Refuse the Juice

An Interesting Take on Gender and Ethnicity

I was listening to Jaime Abeytia's radio show on my way home for lunch today.  He was talking about a woman running for some local office.  She apparently married a white guy and for campaign purposes had to start throwing her Spanish maiden name in the mix to soften her whiteness for the election. 

I love this topic because it shows how inherently racist our society is.

On his show Jaime correctly asserts that the altering of a candidate's name to better reflect their original ethnicity is almost exclusively a trait of communities with large Hispanic populations.  There has been some of this type of name reorganization, if you will, in Polish and Irish communities in the past, but never to the extent that we see the Hispanics do it.

Obviously this situation happens more often with females than males.  Females often take their husband's name when they get married.  You will find some male candidates who have a white devil for a father and Hispanic mother will pick up their mother's maiden name out of convenience when they decide to run for office.  All of this is absolutely hilarious to me and rightly brings these candidate's decision making abilities into question.

I have often joked with people that to get elected in the Lower Valley that it's best to be a Hispanic female.  My big finish to the monologue usually advises that the perfect name for a Lower Valley candidate would be "Female, Hispanic."  Changing your name to that would almost guarantee a win in any race.

Years ago a colleague of mine and I were discussing a rather heated local race taking place in a southern California city where one of the candidates had brought her Spanish last name out of retirement for the election.  His question to me was a hard one to answer, he asked "who should be more offended, her husband whose name isn't good enough for her anymore, or the voters who are supposed to vote along ethnic lines instead of on the issues?"

That's a tough question.  I would say both the husband and the voters should be a little put out.  However, the voters are the reason this is a practice in the first place, so they can live with the reality they built.

The husbands of these women have to wonder what about their last name is so bad that they have to sneak their old one back into the mix.  Would they be doing this if their husband's name was Ruiz instead of Smith?  All of a sudden the husband is a white devil who she loves dearly, but not publicly.  It's as if she is saying, "I love you babe, but your whiteness is bad for my image."  I liken it to a white woman in the south being in love with a black man, but worried about how it would look if they appeared in public together.  In fact, it's no different.  She is saying, in this case, that her husband's ethnic background is not acceptable to others, therefore she would like to distance herself from it if only by a hyphen. 

Women have a choice when getting married to either take their husband's name or keep their own.  I offered to let my wife keep her last name.  My name is rather long and hard to spell and pronounce. It causes lots of inconveniences and I was happy to keep my wife from being frustrated.  She took the name anyhow and has regretted it every single day since.  The good news is that she's way too proud and stubborn to admit I was right and she was wrong, so she's kept the name and doesn't complain much.

I would advise all women who are Hispanic and in love with a white devil that they consider keeping their name just in case they want to run for office in El Paso in the future.  It just makes the ethnic pandering so much easier.

The addition of a Spanish surname to a candidate's current WASP name does say a lot about the electorate.  If there wasn't something to the strategy, we wouldn't see it being repeated in nearly every election cycle.  It obviously works.

When a candidate decides that their WASP name isn't going to work for an election, they are really saying that the voters in that district are ethnicists/racists.  They assume the voters would be turned off by the idea that they may be white.  In order to avoid the appearance of being white, they put a Spanish name in the game to do battle with their WASP image brought on by the fact that they (hold your nose here) MARRIED A WHITE GUY! 

(Yes, I know that Hispanics are of the white race blah blah blah)

A few years back a really intelligent and nice guy named Troy Hicks ran against Representative Eddie Holguin.  Hicks made no bones about his chances when asked about them on the Paul Strelzin show.  He said that his anglo last name would be a disadvantage.  Strelzin took a moment out of his daily routine of interviewing himself to chastise Hicks about that comment.   You would have thought the guy said Hitler was a role model for diversity. 

Hicks went on to give Holguin a pretty good run for his money, but unfortunately he's dropped out of sight since then.  I really liked the guy and thought he'd be a great elected official if given the chance and it's not because he's white.

The charge of racism followed Hicks after his little bout with honesty on a live mic (don't you wish more politicos would have bouts with honesty).  He was the poster child for our ethnic separation in this community even if he was merely an observer.  The hypocrisy was so thick around this statement that you could have sold it by the pound after hacking it away with a machete. 

Never had those like Strelzin, who were filled with righteous indignation over the statement, said a word about the reclamation of Spanish maiden names in order to appeal to voters who they knew would only vote for someone with a Spanish last name.  The act of pandering to a certain race or ethnicity had been taking place well within the view of the public for decades.  It only became a problem when a white guy pointed it out. And at that, the problem was that the white guy pointed out.  Somehow it was wrong for a white guy to point out what is essentially the fact that we vote in this city along racial and ethnic lines.  At least we do in certain parts of town. So much for calling it how your see it. 

It should be noted that Mayor Cook and that Senator Shapleigh are white.  Shapleigh has not had a Hispanic opponent to my knowledge and the Mayor's closest competition in the last election was a white guy (Gus Haddad).  Take from that what you will.

In closing, I think it's ridiculous for anyone to vote along racial or ethnic lines.  A white guy is as likely to screw me as a guy from any other race.  Assuming that because someone has a German last name like mine makes them just like me, or a fan of my same values, is stupid.  We're all individuals whether or not our government likes it or not.  You are more than your ethnicity!  I want you to vote accordingly.  If being Hispanic is the only qualification you look for in a candidate, then you deserve whatever you get from them when they are elected.  Good leadership knows no color.

Hello Captain Obvious

The El Paso Times must have just found their tickler file from 2007.  Today's editorial explaining the housing shortage for the incoming troops is long overdue.  We're talking two years overdue, not two months, by the way.

While I disagree that these soldiers are going to have families of ten coming with them as the paper would have you believe, there will be men and women who will live off base.  Most of them will be young and single.  They will have some disposable income and that's always a good thing for the economy. 

Don't believe the hype that certain people want to feed you about the size of families moving to town.  We all bought that lie when we were asked to vote for the school bond issue a few years back.  If we didn't build new schools there would be massive over crowding and natural disasters that would end the existence of the human race. That's at least what we were told by those "in the know."

It turns out that we had schools like Houston elementary that were running way below capacity back then and even lower now.  The First Cavalry, we also found out, wasn't full of married men with big families.  Turns out that it's mostly young single men.  Why do we need to build them new schools?  They don't even have steady girlfriends much less wives and hoards of kids. 

Always remember that for Superintendents new schools look much better on their resume than do good schools.  Sucking up tax dollars is what school districts do and they like to hire people who can help them do that.

However, apartment space will be at a premium even if classroom space isn't.  If there isn't enough space to house the troops the first and only effect will be the increase in rents.  What was once a $500 month apartment will be an $800 a month apartment. 

This will displace non-military families and send them out to the edges of the county where rents are cheaper.  Our colonias will grow.  We will be asked to provide even more tax dollars to improve colonias to help handle the mass amount of people searching for cheaper living.

Why is this going to happen?

Because our city council happens to be very anti-business.  They would rather make you live in the neighborhood they desire rather than let developers and home builders build new living spaces.  Their feud with the business community will lead to exactly what they want - no new growth. 

If the city council wasn't so Marxist, they'd realize that the construction of new living spaces is a sign of economic growth and strength that keeps the housing market stable and affordable.  Because they are Marxists, they have stifled all growth and expect you to live the way they do and within their rules.

The good news is that your house is about to be valued way higher.  That means higher property taxes!  More money for the Marxists at the city and school districts to spend!  More schools we don't need!  More bridges for people from other countries! More of all the things that you don't want!

I'm just glad the Times finally figured it out.

Under the Category of People I don't Know, but Love...

http://texassenate29.wordpress.com/

I hope this person keeps up the good work and I thank "LEP" for the link.

Whoever is publishing the blog can expect a lot of traffic.  Norma Chavez is a hot topic.  She's the woman we love to hate. She is the local celeb that we can't take our eyes off of even though we know we should.

I'm working on a piece right now for NPT that will look at the District 29 race from a practical point of view.  I was hoping the lionstar would continue his column through the troubles at NPT, but I guess he has become a big radio star and can't find time to write these days. 

Look for my new stuff coming up.

