The four horsemen of the political apocalypse are upon us

Yes, this is an opinion page. No, I don’t normally write about politics, which is what you normally find on an opinion page.
This week is different. I am going to talk about politics. Presidential politics are especially nasty this year. They’re nasty every time we have a presidential election, but this year is off-the-charts weird. I honestly think we are seeing signs of the four horsemen of the political apocalypse. Please allow me to explain.
The first horseman rides a blue donkey. Astride the beast of burden are Hillary Clinton (a.k.a. Hillary) and Bernie Sanders (a.k.a. the Socialist, or simply, Bernie). Of all the major candidates for president, Hillary is probably the most qualified (note, I didn’t say the best choice, just the most qualified). She has been a senator and secretary of state. She has also been president once before. (I say this tongue in cheek because we know who wore the pants during the first Clinton administration. Heck, Bill couldn’t even keep his on!)
Bernie is not a viable candidate. No one who is an avowed socialist is a viable candidate to lead the free world. That being said, we are on the tail end of an abominable socialist presidency that is tearing this county apart and bowing us at the feet of our enemies. Just last week President Obama was cavorting with Raul Castro at a baseball game in Cuba while terrorists were ripping Brussels, Belgium, apart. There’s leadership for you.
The second horseman rides a red elephant. This warrior comes in the form of two men – Donald J. Trump (a.k.a. The Donald) and Ted Cruz (a.k.a. the only candidate not actually born in this country).
Let’s start with Cruz. Although he most closely represents me politically, he scares me. First of all, I still question his qualifications for president. There are very few requirements for the job and one of them is to be a natural born citizen. He was born in Canada, and at best he just barely qualifies because he had an American mother. Secondly, he is a freshman senator. That’s not much experience. I had the same qualm eight years ago with Obama.
What gets me the most, however, is his bombastic attitude. He believes he is always right and leaves no room for discourse and fence mending. That’s the same problem The Donald has, but Trump has it infinitely worse.
I have never liked Trump. He is morally and ethically in extreme opposition to everything I hold dear. I stand for honesty, integrity, faith in God and service to others. Trump is all about Trump. He isn’t in this for America. He is in it for The Donald. He is all about building personal wealth and power and saying and doing anything to accomplish his goals.
There isn’t a philanthropic bone in his body. We’re talking about a guy whose catch phrase is “You’re fired!” He builds himself up by tearing others down. I fail to understand how anyone can vote for him in good conscience.
That leads me to the third horseman – the American voter. This is the most misinformed and misunderstood creature in game. These are the masses that put the first two horsemen in the leads of their respective parties. These are the ones who ignored worthy, legitimate and experienced candidates in favor of the extremists.
People, snap out of it. This isn’t reality TV. The person we pick will be ruining the country for the next four years. We’ve suffered enough for the last eight-plus years. Under Obama and Bush, our taxes have never been higher, our debt deeper and our standing in the world so weak than at any other time in history. Race relations are worse now than they’ve been since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. We have lost more of our rights and freedoms under the last two administrations than we have gained in the last two centuries.
Show me a candidate who will restore religious and personal freedoms, attack the debt and deficit, uphold Constitutional rights and seek unity across both parties for the betterment of the country and I’ll show you a candidate who just might be worthy of the White House.
By now you’re probably saying that’s just three horsemen. What’s the fourth? The fourth is akin to the third. It’s social media. It’s where honesty and integrity go to die. It’s the place where outright lies, half-truths, fact distortions and political spins pose as reality. The only place worse are the halls of Congress.
Social media is where most of us seem to form our opinions about the candidates. Whole philosophies are pared down to 140 characters or re-posted pictures with political statements on them. I don’t mind some political humor in my Facebook feed, but when postings get nasty and friends start believing and sharing outright lies and distortions, it no longer surprises me that the misinformed are on target to put the misguided into the highest seat of power on the planet.
You can take that as my political opinion. You can share it if you want, but do me a favor and fact-check it first. If I’m wrong, I don’t want this to go any further than between us. If I’m right, maybe we can spread the word far enough to wake the remaining voters up and get them to see what we are really about to do to ourselves at the ballot box.

