Refuse the Juice

Still Looking for Writers and the Turkey Trot

If you have something to say, send me an email with your content (karlsruher@gmail.com).  You could be the next big thing in electronic print!

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Sign up for the 33rd annual Turkey Trot taking place on November 26, 2009 - Thanksgiving Morning.  This event is put on by the YMCA and features a 5k competitive run, a 3k fun walk and a 1k kids fun run.  The proceeds from the event benefit the Strong Kids Campaign 2009. 

It takes place at the old YMCA building on Montana before the big parade.  You can take the kids and get some exercise and then stay for the parade.  You'll have the best parking because you'll be there early!

The route for the event is great because if you have kids or family from out of town you get to walk in some historic neighborhoods and see them up close.  It's like being on a walking history tour of a very unique part of El Paso. 

Take the time to do this event.  Don't be lazy.  You'll be very happy you had an active morning and participated in your community.

Visit your local YMCA or register at www.active.com

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Your Tax Dollars at Work

I was informed this morning of a rather sad and wasteful incident that took place recently.  The incident happen to involve school children, buses, sports, Southern New Mexico and court orders.

It appears that two teams representing two schools on the west side of El Paso took separate buses to the exact same town on the exact same day.  Neither bus was full and one bus could have easily held both teams and their respective coaching staff.  What a waste of money.

When the teams got to their destination and it was time for one of the El Paso teams to play, the other El Paso team was locked out of the gymnasium and told they were not allowed to enter under court order.  Who barred the El Paso team from entering the gym to cheer on their local peers at a sporting event?  Well, it was none other than the coach of the other El Paso team! 

It seems that the coach of the team playing first came from the area where the game was held and was able to bar the other El Paso team from entering the gym while his or her team was playing via a court order.

I hear nothing will be done because the coach in question is very good friends with the principal.  

I'll give you a hint about what school the evil coach is employed - the school's mascot is an older single woman who desires trysts with younger men. 

Chavez Out - NPT Exclusive

http://www.newspapertree.com/opinion/4326-lion-s-den-rep-chavez-out-former-tigua-governor-in

Hand it to Jaime - he got the inside track on this and put it to paper.

They say NPT is dead, and that's fine.  If you don't want the inside info, keep going everywhere else to read old news. 

Say what you will, but Jaime beat everyone to the punch by simply picking up the phone and asking around.

Very good job Jaime.

I'll wait a day to put my commentary out - I've talked about her too much already. 

Some Thoughts on Grissom's Tribune Article

I'm really addicted to this Texas Tribune thing now (www.texastribune.org).  What a wealth of information all in one place! 

Brandi Grissom has written several initial pieces for the site and I was reading a piece that is tagged as being on their "blog," but it looks like a normal article.  You can go read it HERE.

Here's one of Rep. Norma Chavez's quote from the piece:

“Obviously, I had the worst press this summer and the end of the (legislative) session, which complicates the issue,” 

When she says things like that, I'm sure that she has a severe personality disorder that doesn't allow her to see her actions as we see them.  I had the same disorder until I was about seven years-old. I finally figured out that when I was the only one in the entire world saying that I didn't do anything wrong, I probably did something wrong.

Norma chalks her bad behavior and questionable ethics up to "bad press." I guess she thinks getting into juvenile cat fights in public is okay as long as it's not reported in the papers.  That's where she is wrong.

Her inability to square herself with her actions means that she is incapable of learning from them.  In severe cases of the personality disorder you will find people who will repeatedly burn their hand on a hot stove because they can not rationally assign the cause of their pain to their own actions. 

She may also live in a world where she thinks that she operates out of the public view like a mob boss or secret CIA agent.  She is completely unaware that her actions are seen by many and thus reported to many more.  Her delusion that she operates covertly only serves to fuel her surprise that anyone would question her actions.  You have to remember that when she first went to Austin as a representative 13 years ago there wasn't the kind of instantaneous media that there is today.  With the advent of blogs and other means of community gossip, legitimate news sources have been forced to cover the bitchy exchanges between two of their delegation members.  Norma no longer gets away with having a force field around Austin. 

I'm not sure that Chavez has the ability to calculate right from wrong.  Using her per diem to attend classes in Austin is something that most of us would know was wrong.  Not for her, though.  She saw it as a right given to her through the privilege of service.  On a smaller scale this happens in the workplace when company travel funds or stationary privileges are abused.  The worker often believes that their sacrifice of time and effort warrants more reward than the pay they are receiving.  If you have owned a business, you have more than likely run into this attitude.  It is no different with whatever psychological ills Chavez suffers from.