Don't Take Everything You Read So Seriously

Joe Muench had a humorous editorial this weekend on the state of the race for the state senator spot that Shapleigh says he's leaving.  With tongue in cheek, he takes a playful stab at a conspiracy theory.

Muench does what I wanted to do - make the leap that Shapleigh has masterminded a deal to draw Chavez out of her castle and then take her down.  He beat me to the punch!

It's slightly plausible that Muench is right in his assessment of the situation.  Maybe Shapleigh did announce in order to draw Norma out.  Once she gives up her seat to run for his, she's likely to be out of politics for good.  That would make Shapleigh's life a lot easier.

It's not that plausible, though.  Muench knows that and was just having a little fun with the situation.  I know a bunch of you took it as a fact.  More than likely Shapleigh is done with that seat and moving on to something else.  Again - Muench was probably just having some fun.

His premise still works - He drew her out and right into a trap where Jose Rodriguez will take her down.  The end result is the same.  Norma runs county wide and loses. 

Do not let anyone tell you that she's stronger than she is.  She can't win the northeast and the westside and that's where the voter turnout has been and is going to be. Plus, Rodriguez will take a big chunk of her valley vote because he has some interesting connections down there that I was just recently made aware of.  Remember, Rodriguez has done this county wide before, Norma hasn't.

More to come today.

I'm still looking for people who want to write something.  Send me an email. 

This is Why it's Hard to Like Norma Chavez

Here's the comment that appeared on my blog today:

El Paso County Attorney Jose Rodriguez surprised Norma Chavez by showing up in Austin on Wednesday to meet possible contributors to his campaign for the senate. Norma was really upset when several lobbyists she was counting on offered their support to Rodriguez. She got so mad that she started threatening several of them. She also promised she would get County lobbyist Steve Breznen fired from his job for helping Rodriguez. But the “shoot” hit the fan when Norma stumbled upon Rodriguez at a meeting of the Hispanic Caucus. She threatened to file an ethics complaint against Rodriguez for campaigning “on the job” and, in an effort to stop the bleeding of support from lobbyists, she decided to announce right there that she was running for the senate (see Aaron Peña’s twitter post http://twitter.com/AaronPena/status/5031489780). Poor Norma, she is getting desperate and making serious mistakes.

Too many times have I heard that she reacts like this any little thing for me to dismiss it.  Too many times.  It's embarrassing.  It's sad.  It shows a lack of maturity.

Other representatives don't act this way.  Grownups don't act this way.

Instead of being the type of person who takes these things in stride, she flips out.  Now we have a situation where she hurt her standing (again) in Austin.  It does not matter if we like her when it comes to legislation on the state level.  If they don't like her, we don't get what we want.  If we don't understand that, then we don't deserve better.

She needs to stay in the house and fight there.  We need someone calm and cool on the senate side to help us get the votes we need on our legislation when they move from the house.  It's a strategy, not a brawl. 

If she refrained from doing these kinds of things I would gladly leave her alone. 

Believe it or not, I said great things about her before the last session started.  It wasn't until she went back to being the Tasmanian Devil that I started being hard on her again. 

Does she not recognize that her behavior is unacceptable?  Does she have such a warped view of herself that she can not understand when she's gone too far?

Whatever - keep them coming.  I'll pay money for a video or recording of one of her meltdowns.

Wake Up El Paso Times

In today's editorial the El Paso Times lauds the city council's resolution to support some BS lang grab in Las Cruces.  Yeah for the land grabbers.

Their reasoning behind supporting the trespass on American's property rights is "Storm 2006."

The El Paso Times incorrectly determined that building in arroyos caused the damage.  They base this assumption on one kooky Environmental Engineer/Professor from UTEP.  The emphasis should be placed on the fact that the only person who claims that arroyo development was the cause of the damage is an Environmental Engineer.  The proper type of engineer to assess the reasons for the damage from flooding is a Civil Engineer.

The entire false premise that arroyo development caused the problems in 2006 was born out of a the local media's ignorance as to who was an expert on what.  Asking an environmental engineer his thoughts on flow paths and drainage is like asking a pharmacist about neuro surgery.  You wouldn't ask a computer repair man about your roof leak, would you? 

Not one civil engineer in the entire region has indicated that construction in arroyo caused the problems we experienced.  In fact, many have said that in many cases that arroyo development is the only thing that kept massive rock slides from happening.  Had the land been left as it was, water would have come crashing down to the valley at such a rate that thousands would have drowned pinned to their living room ceilings.  You don't' hear much about that, do you?  That's because the local media never took a minute to call an expert on the issue.

The reason for the damage was quite obvious and led to the controversial transition of the storm water care from the city to the PSB. This happened because 50 percent of the damage was caused by clogged and unmaintained drainage infrastructure.  Had those stormwater solutions been operational we would not have had the problems in the severity that we had them.  I liken the situation to a motorcycle rider not wearing a helmet and dying in an accident that had he been wearing a helmet he would have walked away from.

Another 25 percent of the damage came from errors in math.  Simple problems with calculations.  Those familiar with the exact issues can attest to that.

And the final 25 percent of the damage came from the fact that people chose to develop in low areas where water collects.  If you live near the river (lowest point) and it rains on the mountain; guess who's getting all the water? 

For the El Paso Times to perpetuate such a myth is sad.  They have zero facts to back up their theory, yet they constantly shout that theory at the top of their lungs.  How do they expect to be trusted?

Be Patient

The steady stream of email to my inbox has a common theme - who's running for Shapleigh's seat?

My best answer is pretty easy - no one.  You can't get in the race officially as of yet.  We have lots of time for people to get in or get out. 

As someone who is considering a run, I can tell you that the day to day happenings in life really make it hard to commit.  Possible candidates who are not currently elected officials have a lot to consider when running.  For me some offices would be a huge pay cut and others a huge pay increase.  The time commitment is also a factor.  If I sign up to do a job and my wife gets pregnant next year; will I be able to give each commitment the proper amount of time?

Right now Norma Chavez and Jose Rodriguez are weighing many things with one foot in the ring and the other out of it.  There is no telling what may come up that could either push them toward running for Shapleigh's seat or away from it.  They've got months, not weeks when it comes down to it.

There's no word on the republican side of who just might jump in.  There's a strategy to staying out of the race until they see who gets in.  I think a guy like Dee Margo would stay out of the race if Rodriguez was for sure running.  Rodriguez can win and the republicans can tolerate him.

We're just going to have to play the hurry up and wait game.

So I Talked to Rep. Byrd

I have to hand it to Representative Susie Byrd, she is not afraid to call someone up and say, "they're right, you're wrong."

She told me today that she said what was quoted in the article and that she may or may not enjoy a Schlitz beer on occasion.  She did not admit to peeing in the bushes.

Her take on the Playboy piece is quite different than I thought.  She thinks it makes El Paso look funky and interesting.  I can see that... I guess.

I definitely do not see the world as Susie sees it, but I do respect her honesty.

Now that I look at it, what's the problem with the rumor that the cheese at Chico's is government cheese?  They aren't claiming that it's longhorn cheddar or anything, so what's the big deal?  If you like it, you like it.

I'm tired of the subject.

Any of you want to write something?  Email me - I have a project coming up and will need writers.

Double Tree Hotel - The Secret of Being a Democrat Fundraiser

I thought it was interesting how easily the city council made concessions to Double Tree hotel owner and democratic fundraiser, Jim Scherr.  Had it been Paul Foster there would have been marches on city hall and an all out assault on wealthy businessmen.

I guess being a fundraiser for democrats around town makes it a lot easier to thumb your knows at contract obligations with the city.  Nobody but Carl Robinson even cared to blink. 

Talk about buying influence.  In a time when liberal issues like job training programs are going unfunded or underfunded coupled with a budget deficit, this guy gets a tax cut when they don't have to give him one.

Don't get me wrong, I'm for tax cuts.  However, it's funny that when someone who is not in the inner circle of local democrats asks for one the answer is always "no."  Occasionally it's "hell no you rotten SOB!"

"There are two El Pasos!" Said Teresa Caballero.  I'm afraid she's right.

Question of the Day

How did Norma pay for trip to Dallas to see Texas play Oklahoma?