National Geographic photographers saving the planet a click at a time

National Geographic photographers David Doubilet, left, and David Liittschwager listen as colleague Joel Sartore answers questions from the audience March 16 during a lecture hosted by FotoFest 2016 Biennial at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Houston.

Three National Geographic photographers are out to save the world one click at a time.

If a picture is worth a thousand words then David Doubilet, David Liittschwager and Joel Sartore are writing the bible of environmental awareness.
The three photographers are the featured artists for FotoFest 2016 Biennial’s new exhibit, Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet. The exhibit is on display through April 24 at Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring St., Houston. They were also the guest speakers at a kickoff lecture March 16 at First Unitarian Universalist Church where the sanctuary was filled beyond capacity for the event.
I have to confess here that what drew me to the event was not so much a compulsion to save the environment but a fan boy desire to meet Sartore. He made the Fundamentals of Photography videos for National Geographic that completely re-invigorated my career. Although the video program is barely a blip on the radar of his work, it moved me off a decades-long plateau of photographic stagnation. I had to thank the man responsible for inspiring me to reach for a new level of photographic accomplishment.

Although that was my primary motivation for going, what I came away with was something that should light a fire under every human being. What they showed were stunning, colorful pictures of nature. Unfortunately, what they also showed in those brilliant photographs was a dying world – our world.
Although they provided ample photographic evidence of global warming or climate change (or whatever you want to call it), you don’t have to believe in it to believe what their pictures say. Coral reefs are dying. Whole species of wildlife are vanishing. Whether or not you believe climate change is manmade, natural or not happening, their message is compelling and undeniable.
In our lifetime, numerous species of animals, insects and other life forms will vanish forever from the face of the earth. Some of it can’t be stopped. A lot of it can be prevented. The feeling and the message I came away with Wednesday night wasn’t so much one of despair and lament over what has been lost but a reflection of the beauty that exists now in nature and a hope of preserving it.
This is what we have and it’s worth fighting for.

Doubilet presented a slide show about The Living Reef. It was spectacular. Rather than show images of decaying reefs, he focused on the splendor and beauty of the reefs that are growing and flourishing. His message was that those areas are becoming fewer and smaller. The pictures showed the delicate and frail details of the corals and the life they support.
Liittschwager is engaged in a rather curious project called One Cubic Foot. He made a box frame that is one cubic foot that he takes to biodiverse areas and photographs everything that comes into the box. That can be anything from bugs and plants to cute, furry creatures and beautiful birds. He, too, is seeing the negative impacts mankind is having on the environment. More importantly, his box opens a window to view what we still have.
It was Sartore’s presentation of his Photo Ark project that just floored me. It’s not that I was a little star struck at meeting someone I consider an e-mentor, and now a friend, but because his work is simplistic and fascinating and his message incredibly compelling.
Sartore has been with National Geographic for 25 years. He began the Photo Ark project 10 years ago. Most of his work is done at zoos and aquariums. He places blank white or black backgrounds behind his subjects so they become the entire focus of the image. Rather than doing nature photography, he is doing nature portraiture.
“People like the straightforward nature of it. It’s very straightforward and direct,” he said of using the blank backgrounds.
