Wednesday, July 31, 2024

𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗠𝗔𝗡'𝗦 𝗠𝗨𝗥𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗢𝗙 𝟭𝟵𝟭 𝗢𝗫𝗫𝗢 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗠𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗖𝗢

 


Reacting to cartel violence certainly, but, more particularly to the murder of Chamber of Commerce and business leader Julio Almanza, 191 OXXO Stores have been closed in northern Mexico.

Julio Almanza

Almanza was executed just outside his Matamoros office, located next to an OXXO Store. just a day after being quoted about Mexican businesses being "hostages to extortion demands from criminal groups."

OXXO Stores are part of the huge Femsa Corporation, headquartered in Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, also the parent company of Coca Cola of Mexico. (Mexican Nationals are the world's largest consumers of Coca-Cola with the country's 128M people drinking, on average, 634 8 oz bottles per year, 1.74 per day.)

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

The President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, AMLO, seemed to put the burden on Mexico's businesses to stop the violence, suggesting they hire more in-store security guards, install panic buttons and cameras in stores.

This week, the Chamber of Commerce released a survey of its members in which 12% of respondents said that “organized crime has taken partial control of the sales, distribution and/or pricing of their goods."

"That means drug cartels are distorting parts of Mexico’s economy, deciding who gets to sell a product and at what price — and in return they are apparently demanding sellers pass a percentage of sales revenue back to the cartel."

In the past, cartels have carried out violent attacks, arson and even killings of those found selling goods that had not been “authorized” by them or bought from distributors they control.

About half of the 218 companies in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce doing business in Mexico claimed in response to a survery that trucks carrying their products had suffered attacks, and 45% of the companies said they had received extortion demands for protection payments.

Of the companies that reported how much they had to spend on security measures, 58% said they spent between 2% and 10% of their total budgets on security; 4% spent at least a tenth of their total outlays on security measures.

On Tuesday, Femsa said in a statement that it was making progress in talks with authorities that might provide guarantees for the safety of its employees and allow the OXXO chain to reopen its stores in Nuevo Laredo.

Mexico’s powerful drug cartels have expanded their income sources by both extorting money from companies and even taking over legitimate businesses.

Drug cartels had have long since taken over exports of iron ore from the western state of Michoacan, and the ore trade while also controlling production and manipulating domestic prices for crops like avocados and limes.

And late last year, authorities confirmed one cartel had set up its own makeshift internet system, "narco-antennas," and told locals they had to pay $30 USD to use its Wi-Fi service or face cartel reprisal.



Monday, July 29, 2024

𝗥𝗜𝗢 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗬 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝟮𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗦𝗠𝗢𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗣𝗦 𝗜𝗡 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗪𝗔𝗥 𝗜

 submitted by Rene Torres



𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗧 𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗘 𝗜𝗡 "𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗟𝗢𝗪"

 


𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗣𝗛𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗚𝗢𝗗'𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗢𝗟 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗖 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗨𝗦


"God's Servant," Cyrus the Great

Just over five centuries before Jesus was born to a carpenter's wife in the tiny town of Bethlehem in the Roman province of Judea, Cyrus the Great, a Persian ruler, supposedly freed God's chosen people from captivity and servitude to Babylon.

Now, Cyrus, a non-worshipper of the Isrealite God, was nevertheless viewed as an instrument, a tool, actually "God's servant," someone God used to free his people.


Originally, evangelical leaders compared Donald Trump to Cyrus the Great, that, although not a particularly religious man who admittedly liked to grab women by their genitals, he was, nevertheless, in their view, doing "God's work."

Over the last 8 or 9 years, Trump's portrayal by evangelicals has morphed from being a mere tool used by God to someone with messianic status, a christ, messiah or anointed one, and yes, "righteous."


Evangelical prayers have been documented, transcribed, referring to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as "coming from the Gates of Hell" to oppose "God's Chosen One," Donald the Lord.

This, of course, is not a new theory, the idea that kings rule by "divine right," just a change in the way Trump is viewed by Bible thumpers, an unhealthy, inaccurate take to be sure. 


The election, pitting Donald Trump against Kamala Harris, is now viewed by evangelicals as "good vs evil," despite the fact that Trump's rhetoric spews hate and division and more closely resembles the approach of God's so-called chief adversary, Satan the Devil, the "Great Deceiver," than it does the originator of the Biblical Sermon on the Mount.

The fake, hypocritical "Christians" may have their wires crossed.  Ironically, it's Kamala Harris who talks about "doing good for others," not Trump, as the historical Jesus suggested in what's sometimes called the Beatitudes

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗟𝗜𝗞𝗘𝗟𝗬 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗝.𝗗. 𝗩𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗘


J.D. Vance

With Trump's VP pick, J.D. Vance, suffering from terminal foot in mouth disease, Saturday Night Live's writing staff is already writing hilarious shit for its pending season while Trump beats the proverbial bushes for a replacement.

What could possibly go wrong with Trump's selecting a vice presidential candidate because "he liked me more than almost anyone?"

Vance, who's feeble attempts at humor on the campaign trail have fallen flat, doesn't get it as he simply doubles down on his contention that Americans without biological children have no real stake in our country.

With current Vice President Kamala Harris on a trajectory to slip past Trump in the polls, the last thing he needs is a doofus VP candidate as a dead weight in to his MAGA campaign.

While Trump's spokespeople continue to claim that Trump is "thrilled" with his VP choice, it behooves us to find alternatives to young Mr. Vance.

David Duke

Louisana's David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the KKK, would fit seemlessly in the next Trump administration hierarchy.  

Duke, like Trump, is no racist, but, would simply prefer Blacks to enjoy their own country, somewhere on the African continent.  

Duke does have a few skeletons in his closet, though, having personally pocketed donations to the 1972 George Wallace campaign, then, did some prison time in 2003 for using campaign donations to support white supremacy. 

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has to be included in any Trump VP replacement list despite illegally using $19,000 in state funds for a vacation to Paris with a gal friend.  

The fake media, or its equivalent in Arkansas, has hounded Sanders for her improper spending, despite her very reasonable explanation that the $19,000 was used for a lectern she very much needed to perform her duties as governor, although reporters have not been allowed to view this exquisite lectern.


Kid Rock
, one of Trump's steadiest supporters from the world of entertainment, is also on the former president's short list as a VP replacement for the disappointing J.D. Vance.

If any entertainer has the intellect and understanding of our country's historical democracy to serve a heartbeat away from the presidency, it's Kid Rock.

George Clooney

Truly, it chafes and horrifies us when "woke" Hollywood types, like George Clooney, just can't grasp how President Trump is trying to selflessly help our country, and, have withheld their support, but, as they say, you just "can't fix stupid." 

Sunday, July 28, 2024

𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬: 𝗛𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗦 𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗘 𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗠'𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗖𝗬

 by Nubia Reyna 


(2/14,2021) Not many people in Brownsville know who Mittie Pullam was and how important her legacy is.

“It’s important that the legacy of Mittie Pullam never be forgotten,” Hugh Emerson, a local history teacher, said.

“Not many people know who Mittie Pullam is, I found out about her from a former banker. When I was elected to the Brownsville Independent School District, his question was, ‘when are you going to name a school after Mittie Pullam?’ and I said ‘Who is Mittie Pullam?’

“I didn’t know who Mittie Pullam was, I didn’t know that there was a segregated school and when he told me I was very sad because that’s not the Brownsville that I know, that’s not the Brownsville that I grew up in, that’s not the Brownsville that’s all inclusive and loves everybody.”

In 1947, Pullam, who was African American, moved to Brownsville and helped found the first colored school for black children. The school was named Frederick Douglass Elementary School and was located on East Fronton Street, where she was the sole teacher and principal. She taught grades first through sixth, and the caliber of education was considered exceptional, according to records of the time period, easily on par with the Brownsville Independent School District’s white schools, her official website reads.

Black families living in Brownsville that came to work on the railroad construction and at the Port of Brownsville, were not allowed to enroll their children at the white Brownsville schools. This was years before the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education.

“The segregated school, unfortunately, started after World War II in 1947 and closed well after the United States Supreme Court Case Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954. They closed somewhere around 1960,” Emerson said.

“It is very important for the people of Brownsville never to forget the legacy that Ms. Pullam left for her students and for the community at large. She was very, very highly respected by several members of the community.”

Pullam’s school was a one-room school house that was subsidized by the African American community, even though it was a public school. BISD was eventually desegregated in the 1960s. Segregation lasted several years after the landmark Supreme Court decision due to Jim Crow laws in Texas. The Frederick Douglass Elementary’s black students were incorporated into Skinner Elementary School, and Mrs. Pullam was hired at Skinner as well, where she is remembered as one of the school’s most extraordinary teachers, the official website reads.

“She was everything in that school,” Emerson said. “She was the sole teacher, the principal, she was everything to that school. So it’s only fitting that she would be recognized.”


Local history teacher at BISD’s Brownsville Early College High School (BECHS) Hugh Emerson holds a photograph taken during a groundbreaking ceremony of Mittie A. Pullam Elementary in 2009 and shows Emerson shaking hands with Mrs. Mittie A. Pullam herself who was honored and recognized as the first Black Brownsville Independent School District educator and principal. (Miguel Robets/The Brownsville Herald)

Emerson, and many more community members, started working diligently back in 2000 to name a school after Pullam. This became a reality in 2009 when a groundbreaking ceremony for a new elementary school took place. The school was named “Mittie Pullam Elementary” and at 97 years old, Pullam herself attended.

“There were some new schools that were available, and I was approached by Brenda Wilburn, she was a counselor at Rivera High School and we decided that we would form a committee and the committee included the reverend of the St. James Missionary Baptist Church, which is largely an African-American congregation,” he said. “We got several members of the community, several of her former students and we worked diligently.”

nreyna@brownsvilleherald.com

𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗪𝗔𝗥 𝗜 𝗠𝗢𝗩𝗜𝗘 "𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗣" 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝟭𝟵𝟭𝟴

 submitted by Rene Torres




Saturday, July 27, 2024

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 𝗚𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗬. . . 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗘 𝗢𝗨𝗥 "𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡," 𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗔𝗬𝗦

 


The House of Representatives, "led" by a Republican majority, now gets a "break," a recess, from doing nothing.

None of five House bills even passed the Senate and no policies were made.  It's a "do-nothing" group.

The deadbeat congress led by Bible thumper Mike Johnson was so inept, it couldn't even pass the necessary bills to keep government from being shut down and may just barely have time to accomplish that on their return.

Their fearless leader, Donald Trump, has no policies, no ideas, but, instead, has let it be known that this is America's "last election," telling a group of evangelicals, that, after this election "you won't have to do this anymore."

Trump's obvious plan is to move the country away from democracy to being an autocracy, run by one "strongman," like Putin, Orban, Xi and Jong Un, Trump's heroes.

Can you name  single thing that this congress, led by for 18 months by MAGA Republicans, has done to make the lives of Americans better?  Of course you can't.  They have no interest in doing that, just as Trump has no interest in democracy, but wants to change our government to a Russian style autocracy. 

𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗙𝗟𝗔𝗚𝗕𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗡 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗦 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗢𝗟𝗬𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗖 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗔𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗘

 

The NBA's Lebron James was given the honor of flagbearer for the U.S. Olympic Team, leading the team in a boat across the River Seine during a pouring rain, something observers compared to Washington crossing the Deleware during the American Revolution.

Standing alongside Lebron is tennis star Coco Gauff.



𝗧𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛-𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗧𝗢𝗢 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗘𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗞𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗔 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗦 𝗜𝗡 "𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗩𝗦 𝗙𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡!"

 





𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗠 𝗢𝗙 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗫 𝟵/𝟬𝟭/𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟯

 From the editor: I've received requests for the original Memorandum of Understanding signed by SpaceX in 2013 and approved in 2014.

Here is the original link to the 9/01/2013 MOU agreement between Space Exploration Technologies, Inc. (SpaceX) and five Cameron County entities.  The link no longer works.

https://www.faa.gov/space/environmental/nepa_docs/spacex_texas_eis/media/SpaceX_Te_xas_Launch_Site_MOA.pdf

While I'll keep searching for a copy of the original agreement, the 2021 Brownsville Observer article published below provides a number of quotes from the memorandum:


Friday, July 2, 2021

CAN SPACEX'S ILLEGAL BEACH CLOSINGS BE STOPPED?

SpaceX Headquarters, Hawthorne, CA

SpaceX's gross violations of a Memorandum of Agreement, dated 9/1/2013 and signed by five governmental agencies and the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation in late 2014 and early 2015will be an issue in upcoming Cameron County Judge's race.

Carlos Cascos, hinting that he could file for County Judge "after Labor Day," stated recently his feeling that Cameron County has not enforced the agreement with SpaceX:

"I have been suggesting for quite some time that I believed the contract that I entered into with SpaceX was not being adhered to. The County has been aware of these issues & have failed to enforce the contract. It is my understanding there are no amendments to the contract. Thank you to "Save RGV" & DA Luis Saenz for bringing this to the forefront."

The MOU clearly states: “Anything not otherwise specifically addressed in this Agreement is not authorized or otherwise approved by this Agreement.

nmental/nepa_docs/spacex_texas_eis/media/SpaceX_Texas_Launch_Site_MOA.pdf


Bill Berg and John Young of Save RGV

Cascos appropriately mentioned Save RGV, the environmental group originally known as Save RGV from LNG, led by two octogenarian heroes, Bill Berg and John Young, with a bushel basket of science and engineering degrees between them and the intestinal fortitude to fight any threat to our region's environment. 

It was Berg's letter to District Attorney Saenz and County Judge Trevino detailing Spacex's violations of the memorandum agreement that resulted in DA Saenz threat of prosecuting the SpaceX Corporation.

Here's a few things I noted while perusing the memorandum:

SpaceX  is limited to 12 launches per year while closing the beach for a maximum of 180 hours per year.  That averages out to 15 hours of beach closing per month.

The corporation has consistently been in gross violation.

 The memorandum clearly states: 

 “Anything not otherwise specifically addressed in this Agreement is not authorized or otherwise approved by this Agreement." 

Yet, Spacex sneakily got the Federal Aviation Agency to double the hours of beach closure to 300 per year.  

Without the signatures of the other government agencies who signed the original memorandum, the new beach closing agreement is bogus, unlawful.

Yet, arrogantly, Spacex violated the new bogus agreement by logging 585 hours of beach closing in the first 5 months of 2021, that is an average of 117 per month or 7.8 times the number of beach closing hours allowed in the memorandum.  

The agreement requires SpaceX to establish a ground water well at the launch area to "minimize water truck traffic" on Highway 4.  Nothing in documents I read indicates this well was established, although I'm open to correction if wrong.

Other requirements include vibration monitoring and historical signage requirements.  

Birdwatchers, naturalists, wildlife census-takers are supposed to be given access to the wildlife refuge area.

Beach closing are not to be total, but to be "mitigated," that is, an alternate beach area provided.

Below find a cut and paste of Bill Berg's letter to DA Saenz and County Judge Trevino:

Luis V. Saenz, Cameron County District Attorney Eddie Trevino, Jr. Cameron County Judge 1100 E. Monroe St. Brownsville, Texas 78520 

Re: Contract No. 2013CO853 and GLO Contract No. 13-447-000-7916 of Memorandum of Agreement dated September 1, 2013 

Dear District Attorney Saenz and Judge Trevino, 

This letter is on behalf of Save RGV, a Texas non-profit organization, part of whose mission is to promote the conservation of the remaining natural areas of eastern Cameron County. 

We want to call to your attention the multiple and egregious violations of the 9/1/13 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Cameron County and the General Land Office.

That MOA details the conditions whereby the public is to be denied access to Boca Chica beach to benefit the activities of a private corporation, SpaceX. 

Among the violations of the MOA are the following. 

1. Closures of State Highway 4, which is the only ingress and egress to Boca Chica beach, have not been done with proper notice. 

The MOA states, “Each request will be considered “timely” if submitted to the county, with a copy to the GLO, at least 14 days prior to the earliest proposed Primary or Back-up Closure Date.” 

In actuality, the 14-day requirement is ignored and the closure hours are often changed, canceled, or added to/subtracted from, with barely a few hours’ notice, and sometimes with no notice at all.

 2. Frequently the County’s published hours of closure orders are changed (reduced or extended) by SpaceX, essentially closing a state highway without state or county authorization. This is illegal. 

3. The MOA requires that closure announcements be accompanied by a “beach mitigation plan.” We have never seen such a plan. Nor have we seen the MOA-specified documents stating “identify areas where alternative public beach access will be available…” We are requesting copies of these documents. 

4. The MOA acknowledges the county’s right to close access to the public beach for “emergencies related to public safety.” 

SpaceX is a private business, not an emergency. 

Furthermore the MOA states the County’s requirement in “preserving the public right of access to the public beach” but in fact it has been taking that right away. 

