Category Archives: Uncategorized

Uncategorized

Six Flags to become Five Flags? Please, no

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Here’s a thought that will could drive us all just a bit crazy.

The momentum against the Confederate flag in this country could force one of the nation’s most well-known theme parks to change its name from “Six Flags” to “Five Flags.”

To which I say, “Please, please, no! Don’t do that!”

We have the Six Flags Over Texas theme park in Arlington. The name of the park is meant to pay some tribute to the flags that have flown over the Lone Star State. One of them, of course, was the Confederate flag back when Texas seceded from the Union and fought on the losing side in the American Civil War.

The flags aren’t necessarily a part of the park, although if memory serves they fly atop flag poles at the main entrance of the park.

Oh, and think about this one. The acclaimed musical “Texas,” the one at Palo Duro Canyon, also features riders carrying flags that have flown over the state. Yep, one of ’em is the rebel flag. Do we want to get rid of that flag as well at the end of the musical? A part of me understands why it’s offensive.

But let’s leave the musical alone.

national news, State news, Uncategorized

Private prisons taking needed heat

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Columbia University has ended its investment program with privately run prisons.

Why? Too many reports of abuse by prison officials.

The report of Columbia ending this particular relationship brings to mind an issue that’s stuck in my craw for years. I’ve never liked the principle of turning over corrections to private businesses.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2015/06/23/3672903/columbia-divest-private-prisons/

My belief is that corrections completes a public obligation circle that ought to remain part of the public’s responsibility.

I’m likely to take heat for thinking this, but that’s what I believe.

I look at this in a straightforward way, in my view.

The public pays law enforcement to catch criminals, to arrest them, book them into jail and file detailed reports on what the suspect allegedly did.

Then the public pays the salaries of prosecutors to make the case for the state or the county that the individual is guilty of the crime for which he or she has been accused of committing.

The public also conceivably might pay the salary of the defendant’s lawyer if he or she cannot afford private counsel. It’s part of the Miranda rights text that all criminal suspects are supposed to hear while they’re being arrested.

The judge who presides over a criminal trial is paid from the public trough. The public also pays the jurors — admittedly not much — to determine the suspect’s guilt or innocence.

If jurors convict the defendant, then in my mind it falls on the public to pay for the incarceration of that individual for as long as the publicly paid jury determines he or she should spend in prison.

I’ve long been suspicious of private firms running correctional institutions because the public needs to have ironclad guarantees of its oversight responsibility. The public needs full, complete and unfettered access to everything that goes on behind those walls.

We’ve marched a long way down the road already toward turning over much of our corrections operations over to private firms. I wish we could reverse course.

I didn’t have a particular problem when Texas went on a prison-building boom in the early 1990s to make more room for prisoners. A federal judge had ruled the state had violated inmates’ constitutional rights against “cruel and unusual punishment” by cramming them into prison cells. So, it fell on the state to make it right.

Would a private prison firm be compelled to respond in such a manner?

The public pays for suspects’ arrest, prosecution and sentencing.

The public has a responsibility, therefore, to complete its duty by housing these individuals.

 

Uncategorized

Discovery is part of retirement fun

monument rock

This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on impending retirement.

MONUMENT ROCK, Kan. — Drive about 20 minutes north of Scott City, Kan., turn east onto a dirt road and bump along about 7 miles.

This is what you find.

It’s called Monument Rock.

It ought to be called Monument Temple of Rocks.

The sight is quite breathtaking. What’s more, it lies in a place where one doesn’t expect to find such scenic splendor.

The place is in western Kansas, for crying out loud!

Kansas is where Dorothy Gale grew up, where she got hit on the noggin and was blown into the Land of Oz. Once she got there, she reminded Toto the Dog that “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

OK, so Monument Rock isn’t exactly the Emerald City, but it reminded my wife and me of the various sights and emotions we’re likely to experience as we venture more deeply into full-blown retirement.

We’ve been camping out at an RV park in Dodge City and, frankly, have just enjoyed sleeping in, doing what we want to do at our own pace — and not having to be anywhere at a specific time.

We headed west along U.S. 50 toward Garden City, then veered north along U.S. 83 and then found our way on one of Kansas’s historic byways.