Per diem? 

I hope not.

Decisions, Decisions, Choices

The frenzy of activity surrounding Shapleigh's news that he wasn't going to run again has calmed considerably.  Two things have started to happen since we've all taken a deep breath and put our pants back on.

First, all of the currently elected officials who were thinking about putting their hat in the ring are reconsidering that thought.  County Attorney Jose Rodriguez jumped in with both feet as soon as he could. The strategy being that he wanted to be the guy to beat.  The first one to announce always takes on the role of the de jour incumbent when it's an empty seat.  Instead of Pickett, Chavez and others saying to themselves, "can they beat me?" they are saying "can I beat Rodriguez"  That's an extremely important distinction.  It's easier to defend a castle on a hill than it is to attack it. 

Now that Rodriguez has set the point and made the decision to leave his currently held position, the onus is on the others to make that leap.  Does Pickett really want to give up his chairmanship along with this seat in a battle against Rodriguez who has been elected county wide before?  Does Chavez want to do the same?  If Pickett and Chavez lose, they are on the bench for a minimum of two years and there's no telling if they will ever be called up to the majors again (I have some terrible metaphors coming from these fingers today!). 

Those two egos have to do some serious thinking before they jump into the race.

The second theme playing out after the frenzy is the question of why Shapleigh would not run again.  I will roughly explain what I've heard and what I think below.  Please know that I have not heard any of this on good authority and that all of this is pure wild ass guessing.  As you may imagine, Shapleigh and I aren't exactly best friends.  Here we go:

1.  Somebody has something on him and he's willing to step down in order to keep it from coming out.  I think this is the weakest of all the guesses.

2.  He's running for a statewide office.  This makes sense because of the way he has packaged his legislation over the last two sessions.  He gave his legislative agenda a catchy name that appeals to families and it smells of a branding campaign used for pursuing higher office.  His timing and collusion with Rodriguez may let him hook a few political foes and dispose of them in the process.  I'm feeling very strong about this guess.

3.  He's simply tired of swimming up stream.  He is not getting more popular with age and he's about to the point where even his democratic buddies know that the general public is just fed up with the guy.  His Shapleigh Campers have all but abandoned him with one of them even going out of their way not to be seen with him in public or in photographs.  Ending things on his terms is a lot easier to take than a defeat in a primary or a general election.  There's some quote about burning out instead of fading away. I'm not sure how good this guess is.

4.  He's recently remarried and he wants to travel with his beautiful new wife and spend time with her.  That's very plausible.  Spending time with the wife needs no explanation or excuse, it's a good thing.  This guess is weak, though.  He's a busy-body. 

Your guesses?

Norma on KHRO Again?

Just got word that Norma is on Hector's show today.  At some point the station will have to address her constant guest appearances before an election.  There are rules. 

They used to have a policy, but I guess that's gone now.

The Playboy Article on El Paso

You can read the article some where after this dash - Download Playboy article.

It's hard to break this all down, but I think it can be done.

First off, don't be upset that El Paso wasn't portrayed in the best light.  Playboy and a whole other list of magazines aimed at horny men with a little education eviscerate cities, religions and other types of people and places all the time.  It's a formula they use to sell magazines.  

I've been to two writing workshops on how to write feature length articles where the science of journalism meets the art of short fiction.  These are the types of articles you see in men's magazines and even in other types of magazines like Vogue and Texas Monthly.  More specifically, the article in Playboy is a case of facts meet fiction to form a very entertaining picture for readers.

One thing men like to read about is the heavy contrast between tranquility and violence.  Playboy has done articles on Canadian and American biker gangs that were considered egregiously over the top by both law enforcement and the gangs themselves.  However, the readers (mostly males) were riveted to the violence and sexy underworld known only to outlaws and men who had chosen much different paths in life than they themselves had.  There's a reason movies of mindless violence and ridiculous plots are still at the top of the list - men love it.

My point here is that the author had no other choice but to write what he did.  His assignment was not to go to El Paso and write some loving travel article about food, mountain biking and sweeping sunsets.  His charge was to deliver something a 35 year-old man could read with interest while sitting on the pot.

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The one thing I see immediately is that the author saw El Paso through Cinco Puntos Press owner, Bobby Byrd's eyes.  There are 700,000 plus El Pasoans and we would all show the author a different version of El Paso if asked to give a tour.  Our first inclination is to say, "I would have taken him here and never taken him there!"  You have to wonder what the author would have seen if left on his own to discover the city.  Something tells me that would have been even harder to stomach.

Within the text of the article the author writes in parenthesis, "what neighborhood in El Paso is not a Mexican barrio?"  Obviously we can figure out that this statement came from the author's experiences afforded to him by his guide, Bobby Byrd.  Byrd makes no bones about the fact that he thinks El Paso in its essence is the central part of town.  Many of you would disagree.  Not everyone in El Paso finds 100 year-old homes that are falling apart to be the best representation of an entire city. 

Obviously, the author saw what his host wanted him to see and figured that if there was anything different, Byrd would have shown him that.  Just look at each place Byrd took him and picture what each of those neighborhoods look like.  If you take someone to all the bad parts of town (whatever that really means is up to you), they're going to paint the entire city as they saw it.

Being escorted through the Segundo barrio and back up to the "Devil's Triangle" doesn't conjure up the kinds of nostalgia from a stranger that we feel.  My dad still sees the neighborhood near Austin high school where he grew up as it was forty years ago.  I see it completely different as does my wife who has been here for only a short while. He thinks it's neat and I think the place needs a major face lift.

The point here is that if you take a guy to all the bad parts of town, expect him to have a bad impression of the entire city.  Had they taken him to the far Eastside and to the developments on the Westside, he may have written a different description of the city.  Bobby Byrd's El Paso isn't everyone's El Paso.

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The author takes some poetic license, for lack of a better phrase, with the Schlitz beer and peeing behind the bush at the Music Under the Stars concert he attended.  I haven't seen anybody other than rednecks drink schlitz beer in this town and everyone knows that there are cops all over the place at that weekly concert and you can't just go around pissing in bushes without ending up in cuffs. 

The important part of his invention of these activities is that he becomes a part of a problem he talks about later in the article.  In the section where he introduces Professor Saenz, the author attempts to show how misconceptions of the border (car thefts) are developed out of fear and dislike for Hispanics.

How does falsely accusing a crowd of locals of being Schlitz drinkers and public pissers help the image of Hispanics?  His efforts to quash the rumors that border Hispanics as dirty and violent are useless when he goes on to paint border Hispanics as dirty and violent. 

The rest of the article is filled with these little embellishments down to the comments made by Commissioner Escobar about "government cheese."  I'm sure they went to Chico's Tacos.  I wish they hadn't because to any outsider Chico's isn't nearly as cool as we think it is.  It plays into negative Hispanic stereotypes that the local Hispanics are trying to avoid (sorry to use "Hispanic,"  but they're not "Mexicans" and Latinos hate being called Chicanos and Chicanos can't stand being called Latinos, however they don't want to be lumped in with plain old white Americans.  So excuse me if I tiptoe around your identity issues.)

I've talked to Veronica Escobar on many occasions in public situations.  I even had phone conversations with her and exchanged the rare email with her.  Most of the time she's setting the record straight on something I have written or said.  She does it in a nice way and is a woman who is extremely measured with her words. I called her on this and she denies saying those words and I believe her.  I believe her if not only for the fact that the guy wasn't recording her words either with an electronic device or pen and paper, but also because she's a rather politically correct person and Suzie Byrd is a political correctness nazi. 

I really don't see her saying those things, but I do, however, see how the author's impression of a rundown restaurant serving what appears to be slop would lead to the quote out of pure convenience.  Remember, a good author of these articles always make himself out to be the casual observer while using his host's imaginary words to paint the picture he really wants you to see.

This story needs some invented details to be as long and arduous as it is.  No guy wants to read the rather mundane truth that we're just like the rest of America when it comes to every day life even if they are killing a generation of men just a short distance across the border.

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I do believe that Byrd talked about the Ft. Bliss expansion in the manner the story paints.  You're a liar if you don't admit you feel the same way. 