His work is breathtaking and next month the magazine will produce 10 different covers featuring his photos. I encourage you to check it out.
One of the things each of the photographers talked about was getting people inspired enough to care and take action. Colorful coral or cute, fuzzy critters get a lot of attention but not everything worth saving has that aw effect. Some of it causes the ew reflex.
“When that frog dies that’s it,” Sartore said while flashing a slide on the screen. “That’s the very last one and when it’s gone the species will be extinct.”
He said posting pictures of creepy-crawly things actually cost viewers on social media sites.
“Snakes count too, but boy is it tough to get the public to care about snakes,” he said.
He said people should pay attention to bugs as much as they do birds and bears.
“All these things have value. The little things have value and it’s the little critters that make the world go round,” he said.
He said people need to appreciate more than mammals.
“There’s nobody paying attention to slugs and snails and mice and bats,” he said. “It gets me psyched up.”
Of course, he photographs a lot of cute, beautiful creatures. He showed a video of one of his shoots where he struggled to photograph a very aggressive bird. While it got a lot of laughs, it wasn’t his most difficult shoot.
“Black-footed ferrets are tough because they never stop moving, ever!” he told me.
He hopes that by preserving the images of animals today that their memory – or even the animals themselves – will carry to the generations of tomorrow.
“What’s our reaction when a species dies? Not much. We lament the death but then we go out and do it all over again. … We’ll be sad for a little bit, but we’ll go out and do it over and over again,” he said.
Since he began the Photo Ark project, several species have vanished forever. Among them are the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit and the Chucky madtom, a small river fish.
One of the more notable species that will soon die off is the northern white rhino. The aging survivors are at the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic.
He arrived and took photos of a sick rhino, one of four remaining in the world.
“We barely got its story told in time … she died a week after our visit due to a massive cyst rupture,” he said. “She died and now all we have is three and they’re too old to breed. And that’s how extinction happens.”
Not all of the animals he photographs are on the verge of extinction, but many are.
“We are on track to lose half of all the species you see here,” he told the crowd.
“Our generation, we’re the last to see a lot of these things. It’s the last time a guy can go around and capture a lot of these things,” Sartore said.
He said it’s the job of the photographer to do more than take pretty pictures.
“We have to make endangered species interesting,” he said. “We have to make it competitive with the Kim Kardashians of the world. We have to make it entertaining and fun to learn about species and learn about habitats.”
He urges people to talk about it because the politicians are not.
“Conservation is not being mentioned at all in the current political race, which is very annoying,” he said.
Sartore said people must act now or suffer the consequences.
“If we do not get the world’s attention quickly, in the next 10 years, 20 years, it’s going to be a very hot, miserable and impoverished world indeed,” he said.
He is a strong advocate of the work done by zoos and aquariums to preserve and protect endangered species. That work, however, doesn’t have to stop with trained professionals at those facilities.
“Think about what you can do,” he said. “Don’t leave here tonight and do nothing. Don’t just be entertained by pretty pictures, do something.”
I asked him what people can do and this is what he said:
“Check out the Photo Ark online, read, learn, get excited. Tell others that you care about the natural world. Support your local zoo. Watch how you spend your money, and what you consume. Your consumer choices have a much bigger impact in the Earth than you realize, from insulating your home well, to eating less meat, to the kind of car you drive. Study a little and save a lot I always say.”

