Rio Viejo Interior Decorating by Captain Bob

Local blogger, Cap'n Bob, recently gave us a video tour of his palatial home on Jacaranda Street on his blog, The Captain's Table.

With his camera in tow and classical music on the home's integrated sound system, the Cap'n allowed us to peer into Rio Viejo living.

Bob's interior decorator has filled nearly every square inch of floor space, integrating high end upholstered furniture, oriental rugs with plastic storage racks.  The walls are filled with deer heads, exotic animals killed on African safari and  paintings.

All of us personalize our dwellings to our satisfaction, and Bob has gone that extra mile.  





    

THE CURSE OF EXTRAORDINARY INTELLIGENCE VISITED UNASHAMEDLY BY DIEGO LEE ROT

Albert Einstein 

Inherited intelligence, not unlike inherited, unearned wealth, can be a curse.

The stereotypical rich kid may lack the incentive to acquire skills, the motivation to organize his life or even work on his personality.

Why should anyone even try to "win friends and influence people" with the knowledge there is already enough money to do anything he wants to do, buy any thing or person he wants to buy?

Diego Lee Rot

Inherited intelligence, through the miracle of DNA, is no picnic either.

Identifying the killer, while still reading chapter 1 of a mystery novel,  is actual deprivation.

Knowing someone's reply, before even asking the question, kills conversation.

Deoxyribonucleic acid, that ladderlike chain of code that makes us exactly who we are, can be a blessing, but, also a curse.

Diego Lee Rot, local artist/musician, explores this conundrum in his latest freestyle video offering,  "I'm Too Damn Smart:"

IS THAT "LYING TED CRUZ" BEHIND HOME PLATE?

Howlin' Wolf - Meet Me In The Bottom

"Gotta Keep My Gate Locked" by Diego Lee Rot

Hunched Back Man, Texas Bar, Nena and I, The 60's in Brownsville/Matamoros

Nena and I, '69 at Boca Chica

Oh, the 60's in Brownsville!  Most of us worked part-time at some local business, while chasing school,  Nena at Model Laundry, after her stint in the army, Alma Buentello in the liquor store at Fort Brown, my sister, Sandy, at the S&H Green Stamps Store at Palm Village, Tom Robinson in construction, Rosalio Rivera at Whitman's Department Store downtown.  I can't leave out Gloria Turner, the most beautiful black girl in town, any town.

I worked the night desk at the Valley Inn Motel on Central Blvd. with Paul Sanders, who checked out of his final year at Oregon State, kayaked the Gulf of Mexico, before being washed up ashore near Boca Chica.

Most of us worked for $2.00 per hour or less, but, our money made us kings and queens in Matamoros.

We avoided the Drive Inn, leaving that for Winter Texans, although I did accompany Bill Williams once, only to get totally drunk during a discussion of the Viet Nam War.  I remember ordering a rum and coke and Bill saying "keep them coming!"

Bill was tapped out, but I still had a nickel in my pocket, the exact toll at the B&M Bridge.

Next, I was vomiting in my bathtub.

I influenced our group, all of the above,  to mostly patronize the Texas Bar on the square, el zocalo of Matamoros.  "The square," just across from the Texas Bar, was a gathering place for young people, especially en Domingo, when girls would walk one way and boys another, eyeing each other.

The Texas Bar, despite its unassuming name was a "high class" restaurant/bar with waiters in starched white and faux chandelier lighting over tables.

The cuisine was more European/American than Mexican; pheasant under glass, filet mignon, fried chicken, etc.  A dinner with TWO entrees, vegetables, breads was a mere $1.50. (Nena and I would always split a dinner.)

 A hunched back man guarded the parking lot at the Texas Bar.  He had developed a routine of sorts.

"I watch your car, 50 cents," he would say as we entered the restaurant.

On our departure from the Texas Bar, he would go Sylvester Stallone on us:  "Get away from that car!"  Then, looking at me:  "Oh, I'm sorry.  I no think it was you!"

I would hand him two quarters.

ERASMO CASTRO MAKES CORRECTION!

Erasmo Castro

Just to clarify:

My residence when filing was always registered at our Amigoland apartment 305 Calle Amistosa... the 1216 E Madison Suite D address was listed as mailing address.

Have a great day Jim!