It's okay to wonder aloud about how the injection of 30,000 young men into your city is going to work out.  Young men of any occupation in that number would add to crime statistics in a community.  Stating that fact does not diminish their value as heroes.  It does show honesty in explaining what we know about young men and what they do when moved far from home and then crammed close together in large numbers.

The "narcos" aren't as much of a worry as the soldiers for the mere fact that one group is here and the other is not. 

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I do agree with those who bemoan the fact that once again our city didn't come out looking too great.  However good the effort in this article was to make us look safe, it was not enough to overcome the author's conjecture that you could get your ass kicked just about anywhere here in El Paso by menacing looking cholos. 

The contradictory nature of the article shows me that the only goal here was to sell magazines.  The idea was to paint a picture that the white males over 30 who subscribe to Playboy could read and be entertained by while taking care of natures call.  It's real enough for them to picture the horrid violence in their mind, but far enough away in El Paso that they would never have to worry about it seriously. 

The simple fact is that we are still viewed as an enigma that doesn't conform to what those who wish to judge us want us to be.  Oh how great of a news story it would be for the major networks if El Paso was under siege like Juarez.  It would be devastating to us, but a perfect story for them. 

The plot lines have all been written in the minds of the producers at Fox News and CNN.  Wild Mexicans with machine guns cross the border and execute innocent Americans in a battle reminiscent of an Apache raid in a dime novel of the 19th century.  Audiences would again be treated to a tale that both scares and intrigues them.  Network executives would love nothing more than to have millions of middle-aged, white housewives scared out of their minds and locked into their network for hours as they tell the story of the CRAZY MEXICANS WITH MACHINE GUNS!!!!

Because that hasn't happened, we get treated like shit by those would gain the most if it did - the press.  Anderson Cooper comes to town and he doesn't want a great enchilada or a ghost tour of the Plaza Theatre (more on that in a minute), he wants cartel violence and he wants it on this side of the border.  It's not a story until it moves over here. 

Until the violence does move over here, expect the media to treat us as if we don't care about it.  We do care about it, we do think about it, but we're not going to stop living our lives because of it.  The press would like it if we did, though.

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We need to be cognizant of this ghost and goblins thing that some El Pasoans are obsessed with.  Some things are better left for conversation among locals.  We look a little hokey if the first thing we start talking about is our supposed ghost population.  It's not a good way to get people to take us seriously. For example, you wouldn't mention that you see ghosts on a first date. Let's pretend all strangers are first dates and not mention ghosts.

This is not to say that folks like Ken Hudnall haven't made a great little cottage industry out of our historical sites and their eternal guests, they have and it's a fun thing for the LOCALS.  I myself have been an avid reader of paranormal literature for years.  I just made it a point to make sure I didn't tell strangers that I thought big foot lived in Canutillo the first time I met them and not even on the fifth time we met.

And by the way, "La Llorna" or whatever you call her doesn't exist.  The river ghost is a running myth that has roots back to Roman times.  Every single river in the entire world has a wailing woman ghost story and they are all identical.  It would be impossible to assume that our river is the only one in the entire world where the myth is actually true.  Please stop telling people about this myth, it makes you look stupid to anyone who has ever read a book on urban legends. 

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We will get over this soon enough.  It's just another scratch on an already scarred body.

I Don't Know Anything About NPT and Other Things

Update - Jaime is freaking out about this post.  I hit a nerve.  He was the their third choice from what I understand and it's a "let's see how it goes" gig.  It seems everyone else they wanted first had a day job.

I could care less about being on the radio again and have turned down two offers to do a show in the past three months.  I have a day job and It takes a lot of my time and pays all of my bills. No need to get invested in something that doesn't pay my bills and takes up all my time. 

And the biggest reason I can't go on the air (drum roll)... I have announced publicly that I may run for office soon.  Hiring me to be on air knowing that fact would put a station in a very bad spot with the FCC and Texas Ehtics Commission.  Jaime Abeytia wouldn't know anything about ethics, so forgive him if he's got the story all wrong.

I wish him luck with the early morning drunks.  Glenn Beck I hear is shaking in his boots at the thought of Jaime being on the air!

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I have written for NPT in the past, but that doesn't mean I'm "in the know" when it comes to their status, financial or otherwise.  A lot of you have asked, but I'm the wrong guy to ask.

I can tell you that it's terrible news that they won't be going full force for a while.  Their coverage of the corruption scandal is/was very necessary and very good.  We're losing out on that coverage for sure.

All I can say is that I know some people who are interested in offering something in place of NPT if it goes away.  It may not be a daily, though.  It will be very focused on free lance work if it becomes a reality.

My blog has been seeing insane numbers of users since NPT went down.  I guess that's the only good thing I can think about all this.

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I'm not taking Brabara's spot on KHRO and have not even been contacted.  I saw the guy running the show, David Candelaria, yesterday and we talked about everything but the station. 

I know that several people have been begging for the spot and that of course Norma Chavez has made an appeal for Jaime Abeytia to take the slot so she gets dailly airtime and another very friendly host.  I also know that Jaime has been begging for the job himself as well.  Others who have made their desires known are Jerome Tillman and some conservative dude I've never heard of.  It doesn't matter because it's not a strong time slot.  If Strlezin moves to the ten to one slot, that will leave the four to six open and who knows how that would go.  After Hector is done talking to the retired drunks there is really no audience left.  So whoever gets that spot has their work cut out for them.

The bottom line with the radio thing is that I meet a lot of people who have read my stuff and maybe 2 out of 50 know that I had a radio show or that Strelzin had/has one either.  It's a huge a ego trip that you take all by yourself.

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Lots of people have been talking about running for Shapleigh's spot.  We'll see how it pans out.  Most all agree that Chavez running is the most important aspect of this news.  She'll lose her current seat and then lose her bid for State Senate and she'll be gone forever!  So, if you see Chavez, tell her to run for State Senator!

The Shapleigh Deal

This as basic as I can make it.

1.  Shapleigh is out.

2.  Shapleigh is probably running for something statewide - AG, Railroad Commissioner - who knows, I wasn't at the press conference.  The bottom line is that he's gone as far as he can go representing El Paso without going backwards.

3.  Shapleigh is a very smart dude.  He knew that if he got up, Norma Chavez would sit down.  That's why Jose Rodriguez is holding a press conference today to announce his run for Shapleigh's seat.  The idea here is to back Chavez out of the race.

4.  Let's sleep on it.  I'm not sure what the republicans are going to do.  I know that if Norma gets in the race, I'm in.  We can't afford to have her win a primary where the moderate democrats who would vote for Rodriguez end up voting in the republican primary which would give the win to Norma.  I would be there to stop her and believe me, I can stop her.  She won't get the votes anywhere but the valley and her challenger will have millions to spend.

So, there you have it.

Also, look for Mayor Cook to make some kind of move.

Thoughts on Reading - non-Political

I'm a pretty avid reader.  I prefer it to anything that my be interrupted by commercials.

For the first time in my entire life I started and finished a book in one night.  I picked up "the Road" by Cormac McCarthy and read it straight through in three hours.  It's around 283 pages and I can tell you that I've never read more than 50 pages of a book in a night and maybe 100 or so on a long day of flying.

I don't read a lot of fiction at all.  It gives a person too big of a window to participate in a world that doesn't actually exist.  I day dream enough already.  I don't need any help.

In order to maximize my coverage of different subjects I read several different books at a time.  This isn't some kind of bragging point, but a point of practicality and helps with my own struggles of coupling my amount of free time with the correct amount of stimulus.

The key to reading several books at once is the layout of each book.  That's probably not the exact word I'm looking for (layout), but it will do.

Your day, like mine is sectioned off into parts.  Some parts are crammed full of work or other activity that does not allow you to have your nose in a book, while other parts of your day afford small, medium and large amounts of time where reading can be accomplished.

For those times of the day where I only have a few minutes to read, I have a book that corresponds with that constraint.  If I'm in the bathroom (we can talk about it, everybody does it), I know that I have a short amount of time.  Therefore I pick a book that has quick excerpts of facts or figures.  For instance, I'm reading a book right now that is just thousands upon thousands of quotes.  I wouldn't want to try and start a chapter in a novel or biography in that short amount of time, so I found something that worked with that time constraint.

