CHESS TUTOR RAY MARTINEZ FEATURED ON "WHINE WITH CHEEZ" SUNDAY

Ray "Chess King" Martinez

with Students

This Sunday's Whine with Cheez podcast at Angelita's Casa de Café will feature Ray Martinez, a BISD teacher whose had marvelous success teaching young students the intricacies of chess.  The show airs as an internet podcast at 1:30 PM, although we also have a live audience at Angelita's.

We're in discussion with several newly elected to city government for a non-contentious show 7/13.  Hosting all four at once may not be possible as Commissioner Tetreau reminded me that would constitute a quorum, but that will work itself out.

John Chambers

I want to apologize to John Chambers, who sent me some documents a few days ago about his court case.  I scanned those and saw some interesting arguments I'd like to consider as a non-legal, but I'm been working hard on Ana's immigration the last few days.

Ana Adiong

Ana sent me this picture while waiting in the chair at World Dental Center in Cagayan de Oro.  She was having a bridge reset, but still has one more follow up procedure after this.  Ana tells me it's green mango harvesting time in her region with prices dropping to 10 pisos per kilo that's approximately .20 USD for 2.2 lbs.   

UPDATE: PETITION FOR ALIEN FIANCEE VISA TENTATIVELY APPROVED, SENT TO MANILA

Ana Adiong

Typically, fiancee Ana is in a jovial mood, making up some faux drama to startle or unnerve me, then quickly putting me out of my misery with her unique phrase "I was just joking on you," covering her mouth in embarrassment, laughing hysterically.

The teasing is not mean-spirited and is most welcome.  After all, I'm a joker too.

Yet, today brought more nervousness than laughter.

Waking up late, I read an email from the National Visa Center acknowledging they'd received my I-129f from the United States Citizen and Immigration Services(USCIS) and were now forwarding it to the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in Manila, Philippines.  That, of course, is just tentative approval and the process is far from over.

Ana will need to file a DS-160 form online, then get an appointment for a medical checkup at St. Luke's Medical Center Extension Clinic in Manila, taking the results to her interview at the U.S. Embassy along with a stack of documents I'm sending.

After forwarding a copy of the NVC letter to Ana's email, I waited until 6:00 AM Philippines time to text:  "Ana, do you ever check your email?"

Just as I expected, within 10 seconds my Facebook Messenger was ringing for a videocall, but Ana's facial expression was not the sheer euphoria anticipated, but instead, a serious, worried look.

"Yes, I read it," Ana stated.

"But, what do I do next?"

That was more of a rhetorical question as she knows and has known "what to do," but now is confronted with the reality of doing it.

I have work to do as well.  After reworking an affidavit, triple-checking everything, I need to send a file folder full of documents to Cagayan de Oro.(Federal Express charges $120 to send the folder, while DHL in Harlingen's rate is $87.)

There are no guarantees with this process, but if it fails, it's on me.

"HOW CAMERON COUNTY CAN BENEFIT FROM THE REPUBLICAN PARTY" BY TAD HASSE

From the editor:  As most know, I'm not particularly partisan, but simply embarrassed daily to have a totally inept president, who embraces and is constantly played by the Vladimir Putins and Kim Jong Uns of the world and lies pathologically to the American people every time he opens his mouth.

With that said, Cameron County is not doing well economically, obviously needing a change in direction.

So, I asked my friend, Tad Hasse, to give us a short essay, answering the question below.(Yes, the title is mine.)  

Hasse's response: 

How Cameron County Residents Can Benefit from the Republican Party?

Tad Hasse

The title was not of my own making, it was the topic for discussion asked of me verbatim, so here goes!

I’ll have to start with a disclaimer. These views are my own. They are not yet, and possibly never will be the officially endorsed position of the Cameron County Republican Party or the Republican Party of Texas.

Some will agree, some may disagree, but that is what freedom of speech and thought are all about. This is by no means exhaustive, but I do believe it fits the criteria of “Necessary and Sufficient” that appeal to the mathematician in me.

I’ll get right to it. On ideology, Democrats on the national stage share absolutely nothing whatsoever with the family and religious values with the people of Cameron County. Not a damn thing.

Republicans do. Republicans forcibly defend freedom of religion through the ballot and the courts. The Democrats file suite to remove the Cross and the Ten Commandments wherever they think they can get away with it. 

