Sports news

Rose's ban from baseball should stick

Being a hard-ass isn’t really my style, but there’s something about Pete Rose that chaps me royally.

The former great baseball player has been banned from baseball for life because he bet on the game. That’s the rule: You bet on baseball, you face a lifetime ban. It’s in the rule book, which I’m certain Rose knew when he broke the rule.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/04/23/rob-manfred-pete-rose-all-star-game/

Now we hear that Major League Baseball, which will have its all-star game this summer in Cincinnati, will allow Rose to play some role in the game ceremonies.

I’ll stipulate a few things: First, I know that Rose had a Hall of Fame career. Second, I also know that he’s applied for reinstatement and Hall of Fame eligibility. Third, I also know that the Hall of Fame is full of racists, drunks, womanizers, adulterers and overall reprobates. Fourth, I also know that no one in the Hall of Fame was caught betting on baseball.

Pete Rose deserves reinstatement on one condition. MLB needs to reinstate Shoeless Joe Jackson, who in 1919 was caught betting on baseball in the infamous Black Sox Scandal in which Jackson and other Chicago White Sox players were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. Indeed, the no-betting rule was installed because of Shoeless Joe’s actions.

If Major League Baseball sees fit to reinstate the late, great Joe Jackson, then it ought to follow suit with Pete Rose.

First things first, Commissioner Rob Manfred.

 

legal news, national news, political news

Lynch finally confirmed as AG

The vote was 56-43.

The only reason the full U.S. Senate didn’t vote on this key appointment was that Republican Ted Cruz of Texas didn’t cast a vote. He didn’t like the nominee being considered for attorney general.

Welcome to the U.S. Justice Department, Loretta Lynch.

http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/239878-senate-votes-to-confirm-lynch-as-attorney-general

A number of Republicans voted to confirm Lynch, whose nomination should have been decided weeks ago. It was bogged down by the Senate Republican leadership’s insistence that it deal first with a bill that had nothing to do with Lynch’s nomination.

But she’s in. That’s good. She’s qualified and she deserved long ago to get a vote by senators on her nomination.

But here’s a curious element to the vote. One of the “no” votes came from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who said this:  “The question for me from the start has been whether Ms. Lynch will make a clean break from (President Obama’s) policies and take the department in a new direction.”

So, the chairman wants the new attorney general to break away from the policies of the president who appointed her. When has that ever happened? When has a Cabinet official ever promised to go against the individual who selected him or her?

The bogeyman for Grassley and other Republicans was Obama’s executive order on immigration that delays deportation for an estimated 5 million undocumented immigrants. He wanted her to say she opposed the order. Good luck with that one, Mr. Chairman.

But what the heck. She waited longer than any other recent Cabinet appointment to get confirmed.

Let’s hope her new job will have been worth the wait.

 

International news

No 'mistakes were made' apology

President Obama has taken full responsibility for the deaths of two hostages that had been held by al-Qaeda terrorists.

For that he deserves credit.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/american-italian-hostages-killed-in-us-drone-strike/ar-AAbzkZA

A drone strike in January targeted some terrorist leaders. Two men, one American and one Italian, also died in the strike.

The American was Warren Weinstein, an aid worker; the Italian was Giovanni Lo Porto. They had been captured by terrorists and, sadly, became the unintended victims of a strike aimed at killing enemies of the United States. The strike did kill some al-Qaeda leaders, but the president today had to own up to the deaths of the hostages.

“I realize there are no words that can ever equal their loss,” said Obama, who spoke with Weinstein’s wife and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The deaths of the two men perhaps say more about the nature of their captives than about the intelligence capabilities that preceded the drone strike. Obama said the best intelligence gathered indicated the hostages weren’t present in the target area.

One of the al-Qaeda leaders killed in the strike were two Americans, Ahmed Farouq and Adam Gadahn, who were described as leaders for the terror network.

And that brings to mind another matter for which the United States should not apologize: the killing of Americans who align themselves with enemies of their country. Farouq and Gadahn reportedly were not specific targets of the drone strike — to which I would ask: So what if they were?

We’ve killed other Americans who’ve defected to terror organizations and the U.S. government need not apologize for those deaths, either. Those former Americans have all but renounced their citizenship by the mere act of joining these ghastly terrorist cults.

It’s been maddeningly common over the years to hear government officials hide behind that passive-voice “mistakes were made” admission of responsibility. The problem with that kind of delivery is that it absolves individuals or specific organizations of any blame — if it is warranted — for the act that occurred.

We did not hear that today, which is to the credit of a president who isn’t hiding behind rhetorical trickery.

 

national news

Secret Service fails ex-president

The hits just keep on coming at the Secret Service department.

Now this: It took the agency charged with protecting presidents and former presidents more than a year to repair a faulty alarm system at the Houston home of former President George H.W. Bush.

