national news, political news

Yes, block GOP effort to redraw boundaries

This will surprise no one who reads this blog regularly … but I am going to back Texas legislative Democrats’ efforts to stop the Legislature’s Republican majority from redrawing the state’s congressional districts to ensure the election of even more GOP members to Congress.

Democrats who comprise the Legislature’s minority have fled the state. At least 51 Texas Democrats are holed up somewhere to prevent a House vote on a plan urged by Donald Trump and endorsed by his GOP pals Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to re-jigger boundaries to bolster the Republican majority in the U.S. House.

This reapportionment matter takes place every decade when the Census is taken. It falls on the Legislature to redraw these lines. I remember the late state Sen. Teel Bivins, an Amarillo Republican, bemoaning the task. He said it gave legislative Republicans a “chance to eat their young.” I still am not sure what he meant by that, but I took it to mean partly that he didn’t like having to redraw the lines.

It’s not clear to me or to many others how long this strategy will hold up. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton calls Democrats “cowards” for shirking their duty. He vows to arrest them, although leaving the state in this fashion is a civil offense, so arresting legislators remains an iffy proposition.

Legislators have tried this before. Previous walkouts have ended when Democrats who vowed to hang tough forever gave in, enabling Republicans to get their way.

I am just aghast that Donald Trump would encourage this form of political bullying and I am delighted that Texas Democrats — so far! — are standing firm in opposition to this interference in Texas politics.  

environmental news, local news

Praise for twin-edged gesture

A company that does business in the North Texas community where I live has instituted an initiative I want to praise with this brief blog entry.

Community Waste Disposal picks up trash and recyclable material in Princeton and several Metroplex-area communities. This weekend I saw a public service announcement from CWD that kinda made my job drop. It encourages residents served by CWD to recycle material. Why? Because for every ton of material that CWD processes through its recycling program, it pledges to donate $10 for relief to aid the victims of the Fourth of July flooding in Central Texas.

Ponder that for a moment. The company is encouraging its customers to be more proactive in preserving the environment while at the same time pledging more money to repair the destruction that Mother Nature brought when the Guadalupe River wiped out families, businesses, homes and property.

The death count is something north of 100 people who perished in the river’s torrent. Many thousands more lives will need to be rebuilt, many of them without the presence of loved ones who perished in nature’s savage assault.

I have no idea how much CWD recycles each month. I am guessing it’s in the thousands of tons of material it picks up in front of Princeton houses — and elsewhere. Someone at CWD once told me that recycling efforts throughout the region has reduced landfill waste by something more than 30%. So, the region buys into the notion of recycling. It has become a way of life for many of us in North Texas.

I can think of no better reason to step up our efforts to send material to the recycling station than to raise money to aid our fellow Texans in distress.

Well played, Community Waste Disposal.

2016 election

Who’s rigging an election?

Follow me on this one so we can make sense of it together, OK?

Donald Trump never conceded the 2020 presidential contest to Joe Biden, claiming the 46th president rigged the election. He never offered a shred of proof to the allegation. He launched an insurrection that sought to prevent the Electoral College certification of the results.

President Biden served for four years. Then he stepped away from his re-election effort.

Trump got elected in 2024. What’s he now planning to do? He has instructed governors in so-called “red states” to ensure that they redraw congressional boundaries to elect more Republicans. In Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott has called for a special legislative session, the aim as delivered by Trump is to turn five Democratic-leaning districts into Republican leaners simply by redrawing the boundaries to include more GOP-friendly voters.

Where I come from, that smacks of rigging an election. He wants to deny voters the representation they sought with their ballots to suit a political aim that requires more GOP support than he currently enjoys. Trump’s main targets happen to be districts with heavy minority populations.

The corruption level in this dipshit’s vacuous skull knows no bounds.

Uncategorized

Trump will cook the jobs books?

Someone will have to help me understand how this will work, so bear with me.

Donald Trump received some grim jobs numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. His reaction was to fire the individual who ran the BLS, the same person who was approved by the Senate in 2024 with 86 “yes” votes. Trump shot the messenger, the individual who merely was reporting jobs data that reflects a slowing of the economy and the withering job market.

