national news, political news

Trump to young mother: You’re disgusting!

Is this what we can expect from the Donald Trump for president campaign?

More quibbling about things such as a lawyer wanting to take a break from a deposition to feed her baby?

https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/trump-to-breastfeeding-mom-youre-disgusting-125350815777.html

Honestly, I am quite unnerved by this latest kerfuffle.

A lawyer, Elizabeth Beck, was questioning Trump about a real estate deal gone bad. She wanted to take a break to operate a breast pump to feed her infant child. Trump reportedly went ballistic, calling her “disgusting.”

The New York Times reported the 2011 dispute. Trump’s response? Beck supposedly wanted to feed her daughter in front of him, which made him uncomfortable.

So, how are we supposed to react to these kinds of stories involving a man seeking to become leader of the Free World and commander in chief of the world’s greatest military apparatus?

This is sideshow material. I’d rather concentrate on hearing Trump explain how he intends to keep the economy moving, how he intends to keep working to save the environment, how he intends to repair relations with Russia and how he intends to keep fighting the war against international terror.

And there’s lots of other issues as well.

This thing with Elizabeth Beck? It likely could speak to how he views women’s issues and women in general, which are important. They seem more appropriate for one of those daytime “talk shows,” rather than issues for discussion in the heat of a presidential campaign.

International news

Families getting glimmer of closure … finally

Take it from me: The family members of those 239 people lost and presumed dead aboard Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 have been clinging to the faintest hope imaginable that their loved ones are still alive.

Why? Because no one has found a trace of the huge jet that reportedly crashed more than a year ago.

Until now.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/investigators-scramble-to-analyse-wreckage-for-mh370-link/ar-AAdIeJ2

Investigators are combing through a piece of debris that is now believed to part of the Boeing 777 that vanished March 8, 2014 after it took off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

No trace of the plane has been seen since. Now, though, a piece of debris has been found on the other side of the Indian Ocean. It’s believed to be from MH370.

Not quite 35 years ago, my father was fishing in British Columbia with some friends and business associates. They crashed their small boat. Two of the four men aboard survived the crash; the other two died. Searchers found one of the dead men right away. Dad, though, remained missing for eight days.

I speak from experience that every single day we waited for word about Dad’s whereabouts was filled with a glimmer of hope that he actually survived. That’s what your emotions do. They play cruel trick on you. You know in your head that the worst has happened, but you hope in your heart for the best.

Our hopes were dashed when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed us of the grim discovery they made several miles downstream in the inland where the crash occurred.

The families of the MH370 passengers and crew well might be living that very nightmare today as they await word on what was found in the Indian Ocean.

I hope — for the sake of those still-grieving loved ones — that they determine this piece of wing came from the doomed aircraft.

local news

City Council taking aim at the MPEV?

9 Comments

Amarillo Mayor Paul Harpole and his City Council colleagues are set to commence an important discussion on the future of a proposed outdoor multipurpose event venue.

A part of me fears the worst. It is that the council will cast a highly split vote to refer this matter to city residents in a non-binding referendum that will ask: Do you want the city to proceed with building the MPEV? Yes, the referendum would be non-binding, but only a fool would go against what the voters decide.

The council vote — if it occurs — could be on a 3-2 split. The votes to refer the measure to residents could come from the three new men on the council — Elisha Demerson, Randy Burkett and Mark Nair. The three of them have stated publicly their concerns about the MPEV, the process that brought it forward and whether the city really needs it.

Count me, gentleman, as a constituent who believes in the project, the process that produced it and the potential it brings for downtown Amarillo’s hoped-for rebirth.

Another part of me remains hopeful that reason will prevail.

It’s a better than safe bet to assume that Harpole and Councilman Brian Eades want the MPEV process to keep moving forward. I would bet real American money they would vote “no” on sending this matter to a vote in November.

You might be thinking: Is this goofy blogger — that would be me — against giving residents a say-so in an important project?

The answer would be “no.” I believe in the democratic process as much as anyone. But in reality, we’re dealing here with a representative democracy, meaning that we elect individuals to represent our interests. We elect them to lead.

My own preference would be to have council members vote on this matter themselves.

There’s no compelling need to put this matter up for a popular vote. Residents of this city have had ample opportunity to view this project from the get-go. They’ve had equally ample opportunity to speak out.

Yes, there seems to be a serious divide in our city over this MPEV. There also seems to be an equally seriously divide among members of the city’s governing body. A 3-2 split on this issue — in either direction — does not represent a consensus. Think of it as a body that mirrors, say, the U.S. Supreme Court, which often votes 5-4 on landmark rulings; the court is split often along ideological grounds — pitting conservative justices vs. liberal justices.

The best option, to my way of thinking, would be for the five men who serve on the City Council to take a deep breath and ponder the consequences of killing this MPEV, whether they do it themselves with an up-down vote or refer it to voters to decide at the ballot box.

