International news

Paris attack ringleader gets it … see ya

attack

There won’t be a trial for the Belgian jihadist who organized the Paris terror attacks.

Awww …

The remains of Abdelhamid Abaaoud  have been identified by French authorities after the daring commando raid in the town of St. Denis. The 27-year-old terrorist was among several murderers killed by French police, demonstrating that French President Francois Hollande meant what he said when he declared his intention to launch a “pitiless” response to the carnage that erupted in Paris late this past week.

Let the bad-guy body count mount.

Just as American commandos took out Osama bin Laden in May 2011 and other terrorist leaders have been eradicated systematically during the course of this international war, let’s not high-five each other too vigorously over this latest battlefield victory.

Abaaoud will be replaced by someone else. The Islamic State is full of reprehensible individuals willing to die for whatever perverted cause they seek to further.

It’s becoming clearer by the day that the Islamic State act in Paris has brought new energy to this world war — and that’s what we should call it. France is bringing its own significant military capability to bear as it has stepped up its air strike campaign against ISIL targets in Syria. Russia, too, has pledged to increase its aerial bombardment efforts against ISIL as payback for the bombing of the Russian jetliner recently, which killed all 224 people on board.

The U.S. effort? It, too, must continue … and I have heard President Barack Obama give every assurance that we’re going to keep stepping up our own efforts to eliminate terrorists wherever and whenever we find them.

But now at least we can say “good bye” to one more evil ringleader.

It’s time now to find the rest of them.

International news

Is the Islamic State ‘terrorizing’ us successfully?

Syrian children march in the refugee camp in Jordan. The number of Children in this camp exceeds 60% of the total number of refugees hence the name "Children's camp". Some of them lost their relatives, but others lost their parents.

Most of the United States’ governors have vowed to ban Syrian refugees from entering their states.

No surprise that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is one of them.

But I’m wondering: Is the Islamic State winning the propaganda war by compelling the governors to act as they have acted?

The refugee bans are being sought in the wake of the Paris attacks this past week. ISIL is claiming responsibility for the murderous attacks. It’s been reported that Syrian refugees were among the attackers; then again, it’s also been reported that the men who did the deed were European nationals.

I’m confused.

But … back to the point.

I remember when the 9/11 attacks occurred more than 14 years ago. President Bush told us then that we should go about living our lives as we’ve always done. To change our way of life, he said, would give the terrorists what they want.

Are we doing now what the president cautioned against?

I’ve heard the arguments for and against the refugee ban.

Those who support the ban say: We don’t know how to screen all the bad guys who might disguise themselves as “refugees.” We must put security first and foremost.

Those who oppose the ban counter: This restriction goes against the very principles upon which this nation was created. We cannot turn away “widows and orphans.” We’ve already allowed more than 1 million refugees from the Middle East and we’ve had zero terrorist attacks perpetrated by anyone who has come here from that part of the world.

Oh, boy. Where do we draw the line?

And are we now giving the Islamic State another propaganda tool to recruit new members simply by denying Muslims entry because we fear what might occur if we allow them to come here? And do we feed that propaganda machine by allowing only Christians into this country, but not Muslims?

I’ve heard Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush say we aren’t waging a war against Islam. Well, did both men misspeak?

I’m just askin’.

 

national news, political news

When did we devalue ‘executive experience’?

bobby jindal

The third Republican candidate for president has dropped out of the 2016 race.

Bobby Jindal of Louisiana joins Rick Perry of next-door Texas and Scott Walker of Wisconsin as GOP hopefuls who didn’t make the grade with an increasingly angry primary voter base.

What do these men have in common? They’re all either active governors or former governors. Which prompts the question: Whatever happened the notion that governors bring more “executive experience” to these campaigns than, say, senators or members of the House of Representatives?

A wise man — I can’t remember who — said that governors usually are better positioned than legislators to take the reins of government.

As RealClearPolitics reported: “Experience and expertise seems to be a non-factor this year, which is kind of mind-boggling,” Jindal supporter and Iowa GOP activist Shane Vander Hart told RCP.

