𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟯 𝗦𝗨𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟~𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗦𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘, 𝗔 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗣 𝗜𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗡, 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗦𝗧. 𝗟𝗢𝗨𝗜𝗦, 𝗠𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗦, 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗚𝗢, 𝗗𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗜𝗧, 𝗪𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗧𝗢𝗡, 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗔, 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗢𝗥𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗡

 submitted by Rene Torres

𝗗𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗧 𝗕𝗢𝗖𝗔 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗖𝗔 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗕𝗬 𝗦𝗣𝗔𝗖𝗘𝗫

 

Reynoldo Daniel Chavez

Apparently, flying a drone over the SpaceX compound at Boca Chica is not allowed.  

SpaceX security reportedly filed charges against Reynoldo Daniel Chavez for flying a drone over a "restricted area" and the Cameron County Sheriff's Office placed Chavez under arrest, transporting him to Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center awaiting arraignment.

𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗝𝗨𝗗𝗚𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗕𝗕𝗬 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗜𝗔 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗦

Judge Gabriela Garcia

Ana was surprised I was back home so quickly from the Judge Gabriela Garcia speech at Cobbleheads, but I was there long enough to capture that scene and, while the venue is my favorite, it doesn't have sufficient acoustics to actually "hear" a speech.

Sergio Zarate, someone I respect as a loving father to a challenged young lady, graciously offered me a seat at his table, then showed me a scantily-clad photo of the likely Democratic nominee for President, Kamala Harris.

I fully expect we'll see that possibly doctored photo on the internet soon, no genitalia, but a lot of skin. 

When I told Sergio that I was not a Democrat or Republican, but simply opposed to Trump since the day he walked down the escalator spewing racial epithets at Mexican Nationals, he put the photo back in his pocket.

Milling around, I recognized the back of Juan Montoya's head, seated at the bar next to my friend Jerry Danache.

Juan was not happy to see me, saying something about my referencing him as a "blogger-for-hire," which he is, then told me to just "get out of here" after pulling out a rumpled "El Rrun Rrun" business card from his wallet and handing it to me. (Juan writes favorable articles for those who pay him as well as unfavorable articles for their opponents.  Knowing that, It would have been a disservice to my small readership to not make them at least aware.)

I listened for a second or two to Judge Garcia as she mentioned something about protecting women's reproductive rights, wrote down a breakfast invite from Hugh Emerson on a napkin, said "hi" to the muscled Tito Mata and my friend, Tim Ramirez, school board members Jessica Gonzalez and Eddie Garcia while accepting the outstretched hand of future BISD candidate Minerva Pena. 

It was a quick run-through and my current abode is less than 5 minutes away.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗚𝗔𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗟𝗔 "𝗚𝗔𝗕𝗕𝗬" 𝗚𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗜𝗔 𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗢𝗕𝗕𝗟𝗘𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧~"𝗕𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗢𝗥 𝗕𝗘 𝗦𝗤𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗘!"

 

𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗢 𝗬𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗔𝗬𝗢𝗥 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗪𝗡𝗦𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗟𝗘 𝟭𝟵𝟯𝟱

Photo submitted by Rene Torres

From the editor:  Rene Torres didn't tell me what year it was that Fausto Yturria, one of the principal owners of the King Ranch, ran for mayor. (I'll publish that when he does.)

Anyway, I had a brief interaction with Mr. Yturria myself in 1967, when I was 19 and had been in Brownsville about a year.

Pulling away from the curb on Palm Boulevard in my '59 VW without looking, after visiting my friend Tom Robinson, my bumper punctured the tire of a Mustang passing by, owned by the manager of the Gulf Station at the corner of Boca Chica and Palm Blvds.  

Since the accident was my fault, I agreed to make restitution for the tire, paying for it in three payments from my small salary.

The service station owner shook my hand, telling me that many would not have been trustworthy enough to live up to the agreement as I had done. 

My passenger during the accident was an elderly man who thought I should consult a lawyer and so took me to meet Fausto Yturria in his upstairs office downtown.

The two elderly men swapped stories for a few minutes, but Mr. Yturria had no interest in taking my "case," not even a fender bender, simply a punctured tire and no injuries.

Mr. Yturria was funny as Hell, shaking his head when I told him the accident was my fault.

"No, no no!" he started.  

"The driver of that Mustang was distracted by a teenage girl in a miniskirt and ran into your car.  He caused the accident," the old land baron said.

