Monthly Archives: February 2024

local news, Sports news

Dallas Stadium? For real … ?

A mild bit of grumbling can be heard in some North Texas communities over the temporary renaming of AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The place — known colloquially as Jerry World — was named over the weekend as a semifinal site for the 2026 World Cup soccer tournament. The locals had hoped the place would become a site for the finals. But … no dice.

FIFA, the World Cup governing body, doesn’t like to have corporate names on its venues, so it demanded they take down the name of the telecommunications giant. The new name?

Dallas Stadium!

The name has rankled some folks. I tend to agree with their hurt feelings.

The place is 30-some miles from Dallas. It’s closer to Fort Worth than to Big D. I can think of several non-corporate names one could have put on the place other than Dallas Stadium.

North Texas Stadium. D/FW Stadium. Arlington Stadium. They all come to mind. I’d even settle for Cowboys Stadium.

It just ain’t in Dallas. I get that FIFA wanted to have a name associated with the largest city in the region. That would be Dallas, with its towering skyline full of gleaming office buildings. Then again, Fort Worth has its share of cowboy glitz and glamor, too.

I should point out as well that the Dallas Cowboys, the pro football team that calls the place home, hasn’t played in Dallas since the team’s founding in 1960, when they played their home games in the Cotton Bowl. They have since moved to Irving and then to Arlington … where team owner Jerry Jones built the place now known temporarily as Dallas Stadium.

As for the grumblers, well, I’m with ’em.

International news, national news

Cynicism runs deep in GOP

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Republican cynicism runs deep and it is perverse … and it sickens me to my core.

U.S. had senators agreed on a $118 billion border security bill that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel. It also helps stiffen our southern border by providing more help to embattled states — such as Texas — in their effort to stem the tide of illegal immigrants crossing into this country.

Oh, but wait! The former POTUS opposed it. He pressured Republicans in the Senate to oppose it. And why? Because any legislation that aids in curing the crisis at the border helps President Biden’s re-election effort. And, why, we just cannot have that, or so Republicans would tell you.

So, The Former Guy put the heat on and GOP senators now have pulled their support for the legislation … after Republican Senate leaders helped craft the bill in the first place.

Cynicism, anyone? There it is, front and center for you to consider.

Joe Biden implored Senate Republicans to “show some spine” in rejecting the leading GOP presidential contender’s demands to oppose the bill. The gutless wonders comprising the Senate Republican caucus only knuckled under to the threats and bullying of their hero.

Never mind the effort that actually takes steps to solving what we all recognize is a crisis on our border. Or that it also contains money to aid the valiant fight against Russian aggression against Ukraine. Or that it also provides aid to our most reliable ally in the Middle East.

The MAGA crowd got its wish … again!

The cause of good government once again only received the middle finger from the right-wing cult.

Disgraceful …

International news

Jumping out of my skin …

I am giving serious thought to jumping far out of my own skin as I take some time away from the daily grind … and, yes, even old guys like me have “daily grinds” from which they need relief.

A plane ride to Germany awaits. I am accepting an invitation from a good friend who offered me a place to stay “for as long as you want.” He heard the news about my beloved bride’s passing and offered me a place to stay “across the Atlantic.” I accepted his offer, but I will be there for a finite period of time.

But … while I am visiting him in Bavaria, I am going to — gulp! — rent a car to drive while he and his wife are working. This is a big deal for yours truly.

I have traveled a bit overseas. I have been to several countries in Europe and in Asia; I went to Mexico City once to attend an editorial writers conference. At no time have I rented a motor vehicle. I dared not try negotiating the streets of Athens, Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei or Delhi … you name it.

This time it’s different. My friends are young enough to continue working full time.

What gives me the nervous jerks, though, is driving in a nation with no known limits on speed. Yep, you can drive as fast as you want on the autobahn. Those who know me best know that I don’t handle speed all that well. They know that I inherited my dear ol’ Dad’s driving habit of poking along. I don’t obstruct traffic, but if the speed limit is posted for 75 mph, I am likely to drive 60 or 65 mph. Why? Well, I just don’t like having my hair flying back while driving a motor vehicle.

I’ll be in Germany for just short of two weeks. I’ll be able to drive locally, take in the sights and visit some of the picturesque communities near where my friends live.

I think I’ll seek the back roads, however. I don’t need to bring gratuitous horror to my overseas driving experience by venturing onto the autobahn where I have heard it’s every man for himself.

