State news

Texas GOP wins, but some Republicans remain angry

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Some Texas Republicans can’t seem to win enough.

The Legislature approved two key bills near and dear to gun owners: open carry and campus carry. Gov. Greg Abbott just signed them both into law, which now means that Texans licensed to carry concealed weapons can do so openly; they’ll also be able now to pack heat on college campuses.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/13/texas-gop-scuttles-legislative/

If you’re a gun owner rights advocate, you’d be happy. Correct?

I guess not entirely.

The state GOP was unable to approve a resolution that slapped around four Republican lawmakers for “standing in the way” of Texans’ gun ownership rights.

Good grief, folks. You won! You got what you wanted! But as the Texas Tribune reported, the notion of such a resolution made some GOP officials uneasy: “But the very prospect of it riled some party leaders, sparking heated debate about the committee’s role in the Capitol and seriously complicating party fundraising in at least one instance.”

The party lost a vendor who’d been a major fundraiser and who had been uneasy about the resolution rebuking some lawmakers.

However, some members of the State Republican Executive Committee wanted to single out House Speaker Joe Straus, Rep. Dennis Bonnen, Rep. Larry Phillips and Sen. Joan Huffman for their opposition to a “Constitutional Carry” amendment, which translates into allowing unlicensed Texans to carry firearms.

Some members of the Texas GOP need to settle down. Take a breath. You won the contest over these two key gun-related issues.

 

media news

Whitfield apologizes for ‘brave’ remark … I guess

Fredricka Whitfield has more or less apologized for a comment she made Saturday about the guy who stormed the Dallas Police Department headquarters.

The CNN anchor had called him “brave” and “courageous,” drawing a stampede of criticism.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/cnn%e2%80%99s-fredricka-whitfield-apologizes-for-calling-dallas-gunman-%e2%80%98courageous-and-brave%e2%80%99/ar-BBl8L1N

Today she said something quite different: “Yesterday during a segment on the Dallas police department attack, I used the words ‘courageous and brave,’ when discussing the gunman. I misspoke and in no way believe the gunman was courageous or brave,” Whitfield said.

Well, I guess there’s an apology in there somewhere.

The man was shot dead by a police department sniper. He’s been identified as James Boulware, who opened fire on the PD from an armored van.

Whitfield said she “misspoke.”

I’ll just ask one more question: What did she intend to say?

International news

My heart is broken

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Menashe_01_Na

Information travels quickly — especially, it seems, when it involves a message you don’t want to receive.

I just got word from a friend of mine that another friend — someone many of us grew to love — has died.

His picture is here. His name is Menashe Livnat. He was an Israeli gentleman who served 10 foreign visitors as their guide, father confessor, counselor, troubleshooter, fix-it man. He was everything to us. He became our friend for life.

I first laid eyes on Menashe the evening of June 10, 2009. I had just traveled from Amarillo to Israel with four friends; I was team leader of a group that comprised a Rotary International Group Study Exchange team that would stay in Israel for four weeks with host families. Menashe was at David Ben-Gurion International Airport to greet us, along with another Rotary GSE team from The Netherlands.

We exchanged handshakes and greetings, along with a few gifts we brought over from West Texas.

Then we were off, on our way to enjoy the adventure of a lifetime — which I have described several times over the years on this blog.

Menashe made it happen for us.

He was coordinator for the host Rotary district that welcomed us to Israel. He made sure we got to where we needed to be. We met with professionals in Israel, exchanged ideas on how we did our jobs.

We went non-stop for virtually the entire length of the exchange tour.

Menashe was the Indispensable Man.

We grew to adore him and his wife, Miri.

My friends and I each, I’m quite sure, have countless stories of what Menashe did for us during our time in Israel. As we toured through the country with our new Dutch friends, we learned much about ourselves and each other — and about Israel. Menashe was there every step of the way, even when he wasn’t physically present.

I’ll share this particular event.

There was one time during our tour in which we hadn’t seen Menashe for several days. We had encountered some hiccups along the way. We were growing tired. Our hosts had filled our days with activity from dawn to well past dusk.

Then he appeared at the place where we were gathering. Menashe was like a vision.

Menashe and I managed to get some private time and I told him we were running out of gas. He said “no problem.” He then canceled the activities for the next day and then we spent an entire day swimming in the Mediterranean Sea at Caeserea. He found time to allow us to relax, catch our breath, soak up some sun and think of nothing but how to enjoy the relaxing day in a beautiful Middle East vacation spot.

Menashe embodied the Rotary International motto of placing “Service Above Self.” He was a big-hearted, generous man who enabled five Americans and five Dutch to take in the experiences only found in one of the world’s most exciting and intriguing regions.

The news of his passing saddens me terribly.

I will miss this good man.

media news, national news

‘Courageous and brave’? Not even close

CNN news anchor Fredericka Whitfield needs — I think — some lessons in how to use the English language.