Then, before we left his downtown office, Yturria got serious.

"Son, I'm gonna give you some advice.  Buy land!" he admonished.

Although Mr. Yturria declined my case, he had another option in mind, mentioning that his grandson had just finished law school and could use the "experience," so I went to see the much younger Yturria.

The new lawyer, the grandson, perhaps two years older than me was not appreciative of his grandfather sending him new business and when I mentioned who had sent me, replied: "That son of a bitch!"

"That's your grandfather!" was all I could muster in reply.

"I know, but he's a son of a bitch!" the younger Yturria responded, then asked me how much it would be worth to "get out of this ticket?"

The younger Yturria then described a scenario that would cost me "$800.00."  He would get the judge drunk at a party, take pictures and shame him into rescinding the ticket.

To that plan, I simply said "no thanks!" and that I would pay the ticket.

"Good decision!" replied Fausto Yturria's grandson.

𝗕𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡 𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦 𝗛𝗘'𝗦 𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗗𝗢𝗪𝗡 𝗔𝗦 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗞𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗟𝗔 𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗜𝗦 𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

“It's déjà vu all over again"  Hall of Fame Catcher Yogi Berra

Vice President Kamala Harris

With President Joe Biden stepping down, VP Kamala Harris emerges as the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination although she says that's something she will "earn."

As expected Facebook memes are already falsely claiming she doesn't qualify for that office much like Trump's moronic birther nonsense about Barak Obama.

Soon, Trump will start launching juvenile insults at Kamala Harris, such is the level of his infantile modus operandi.

You'll also hear rumors, allegations and various conspiracy theories, but those sources of information are not reliable, simply bull shitting you.

To qualify for the presidency, a candidate has to be born in this country, at least 35 years of age, living in the country at least 14 years.

The last time I looked, Oakland, CA, Harris's birthplace, was in the United States and she's currently 59 years old.

What's ironic is that Biden has actually been the most effective President of my lifetime and, at age 76, I've followed U.S. Presidents since first reading about Eisenhower in My Weekly Reader while being aware of Truman.

𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗧: 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣 𝟯-𝟭/𝟮 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗢 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗟

Donald J. Trump/Richard M. Nixon

From the editor:  The article below this note, written 3-1/2 years ago, just after my triple bypass surgery, has not aged well.

Trump, contrary to my prediction below, has not gone away, and the prosecution of the criminal charges he's legitimately faced has been hindered by corrupt judges and a very "paid for"Supreme Court.

I certainly underestimated the level of the con played to perfection with flag-kissing and Bible waving and now an ear patch to remind his base of how close they were to losing their messiah.

To say I don't look forward to a second round of Trump presidency is grossly understating it, but it should have tested two branches of our government to provide checks and balances to a rogue executive, but with one of those branches, the judicial, bought and paid for, I'm looking elsewhere to oppose the wannabe dictator.

My generation brought down another rogue president, Richard Nixon, affectionately called "Trickie Dickie" by John Lennon.  Of course, back then, we had Republicans who were men and women of principle and honor, like Barry Goldwater and Howard Baker. (Few of such ilk are on today's scene.)

With our Supreme Court limping along morally and ethically and the legislative branch always deadlocked on partisan terms, it will be up to the citizenry to apply the light and heat to block efforts to destroy our democratic republic.  

Don't count on the peaceniks, hippies and flower children of the sixties to do it as Father Time remains undefeated and most who've survived are operating at Biden's energy level:  

Sunday, January 10, 2021

POST TRUMP, WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM CURRENT TRUMPITES?

Donald Trump, as prominently as he now looms over our collective psyche, will fade away, become obscure, irrelevant.  That ugly personification of braggadocio,  hatred, phoniness and flimflam, who insulted, cajoled and bullied his way through 16 Republican candidates, then played the Electoral College to perfection in 2016, will be gone.

His latest crybaby attempt to stir up the fiercest of his base, resulting in 5 deaths and desecration of the Senate chambers, will be the end of him as a national political player.  He may not go away quietly, but, it seems, he will go away, possibly facing criminal charges.

Richard Barnett of Gravette, Arkansas, Jan. 6

I'm more afraid of the direction and influence of Trumpites, the 74 million, who backed Trump, many rabidly.  While I may have been born and raised on the southeastern outskirts of Seattle, I spent 30 impressionable years in Arkansas, then another 10 just outside Fort Worth, Texas.