I always have a book of short stories or short compositions for the times that I have between twenty minutes and forty minutes to read.  This allows me to start and finish something with relatively more meat in it at each sitting.  In order to enjoy reading, you have to start and finish ever so often in order to keep your interest.  For instance, when I was re-reading "Atlas Shrugged," a book of well over a half-million words, it was necessary to have something on the side to read that would give me the satisfaction of starting and finishing.  If you are having trouble reading novels and you think it's because they are too long, be counterintuitive and get a book of short stories to read concurrently and you just might find yourself more interested in the novel.

Of course, big books with long chapters are best read when you can find a stopping place between chapters and not right in the middle of them.  Stopping in the middle of a chapter is a big no-no and here's why. 

Most good writers make sure that their stories work in the shape of a cowboy hat.  It's the bell curve of story telling.  They take you on a ride up to the top and bring you back down to about where you started.  They do this each chapter and if you stop in the middle and come back later you're always forced to go back and catch up to where you were.  If you finish a complete chapter at each sitting, you would only at most have to read the last paragraph of the previous chapter to catch up.  It's important that you read books intended to be read in sections, in sections. 

The bottom line of my advice here is that in order to maximize your reading, it's important to match the size of your passages to the amount of time you have.  Doing that will allow you a wider a range of reading in a much shorter time.

Now go pick up a book and stop wasting your time on blogs!

A Little Advice for Municipal Employees

Most every office that is paid for by taxpayers is accessible by those taxpayers.  We can pretty much figure out a way, or a reason, to be in or around your office at some point. 

With that in mind, please be concerned about your work area.  Not just cleanliness and organization count.  Here are some general tips for you and even other people who work in private offices.

1.  If you have more than five pictures of anyone or anything at your desk, you're suspect.  People like me assume you spend more time putting up pictures of your friends, family and movies stars than you do working.  We also know that you probably spend hours each day explaining the significance of each picture.  Remember, your desk is not a memorial, it's a place where work happens - not reminiscing.

2.  Seasonal decorations are another sign to outsiders that employees are screwing around hanging ghosts and witches for Halloween and not getting their work done.  Work is scary enough, we don't need paper mache witches to drive home the point.  Again, your desk area is for working - not celebrating fall.

3.  Colored pens are a big no-no unless you are in a job that requires you to edit copy with red ink.  The only colors of ink that a business person should be dealing in are blue, black and red.  Any other color gives visitors like me the impression that your are pretending to be a 35 year-old sorority girl while at work.  At no point is the color pink an appropriate color ink to conduct the business in.  It is extremely unprofessional to have someone sign their name on any document in lilac.  You're an adult, coloring is for kids. 

4.  Music is a wonderful addition to any work environment.  It has been proven to stimulate the subconscious part of the brain so that the conscious part can get work done.  However, "gangsta rap" and off-color morning shows tend to be distracting and distasteful.  That goes for whiny country music as well. You're at work - you're not being paid to be entertained.

I hope this advice can be taken to heart.

All Around Town - The Basic Salad

I love days when I get to mention Norma Chavez.  Her people go ape-shit and check the site literally every few minutes.  My analyzer starts flagging people to tell me that the person is incessantly hitting  "refresh."  I have to laugh when I see where the IP address is coming from. 

Poor, poor Norma.  Her hired gun hasn't been heard from in days and Strelzin's eight listeners just can't keep her ego fed. 

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Speaking of Norma.  What the hell was Commissioner Gandara doing having lunch with her and Carlos Aguilar?  I guess Gandara needs to explain how he could swallow food with a slimy jerk like Aguilar sitting across from him.  Hanging with Norma is bad enough for his image, he doesn't need Aguilar completely ruining it.

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Speaking of Aguilar.  Would any of you like to put the pieces together of how he and an anglo buddy worked Haggerty over in order to renew two lobbying contracts that aren't doing us much good.  Looks like Haggerty's post fundraising meal could be called a "quid pro quo" if you knew all the facts.  Too bad the local news outlets here are too busy covering God know what to read a freaking county commissioner's agenda and compare it to dates and attendees of fundraisers.

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As for the newspaper story on Strelzin's trash talking while Montelongo was on... Give me a break.  Before you start turning Montelongo into a martyr, you need to know that when she was first elected she went after a former employer who had a contract with the district.  Her little stunt caused several sub-contractors to not get paid and led to them going out of business.  Her little hissy fit literally screwed innocent, hardworking business people to the point that they had to fold.  So don't go carrying that idiot on your shoulders.

As for the argument as a whole... Who cares other than CONGRESSMAN REYES' SISTER IS BACKDOOR DEALING SIX FIGURE CONTRACTS TO FRIENDS!!!!!

Please re-elect Reyes so his family can continue to screw us.  We now know that Reyes is interfering in the corruption investigation on behalf of Cobos and others.  How much farther will he go once his family is caught up in it?

Let's Makes Something Clear to the Morons

Here's a comment by Norma herself or her friend -

David, your jelousy of Norma blurs your judgement. Just this session: *$30 million for developing worker\'s skills *Passed HB 2169 which will bring more jobs to el paso *Passed HB 2531 which stops the guv misusing funds that target job creation *HB 1725 which givs more money to el paso schools affected by BRAC PLUS: Moves toward a law school in El Paso, reform of Thomason hospital and the guts to say the ethics bill wont change anything and might make things worse. What did you do this session? Oh that\'s right, you kept a journal and worked for daddy. Well done.

1. I'm not jealous of someone who took 100 years to graduate from college and then took taxpayer money to accomplish that feat.  Neither am I jealous of the person who is the butt of every joke in Austin.  Just a couple a weeks ago I was in Austin for a wedding and during dinner the guests, knowing I'm from El Paso, told their favorite "Norma is a freak" story.  Every single one of them was very embarrassing for our city, but very funny.

2.  Passing bullshit bills in the house and then having them not go anywhere is not an accomplishment.  Anyone can get a bill out of the house.  Otherwise, show me where the money is.  Show me the receipt for money when it arrived in El Paso.  You can't.  And you know where that money would have gone if had been given to us?  Cafe Mayapan!  Which was proven to be a waste of taxpayer money and not a program that puts anybody to work outside the program.  Showing up with a shovel doesn't mean you did any digging.

3.  A resolution does not mean El Paso is moving toward a law school - at least at UTEP, that is.  Texas Tech may do it on their own, but that's a huge maybe.  UTEP officials do not have any current interest in creating a law school.  We have plenty of lawyers - bio-research and nursing are the frontiers they see as our future.  Get your facts straight, please.

4.  She fought the ethics reform because her cousin is the Sheriff's union guy and he told her to do so.  She also wanted to send a message to Veronica Escobar and Marisa Marquez.  In time, she was approached by the Luther Jones clan and told to oppose the move so they could continue and try to screw El Pasoans.  Judge Cobos and friends love the light touch offered by the old ethics rules.  Her opposition to the ethics bill is a sure sign of her lack of ethics.  Take for example the nice party lobbyist threw for her and her failure to report what each person spent and who they represented.  She has no ethics, therefore does not like any rules that would get in her trouble.  Only the people who have had trouble being honest hated the bill - Barbara Perez being a prime example.

5.  I did keep a journal.  You read it every day.  I do work for Daddy and it's been a great year even though the economy has hurt us a little.  You forgot to mention that I also took out my old garden and started plans for my new one.  I also hung new doors upstairs and ran new cable on the outside of the house.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot - I EXPOSED NORMA FOR WHAT SHE IS - A SELF-RIGHTEOUS CRAZY PERSON WHO ONLY CARES ABOUT HERSELF AND HER BOTTOM LINE.

Let's Not Spout Off About Your Record, Ms. Chavez

I listened to a lot of KHRO yesterday.  I had to listen to Strelzin's show because the City Manager was on and I'm always interested in what she has to say.  Sadly I had to listen to Strelzin interview himself for the majority of the broadcast.

When the interview of Strelzin by Strelzin was over and the city manager left, Norma Chavez sat down to use the free airtime given to her by KHRO so that she could campaign for herself.  She started talking about her record and I thought for sure she was talking about how many fights she has won.  Apparently she wasn't talking about that.  She actually thinks she has accomplished something!

