Tuesday, August 30, 2022

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! WILLIAM GARZA IS CONSIDERING A RUN FOR CITY COMMISSION

William Garza, on the left, appears along with Erasmo Castro, Jim Barton and Nurith Galonsky on 1/27/2019 podcast

Brownsville, without four distinct seasons like other parts of the country, pays little attention to the first blooming of the pussy willow or salix discolor, as it's scientifically named.

Yet, our city has other signs to watch out for, like the re-emergence of William Garza, a frequent campaigner for city office.  A William Garza sighting usually signifies the swift approach of campaign season.

Since his one term on the city commission ended in 1991, William Garza has run for public office ten times, losing each race.  

Not particularly keen on introspection, William trudges on, perhaps not even aware that his incredible explanation for being discovered by police totally nude in 1998 at the corner of Minnesota Avenue and South Padre Island Highway lacks credibility.

Minutes ago Garza tagged 95 locals on Facebook with the following announcement.  We publish it below exactly as written:

Brownsville, being a very historical city, has so many attractions-Palo Alto battlefield, Gladys Porter Zoo, Sable Palms Sanctuary, Children's Museum, Space X, Boca Chica Beach, Mitte Cultural District, Costumes of the Americas, Brownsville Historical Museum, UTRGV university, Texas Southmost College, Historic Downtown, Brownsville Fine Art's Museum, Brownsville Sports Park and much much more.  I feel not enough has been done to promote our City.  I've been in the Hospitality industry since out of High School and feel I could help make Brownsville the number 1 destination of visitors to the Valley.  I'm considering a run for City Commission this coming May 2023 and would like your constructive feedback.  William Garza 956-492-7807

One suggestion we will make to Mr. Garza is to limit his candidacy to a district he actually lives in as required by city charter.

The last time he ran for District 1 in 2019, he actually lived with his wife at 212 Ebony in District 3.

DO REPUBLICANS EVEN CARE ABOUT OUR COUNTRY?

Senator Lindsey Graham

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham sees the apparent handwriting on the wall, that Attorney General Merrick Garland has little choice but to indict Donald Trump on one of several charges.  The evidence is there.

But Senator Graham's primary loyalty is not to the United States, its Constitution, values or national secrets.

Lindsey, like many other prominent Republicans, is more concerned about the political fallout of a Trump indictment to his own political future and that of the Republican Party.

That is why he threatens that violence similar to the January 6 insurrection could break out if Trump is indicted.  In other words: prosecutors should worry more about the reaction to their verdicts than justice itself.  

Notice how Lindsey Graham accurately described Trump back in 2015 before he became the principal figurehead of the Republican Party:

“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn’t represent my party. He doesn’t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.”

“What Mr. Trump is doing – and I don’t think he has a clue about anything. He’s just trying to get his numbers up and get the biggest reaction he can."

"Tell Donald Trump to go to Hell."

The irony of this is that an indictment of Trump does not equal a conviction.  Does anyone not think that at least one MAGA-hatted individual will likely serve on almost any 12-person jury?

Can you visualize any Trumper serving on that jury voting to convict the former President irrespective of the evidence before them?

I can't.  

Trump will characterize an 11-1 jury for conviction as a "vindication" and his followers will embrace that view worshipfully.

So Lindsey needn't worry.  Our national psyche is already fucked.



Saturday, August 20, 2022

HAVE PUB RATES MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THREE YEARS?


With despot Vladimir Putin playing Russian roulette with a Ukrainian nuclear plant and the Colorado River drying up, Brownsville seems like a safe enough place.

Oh, Juan Montoya showcased our city's poverty with the picture above featured on his blog, El Rrun Rrun, but it takes a lot of ingenuity to craft a house around and old 50's trailer with accommodations for eight and no mortgage.

For you Bible readers, eight was the number of humans souls said to have taken a year long voyage on Noah's ark along with 7 each of the "clean" animals and 2 each of the "unclean."

My hat is off to Noah's wife or whoever did all the food preparation on that long voyage without refrigeration.

As I type, Ana is finishing her shift at a facility in Le Mars, Iowa, the "Ice Cream Capital of the World," with a huge Well's Blue Bunny ice cream plant.

We should be back in town in September.

Le Mars is an idyllic town of about 10,000.  Young kids still ride bicycles up and down city streets with local police enforcing a 25 MPH maximum speed in town.

Teen agers ride motor scooters all over the place while beer-bellied men are on Harley Davidsons.

Around dinner time families use ATVs to drive to the local pizza place or ice cream parlor.  This must be something the cops just allow as these vehicles are not licensed for street travel.

Los Fresnos could almost be Le Mars, but the police would never allow the unlicensed scooters and ATVs and Highway 100 traffic into town would be a problem.

Iowans worship the sun by driving convertibles during the few months each year when its not too cold.  I'd almost forgot what convertibles look like.  Almost no one in Brownsville would drive around in the hot sun without a top on their car.

I've wasted much of my time by watching so-called reaction videos on YouTube, young kids allegedly hearing for the "first time" old songs by legendary artists.

These music experts interrupt the songs to offer insipid explanations about lyrics and "the groove," showing little understanding of either.  Its all about "clicks" in this monetized era.

Didn't Soul Train offer something similar years ago?

Yesterday, I read a weather report warning about a "cyclone" threatening Brownsville.  I wanted to shout out that those storms are called "hurricanes" in south Texas.  Similar weather systems are "typhoons" in the Philippines.

Arturo Trevino, owner of Los Trevi's Drive Thru,  figured out why PUB electric bills seem so high this year.  He checked recent rates:

2019:  .0295 per kilowatt hour

2020:  .0295

2021:  .03228

2022:  .06424

If Arturo's research is correct, PUB rates more than doubled in three years.

Anyway, see you all in about three weeks.