Joe Biden, national news, political news

How can they debate?

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If the sky falls in and President Joe Biden is going to face the guy he defeated in the 2020 election once again this fall, then I am compelled to ask this question out loud.

How in the world will President Biden be able to stand on a debate stage with an individual who has done all he can to destroy the government he once swore to protect and defend?Ā 

How will he greet him when a moderator introduces them to the nation awaiting this joint appearance? Does he shake The Former Guy’s hand? Does he just ignore him? For that matter, how does TFG respond if the president extends his hand?

Actually, I expect the president to act like the gentleman he is and expect his opponent to, oh, hell … I don’t know what he’s going to do when the moment arrives.

It’s likely to be a desultory affair … to say the very least.

About the only memorable line from the series of joint appearances in 2020 came from Biden when he told his foe to “just shut up, man.”Ā 

This is one of the many potential disasters awaiting those of us who are at least moderately interested in what remains of our American political process.

business news, economic news

Economy gets in GOP’s way

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Republicans have been hoping for an economic collapse to fuel their mantra that President Biden’s stewardship on our finances would lead them back to the White House.

Except that the news just keeps getting better.

This week the Labor Department announced the economy added 353,000 jobs to the workforce. The unemployment remains at 3.7%. Inflation is under control. Wages and salaries are outdistancing the inflation rate. Mortgage interest rates are sliding down.

What the heck? The GOP presidential frontrunner can’t make the case that Joe Biden’s policies aren’t working. Instead, he’s left to look for other issues with which to bludgeon the president.

Politico reports: And though far from certain, itā€™s now possible that the nationā€™s economic health could become an electoral asset for Biden in an unexpected way.

ā€œI think that is the question of the day,ā€ said Stephen Moore, a senior fellow at The Heritage Foundation and an economist with FreedomWorks who is close to the Trump campaign. ā€œYou canā€™t blame the president when policies go wrong, and then say heā€™s not responsible if things are going right.ā€

Bidenā€™s economy keeps messing up Trumpā€™s message – POLITICO

Moore touches on a singular political reality, which is that presidents too often take blame they don’t deserve while being denied any credit they might earn. That is true for presidents of either party. So often matters out of their control dictate downward economic spirals.

The inflation rate is an example. Americans who endured the COVID-19 pandemic were denied opportunities to purchase big-ticket items. Then the pandemic broke and Americans released all that pent-up demand, which contributed to skyrocketing inflation at almost every level.

Who took the blame? Joe Biden!

Then the president pitched what he called the Inflation Reduction Act. Congress enacted it. The IRA intent was to target the supply chain, seeking to loosen it sufficiently. It worked. Inflation is under control.

Has the POTUS gained much from the impact of the IRA? Not yet!

The economy is fading as a talking point that Republicans can use against Joe Biden. The president’s campaign team now must devise a message that drives the point home that, yes, we are better off than we were four years ago.

local news

A year later, pain is manageable

I grappled with my heart over whether I wanted to post anything about a sad date that is about to visit my family and me.

I have decided to go ahead with an acknowledgment of the date and a declaration that I am looking toward a bright, adventurous future.

It was a year ago, Feb. 3, 2023, when my phone rang and the nurse at the other end of the call informed me that my beloved bride had just passed away. Cancer took Kathy Anne from my family and me. It was a savage, but brief, bout with glioblastoma.

You know about that. I won’t dwell on it here.

It’s been a remarkable year to say the very least. I have embarked on what I have described as a journey through darkness. I am quite happy to proclaim, though, that the light is shining much brighter today than it dared shine on the worst day of our lives.

I have made the trek, recovering from the intense pain one always feels when you suffer such a loss. I have sought to chronicle my journey on this blog. I have shared the highs and lows of the past year. It has been cathartic and therapeutic. It has given me emotional relief to share these experiences on this blog platform.

Kathy Anne | Search Results | High Plains Blogger

Thus, I am glad to have done so, although to be sure, I would wish only that I never had to embark on that journey. But … I did. So did my family and we are counting the blessings of having each other to recall the joy we shared with my bride.

The future now awaits. I am embracing it fully and I have committed to living every single day going forward as if it is my final day on this good Earth.

My friends have told me the “pain will never disappear, but it will become manageable.” It has … and it won’t stop me from living the fullest life possible.

Sports news

Get real, theorists

Conspiracy theorists, seemingly to a person, seemingly have too much time on their hands.