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Another interesting part of the piece is that Grissom points out that Naomi Gonzalez has said she is running for Chavez's seat.  We kind of missed that here in town.  Actually, we completely missed it.

I don't know much about Naomi other than her run against Rep. Emma Acosta.  She lost to the midget, which was bad.  Hopefully she can make a mark in her next effort.

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Hope to see some good info on Newspaper Tree later - make sure you drop by.

 

Make Sure You Read NPT on Wed.

They're going to have something very important that no other outlet will have.  It will be worth your time.

I'm happy to say that the few people who have continued (and the one person who started) writing for NPT have done a great job.  I hope the medium can stay alive as a commentary/opinion venue.  Although I think it will serve as a launching pad for some big stories that only somebody who is not a reporter can track down. 

Make sure you tune in tomorrow (Wednesday) to read the big news.

Odds and Ends - The Death of an Ego and More!

We all know Brandi Grissom and have read her stuff in the El Paso Times for years.  We also know that she was scooped up by Eliot Smith for his new Texas Tribune project.  He was the editor of Texas Monthly before this project.  Coincidentally my life long dream is to be published in the Texas Monthly... Who knows how that will work out with Smith gone and a new guy or gal to be taking over.

The Tribune site launched today and it's full of great stuff.  You have to become an avid reader - I command you.  It's http://www.texastribune.org and you have to stay up to day on what's going there.

Brandi's piece can be found at this adress: http://www.texastribune.org/blogs/post/2009/nov/03/chavez-decide-senate-bid-turkey-day/

It's a must read! She's done a great job and I hope she keeps her eye on us in the future.

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Hector Montes is hanging up his hat after a three year run at KHRO.  He's leaving to go run Scary Larry Medina's campaign.  Something tells me he should have stuck with radio. 

He did take a parting shot at me, which was touching.  After more than a year away from that spot on the dial he still cares about me to talk about me!

Strelzin will be going from a prime spot during the day (4-6) to the shittiest slot of the day (3-5).  Nobody is listening anyhow, so it's not a big deal.  There's nothing like that 3-4 hour where nobody is listening and that 4-5 hours when nobody is listening either.  It's always much better to give up the 5-6 slot where everyone and their mother is in the car listening to the radio even if the signal is weak on the far west side.

The big winners are Greg Freyermuth and Jaime Abeytia.  They keep their good spots and get to control the day's topics.

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I couldn't have laughed harder when Paul Strelzin went in to attack Jay Kleberg yesterday while Shapleigh was a guest on his show.  Jay Kleberg is a rumored candidate against Rep. Joe Moody and is said to be running as a republican. 

Strelzin automatically thinks he knows how others are going to think when he tees up someone to smack down.  Strelzin started in on Kleberg stopping just short of blaming him for Christ's homicide, Lou Gherig's disease and the fact that the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game since the time the Magna Carta was written.  As Strelzin slowed to a halt to let Shapleigh take a turn verbally abusing a man he's never met, you could hear the eagerness in his voice.  Then it all came crashing down.  Shapleigh stopped short of endorsing Kleberg on Strelzin's show.

That made my year. 

Shapleigh is probably not happy with Moody's support of Rep. Chavez and is holding a grudge.  Besides, Kleberg is on the board of Community Scholars and that puts him in a good light with Shapleigh.

If you think Shapleigh doesn't hold grudges, get your head out of your ass. 

Moody is running in a district that trends democrat 51 percent or so.  He doesn't need to be linked to Strelzin or Chavez in a race  against a well funded opponent.

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Did anybody notice that the El Paso Times gave Congressman Reyes a pass on his ethics investigation on the word of one of his staffers?  They asked his own people if he's guilty of any wrongdoing and they surprisingly said "no."

Did somebody forget to mention that his staff can't answer that since they aren't the "deciders" of that issue?  Why did the times let that fly?

That's like asking a criminal if he's guilty - of course he's going to tell you he's innocent.

Larry is from the Planet Ego.

You'll have to excuse me if I didn't take the time to read Larry Medina's 100th announcement of his candidacy for County Judge on NPT last week.  It seems that while Obama is using a strategy that has him never stopping his campaign, Larry just keep announcing his candidacy over and over again.  Neither will work.

It wasn't until I was at a little party over the weekend that someone brought to my attention the completely asinine announcement and its asinine message. Larry Medina says he's going to end corruption if elected. 