She attached the terms “courageous” and “brave” to describe the actions of a man who laid siege to the Dallas Police Department headquarters building before he was shot to death by a police sniper.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/cnn-anchor-calls-dallas-attack-brave/ar-BBl6wpK

My goodness. My head is spinning over that.

The diver of an armored van opened fire on the police building. He was committing at least two serious felonies: attempted murder and firing a gun in the city limits come to mind most immediately; there might be a dozen more criminal acts involved here. She said: “It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on the police headquarters, and now you have this scene, this standoff.”

Huh?

The terms “courageous” and “brave” are intended to put a positive description on one’s actions. The actions of this guy never — not ever — should be labeled in the manner described by this news anchor.

local news

It’s official: ‘Change’ has arrived at Amarillo City Hall

Let’s call Amarillo City Councilman-elect Mark Nair the “man who brought change” to Amarillo municipal government.

Tonight he was elected to Place 4 on the five-man City Council. trouncing runoff opponent Steve Rogers.

So, what does “change” look like? That remains to be seen.

But here’s what we know. Two of the new guys on the council, Place 1 Councilman Elisha Demerson and Place 3 Councilman Randy Burkett campaigned aggressively against the “status quo.” That means, I guess, that they oppose some of the key policy decisions made in recent years by the council. The highest profile set of decisions involves downtown redevelopment.

Now we have Nair joining the new three-member majority that advocates change … whatever it means.

I keep hearing a lot of rumblings around town about “The Ballpark,” or the multipurpose event venue. Will there or won’t there be a citywide referendum to determine if voters want to build the MPEV? Why even put it to a vote? Well, it involves spending “public money,” derived from hotel-motel tax revenue, which is how the city intends to finance construction and upkeep of the venue.

Here, though, is the irony: The money comes from those who visit the city, not from those who live here.

But, by golly, there just might be a vote on it, just to gauge residents’ feelings about building it.

If voters say “no,” the council — while not obligated legally to abide by the result — would commit political suicide by ignoring it.

If the MPEV gets derailed, what happens to the downtown hotel being planned? Developers say the MPEV must be built for the hotel to proceed. Oh, and the parking garage — the third wing of this three-part package? Who needs it?

So, will “change” mean the end of this downtown effort?

Congratulations, Councilman-elect Nair.

Proceed with wisdom, young man.

 

entertainment news

It wasn’t a ‘Shawshank’ escape

I keep reading references to that New York prison escape that compare it to the film “Shawshank Redemption.”

And then I keep wondering: Where does that comparison come from?

http://news.yahoo.com/joyce-mitchell-arrested-dannemora-york-prison-escape-case-220005633–abc-news-topstories.html

Joyce Mitchell has been arrested and charged with helping murderers David Sweat and Richard Matt escape from the maximum-security prison in upstate New York. She is accused of providing hacksaw blades to the men, who then sawed through steel sewer pipes and wormed their way outside the walls.

Does that sound like “Shawshank” to you? It doesn’t to me.

In the film, Tim Robbins’s character, Andy Dufresne, is imprisoned wrongly for murder of his wife and the man with whom she was cheating.

He’s sent to prison in Maine and then for the next 19 years he chips his way out of his cell, using homemade carving tools.

Andy didn’t have any help. No one supplied blades. No one distracted prison guards.

Sweat and Matt will be caught. Searchers are narrowing the area where they’re looking, although I’m guessing the two men won’t give up without a fight.

Andy ended up on a beach in Mexico, refurbishing an old boat and lived happily ever after.

 

national news

Clear it up, Rachel: Are your white parents lying?

rachel

Rachel Dolezal is going to set the record straight Monday … she says.

The head of the Spokane, Wash., chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is going to tell us whether she’s white or black.

This clearly is one of the stranger stories any of us — white or black — has seen in, oh, since the last strange story burst on the scene.

? http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/naacp-leader-to-speak-monday-parents-say-she-lied-on-race/ar-BBl53nJ

Dolezal’s parents, from whom she’s estranged, says their daughter has been lying about her race. She claims to be black. Her parents, who are white, have produced pictures of her as a fair-skinned blond girl. Her hair now is curly; her skin is considerably darker.

She’s been strangely coy about answering a direct and succinct question: Are you white? He answer to a question from a Spokane Spokesman-Review reporter: “That question is not as easy as it seems. There’s a lot of complexities … and I don’t know that everyone would understand that.”

“We’re all from the African continent.”

What the … ? My head is about to explode. Actually, the question seems more than “easy.”

The NAACP is backing Dolezal. Her parents, who live in Montana, said she’s been misrepresenting herself.

I’ve noted already that the NAACP’s very name doesn’t require one to be African-American to join, let alone assume a leadership position. Indeed, the organization was founded by a white person.

But as I look at Dolezal’s picture as a little girl — that’s her in both frames attached to this blog post — she looks pretty darn white to me.