ERasmo

Free Alternative Healing Workshop At Gourmet Central October 28

Elder George Samano

We met Elder George Samano and his wife, Dr. Robin Dahl, in 2010 at their home and clinic on E. St. Charles Street.

Samano, owner of the tallest building on Elizabeth Street, the Samano Building, came across as a gentle guru, listening as much as talking, during our two hour discussion.  He served us a delicious chai tea latte.

Dr. Robin Dahl

When I was about to submit to a sample training session, directed by Dr. Dahl, Elder Samano ascertained that I did not have a personal spirit guide or, "guardian angel," as we laymen might say.

"It's best you get a spirit guide first, then come back for a session," Elder Samano suggested at the time, "lest you open yourself up to darker entities."

Nena was not as curious and anxious to make an exit.  

Samano and Dr. Dahl are spiritual leaders in the Church of Divine Spirit, now located in a retreat in Bayview.  They are hosting a free workshop October 28 at Gourmet Central, 515 W. 4th Street, Brownsville, TX, to run from 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM with an optional lunch.

Attorney Tomas Caquias

The presenter of the workshop, entitled "Freedom of Healthcare Choice: A Doctor's Practice, A Patient's Right" will be Attorney Tomas Caquias, from the Caquias Law Group.

BROWNSVILLE'S CURRENT AND PAST HISTORY OF CANDIDATES FAKING THEIR RESIDENCY

Setting Up A Pretend Residence

Pretending you live in a certain district, while actually living elsewhere is common practice for Cameron County candidates for public office.

Joe Citizen realizes that if he lives outside a district, he can't legally run for office in that district. Politicos see it differently as in "how can I make it seem that I live in the district so I can be elected to an office I want and need?"

Erasmo Castro, while actually living in Austin, claimed his sister Linda's notary public office at 1216 E. Madison, Suite D, as his residence.  He may have set up a cot in the back of the office to rest his bones on visits to Brownsville, but he didn't live there.

Ed Rivera of Laguna Vista chose his then girlfriend's home at 14 Ebony Drive to run for Port of Brownsville trustee, while still claiming a homestead exemption at 22 Harbor Town, Laguna Vista.

Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa claimed her parents' home on Heather Lane when she ran for City Commissioner, District 2 in 2011.(As a side note, a camera was found across the street from her actual residence on San Marco Blvd., belonging to Jaime Escobedo's American Surveillance, allegedly hired pro bono by her city commission opponent, Charlie Atkinson.)

"Ben Neece" by Diego Lee Rot

City Commissioner Ben Neece has actually lived outside the Brownsville city limits on Sally Lane for many years, but claimed, in his campaign filings, to have a residence at 1203 E. Washington Street in District 2, that he'd occupied for at least six months and, that he'd resided somewhere in the city, there or elsewhere, for at least a year, before filing.(According to Bobby Wightman-Cervantes, those claims contradict his filings for a homestead exemption on Sally Lane.)

For those of us who frequented Ben's cantina, "The Crescent Moon," a few years back, it was well known that Ben maintained an apartment at that location on E. Washington Street.

That upstairs apartment, now, at least partially converted into a nightclub, the Spanish Moon, may indeed be rented from Abraham Galonsky, who owns several buildings in that block.

OK.  Campaign rules are being flouted by candidates and those winning office.  Do we care about this?  Should someone from soulless McAllen be allowed to run for city commissioner in Brownsville?  What can be done to actually verify residence beyond simply taking the word of the candidate?

If a candidate claims a homestead exemption on other property, while claiming residence elsewhere, should he pay taxes on that $15,000 exemption to Cameron County and be denied that exemption going forward?

These are not trivial, but serious questions for citizens actually interested in fighting corruption?

LONG TIME AGO WHEN WE WAS FAB

Five Living Former Presidents at College Station for Hurricane Relief Event

Remember what it was like to have a dignified, intelligent, reflective, gracious commander-in-chief, one who could respond compassionately in a disaster and measured in a crisis?

All five presidents, pictured above, fit that description, regardless of party affiliation.

"The Ballad of Commissioner Ben Neece" by Diego Lee Rot

BROWNSVILLE'S PSYCHO MOTORCYCLE COPS NEED TRAINING, PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION

Brownsville's motorcycle cops are a different breed than their 4 wheel counterparts.

