Journalism

The Tragedy of Sky Queen

28-year-old Karen Key was shining up a star for herself in the competitive business of TV news. Key was the first female helicopter news pilot in TV journalism. She could fly a Bell Jet Ranger and talk into the camera with the Rockies as a backdrop - her career was ascending as fast as her takeoffs.

national politics

Alternate Facts, Yeah, That's the Ticket.

It seems the lies don't matter if it's your guy or gal. It has ever been thus. Add a polarized press to the mix and you have a recipe for some really lousy goulash.

national politics

Cracks in the American Mosaic

I brought the contradictions up with Geiorge W. Bush during an off-camera interview in 2004 and asked him how he could reconcile the inherent meanness of the strategy with who he was as a person, and all he said was, “It’s just politics, Jimmy.”

Trump

Happy Easter and Vote for Me

Come unto me all ye who travail and are heavy laden, and I'll relieve you of the weight of all that money.

Trump

Make the Bible Great Again

Your "God Bless the USA Bible" will ship with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, AND the Pledge of Allegiance! You will never have to worry about the separation of church and state again!

media

Balance? We Don’t Need no Stinking Balance. We Need Truth

Our political system is now a kaleidoscope of normalized destructive lies because of misguided editorial decisions to seek balance vs truth.

Immigration

The Art of Hypocrisy

Not being White and living on the border, which is more than 90 percent of the population, became an even greater liability when Abbott and the Texas legislature passed a law to give state and local officers the power to arrest illegal immigrants.

national politics

Congress: Delta House Without the Fun

"Every fall the trees are filled with underwear, every spring the toilets explode."

Natural World

Racing the Sun

"An eclipse, like all of nature’s majestic endeavors, can fill a soul with edifying conclusions. Eclipses are rare and those with totality are even more scant and scattered across history’s timeline."

Travel

Can We All Take a Break and Be Irish for a Moment?

Come on, give politics a rest and be happy for one day. On Monday, it's a handful of Advils and politics as usual.

Trump

We Need a Break from Spring Break

Paxton's droopy eyelid isn't the only thing limp at home. Could the Texas Porn boycott be driving the lecherous Attorney General into the arms of another mistress?

personal stories

Independence Way

I understood that there were economic and educational forces at work that made our lives abundantly different. My mother carried burgers and open-faced sandwiches as a waitress at a short-order restaurant. My father lifted bumpers out of a metal press for delivery to the assembly line.

Economy

A Broken Land

We are convinced the only two kinds of people in this nation are millionaires and those who will very soon be millionaires. There is little accommodation for failure. You are expected to pull yourself up by your bootstraps even if you were born into a family that cannot afford boots.

Texas Politics

Ignore the Man Behind the Curtain

In terms of issues on America's plate, there is more than Ukraine and Gaza to worry about. And Yass is just one of the many who have amassed a ton of cash and aren't afraid to spend it. In Texas, Three West Texas billionaires have quietly taken over Republican politics in the state.

Texas Politics

I Find Your Lack of Imagination Disturbing

Texas keeps turning ever rightward, and this last set of primary elections continues the trend. It would be nice to keep public education, but it's not a given. Imagine turning off Friday Night Lights in Texas.

Trump

The Borderlord: Chapter Two

Abbott is brazen about using state resources to promote his political agenda, and nothing is more important to him than the border. He has no desire to solve the immigration problem. Instead, he has created a multi-billion $ issues platform to raise his profile, and Texans are paying for it.

Trump

We've Been Here Before

"The fear of speaking ill of Putin is so great that when Vlad killed his chief critic, Alexei Navalny, the only mention from Donald J. Trump was to compare his legal troubles to Navalny. One more reminder, Mr. President, Navalny is, uh, dead."

national politics

The Burning Man

“Free Palestine, free Palestine,” he screamed as the fire brought him down. Colleagues who knew him in the military described him as kind, soft-hearted, and caring, the diametric opposite of the angry radical that he is being portrayed in widespread reporting.

Baseball

A Young Man's Fancy and An Old Man's Disdain

It's a tale of possibly the greatest baseball player to have ever picked up a bat, ball, and glove, and he came from an obscure little spot in a bend of a Texas river. Or we could just talk politics...

national politics

When Life is Like a Story in the Onion

"The party that once called the President a fascist and dictator, now wants him to solve the border crisis by Presidential decree. The folks who were adamant they needed a border bill, now say, Joe could have solved this all by himself."

Technology

Disrupting Evil

The nerds and geeks that were the butt of jokes in high school became "tech bros" and the titans of the information revolution. And with great power, came great irresponsibility.

Journalism

Outbound Train

"Mike and I had both earned college scholarships with our performances as high school distance runners and were formulating plans for our lives that did not include Vietnam or our home state, which is why he had agreed to drive me to the Canadian National Train station in Windsor, Ontario."

Election

Let’s Not Forget About the Other Threat to Democracy: The Gerrymander

Ninety-five percent of the 4 million newcomers to Texas are people of color, half of whom identify as Latino. Yet, the growing number of people of color in Texas is not growing in their ability to choose who represents them.

Baseball

It's February, People. Spring Training has Started

I'm having trouble focusing on politics. I mean, come on, baseball's coming.

sports

Superbowl Takeaways

Pro Sports, as exemplified by the Superbowl, struggle to avoid political and cultural minefields that might alienate their audience. Meanwhile, TV subscriptions and the cost of tickets are making games unaffordable for all but elite fans.