Trump said he doesn’t believe the numbers. They should be better than the 73,000 jobs added to the non-farm payrolls in the past month. Or so he said while firing the BLS chief.

Hmmm. What happens now?

Is Trump going to find an individual who will deliberately cook these jobs outlooks to make him look good? Will he tell the next BLS boss to lie to the public?

The numbskull in chief is off his rocker. This firing of someone whose job was to report jobs figures fairly and without favoritism tells us all just what we have in charge of our government’s executive branch.

We have elected a madman!

local news

What a visit!

Now, that’s what I would call an eventful visit … so that’s what I’ll do.

I ventured to West Texas and spent a couple of days visiting four of my best friends on Earth. They are members of a Rotary International Group Study Exchange team I accompanied to Israel in May-June 2009. We have stayed in touch for the past 16 years and they have become part of what we call our “familia.”

We enjoyed some barbecue, a steak dinner with another couple I have known for many years. We reminisced about the month we spent in one of the most marvelous places in this world of ours.

Then, this afternoon, after enjoying a fantastic lunch at a famed BBQ joint in Olton, Texas, we got in touch with a young man and his wife — two more friends of ours — in The Netherlands. The young man was part of a Dutch team that toured Israel with us and we also have remained close.

That wasn’t the end of the excitement … for me. I took off around 2 p.m. expecting to arrive home in Princeton around 8. Hah! I ran into two thunderstorms, one along U.S. 82 as I approached Gainesville, and then along U.S. 75 just as I turned south in Sherman. It was violent, full of lightning and thunder and deluge-scale rainfall. The wind that preceded that first storm was so intense I seriously thought I would witness a tornado. Yes … I was frightened.

My six-hour home turned into a nearly eight-hour trek.

I so thoroughly enjoyed seeing my good friends, people I love dearly. We all went through a lot together on our tour of Israel. It will stay with us forever.

crime news, media news

Blog finds new rhythm

High Plains Blogger had hit a slump, I am willing to acknowledge, but that slump might be about to reignite into a new energy.

That’s my hope.

I have found a new rhythm to writing and posting items on this forum. I shall explain.

For years I had prided myself in my prolific writing. I was able to crank out three, four, five entries daily. My friends said they marveled at the frequency of my blog posts. I appreciate the good word, but it wore me out.

I have decided to scale it back to a single entry on most days. Sometimes there will be two. Even less frequently you might see three entries. I also have decided I am going to rely more on issues rather than personalities. You know already that I detest the moron masquerading as president of the United States. Thus, there is little — if any need — to whip that already bloody carcass. Hell, it’s already been bled dry.

You’re likely to read observations about more local matters. The Texas Legislature is back in special session for the next month. Maybe it will stay on the job longer. I am going to watch our legislators carefully.

I also want to devote more time and attention to what I call “slice of life” matters. Maybe this blog post qualifies as a piece defining a slice of retired life. You know?

I recently posted a blog entry that discussed taking a break from blogging. Some supporters objected and told me they want me to stay in the game. I heard you. I’m not going anywhere.

I just want to tone it down a bit. I want to stay sharp enough to comment when the spirit moves me and when policy decisions demand it.

So, there you have it, kids. New rhythm, less pressure, more varied topics.

It’s going to keep me in love with what I do.

education news

‘Yes!’ to schools cracking down on cell phone use

I shall refrain from the lament that it took a long time to do the right thing, so I will applaud school districts throughout Texas that are taking direct measures to restore some decorum in our public school classrooms.

They are ordering students to ditch their cell phones when the bell rings to start the school day.

They’re doing it here in Princeton, where I live. Fort Worth is as well. Same for Dallas. And same for a whole lot of other districts acting on legislation approved by the 2025 Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Classrooms must be a place where students are focused solely on the lessons being taught. Teachers deserve that respect. Sadly, they don’t get it when students are sitting in their chairs, cell phones in their laps as they send messages back and forth. The law empowers individual school districts to use whatever disciplinary measures they deem appropriate to punish violators.