The eye test shows them more aggressive, breaking traffic laws, risking lives in the pursuit of tickets.

Last year, we reported a near encounter with one of these dumbasses:  

"Traveling west on FM 802, Ruben Torres, I noticed a black motorcycle, traveling toward me on the opposite side, whip into the middle turn lane. Without warning, the cyclist, a Brownsville policeman, cut in front of me. Had I not slammed on my breaks, I would have surely hit him.

After cutting in front of me, the cop flashed his lights and stopped a vehicle a few hundred yards ahead of me. Another citation for the motorcycle cop's quiver, but a near accident."

Something similarly dangerous happened today on Interstate 77/83.

Two BPD motorcycle cops had stopped someone alongside the interstate.  Just as we passed, the cop not writing the ticket gunned his bike, passing me on my left.  I was following a woman in a small gray sedan.

I heard honking, and, turning to my left, I saw a BPD motorcycle officer angrily motioning for me to get out of the way.

What was I supposed to do, slam on my brakes or floor my little Honda Civic to pass the gray car?  I did neither, just kept my 58/59 MPH pace.  

The cop touched his brakes, swirled around me on my right and flashed his lights.  The gray sedan pulled to the curb.

If these Brownsville motorcycle cops continue to drive with reckless abandon in pursuit of tickets, we will soon have a motorcycle/car fatality.

Typically, the motorcyclist loses in that scenario. 

  

HUGE DIFFERENCE IN CORE VALUES BETWEEN COUNTY AND STATE DEMOCRATIC CHAIRS

We cancelled our October 11 Amber Alert this morning.

Cameron County Democratic Chair, Amber Medina has been found, doing her job in clarifying the Democratic Party's position on racism, as well as discrimination, as she states,  based on "race, sex, ethnicity or national origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age or disability."

Amber Medina

Amber's Letter to the Editor, published in the Voices section of today's Brownsville Herald also ended her public silence on the racist remarks of City Commissioner Cesar de Leon.

She states in her letter:  

"The Cameron County Democratic Party believed Cesar de Leon's resignation would bring some justice and begin the healing process within our community; however, the party was saddened to learn that Mr.  De Leon rescinded his resignation."

Still silent on the issues touched on by Ms. Medina in her letter, despite the fact that they were covered by national news media for two weeks, is State Democratic Chair, Gilberto Hinojosa.

Gilberto Hinojosa

Based on his tenure as County Judge and other "public service" in our community, it's likely Mr. Hinojosa is more interested in making deals than speaking up for democratic principles.

Besides, as reported by Emma Perez-Trevino, Hinojosa just sold De Leon a house, formerly his law office.  

De Leon's New House/Office at 622 E. St. Charles
He owes Gilberto Hinojosa for it intil 2037

De Leon bought it from Hinojosa for cash and a note in the principal amount of $109,150. Hinojosa is financing it for de Leon at 6 percent interest rate. Hinojosa retains a lien. The monthly payments are $781.98 a month through Jan. 1, 2037.

WAS NURITH GALONSKY A COMPROMISE CHOICE FOR THE GBIC BOARD?

Nurith Galonsky

In a process that took two city commission meetings to complete, Nurith Galonsky was named to the GBIC board.  

The original vote, taken on October 3, resulted in a tie, for and against Esteban Guerra, and, subsequently, a tabling of the item. along with back and forth charges of improper vote tabulation, perjury, fraud and official oppression.

Nurith, the daughter of Abraham Galonsky, a local businessman, associated with thirteen companies, seven still active, is a 2001 graduate of the S.M.U. School of Law.

Buttercup(genus Ranunculus)

Since, I've never known any Nuriths, the derivation of the name was of interest.  It comes from the Hebrew nurit, meaning plant or literally, buttercup.  We wonder if Mr. Galonsky ever told his daughter to "buckle up buttercup."

Unlike the chaotic vote October 3, ending in a tie on the nomination of Esteban Guerra, the vote selecting Ms. Galonsky seemed almost pre-programmed.

"Rick's nominee, Esteban Guerra, didn't have the votes," explained an authoritative insider.

"The others wanted to block the mayor's first choice, Nick Serafy," the source continued.

The insider explained that Abraham Galonsky has mixed emotions about his daughter's appointment.