I know these people at their most assertive, worked and drank beer with them.  While they may resent the so-called elite, didn't go to Harvard or Yale, in no way do they feel inferior.  They know in their hearts that "a country boy will survive," each with a thousand stories of how they've outwitted, outmaneuvered, outthought or outworked a Yankee, northerner, Californian or "furener."

Unfortunately, the bulk of them have been fooled, hoodwinked, misled and been bamboozled by so-called "alternate facts," those propagated by Fox News, OAN, Newsmax and Rush Limbaugh.  A toxic mental diet is not conducive to recovery.  I know, having been raised in a high control religious cult, with absolute knowledge "we're right and you're wrong," I still have to check myself to make certain I'm not unconsciously steering in that old direction.

The demeanor and, more obviously, the shirts worn by the Trumpites invading congressional offices and chambers, reveal what we've known all along, the firm connection between Trump, racism and White supremacy.  "Camp Auschwitz" and "6,000,000 Was Not Enough" are obvious references to Hitler's death camp at Auschwitz were 6,000,000 Jews were exterminated.  All of this at the firm core of Trump's camp.

Yet, I've friends, in the Trump orbit.  These are gentle, reasoned people.  We all know where we stand, but don't confront each other.  Others, more rabidly partisan, unfriended us on social media some time ago, all over words about Trump.  Obviously, there are Trumpites and then there are Trumpites.

Twelve years ago, it felt validating, almost exhilarating to elect a Black president.  Some pontificate that the Trump thing was inevitable, a sort of course correction to acknowledge that the country that built itself significantly on the back of the Black man for 400 years hadn't really come that far.

I didn't mention that included in my 30 years in Arkansas were 10 years immersed in the Black community in Little Rock.  That experience gave me SOME insight into racism, but no feeling of what it is really like to be Black in America.  Occasionally, in that environment, I did experience racism, but always knew that, as a white man, I could go anywhere in this country and be accepted as human.

Now, contemplating our country's next direction of travel, I simply hope we're capable of learning from history.      

𝗪𝗛𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗞 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗢 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 $𝟰𝟱𝗠 𝗣𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛 𝗧𝗢 𝗔 𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗠𝗣-𝗦𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗔𝗖?

 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk

According to the Wall Street Journal, Elon Musk will be coughing up $45M per month to the Trump campaign via the America PAC  July through October, $180M in total.(The PAC's purpose is to encourage swing state voters to vote absentee, something Musk has previously called "insane," "too risky" and a "large scale fraud.")

Is it possible that Tesla CEO Musk has not heard Trump's repeated mocking of the electric car industry, the core of his business?  

Well, if Musk's support of Trump seems incongruous, what about Silicon Valley billionaires who are committed to doing the same? Isn't Silicon Valley all about clean energy, clean air, clean water and anti-pollution?  Why would they support someone who wants to promote fossil fuels, even bringing back coal?

The answer for all these billionaires is very simple and basic: MONEY and rolling back regulations.

Despite Trump's phony rhetoric to his less-than-wealthy MAGA base, a second Trump term will do nothing for lower income folk, but only benefit the rich.  Remember his first term tax cut that was ONLY for the top 1% income earners?

Profiteers also love it when there are few incumbrances to their business operations, those bothersome OSHA regulations, etc.  Just rake in the money boys, planet Earth, including Boca Chica beach, be damned!

Actually, the bulk of this past decade has become the era of rejecting core values for money and/or power.

Former Vice President Mike Pence

Former VP Mike Pence is a case in point, the supposedly deeply religious man dumping everything he claimed to believe in to join the administration of a pussy-grabbing con man just so he could grasp the reins of power.

Then, after four years of lapdog loyalty, Pence finally showed a quarter ounce of integrity in refusing to reject the Electoral College results of the 2020 election as Trump had ordered, resulting in a Trump-incited insurrection with hanging gallows awaiting Pence.

So, now Trump has another moral fraud, a hypocrite in the form of one J.D. Vance.  Don't you think Vance has a clear image in his head of the intended gallows for Pence and will be superbly loyal to the Fearless Leader?

Young Mr. Vance will twist his cerebellum and body into a knot while bending over for Trump and destroying his own soul.

Just a few years ago J.D. referred to Trump as "America's Hitler," a "cynical asshole," "unfit for the nation's highest office,"  "a fraud" who "doesn't care about folks."