If this isn’t an absolute embarrassment to the Cameron Democratic leadership, then that is a part of the problem. If the people here overwhelming vote Democrat, why isn’t the local party leadership screaming “Ya! Basta!” when these things occur? 

They sit mute. Republicans don’t.

I am often asked, “Why do you keep bringing up Democrats from other places? They aren’t here!”

My answer is simple: When you vote Democrat in a local county election, you are telling these absolute crazy nutjobs you see on TV that you support the bilge that spills from their lips every time they can get in front of a camera. 

Do you ever wonder why a Red Wave swept the State? It is because the Democrat Party left the people. The vast majority of the hard core Republicans north of here used to be Democrats.

Really! Did you think there was some kind of massive physical Republican invasion that displaced the Democrats? No. The change that swept through was breaking the chains of the mind. It was an awaking and the people of those counties are now more prosperous and happy. 

This happiness and prosperity is frowned upon by the Democrat Party whose only hope is to pander for support from victims of a system that they created and want to keep in place. If you wish to argue, “Well, the Democrats here aren’t like that!”, then I will have to ask, “Then why are they Democrats”?

Let’s move on to another major point of real politick: Funding. Nationally and statewide the Republicans are in charge. No, you don’t get to count the House. Not one damn thing of their crazy crap will make it through. 

The Federal government is veto-override proof. The Senate says no, it is no. The President says no, it is no. I’m sorry if your “no” hurts. Get over it.

We endured Obama and didn’t riot. Hating on Donald Trump isn’t going to make a factory spring up here.

So now that I’ve proven that any hopes for rivers of the free crap that the Democrats pine and whine for are just not going to happen, I’ll tell you what will happen if Cameron County flips red.

The government will actually start to care. As it is, it is perfectly safe to ignore Cameron County. We don’t matter as long as we keep knee jerk voting Democrat. 

Areas that flip Republican are showered with largess and government contracts, wealth and prosperity. It is the nature of politics and power.

I’m not saying that it is pretty. It is actually rather disgusting, but it is the truth. What can Filemon Vela do for us? Not a damn thing. 

Trump and the Senate are going to be there for the next 6 years. Elect Dr. Rey Gonzalez and see what happens. What the hell, it is just a two year term and if what I said doesn’t happen, then vote Vela back in. You really have nothing to lose. 

I’ve spoken with Governor Abbott and he seriously wants the Valley to be more prosperous. The fact is that he would be politically stupid to let the Democrats take any credit for the prosperity he wants for us, so there is the impasse. Why would a Republican governor allow Democrats to coattail on his initiatives? It just isn’t in the cards. Flip this county red and just watch what happens.

So both ideologically and for personal prosperity, I believe I have addressed the question that was asked of me. I’m not going to engage in a lot of distracting “what aboutisms” or “Russia”. If you want to argue, argue the points I have made. I’ve told the truth, nothing more.

MAYOR-ELECT TREY MENDEZ DECLARES BROWNSVILLE "OPEN FOR BUSINESS"

TREY MENDEZ FAREWELL CEREMONY AT TSC PERFORMING ARTS CENTER THURSDAY

TREY MENDEZ SAYS "THANK YOU!" TO SUPPORTERS

I have spent most of the day returning text messages and phone calls. 

Reflecting on yesterday, I’ve tried to find the right words to say. But it comes down to just two: THANK YOU! 

Thank you to those who started this journey with me many months ago when I decided to run.

Thank you to those who believed in me, despite the fact that many politicos labeled us as underdogs. 

Thank you to those you volunteered their time and energy, whether making phone calls, sharing posts, knocking on doors or holding signs. 

Thank you to those who believed in our message and what we were trying to do, and encouraged me to keep up the fight. 

Thank you for choosing me as the candidate who could change our city for the better. This win was a huge win for Brownsville and it feels so amazing. 

We won without making promises in exchange for support, without disparaging our opponent, without harvesting votes, without taking down signs, without playing dirty and we don’t owe any favors to special interests. 

Thank you to my opponent Charlie Cabler, who called yesterday to wish me the best going forward. He gave us a good run and never personally attacked me. 

I will always do what is best for Brownsville. It was a win for the little guy, the underdog. 

You will forever be a part of Team Trey. I am excited to get started, and will carry your hopes and expectations with me everywhere I go. 