What a Liar.

No gambling yet.

No third building for Texas Tech Medical School.

MHMR is going under because she couldn't get them funding.

Her district still suffers from high unemployment.

I could go on forever.  The only thing she did accomplish was getting her college degree using taxpayer money to do so and forcing lobbyist to throw her a huge party and refusing to report who bought her influence at what price.

She's a real success, alright.

She was also talking about drugs yesterday... This woman has no business lecturing people on drug use.  I think many people know why.  She pretends nobody remembers anything about her past.

KHRO - Stop on By and Get Free Political Advertising!

I was on my way downtown when the text messages started rolling in.  Barbara Perez announced she would be leaving her radio show on Friday because she's planning on running for Justice of the Peace in her precinct.  Awesome! Here's why.

1.  She has to resign from the Thomason board.  She might even have to do it immediately.  This keeps her from trying to profit from shaking down vendors etc. that want to do business with Thomason.  You may remember her Big League Dreams fiasco where she claimed ignorance of the law and thought it was a good enough excuse.

2.  She's off of the air.  That means she can't poison her four listener's minds any more.  I'm sure the airhead grandma routine was getting old with the staff there at KHRO anyhow.

3.  The JP position pays very well.  She won't be tempted to break the rules in that position.  It's also a rather innocuous spot as far as public policy goes.  She will never show up for court and always be sick and get more than $70,000 to do pretty much nothing.  I can't think of a better job for her.  That's if she wins.  I don't know much about her little precinct and if they buy the airhead grandma routine she puts on.  The last time she ran for office, she was spanked by Napoleon Cobos, and that's not something that gives you a lot of confidence for your next election.

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When I got back in the truck I heard her say that Larry Medina was stopping in.  The ensuing exchange was very odd.  Scary Larry was apparently driving around El Paso with the owner of "Ben's Tacos" and just happened by the station. 

Of course, an impromptu in kind donation was made by the station when Larry was invited to come politic for himself on the air.  Apparently they really don't seem to care about campaign finance laws, FCC rules or whether or not they get their ass in a sling for doing exactly what Strelzin did years ago to get his ass in a sling. 

The drop by visits by announced candidates is a huge no-no for radio stations.  I'm sure when Candelaria hears about it, he's going to crack some skulls.  It seems as if Freyermuth is the only person on that station who knows, and follows, the rules.  But hey, he's conservative and that's just something conservatives do - follow the rules.

While Scary Larry and the owner of Ben's Tacos wrestled themselves down into a chair, Barbara had some technical malfunction that her pea sized brain invented and nearly caused her head to explode.  It was the best example of shitty local talk radio that someone could broadcast without doing it on purpose. Kudos to KHRO.

Larry rambled on about nonsense until he and Barbara started talking about "the haters."  Apparently Scary Larry thinks he's a hip-hop artist now.  He's using a word that does appear in a dictionary, but not in one that you would find in a classroom.  "Hater" is listed in the urban dictionary. 

Larry, who wants to by our county judge, speaks in an underground slang language popular with people who speak of "pimps, bitches and hos."  How proud we are of little Scary Larry.  Nothing says move your corporation to El Paso like a jive talking county judge. 

The good thing about their admission that they read the blog is that I got three new hits as they were talking.  Yet another three people who came here to read about how ridiculous those two are.

I think Larry is little miffed that nobody cared about his announcement.  He had to barge into a radio station and demand free air time to promote himself today, because nobody cared yesterday.  Poor Scary Larry...

Oh yeah - if you were listening to KHRO and felt like they were possibly breaking the law, file a complaint at this address http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm.  This means you, Mr. Sergio Coronado.

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Coming up later....

Commissioner Gandara had an interesting couple of guests for lunch the other day.  Who were they and what does it mean? 

Dan Haggerty news - you know it's going to be good.

Larry Larry Quite Contrary

Let me paint a picture with words for you.  Give me a moment of your day to describe Larry Medina's announcement yesterday that he's running for County Judge.

So there I am surrounded by 42,000 screaming El Pasoans on the floor of the Sun Bowl with people stretched all the way to the top of the bleachers on both sides of the field.  It feels more like a Rolling Stones Concert than a political rally.

People waited hours to get in and once they got in they were electrified with the anticipation of seeing Larry take the stage.  The sound of 42,000 strong participating in a slow chant saying "LLLLLAAAAARRRRYYYYYY" gave even the most hardened political observer like myself goose bumps.  Even those who didn't believe were starting to get the feeling that this guy is a rockstar and there's no stopping him.

When Larry was introduced by a trio of stars (George Clooney, Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon) the crowd once again went into a frenzy of screams and applause.  When Larry's huge outline appeared in shadow form behind a 50 foot white curtain draped across the back of the entire stage you could hear the crowd nearly lose its collective breath.  The image of larger than life Larry Medina created by the lighting trick was a symbol of just how big Larry Medina really is in this community.

It was pandemonium as the curtain dropped and he strolled toward the lone microphone at center stage.  He had hugs for George, Alec and Susan and waved confidently at the crowd of 42,000 strong. 

I was getting caught up in the magic to say the least. I found myself losing my neutrality and being sucked into this moment that felt like I was witnessing the second coming.  I was succumbing to "Larry fever" as the lady next to me called it.

As he hushed the crowd you could start to hear the chopping of the rotor blades of the helicopters above.  All the spot lights gathered on Larry in anticipation of his first words.

"I accept your proposal El Paso!"  he started, "I will be your next County Judge!"

The crowd went nuts.  That's all he had to say.  The festival-like electricity guided the crowd back into a chorus of "LLLLLAAARRRYYYYY."

As he retreated from the stage to a car filled with celebrities a camera crew followed him.  The crowd was treated to an almost paparazzi like chase featured on a huge jumbo tron above the stage.  Larry winked at the camera and said, "thank you my friends." 

The last images the crowd saw were of an impressive motorcade of armored suburbans, police cars and low flying helicopters with armed men hanging from the skids. 

I really don't think the term "rockstar" can really describe Larry.  He's the Messiah, or at least close to it.   There will never be another announcement of an intent to run for office like that again.  Nobody has that mojo that Larry carries with him to all of his appearances.  Truly breathtaking.

Okay... So I made all that up.

The 10 time Conquistador award winner got a side-bar, two sentence mention in the El Paso Times.  Every other news outlet in the region felt compelled to ignore the ethically challenged failure of a person and politician's announcement.  Even the paper capped his announcement off by mentioning that he lost his last election to Mensa member, Luis Sarinana.  And by "Mensa member," I mean a guy who doesn't have a high enough IQ to be executed in Texas if you know what I mean.

Way to go Larry.  You really kicked this campaign off with a bang.  The community is so jazzed about your announcement that they just went on with their day like it never happened.

Good luck, Larry - you're going to need it.

Quintana

Representative Quintana didn't get her way with the higher court and now it looks like the political machine will move in to finish her off.

It's odd how her alleged indiscretion is such a big deal and must be seen through to the harshest of punishments and public embarrassment, while those accused of political corruption are slowly pursued and handled with kid gloves.

I think there's a double standard here.  If Quintana did  what they say she did, it was wrong.  However, it does not rise to the level of the widespread fraud and corruption prevalent throughout this community.  Why they are not pursuing the obvious suspects in this town with such vigor is beyond me.

I know one case is federal and the other local, but it doesn't change the fact that the intensity of both the media and local progressives shown toward Quintana is not equal.  We have elected officials steering millions of our tax dollars to their friends and it's only worth noting by the powers that be, but god forbid Rachel Quintana, who beat their golden boy Jimmy Suerken, forge a signature for a cheaper ticket on Southwest Airlines - THE HAMMERS OF JUSTICE MUST SMASH HER!

Where is the witch hunt for the machine that continues to engage in illegal acts pertaining to contract procurement in the various local municipal entities that are still cheating the system today?  We want to fry Rachel while people like Emma Acosta roam free?   Our city council even promoted Emma Acosta!!!  Acosta helped more people screw the city than can be named off hand.  People did federal time under Acosta's watch and we don't seem to care.

As I see it, Rachel is the only alleged criminal that ISN'T STEALING FROM US!