We didn’t exactly stumble onto Monument Rock, but driving our truck along this stretch of road, it sort of felt like a stumble when the collection of rocks jutting out of the plains appeared in front of us.

We live on a gigantic and magnificent continent. We intend to find many more surprises along the way.

 

 

Uncategorized

Flag = hatred, racism, tragedy

dylann-roof1

Can there be any clearer understanding of why so many Americans despise the Confederate flag and what it symbolizes to them?

Dylann Roof is accused of killing nine black members of a Charleston, S.C., church. He shot them to death while studying Scripture with them in the church. The picture here shows the young holding the flag symbolizing the hatred he reportedly holds in what passes for his heart.

Southern pride? Southern heritage?

I suppose so, if you believe that the Confederate States of America was right to secede from the U.S.A., and then launch the Civil War, the bloodiest conflict in American history. And why did the CSA do that? Because it believed in that euphemistic “states rights” issue … which included allowing states to sanction the enslavement of human beings.

Dylann Roof’s fate has yet to be determined.

His past, as illustrated by this photograph discovered by his racist manifesto, includes this symbol of hate.

local news, Uncategorized

Dads get smarter the older we become

“When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.”
— Mark Twain

How true is that?

Of course, it’s not really the “old man” who learned all those thing. It’s the individual he brought into the world who’s climbed the learning hill.

Most of us have had similar experiences with our parents. Dad and Mom were dumber than dirt when we were kids. Then at some point, a miracle occurred. For me, it came around the time of my 25th year.

I was a new parent at the time myself. The younger of my two sons had just been born. My wife and I were seeking our way in the world. We couldn’t really know, of course, where our journey would take us. It’s taken us to plenty of places. We’ve been able to see and do many things we never dreamed of doing when we both were kids.

But right about the time I started my own on-the-job parental training, I began to realize the difficulty that my parents went through to rear my sisters and me. And I began to realize they weren’t so dumb after all.

This wising up happens to most of us. When it does, benefits are spread all around.

Mom and Dad seem smarter than they were. You definitely are smarter than you were. The shared wisdom accrues to everyone.

The greatest payoff of all is when you realize on these days when we honor our parents — such as Mothers and Fathers Day — that you’ve done your job well.

The journey my wife and I have taken together for the past nearly 44 years has included watching our own sons grow into fine men. Did they think of us the way ol’ Sam Clemens and I thought of our parents? Sure they did … and although neither of them ever articulated as such to either of us, it’s part of growing up.

That’s OK. We’re all past that now.

They’ve made us proud every step of the way.

All of us have gotten smarter, too.

national news, Uncategorized

Rep. Issa gets schooled by Benghazi chairman

Comeuppance at times can be the real pits.

Isn’t that right, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa?

The former chairman of the House Oversight Committee tried Tuesday to crash a closed-door hearing into — yes, that’s right — the Benghazi matter. You’ll recall that incident and the interminable congressional hearings that Issa, R-Calif., chaired when he led the Oversight Committee.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/06/16/rep-issa-visits-blumenthal-deposition-on-benghazi-escorted-out-by-rep-gowdy/

The Benghazi matter has been handed over to a House select committee, chaired by Trey Gowdy, R-S.C.

So, Issa showed up at the closed deposition being given by former Hillary Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal. Issa  entered the hearing room, but then was escorted quickly into the hallway by Gowdy.

Issa then stormed off. I guess he didn’t like being told he didn’t belong there.

Too bad, Darrell.

Gowdy’s committee, I must point out, is replowing ground that Issa’s committee already turned over. It’s still looking for something — anything — that will implicate former Secretary of State Clinton in the Benghazi matter, the firefight at the U.S. consulate on Sept. 11, 2012 that left four Americans dead, including he U.S. ambassador to Libya.

To be candid, I believe the select panel will come up just as empty as the Oversight Committee did. That means Clinton’s presidential campaign will proceed.

I have to chuckle a bit, though, at the spectacle of Issa — who at times conducted his Oversight hearings on  Benghazi with an extra-heavy hand — getting some of what he dished while he was embarking on his own congressional fishing expedition.

 

 

local news, Uncategorized

Harpole stays the course on graffiti battle

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Paul Harpole has had a difficult past few weeks.