Let’s see. We’ve had agents frolicking with hookers in South America, a man busting through security at the White House, someone crashing a small helicopter on the White House lawn — and now reports of a failure to respond in a timely manner to concerns about an alarm system at the home of the 41st president of the United States.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/agents-took-13-months-to-fix-alarm-at-ex-president%e2%80%99s-home/ar-AAbxl7P

There’s more, too.

Vice President Joe Biden’s home in Delaware had its alarm system shut off indefinitely by the Secret Service because it, too, wasn’t working properly.

This is getting increasingly difficult to understand, let alone justify.

The Secret Service is charged with protecting the highest government officials in the land, namely the president and the vice president. It also protects former presidents and their families. The one notable recent exception to that was the late former President Richard Nixon, who resigned from office in August 1974 and who then hired private security officers to protect him in his family in his post-presidency years.

The rest of them, though, get — and deserve — protection from the Secret Service.

That the agency wouldn’t repair former President Bush’s home security immediately after its malfunction became known is unconscionable. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson and new Secret Service director Joseph Clancy have declared security upgrades for those under the agency’s protection to be a top priority item.

Do you think?

 

entertainment news, local news

List of won't-do-things keeps growing

The older I get, the more activities I add to the list of things I’ll never do.

I read recently about the California woman who came to Amarillo and choked down three 72-ounce steaks — plus the baked spuds, shrimp cocktail, rolls and salad — at the Big Texan Steak Ranch.

By my calculation, that’s about 15 or so pounds of food.

http://news.yahoo.com/california-woman-eats-3-steak-dinners-20-minutes-183307496.html

I will add to the list of never-will-do things.

There once was a time in my life when I considered myself something of a thrill-seeker. There was little I wouldn’t try. Did I do all those things? No. The opportunities haven’t presented themselves over the span of time.

I haven’t jumped out of an airplane, or bungee-jumped off some platform or cliff, hunted big game in Africa.

On my 60th birthday, I did go zip-lining through the forests of St. Lucia with my wife and sons. So there. I’m not a total wimp.

I once, though, actually thought I might try to eat a 72-ounce steak — but only one — in the span of an hour. Twenty years ago, when we moved to Amarillo, I became aware of the Big Texan and its promotional gimmick of giving away the “free steak” if you could eat it within a certain span of time.

I’m a carnivore. I love steak. Just not that much of it. All at once.

Molly Schuyler chowed down three of ’em in about 20 minutes. She beat her own Big Texan record in devouring the first of her steaks in four minutes.

We’ve been to the Big Texan many times over the years and watched many folks try to consume the Big One in less than an hour. We’ve seen folks puke into the waste basket sitting next to them. One evening, we watched them carry a young man out of the eating area, toward the restroom, where I presume he got really sick.

Does that appeal to this old man? Not in the least.

Maybe in an earlier life. Maybe.

You can add this to the growing list of things I’ll never do.

 

national news

Now it's Freddie Gray

The roster of African-American men whose death involving police activity keeps growing.

When does it stop? How do communities learn to deal with these crises? Have we reached a tipping point?

The latest man to die in police custody is a young fellow, Freddie Gray, whose spine was snapped while he was being held by Baltimore police.

http://news.yahoo.com/video/justice-freddie-gray-185610991.html

And the outrage has begun. As it should.

How does someone get their spine broken by police? What in the world is happening when these officers arrest someone?

* Eric Garner was choked to death by a Staten Island police officer. A grand jury decided to no-bill the officer.

* Michael Brown was shot to death by a Ferguson, Mo., officer. A grand jury there decided against an indictment.

* Trayvon Martin was killed by a neighborhood security officer, who then was acquitted of murder in a Sanford, Fla., trial.

* Walter Scott was shot to death in the back as he fled from a North Charleston, S.C., police officer, who’s now been charged with murder.

I am acutely aware that there are circumstances associated with some of these deaths, such as with Michael Brown’s conduct.

Still, we can add Freddie Gray to the list of individuals who’ve died because of police activity. And once again, parents, siblings and spouses of African-American men are going to express alarm that more men just like those who have died already will become victims of similar actions by police officers in their communities.

We’ve heard already about the need for a “national conversation” about police relations with African-American communities across the country.

Let’s keep having that conversation. Shall we?

 

local news

Texting lingo throws me for a loop

I’m going to make an admission.

Texting sends me into orbit. I rarely do it with my fancy-shmancy smart phone. I’ll receive text messages on occasion. I might answer them, but my first rule is this: no more than six words. I don’t send text messages just to chat. They need to fulfill some kind of purpose, such as providing answers to direct questions.

OK, the one exception might be if my son and daughter-in-law send pictures of our granddaughter Emma, which occurs regularly and I love acknowledging them.

So …

Having said all that, I had a strange encounter the other day at work. Two salesmen at the car dealership where I worked asked me this question: “What does ‘NVM’ mean in a text message?” My two friends, both middle-aged but younger than I am, were trying to figure out what it meant. One of them reckoned it meant “not very mature.” Hmmm. That seemed to make sense, given that a lot of text messages are, well, very mature.