"He's happy she got the recognition, but he has some tracts of land 'available' for purchase by the city and he wants to avoid the appearance of inside deals," offered the expert.

My Reminiscence of La Casa del Nylon by Diego Lee Rot

La Casa del Nylon

As a prolific Ebay seller, I frequented La Casa del Nylon, at the corner of E. 13th Street and Adams, essentially looking for vintage items in new condition I could turn for profit.

The store carried clothing, household items and toys.  The clothing was technically "new," never worn, with tags, but, obviously several years old, almost vintage.  It was eerie, like watching the show Twilight Zone, to be inside a store with new 80's jeans, shirts and belts.

My primary interest, though, was in toys. Over a period of several years, I bought hundreds of toys from the store, reselling them on Ebay.

For example, there was typically a display of Ms. Pacman toys, still in the original package.  The store sold them 3/$1, but they would fetch around $5 each on Ebay.  I bought them by the case.  

Abraham Galonsky

Many times, the store owner, Mr. Galonsky, dressed in khaki pants and a longsleeved work shirt, would have to go upstairs to round out my case, while bringing down another case for display.  On one occasion, Galonsky was busy on the phone and told me to go upstairs myself and grab a case of the toys.

Of course, we all knew the building was on the market, with a "For Sale" sign in one window for many years, but it was sort of a surprise when we learned that Tony Martinez and the City Commission had bought it.

In 2012, just after the city bought the building, I met a man, his wife and their dog, living under the awning of the building with all their worldly goods stuffed into an H.E.B. shopping cart.

Diego Lee Rot

I ran into the same man a couple weeks ago,  five years later, still living at the entrance of La Casa del Nylon.  His wife and dog have both died, although he has a new puppy and is looking for another woman with whom to share his life.

I wished him luck and went cruising down the road.

BROWNSVILLE CAN'T AFFORD EDUARDO CAMPARINO AS CITY MANAGER

Eduardo Camparino

Even as Brownsville's unethical mayor, Tony Martinez, hedges on a national, open-ended search for a new city manager to replace the just-retired Charlie Cabler, saying:  "We'll see what other cities have done," a familiar local name, consistent with the city's compradismo philosophy emerges, that of Port Director Eduardo Campirano.

As the late actor Don Knotts, in his role as Barney Fife, would say:  "Nip it in the bud!"

Brownsville can't afford Eduardo Camparino as City Manager.

Ed "Campy" Camparino, as Port Director, much like the Cameron County Commissioners Court, totally "bent over" for the ultra-rich LNG companies, then in his own, uneducated way, tried to explain LNG:  "LNG is the liquefied form of the natural gas that people use in their homes for cooking and heating, and has been safely handled for many years." (Eduardo Camparino, Letter to the Editor, Brownsville Herald, 10/5/2015.)

What an absolute doofus!

LNG plants do not simply burn natural gas on a two burner stove like grandma warming a tortilla!


LNG plants compress natural gas to 1/600th of its original volume, a messy, dirty, complicated, heavily polluting process that makes shipping highly economical(1 shipping vessel vs. 600 vessels.)

At the Port of Brownsville, the proposed LNG facility will dump millions of gallons of heated effluent each day into one of the healthiest shallow-water bays in the world. The plants’ 500-foot flaring towers—which release mercury, hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and other impurities from the natural gas—would burn a couple of miles downwind from the state’s most popular beach.

Local environmental groups estimate that air pollution will quadruple in the Brownsville-South Padre Island metroplex, a 10-mile stretch of coastline, residential neighborhoods and small businesses that may soon sit under the brown-cloud haze of pollution already familiar to residents of industrialized regions like Corpus Christi, Galveston and Houston.

The purification and refrigeration process for LNG is so energy-intensive that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions for this region would be staggering.

Not only is Camparino informationally-challenged, willfully or unwittingly, we can't afford to feed him.

On a taxpayer funded trip to "look for business for the Port of Brownsville,"  Campirano and two other port officials chowed down on a $1,800 taxpayer-subsidized meal in Shanghai, China, disqualifying themselves as stewards of public money and interests. It bears mentioning that the Port of Brownsville threesome did not choke on that extravagant meal or lose sleep over the expensive burden to the country's poorest taxpayers, but simply defecated that grub, then went back the next day for $1,600 more of the pricey fare, inviting the BEDC's Jason Hilts to share in the gluttony. 

No thanks!

Brownsville can't afford Eduardo Camparino as City Manager.

READER CHALLENGES BOBBY WIGHTMAN-CERVANTES LEGAL ARGUMENTS

From the editor:  Bobby Wightman-Cervantes, publisher of the Brownsville Voice, by his own representation, the city's only unbought, unpurchased, unsubsidized blog offering, tantalizes the city with his sometimes unorthodox, but always riveting legal opinions.

Bobby Wightman-Cervantes

A reader has assembled Mr. Wightman's recent statements, incorporating them into an enthralling mano a mano  conversation.

The argument focuses primarily on the October 3 City Commission meeting when an  appointment to the GBIC board was considered and the October 17 meeting where Commissioner Tetreau-Kalifa presents the claim that her vote was not counted:


WIGHTMAN:  The blogs share and enhance one another on occasion. You are clueless as to the law. 

ANONYMOUS: Saying that does not make it true. YOU are the idiot who is clueless. 

WIGHTMAN:  You refuse to accept I am saying we can assume she did not vote, but the tape still does not get in because the custodian of the record cannot guarantee every thing was recorded as said.

ANONYMOUS: I refuse to accept your weird, warped view that evidence that you don't like is not true. "The Custodian of the Record" crap is just that, crap. It is a video that ANYONE is qualified to judge.

WIGHTMAN:  This was Judge Hanens ruling in the Cata case.

 ANONYMOUS: And again, who the fuck cares about a case that is not applicable. 

WIGHTMAN: This is standard. 

ANONYMOUS: It is not the standard just because, once again, you said so.
WIGHTMAN:  Tapes or recordings are use to prove a fact which cannot be disputed because it is on the tape [ such as a bank robber holding the gun on the teller], they cannot be used to prove something did not happen. 

ANONYMOUS: Yes, they are used to prove things didn't happen all the time. 

WIGHTMAN:  You do not like the law write judge Hanen and tell him he got it all wrong. 

ANONYMOUS: His ruling has no appliciablity in this case, any more that the case of Missouri Pacific vs. Brownsville Navagation District has any bearing on this incident. 

WIGHTMAN:  You still cannot tell us what document she altered. 

ANONYMOUS: Yes, as a mater of fact, I can. It was the offical minutes of the October 3, 2017 Brownsville City Commission meeting.

WIGHTMAN:  You know nothing about this system, Commissioners have done the same in the past and then the commission decides if there was a mistake end of story. 

A: Would you just plain quit telling people what they don't know, when obviously they do know. Obfuscation is a fancy word for your agenda driven lies.

 WIGHTMAN: Had Martinez and Neece not gone with the threats then there would be no story, issue raised, issue discussed, Jessica loses, end of story. But that is not what happened.

 ANONYMOUS: Not end of story. There are the complaints, indictments, and trial.

 WIGHTMAN: You refuse to accept how a professional would have handled this. 

ANONYMOUS: And that professional would have been you? Give us all a fucking break. 

WIGHTMAN:  I am not saying she voted. 

ANONYMOUS: Yes, you are when the evidence clearly shows otherwise.


WIGHTMAN:  I am saying how it was handled was wrong. 

ANONYMOUS: You are right. An immediate arrest was called for. 

WIGHTMAN: It was not professional. 

ANONYMOUS: I saw righteous indignation at a grievous act.


WIGHTMAN:  I will not dispute her votes were confusing. 

ANNONYMOUS:  I will. There is no confusion, she didn't vote. 

WIGHTMAN:  Hell it happens in Congress all of the time and people pay a price for not paying attention. 

ANONYMOUS: Yes, and in this case, what is the price for altering government documents fraudulently?

 WIGHTMAN: Like I said, all Martinez and Neece had to do was allow her her say, overrule her complaint and then vote.

 ANONYMOUS: But they didn't. They addressed the fraud.

WIGHTMAN:  There was no need for threats. Tony and Neece turned it into a needless circus when they could have been professionals and still won the day with no one having a beef. 

ANONYMOUS: No threats, except for the mayor against Rick, but that wasn't directly concerned with the perjury.

WIGHTMAN:  Stop changing my story and tell me how you defend the conduct of the Mayor and Neece which is my issue even if Jessica never voted. 

ANONYMOUS: I have to change your story because your are wrong. It is called correcting the record. There is no "even" qualifier involved, she didn't vote.

WIGHTMAN:  Stop with the distractions. here is a shocker I get to say what I am saying, not you. 

ANONYMOUS:  I'm simply pointing out that what you are saying isn't worth a popcorn fart.

 WIGHTMAN: You can challenge me by defending Martinez and Neece's conduct. 

ANONYMOUS: Ok. Martinez and Longoria should not have engaged in that 3rd grade argument. 

WIGHTMAN:  But changing my argument only makes you look desperate. And for the record I have given the most detailed information on my blog. 

ANONYMOUS: You have given the least unbiased report of the goings on of anyone posting, including Jerry and Juan. 

WIGHTMAN: My readership is fine. But I like to feel out the mood in the community so I read the other blogs to feel people out and sometimes get educated when they take me straight on. 

ANONYMOUS: No, your numbers are not fine or you wouldn't be blog squatting. 

WIGHTMAN:  Yes in American my troll we have the right to converse with one another even if you dod not like it. 

ANONYMOUS: Conversing does not mean lying your ass off about crap.

ERASMO CASTRO RECOUNTS POST-CITY COMMISSION MEETING CONFRONTATION WITH COMMISSIONER BEN NEECE

Erasmo Castro

Eli Eli

You

After City Commissioner's meeting whilst exiting commission Chamber I encountered Commissioner Ben Neece. 

Commissioner Ben Neece declared to me that he knew what kind of person I was and that I was going to pay for filing a police report against him. 

I attempted to explain to him that I had filed an incident report against violation of Open Meetings Act perpetrated by Audit and Oversight Committee. 

He then angrily waving his finger in my face said that he was the chair of said committee and therefore it was a report against him.

Commissioner Ben Neece then threatened to use his position as City Commissioner to have law enforcement persecute me for "filing a false police report" because he stated that I had said that agenda wasn't posted for said meeting.

I attempted to explain that this was not necessarily the case. My concerns were that a quorum of City commissioners had met that day and were discussing City Commission business openly and the day before City Commission meeting. 

Commissioner Ben Neece proceded to walk away angrily. 

I file this report because on October 14th I received a text from a friend that stated: 

"Hey. Got this message from a buddy. Cesar DeLeon in my aunts attorney. She said that he told her THEY are going after Cheez (a nick name attributed to me) hard and have big plans coming." 

Please note that Commissioner De Leon offices with Commissioner Neece, are friends and I imagine converse on a daily basis. 

I file this report because on October 17th Commissioner Neece during the meeting threatened Commissioner Jessica Tetreau by instructing Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez to pursue perjury charges against Commissioner Tetreau for filing a notarized statement with City of Brownsville City Secretary. 

I fear for my life and wellbeing. 

I fear for official retaliation by Commissioner Ben Neece using the powers of his elected position and the resources of the City of Brownsville. 

I ask for protection from local law enforcement.

Erasmo Castro

FROM THE DARKENED ROOM by John Christopher Tamayo

John Christopher Tamayo

There is a cabal, a horrible star chamber awash in perfidy, a quasi satanic brood of brutish creatures drunk with power.

They operate among us, walking our streets and eating beside us at restaurants. They belly up to the same bar, hastily quaffing bloody marys spiked with the actual blood of enemies both real and imagined. They huddle in small rooms, cackling through mouthfuls of filthy lucre they consume like cheap Chinese food at a small town buffet. They seek to control, to suppress, to taint, to manipulate and ruthlessly destroy. The star chamber is fat but constantly starving, it burns with the heat of three suns but demands the last bit of warmth from sheep that have already been shorn. It speaks often but it is in and of itself ineffable. You can watch it on the television.

The cabal, a terrible ‘gift’ for the City of Brownsville, comes from Cthulhu himself. Lovecraft would have been proud. You’d have never known had I not witnessed the nightly rituals, the bloodcurdling screams, the midnight howls or the stink of infernal incense. Had I found the eternal city of R’lyeh? Did I happen upon a cave with a shimmering portal? Was I in possession of some mystical bauble plundered from the vaults beneath Miskatonic University?

No. I simply watched a Brownsville City Commission meeting on Youtube.

To be fair, you have to know the signs. I don’t blame you for letting this steam past your nose without so much as a twitch.

The cabal’s leader is gleeful. He watches with glittering eyes as the bodies float past. The River Styx, fetid and black, is visible only to him in the back of the chamber. Mark Sossi, the Regency Dandy, his legs broken and brow bruised, bobs along as a sad reminder of great coiffures past. Charlie Cabler, retired city manager and eternal boy scout, gasps for breath as he ponders the price of honor, swallowing murky water and suddenly understanding the life of Frank Serpico. Carlos Elizondo, inflexible BISD vote and marauding Fire Chief, finally consumed by a flame he could not hope to control. Jessica Tetreau, disrespected and pushed and virtually slapped by the Cabal for challenging them, slipping further down the bank into the undertow.

I watched as Ricardo Longoria, a commissioner with more bravery than sense challenged the Cabal on Tuesday, October the 17th, feast day of St.Florentius. Florentius attacked the heresies of his day and was martyred for it. The spirit moved me as I cheered Longoria, fearlessly martyring himself as the bloated, self-important plutocratic Elder Thing worked feverishly to silence him. The dysfunction, borne of a rebellious Cabalista, was quickly squashed as the bespectacled Deep One called for the police chief to thrash the impertinent Tetreau for the crime of independence. Poor, innocent Tetreau. I sincerely hope that Longoria is rewarded someday for his act of strength. When the night falls and the creatures of mythos come knocking, I pray that Longoria remembers his wards against madness.

Meanwhile, I write this from a darkened room awash in candle light and the glow of my computer monitor. One can never know what agents are in service of the cabal. There are many strange creatures in Brownsville. There are Bartons and Montoyas and Mchales and Paz-Martinezes and Wightmans and Sanchezes. Their alliances shift. They are purveyors of information for a dark city in which stories of new olive gardens are treated as hard news. They are burning torches in the dead of night, but where they lead, only the end can tell. Some walk the poor, huddled masses to freedom. Others walk them to R’lyeh, and eternal bondage.

I am still sane, I think. I am still true. The madness is certainly upon me, but it still fails to consume me. Right? Isn’t that right?

Someone write to me please and tell me what happens next. I can’t bear to look. You can reach me at Innsmouth. I will be there on holiday.

Forever.

Revisiting the Cameron County Commissioners' Foolish Decision to Give $400 Million Tax Abatement to LNG Plant

Explosion at LNG Plant in Algeria Killing 26

There's a reason no LNG plant is located at Waikiki Beach near Honolulu or among the Douglas Fir along Puget Sound in Western Washington. 

Why would leaders in either area be so short-sighted as to risk irreparable harm to their priceless environment, destroying it for their children and children's children?

Your County Commissioners, Sofia Benavides, Alex Dominguez, David Garza and Gus Ruiz are just that short-sighted, not just in approving a hideous LNG plant near the Port of Brownsville, but in gifting the ultra-rich corporation nearly $400 million in tax abatements.(One might excuse Mrs. Benavides as she's pretty much clueless, but she ran for the office, thus bears responsibility. County Judge Eddie Trevino voted against the abatement.)  That's like paying someone a huge sum to destroy your home.

"But doesn't NG stand for natural gas, a clean burning fuel?" some confused residents ask.

Yes, but that's not what an LNG plant does, burn natural gas.  It compresses natural gas to 1/600th of its original volume, a messy, dirty, complicated, heavily polluting process.

At the Port of Brownsville, the proposed LNG facility would dump millions of gallons of heated effluent each day into one of the healthiest shallow-water bays in the world. The plants’ 500-foot flaring towers—which release mercury, hydrogen sulfide, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons and other impurities from the natural gas—would burn a couple of miles downwind from the state’s most popular beach.

Local environmental groups estimate that air pollution will quadruple in the Brownsville-South Padre Island metroplex, a 10-mile stretch of coastline, residential neighborhoods and small businesses that may soon sit under the brown-cloud haze of pollution already familiar to residents of industrialized regions like Corpus Christi, Galveston and Houston. 

The purification and refrigeration process for LNG is so energy-intensive that the amount of greenhouse gas emissions for this region would be staggering.