Not just beach-goers are affected; access is also being denied to state park (Brazos Island State

Boca Chica Beach Closures 

p 2 

Park & Boca Chica State Park) visitors and staff, federal wildlife refuge visitors and staff (Boca Chica Unit of the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR), scientists doing wildlife census and survey work, birdwatchers and naturalists, and visitors to Palmito Ranch National Battlefield Site. 

The Texas State Constitution, Article 1, Bill of Rights, Section 3, Section 17(b), Section 19 and Section 33(d) are being violated. Further, the Texas Open Beaches Act, passed in 1959, assures that the public has the “free and unrestricted right of ingress and egress to and from” public beaches, defined as the area between the line of vegetation and the mean low tide line. 

It also prohibits the construction of an “obstruction, barrier, or restraint of any nature which would interfere with the free and unrestricted right of the public” to access the beach. 

5. SpaceX security personnel have denied public access to Remedios Avenue and Joanna Street, county roads off SH 4. 

In the absence of the county officially and legally relinquishing this road to a private company by a process that would require public comment and a documented county commission vote, such access denial is clearly illegal.

 6. The closure hours in 2020 and 2021 exceed the number of hours allowed in the FAA’s 2014 Record of Decision(ROD), which is referenced as follows in the MOA between the GLO and the County: “The number of Space Flight Cycles is limited to the number of launches permitted under a Record of Decision issued by the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation.” 

That ROD (attached) limits the number of Cycles to 12 per year and the closure hours to 180 per year. 

We understand the County and the General Land Office have not amended the MOA. 

The MOA states that “Anything not otherwise specifically addressed in this Agreement is not authorized or otherwise approved by this Agreement. 

No amendment, change, or modification to this Agreement may be made except in a formal written amendment signed by both Parties to the Agreement.” 

As the MOA specifically refers to the ROD and not any subsequent FAA Reevaluation, how can the County authorize over 180 hours of closures per year without a formal written amendment to the MOA?

 7. These closures by the County and the GLO may be in violation of the Public Trust Doctrine that specifically and strongly supports the State protecting natural resources and public land access.

 It clearly states that all natural resources (open bodies of water, wildlife, air, and tidelands) belong to all and must be protected by governments and agencies put “in trust” of those resources belonging to the public, and therefore must be managed and protected in perpetuity by the government. 

8. While not reflected in any revision of the MOA, the FAA did issue a Written Reevaluation on 12-2-20 that increased the allowed closure hours to 300 hours per year.

 The attached closure log, documented by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Coastal Bend Bay & Estuary Program, not only shows that closures have already exceed 300 hours in less than 5 months, but that the actual closure hours (385) have exceeded the County-published closure announcements by 50 hours (335). 

There appears to be no attempt whatsoever by either Cameron County or the GLO to abide by or enforce the closure limits.

Boca Chica Beach Closures 

p 3 

Since SpaceX has already exceeded its FAA-authorized 300 hour closure limit for 2021, we ask Cameron County and the GLO to cease issuing any further closure orders for the rest of this year. To do otherwise is to continue to knowingly and willingly violate the Memorandum of Agreement. 

Sincerely, Bill Berg, Agent, Save RGV

 CC: Daniel Lopez, Cameron County Litigation Counselor Jeff Gordon, Office of the General Counsel, GLO David Land, Office of the General Counsel, GLO Becky Petty, Office of the General Counsel, GLO Natalie Bell, Beach Access & Dune Protection, GLO Kendal Keyes, TPWD Ted Hollingsworth, TPWD Kelly McDowell, USFWS Sonny Perez, USFWS Bryan Winton, USFWS Dawn Gardiner, USFWS Maria Martinez, EPA Cheryl Stevens Perales, Allmon & Ice, P.C

Friday, July 26, 2024

𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗝𝗨𝗗𝗚𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗡𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗫 𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦~𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗫 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗗𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗠, 𝗦𝗛𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗦

 

County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr.

County Judge Eddie Trevino did send out a memo warning residents of some truck traffic on Hwy 4 near SpaceX between 11:00 PM and 1:00 AM 7/25, 26, 2024 causing possible delays for those traveling to Boca Chica Beach during those hours.

Residents have reported something much more impactful than a brief traffic delay; static fire tests on the former Massey Gun Range(reportedly purchased by SpaceX).  

Nearby residents claim these explosions came without warning, shaking their homes and awakening them during the night.

