𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘/𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗢𝗦!!!!!!!!

𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗥𝗨𝗣𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘

Associated Press, 21 Dec 2024 

A nearly two-year investigation by Democratic senators of supreme court ethics details more luxury travel by Justice Clarence Thomas and urges Congress to establish a way to enforce a new code of conduct.

Any movement on the issue appears unlikely as Republicans prepare to take control of the Senate in January, underscoring the hurdles in imposing restrictions on a separate branch of government even as public confidence in the court has fallen to record lows.

The 93-page report released on Saturday by the Democratic majority of the Senate judiciary committee found additional travel taken in 2021 by Thomas but not reported on his annual financial disclosure form: a private jet flight to New York’s Adirondacks in July and a jet and yacht trip to New York City sponsored by billionaire Harlan Crow in October, one of more than two dozen times detailed in the report that Thomas took luxury travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors.

The court adopted its first code of ethics in 2023, but it leaves compliance to each of the nine justices.

“The highest court in the land can’t have the lowest ethical standards,” the committee’s chair, Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, said in a statement. He has long called for an enforceable code of ethics.

Republicans have said the investigation is a way to undermine the conservative majority court, and all the Republicans on the committee protested against the subpoenas authorized for Crow and others as part of the investigation. No Republicans signed on to the final report, and no formal report from them was expected.

Thomas has said that he was not required to disclose the trips that he and his wife, Ginni, took with Crow because the big donor is a close friend of the family and disclosure of that type of travel was not previously required. The new ethics code does explicitly require it, and Thomas has since gone back and reported some travel. Crow has maintained that he has never spoken with his friend about pending matters before the court.

The report traces back to the late justice Antonin Scalia, saying he “established the practice” of accepting undisclosed gifts and hundreds of trips over his decades on the bench. The late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired justice Stephen Breyer also took subsided trips when they were on the bench but disclosed them on their annual forms, it said.

The investigation found that Thomas has accepted gifts and travel from wealthy benefactors worth more than $4.75m by some estimates since his 1991 confirmation and failed to disclose much of it. “The number, value and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” according to the report.

It also detailed a 2008 luxury trip to Alaska taken by Justice Samuel Alito. He has said he was exempted from disclosing the trip under previous ethical rules.

Alito also declined calls to withdraw from cases involving Donald Trump or the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol after flags associated with the riot were seen flying at two of Alito’s homes. Alito has said the flags were raised by this wife.

Thomas has ignored calls to step aside from cases involving Trump, too. Ginni Thomas supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that the Republican lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

The report also pointed to scrutiny of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who, aided by her staff, has advanced sales of her books through college visits over the past decade. Justices have also heard cases involving their book publishers, or involving companies in which justices owned stock.

Biden has been the most prominent Democrat calling for a binding code of conduct. Justice Elena Kagan has publicly backed adopting an enforcement mechanism, though some ethics experts have said it could be legally tricky.

Justice Neil Gorsuch recently cited the code when he recused himself from an environmental case. He had been facing calls to step aside because the outcome could stand to benefit a Colorado billionaire whom Gorsuch represented before becoming a judge.

The report also calls for changes in the Judicial Conference, the federal courts’ oversight body led by Chief Justice John Roberts, and further investigation by Congress.

𝗖𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥'𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗘𝗗𝗗𝗜𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗜𝗔~𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗧𝗔𝗫 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗢𝗥/𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥-𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧!

 

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝗟𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗕𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗭𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗢𝗡 "𝗠𝗘𝗘𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦:" "𝗪𝗘'𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗧"

From the editor: Our fact-challenged President-Elect keeps repeating the untruth that the United States is the only country offering birthright citizenship, something guaranteed in the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Below are 32 countries, including our closest neighbors, Mexico and Canada, that offer unrestricted birthright citizenship.  Numerous other countries offer it with certain restrictions.

Here's the language in the Constitution dealing with birthright citizenship:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The exact quote from Trump on "Meet the Press" when he was asked if he was going to abolish birthright citizenship:  "You know we’re the only country that has it. Do you know if somebody sets a foot, just a foot, one foot, you don’t need two, on our land, 'Congratulations you are now a citizen of the United States of America.' Yes, we’re going to end that because it’s ridiculous."