It will take some time to see the results, but they will come. Good things are going to happen. I love this city. 

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

HEAVY RAIN ENDS DAY AT THE BEACH DURING SAINT JOHN'S DAY IN PHILIPPINES

Cagayan de Oro, Philippines~June 24 is Saint John's Day, celebrated in the Philippines with those in the mountainous provinces descending to the beaches for a day of swimming and picnicking.

City dwellers do the same, but face an additional hazard.  On holidays, the custom of those in the city is to playfully spray or toss water on anyone passing by, not to injure or hurt, but just to soak and dampen.  I witnessed this in Cebu City, old ladies with garden hoses, men with water buckets and kids with large squirt guns, laughing as they got you wet.

Manila, the capital, currently has a water shortage and the Catholic Bishops Conference are admonishing residents to “be smart enough not to waste water for the sake of merriment.”

Ana Adiong at Villanueva

Beach on St. John's Day

Fiancee Ana went with her brother and his girlfriend to a local beach for the holiday, taking a tricycle to the highway, then a jipney to Villanueva.  Headed out of town, they did not face the water hoses, buckets and squirt guns.

Once at the beach, an early morning mass was being conducted under a roof.  Ana stood respectfully in the back corner, observing, but not participating.

Around 2PM Ana messaged me to say the wind had really picked up and the "waves were no longer friendly."  They started packing up.

Her next message:  "We're going home now.  OMG, it's gonna rain so heavily now.  Love you." 

From the editor:  This is the rainy season in the Philippines. Dark clouds form quickly over the ocean and seem to just race to shore.  Within three or four minutes of noticing the cloud formation, the first drops of rain hit, and then, there's much, much more.  




  

TREY'S VICTORY CELEBRATION, NURITH JOINS THE PODCAST!

It was one of those breezy, subtropical evenings so typical of Brownsville as several hundred gathered outdoors along Alton Gloor Road to congratulate Trey Mendez on winning the mayorship.

Bobby Wightman-Cervantes, 
Trey Mendez

Tired out from my attempted coverage of the Market Square Pride event, followed by a 1-1/2 hour Whine with Cheez podcast at Angelita's Casa de Café, I simply congratulated Trey and left.

Earlier in the evening, Jerry McHale, Erasmo Castro and I had actually expressed some optimism on the direction city government may take with the election of Mendez, Nurith Galonsky and John Cowen, the threesome I'd labeled the Holy Trinity early in the race.

While McHale feels that Commissioner Ben Neece will now have the votes to reinstate the audit committee, getting down to brass tacks on certain irregularities, I want a new GBIC board and closer, more accurate monitoring of GBIC spending, but we all see a real possibility of making Brownsville's historic downtown an actual destination.

Jerry McHale, Nurith Galonsky, 
Erasmo Castro, Jim Barton

As our podcast wound down, Commissioner-Elect Nurith Galonsky joined the discussion.  When asked about the needs of District 1, Galonsky says she's focused on some specific drainage issues "along the canal," where water is entering homes during storms.  She plans monthly town halls in her district, the first one in July, she stated.

DRAG QUEEN ORGANIZER TRIES TO CENSOR STRAIGHT PHOTO-JOURNALIST AT LGBTQ EVENT

Joe Uvalles II AKA Beatrix Lestrange

Local LGBTQ organizer, drag queen Joe Uvalles II, who performs as Beatrix Lestrange, tried to censor my reporting on the Market Square Pride event held today downtown.

"No pictures or videos," he told me as I attempted to photograph Pastor Ali, a young women who'd just told the audience "I'm queer and I'm a pastor.  Isn't that great?"

"What!" I exclaimed to Uvalles.  

"This is a public place and people are taking pictures and videos all over the place," I responded.

"Yes, but I don't like some of the things you write," claimed Uvalles.

I continued taking pictures, ignoring the conflicted, somewhat dense young man, who fights for LGBTQ rights, but doesn't afford the same respect to others. 

As far as my writing, I'm very tolerant and certainly have never said anything negative about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer community.

I live and let live.

  

"WHINE WITH CHEEZ" ELECTION NIGHT COVERAGE WITH SPECIAL GUEST~JERRY MCHALE, 6:30 PM, SATURDAY, JUNE 22

Blogfather Jerry McHale

Our long municipal nightmare will soon be over as the polls for the City of Brownsville election close at 7:00 PM Saturday, June 22.

