Monthly Archives: February 2026

national news

ICE is making me very angry!

The more images I see of immigration thugs roughing up American citizens while searching for people to deport to Timbuktu, the angrier I become.

The testimony of Americans victimized by these goons is piling up. They have killed at least two Americans who were protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics. One of them, Alex Pretti, was shot at least 10 times by ICE goons while lying face down on the pavement. He was motionless.

These tales of horror are going on unabated. The president of the United States is saying nothing about the mistreatment being leveled against U.S. citizens. Donald Trump and his chief aides are condemning the protesters who, I should mention, are acting within the rights of free speech and expression guarenteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Yet this repression continues. ICE is kidnapping children, separating them from their parents. ICE agents dressed like hooded and masked goons are injuring Americans because they are operating with the full endorsement of the dipshit in chief.

I am not one to march in the street to protest. I prefer to make my protests known through this venue. I speak often and with considerable passion about what I perceive to be the wrong direction we are heading. If I see more ICE continue to harangue Americans in this horrific fashion, I just might be tempted to join a protest against ICE.

These goons have gone too far.

local news, medical news

Recalling the ‘worst day’

It’s been a minute or two since I last wrote about the emotional journey I have undertaken since the worst day of my life came and went just shy of three years ago.

I believe my most recent post on High Plains Blogger mentioned that my journey was for all intents complete. That I had turned an important emotional corner since Feb. 3, 2023 when my bride, Kathy Anne, drew her final breath.

Indeed, my suffering is far less intense today than it was three years ago. I can smile, laugh at bawdy jokes and carry on as I used to do with my wife of 51 years. I have redefined “good” as it applies to my personal well-being and I am comfortable with saying I am “good” now. That’s an important thing for me.

I am also going to reveal on this blog a bit of news for you, which is that I am in a relationship with a woman who understands the journey I am still traveling. I won’t go into detail about her, other than to say we enjoy each other’s company.

My journey also has put me in touch with fellow brothers in grief. Many of them have lost their wives even more recently than I lost my bride to glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The question comes from them: I can’t stop crying when I think of her. When will it stop? My answer? It won’t ever stop. Do not try to make it stop, because human emotion can be like a runaway freight train. You can manage it. I know that to be true, because I am able to manage my own emotions.

I had a moment today at lunch with one of my sons. He and I were talking about the upcoming date of commemoration and he recalled having dinner with his Mom and me. During our time together, Kathy Anne announced to my sons, our daughter-in-law, our granddaughter and me that in five years we were going to throw a huge party to salute her being “cancer free.” She was recovering nicely from the brain surgery she had to remove part of the tumor. We weren’t able to have that party, as just a few days later, Kathy Anne suffered a grand mal seizure … from which she didn’t recover.

My son’s recalling that statement from his Mom, however, filled me with sadness. My eyes got wet. I wanted to cry out loud. I held back.

These are the kinds of events that continue to tug at my ticker. But I am able to manage my emotions.

I don’t know what will occur a couple of days from now. I don’t expect the day will overwhelm me. I’ll have to run a couple of errands that will take me away from the house for most of the morning. I’ll drive to Bonham to see the Veterans Administration medics who take good care of me.

Feb. 3 always will be a day I will never forget. Not ever! It comemmorates the worst day I hope to ever experience during my time on this good Earth.

I’ll just add this. Kathy Anne instructed me to be happy if that day ever arrived and like most dutiful husbands I know, I always do what I am told.

political news

Which version of Chip Roy is real?

Texas Republicans appear to be suffering from acute political schizophrenia, given the nature of the campaign involving a GOP candidate for Texas attorney general.

One of the Republican hopefuls is current congressman Chip Roy, who’s been boasting in his campaign ads that he’s a Donald Trump Republican and will advance Trump’s agenda against illegal immigrants if he’s elected Texas attorney general.

OK, so we have that version of Chip Roy. But wait! There’s another version out there.

A GOP opponent of Roy says the congressman has stabbed Trump in the back. He calls Roy untrustworthy. Why, he voted to impeach Trump in his first two House impeachments in his first term as POTUS. There’s more. He spoke highly of former GOP U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans to stand tall and foursquare against the corrupt president. We can’t have such a person serving as Texas AG, according to this candidate’s ads.

Texas Republican voters will face a dizzying array of contradictory statements about the AG candidate. Roy’s task is to decide which of versions of him is real. Is he the MAGA-loving Trump loyalist or is he one who stands on the principle that no one is above the law … which has been Liz Cheney’s mantra ever since Trump burst on the political scene more than a decade ago.

I don’t intend to vote on the Republican Party primary in March. If I were inclined to do so, I could be persuaded to vote for Chip Roy for AG. I mean, he was right to impeach Trump. He was correct to back Liz Cheney’s effort to knock sense into the skulls of MAGA-loving GOP voters.

I’ll sit on the sidelines, however, and wish Texas GOP voters good luck as they ponder which version of Chip Roy is for real and which one is a made-up creation.

Here is a sliver of good news from all of this confusion. Whoever gets elected in November will replace Republican Ken Paxton as Texas AG … as Paxton never has been able to shake loose the yoke of scandal since taking office.