Remembering the Alamo a new battle for reenactors

How well do you remember the Alamo?
The church and a rebuilt portion of the long barracks are about all that remain of the compound stormed by the Mexican army 180 years ago. Efforts are now under way by the Texas General Land Office to reclaim and restore much of the original footprint of the old mission-fort and to turn it into a first class destination befitting its new designation as a World Heritage Site.
While I applaud this and support the effort, there are some behind the scenes things going on that most people are unaware of. For decades, visitors have flocked to the site in early March to watch costumed volunteers reenact the battle with flintlocks and cannons blazing away.
For the last few years, rules and regulations imposed on the reenactors have made it increasingly difficult for them to put on their performances. This year, as they saluted the 180th anniversary, they were forced by the San Antonio and the GLO to relocate from Alamo Plaza into the street by the nearby gazebo. According to my sources, that may have been the last battle reenactment at the Texas shrine.
Unless there is a change in the political winds, the traditional reenactments will be relocated. This is a shame. One of the main reasons people come to the Alamo on the anniversary is to see the battle reenactments. People like seeing – and hearing – the booms and bangs of the muskets and cannons being fired.
Not only are the reenactments entertaining, but they give the viewers a real sense of what it must have been like during the battle. Granted there is a huge difference between dozens of actors firing blanks versus hundreds and thousands of men fighting to the death, but it tells the story much more effectively than a classroom lecture or even a guided tour.
In the last year I’ve spent a lot of time with the reenactors and I can’t begin to tell you what a letdown this change in policy is for them. They’re not a bunch of gun-happy, beer-swilling rednecks out to grandstand in front of historic landmarks. These guys and gals take their craft very seriously. They invest a tremendous amount of time and money working on their costumes, weapons and various accessories and dedicate hours to education and training.
Each one is a Texas history buff and has spent many long hours learning their history well enough to teach it. Many are direct descendants from the people who lived and died during the Texas Revolution. They spend a lot of time in formal training learning how to use their weapons during demonstrations. They go through very specific and rigorous inspections and tests to make sure safety comes first. They may be volunteers in terms of pay but they are very professional at what they do.
Government intervention in their processes nearly caused the San Jacinto reenactment to be moved from the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site to George Ranch Historical Park. It took the reenactors to doggedly stick to their guns before the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department would relent and allow them to do their demonstrations the way they have for decades. As it is, the show will go on.
If you have an interest in Texas history or would like to see some of these reenactments, there are some great opportunities coming up.
One of the biggest and best reenactments takes place April 2-3 at Presidio La Bahia in Goliad. Inside the rebuilt walls of the mission that Col. James Fannin dubbed Fort Defiance, visitors can tour the museum, watch battle reenactments, visit reenactment camps, enjoy talks and demonstrations and, during a special event in the evening, participate in the candlelight tour. On Sunday is a very moving reenactment of the Goliad Massacre.
This event is a favorite of many of the reenactors because it not only takes place at the actual spot where events occurred, but it is also roomy and well coordinated, giving them license to put on a first class show.
If you’re looking for something closer to home, the annual reenactment of the Runaway Scrape at George Ranch Historical Park in Richmond takes place April 9. This is a newer event on the reenactment circuit and is growing in size and popularity. Not only can you see a great battle between the fleeing Texans and the advancing Mexican army, it is a good time to visit with these living historians and also to tour the park that traces its roots to the days of the revolution.
April 23 will be the annual San Jacinto Battle Reenactment and Festival at the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site in La Porte. This is typically a huge celebration of the April 21, 1836, battle and victory over Mexico, drawing thousands of people. Weather permitting, this should be a huge draw this year for the 180th anniversary.
These events provide an excellent opportunity for people to not only learn more about Texas history but also to experience it from a different perspective. It’s a chance to see the actual sites where history was made and to explore the heritage of this great state and her people.
If you haven’t been to the battlegrounds from the Alamo to San Jacinto, this is the time to do it. Don’t just remember the Alamo – relive it and the epic story of the Texas Revolution while you still have the opportunity.

Get to know the new Fort Bend Star editor

Hello, Star readers.

It seems funny to be writing that last line. Just last week I was saying goodbye to the fine folks in Sealy. I’m not from Sealy; I worked at The Sealy News for two years and two months. I’ve lived in Rosenberg since Christmas of 2008. With the exception of a very brief time at another Fort Bend County newspaper, all of my employment has been in other counties and states.

I’m excited about the opportunity to work in my home county and to get to know the people here a little better. Actually, I want to get to know people here a lot better. I’m a community journalist and have been for most of my 29 years as a professional newspaper man.

I know I’m an unknown commodity here, so please allow me to introduce myself. As my predecessor Michael Sudhalter pointed out in his last column, I am a Denver Broncos fan. That’s because I was born and raised near the Mile High City and my family has had season tickets to the Broncos since the 1980s.

Don’t let my fandom define me. I’m also a big fan of the Houston Texans and the Sugar Land Skeeters. I love football and baseball, but sports are just a small part of how I identify myself. I am first and foremost a Christian. We are members of First Colony Church of Christ and attend services at the satellite campus in Richmond called Christ’s Church Foster Creek.

I have been married to Sandy for 16 years. We have four children. My daughter Heather is from my previous marriage and lives in Colorado where she is a senior at the University of Northern Colorado. Our oldest son Wesley lives with his grandparents in Orlando, Fla., and is attending a technical school there. Our middle son Luke is a freshman at Terry High School and our youngest son Colton is a seventh grader at George Junior High.

We are active in Boy Scouts with Troop 1000 in Richmond. Wesley and I are both Eagle Scouts and Sandy and I are Wood Badge trained. (She’s a Buffalo and I’m a Bobwhite.) Colton and I volunteer at Brazos Bend State Park. Most of the time when we are out there we can be found in the Nature Center showing people snakes and baby alligators.

In my past life I was the founder and owner of the Lone Ranger Fan Club. Although I have passed ownership on, I still like to attend costumed events in my Lone Ranger outfit and I have a collection of memorabilia. I also like Star Wars, Star Trek and superheroes.