We chuckled among ourselves and then I left them to their wondering what the initials meant.

Then it dawned on me: I have a text messaging expert in my family. It’s my daughter-in-law, Stephanie. She’d know.

I called her. “Steph,” I said, “what do the letters ‘NVM’ mean when you send them in a text message?”

She answered immediately: never mind … although for an instant I wasn’t sure if that was the answer of if she was telling to, um, never mind.

That was the answer.

I found my friends and told them, “It means ‘never mind.'” They got it.

We all shared our limited knowledge of text-message lingo/abbreviations. OMG? Got it. LOL? Sure thing. LMAO? I got that one, too.

The rest of them don’t come quite so easily. NVM is now part of my text-message glossary.

However, do not expect me ever to use it, let alone any time soon.

Still, it’s good to have someone in the family who’s fluent in textspeak, to whom I can turn for quick translations.

International news, national news, political news

Benghazi report timing is, um, dubious

This shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi will release its report to the world sometime in, that’s correct, 2016. That’s right smack in the midst of a presidential campaign featuring the No. 1 principal in that investigation, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who — by the way — will be running for president of the United States.

I know. You just can’t believe the timing of it all, right?

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/house-benghazi-report-release-2016-117231.html?hp=r3_4

The panel’s chairman, Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, had wanted to release the report no later than the end of the current year. Legal staffers, though, said they needed more time to assimilate everything and compile into a comprehensive report on what happened on Sept. 11, 2012 at the U.S. consulate in Libya.

What did happen? Some terrorists launched an attack on the consulate, a fire fight ensued and four Americans were killed, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Clinton’s State Department has been accused of covering up key elements relating to what they knew and when they knew it. Previous findings have concluded there has been no deliberate cover-up. But the Republican-led House launched a select committee probe anyway.

This is certain to muddy Clinton’s presidential campaign, particularly if it produces a proverbial “smoking gun.”

What did she know? When did she know it? Did the secretary deliberately mislead Americans?

I’ve long thought this congressional panel already had pre-determined culpability, but was looking for the path that would reach that conclusion. Then again, I’m not in the hearts and minds of those who are conducting this investigation.

I’ll accept Chairman Gowdy’s assertion that he wanted to release the report prior to the election year.

My hope now is that we can choose the next president on the merits of their full public record, their campaign rhetoric and their pledges to lead the country toward an even brighter future.

My fear is that the Benghazi report is going to plow all of that noble intent into the ground.

 

environmental news

Farmers, ranchers cherish Planet Earth

A quick follow-up to an earlier blog post about Earth Day is in order.

One of my sons shared my post and he got a fascinating reaction from someone, who said farmers and ranchers celebrate Earth Day every day of the year.

That is so true. Indeed, if we all cherished Planet Earth the way farmers and ranchers do — given that they earn their living from the earth — the world would be in much better shape than it is today.

Here, though, is a caveat that needs mentioning.

Farmers and ranchers comprise a tiny and still shrinking percentage of Earth’s population. The rest of on our planet happen to be urban dwellers. In fact, some years back the U.S. Census Bureau stopped counting farmers in a separate demographic category, relegating them and ranchers to “miscellaneous” status. I saw that as a virtual insult to the men and women who harvest food, produce cattle and other edible livestock — otherwise feed the rest of us.

Yes, they care about Earth more than the rest of us.

It is to their great credit that they do.

environmental news

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

So help me, I wish Earth Day was a bigger deal than it has become.

For a whole day — as if that’s enough time to honor the only planet we have — we’re supposed to put Earth on the top of our mind’s awareness.

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This is the 45th annual Earth Day. Many communities around the world are going to have public events to commemorate the day. That’s fine. I welcome all the attention that will be paid to Earth until the sun comes up tomorrow.

Given that it was created 45 years ago, that means Earth Day began during the Nixon administration. I doubt President Nixon really paid a lot of personal attention to the condition of the planet, but I certainly applaud that it was during his years in the White House that the Environmental Protection Agency was created.

In the decades since Earth Day’s creation, though, it has become something of a political flashpoint.

Some of us believe the planet is in peril. Our climate is changing and yet humankind keeps doing things to the planet that exacerbate the change that’s occurring. Deforestation is one thing. Spewing of carbon-based emissions is another. Some of say we need to do a better job of protecting our planet — or else face the consequences, which are as grim as it gets. Hey, we have nowhere else to live — for the time being, at least.

Others of us say there’s little we can do. Climate change? It’s part of Earth’s ecological cycle. We need to accept the inevitable and not seek to destroy our industrial base to chase after a cause that is far too big for mere human beings to tackle.

I won’t accept the hard-core climate change deniers’ thesis.

For the time being, I am at least grateful that the world sets aside a day to honor the good Planet Earth.

We ought to do it every day of every year.

 

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience