Monthly Archives: April 2023

education news

Horrifying sign of the times

There can be no mistaking what is happening in school districts across Texas.

The Texas Senate has approved a bill that requires school districts to implement “active shooter” policies, or else face being taken over by the state education agency.

The legislation is in response to the Uvalde school massacre a year ago in which students and educators were gunned down by a madman.

This is a shocking and horrifying sign of the times in Texas … and everywhere else that has become victimized by the spasm of gun violence.

The Texas Tribune reports: Senate Bill 11, filed by Sen.Ā Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, would create a safety and security department within the Texas Education Agency and give it the authority to compel school districts to establish active-shooter protocols. Those that fail to meet the agencyā€™s standards could be put under the stateā€™s supervision.

Texas Senate passes bill to strengthen school active-shooter plans | The Texas Tribune

I happen to believe this is a reasonable approach to helping reduce the casualties inflicted by shooters. I didn’t think it would be possible to support such a move, but given the alternatives, it makes sense.

One of the alternatives is to arm teachers, give them the authority and ability to open fire on shooters. Bad idea! I continue to oppose the notion of asking teachers — individuals whose calling is to “educate” children — to take up arms and start firing weapons at individuals … hoping they don’t hit innocent victims in the melee.

With so many incidents erupting around the country, I welcome the Texas effort to force public school systems to enact policies aimed at dealing with this existential threat to the safety of our children and educators.

I suppose you can call this the 21st-century version of the “duck and cover” drills many of us once did while the nation was frightened about a possible nuclear attack.

This threat, though, is frighteningly real.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

It’s all about accountability

The Fox Propaganda Channel did not have to apologize for fomenting The Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election.

Dominion Voting Systems, which sued Fox for $1.6 billion, got precisely what it wanted and needed when Fox surrendered and agreed to a multimillion-dollar settlement.

It received accountability from Fox.

Through all the pre-trial filings Fox had been handed defeat after defeat. The judge hearing the case had, in effect, already delivered the goods against Fox. The judge had determined that Fox lied to the public about the 2020 election. Therefore, the network did not need to issue a public apology to Dominion.

As I look back just a couple of days to the settlement, it is clear why Fox tossed in the towel. The company’s ownership did not want to expose its on-air personalities to rugged questioning from Dominion’s legal team about what they knew and believed when they kept repeating The Big Lie on air.

We had heard already about emails and other correspondence from the likes of Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo about what they thought of Donald Trump and his assertions about “widespread voter fraud.”

Did Dominion deserve an apology? No. It would have been nice, I suppose, to get one from Fox. In the grand scheme, Dominion got all that it wanted: proof of accountability from the Fox Propaganda Network.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

GOP pursues backward strategy

It is with decidedly mixed feelings that I offer a commentary on the pursuit of Republican presidential candidates — some of whom are announced, others are presumed to be running — to win back the White House in 2024.

Their strategies are backfiring. Rather than reaching out to the middle class, to independents, to women appalled at the GOP’s assault on their reproductive rights, the party is shoring up its support with his shrinking — but still fanatic — political base.

Why the mixed feeling? Because as a good-government progressive, I want Democratic President Joe Biden to be re-elected next year. GOP candidates are playing right into Democrats’ wheelhouse with their rigid ideology.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of the presumed Republican candidates for POTUS, is going after the Disney Corporation, which makes me go … huh?

DeSantis is faithful to the “don’t say ‘gay'” doctrine that seeks to denigrate gay Americans. He wants to ban books from public schools that teach students about racism. DeSantis and other hard-core Republicans also resist any effort to seek solutions to the gun violence that continues to kill innocent Americans seemingly every day. And, of course, he wants to invoke a nationwide ban on abortion.

DeSantis and the 45th president of the United States are the presumed frontrunners for the GOP presidential nomination. The ex-POTUS still cannot stop harping about The Big Lie and the long-since-debunked notion that the 2020 election was pilfered from him. No! The dude lost the election!

He also has been indicted and faces the probability of more indictments to come.

There likely will be others who will seek the GOP nomination. Former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson are in. Ex-VP Mike Pence might run, too.

Who among them will break away from the MAGA base’s infatuation with the ex-POTUS? Whoever does will proceed at his or her risk, as the MAGA wing controls the flow of events within the party.

