Monthly Archives: August 2022

science news

Feels like the first time

It’s kind of like the way we used to react to news about space launches and, frankly, it feels good to this old goat.

NASA today postponed the launch of the Artemis I rocket planned for a moon mission. We have to wait now until Friday around noon before the space agency can send the world’s largest rocket into space and toward the moon.

Yes, I am filled with anticipation that is beginning to feel as I did when my dear Mom and I waited for hours on end for the Mercury astronauts and then the Gemini astronauts to launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla.

The Artemis I mission signals NASA’s return to a new space race. NASA wants to return to the moon before China sets foot on the surface. NASA administrator Bill Nelson has said he fears China could claim the entire lunar surface as Chinese territory. No can do, China.

Artemis I is meant as a test run for future manned landings on the moon, using it as a base from which NASA plans to launch manned flights to Mars. All of that news makes this one-time spaceflight junkie more anxious than I have felt in a long while.

I have supreme confidence that NASA will get Artemis I off the launch pad in due course. If not Friday, then the space agency will have to resolve the myriad issues that caused the postponement.

Americans last departed the moon 50 years ago. Every one of those Apollo launches caused my gut to tighten when the rocket engines ignited and the Saturn V missile roared off the pad.

To be sure, I am filled with anticipation of watching astronauts launching once again toward deep space travel.

I also am filled with a bit if wistfulness over Mom’s absence from this latest thrilling space adventure.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news, national news, national security

We’re in fine hands

You hear the refrain — too often, it seems — from those who lament what they perceive is the demise of civilization, particularly when it regards the “next generation.”

Those who complain about such things have a clear lack of understanding of this significant fact. Which is that people have been gloom-and-dooming our good Earth’s future since the beginning of time.

I like to cite the Greek philosopher Plato’s refrain about how young people five centuries before Jesus’s birth were unkempt, how they didn’t snow respect for their elders and how the world would be handed over to a generation of misfits.

He was a smart man. Plato also was wrong.

I hear much the same thing today from those who continue to insist that “today’s generation” doesn’t show proper respect, or that they are shiftless, lazy, too interested in self-importance.

I am certain every older generation that preceded the current crop of old fogies — such as yours truly — said the same thing about the younger generations coming along.

Did my grandparents once lament how their kids — my parents and their siblings — wouldn’t amount to a pile of kindling? Oh, probably. Then what happened? World War II exploded across our planet and gave birth to humanity’s Greatest Generation!

You never know how fate determines these the future … correct?

I want to say something positive about today’s younger generation. I spoke just recently about Maxwell Frost, a Generation X citizen seeking to be elected to Congress from Florida. The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School spurred Frost to “do something” to end gun violence. So, he decided as he turns 25 to run for Congress.

He’s just one of many young people who want to make a difference.

Frost and others fill me with hope — and an expectation — that our world will be just fine as we old timers depart.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

religious news

Carter walks the walk … of faith

This social media meme showed up today and it serves as a reminder of how great men and women can — and do — become models for others to emulate.

President Jimmy Carter, as near as I can recall, never has felt the need to bellow or bluster about his Christian faith. He merely practices it every waking minute of every day.

If only others in public life could or would follow the standard that Jimmy Carter has set. He has built houses for poor people; he has taught Sunday school classes at his hometown church in Plains, Ga. He lives a quiet life with his wife of 75-plus years, Rosalynn.

I just saw this today and want to offer a salute and tribute to the 39th president of the United States. President Carter’s quiet example of living a life of faith in God should inspire all of us.

Thank you, Mr. President, for your service to the country and for your service to all of humankind.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news, national security, political news, State news

Do as I say, not do …

3 Comments

This is the opening paragraph of a story published today by the Texas Tribune …

Monica De La Cruz, a firebrand Republican running in a fiercely competitive South Texas race, received thousands of dollars for personal business interests from federal COVID relief programs despite disparaging federal assistance programs as harmful to the U.S. economy.

Man, you just have to love the kind of reporting that exposes politicians’ hypocrisy in this Age of Hypocrites.

Here’s the rest of the story. Take a peek. It’s worth your time.

Monica De La Cruz cashes in on COVID aid, trashes programs | The Texas Tribune

The Tribune points out that De La Cruz is the latest Republican — yeah, this is mostly a GOP affliction — to criticize Democrats’ policies while scarfing up the goodies for their own gain.

So it is with this GOP candidate for Congress.

