Monthly Archives: May 2022

environmental news

Hey, it’s still just spring!

You’ll remember, I am sure, when we all were bitching about the freezing temperatures, about how winter just wouldn’t release its grip on North Texas.

It wasn’t that long ago, right?

Well, we don’t have to gripe about shivering at night.

The weather guys and gals are telling us we’re going to set heat records this weekend in the greater Dallas/Fort Worth area. Temps are going to approach 100 degrees Fahrenheit!

Now, let me be clear about something. I am not going to launch into a climate change rant; I’ll save that for another day.

I just want to remind everyone — I hope you’re sitting down for this — that the start of summer is still five weeks away!

Stay cool, y’all.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Rep. Jackson: shut up!

A strange thing has occurred — or it’s still occurring — as I continue to offer comment on a member of the Texas congressional delegation.

Republican Ronny Jackson represents the 13th District in the Texas Panhandle, where I lived for 23 years before my bride and I relocated in 2018 to the Metroplex.

I had been a bit hesitant to keep yapping about this right-wing blowhard. I mean, he was their congressman. I had my own right-winger — Van Taylor — to keep me occupied. Taylor, though, had a months-long affair with the former wife of an Islamic State officer, thus blowing a huge hole in his family-man image.

Well, Taylor is leaving Congress at the end of the year. Jackson is likely to be re-elected. He’s also becoming something of a national right-wing political figure, albeit for reasons that make my blood boil.

Jackson has become a darling of the right-wing media because he is so damn reckless, feckless and downtown stupid in his pronouncements about President Biden. He shows up on Fox News, on Newsmax and on One America Network to tell the audience that Biden is inept, incompetent and incoherent. The hosts nod approvingly and so Jackson goes on and on.

I believe he is nothing more than a right-wing dipsh**.

Ronny Jackson doesn’t know me from Adam. I only know of him through what I see on his Twitter feed and from reports of his appearances on the aforementioned right-wing media outlets.

Given that he has achieved some sort of national standing, though, I feel more comfortable telling readers of this blog what I think of his blathering.

I just want him to shut the hell up.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news, military news

How does Ukraine persist?

When the Russians invaded Ukraine I was skeptical that the Ukrainians would be able to declare victory on the battlefield. The Russian army was numerically and technically superior to Ukraine.

Then the Russians discovered something in real time on the field of battle. The first thing, apparently, was that they weren’t as fearsome a fighting force as they — or many of the rest of us — thought they were. The second thing is that they likely underestimated the Ukrainians’ will to fight to protect their homeland against a foreign invader.

What astounds me is that the Russians’ misjudgment of Ukraine’s will to fight would exist at all, given their own country’s military history.

In June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched the invasion of the Soviet Union. He likely didn’t think the Russians would fight to the death in the manner that they did. The Red Army then turned the tide against Hitler’s forces in a city once known as Stalingrad. Let us not forget that Ukrainians were fighting alongside Russians in their struggle against the Nazi invaders. Oh … the irony.

This is what happens when a nation invades another sovereign state. They learn that their adversary is committed to the struggle to survive and their commitment well could carry them forward against a supposedly superior military force.

We hear now several things are going badly for the Russians. They have lost several field generals in the battle; the Russian troops are suffering from low morale; Russian soldiers aren’t obeying officers’ orders; Ukraine is getting plenty of help from allied nations — such as the United States; the Ukrainians are putting their military hardware to good use.

Don’t get me wrong here. I am not about to declare that Ukraine will declare victory and that Russia is going to skulk off the battlefield. There likely will be much more struggle to take place.

It does make me wonder how much more humiliation Russian despot Vladimir Putin can take. Moreover, I will stand on my belief that Putin is not stupid enough to launch a nuclear strike, given his knowledge of how “mutually assured destruction” would play out.

If there is an exit to be found, my strongest hope is that Putin can look for it and get the hell out of Ukraine. I wouldn’t even mind if he decides to declare victory. Let him crow all he wants. The world will know better.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Customs thrown aside

Presidential custom is a big part of the nation’s highest office, particularly when the occupants of that office depart.

One of those customs is to see former POTUSes lock arms for common causes. Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama recently did a public service announcement seeking to rally the nation against the COVID pandemic. I saw the ad and wondered — get ready for it — where was Donald Trump? I mean, the pandemic exploded on Trump’s watch!

We see these kinds of dramas play out from time to time.

The same can be said of former first ladies. Michelle Obama and Laura Bush have shared the spotlight to talk about their time in the White House. Melania Trump? She, too, has been absent from any sort of public appearances with her colleagues.

Donald Trump left office an angry and bitter individual. His animus toward President Biden remains visceral. Same for how he explodes at the mention of Barack Obama’s name, or George W. Bush, or Bill Clinton.

We once boasted in this country about how presidencies transfer from one to another, across party lines, and without rancor. We once referred to the “seamless transition of power.” It wasn’t that way when Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden in 2020. We are still feeling the pain of that horrible hand-off from one administration to the next one.

Along the way, we are watching feel-good presidential customs torn apart. What an utter shame.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

MAGA this, MAGA that

Oh, how I find it so interesting the way some expressions take on lives of their own, how they become words suitable for conversation.

Take the word “MAGA.”

It’s an acronym, of course. It stands for Make America Great Again. The Donald Trump campaign for president in 2016 ran on that slogan. Trump managed to win in the biggest political fluke in U.S. history.

Since then, the term has become a noun and an adjective.

“I am going to a MAGA rally,” someone might say.

Or, “How about that MAGA sign?”

How about, “Can you believe the number of MAGAs out here?

The acronym as it’s pronounced does roll off the tongue. I prefer to avoid using it whenever possible. Except perhaps for purposes of making a point on my blog, which I am attempting to do at this moment.