Please, please, Rachel … explain yourself.

 

State news

Castro’s VP stakes on the rise

Julian Castro has the chops to be vice president of the United States.

I’ll lay that out right now. He’s as qualified to be VP as, say, Dan Quayle or Spiro Agnew. Heck, even Richard Nixon was considered a young buck when Dwight Eisenhower selected him to run as vice president in 1952; then again, Ike could have run with a trained chimpanzee and still been elected in a landslide that year.

Castro’s stock as a potential running mate on a Democratic ticket led by Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be rising.

The Big Question: Does Castro’s presence on a Democratic presidential ticket deliver Texas to the Democrats? It’s not going to happen.

However, it could make Texas more competitive than it otherwise would be.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/12/houston-castro-avoids-veep-chatter/

Castro is the highly charismatic former mayor of San Antonio who now serves as housing secretary. He’s had his federal job for less than a year and wasn’t mayor of Texas’s second-largest city all that long before moving to Washington.

He did light up the Democratic National Convention in 2012 with a stirring keynote speech.

Castro’s ties to the Hispanic community are quite obvious, given his name. What’s more, the name “Castro” doesn’t carry quite the negative political baggage it once did in this country, given that Fidel Castro is now out of power in Cuba and the United States is on the verge of establishing normal diplomatic relations with its former enemy. Sure, it’s still a commie state, but it poses no threat to the United States of America.

These things occasionally have a way of reversing themselves. Someone else could emerge from nowhere to become the next favorite to join Hillary Clinton. Heck, someone else also could emerge — from the same nowhere — to bump Clinton out of her shoo-in status to become the Democrats’ next presidential nominee. Do I think either event will occur? Umm, no — definitely not the latter.

For now, it’s fun to watch Julian Castro navigate his way through the treacherous world of political punditry and speculation.

The young man already is adept at dodging the obvious questions that keep coming at him.

 

local news

Looks like a dismal turnout is on tap

If the utter silence at the place where I vote is any indication, it looks as though the turnout for today’s municipal runoff election is going to be a yawner.

I just cast my vote. It was 9:05 a.m. The polls opened at 7 at Arden Road Baptist Church.

My vote was the 20th cast. Twenty votes in 2 hours and 5 minutes of voting!

The runoff is for Place 4 on the Amarillo City Council. The two candidates are Steve Rogers and Mark Nair. They finished in the top two spots in the May 9 election.

The winner will fill out the five-member City Council.

Hey, it’s a big deal, man.

Whoever joins the council will be one of three new members. Voters have shaken things up a bit at City Hall, defeating two incumbents. The third new guy will replace an incumbent, Ron Boyd, who didn’t seek election to the seat to which he was appointed.

The day is still young as I write this brief blog. Maybe it’ll turn around once everyone wakes up, shakes the cob webs out, gulps down a cup or two of coffee.

Believe me: It takes all of about 2 minutes to vote.

That’s it.

How about voting today?

business news, International news

Greece: the downside of globalism

Economists have hailed the era of globalism, the interconnectedness of nations.

One nation’s failures and foibles affect others, just as their triumphs do.

Greece is in trouble — again! And the world is holding its breath.

Man, it pains me to watch what’s happening to the country of my ancestors. I’ve visited the place three times: 2000, 2001 and 2003. I’ve seen the good side of the country. My wife and I have experienced its charm, swallowed up its physical magnificence, gotten a taste of its cuisine and seen first hand the antiquities left over from when it was the “cradle of western civilization.”

Now this.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/salvation-to-catastrophe-what-might-happen-to-greece/ar-BBl1S4d

Greece owes billions of dollars to creditors. It must pay them back or else default. It joined the European Union, converted its currency, the drachma, to the euro, but the EU might kick Greece out. Germany, which has played a huge role in bailing the Greeks out, already is making plans for Greece’s default on the loans it has taken.

International financial markets are on edge. They’re teetering, putting retirement funds — such as mine and my wife’s — at risk.

Why is this all happening? Globalism.

Look, left to its own devices, Greece’s influence on the world shouldn’t be that impactful. It’s a small country. It’s a modern country. Its people are sophisticated and well-educated. But it comprises about 10.5 million citizens, contributing to a gross domestic product of $284 billion annually, which is chicken feed compared to, say, nearby Italy, with its $1.9 trillion GDP.

Still, the countries are linked by common currency, common trade practices and common pressures that ripple their way across Europe — and around the world.

Greece has made a mess of itself and the world might be forced to clean it up.

The push to join nations together in international trade arrangements and alliances by itself isn’t a bad thing. I remain all for it.

These alliances, though, depend on everyone doing what they must to ensure they hold together. Greece hasn’t done it. It continues to resist the austerity measures that others have imposed on it. Its left-wing government also is on the brink of collapse.

Doomsday hasn’t arrived in Athens. It’s getting dangerously close.

 

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