Do you recall in 2020 when Republicans railed against President Biden’s efforts to pump money into repairing and upgrading our infrastructure? Then, once Congress approved it Biden signed it into law, they stood up and boasted about all the money that was coming to their states and congressional districts.

The Tribune reported further about De La Cruz’s duplicity: “Monica De La Cruz raged against relief funding for Texas small businesses, but what she didn’t mention was that she and her family happily took nearly $200,000 of that same aid for themselves. Her hypocritical agenda of ‘Help for me, but not for thee’ is politics at its worst and South Texans deserve better,” said Monica Robinson, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Where I come from, such blatant hypocrisy is a deal-breaker.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, State news

Public service or sacrifice?

It is virtually impossible to find any situation equal to what public servants are experiencing in this era of petulance, but I might have a close example.

Gillespie County, Texas, no longer has an elections department because its officials have resigned over the harassment they have received in light of the 2020 presidential election. Teachers have quit their jobs because parents have grown intolerably angry over mask mandates and other requirements imposed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The closest example to this I have experienced in my lifetime occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Americans turned their anger over the Vietnam War to those of us who participated in it. Our military personnel were following lawful orders but when they returned home from that war, they were treated in many cases like war criminals.

We grew out of that anger … eventually.

My hope now is that we can outgrow what is occurring now.

As the Dallas Morning News noted in an editorial:

This needs to stop. We believe in an America where people are willing to listen to each other, where they are willing to see the humanity in another person, where we are willing to admit maybe there is another side to the story.

That’s called maturity. It’s something that’s in too short supply these days. Some growing up would do us good.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

Cheney should rethink this notion

Lame-duck Liz Cheney is considering a run for the presidency in 2024. On one hand, I endorse the notion of the Wyoming Republican congresswoman running for the GOP presidential nomination.

On the other hand, the prospect of Cheney running for POTUS as an independent candidate — a notion she hasn’t yet ruled out — could prove disastrous.

Why? Well, Cheney said she is going to commit her remaining time in public life to ensuring that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the Oval Office ever again. I applaud her noble goal. And it is a noble calling, given the damage that Trump could deliver to the presidency were he sent back to the White House. Oh, jeez, the thought makes my gut tighten.

If Cheney were to run as an independent, from whom does she draw her votes? Those who would vote for President Biden only because they, too, cannot stomach the thought of Trump returning to power would be inclined to vote for Cheney. So, if Cheney runs as an independent candidate for POTUS, her presence on the fall 2024 ballot could serve as a major spoiler.

A part of me wants to see Cheney stand on a GOP debate stage with Trump and other Republicans seeking the White House. She would eviscerate The Donald. However, that doesn’t preclude Trump from winning the GOP nomination … presuming he runs, of course.

And therein lies the danger of Cheney staying in the hunt for the White House if she doesn’t win the GOP nomination. Does she run as an indy and, therefore, likely siphon votes from President Biden?

She wouldn’t like this comparison, but a Cheney presence as an independent reminds me of what Ralph Nader did to help elect George W. Bush president in 2000. The consumer advocate, Nader, drew votes that would have gone to Al Gore in that election, serving as legitimate spoiler in many states where his total exceeded the difference between Bush and Gore.

Play it carefully, Rep. Cheney. I am proud of the stand she has taken in this effort to investigate Trump’s role in the 1/6 insurrection. My pride would disappear, though, if she manages through her own hubris to help Trump blunder his way back into power.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

business news, economic news, Joe Biden

‘Old jobs’ not as good?

A frequent critic of www.highplainsblogger.com decided to weigh in with a comment about President Biden’s job performance.

He disagrees — not surprisingly — with my assessment of the job growth that has occurred during the Biden administration. My critic says Biden has created “no real new jobs.” That the only jobs being “created” are the old jobs that are being filled again.

Hmm. I rolled that one around for just a moment.

It occurred to me that the old jobs are just as valuable as the new jobs. I mean, those who are filling the old jobs are paying taxes and contributing to the nation’s economic well-being just as much as they would be had they occupied “new jobs.” Isn’t that right?

The critic just cannot seem to grasp that I remain as faithful to Joe Biden as he does to Donald Trump. Except for this important qualifier: Biden defeated Trump in 2020. Oh, and Trump is in a deep pile of dookey over, well … you know.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, media news, national news, political news

Is that all there is? Yep, that’s it!

The Wall Street Journal, a longtime champion of conservative causes and those who promote them, wants to know why all the fuss over the FBI search of Donald Trump’s home in search of incriminating evidence.