There are so many people in this town who propped up the likes of Coach Cordova, Sal Mena, Miguel Teran and Anthony Cobos.  Those people need to be receiving the same amount of hate that we have reserved for Quintana.

Never mind - go back to whatever it was you were doing and save your righteous indignation for the next political foe who jaywalks.  We'll have a public execution for them, which will be twice as expensive as it should be because our crooked politicians will award it to the person with the best bribe.

A Little Advice for Mr. Besco

I applaud this Besco guy for putting his hat in the ring for Rep. Reyes' seat.  Anybody having the courage to run should be congratulated for their effort - it's not an easy endeavor.

However, Mr. Besco didn't do himself any favors yesterday when he appeared on Paul Strelzin's daily radio interview of himself yesterday.... that sentence almost makes no sense.

I know that Besco is trying to get his name out there to attract voters. Good for him.  That's what a candidate does.  Appearing on Strelzin show seems like a good idea, but it's not. Here's why...

First off, he's got three listeners and they are certified as the dumbest people in town.  Even if they stop drooling for a few seconds to listen to what you have to say, they're too stupid to understand.  These people are brain dead idiots who worship Strelzin as an idol.  And when I write "idol," I mean it as in "false idol." 

Second, Strelzin isn't going to let you talk.  It's his talk show, you're just there to wear headphones and make sure that the chair next to him doesn't float off if for some reason we lose gravity.  The only thing Mr. Besco could have taught anyone yesterday is that he's a good listener.

Third, the three or so people he calls an audience spread nasty rumors about anybody they don't like.  These buggers on the face of the humanity are already running around claiming that Mr. Besco molests children, pushes old ladies down at the supermarket and is a holocaust denier.  I got an email last night in fact claiming that Mr. Besco hasn't paid his taxes.  I'm sure that's untrue, however, that's the kind of people who listen to Strelzin's show.  The person who sent me the email is an avid Strelzin listener and caller, which means he thinks the earth is flat and that Jimmy Carter was a good president.

Gossip is the play thing of idiots.  I just had to add that...

When I finally tuned in yesterday, I heard Mr. Besco sinking like a mob snitch in the Hudson with concrete water skis on his feet.  He was falling victim Strelzin's barrage of non sequiturs right from the beginning.  When he did get a word in, he wasted it. 

It was very hard to listen to because I think Mr. Besco is an honorable person and I hate to see good people get verbally raped like that. (And yes, I used the word "rape" and I don't care if it hurts your feelings.  Your democrat/Holly Wood buddies think that because you're artistic that it's okay to drug and rape a 13 year-old girl, so I get to make reference to it here.)

Besco's biggest mistake was to go on the show.  His second biggest mistake was not to do his homework on Strelzin.  Strelzin always goes to someone's campaign website and focuses his entire interview (if you can call it that) on it. 

For example, Besco's website says "Send a Veteran to Congress Who Believes in America."  Going into a commercial break Strelzin sucker punches him with "Are you saying Reyes isn't a veteran who believes in America?  He saw actual combat time! He was in the war!  He killed zipper heads with his bare hands and tossed grenades to gook toddlers!"  Okay, he didn't say the last two things, but he popped an unsuspecting Besco right in the jaw and went to break.  It's the kind of chicken-shit thing Strelzin does and you have to be ready for it.

Besco needed to answer - "Yes, I'm the only vet in the race who loves America. Reyes would rather investigate our security forces than support them.  Reyes let Pelosi and Obama strip of us the funding for future combat systems that would make our war machine more effective while keeping our soldiers safer.  Reyes ripped up the grass and put dirt on our fallen heroes..."  Besco could have said all of that, but he didn't because he was unprepared.

Then Besco started talking about schools.  He didn't have a clear issue to highlight and Strelzin went off on him again about the color of the new buildings at Coronado and the size of Franklin and then he moved on to interviewing himself about his own history with the schools.  At that point I had been listening for less than ten minutes and I was starting to lose brain cells.  I had to turn it off.

Mr. Besco needs to know what he's doing when speaking in public.  He has to have one issue in the chamber and three more in the clip when making public appearances.  For example, his main issue can  be taxes and how much of them are returned to our district.  He can use my latest article as the basis for his argument.  He can drive that home as the number one issue and use it as the answer to any and every question asked of him.  It sounds like this:

Strelzin:  "where are you from?"

Besco: "Who cares where I'm from, I live in a city that get's less than 50 percent of its federal tax dollars back and it's because Reyes is ineffective."

Strelzin: "I hear that you eat babies."

Besco: "I do eat babies to keep them from growing up and realizing that Congressman Reyes gives all their hard earned tax money away to people in Maine to research moose sex."

Strelzin: "You know I used to call the basketball games at UTEP!"

Besco: "And when the government took that money out of your check, Reyes made sure it never came back anywhere near where it was earned."

When Besco knows an issue an pounds it home, he can then go off in another direction like the veteran's hospital we don't have. 

Why he was talking about schools is beyond me.  He's not running for school board, he's running for Congress.  Don't pull in issues that you have no authority over. 

In general, the talk radio circuit here is not worth wasting your time on.  You've got four egomaniacs blabbing to hear themselves blab and they've all got the same three listeners.  The advertising on the station is nearly 100 percent give aways, which should tell you that nobody is listening.  That hour wasted at the station could have been used to canvas a neighborhood.  God knows if you talk to three people, you've reached more voters than you would on local talk radio.

And I know what they are going to claim, "all the candidates who come on my show win!"  That's not completely true and the ones who do win are expected to win easily because their opponents are usually crazy ankle-biters who live in vans under the bridge down by the river.  

If you don't believe me when I say that these people have killed talk radio, ask someone you know that doesn't read this blog about local talk radio.  They will have no idea what you are talking about.

with that, I must go.

I Don't Think Barb is Gonna Run

I'm not sure Barbara Perez is going to run for County Judge.  She had Commissioner Escobar on a week or two ago and from what I understand, it was a pretty  normal exchange.  Not too much ass kissing and not too much ass kicking. 

I think Perez has figured out that about ten minutes after she leaves her radio show, it will have been nine minutes since anybody remembered who she was. 

I also think there's a lot of ethics baggage there and the powers that be in the fractured democratic party threatened to drag all of them back out to the light. 

Plus there's a general feeling that this is Escobar's race to lose.  Larry Medina doesn't have chance in hell and Sergio Coronado is going to be dealing with some demons from what I hear.  Cobos won't run, but will collect money to pay legal fees until he must give up the gavel.

There's really not that much money out there for the candidates to collect.  Since the corruption scandal broke a few years back, donors have stopped giving as much.  No longer can you buy an election.  Name recognition is going to be everything in the upcoming election.  And depending how people feel about the person behind the name, will determine the way they vote.

In Medina's world he thinks people like him a lot.  The reality is that most people are nice to him, but do not trust him.  I've seen him at some charity events where people politely shake his hand and listen to him shortly before kindly excusing themselves and mouthing the word "asshole" to their spouse as they walk away. 

Escobar has been pitching a pretty solid game since day one.  Other than one ethics complaint about her receiving free representation from a lawyer that was quickly withdrawn, she's been steady.  I think her link to Shapleigh will hurt her among the more conservative voters on the westside and up in the northeast.  With no republican challenger as of yet, this shouldn't be a problem for her.

As usual all the action for the democrats will be in the primary.  They won't show up for the general.  This could mean trouble for the likes of Moody, Shapleigh, Reyes and players to be named later.  Don't believe me?  That's fine.  I'll prepare while you laugh.  If democrats would do some thinking here locally, they'd see where the problem will be for them in this upcoming election.

Do You Recall?

Council looks like they're about to put the Red Road extension back into the long-term plans for the valley.  This means Mary Francis Keisling and friends are going to suffer a little thing we like to call a "hissy fit." 

Expect that they will be circulating recall petitions next week.  They have used the threats of recalls in the past to get what they want in the past - this exact issue as a matter of fact.

The level of crazy that is about to be paraded around town will be second to none. 

Do not piss off old, rich white women with a lot of time on their hands.

How Does Anyone Defend Any Local Longtime Politico?