Now, J.D., in true Trumpian fashion blames the media for those quotes.

In 2024, while toilet paper seems to be in good supply, intestinal fortitude and integrity have become scarce.

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗞 𝗖𝗨𝗕𝗔𝗡 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡 𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗘𝗧 𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗔𝗦 𝗠𝗔𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗦

As the Mavericks inch toward their first full season without the iconic former owner in charge, a reflection on how the most bombastic sports presence in town departed in the least expected way: without fanfare.

By Jake Kemp | July 15, 2024

Mark Cuban

To me, there are few instances in our modern media landscape where a story unfolds and feels as if it doesn’t receive enough coverage. We exist in a time where talking heads turn the smallest occurrences in sports, politics, anything, into something akin to an international crisis. Obviously, the Cowboys are the fuel that ignites this take to a degree that no one can match. 

But for many years, the aura around former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban didn’t lag too far behind. Not just locally, but nationally. Shark Tank. Television battles with Skip Bayless. The Dairy Queen stunt. His constant presence in his seat on the baseline at home games; his presence behind the bench at many road games. His full-frontal assault on the league’s lackluster officiating standards, leading to millions of dollars lost in fines. 

As a kid, I wasn’t really that interested in the Mavericks. They were the laughingstock of the sports world, and the Seattle SuperSonics had a player I shared a last name with who dunked a lot. It wasn’t really until Cuban bought the team in 2000 that I fell in love with them. I know that makes me a frontrunner, but I was a kid. And kids don’t root for teams that suck. But Cuban brought not just a turnaround, but also energy and a new style of ownership that was so engaging. He was a Maverick.

And now, in the span of half a year, he is not only no longer the majority governor of the team, but he is also no longer the leading voice in basketball operations. It’s impossible to tell the story of the last quarter century of Dallas sports without Cuban’s name being in the first sentence. And now he’s just gone. For someone who has lived so loudly, this seems to have happened quietly. 

There has been a growing sense of frustration in the fan base since the 2011 championship team was disbanded in the face of a lockout. That was quelled a bit by the drafting of Luka Doncic and the almost immediate return to relevancy. But even then, the swings and misses in free agency and the draft grew to weigh on the public, with Cuban taking much of the blame. Interestingly, head of basketball operations Nico Harrison has grown into his job masterfully, and Cuban hired him.

I see a lot of chatter about how much better, how much smoother things have gone under Harrison. But again, Cuban did hire him. And that was a bold hire, to bring on someone who had no experience in an NBA front office. He hired Michael Finley to be Harrison’s top lieutenant. That also appears to be going swell. So we find ourselves in this strange position where the decisions Cuban made before relinquishing control have set the team up for success.

Again, though, it’s just odd that his diminished role isn’t a bigger deal. Perhaps it’s that it happened in phases, with the first move being selling off shares to the Adelson family, and later the handing over of decision-making. But even that doesn’t really make sense. Cuban built this franchise into what it is. He may have been filming a reality show during the Deron Williams free agency pitch. He may have made some missteps in roster construction. He was the owner during a huge scandal involving workplace improprieties. This is all true. But the thing is, those were all massive stories. For whatever reason, his receding from being the figurehead of the franchise hasn’t been. 

Cuban has said that his reason for offloading the majority of his stake in the franchise was a financial one, a transaction that would ultimately grow the value of his remaining shares based on the Adelsons’ connection to casinos. That’s all well and good; I don’t understand finances, but if he says that’s why he did it, I’ll take him at his word. What I can’t make sense of is why there was such a staunch public position of retaining control of basketball operations, only to reverse course in short order.

All I can surmise is that Cuban realized he had lost touch with how to be the person in control of a modern NBA franchise. He was the most passionate, involved owner in the NBA for nearly 25 years. He’s also a brilliant person. It’s hard for me to believe he just lost that passion. Watch him during the highlight of the year. That is not a man who no longer loves the thing that he has worked so hard to create. So perhaps it’s just a case of “if you love something, let it go.” 

I don’t have an explanation for why this isn’t a much bigger story. Maybe it’s that the Mavericks have had phenomenal success in two of the last three seasons, and the masses are satisfied with the product. Maybe in the end that’s all people really care about, rather than the billionaires in charge. But for so long, Cuban was the guy. He was the guy who ushered in the Dirk Nowtizki era by retaining and empowering the outside-the-box hire that was Don Nelson. Dirk doesn’t become Dirk without Nellie, and Nellie doesn’t keep his job if not for Cuban. 