Read the whole story here.

Indeed, one can look back into recent political history to see how voters have responded to presidential candidates with gubernatorial experience: Democrat Jimmy Carter of Georgia, elected in 1976; Republican Ronald Reagan of California, elected in 1980 and re-elected in 1984; Democrat Bill Clinton of Arkansas, elected in 1992 and re-elected in 1996; and Republican George W. Bush of Texas, elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2004.

Gov. Perry made the case when he announced his candidacy that governors are better prepared for the presidency than legislators.  I wrote about it in my blog. See it here.

This year? Republican primary voters are going for a real estate mogul/reality TV star and a retired brain surgeon. Governors and former governors? They’re being ignored, tossed aside and relegated to virtual asterisks.

Democratic voters have one remaining former governor in the race: Martin O’Malley of Maryland. And of the three Democrats running for the White House, he’s polling a distant third behind a former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state, and a sitting U.S. senator.

Governors used to be the main men and women in these contests. They would tout their experience actually running state governments and how that experience prepared them for the Big Job.

Not any longer.

You want a measure of just how weird the upcoming presidential campaign is going to get? Take a look at what’s happening to those candidates with “executive experience.”

 

 

local news

Time for LGC, council to move forward

MPEV

An interesting tidbit has come from Tolk Persons, a supporter of Amarillo’s proposed multipurpose venue/ballpark.

He writes in response to another social media post: “The LGC shall provide project status reports to the City Council monthly or as requested by the Council,” citing Section 2 (D) of the resolution that the council endorsed at its regular meeting.

The Amarillo City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with development of the MPEV as dictated by the results of the Nov. 3 municipal referendum. It handed off the implementing of city downtown redevelopment policy to its appointed Local Government Corporation.

It did not abandon its oversight of the effort to revive downtown. It has made sure that the LGC keeps the city — meaning the public informed along the way as it proceeds with the $32 million (give or take) MPEV.

There will be public accountability built into this process. The LGC, which comprise some new members — some of whom had opposed the MPEV as it was designed — is now on the hook to do the City Council’s bidding.

Of course, the council — which also comprises a majority that opposed the MPEV — should be held accountable for its own actions.

If the council is going to keep faith with what the majority of voters said they want — which is to build the MPEV and keep the momentum going for downtown’s redevelopment — then it must ensure that the project keeps moving forward.

If the LGC drags its feet, the council must insist that it stop doing so.

 

national news

Happy 92nd birthday, Alan Shepard Jr.

alan shepard

OK, so he’s no longer alive to celebrate it but I couldn’t let pass an item that I stumbled upon this morning.

The late Alan Shepard Jr. was born 92 years ago today.

Shepard enlivened a nation, invigorated our national psyche and gave us a sense of mission at a time when we needed it.

He did it simply by riding atop a rocket for a 15-minute ride into outer space. He splashed down a few hundred miles off the Florida coast into the Atlantic Ocean.

I was a youngster at the time. On May 5, 1961, when Shepard took off aboard that Redstone rocket, I was just 12. But I was fascinated, along with the rest of the country, by the notion of human beings flying into space.

The Soviet Union — which would be known later as the Evil Empire — had beaten us into space. Yuri Gagarin had orbited Earth a month before Shepard took off. The Soviets were beating us at our own game! President Kennedy would have none of it.

Shepard’s flight didn’t measure up to Gagarin’s orbit in the strictest sense, but it didn’t matter to a nation itching to get into the space race. Shepard’s successful flight put us in the thick of the fight.

He got another shot at space travel. A decade later Shepard commanded Apollo 14’s mission to the moon and hit that famous golf shot from the moon’s surface that flew for “miles and miles.”

I miss those days. I wish we could find it within our national spirit to insist on manned space flight. We’re now sending our astronauts into space aboard ships launched by our former arch-enemy; it’s called “Russia” these days, now that the Soviet Union has disintegrated.