And to be sure, this initiative drew plenty of resistance from parents who insist foolishly that they must be in contact with their little darlin’s 24 hours each day. As Col. Sherman T. Potter would say: Buffalo bagels!

local news

Community journalism is alive and well

I was sitting in a city council chamber meeting room this evening when the thought occurred to me … that community journalism is where it’s at.

Sachse, Texas, is a nice city that straddles the Collin and Dallas County line. My bosses for whom I work part time have asked me to cover Sachse City Council for the time being. I said “sure,” so there I was taking notes on a budget workshop that was taking place. Council members are preparing the budget to run the city for the next fiscal year. It was a humdrum meeting.

But it was damn important and I was filled with a sense of honor that I was being allowed to report to the residents of this quiet city what their elected officials are doing to decide how to spend the money that comes from the pockets of the city residents.

Get this, too. The Sachse City Council doesn’t get paid a dime for conducting these meetings. The only pay they receive is to be reimbursed for expenses incurred while doing city business. Talk about a labor love!

And I get to report on these fine folks. I am privileged to engage in community journalism at its finest point.

With all the nonsense being kicked around about journalism, whether it’s fake, I am proud to report that the journalism I get to practice from time to time remains alive and well in the communities where I practice it. I do the same kind of community reporting in Princeton (where I live) and in Farmersville just east of my house along US 380.

It was just a brief revelation this evening. It’ll stick with me for as long as I can continue to string sentences together. I’ve said all along that I learn about the communities I cover. I am getting to know Sachse and whatever motivates its public policy. Best news? I get to report on it for the folks who pay for it!

crime news

Nation must ask this killer: Why?

Under normal circumstances, I would  not concern myself with this nagging question … but the nature of this crime compels all of to wonder: Why did Brian Kohberger kill those four precious college students in Idaho?

Kohberger will spend the rest of his life in an Idaho prison. Something tells me it might not be a long life, given the nature of the crime and the prison culture that exists in most lockups.

He stabbed three young women and a young man to death in a house they were sharing in Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho, where the victims were attending. He stabbed them in brutal and merciless fashion. He pleaded guilty to the crimes to avoid a sure-fire death sentence had he gone to trial and been convicted.

However, this monster has not disclosed his motive for robbing all those families of the future they hoped for in the young victims of this hideous crime. Several of the victims’ loved ones asked him directly during the sentencing hearing. Kohberger sat there in stone-faced silence.

The loved ones of those precious young victims deserve some semblance of closure and it ought to come in the form of an explanation of what prompted Bryan Kohberger to commit such a horrific crime. A grieving nation joins them in demanding an answer.

local news

Town hall set … Rep. Self?

A good bit of the smart money, if any such thing exists these days in D.C., suggests that Republican members of the U.S. House will avoid anything resembling a town hall meeting with constituents.

They have taken the rest of August off presumably to collect their thoughts and prepare for what could be a miserable onslaught of anger when they return to duty in early September. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent them home reportedly to avoid forcing House members to stand for a vote on whether to require Donald Trump to release those Jeffrey Epstein files that might contain a smoking arsenal detailing who was involved in sex trafficking along with the late Epstein.

My congressman is a Republican, Keith Self of McKinney. He’s a good man. I happen to like him personally. He once served as Collin County judge after serving for 20-plus as an Army combat infantry officer. I hope he calls for a town hall meeting while he’s home. I also hope he doesn’t choose to partake of that other congressional tradition, taking off on one of those overseas “junkets” designed ostensibly to allow congressmen and women to collect facts about this and that issue.

Democratic members have been venturing into heavily Republican districts to feel the pulse of what’s driving GOP voters. They are learning that Republicans aren’t happy with the big ugly bill and the slashing and burning of aid to Americans who need it. Nor are they happy with the Trump team’s dodging of demands to release those Epstein files.

Indeed, I learned that a member of my extended family, who supported Trump with his vote, is now turning against the numbskull in chief. I suspect that Rep. Self might find many more like my family member out here in Trump Country were he to call for a town hall session.

Is Keith Self brave enough to face angry constituents or did he save his courage by facing down enemy fighters intent on killing him on the field of battle? If he’s not so brave, he wouldn’t be the first elected member of Congress to shy away from such a fight.

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience