happen? I’m not even going to try to disprove it. Because I cannot. Faith does not require proof.

political news

The Donald presents so many avenues of disgust

1 Comment

DonladTrumpHair

There’s so much to detest about Donald Trump.

I almost don’t where to begin.

His anti-immigrant rant? As the grandson of immigrants — yes, legal immigrants — I was appalled at his description of Mexicans as “rapists, drug dealers and murders,” and “oh, yes, some good ones.”

How about his birther stance? He still thinks President Obama was born in a foreign country, despite having an American mother, which qualifies him for the office he’s held for nearly two full terms. Now he’s going after Ted Cruz, who actually was born in another country, but his mother is an American as well.

I’m beginning to settle on one aspect of Trump I find most annoying. It’s his insistence that he’s “really rich.”

He brags about it. He boasts of all the money he has. He seeks to parlay that good fortune into what he’d do as president, which is create jobs. “I’m a great job creator,” he says.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/dump-on-trump-119932.html?hp=lc1_4

How do you suppose his boasting about wealth is going to play to the very people he wants to win over if he is to have a prayer of being nominated by the Republican Party, let alone elected president of the United States? My guess is that it won’t play well — at all.

He’s going to brag on TV about his wealth. Imagine being a single parent, struggling to make ends meet. You’ve got several children who need food, clothing and shelter. You can barely provide any of that. And then you’re going to hear someone who wants to become your president keep bragging about his material wealth, about all those tall buildings that have his name on them, all his bling, glitter.

How does that make you feel?

I’m a middle-class guy. I’ve had a nice life. My wife and I don’t need too much to consider ourselves successful.

All that boasting makes me crazy!

He’s going after his fellow GOP candidates. They’re returning fire aggressively, as are the Democratic candidates.

I will await with great anticipation the first Republican presidential joint appearance to see how The Donald handles the blistering he’s going to get.

From now on, though, shut up with the “I’m really rich” crap, OK, Donald?

Sports news

‘Legend’ not in football Hall of Fame?

I’ve been reading the word “legend” over the past several hours.

It’s been used to describe the late Ken Stabler, the great quarterback for the Oakland Raiders who, in 1977, led his team to a crushing Super Bowl victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

I’ve known for years a bit of information about Stabler the Snake. He isn’t in the pro football Hall of Fame.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/former-alabama-raiders-quarterback-ken-stabler-dies-at-69/ar-AAcMuiZ

And I’ve wondered all that time: What in the world has kept him out of that shrine?

Young pro football fans today perhaps don’t know that the Raiders weren’t always the doormat they’ve become. They once personified a rebellious attitude. The team owner, Al Davis, himself was the embodiment of the term “rebel.” He was constantly feuding with pro football league brass — whether it was the old American Football League or later with the National Football League.

Stabler took that attitude onto the field, along with many other great players.

He wasn’t just all flash and sizzle. He played in four Pro Bowls; he was the NFL”s most valuable player in 1974; and, oh yeah, he played on that winning Super Bowl team. Indeed, he has as many Super Bowl wins as another player who came out of the University of Alabama, Joe Namath — who’s in the Hall of Fame and who didn’t produce the kind of career stats that Stabler did.

I’m no football expert. I just know when someone’s been robbed of a proper tribute.

Stabler should have been inducted long ago into the Hall of Fame.

Rest in peace, Snake.

 

national news

Flag becomes easy target … with good reason

confederate flag

A flag is coming down today. TV networks are going to cover the event live, such as they did when we launched men to the moon or when we held state funerals for a murdered president.

This is a big deal for an important reason.

The flag — which symbolizes the kind of bigotry that helped launch the Civil War — is an easily recognizable symbol. Its intent today, in many quarters, is to inspire fear and to terrorize Americans.

It has to come down and it has to be placed in a museum, where adults can tell their children about what this flag means to so many millions of Americans.

The flag in question has flown on the state capitol grounds in Columbia, S.C., the state where just a few weeks ago nine African-Americans were slaughtered in a Charleston church. A young white man has been charged with murder; and that same young white man has been revealed to harbor hatred for African-Americans.

And yes, he’s displayed pictures of himself waving that Confederate battle flag.

You see the flag and any number of things come into your mind.

I see the flag as a symbol of oppression. That it would fly on public property — which is owned jointly by African-Americans and white Americans who see the flag as many of us do — is an insult in the extreme.

Moreover, the flag is different from many other Confederate symbols, such as statues.

There’s a statue at the west end of Ellwood Park here in Amarillo of a Confederate soldier. To be honest, I drove by it for years before I even knew what it represented. To this very day I cannot tell you who it represents, and I doubt most Amarillo residents even know the name of the individual depicted by that statue.

Should that artifact come down? I don’t believe its removal is as necessary as the removal of the flag from the statehouse grounds in South Carolina.

We know what the Confederate battle flag represents to many Americans.

And because it is so easily recognizable as what it is, then it needs to come down.

Today.

 

political news

Bush honors wounded vets … for a healthy fee

A friend gave me a heads up on this story earlier in the day.

Then I caught up with it. I am, to say the least, disappointed that a former president of the United States would actually do this.

George W. Bush spoke in 2012 to a group of wounded veterans, men and women he sent into battle. He then charged the charity event $100,000 to hear his remarks. The charity in question is Helping a Hero.

http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2015/07/george-w-bush-charged-100000-to-speak-at-2012-charity-fundraiser-for-wounded-veterans.html/?fb_action_ids=10207189190992928&fb_action_types=og.shares&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B650446875055799%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.shares%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D

Is there something here that just doesn’t smell right?

President Bush’s remarks were intended to honor vets wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of the veterans who heard about the fee paid to the former president were offended. Gee, do you think?

Some of them lost limbs. They answered their nation’s call to duty — without regret. Then they listen to the former president pay tribute to them, only to learn that he pulled down a six-figure honorarium?

I get that other politicians charge substantial speaking fees. Hillary Clinton comes to mind and she surely has gotten her fair share of criticism for the money she’s made over the years.

Bush supporters say he discounted the amount he usually charges. The former president’s standard fee is about $175,000 per appearance. They also note that his appearances have raised many times the amount of money he earns just for speaking; they consider their investment to worth the cost.

OK, so he gave the vets’ group a break.

Allow me this: Big bleeping deal!

There’s just something infuriating to know that the commander in chief who sent these individuals into harm’s way would pull down such a hefty speaking fee to salute their service.

 

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