Do they really and truly want to scuttle a project that’s been years in the making? Do they really want to scrap it at this stage of its development and force the city to start from scratch, spending more time and money on an issue that’s been examined from every possible angle?

If they intend to deep-six this entertainment venue, then they will send the city skidding backward.

It’s going to be a big day at City Hall next Tuesday.

national news, political news

Have a good time on vacation, Congress?

This brief rant from Democratic Party loyalist Bill Press is too good not to share.

So, I’ll do so today, and will let Press speak for himself.

***

Don’t you wish you were a member of Congress? We pay them $175,000 a year to work for us. And what do we get for it?

Well, consider this. Yesterday, John Boehner announced that the House would recess this afternoon, two days early, for its August recess – and they won’t be back in town until after Labor Day. But, of course, they’ll still get paid.

And what about that Highway bill? Oh, no. That’ll have to wait until September.

What about that Iran nuclear deal? Sorry, no time now. They’ll get around to that sometime after Labor Day.

Well, what about climate change, immigration reform, minimum wage, criminal justice reform, gun safety, or all those other pressing issues we’ve been waiting for them to do something about?

Sorry, no time for them now, either. According to Boehner, members of Congress have more important things to do. Like going to the beach. Or going on taxpayer-subsidized Codels.

Yes, don’t you wish you were a member of Congress? We pay them $175,000 a year to work for us. And what do we get for it? Nothing.

***

I will add only this: Democrats did the same thing when they ran the place, too.

International news

The dentist didn’t ‘take’ a lion

Jimmy Kimmel’s soliloquy about the death of Cecil the Lion is actually quite moving.

He blasts the Minnesota dentist, Walter Palmer, for shooting the beloved beast in Zimbabwe. Palmer said he didn’t know he was hunting an animal of Cecil’s stature. The lion was known throughout southern Africa as a tourist attraction. He was 13 years old and was wearing a GPS tracking device in a collar round his neck.

Palmer’s guides used a dead animal to bait the lion. They dragged the bait across a stretch of land to lure Cecil out of the park where he lived — and where hunting is prohibited. Once they got Cecil to follow the bait into hunting territory, Palmer shot Cecil with a crossbow. Cecil didn’t die right away. Palmer and his guides had to track him down. They found Cecil, shot him with a gun, skinned him and took his head.

Jimmy Kimmel Gets Choked Up About Cecil the Lion

My favorite part, though, of Kimmel’s rant, dealt with Palmer’s statement, in which he said he didn’t know about Cecil’s status when he “took” the lion.

“You take an aspirin,” Kimmel said, wondering why Palmer didn’t say he simply “killed” the beloved beast.

This story is going to percolate for a while. As for Palmer, he’s in hiding. He’s shut down his dental practice.

International news

Hoping that Mullah Omar is burning in hell

Can it be true?

Mullah Omar, the Taliban terrorist leader who harbored Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda thugs, is dead? Afghanistan officials say he’s a goner. U.S. officials aren’t confirming it — yet.

https://gma.yahoo.com/taliban-leader-mullah-omar-died-afghan-officials-105317136–abc-news-topstories.html#

There’s no word yet on the possible cause of death.

As good as the news might turn out to be, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

As we’ve known for some time since bin Laden’s death at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA commandos, one man’s death doesn’t mean the end of the fight against the organization he once led.

Make no mistake, though. Mullah Omar is — or was — a seriously bad actor.

The State Department had put a $10 million bounty on Mullah Omar’s head for information leading his capture.

Let’s all hope we can confirm this animal’s death so we can move on to getting rid of the individual who likely will emerge to take his place.

And, yes, even though the State Department declines to refer to the Taliban as a “terrorist organization,” the rest of the world knows better.

national news, political news

Huck stands by his fiery rhetoric … shocking!

Mike Huckabee could have used all kinds of strong language to condemn the nuclear arms deal hammered out by the United States and five world powers that seek to prevent Iran from developing an atomic bomb.

He didn’t. He instead decided to go all the way. He drew a direct comparison between President Barack Obama and the Nazi tyrant Adolf Hitler.

Huckabee, one of the herd of Republicans running for president, said the nuclear deal will walk Israel “to the door of the oven.”

It was a direct reference to the Holocaust, the most heinous of the many heinous deeds authorized by Hitler.

Did Huckabee back down? Oh, no. He went full throttle forward. He stands by his use of that hideous language.

Huckabee chose instead to offer up a sound bite that will stand for a lot longer than the usual stuff that pours out of candidates’ mouths at election time.

This is what we can expect. Offensive sound bites.

It has worked for Donald Trump, yes? Well, Huck thinks it can work for him, too.

local news

Convention expert says: Your downtown plan won’t work

I’ve got to hand it to those who are seeking to promote a comprehensive effort to rebuild, remake and revive downtown Amarillo.

They are unafraid to hear contrary views.