Obviously, both SpaceX and County Judge Trevino dropped the ball, failing to adequately warn local residents of impactful rocket testing, not simply a minor traffic inconvenience.

SpaceX has been in constant violation of the 9/2013 agreement they signed and they've not been fined, sanctioned by our Cameron County Judge or Cameron County District Attorney.




"Come to find out that SpaceX did a static fire test at the old Massey’s gun range," claimed one resident.

Hwy 4 and the beach were open today.

Static Fire Test

Static fire tests are tests, where whole process from fueling up to ignition is being conducted. They are intended to check whether the whole system is working, including ground equipment, external and internal plumbing, vehicle, and engines.

𝙏𝙒𝙊 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎 𝘿𝙍𝙐𝙂 𝘾𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙀𝙇 𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙋𝙄𝙉𝙎 𝘼𝙍𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙏𝙀𝘿 𝘽𝙔 𝘿𝙀𝘼

 From the editor: While my friend Jerry Danache shared with me information via WhatsApp about the arrest of these two men, I was too inept to unload the info and Grandson Jack, my internet guru, does not live with me.

So, I went to the my old faithful source on cartel activity, the legendary "Borderland Beat" for the information about the arrest and capture of two cartel kingpins:

Ismael Zambada Garcia "El Mayo"

During Mexican President AMLO's morning conference, the Secretary of Citizen Security and future Secretary of the Interior, Rosa Icela Rodríguez released details 
and a chronology of the events for the arrests in the US of Ismael Zambada Garcia and Joaquin Guzman Lopez.

The official said that agents located in El Paso, Texas, sent the Mexican government two photographs that not only confirmed the capture, but also confirmed that the identities of "El Mayo" and Joaquín Guzmán López.

"El Mayo" in 2010

The images sent by US authorities were sent separately, but were put together to create a chronology of the arrest. The arrest of El Mayo and El Chapo's son occurred at 4:14 p.m. through the United States Embassy, ​​so it was not until 6:00 p.m. that the first images of both were sent.

Their arrests were part of a joint operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agencies, HSI said in a statement.


U.S. authorities have over the past year launched fresh indictments against Zambada and Guzman's sons on new charges in the United States that focus on fentanyl smuggling, as well as the flow of precursor chemicals to the illicit labs operated by their crime syndicate

Arrest Details

One worker at the Santa Teresa airport, near El Paso, on Thursday afternoon told Reuters that he saw a Beechcraft King Air land on the runway, where federal agents were already waiting.

"Two individuals got off the plane… and were calmly taken into custody," said the man, who declined to share his name out of concern for his safety. "It seemed like a pretty calm, arranged thing," he added.

This witness statement could discredit however claims made by the Wall Street Journal that "El Mayo" was tricked into flying to the US and being arrested. Mexican drug kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada was arrested by U.S. agents Thursday after a high-ranking Sinaloa cartel member tricked him into flying to Texas, Mexican and U.S. officials said. Joaquín Guzmán López, the son of imprisoned drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, was on the same plane and also arrested upon landing, a Homeland Security Investigations official said.

Frank Perez, a lawyer listed for Zambada, did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday. Perez told The Los Angeles Times that Zambada was brought to the U.S. “against his will.”

“I have no comment except to state that he did not surrender voluntarily,” Perez said.

The reports of a Beechcraft King Air match the videos taken of the scene. However, looking at Flight Tracker records for the Santa Teresa airport that day, only a single flight took place from Mexico, the tail number of that flight, from Sonora, is N8454Z.

That registration number is actually to an old Cessna 205 airplane. It is possible that the tail numbers were cloned on the plane either by the authorities, or cartel members as a way to mask their arrivals.

According to the morning briefing in Mexico, manager Armando Ibadrola presented a flight plan so that the aircraft with registration number N84554Z could schedule its departure at 8:00 AM in the morning. Both the manager and the pilot/owner of the plane presented their passports and the information was registered with immigration.

The news caused controversy regarding the flight, since according to Rosa Icela, there is only a record of one passenger and one pilot, that is, the process of how it left until its arrival in Texas is being investigated, since officially one took off and three people arrived.

“The pilot is not registered as an authority, nor is he registered as a visitor; he is only listed as a pilot.”


Rosa Icela also announced that Ovidio Guzmán López, son of El Chapo Guzmán, was not released by the United States authorities as had been first reported by Borderland Beat.