Thus, they need to find something to occupy their usually vacuous skulls. Absent anything constructive, they are left to concoct idiotic theories that simply defy any sense of what’s real.

Example? The conspiracy theory du jour involves the Kansas City Chiefs, their tight end Travis Kelce and his girlfriend Taylor Swift. The Chiefs and Kelcie are playing in the Super Bowl a week from Sunday. The conspiracists have come up with a beaut, I’m going to tell ya.

Republicans across the land have glommed onto a notion that the National Football League has rigged the Super Bowl to ensure that the Chiefs defeat the San Francisco 49ers, that Kelce will bring his squeeze onto the field to celebrate and that Swift will endorse President Biden’s bid for re-election on the spot.

Supposedly well-informed conservative talking heads are actually breathing life into this nonsense by endorsing the notion they said could possibly be true.

Oh, my ever-lovin’ goodness. The insanity of it makes me want to hurl.

This kind of baloney too often takes on a life of its own. I mean, we do live in an era of social media where such nonsense spreads so damn quickly that the truth never seems to catch up.

I should point out, too, that Kelce happens to be a pro-vaxxer, displaying proudly in recent days a bandage on his arm that reveals his belief in the vaccines that protect him against contagions such as, oh … the COVID-19 virus. That’s anathema to the right-wing MAGA crowd that looks for reasons to despise public figures.

Social media is pervasive to be sure. It produces plenty of good in this world of ours. It also is largely to blame for the nonsense that permeates the atmosphere, which then gains even more traction when ostensibly bright people believe it.

local news, political news

Dutton’s a winner … this time

Jill Dutton has a title next to her name … Texas state representative in House District 2.

I trust she’ll get comfortable with it quickly. She’ll need to because it is highly possible she’ll lose it when they count the ballots for the next election in a couple of months.

Dutton, a Republican from Van, defeated fellow Republican Brett Money of Greenville in a special election called after Bryan Slaton of Royse City was expelled from the Texas House over his hideous conduct with an underage staffer, a young woman with whom he had sex after plying her with booze in an Austin apartment.

HD 2 is a reliably Republican district. Dutton and Money finished one-two in an earlier election and then and engaged in a runoff to determine who would fill the unexpired term. Dutton won.

Here’s the catch. It was an open primary, meaning Democrats could vote in it. They also could vote in the runoff, which reportedly helped push Dutton across the finish line — barely — in front of Money.

The March primary will be closed to Republicans only and Money figures to do better head-to-head against Dutton. Money has the endorsement of the former POTUS who’s also on the ballot this spring. I suppose that carries some additional weight in North Texas’s heavily GOP legislative district.

Whatever. The good news for District 2 voters is that they no longer are represented by someone who preaches the family values line but behaves like a scum-bucket.

local news, political news

Party is battling itself

What in the name of political gamesmanship is happening to the North Texas version of the Republican Party?

U.S. Rep. Keith Self of McKinney is running for re-election to a second term representing the 3rd Congressional District. Should be a walk in the ol’ park, right? Self, a West Point graduate, is a retired Army colonel, a former Collin County judge, he’s a conservative’s conservative, opposing almost every idea put forth by his Democratic colleagues.

He has endorsed the former POTUS’s bid to get his office back. Rep. Self voted enthusiastically for the impeachment inquiry launched against President Biden.

What more can today’s GOP ask?

I guess it’s not enough to be as right-wing as Keith Self has been since taking office in January 2023.

Suzanne Harp is challenging Self in the GOP primary set for March. She is running as an “America First Conservative.” Her campaign signs are sprouting all over Collin County like weeds in the spring.

I had a chance this week to ask a Keith Self staffer whether the congressman considers himself to be an America First Conservative. The staffer answered, “I believe so.”

This challenge to a staunchly conservative member of Congress exemplifies, in my view, the internecine battle that’s occurring within the Republican Party. As near as I can tell, Self is all in on supporting The Former Guy’s effort to regain power. So does Harp. Where, then, is the fundamental difference between them?

Keith Self campaigned in 2022 as a conservative. He has voted as one. He extols the (alleged) virtues of the former POTUS’s record and stands firmly behind him.

How does a modern Republican — in this MAGA era — campaign against someone cut from the mold that presented Keith Self to the voters of the Third Congressional District?

I have no particular interest in this contest, given my own views opposing the MAGA agenda. It just makes my head spin.