How does that make this voter feel? Let ’em fight among themselves.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Princeton ISD: proactive approach

Princeton’s bond issue proposal that goes to the voters on May 6 is going to ask for a lot of money: $797 million to be precise.

Part of the request contains something that deserves specific comment today. Princeton Independent School District wants to build another high school to cope with the explosive growth in student enrollment that is occurring.

Princeton ISD already has two campuses for high school students. Princeton High School is where upperclassmen and women attend; Lovelady High School next door is where freshmen attend school. The district wants to build a third campus, which it will name Philip Anthony High School after a recently retired superintendent.

The decision to build a high school seems to run counter to what I consider something of an urban myth about Texas public education, which is that Texans are reluctant to build such campuses in an effort to keep HS student bodies large, enabling the school system to attract blue-chip student-athletes.

I recently got into a discussion about this with family members. I would argue that some communities in Texas adhere to that philosophy. I can point to nearby Allen Independent School District, which is home to the state’s largest high school; roughly 6,000 students attend Allen High … which also is a perennial high school football power.

Princeton High does not possess such a reputation. Which I suppose might explain Princeton ISD’s eagerness to build another campus to cope with the growth that demographers believe isn’t about to stop any time soon.

Princeton’s philosophy also encourages more personal learning environments for educators and students, which appears to appeal to more traditional views on how kids are able to obtain a high-quality education. I should stipulate, though, that Allen High also produces high-performing students and it offers students a top-tier education as well.

Princeton ISD won’t turn dirt over right away on its new high school if voters approve the bond issue next month. Parents and students will have to wait. I do like the district’s proactive approach to handling the high demand that is sure to come its way.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Will Fox change its tune?

What does the settlement between the Fox Propaganda Channel and Dominion Voting Systems mean for the network that once called itself “fair and balanced”?

Only this, as far as I can see: The network will cease pushing the Big Lie about alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election; the rest of its agenda appears to be intact and it will continue to appeal to the right-wingers who adhere to the narrative the network pushes out there.

Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion, contending the network defamed the company over unproved allegations that it manipulated ballots to deliver the 2020 election to President Biden. Fox knew the allegations were phony, yet its on-air talking heads kept spewing the lie. Dominion said “enough is enough” and sued Fox. The settlement means Fox will pay Dominion $787.5 million. It hasn’t issued an apology.

Frankly, though, I don’t care about the apology. I do care about Fox being held accountable for the lie it fomented. The judgment issued by the court holds the network accountable in the clearest terms possible.

Fox’s agenda remains fully assembled. The network does lay claim to a loyal base of viewers who listen only to their on-air personalities for the “news” they consume. Fox will continue to spew its propaganda, which I suppose is their right.

Lying to the point of defaming others, though, is off limits … to which I offer a hearty “amen.”

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Grief takes different course

Grief is the most unique and perhaps most intimate feeling one can experience, which I believe I am learning as I continue to process the loss of my bride, Kathy Anne.

Forty-three years ago, I received word of my father’s passing in a freak boating accident north of Vancouver, British Columbia. My initial reaction was strange, in that I could seemingly feel the blood drain from my body as I pondered the news that hit me like a punch in the gut.

Then came this notion that I could not look at photos of Dad. It took me some time to be able to look at his face captured forever in those photographs.

Not so with my bride. I find myself wanting to look at her smile, which could light up a room. She had a wide, somewhat toothy smile. She laughed easily.

These days, as I still struggle with my emotions, I find myself gazing at her. I have several photos of my bride scattered around the house. Some were taken at our wedding more than 51 years ago; some were shot at our son’s wedding; there’s a lovely picture of the two of us at our niece’s high school graduation in 1999.

I draw comfort in those photos, unlike the dread I felt when Dad was taken from us in that shocking manner in September 1980. I was just 30 years of age then. Today, well … I obviously am a whole lot older. Maybe my emotional mechanism is more defined than it was when I was a much younger man.

I wanted to share this item with you just to give you a quick update on my progress. I appreciate very much the expressions of thanks I am getting from those who are following this journey.

Truthfully, I am beginning to see glimmers of light as I trudge through this darkness. The pictures of Kathy Anne are helping.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Fox settles; now … tell the truth

The Fox Propaganda Network is going to pay a lot of money to Dominion Voting Systems, thanks to a settlement announced today just as Dominion’s defamation trial was set to begin.

Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion. The network agreed to pony up $787.5 million, roughly half the amount Dominion had sought.

Then we’ll have a statement from Fox. Maybe soon. Fox will have to make some sort of apology to Dominion, acknowledging that it lied when it continued to broadcast phony allegations that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election results to elect Joe Biden.

Dominion did nothing of the sort. Fox’s on-air talking heads knew they were spreading The Big Lie. Yet they did it anyway. Therein rests the primary reason I will forever refuse to put the word “news” in Fox’s title; it does nothing but spread propaganda designed to promote a certain point of view and denigrate others who adhere to different views.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

 

local news

Big Lie claims a new victim

1 Comment

The adherents to the Big Lie notion of non-existent widespread election fraud have claimed another victim, and it is a shattering blow to election officials who take their jobs seriously and do them with integrity.

Tarrant County elections director Heider Garcia is quitting his job effective June 23 because of a dispute he is having with County Judge Tim O’Hare, who campaigned for the office in 2022 pledging to rid the county of fraud he said tilted the 2020 presidential race in the county to President Biden.

Garcia was on duty at the time as the county’s chief elections official. He has been praised for his work to conduct safe, secure and legal elections.

Heider Garcia, Tarrant County elections chief, resigns | The Texas Tribune

Garcia wrote a letter to county officials, saying, ā€œWhen leadership respects the teamā€™s values and shows trust, members of the team become the best version of themselves. ā€¦ Judge Oā€™Hare, my formula to ā€˜administer a quality transparent electionā€™ stands on respect and zero politics; compromising on these values is not an option for me. You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision is to leave.ā€

O’Hare pledged during his campaign for county judge to clean up the election process. Except that the process in Tarrant County has been well run under Garcia’s tenure as election administrator.

ā€œI want to say all things are on the table,ā€ Oā€™Hare said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. ā€œI know there are a lot of people that want to get rid of the machines. Iā€™m not telling you Iā€™m a fan of the machines, want to keep the machines. Iā€™m telling you you can cheat in paper ballots. You can in machines. You can cheat in all sorts of things.ā€

Sure, you can cheat … but has it occurred to the level that O’Hare says it has? No. It hasn’t.

Now the county is looking for someone to take on a responsibility that is fraught with unnecessary tension, as the county judge is looking for a cause to a made-up problem.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Santos to run again?

Why in the name of political sanity does anyone outside of a New York congressional district care about this moron’s decision to seek re-election to a second term in the House of Representatives?

I guess it’s because of the circumstances of his election in the first place and the fact that he actually votes on legislation that affects you and me far away.

George Santos announced he is running for re-election to the House in 2024. Santos is the dipsh** who lied his way to election in 2022. He lied about damn near every aspect of his life: his parentage, his faith, his work background, his education, his marital status.

The Republican has become a laughingstock. He embarrasses all Americans who are concerned about electoral integrity. I am one of those Americans.

This clown needs to lose his re-election bid next year. Indeed, many within his own GOP are saying the same thing.

But … here’s the thing: Santos has zero shame. Were he to actually win re-election, I fear it could open the door to even more frauds traipsing through the halls of Congress, a place that already suffers from abysmal public opinion ratings.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Praising intel-leaker?

The MAGA wing of the Republican Party is making me sicker by the day. Consider what some of them said about the Air Force National Guardsman who leaked the sensitive intelligence info to the world.

They offered praise for Jack Texiera. The right-wing firebreather Marjorie Taylor Greene said the young man has “told the truth” about the war in Ukraine.

Good grief. U.S. Rep. Greene needs to be stripped of her Homeland Security Committee spot, censured and sent to the back bench where she belongs.

As for Texiera, he should face severe punishment. I won’t call for his execution, as some have done. The young man does need to spend time in prison if he is convicted.

Rep. Michael Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Texiera is no one to be admired. At least some reasonable Republicans are treating this matter with the seriousness it deserves.

How does the Biden administration deal with this? Again, it cannot blow it off as a simple mistake. It needs to crank up its investigative tools to get to the bottom of how this reservist got his hands on intelligence that only the top members of the chain of command should be able to see.

I am going to place my faith in the administration’s efforts to stop this kind of travesty from repeating itself.

The MAGA cult, meanwhile, needs to shut its collective mouth.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com