For all of the valid criticisms, Cuban changed the NBA. His approach to analytics and advanced stats was ahead of its time. The Playstations in the lockers didn’t land the Mavericks any huge free agents. But his embrace of treating players as more than just worker bees is seen across the league now. He changed the way the game was played. He changed the way the game is officiated. 

And now, his role in this league, and with this team, appears to be to simply watch his shares grow in value as part of a portfolio just like all of the deals made on Shark Tank. There is also the matter that Cuban felt like a man, unlike most billionaires, who had politics and social views that aligned with the modern athlete. I don’t know how much that mattered; perhaps it didn’t at all. But he sold his team to some of the biggest conservative donors on the planet. Again, maybe this matters none at all. It does, however, highlight the stark contrast between the previous era and the current one. 

This is a different team and a different organization. Any departure from Cuban was going to be jarring, given his public largesse. This, though, is about the biggest left turn I can recall in sports. And for some reason, it isn’t being treated as such.

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗬 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗧𝗜𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧

Were I to vote for a Democratic nominee for President, I'd prefer it not be Joe Biden, despite the fact that he's done a good job as President.  

Should Biden run and win in 2024 he'd be 86 before leaving office, simply too damn old!  Hell, at 81, he's already suffering mental lapses that bring into question his suitability and fitness for office.

The Republican nominee, Donald Trump, at 78, is no better, saying some of the dumbest shit imaginable at rallies and on Twitter, X, if you will.

Trump also did not do well as President, was reckless with nuclear and other government secrets and caused our national debt to soar.

Of our nation's current $36T deficit, fully one third of that, $12T occurred during just the 4 years of Trump, thanks largely to his $8T spent to give the richest 1% in our country a tax break. (Only a con artist could convince people he's for the middle class and selectively give a tax break to only the richest 1%.)

The most frightening thing about a Trump second term is his worshipful fascination with dictators, "stongmen" like Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, Viktor Orban and Xi Jinping.

78 year old Donald Trump

Trump's intentions to strengthen the executive branch, greatly increasing the President's power and control, is something being intensely pushed by Project 2025. (Trump claims he'd only be a dictator on Day One.)

My fantasy ticket for 2024 would be Kamala Harris/Pete Buttigieg, two articulate, experienced government servants, who would not embarrass the nation diplomatically or domestically.

Vice President Harris previously served one term as U.S. Senator and two terms as Attorney General of the state of California and has fought vigorously to save the Affordable Care Act, preserve women's reproductive rights, clean air and water and the freedom to vote and from gun violence.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg might be one of the smartest folks in government, has dispersed $9.5B to the states for infrastructure projects in their states, while focusing on a national highway safety plan to reduce traffic deaths.

Serving two terms as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Buttigieg instituted "1,000 homes in 1,000 days," a successful plan to remodel and refurbish dilapidating homes in that city.

Buttigieg would likely appeal to world leaders with his intellect and facility for language. (Some say he speaks as many as 7 languages.  (I read that his Spanish was mediocre, but his Norwegian and Arabic high level.)

With the Democratic National Convention to be held August 19-24, here's hoping the Democrats will consider nominating qualified candidates with sufficient health and youth to be longterm, vibrant, mentally cognizant leaders for our country.

Yet, would Americans support a national ticket involving a Black woman and an openly gay man?

𝗧𝗥𝗬𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗞𝗘 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗕'𝗦 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗠𝗢 𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗢 𝗣𝗢𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗦𝗧

 

Talk about synchronicity, but someone just sent me a link to the Erasmo Castro podcast featuring Robert "Captain Bob"Sanchez while I'm unofficially auditing a psychology course.

The course initially lays a foundation in biology or biopsychology, the respective roles of the nervous and endocrine systems transmitting hormones and electical impulses via the glands and neurotransmitters, accounting also for both genetic and environmental influences.

After a couple hours of reading and notetaking, I took a call from a friend alerting me of the link to the podcast featuring Erasmo Castro with a shirtless, incoherent Robert Sanchez, vaping while spouting nonsense.

Anyway, if synchronicity is acausal, that is, an occurrence that is coincidental without apparent cause, I can't explain a link to a podcast interviewing Captain Bob as I'm reading about mental illness and the extremely complex function of the cerebral cortex and central nervous system.