 

Argentina

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Costa Rica

Cuba

Dominica

Ecuador

El Salvador

Fiji

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Honduras

Jamaica

Mexico

Nicaragua

Pakistan

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Portugal

St. Kitts and Nevis

St. Lucia

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Trinidad and Tobago

Tuvalu

United States

Uruguay

Venezuela.

𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗦 𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗞 𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥, 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗢 𝗞𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗗 𝗕𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗜𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗟𝗬𝗗𝗘, 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗧 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘

 submitted by Rene Torres

Frank Hamer was a Ranger off and on throughout his adult life, resigning often to take other jobs. He joined Captain John H. Rogers' Company C in Alpine, Texas, on April 21, 1906, and began patrolling the Mexican border. In 1908, he resigned from the Rangers to become the City Marshal of Navasota, Texas, a lawless boom-town wracked by violence; "shootouts on the main street were so frequent that in two years at least a hundred men died." Hamer moved in at age 24 and enforced law and order. In 1911, he moved to Houston to work as a special investigator for Mayor Horace Baldwin Rice, where he was seconded to the Sheriff's Office of Harris County. In 1914, he was hired as a deputy sheriff in Kimble County, assigned as the department's livestock theft investigator.

Frank Hamer in 1922

Hamer rejoined the Rangers in 1915 and was assigned to patrol the South Texas border around Brownsville during the Bandit War and La Matanza. The Rangers dealt with arms smugglers because of the constant unrest in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. They also tried to control the bootleggers during the Prohibition era and bandits who plagued the border. He left the Rangers and was commissioned as a Special Ranger for the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association.

Source: Wikipedia

𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗔 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗭𝗔𝗥 𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗔 𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗙𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟 𝗗𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗘𝗦

 photos and video courtesy of Jerry Danache

The sometimes maligned Cameron County Justice of the Peace system is the court for the common man, requiring a mere filing fee of $48 and service fee for the defendant of $75, to give a local citizen their day in court.

The swearing in ceremony for J.P. Judge Linda Salazar, before an overflow crowd in chambers on the second floor of the Cameron County Courthouse, seemed to celebrate that aspect of the people's court.

Judge Salazar, flanked by her office staff

Judge Salazar, who was introduced by her son, Ruben Cortez, credited her staff with the success of her office, calling them "family, since we work together from 8 to 5."

The inauguration turned into a celebration, as a mariachi band took the stage, quickly joined by Tax Collector/Assessor-elect, Eddie Garcia, with his booming voice, then followed by two gifted female performers.

𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗜𝗡𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗪𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗔 𝗦𝗔𝗟𝗔𝗭𝗔𝗥, 𝗣𝗖𝗧. 𝟮, 𝗣𝗟. 𝟭

 

 

𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗧𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗡𝗨𝗠𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗦

 

Jerry McHale

"I want to thank all those individuals who congratulated me on my 74th birthday. But I'm not 74 anymore. I have completed 74 years on this anonymous globe floating aimlessly through the universe that one day will either be scorched by the sun and or swallowed by a black hole. I am in my 75th year."

From the editor:  The above quote, pilfered from the "McHale Report," is an effort by longtime educator McHale to delineate for us all the difference between ordinal and cardinal numbers.

The Biblical Methuselah, for example, lived for 969 years, but his grandson Noah only made it to 950, perhaps because of a bad diet, both of those ages being cardinal numbers.

Yet, if we're speaking of an event occurring in the 14th year of King Ahasuerus, it's understood that he's only ruled for 13 years thus far, 13 being a cardinal number.

Mr. McHale, as he explained, has lived 74 years, in cardinal numbers, but is now in his 75th year, an ordinal number.

Please take note as teacher McHale says this will be on the test.

𝗣𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗔𝗡 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗢 𝗦𝗔𝗬𝗦 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗠𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 "𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘:" "𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗘 𝗦𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗟"

 

President José Raúl Mulino, President-elect Donald Trump

by Shweta Kukreli

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino dismissed US President-elect Donald Trump's  unfounded allegation that Chinese troops are “operating the Panama Canal”.

This comes after Trump accused the Panamanian administration of “ripping off” the US at Panama Canal.

Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump mockingly extended Christmas greetings to “the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal” and “making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in ‘repair’ money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about anything.”

Calling Trump's allegation “nonsense”, the Panamanian President told reporters in Panama City that there is “absolutely no Chinese interference”, as per the UK Independent.

“There is not a single Chinese soldier in the canal. For the love of God, you are free, the whole world is free, to visit the canal if you please,” he stated.

Source: Hindustan Times

𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗦𝗧 𝗣𝗢𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗨𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗦 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥, 𝗛𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗛, 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗛𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘/𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛 𝗣𝗔𝗗𝗥𝗘 𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝟱𝟳 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦, 𝟯 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗢! 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗥𝗢𝗢𝗙𝗦 𝗪𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗢𝗙𝗙, 𝟭𝟭𝟱 𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗗𝗢𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗪𝗡𝗘𝗗, 𝟱𝟴 𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗗; 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗜𝗥𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗞𝗘 𝗔𝗧 𝟭𝟲𝟭 𝗠𝗣𝗛!

 

From the editor:  One of the most powerful storms to ever hit the U.S., 1967's Hurricane Beulah was nearly a direct Brownsville, S.P.I. hit, destroying most of what was then on the island, ripping off hundreds of roofs in Brownsville, with massive flooding and electricity off in town exactly a week and a day. 

Beulah was a huge storm in actual size, more so than wind velocity, although allegedly breaking the anemometer at the Brownsville Airport at 161 M.P.H., killing 58, while spawning 115 tornadoes.

The storm traveled all the way across country to New England, reduced to a tropical storm, then once out at sea again, regathered itself into a hurricane.

The year before, 1966, I'd ordered a hurricane map and plotted the coordinates of Hurricane Inez, also taking aim squarely at our city, but, at the last instant, veering south to strike Tampico.  

Hurricane Beryl seems to be taking that similar, familiar path, but high pressure pushing from the north usually determines the eventual landing spot.

Hurricane Beryl 2024

Hurricane Beulah 1967

More Photos from Beulah 1967:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~𝗥.𝗜.𝗣. 𝗝𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗬 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗥, 𝟭𝟵𝟮𝟰-𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

𝗠𝗜𝗞𝗘 𝗣𝗜𝗭𝗔𝗡𝗢: 𝗕𝗔𝗥𝗕𝗘𝗥, 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗧, 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥~𝗔 𝗧𝗛𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗬𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥

 by Rene Torres

Mike Pizano today

Mike Pizano is an old school barber that started his trade in 1984 at the tender age of twenty-five, introduced to the business of barbering by his father, Rodolfo "Rudy" Pizano. 

Tutoring his son was a good proposition that led Mike to become a role model in his profession as Rudy established his barbershop at 437 West Jefferson in 1979.

The shop remains in the same location where Mike faithfully attends to his customers today.

The building is not adorned with luxurious comfort, fancy lighting or modern furniture, but instead you are greeted by an inviting and highly skilled barber.  

Mike is saturated with positive energy and works fast but with precision, always considering your likes and dislikes. Others should be inspired to emulate his approach.

And for that moment that you are in the chair—you can also escape from your daily woes. 

How does he do that, you might ask?

By the fact that he knows his customers personally and at an instant  can start a friendly conversation about your family and/or friends that will lift your spirits.

Mike is endowed with the ability to make you feel and look good, using the most amazing machine in the world, the human hand, manipulating the tools of the trade like a well-tuned conductor.

In 2012, he was recognized as one of the most outstanding barbers in the region, receiving the “Top Choice Award” by the Brownsville Herald. 

Mike's Barber Shop, 437 West Jefferson

Mike was also featured in 2007, in the book titled “Barberia, Barbershops of the Borderlands."

He is one of a kind—but no different than most barbers that provide “Barber Shop Talk Therapy.” if you know what I mean!

Allow me to close with a quote from Grover Cleveland: 

"A truly American sentiment recognizes the dignity of labor and the fact that honor lies in honest toil."

𝟯𝟲𝗧𝗛 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗟𝗔 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗔, 𝗝𝗔𝗡𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗬 𝟮𝟬, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱, 𝟲-𝟵 𝗣𝗠, 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥

 

𝗠𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗬 𝗟𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧-𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣? 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗖𝗔𝗡 𝗪𝗘 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗬 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗘?

 

In the case of President-Elect Donald Trump it's sometimes difficult to distinguish between disinformation and misinformation, with misinformation being simply inaccurate, but disinformation intentionally inaccurate.

What Biden did with 37 criminals on death row was not a "pardon," as Trump stated, but simply a commutation of a death sentence to a life sentence without the possibility of parole, a sentence consistent with the  current moratorium imposed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder.