Now, imagine three huge LNG plants, the number currently applying, along Padre Island Highway from the Port of Brownsville to near Port Isabel.  Think ahead to about 2030, when the current shrinking demand for natural gas worldwide drops below profitability.

Cameron County will be stuck with 500 foot tall piles of hazardous waste and chemical cleanup.  Who will pay to remove the dangerous eyesore?

Commissioner Ben Neece and Brownsville Cheezmeh Guru Erasmo Castro Tangle After City Commission Meeting

"Ben and Erasmo Ready to Rumble!" by Diego Lee Rot

Laid back Rastafarian City Commissioner Ben Neece is moving beyond mellow, more closely personifying Mike Tyson than Bob Marley.

At last Tuesday's City Commission meeting, he had verbal jousts with Commissioner/DJ Ricardo Longoria and Purchasing Director Robert C. Luna after threatening Commissioner Jessica Tetrea-Kalifa and staring down Commissioner Ricardo Longoria.

Surely, enough fighting for the night?

Wrong!

Commissioner Neece stepped down from behind the commissioner's desk, through the swinging door into the audience pews to confront Erasmo Castro, a frequent candidate in city elections and the CEO of Brownsville Cheezmeh, a loosely affiliated advocacy group connected on Facebook.

"Why did you file a police report about the Fire Department audit?" Neece asked menacingly.

"You violated the Texas Open Meetings Act," Erasmo responded.

"We did not," responded Neece.

"How would you like me to file a police report about your fake police report?" asked Neece.

I guess then Erasmo could file a police report in response to Neece's police report on his police report.

Dizzy? 

Contentious City Commission Meeting Becomes "Must See TV!"

Gunfight in Downtown Brownsville by Ben & Tony

The normally staid Brownsville City Commission meeting erupted into one of Reynosa's nightly firefights for the October 17 meeting.

Commissioner Jessica Tetreau-Kalifa lamented that her vote was not counted during the October 3 meeting when the commission considered a new appointment to the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, an entity controlling approximately $5 million annually in taxpayer dollars earmarked for economic development.

Commissioner Tetreau-Kalifa

"I want my vote recognized," Tetreau-Kalifa stated.

"I represent a lot of people and somebody lost their appointment to a board because my vote wasn't counted," she continued.

Mayor Tony countered quickly, interrupting Ben Neece("I agree with you Ben)stating that he'd watched the tape of the October 3 meeting, along with Assistant City Manager Micheal Lopez and City Secretary Griselda Rosas, and that the tape unequivocally showed that Commissioner Tetreau-Kalifa did not vote.

Next Neece held up a copy of the sworn affidavit Tetreau-Kalifa had given the City Secretary, persuading her to change the vote totals for Item 7 of the October 3 meeting, the vote to replace a GBIC board member.

"Do you want me to take this to the Chief of Police?" Ben bellowed.

Tetreau-Kalifa reiterated that she simply wanted to be allowed to vote for a GBIC board member.

"That vote will be taking place shortly," Neece responded, referring to reconsideration of the tabled item on that meeting's agenda.

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, Jr.

Next, Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, at first recognized by the chair, Mayor Martinez, started to speak, with his gaze directed at Commissioner Neece.  Neece would have none of that.

"Commissioner, direct your remarks to the chair," stated Neece.

Martinez interjected:  "We're not having this!" closing the discussion.

"Point of order," Longoria responded.

Martinez threatened to have Longoria removed by police.

"No sir," Longoria responded several times, drawing a drink from his water bottle.

Of course, by Robert's Rules of Order, Longoria had the floor.  Mayor Martinez was totally out of line to stifle, stymie and squelch his comments, but, as we know, the mayor is no parliamentarian.

Purchasing Director Robert C. Luna

The night's contention was not over as the incredibly inept Robert C. Luna, the city's purchasing director was scheduled to introduce agenda items 17 and 18, resolutions to allow the city to "negotiate" with two out of area purchasing programs, rubberstamping an already negotiated agreement to buy a $178,000 bucket truck for the Parks Department.

It quickly got contentious between Commissioner Neece and Luna.  Neece was concerned the large ticket item had not been put out for bids locally and that Luna had already negotiated a bid with a purchasing program BEFORE a resolution was approved by the city commission allowing such.

"Do I have a motion to table?" asked Mayor Martinez.

The night's fighting was over. . . . almost.