Our space agency is developing a deep-space vehicle that eventually will take future pioneers to places like Mars and perhaps to the asteroid belt.

Is there national excitement as we await that day? Uhh, no.

We’re left to remember when gutsy test pilots such as Alan Shepard squeezed into tiny space capsules and flew aboard those relatively itty-bitty rockets. He gave us a national thrill that we haven’t duplicated in quite some time.

I hope I’m alive to see the first flight to Mars.

Meanwhile, happy birthday to a man former President Bill Clinton once described as “one of the great heroes of modern America.”

 

local news

Welcome aboard, Mr. Manager

childers

Let’s call it the “u-word.”

It stands for “unanimity,” and it symbolizes — one can hope — that Amarillo’s sometimes-fractious City Council has come to the collective conclusion that it’s time to speak with one voice.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday to appoint former Oklahoma City Manager Terry Childers as the interim chief executive for Amarillo.

Oklahoma City’s website sings the gentleman’s praises, which is no surprise. It does contain an interesting feature in describing Childers’ tenure as Oklahoma City manager: It speaks to his reorganizational skills and his push — get ready for this — to “beautify and strengthen” the city.

Childers succeeds Jarrett Atkinson as Amarillo city manager; I’ll have more on Atkinson in a moment. He comes to a city that in recent months has become politically frayed. A once-harmonious governing body has been punching itself in the face since the May municipal election over disagreements regarding its own downtown revival — and beautification — efforts, its senior administration and, that’s right, the performance of the city manager.

Is Childers — who grew up in Abilene — the man who can restore unity to City Hall? Is he capable of working some of the magic he brought to his job in that big ol’ city to our east? The OKC website notes: “From the moment he stepped into office, Childers stressed the importance of beautifying Oklahoma City, not only improve quality of life for residents, but to increase citizens’ respect for their hometown.”

Well, all five councilmen have bought into Terry Childers’ credentials. They are unanimous in their decision. My hope in our city’s future has been restored … at least for the time being.

***

Childers’ emphasis on beautification and government efficiency is noted on the OKC website. It doesn’t mention “water management,” which is one of the strengths that Jarrett Atkinson brought to the job when he became Amarillo city manager five years ago.

There can be no more precious resource than water. Under Atkinson’s tenure at City Hall, the city has helped secure its future through the purchase of water rights that will quench our municipal thirst well into the next century, and perhaps for the one after that.

He served the city well, first as an assistant city manager under Alan Taylor’s wing and then as the head man.

I’m sorry to see him leave public service.

The city has continued to function well and it has continued to meet the needs of those of whose tax money finances this $200 million-a-year operation.

As for Childers, time will tell if he’s the right man for the permanent job, should he choose to seek it.

On this first day of his new job, though, the city manager at least enjoys the unanimity of support from the folks who have hired him that his predecessor didn’t enjoy.

 

business news, local news

City makes important move forward with MPEV

Councilmen_2015

Amarillo’s City Council seems to have been stricken with a sudden case of sanity.

Word is out that the council, meeting tonight, voted unanimously to move ahead with a $32 million multipurpose event venue that drew the endorsement of most city voters in a Nov. 3 citywide referendum.

Has hell frozen over … or what?

Here’s the deal. The council comprises three new members who had opposed the MPEV in its current form — which includes a ballpark. The three men constitute a majority on the five-member council.

But the City Council really had no choice but to ratify the results of what was officially a non-binding vote. To do otherwise would invite serious political retribution.

So, what happens now?

As I understand it, the council now hands off to the Local Government Corp., which is appointed by the council to implement the policy decisions handed down by the council.

There’s been some concern expressed about the LGC’s capability to dot the i’s and cross the t’s needed to ensure that the MPEV gets built, that it is done in accordance with sound practices and can be done at or under budget.

I am heartened, though, to learn that the City Council has managed to rally as a united body behind the will of those who took time earlier this month to support the MPEV — and the ballpark that goes with it.

Let’s keep moving forward. Shall we?