The Amarillo mayor has seen two of his City Council allies lose their seats to challengers; then another ally, a non-incumbent, got beat in a runoff. The result has been a majority of council members who are new to the job and who have promised to bring “change” to the city.

All the while, the mayor has kept plugging away at a campaign promise he made four years ago when he first ran for the office to which he was re-elected.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/29326507/for-harpole-the-graffiti-fight-goes-on-and-on

He’s still battling graffiti “artists” who keep scarring buildings all over the city. He calls them vandals and says what they’re doing to people’s property is no different from someone smashing out car windows.

I’m glad to know he’s staying the course.

However, Harpole knows better than most that the fight likely will never end.

I don’t want to be melodramatic here, but it kind of reminds me of the war on terror. We kill one terrorist leader and another one pops up to take his place. You get rid of one vandal and, by golly, another one jumps out of the tall grass to continue “tagging.”

The mayor’s cause is a worthwhile one. He intends to dissuade enough of these individuals to stop blemishing people’s private property. Over time, Harpole says, he thinks he can put a serious enough dent in this graffiti problem.

Will he eliminate it? Likely not. That doesn’t mean he — and those who’ll follow him in the mayor’s office — should stop trying.

 

Uncategorized

About to declare war on misuse of word ‘hero’

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I’ve just about had it up to here with those who keep using the “h-word” improperly.

I saw a tweet this afternoon about the death of pro wrestler Dusty Rhodes. It referred to him as a “blue-collar hero.”

Blue-collar hero? Yep. That’s what it said.

I’m on the verge of declaring war on the misuse of that word.

My war declaration, though, requires me to come up with an alternative word.

In the Dusty Rhodes case, what could we use to replace the term “hero” as it was used in that tweet? Blue-collar celebrity? Blue-collar icon? Blue-collar star?

The words “icon” and “star” perhaps overstate Rhodes’s status. But what the heck, this isn’t about Dusty Rhodes. It’s about the constant misuse of a term that should be used sparingly — and only to describe individuals deserving of the term.

A friend of mine noted that Caitlyn Jenner — the woman formerly known as Bruce Jenner — is being touted as a hero. I haven’t heard that term attached to Caitlyn Jenner, although it wouldn’t surprise me in the least.

Heroes are fighting men and women who put themselves in harm’s way in defense of the country; they are firefighters who rush into burning buildings to save people’s lives; they are police officers who risk their lives arresting violent criminals.

They aren’t athletes. Or entertainers. Or reality-TV celebrities.

Can we stop misusing that word? Please?

International news, Uncategorized

SCOTUS hands White House an unexpected victory

The Supreme Court has decided that the United States needs to remain neutral in an ancient debate over who controls one of the world’s holiest cities.

The issue is a passport and whether the parents of a child born in Jerusalem could put the word “Israel” on the document’s listing of one’s place of birth.

It’s kind of convoluted. The court — in a 6-3 decision — sided with the executive branch of government, which contended that “Jerusalem” should stand alone on passports, given the contentious nature of the debate over who actually controls the city.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/scotus-strikes-down-jerusalem-passport-law?cid=sm_fb_lastword

Longstanding policy had stated that passports marking the place of birth of those who hold them shouldn’t put Jerusalem in Israel, as it remains a key sticking point in the on-going dispute between the Israelis and Palestinian Authority.

The American citizens of a boy born in Jerusalem in 2002 wanted his passport to contain the word “Israel.” Congress enacted a bill declaring that birth certificates could identify the birthplace as Jerusalem, Israel if parents requested. President Bush signed the bill into law, but complained that it interfered with the president’s ability to conduct foreign policy.

The court sided with the executive branch.

I’ve been to Jerusalem. Much of it clearly is in Israel. The Israeli government has its capital there. However, the city also is divided by a large, forbidding wall, on the other side of which is the West Bank, governed by the Palestinian Authority.

The Supreme Court has decided correctly in not interfering in this most sensitive dispute.

As NBC News’s Pete Williams reported: “The administration, under presidents of both parities, has insisted that because sovereignty over Jerusalem is one of the major sticking points in any Middle East peace agreement, the U.S. would remain neutral. Being forced to say that Jerusalem was under the control of Israel, the idea went, would be taking sides.”