McCook Daily Gazette: Columns

Support of affirmative action continues to decline (06/14/13)
The original purpose for affirmative action was sound and logical. We lived in a segregated society run by white people who were only going to hire people of color for the lowest paid menial jobs that a vast majority of whites didn't want. If laws were not put in place to correct this, nothing would change and blacks would remain on the bottom forever...

The amazing cleaning properties of bubbles (06/14/13)
I read this week that the McCook School Board was presented with the task of determining how to discipline a teacher who had allowed high school students to drink alcohol in her home. I was a bit surprised to read further that the school board was split on whether or not to terminate the teacher and ultimately took no action. I am sure details about the scenario are still coming out and I am well aware of how difficult personnel matters can be in unionized operations...

Lets get quizzical, quizzical (the TV version) (06/13/13)

Lawmakers adjourn 103rd First Session (06/12/13)
The Legislature has adjourned, but the work has just begun. This was the "long session," the 90-day first session that traditionally includes passage of a new two-year state budget. Done. Ernie Chambers failed in his 38th try to ban the death penalty. ...

He came, he saw, he conquered (06/11/13)
Yes, conquered the hearts of our congregation. Four years ago it was that Grannie Annie, her congregation and this southwestern Nebraska community sent a hundred plus flat-rate postal boxes to his soldiers in a far away world. Chaplain Vineyard Sunday presented pictures of his year long tour in Afghanistan and expressed thanks on behalf of "his" warriors...

The love we lost (06/07/13)
A good friend called me this past week to read me a story he had written about losing the love of his life. It was a good story, well-crafted and logically put together but I was thinking to myself as I listened to him read it that almost all stories, poems, and songs are written about the loves we've lost, not the ones we still have...

2013 legislative session (06/07/13)
One of the most important accomplishments of the recently concluded 2013 legislative session was the passage of the budget for the next two years. This budget is focused on the vision for Nebraska's future that I have emphasized throughout my term as Governor and those issues are education, growing the state's economy and rebuilding the cash reserve...

Laugh and the world laughs with you, fall from a tree though and you fall alone (06/07/13)
As I was tucking Declan into bed a few weeks back he looked up at me with an unusual flash of sadness on his face. "I am not a nice person, I don't like my brain," he muttered in an unexpectedly serious tone. "What do you mean you don't like your brain?" I replied with my usual confusion...

A lasting solution for students (06/07/13)
Nebraskans may recall last summer's partisan squabble over student loan rates, which were set to expire and subsequently rise on millions of college students across the nation at the height of the presidential campaign. It was the hope of many Americans, myself included, that the end of the last campaign would lead to, at a minimum, a decrease in the number of manufactured political battles -- particularly fights over issues on which Republicans and Democrats agree...

A long-term solution for student loan interest rates (06/06/13)
Without action, millions of recent college graduates and other borrowers could see the interest rates on their student loans double on July 1 of this year. To prevent this problem, House Republicans passed H.R. 1911, the Smarter Solutions for Students Act, a long-term solution to stop the rate hikes next month, and to get politicians out of the business of setting student loan interest rates...

The lamentations of one TV theme song fan (06/06/13)

Nebraska Senate race in a word: Boring (06/05/13)
Gov. Dave Heineman's decision not to seek the sure-thing Republican nomination to be Nebraska's next U.S. Senator leaves the race wide open. Read that boring. Queue up the regulars. You know their names. Jon Bruning, Shane Osborne, Don Stenberg, Pete Ricketts. Read that boring as well...

A giant who walks the Earth (06/04/13)
Back in the dark ages when I attended the new Air Force Academy Chapel attendance was mandatory for all cadets. There was a Catholic Priest and a Protestant Chaplain but no Mormon minister, Rabbi or Imam. We had no cadets of Muslim belief and students of Jewish faith attended protestant services along with the rest of us. ...

Radio in Nebraska in the 20s and 30s (06/03/13)
In the 1930s there was no television in Nebraska (it did not make an appearance in the Midwest until the late 1940s, after the end of World War II). There was no Internet, with its myriad of entertainment options. What we had was the library, our movie theaters, and a few (just a few) AM radio stations. Radio was by far the most popular entertainment media. It was free, and it was good. Today, it is difficult to imagine the impact that radio played in our lives in the 1930s...

Cattlemen's Ball (05/31/13)
Each year I attend the Cattleman's Ball of Nebraska. It is one of my favorite events because it celebrates Nebraska beef as part of a healthy diet, showcases rural Nebraska and raises money for cancer research. Formed in 1997 by a group of beef industry leaders, the Cattlemen's Ball of Nebraska has become one of the nation's most successful cancer fundraisers with more than $7 million raised since inception...

You can't serve two masters (05/31/13)
My friend and fellow columnist Dick Trail and I don't agree on a lot of things but there's one thing we share absolutely the same perspective on and that is we don't like to be lied to. Dick seems to think that only Democrats lie, conveniently turning a deaf ear and blind eye to the lies told by people in his own party but that's another column. I want to focus on personal honesty in this one...

Health care law expands IRS authority (05/31/13)
Americans of all political persuasions are rightfully outraged by recent revelations of political targeting by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Adding to the concern, the IRS will be the chief enforcer of the many new health care mandates set to be implemented during the next year. The improper conduct and mismanagement at the agency have raised serious questions about the ability of the IRS to handle such broad new responsibilities and powers...

A sports fan, for 2 good reasons (05/31/13)
It is no secret summer is my least favorite time of year, primarily because it is when Declan leaves for his visit with his mother, but also because I am a wuss when it comes to 100 degree weather. Considering it is typically fairly easy for me to find the positive in any given scenario, a trait I wouldn't trade for anything, I have spent an inordinate amount of time mulling over all the "benefits" of my summer freedom. ...

Being prepared (05/30/13)
This week, severe weather warnings and alerts were issued across the state. Eastern Nebraska experienced flooding from heavy rain, while hail, high winds, and tornadoes swept across central and western Nebraska. The recent horrific tornadoes in Oklahoma remind us that natural disasters aren't just heartbreaking news stories quickly forgotten, but rather are enduring challenges for the impacted families and communities...

A (second) first look at the networks' fall plans (05/30/13)

Freedom of the press, really? (05/29/13)
There isn't one of you reading this newspaper that shouldn't be at least alarmed and at best incensed that the United States Justice Department used a secret subpoena to obtain two months of phone records for Associated Press reporters and editors without notifying the news organization...

The lost is found (05/28/13)
Last week I wrote of the tornado devastation in Moore, Oklahoma. No I haven't heard whether our old house (Grannie Annie made it a home!) was destroyed. I didn't want to bother anyone near or far to check on it as they have more important things to do at the moment...

Human trafficking (05/24/13)
With only seven legislative days left in the 2013 session, the Legislature is winding down and preparing to finish its work by June 5. This last week seemed to move fairly slow with a lot of prolonged debate on many of the bills discussed, except for the bill I wanted to highlight in this week's letter...

Driving safely benefits all of us (05/24/13)
As Memorial Day approaches, travel on Nebraska roads will increase. I want to remind all drivers and passengers to buckle up every time for every trip no matter how short or long. We have a responsibility to buckle our seat belt, and ensure our passengers do the same, each time we get in a vehicle...

For love of country (05/24/13)
Each year, Nebraskans mark Memorial Day in a number of different ways. Quiet ceremonies at cemeteries, Main Street parades filled with children and veterans proudly waving American flags, and backyard barbecues and neighborhood get-togethers are common traditions across the state...

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