10% of Brownsville's registered voters will have spoken. ending a clusterfuck of pachangas, campaign forums, podcasts, blockwalking, phonebanking and sign stealing, to proudly select Brownsville's new mayor, first-time City Commissioner At Large "A" and choose between a 16 year incumbent and a hardworking challenger in District 1.

Once again, Angelita's Casa de Café will host Special Election Night Coverage starting at 6:30 PM with livestreaming offered on the Erasmo Castro and Jim Barton Facebook pages.(Guests are welcome to join the live audience at Angelita's)

Longtime blogger, teacher and coach, Jerry McHale, will offer commentary, predictions and rationale for the evening's results, joined by BISD Board Member and political commentator Erasmo Castro and myself.

"A splendid time is guaranteed for all"

IT'S WELL PAST TIME TO REPLACE THE UNRELIABLE GBIC BOARD!

Our incoming mayor's first priority may be to fix the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, the entity charged with oversight of the dispersal of $5 million sales tax monies annually on economic development projects.

While recent meetings have make quorum at the last instant or a few minutes past the scheduled start, Friday's meeting had to be cancelled because, besides the chairman, NO BOARD MEMBER SHOWED UP!

As per usual, all the salaried people were there; GBIC Director Mario Lozoya, City Attorney Rene De Coss, Lupe Granado, Ramiro Aleman, Janie Velasquez, easily over $1 million in annual salary, on the clock, wasting their time.(Rene De Coss told me he'd just flown in from San Antonio to make the meeting, only to find the board members lacked the courtesy and commitment even to show up.)


GBIC Board Chair, Esteban Guerra, sitting all my his lonesome, didn't get my wisecrack about being the Maytag repairman, but Pat Hobbs with the Texas Workforce, like me, an older guy, laughed.

Today's absent board members:

Pedro Cardenas, Vice Chair, makes about half the meetings.

Commissioner Jessica Tetreau, board member, chronically absent

Commissioner Ricardo Longoria, Jr, board member, typically present

Former Commissioner Cesar de Leon, resigned from the board, but never replaced by the unconcerned City Commission

It's the work of the City Commission to populate these city boards, none more critical than the GBIC.  It's been more than obvious for months that GBIC needs new blood, responsible citizens with actual business and financial experience, preferably not City Commisioners.

BROWNSVILLE DOWNTOWN~MARKET SQUARE PRIDE, JUNE 22, 5PM TO 11PM

CABLER SIGN REMOVERS CAUGHT RED-HANDED ON ALTON GLOOR

From the editor:  Mayoral Candidate Charlie Cabler and an associate were cruising along Alton Gloor when they spotted two men removing a Cabler sign across the street from Burns Elementary, so they stopped and snapped this picture.

"Who told you to do this?" Cabler's partner asked the men.

"The owner.  He doesn't want it here," was the reply.

"Who's the owner?"

No response.

The person sending me this photo is convinced this incident proves that Cabler's opponent may not really be "leading by example," but would frontrunner Trey Mendez really be involved in a sign war 24 hours before the election?

ANALYZING THE OPERATIONS & MARKETING AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF BROWNSVILLE AND HERNANDEZ FOUNDATION(MIKE HERNANDEZ III)

Mike Hernandez III,

Hernandez Foundation

Texas Tax Code 351 authorizes the collection of a Hotel Occupancy Tax on rooms rented, an addition of 7% to the room rate.

According to the code, the monies collected can be spent on:

"Revenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax may be used only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry, and that use is limited to the following:

(1) the acquisition of sites for and the construction, improvement, enlarging, equipping, repairing, operation, and maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor information centers, or both;"

That's pretty much the language used in the agreement between the city and the Hernandez Foundation, a 501(c)(3), that his foundation will promote tourism and a conference facility.

The City of Brownsville agrees to convey to the foundation up to 100% of the Hotel Occupancy Tax generated the hotel on the premises up to $6,000,000 over 20 years, called a Hyatt, but the actual agreement specifies simply a "national franchise" including Hyatt, Marriot, Omni or Hilton.

An additional $3,000,000 to the Hernandez Foundation can be "justified" under the agreement, but also $2,000,000 in infrastructure, landscaping, roads, etc. for a grand total of $11,000,000 on an estimated $37,100,000 project.

The anticipated completion date is 12/31/2021.

Article 4 of the document calls for the City of Brownsville to "compensate" the Hernandez Foundation "for Conference Center Operations and marketing."

An intriguing statement in the document is that the city "finds that the Owner(Mike Hernandez III) possesses expertise in the development and operation of hotel conference facilities."(Does anyone know if Hernandez has ever actually developed or managed hotel and/or hotel conference facilities?)

Hernandez, with 90 days notice, can change the franchise of the hotel, but is limited to one of the national franchises mentioned above.

Below, a copy of the Owner Affidavit:

DETAILS OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF BROWNSVILLE AND HERNANDEZ FOUNDATION FOR HOTEL, TEACHING FACILITY

Since the city's website included no packet with supporting documents concerning the June 13, 2019 Special Meeting agreement with the Hernandez Foundation for a new hotel, we contacted City Manager Noel Bernal for more information receiving that today via Helen Ramirez.

The proposed project to be built on a 28 acre tract at 4555 N. Expressway 77/83(roughly between the Courtyard by Marriot and La Quinta Inn and Suites) would include a 138 room, 4-story Hyatt Hotel, an 8,000 sq.ft. event center and a hospitality, tourism and management teaching facility by UT-RGV.

Total investment for the project is estimated at $37,100,000 with the City of Brownsville committing no more than $11,000,000.(The city's participation includes $2,000,000 for infrastructure, roads, landscaping, etc., but also another $6,000,000 from the city's Hotel Occupancy Tax over 20 years.  An additional $3,000,000 in Hotel Occupancy Tax could be included, "if justified," thus the $11,000,000 total.)

The agreement, between the City of Brownsville and the Hernandez Foundation(Mike Hernandez III) is contingent  upon UT-RGV "choosing the site for their new teaching facility."

A dual enrollment high school program is included with a projected 60 students in the fall of 2020, 250 by 2023.

Just for comparison, an 8,000 sq. ft. event center would provide less than half the space of the current Brownsville Event Center's 17,000 sq. ft. facility at 1 Event Center and 1/20 of the McAllen Convention Center's 174,000 sq. ft.

The 4-story, 138 room hotel will total 84,284 sq. ft.

WHAT I LEARNED YESTERDAY IN VIDEOCALL

Ana Adiong

"Did you know that I started cooking when I was seven years old?  I'm 37 now, so that's 30 years," Ana told me yesterday on videocall.

"Whenever I've had difficult times in my life, I just go into the kitchen and start cooking."(One of the things that endeared me to Ana is that, although she's vegetarian, she went to Gaisano's to buy meat to cook for me when I stayed with her.)

"You will love my chicken aroz caldo," she continued, sending me a picture of sili mahaba, finger chilis that looked exactly like serranos, saying something about sautéing ginger, garlic, onion and chilis in olive oil.

"I bought a box of 5.5 kilos of green mangoes yesterday for 100 pisos," Ana continued.(That's over 12 lbs. for $1.94 USD.)

Filipinos love green mangoes, cooking them with seafood, making shakes and smoothies, even pickling them.

While neither of us are churchgoers, Ana believes in prayer and was raised in the Philippine Independent Church, a branch of Catholicism, but without confession, utilizing married priests, both male and female and not recognizing the pope in Rome as infallible.  

Ana said she believes in "finding happiness each day, not waiting for heaven" and wants to visit the world's largest Buddhist temple in Cambodia.

"Just a second.  My wifi is going crazy. I have to go buy a load."

Ana has highspeed internet for less than $20 per month, but, when it goes out, she goes to the sari sari store down the street to buy a load, about a day's worth of bandwidth for 50 pisos.

SPOILED BRAT COUNTRY SINGER AARON LEWIS STILL MAKING HEADLINES WITH HIS TEMPER

Aaron Lewis

Bad boy country singer Aaron Lewis keeps losing his cool.  

You may recall this past February when he got upset at an audience member in McAllen who kept asking him to sing something in Spanish.

Just before leaving the stage that night, Lewis barked:  "I'm sorry.  I don't know how to speak Spanish.  I'm American." 

During a show in Indianapolis, Lewis got annoyed with audience talking:

"Listen, if you don't shut the fuck up, you can't even hear the guitar, so shut up.  Through the whole fuckin' evening, you guys have talked all fuckin' night.  Shut the fuck up or I'm done.".