More recently I have become a history buff and am currently working on a photo book project about Texas Revolution reenactors. As you will gradually come to know, I love photography. I’m happiest when I’m behind the camera playing photojournalist.

One of the things I’ve come to expect when I start a new job in this business is people wanting to know my political leanings. The journalist in me strives very hard to be fair and balanced not just politically, but in all areas of life. That being said, I am very conservative and make no bones about it. I work in a liberal industry and if I had to title my biography it would be “My Life Behind Enemy Headlines.”

Over the years I’ve had to write about a lot of stuff I don’t agree with, but I feel that just makes me a stronger and more balanced journalist. I don’t believe in attack journalism and I’m not out to “get” anyone. That doesn’t mean I won’t report about wrongdoing or corruption in business and government. It means that’s not my focus.

I believe in standing up for the community, waving the flag and cheering local progress and innovation. I’d rather help move the community forward and not get mired in the mud. As we get to know each other through the pages of the Star, I hope what you see is an honest reflection of the community and less a self-portrait.

This column is called Faith, Family and Fun. That title reflects my priorities and topics I like to write about. What I say in my column is my own opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the paper, its management or ownership. As long as we all understand that little disclaimer, we should get along very well.

That’s enough about me. Now it’s your turn to tell me your stories.

Live your life by Ricky’s example

Ricky Padilla is an inspiration.

The Sealy kindergartner is battling what is most likely terminal brain cancer. I can’t imagine what it is like for anyone to battle cancer, let alone brain cancer. To fight this disease at such a young age is baffling. His whole, brief life will be marked by bouts of illness, hospital visits, surgeries and medical treatments.

Despite all of that, from what little I know of Ricky (I have never met him or his family in person), he seems to be a happy child, full of life and ready to live in the moment.

Not long ago Ricky got to not only meet Pope Francis, but also be blessed by him on two occasions in Mexico City. Ricky’s family brought him to Mexico for cancer treatments. There, he got to meet the pope in the hospital and at a public gathering.

In all my 50 years I have met many famous people from singers, actors and athletes to politicians and religious leaders. I have never met a pope. Young, little Ricky has one on me there. Not that there is a contest or competition, mind you, it’s just that Ricky likely has a very short time on this earth and he is clearly making the most of it.

Too often people fail to make the most out of life. Ricky reminds me that we all have one shot at this life as we know it. Whether we get five years, 50 years or more than a century, our lives are short in the grand scheme of things. What we make of our lives depends on what we do now, in the moment. We can’t change what’s behind us and we have no guarantee of anything ahead of us in this corporeal life on earth.

When I came to The Sealy News two years and two months ago, it was an attempt to salvage the wreckage of my career. I had made some missteps, combined with a health issue, which left me completely off my career track. The Sealy News was for me a new beginning. First as a reporter and later as an editor, I was able to revive and strengthen my journalistic abilities.

Along the way I took advantage of opportunities that were open to me as well as ones that simply opened when I pushed on their door. I’ve gone skydiving, paced the sidelines of an NFL game, covered rodeos and comic cons, photographed Texas Revolution reenactments and done a bunch of other things just because I could.

Sealy has been an amazing place to work. I’m going to hate to leave it behind, but that’s exactly what I’m doing. By the time you read this I will be packed up and headed to my new job as editor of the Fort Bend Star. It’s a bittersweet time for me, as I have come to love this community and the people. At the same time I have an opportunity to work closer to my home in Rosenberg at a much larger newspaper.

Fort Bend County will afford me new challenges and opportunities. There will be new people to meet and different experiences to have. I plan to milk it for everything I can. The more of life I can draw out of the county the more life I can breathe into the paper. I hope that is what the staff of The Sealy News, along with my replacement, will do when I’m gone.

Sealy and Austin County have a lot to offer. The more the staff engages the community and unearths its beauty the more they will have to offer the readers of this fine newspaper. I highly encourage them and anyone reading this to be aware of your surroundings and to open your mind to the possibilities and opportunities that abound all around you.

Be like little Ricky. Don’t live like you are dying; live life to the fullest. Make the most of what comes your way because it may be all that you get.

May God bless each one of you and may he grace us with the opportunity for our paths to cross again someday.