"No, he was not released, there is a change in the precautionary measure," said the head of the SSPC during the press conference on Friday.

“And the question is, did we participate in this arrest? No, the Mexican government did not participate in this arrest or delivery, this is not the case and we will continue to collaborate with the United States government,” AMLO said.

President Joe Biden attributed the arrests to the Department of Justice in a brief statement.

"Yesterday, the Department of Justice arrested Zambada García and Guzmán López, two of the most notorious leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the deadliest enterprises in the world,” Biden said in a brief written statement released by the White House.

In a statement, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said the Sinaloa cartel "pioneered the manufacture of fentanyl and has for years trafficked it into our country, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans and devastating countless communities".

FBI director Chris Wray said the arrests are "an example of the FBI's and our partners' commitment to dismantling violent transnational criminal organizations like the Sinaloa Cartel," he said.

Ismael Zambada-Garcia aka Mayo, has been arraigned this morning in the Western District of Texas US Federal Court. He entered a Not Guilty plea.


𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗘 𝗕𝗨𝗧𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗜𝗘𝗚 𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗔𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

 

Pete Buttigieg

As a much younger man, I admit to being mesmerised by Republican wordsmith William F. Buckley, Jr., who could turn a phrase like no other, utilizing five dollar words few understood.

Buckley intimidated with his tongue and laughed about it until his famous 1965 debate on racism with Black author James Baldwin, equally facile with words.  

Decades ago, I was taught that communication was a "meeting of the minds," for one mind to know what was in the mind of another or for one mind to transmit that thought to another.

While Bill Perkins, my friend from years ago, told me "don't tone yourself down Jim.  If we don't know the word, we'll look it up," my late wife told me the opposite: "no one knows what you're saying."

Enter Pete Buttigieg, a communicator who makes himself heard and understood, answers complex-compound questions with aplomb and precision and, most of all, calmness.

Buttigieg articulates clearly, incorporating a sense of humor and obvious modesty into thoughtful, immediate answers.

No "loaded" question triggers him beyond a smile as the answers are still careful, factual and unemotional.  

I don't know what role Buttigieg will have in a Harris presidency, but he's certainly raised the bar for the way a candidate, office holder or government official communicates.

𝗕𝗜𝗦𝗗 𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗝𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗖𝗔 𝗚𝗢𝗡𝗭𝗔𝗟𝗘𝗭 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 𝗕𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗕𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗘𝗥

 

Jessica Gonzalez, President, BISD Board of Trustees

Just a scattershot of points gleaned from our conversation today with BISD Board President Jessica Gonzalez over coffee at GoodPeople Coffee & Tea Shop, Ruben Torres Blvd.:

While proud of the CTE Certification Center that's been retrofitted into the former Cummings Middle School, the City of Brownsville has plans for that complex of buildings to be assimilated by the Gladys Porter Zoo.

According to Mrs. Gonzalez, BISD has two stipulations with respect to the transfer of those buildings.

Payment should equal the cost of construction for replacement buildings and the transfer has to be scheduled in such a way that no BISD students lose instruction time.

As for the $5M contribution made to BISD by Elon Musk, Gonzalez made clear that the money was tied to very specific usage, such as aerospace technology and/or engineering, teacher hires in engineering or buildings converted to engineering labs, all training and tools useful for future employees of SpaceX.

Gonzalez recalled a comment by City Commissioner Rose Gowen stating that BISD schools looked "like jails."

The board president explained that security guidelines had been mandated by the State of Texas in response to school shootings, requiring all the doors to be automatically locked and buildings surrounded by eight foot fences.  Also, each school must have an armed officer on duty at all times.  (Of course, Texas still protects widespread ownership of automatic weapons in a flawed understanding of the "rights" provided by the 2nd Amendment.)

BISD's current student to teacher ration is 22:1 and teachers are required to be bilingual.

Lincoln Park High School, specializing in instruction for students experiencing pregnancy, is the only one of BISD's high school not combining early college opportunities, but does give additional training in skills necessary for successful motherhood.

Also, a Back-to-School Bash has been scheduled for Peter Piper Pizza on Central Blvd. for July 31 at 5:30 PM with more details forthcoming.

Time limitations prevented our discussion to cover everything currently going on at BISD, so Mrs. Gonzalez and I agreed to meet again soon for more details.

𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗙𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗢𝗟𝗗 𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦 𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗛 𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗝𝗘𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘

 


From the editor: Just had breakfast at "Super Cream" with Hugh Emerson and Jerry Danache, on the way home found myself humming "Old Friends" by Paul Simon.  Below is the first verse:



"Old friends, old friendsSat on their park bench like bookendsA newspaper blown through the grassFalls on the round toesOf the high shoes of the old friends
Old friends, winter companions, the old menLost in their overcoats, waiting for the sunsetThe sounds of the city sifting through treesSettle like dust on the shoulders of the old friends
Can you imagine us years from todaySharing a park bench quietly?How terribly strange to be 70
Old friends, memory brushes the same yearsSilently sharing the same fears"

Wednesday, July 24, 2024

SINGER FROM MEXICO CITY JOINS STREET SINGER ALLIE SHERLOCK BUSKING IN DUBLIN, IRELAND


 

𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗜𝗥𝗘!!!


Donald Trump lies continually, unnecessarily and it's getting worse

At a dinner perhaps two months ago, I sat at a table of conservative candidates and supporters.  Robert Sanchez had brought former U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores.  Norma Lee Valle, a candidate for the Port of Brownsville, an active NRA member, was also there, along with two or three other conservatives.

The lady closest to me, someone I'd never met, used the phrase "fact-checking" as if it were some heinous, repulsive act, so I simply asked her why she thought checking politicians's statements for truthfulness and accuracy was a bad thing.

"I just don't like the way "they" do it," was the best answer she could come up with and her demeanor suggested she didn't want to talk about it.

That is the true genius of Donald J. Trump, that while anything written or spoken negatively about him is "fake news," he's conditioned his followers to never question anything rolling off his golden tongue with certainly no hint of fact-checking for accuracy.

Trump's 97 minute acceptance speech at the RNC contained about a dozen bald-faced lies, for example, Trump's false putdown of the job creation under the Biden administration, saying:  "The jobs that are created (under Biden), 107% of those jobs go to illegal immigrants."

That's patently false on so many levels, but surely Trump cultists are repeating that falsehood as if it were handed to them on a golden tablet.

First of all, the Department of Labor has no statistics on the employment of illegal immigrants, so Trump simply pulled that lie out of his ample ass to remind his followers of the "flood of illegals" coming into this country taking jobs away from them.

Secondly, wouldn't even school kids know there's no such thing as 107% of a finite number.  Even if illegal immigrants got every available job in the United States, that would only be 100% of the available jobs, not 107%.  

Lying, compulsively and pathologically, is deeply ingrained in the Trump psyche.  He lies to his constituents, lies to his vendors, lies to his employees, lies to his wife and children, lies to banks, lies to insurance companies, lies to his golfing buddies. 

Most of all, Trump lies to himself. 


.  

𝗕𝗟𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗝𝗢𝗛𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗧 𝟵𝟬

 

John Mayall

Live music has been such a big part of my life and, as I told someone tonight, my late wife and I were surely the most constant patron's of Ben Neece's little cubicle on E. 11th Street, the Crescent Moon.

Today's passing of British blues legend John Mayall also brought back memories as we showed up early on the banks of the Arkansas River in Little Rock for his late 80's concert featuring headliner Buddy Guy with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers the opening act.

While most concert attendees simply sat on the grass with coolers of beer, etc., we always stood at the edge of the stage, seeing everything from setup to tear down.

John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers were legit, opening my eyes to the influence of the blues on British music culminating in the Rolling Stones.

As the Bluesbreakers finished their set, stagehands rushed the stage to prepare it for Buddy Guy to follow.

"Don't touch my god damn amp!" I remember John Mayall shouting at workers trying to clear the stage.

Then, since we were right at the stage, I recall Mayall apologizing in quieter tones:  "I'm sorry for shouting, but I just don't like anyone touching my equipment.  I'll take care of it."

Although, we'd actually gotten our money's worth with the Bluesbreakers, we stayed for the main act as the sun went totally down on the banks of the river.  


Soon, blues legend Buddy Guy in white t-shirt and overalls with that big smile and gleaming white teeth, took the stage.

"God damn I've got the blues from my head down to my shoes!!!"

It was a critical time in our lives and, in many ways, we were saved by the blues.

My personal theory is that the blues take you down to the lowest spot in your life experience, matching it exactly, then lift you up out of it.