Then, there was the time Lewis ran into Wes Borland of Limp Biskit, the guy who gave Lewis his first break.  

The two ran into each other at a Jacksonville, Florida airport, and, you guessed it, Lewis and Borland got into it.  

Lewis got upset when Borland said he was "going home," back to Los Angeles.

"LA ain't your home," Lewis shouted.  

"You're from Florida.  Don't ever forget where you're from you bougie motherfucker!"

MARKET SQUARE PRIDE~JUNE 22, 2019, 5pm TO 11 PM

ADDITIONAL TIDBITS FROM THE 6/18/19 BISD BOARD MEETING

Judging by the nearly thunderous applause every time teacher raises were mentioned, I'm guessing last night's BISD Board Meeting audience was primarily populated with teachers.

The eight board-member-requested Action Items were my primary focus. Each item included the initials of the sponsoring member.

Thus, we know that Erasmo Castro initiated Action Item #1, calling for "restructuring the leadership of the Board of Trustees," an item that was obviously tabled by prior agreement because it wasn't taken up.

Of the remaining seven items, Board Member Sylvia Atkinson sponsored four and Philip Cowen sponsored three. Board members Laura Perez-Reyes, Drue Brown and Prisci Roca Tipton had no dogs in this fight.

With Philip Cowen's Action Item #4 he actually nominated himself to be the BISD Board's representative for TASB Region 1, Place B.  By way of explanation, Cowen said he making himself available to serve because there currently was no representative for Region 1, but that he would support someone else as long as SOMEONE filled this role.

Cowen received pushback from BISD Attorney Baltazar Salazar who asked to be recognized.  Salazar stated that this appointment was actually in his purview, that he'd already been working on this issue.

"If you want to do this yourself and spend $3-5,000 of the district's money, have at it, but I've already done the work," stated Salazar with annoyance.

It was during Board Member Sylvia Atkinson's Action Item #7 about "appropriate usage of social media by school district officials and employees" where Board Member Erasmo Castro and Attorney Salazar had a heated exchange with Castro first reading from the BISD Code, then referencing a "horrible report" recently being posted on social media.

"We need to be careful," Castro continued, saying that a "member of the board released information without presenting it to the board, something 100% not true."

It was then that Attorney Baltazar Salazar, wagging a finger at Castro, stated "this is not the appropriate venue.  This matter should be discussed in Executive Session only.  This involves security. You are stating half-truths."

It was agreed this matter would be discussed in Executive Session and the meeting went forward.

With Action Item #3 Atkinson seemed eager to expedite a feasibility plan for a Performing Arts Center, smiling sardonically as Castro described himself as the "number one proponent of the Performing Arts Center."  

Castro wanted Rene Gutierez, the lone finalist for BISD superintendent, to be consulted, since "he already had a performing arts center built in Edinburg" and should be familiar with how to implement such a project.

Atkinson was not opposed to bringing in Gutierez, but simply wanted the project to "move forward."  She resisted tabling the item to the board's next meeting in August, but acquiesced, stating "I just want to make sure it gets done."

Patrick Hammes of B.E.S.T., Brownsville Educators Stand Together Addressing Board during Public Comment

From the editor:  Board Member Philip Cowen agreed to appear on the 6/23/19 "Whine with Cheez" podcast.  We've reached out to a special guest for the Election Night podcast 6/22/19.

ERASMO CASE CLOSED, SHERGOLD WARNS OF RED MENACE, BLOGGER DISSED BY MINERVA PENA

Incident Involving Erasmo Castro Closed by Police

BISD Board President Minerva Pena, who's always been friendly, arrived at the entrance of the administration building on Price Road just as I did for the BISD Board Meeting.  As I scooted ahead to open the door for her, she sidestepped me, entering the "out" door.  So much for chivalry! 

Minerva's impulsive move wasn't well thought out, as we made immediate eye contact in the lobby, forcing her to say "hi!"  LOL!(My gut feeling is that Minerva, knowing she had foolishly used social media to accuse BISD Board Member Erasmo Castro of gross impropriety, simply assumed that, as a card-carrying member of the Whine with Cheez podcast, I would be pro-Castro, anti-Minerva and she was taking a pro-active move to reject me before I rejected her.)

John Shergold on right

Attorney John Shergold brought some spirit to the Public Comment portion of the meeting, lamenting the closing of three BISD schools in "economically deprived areas," exposing himself as a Lower Birthrate Denier.