To be candid, the term — and, more to the point, what its spell-out version tells us — just pisses me off. To say we are going to “make America great again” is to suggest the country has been less than great.

America is a great nation. It’s been great for a long time. We emerged from World War II as the planet’s pre-eminent military and economic power.

What’s more, the juxtaposition of MAGA in the presence of certain symbols fills me with rage. Picture a MAGA follower toting a Confederate flag or much worse, parading under a swastika. Do you get my drift? Good!

I get that Donald Trump’s campaign didn’t coin the phrase that has become an acronym. Bill Clinton said the same thing while campaigning for POTUS in 1992.

Still, it has taken on a life of its own. It’s become a dangerous metaphor for anger and paranoia.

It’s weird, man.

I just want to proclaim that the only time I use the term MAGA is to deride it … and those who adhere to it.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Lock him up?

Donald J. Trump used to relish hearing crowds chant “Lock her up!” when the issue turned to how Hillary Clinton handled her email operation during her time as secretary of state.

You’ve seen the video of the Republican presidential candidate just letting the cultists go on and on. Right? Sure you have!

Well, what do we have now? We have reports that as a lame-duck POTUS, the White House hauled 15 boxes of classified information out of the presidential residence and sent them to Mar-a-Lago, Fla.

The Justice Department is now in the midst of an investigation into whether someone broke the law when The Donald exited Washington for his glitzy resort. Hmm, do ya think?

Donald Trump was the most ignorant imbecile ever elected to the nation’s highest office. He had no respect for the law or the secrets he took a solemn and sacred oath to protect.

I am left to simply shake my head and to wonder whether I should lead a chant of my own to “Lock him up!”

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Not this much, city council

When has anyone in real life ever gotten a 200%-plus pay increase all at once? Umm. No one?

Thus, it shouldn’t surprise anyone — I was not surprise, for sure — to see Fort Worth voters nix a proposed monstrous pay increase for their mayor and city council members.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

The mayor makes $29,000 annually and individual council members make $25,000.

The proposition would have tied the mayor’s pay to half the average salary of department heads and the council members’ to half the average of the city assistant department heads. That comes out to $99,653 for the mayor, a 244% increase. The pay for council members would be $76,727, an increase of 207%.

Can I hear an “eek!”?

Fort Worth voters say no to pay raise for mayor, City Council members (msn.com)

Mayor Mattie Parker said she deserves to be paid more than the current amount. I am not going to pass judgment on that assertion. All I can say with some degree of confidence is that Fort Worth voters more than likely were in no mood to shell out that kind of an increase when they are struggling to pay more for practically everything they purchase.

And they aren’t getting a huge pay raise to lighten their load.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Now … for some good news

We live in an era of delays, shortages, dashed hopes and frustration … correct? Not entirely.

I want to share a bit of good news that just arrived in my email inbox. It comes from the manufacturer of the pickup truck we ordered in March.

My wife and I went shopping recently for a truck to replace Big Jake the Pickup we have owned for several years. We ended up buying a brand-new Ford Ranger pickup. Except they didn’t have a vehicle in stock at the dealer in McKinney. We ordered it from the factory. We chose the bells and whistles we wanted installed on the vehicle and placed the order.

Ford told us the vehicle would be scheduled for production the week of May 23. Today came the message that told us the production schedule had “changed.” I cringed. Then I opened the message. Ford decided to start assembling the vehicle next Monday, the week of May 16.

I mention this because of all the negativity to which we’ve been subjected. Inflation, supply-chain crises, shortages of parts … blah, blah, blah.

Our retirement journey is trudging on regardless of when our new vehicle arrives. It looks for all the world, though, as if it will arrive ahead of schedule.

Who knew?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, Uncategorized

Rule of law faces test

My fellow Americans, we are going to witness whether the “rule of law” means anything to members of Congress who have been summoned to appear before the House select committee examining the 1/6 insurrection.

The committee has subpoenaed five Republican congressman who were key allies to Donald J. Trump. The committee had asked them to appear voluntarily; they declined.

So, here come the lawful orders. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, along with GOP Reps. Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Mo Brooks and Andy Biggs all have been ordered to appear before the committee.

So, which is it? Are these dedicated Trumpkins going to comply with the rule of law, which they have at one time or another during their congressional careers said they honor? Or are they going to take one for their cult leader, The Donald?

The rule of law is as straightforward as it gets. A legally constituted congressional committee has issued a lawful order for five House members to talk to its members. Failure to comply with a lawful order should result in criminal punishment. Indeed, such a consequence anyone in the military who refuses to obey a lawful order. Your commanding officer tells you to do something, and you refuse? It’s off to the stockade where you would await adjudication of your offense.

I don’t know whether any or all of them will refuse to comply with the subpoena. Whoever says “no” to the House committee should face the potential consequence. The rule of law should stand in this instance as it should stand in all cases.

Let us never forget that each of these individuals swore an oath to keep faith with the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution is on the side of the committee that has acted lawfully.

We well might learn whether these congressmen were sincere when they said they would uphold the Constitution and whether their stated fealty to almighty God was real or false.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Not a ‘mistake,’ Greg

“Take ownership no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes, and you just want to learn from those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward.”

So said Greg Norman, the one-time top-flight pro golfer from Australia. What was the “mistake” to which Norman refers?

Oh, just the gruesome murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who in October 2018 was sliced up and dismembered by Saudi killers in the Saudi consulate building in Istanbul.

I guess I should mention that Norman is now taking part in an international golf league run by — get ready for it — Saudi Arabia interests.

Thus, when Greg Norman calls a ghastly crime against a journalist a “mistake,” he only demonstrates his (a) ignorance of historical fact and (b) his own conflict of interest in even commenting on the dastardly act.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com