I hate to say this, but is he going to get elected and then quit?  That's the only way Scary Larry could end corruption after being elected - quitting. 

You must remember that this is the guy who was in a rather inconvenient plane crash with a plane full of architects.  At the time Larry was on the "Architect and Engineer Selection Committee" as a city council member.  His duty was to pick architects and engineers to receive multi-million dollar contracts with the city.  Imagine how all the other architects in town who were not taking Larry on fishing trips to Mexico felt when they found out their competition was doing just that!  Now all those projects they weren't awarded seemed to make sense - they weren't giving Larry gifts!

Since Larry was a good democrat in a town run by democrats at the time, the local enforcement entities like the District Attorney decided not to rock the boat.  Little did we know, that while that plane was crashing, Mena, Cordova, Telles, Flores and a whole host of other democrats were robbing tax payers blind for bribes.  Any indictment of Medina would have led to what we are seeing now with the public corruption scandal.  You must remember that when Larry pulled this particular trick it was well known throughout the community who could be bought and at what price - it was happening at all levels of government.

Also happening at that time is Emma Acosta's rein as the head of a department that would not only be millions over budget, but connected to people who went to federal prison and another incident where $70,000 was billed to the city for work that was never completed (Cause # 20021068).  Again, the District Attorney did not bring charges against the guilty because of their status as good democrats.  The cause number goes to a civil suit I found in relation to the case.  Funny those involved are still getting healthy city contracts and are frequent appointees of Ms. Acosta's for things like the PSB board.

When Larry wasn't indulging in unethical plane trips to Mexico, he and his buddy Tony Dill were playing some rather interesting games.  Ask an engineer or architect what Tony Dill would offer in return for retaining him as a lobbyist.  Then remember that Dill has pleaded guilty in the corruption case.  Was Tony Dill that good of a local lobbyist that by retaining him you always had Scary Larry's vote, or was there something more sinister going on? I do remember that when Larry did get in front of one architect/engineer he told that person that because they were white, he doesn't vote for them to get work.  Somehow the white person Larry was talking to got the idea that something green would make his own whiteness go away, if not only in Larry's eyes.  So Larry is possibly a racist and an ethically challenged individual - allegedly.  Don't believe me?  Go talk to an architect or engineer.

Larry's history of fighting corruption (by "fighting" I mean "being a part of" - allegedly) continued when he was appointed to the Housing Authority board.  He and David Escobar fought corruption (by "fought corruption" I mean "participated in" - allegedly) by having the feds come in a shut the whole thing down and open an investigation.  That story hasn't been finished yet, but again there are people in the community who had business with the Housing Authority and they will tell you that certain appointees attempted to shake them down in order to keep that business with the Housing Authority.  After all, why would a new board appointee want the names and contact info for anyone who currently had a contract with the Housing Authority?  You know why, so don't play stupid. 

Medina has roots in the corruption family from way back - allegedly.  To say he's going to be a county judge who fights corruption is like saying Mayor Cook is going to outlaw guitar playing in the city limits - ridiculous.

Scary Larry isn't deterred by his history at all.  His ego is locked in some kind of room that is sealed off from the outside world.  His ego still thinks he's really popular and that cashing in Conquistador awards for political capital will actually yield him a glorious victory.  His ego needs some fresh air.

Scary Larry has teamed up with KHRO 1150 host, Hector Montes to for an all out media blitz that is quite pathetic.  Montes is using his afternoon spot on the dial to attack Medina's likely opponent, Commissioner Escobar.   The attacks are rather weak given that they are played to a rather weak audience.  We're talking 50 to 100 listeners city wide. The time slot isn't a desirable one and KHRO is taking a huge risk letting this guy engage in campaign activities for little in return.  At some point it will have to stop when Entravision management figures out that Hector Montes is a part of Larry's campaign efforts.  If Strelzin's history with Caballero is anything, it's an example of what's happening right now with Montes.  Somehow KHRO is bound to repeat history...

Hector Montes and Larry have also been actively posting comments on all articles relating to Larry in order to give the appearance of massive public support.  It's obvious and it's sad.

Larry forgets that he hasn't won in his own district in quite a while.  Somehow he thinks people outside of his district are going to be more receptive of his candidacy... not likely.  His ego is getting in the way of his common sense.

I do have to give him some credit.  He's going to go out there and poke everyone in the eye for no better reason than he's losing and he isn't going down without a fight.

Anybody want to bet he sues me for writing this?  I can't wait until the government has to give up names in order to back up what I'm saying.  Maybe he'll think twice when he finds out what I know!