I don't usually mention my work for NPT on here, but today it's worth referencing.

In my latest effort I took the time to put a dollar amount on exactly what Congressman Reyes brings back to the district in the way of earmarks.  I did my research and the results were shocking.  Reyes isn't very good at returning our tax dollars to our district. 

Instead of El Pasoans swallowing the reality that is front of them, they go to defending Reyes.  This boggles my mind. 

We are told every day by the likes of Shapleigh, Reyes and Chavez just how crappy our situation is.  To hear them talk we're drowning in a cesspool.  The economic indicators show that we haven't progressed much in the past twenty years.  We're poor and we may be getting poorer by the day. 

All the while that this has been happening, we've been under the leadership of Shapleigh, Reyes and Chavez among others.  Have they not noticed that they've been totally ineffective in turning this ship around?  Why do they keep pointing out that we're a poor community while doing nothing to change that fact?  Why would they brag like they do about it?

It's no coincidence that if you want to find the poorest communities in Texas you only have to look no farther than house and senate roster.  Blue districts are poor and the red are not.  The one thing poor communities have in common are democrats.

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As for the constant bullshit claim that Reyes saved Ft. Bliss from BRAC... stop it.  Please stop saying that Ft. Bliss was going to be closed, because it wasn't.  All bases went under review.  Ft. Bliss is extremely important due to White Sands and it's geographical location.  There was never an intention to close the base, just some drama seeking reporters looking to scare the local community.

Ask anybody in command of the military about the bases that were closed and what functions they offered the armed services.  Then ask them the likelyhood of Ft. Bliss closing.  When they stop laughing, they'll tell you that Ft. Bliss will never be closed and has never been really considered for closure.

As for the desalinization plant.  Reyes had zero to do with it.  There's a reason his name isn't on the building.  The military had to go through KBH to get what they needed.  Reyes was too busy moving his family to Washington and getting them six figure jobs.

Wait a second - do I see a pattern here?  Seems like the local dems get into office and find a way to better their lot in life while serving.  Chavez took taxpayer money and put herself through college without our permission and Reyes made himself a millionaire while promoting his family to the same status.  The worst part is that there's so many more in town who have done the same!

We have  a severe problem here and I'm guessing that if we don't solve it soon we won't have to worry about seceding from Texas - they'll just give us away to New Mexico.  New Mexico might not want us.

Think Our Health Care System is Bad?

How about that little girl getting the help she needs from the private industry.  If you went the way of Obama and Pelosi wanted you to go, there would be no private industry to help this girl.  She'd be shuffled around a public health care system who would figure it was cheaper to let her die than to let her live.

Think about it. 

Making My Points For Me - Thanks Lionstar

Readers of the blogs that are available locally tend to be the best updating service out there. As soon someone out there posts something they think would interest me, they email me the info.

Today I got an update on Jaime A's (Lionstar) blog where he's yet again too busy to post, but not so busy he couldn't take some time to take a shot at me.

He's mad at me because I called him out as being on the take for Norma Chavez and God knows who else.  His writing has been filled with bullshit talking points from Norma for months and all of our private conversations in the past were filled with his bragging about being so close to Norma and other politicians. 

He claims that he's his own man and that all that he writes comes from the heart and that he's not in the can for anyone.  And then he writes this in his blog and destroys that claim.

Unlike David K, who writes so much about me lately that he should either pay me or add my name to the title of his blog, I'm actually involved in politics, something he likes to criticize.

People "involved in politics" wouldn't happen to have an agenda, would they?  Jaime O. Perez is "involved" in politics and I'm sure he has a clear agenda.  Dee Margo is "involved" in politics and he has a clear agenda.  Larry "Mumbles" Medina is "involved" in politics and he has an agenda.  Nobody would ever believe that they were writing anything for publication that wasn't aimed directly at furthering their agenda.  This goes for Jaime as well.

Being "involved in politics" means that you are either lobbying, running, advising or writing policy for some political candidate or issue.  When expressing your views on any subject involving politics, you must alert your readers to your connections in order to create a foundation of honesty and trust.  Not including your associations only brings questions to the integrity of your effort.

I am not "politically involved."  I am a member of Conservative Grassroots El Paso, which is a policy driven non-profit.  However, I do not write anything on their behalf and have never been asked to.  If I were to be asked to, I would make sure there was a disclaimer alerting everyone of that fact.

Any consulting I do is mainly for ballot initiatives.  I don't ask NPT to let me write about those issues.  It would be wrong to do so.

I would never describe myself as "politically involved."  That would mean that I'm on somebody's team.  I don't want to be on a team.  I don't want to use my craft for their gain.  I don't want to be used at all as a matter of fact. 

Jaime's latest admission that he is in fact a political player can not go unnoticed.  There are about a dozen folks in town who write opinion pieces for the various publications in town.  I can't think of one of them claiming to be "politically involved."  They know that would pretty much end their run as a columnist.  Being an observer instead of a participant is important when trying to establish yourself as a writer of opinion.  

I think what Jaime might have been grabbing at is that he's actually a political gossip columnist.  He likes to relate the rumors he hears about who's running for what office.  That's fine.  There's a place for that. However, how much are we not hearing that he knows about the forces he's aligned with? 

Is he going to tell his readers that Rep. Acosta has nominated a woman for the PSB board who may have a history with the city that constituents may not like?  Is he going to tell us how much campaign money Norma spent on the Obama campaign?  Is he going to give you the whole version, or only the version his buddies want you to hear - like a fight that never happened involving Marisa Marquez? 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that he invented a fake County Judge candidate in what I thought was going to be a short blog experiment about rumors.  He even had a logo made up for her.  I bowed out of the project when it became apparent that he was going to ride this fake candidate to the bitter end.

All of this just brings me to a point about how the guilty act - nervous.  He's acting like someone who has been caught, not somebody who has nothing to worry about.  I've been accused of everything from being paid by the progressives on city council to beat up Rep. Quintana to a lover of transvestites.  Have you ever seen me explode?  Your reaction to accusations is 50 percent of the evidence against you every time.

What this city needs is influence free thought.  Jaime doesn't fall into that category.

There's an old saying I just made up using part of an actual old saying..

"If you do what you've always done... then you must be in El Paso."

Oh yeah - and as for my obsession with Jaime.  He can join any other public person in El Paso dedicated to promoting themselves over the good of their city as a target of my blog.  I will not ignore the bad in this city.  I will expose it.  If someone doesn't want to be mentioned here, they can start doing good and I'll leave them alone (it's too late for you Larry Medina, so don't even try).

Mobile Voting, Immigration Forum and Unwanted Endorsements

I think it's an unfortunate solution to budget problems to cut the mobile voting program.  I know things are tight, but there's a lot of good to be promoted with the mobile voting program. 

I've always liked the idea of bringing the precinct to the people.  It eliminates the excuse of not having time to vote.  When the booth is just outside someone's office it limits their excuses.  The United Blood Services knows this to be true with their efforts.

I dare not suggest that a group of private citizens collect the money to run the program again this year.  That would only lead to questions about the validity of the votes. 

All we can do now is make sure we drag people to the polls with us.  Early voting is still very convenient.  A driver's license is all you need and they'll get you the right ballot.

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The Paso del Norte Social Work Academy is having a forum on immigration reform Friday October 9, 2009 - 8:00 AM to 12:00 Noon at 1101 E. Schuster Ave.

I wish they would have someone who doesn't share their exact strategies on the problem present to the group.  At least they are putting something out there.

I think that while immigration reform remains a big deal here, it's losing steam in Washington due to a myriad of other problems associated with current legislation.  Again, politics will stand in the way of anything happening with this issue anytime soon.

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I read where County Commissioner OOOPPPSS!!!  Pat Dan Haggerty endorsed the only announced republican candidate for Reyes' seat last week.  Talk about a shitty start for the new guy.  The week before Haggerty announced his undying love for the new candidate, he voted for a resolution calling for social medicine.  With republicans like Haggerty, we don't need democrats!

I'm still thinking of running against Haggerty, Shapleigh or Reyes.  However, there may be some obstacles to that.  Run of the mill type stuff like expanding business lines, wife commitments and of course a writing gig that my come through for me.  I'm still in the hunt, though.