They got quite a few of them Monday night when Heywood Sanders came to Amarillo to speak to them about plans to build a convention hotel downtown. Sanders, an expert on these matters, said it’s a waste of time, money and effort.

http://www.newschannel10.com/story/29645624/convention-center-expert-claims-downtown-convention-hotel-doesnt-work

Sanders spoke to the City Council, Downtown Amarillo Inc., and the Local Government Corporation. Two of those three entities have serious designs on pressing forward; the council, with its new majority, has been thrown into the “undecided” category, at least for now.

I believe it’s fair to pose a couple of thoughts about Professor Sanders’ visit.

One deals with how deeply he looked into the specifics of what’s being proposed for Amarillo. Was he relying chiefly on his extensive research into the general notion of convention centers. He’s written a book, “Convention Center Follies,” which I understand debunks the notion that convention hotels boost communities’ economy.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this visit centers on the organization that invited Professor Sanders. It came from the TEA Party Patriots of Amarillo. Readers of this blog know that I like to capitalize “TEA” as in TEA Party, because the letters comprise an acronym that stands for “taxed enough already.”

The TEA Party branches throughout the nation tend to stand strongly opposed to government-initiated or sponsored projects.

The three-pronged downtown project — the multipurpose event venue, the downtown hotel and the parking garage — is being billed as a private-enterprise endeavor. However, the government is involved, as the Amarillo EDC is providing incentives and the city intends to use hotel-motel tax to help maintain the MPEV and the downtown Embassy Suites hotel that’s being proposed.

Did the TEA Party hosts look for someone who’d back up their anti-government agenda?

I did not attend the meeting Monday night, so I won’t critique the specifics of what Professor Sanders said.

Still, it was instructive to hear from someone with knowledge of these things. I’m glad the various pro-downtown project principals were willing to hear what he had to say.

political news

“Four more years!” for Obama?

There can be no doubt about this: Barack Obama’s critics went ballistic when the president said he could win a third term in the White House if he had the chance to seek it.

He reminded his hosts in Ethiopia today that the U.S. Constitution prohibits him from seeking another term. But then he said he’s been a “good president” and well might win in 2016.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/28/politics/obama-third-term-win-ethiopia/

Ah, yes. And he’d say anything about it if he thought he’d lose? Hardly.

The 22nd Amendment was enacted in 1947, spearheaded by a Republican congressional majority that was alarmed by the four elections won by Democratic President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. They feared an “imperial presidency.” An earlier Democrat, Grover Cleveland, sought the office over the course of three consecutive elections, but lost his bid for re-election to a second consecutive term in 1888; he would come back four years later and be elected to a second term.

I am not at all thrilled about the term-limits provision for presidents, although I understand that the stress of the office has persuaded almost all the men who’ve held the office to bow out after a second term.

Still, Barack Obama isn’t the only recent president to look wistfully at the possibility of a third term.

Republican President Ronald Reagan said as much as his second term came to an end in January 1989. Twelve years after that, Democratic President Bill Clinton also mused aloud over whether he could win a third term.

I don’t recall President George W. Bush ever broaching the subject in public, given that the economy was collapsing when he left office in January 2009.

Whatever the motive for bringing it up this time, President Obama well might have been talking way past his audience in Africa and sticking it in the ear of his foes back home.

I’m quite sure they heard him … loud and clear.

International news

Dentist in trouble over poaching allegation

Cecil

I’ll admit that I hadn’t heard of Cecil the Lion … until today.

That’s when I learned of the beast’s death, allegedly at the hands of an American dentist known for hunting big game in Africa.

Well, this was no ordinary hunt — allegedly!

Zimbabwe police: American dentist being sought for lion poaching

Cecil was known throughout southern Africa. He was beloved by the people of Zimbabwe. He was a rare black-mane lion.

Cecil is now dead. Dr. Walter Palmer is facing possible charges of poaching.

Look, I’m not a hunter, although I’ve gone on a couple of hunting excursions in my life. I once went looking for black bear in the Olympic Mountains of Washington state. We didn’t find any, although I did spot a cougar running through the rain forest.

Dr. Palmer has been charged with doing something quite reprehensible. He has been accused of luring Cecil out of his protected area into a neighboring tract. He was baited with a carcass and then allegedly shot with a cross bow. But the arrow didn’t kill him. Palmer and his guides allegedly then looked for hours to find the wounded animal; they reportedly killed, skinned and beheaded the great beast.

This story makes me sick.

Palmer supposedly paid $50,000 for the hunt, which I reckon came from a whole lot of root canals, bridge work and tooth extractions back in Minnesota, where the dentist has his practice.

Palmer said he didn’t realize he shot a beloved animal and that he followed normal hunting procedures.

If this man is guilty, he deserves the maximum punishment that Zimbabwe law allows.

I’m not saying he deserves the same fate that Cecil met, but I feel strangely compelled to point out that several African governments have enacted strict punishment for those caught poaching wildlife. They have ordered park rangers to shoot poachers on sight.

Yes, they take this crime seriously.

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