The Journal, owned by Trump sycophant Rupert Murdoch, questions the release of the heavily redacted affidavit that gave FBI permission to go through Trump’s posh estate.

The newspaper editorializes: It’s possible the redactions in the 38-page document release contain some undisclosed bombshell. But given the contours of what the affidavit and attachments reveal, this really does seem to boil down to a fight over the handling of classified documents. The affidavit’s long introduction and other unredacted paragraphs all point to concern by the FBI and the National Archives with the documents Mr. Trump retained at Mar-a-Lago and his lack of cooperation in not returning all that the feds wanted.

I have to ask: Why question the motive behind the search … and no, I will not call it a “raid”?

There remains a lot behind those redacted passages we don’t understand. There might be the ol’ smoking gun in there. But from what I have been able to glean so far, the FBI said it had enough evidence of “probable cause” that a crime has been committed on Trump’s property. Hell, there might even have been crimes committed within the White House.

The release of the redacted affidavit is enough to persuade me that the federal government appears set to prepare an indictment or maybe two or three against — oh, you know — someone very high up in the government.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, national news, political news

Evidence is clear …

Merrick Garland is facing one of the most complicated decisions imaginable, even as he considers what appears to be a mountain of evidence that, by all rights, should simply that decision.

The U.S. attorney general, a former judge who understands the meaning of legal precedent, is likely poring over evidence gathered that suggests — strongly, I should add — that he must indict a former president of the United States.

On what charge or charges? Let’s consider obstruction of justice, or inciting violence, or violations of the Espionage Act, or conspiracy to commit sedition.

Donald J. Trump, to put it as succinctly as I possibly can, is in a deep pile of doo-doo.

The FBI search of Trump’s home in Florida has produced evidence of a possible crime. We’ve all seen it now that the heavily redacted affidavit authorizing the search warrant has been released. The chatter is getting louder about the national security secrets that well might have been compromised when the ex-POTUS took those documents with him when he left office in January 2021.

Therein is where the AG faces the conundrum for the ages.

He says that “no one is above the law.” The means former presidents are as vulnerable to prosecution as, well, anyone. No ex-president ever has faced a criminal indictment.

The AG appears to be a careful man, not to mention a meticulous prosecutor. May he take great care in preparing what has been laid out before him. Then he can deliver justice where it belongs!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Gen Z’er stands out!

Maxwell Frost has emerged — whether he believes it or not — as a standard bearer for a generation thought by many of us older folks to be, um, lost and without a purpose.

I’m not one of those nasty old people who believes it, by the way, but I do want to say a few good words about the trail that young Maxwell Frost may be about to blaze.

He well could become the first person from what is called Generation Z to be elected to Congress. He is running for the10th Congressional District in Florida; the seat he is seeking is being vacated by U.S. Rep. Val Demings, the Democratic Party nominee for the Senate, where she will run this fall against Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

But … back to Frost.

He said something quite stunning today, which is that his generation of young Americans has now gone through more “active shooter drills in schools than fire drills.”

If elected to Congress, Frost would be 25 years of age, which is the constitutionally set minimum age for House members.

I had to look it up, but I found out that Gen Z Americans are those born between 1997 and 2012, which puts Frost at the front end of that generation.

Frost achieved his political awareness after the Sandy Hook school massacre of December 2012. He became acquainted with a sibling of one of the children slain that day in Newtown, Conn. Frost, who was a teenager at the time, said he committed then to doing something to improve the lives of young people.

So, here he is. A decade later this serious fellow seeks to take his seat with the curmudgeons of Congress, seeking to put his stamp on laws that we all must obey.

Frost won the Democratic primary this week and will run for a seat that has leaned heavily Democrat for some time. “Today’s election is proof that Central Florida’s working families want representation that has the courage to ask for more,” Frost said in a statement. “I share this victory with the nurses, forklift drivers, teachers, caregivers, social workers, farmers, union organizers, cashiers, and other members of this vibrant community who supported this campaign,” he added.

Frost’s platform is straightforward. He is running on a platform of more gun laws, better health care and an improved focus on environmental justice. Are we clear on that? Good. I get it.

This is the kind of constructive payback we can see emerge from the depths of our national sorrow.

The Greek philosopher Plato once lamented how the young people of his era, 500 years before Jesus Christ’s birth, were shiftless and disrespectful of their elders. Maybe they were, but he was wrong to predict the demise of civilization as he knew it then.

Maxwell Frost is demonstrating to us that we all well might be in good hands indeed.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com