State news

Starr speaks sanely about campus-carry law

campus carry

There once was a time when I wasn’t much of a fan of Kenneth Starr.

That was when he served as a special counsel who was given the task of investigating a real estate matter involving Bill and Hillary Clinton. Then he came upon another matter, the relationship that President Clinton had with a young White House intern.

He’s gone on, though, to become president and chancellor of Baylor University. And this week he told the Texas Tribune that there’s almost no chance that Baylor is going to allow licensed gun owners to pack heat on the Waco campus. What’s more, Starr also opposes the campus carry law.

Who knew that Kenneth Starr had such a reasonable streak?

Baylor joins other private universities in Texas that likely will opt out of the concealed carry law. Starr’s take? He told the Tribune: “My own view is that it is a very unwise public policy, with all due respect to those who feel strongly (and) very, very rooted in constitutional values as they see them. We’re here as seats of learning, and I do not think this is helpful.”

The bill, enacted by the 2015 Legislature, seeks to bring more guns into places where they previously had been banned. I saw nothing wrong with banning firearms on college and university campuses.

I’m glad to be on the same page as Kenneth Starr. For the life of me I never thought I’d see it happen.

 

environmental news, local news

If you hate the weather now, just wait …

tree

Take a look at this tree. Pretty, isn’t it?

It sits in front of our house in Amarillo.

Check out the sky. It’s pretty, too — and blue, yes? I took this picture two days ago.

As I write this brief post, we are being pummeled by extremely cold wind from the northwest. Snow is falling in our neighborhood.

This comes not quite 24 hours after a mile-wide tornado — one of several that touched down northeast of us — tore across the flat land near Pampa. I heard from one of the local TV meteorologists this morning that damage was extensive. He’d stayed up until 3 a.m. today.

We got hail, a good bit of rain, a lot of wind — and upset stomachs — as we watched the news unfold outdoors.

The tornado and hail were more like what we get in the spring and early summer around here. However, as the weather guys told us last night, anything can happen at any time around here.

Boy howdy, y’all.

There’s a common quip in the Texas Panhandle that goes: If you don’t like the weather, just wait 10 minutes …

Well, it wasn’t exactly a 10-minute turnaround from the blue sky and pretty fall colors on the tree in our front yard.

It just seems like it.

 

International news, religious news

Let’s not condemn them all

ku-klux-klan_3153153b

The image that jumps out at me from this picture might not be what you think it is.

It’s not the low-life cloaked in that robe. It is the burning crosses in the background.

What do the crosses symbolize? Well, I suppose you can say they represent Christianity’s holiest symbol, the crucifix on which Jesus Christ lost his earthly life.

Yet the Ku Klux Klansman pictured here no doubt proclaims he burned those crosses to stand up for “Christian values.” Isn’t that what those loons proclaim?

Well, as a practicing Christian, I do not consider them in any shape or form to represent my faith. They are outliers in the extreme.

So, too — in my view — are the terrorists who commit their horrible acts today in the name of Islam.

And yet …

There are individuals around the world — including Americans, some of whom are friends of mine — who continue to tar all Muslims with the same brush with which they are painting the monsters who commit hideous crimes against humanity.

This prejudice and bigotry goes far beyond declarations by state governors, such as Greg Abbott in Texas, that seek to ban refugees from Syria from entering their states. They are concerned over whether some so-called refugee is a closet terrorist seeking to deliver more misery.

The bigotry being displayed by many against all Muslims is no more acceptable than it would be to label all Christians as believing in the hatred that is spread by Klansmen.

Yes, the Islamic State carries the name “Islam” in its own label. It does not, however, represent the tenets of what remains one of the world’s great religions. It is a murderous cult that has perverted Islam’s teachings to suit the demented ends of a terrorist organization.

And that, I do believe, cuts straight to the view that’s been expressed by the nation’s two most recent presidents — Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack H. Obama — that the war in which we are engaged is not a war against Islam.

It is a war against murderous perverts.

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