"They say the loss of students is due to a lower birth rate, but, I don't know about that.  In the Shergold household, we've have two children with a third on the way," stated the proud papa to enthusiastic applause.

Shergold instead blamed the loss of students on a philosophy of the "District of Innovation," a program he claimed was to copy charter schools, not fight them.

"Let's run the public schools as public schools," stated Shergold.

"To model ourselves after the charters is a victory for communism!"(WTF! I haven't heard the word communism since a classmate at Kent-Meridian tried to hand me a Goldwater pin my senior year of high school.)

Standing Room Only Crowd for BISD Board Meeting

Erasmo Castro's Action Item#1 to "restructure leadership on the Board of Trustees" was apparently tabled.

Castro, anxious to deal with Board President Minerva Pena's social media and police charge against him, was obviously biding his time until consideration of a Sylvia Atkinson sponsored agenda item about "appropriate usage of social media by school district officials and employees."

Erasmo read from some already existing guidelines and then regurgitated the trumped-up charge by the board president, adding that the Brownsville Police had closed the case, finding no evidence at all for the charge.

BISD Attorney Baltazar Salazar, loudly talking over Castro, waving his finger, shouted:  "You are stating only half-truths!"

"Don't wave your finger at me!" answered Castro.

Salazar convinced the board president that the matter needed to be discussed in Executive Session.  

Ana's Workout in Cagayan de Oro

I decided to leave at that point as the meat of the agenda had been considered, Executive Session was minutes away, and my fiancée, Ana Adiong, was finishing her workout in Cagayan de Oro.  We always communicate this time of morning/evening come Hell, high water or Executive Session.

EDUARDO MARTINEZ, BLOGGER LIGHT, THE STRANGE, INSECURE HUMAN PARADOX

Eduardo Martinez

Like the pesky horsefly, he is seen buzzing around, but not respected.

As the city's legal blogger compassionately confided: "You notice I don't say much to him.  I'm told he's suicidal and I wouldn't want to push him over the edge."

The city's best read blogger added:  "Oh, THAT guy!  He was fired from the Brownsville Herald years ago for fabricating a story about Elvis impersonators!"

McHale just refers to him as "pinche DPM!"

A human paradox, that's Eddie; declaring himself a world-renowned journalist, but unable to get off his daybed to cover a story in Brownsville, a self-appointed grammar Nazi who confuses "to" and "too," a lazy "writer" content to piggyback off Brownsville's bloggers, penning about politicos he doesn't know, every adjective just a quarter turn off, claiming his nothing stories are "overheard in Brownsville," when they are instead cut and pasted from Facebook.  Overheard, my ass!
(Click "read more" below for the full story)

BLOGFATHER JERRY MCHALE EMULATES SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS

Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Walking into the City Commission chambers Thursday, accompanied by grandson Jack, I was met by Pastor Brad Burke, eyes fixated, not dilating:

"Have you heard the news about Sarah Huckabee Sanders?  She might be running for governor of Arkansas.  She'd make a good one, don't you think?"

"What?" I responded.  "I thought she was Trump's press secretary.  But, you may be right.  She's pretty damn good at spinning Trump's lies."

Pastor Brad's big smile turned into a look of disgust, as if he'd just tossed "pearls before swine."

"I shouldn't have mentioned it," was all the pastor could think to say.

Yep, in the Trumpian world, down is up and up is down as Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin vie for the Nobel Peace Prize.

"It's freezing outside, where the hell is 'global warming?' " asks the best President in the history of the United States.

"Well, we have at least one bastion of truth left," I thought to myself, the blogfather, Jerry McHale.

"He might kick your ass, but he won't lie about you or your words," I mused.

That was before I clicked the "Favorite's Bar" to read today's edition of the McHale Report, only to be hit by the headline: BARTON LAUDS COWEN FOR BUSINESS ACUMEN!!! atop a picture, then to see another story of selected, out-of-context quotes from the Brownsville Observer.

Did Jerry and Sarah graduate from the same class at the Universitee of Arkansaw at Dogpatch(Hillbilly U.)?

We'll make no attempt to walk back the comments like Team Trump is forced to do daily, but instead quote from Pastor Brad's favorite book:

"Let the reader use discernment."

St. Matthew, Chapter 24, verse 15