A pardon is a complete forgiveness of a crime and restores full rights of citizenship. People who have been convicted of a crime forfeit certain rights, such as to hold public office or vote. Because a pardon wipes out the conviction, those rights are restored.

A commutation can be a reduction of a sentence to a lesser period of time or altering the punishment. The president can commute a sentence.

While a pardon deletes a conviction, a commutation keeps the conviction but deletes or lowers the punishment. The conviction stays on the record, and the person who receives the commutation does not have any rights restored.

𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗙𝗔𝗖𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠 𝗙𝗢𝗥 "𝗦𝗠𝗨𝗚𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚" 𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗔 𝗨𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗔 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗖𝗢

 

Norberto De La Fuente Rodriguez

While purchasing new or used clothing in the U.S. for resale in Mexico is extremely common, technically, legally, export declaration paperwork should be filled out.

A Brownsville man, Norberto De La Fuente Rodriguez, was stopped by Homeland Security agents on June 18, allegedly carrying "$3,000 of ropa usada" he'd not declared. (Any estimate of the value of clothing purchased at ropa usada outlets in the valley is subjective as it must be resold first before gaining any actual value.)

Mr. De La Fuente readily admitted to agents he'd not filled out the proper paperwork and then, in court December 19, before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez of McAllen, plead "guilty."

Attorney David Lindenmuth

De La Fuente's attorney, David Lindenmuth of McAllen, found the arrest and prosecution unusual, comparing it to "using a cannon to kill a mosquito."

Lindenmuth further stated: "It is unusual to see the prosecution unit (Organized Crime Unit) come after somebody this small, but they have the right to enforce the law when and how they see fit."

Sentencing is set for March 11 with De La Fuente facing a maximum of ten years in prison.

Source: @cbs4news

𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗔𝗡 𝗖𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗜𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗡'𝗦 𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗗

 

𝗘𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗥𝗜𝗢 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗔𝗖𝗖𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗘𝗠𝗜 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗚 𝗙𝗠 𝟭𝟬𝟲, 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗡

The Texas Department of Public Safety reported a traffic fatality along FM 106 in Harlingen Friday.

Robert Rufus Dickens, 88, of Rio Hondo, was driving a 2014 Cadillac SRX that was said to have struck a 2016 Peterbilt semi-tanker, dying from his injuries.

The accident is still under investigation by DPS.

𝗪𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗘 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗨 𝗜𝗦 𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗪𝗜𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣'𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗔𝗥𝗜𝗙𝗙, 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗗𝗔 𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗦 𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗗𝗦

President-Elect Trump, Prime Minister Trudeau

For the second time in eight years, Trump will be inheriting a thriving economy from a Democratic President, yet seems bound and determined to wreck that economy with poorly-thought-out tariffs.

Canadian government officials, including Prime Minister Trudeau, have seemed reasoned, nonhysterical, dealing with President-Elect Trump's foolish tariff notions.

They realize something that escapes Trump, that they hold all the cards in this transaction as Canada currently supplies the U.S. with 60% of its crude oil.  Also, 99% of Canada's exported natural gas goes to the U.S., 2.99 trillion cubic feet in 2022.

Canada also sells the U.S. annually 52 terawatt-hours of electricity, large parts of the power grid of New York, Vermont and Maine, power that reaches 30 states in total.

And Trump wants to add an extra 25% to all of that for U.S. consumers to pay?  Someone needs to get through Trump's thick noggin to explain to him how tariffs work.

To be sure, Trump's proposed tariffs would wreck havoc with the Canadian economy, but also do considerable damage to the U.S. economy, spiking inflation, costing jobs and wages.

While Trump's first term included cabinet members that could talk him down from outlandish notions, this time around he's going totally for "yes" men, sychophants, without the knowledge or experience to push back on his uninformed foolishness.

𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗞 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗔 𝗔𝗗𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 "𝗙***𝗞 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙!" 𝗜𝗡 𝗔𝗥𝗚𝗨𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗛-𝟭𝗕 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗔

 

From the editor: An apparent MAGA supporter was tussling with Elon Musk about H-1B, a temporary visa that allows U.S. employers to hire foreign workers to perform specialized work that usually requires a college degree or technical skills, frequently in computer systems or software development.

While Trump supporters on the whole are anti-immigrant, including those coming to this country via H-1B, Musk sees this program as necessary for American businesses to function on a level playing field with worldwide competition.

We post the brief conversation from "X" below:

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B. Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.