𝗗𝗢𝗝 𝗦𝗨𝗘𝗦 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗪𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗞𝗘𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗠𝗜𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗡 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗥 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘

by Michael Loria

USA Today

Southwest Key Programs, the largest housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children, has been sued by the federal government for not protecting the minors in its care from abuse by staff.

Federal authorities announced a lawsuit against the nation's leading housing provider for unaccompanied migrant children in the U.S., alleging employees at the nonprofit committed "severe sexual abuse" against the minors in its care.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Western District of Texas, against Southwest Key Programs covers over 100 instances of abuse against children ranging in age from 5 to 17 and occurring between 2013 and 2023. Prosecutors allege employees at the Texas-based organization knew about the host of abuses, including rape and coercing nude photos, and failed to protect the children it received billions from the federal government to support, according to the lawsuit.

“The sexual harassment alleged in the complaint would destroy any child’s sense of safety, turning what was an American Dream into a nightmare," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani for the Southern District of Texas in a statement.

The lawsuit comes as the nonprofit's federal funding has grown tremendously and as it has become the government's leading partner in providing housing for tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors crossing the border annually, according to the lawsuit. Southwest Key operates 29 shelters; houses 6,350 children across Texas, Arizona, and California; and has received over $3 billion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services over the nine years covered by the lawsuit.

The lawsuit aims to win a civil penalty for the alleged victims of abuse and a court order requiring Southwest to take steps to avoid future abuse, Justice Department officials said.

"Sexual harassment of children in residential shelters, where a child should be safe and secure, is abusive, dehumanizing, and unlawful," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. "Sexual abuse of children is a crisis that we can’t ignore or turn a blind eye to. This lawsuit seeks relief for children who have been abused and harmed, and meaningful reforms to ensure no child in these shelters is ever subjected to sexual abuse again."

'Severe sexual abuse and rape'

The lawsuit details a litany of allegations against unnamed Southwest Key employees, including everything from “severe sexual abuse and rape” to solicitation of sex acts and nude photos.

In Channelview, Texas, an employee "repeatedly raped, abused, and threatened a teenage girl" throughout her stay at the nonprofit's Casa Montezuma shelter in 2019, according to the lawsuit. He threatened to hospitalize her if she spoke about the abuse, court filings say. Prosecutors allege other employees knew about the abuse but didn't report it.

Another Southwest Key worker allegedly "repeatedly sexually abused" a 5-year-old girl, an 8-year-old girl, and an 11-year-old girl at Casa Franklin in El Paso, Texas, in 2022, the lawsuit said. The employee entered their rooms at night to touch their "private area" and threatened to kill their families if they spoke up, according to the lawsuit.

An employee at the nonprofit's Casa Kokopelli shelter in Arizona pleaded guilty to felony attempted sexual misconduct with a minor in 2022 in Maricopa County after absconding with a 15-year-old boy to a hotel for days where the Southwest Key staffer paid the teenager for sex acts, court documents said.

The misconduct came at the hands of staff at almost every level of Southwest operations, from teachers who inappropriately touched the children to medical staff who asked minors graphic questions about sex.

Southwest Key Chief Communications Officer Anais Biera Miracle disputed the findings of the lawsuit,

The lawsuit “does not present the accurate picture of the care and commitment our employees provide to the youth and children,” Miracle said in a statement. “Southwest Key Programs’ primary focus is the safety, health, and well-being of each one of the children and youth we care for.”

𝗠𝗘𝗫𝗜𝗖𝗢'𝗦 𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗚𝗨𝗔𝗥𝗗 𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗦 𝗚𝗨𝗟𝗙 𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗘𝗟 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗜𝗨𝗗𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗢

 

Antonio Guadalupe Perez Dominguez AKA El Escorpion 17

On July 16 a special operations unit (Grupo de Operaciones Especiales) of Mexico's National Guard (Guardia Nacional de México) arrested the leader of two main cells of the Gulf Cartel, Los Ciclones and Los Escorpiones.

Antonio Guadalupe Perez Dominguez AKA El Escorpion 17 was arrested on the Tamaulipas coast at Ciudad Madero.  

A spokesperson for Mexico's National Guard said:  "This reaffirms the decision of the federal government to oppose organized crime."

"El Escorpion 17" has been transferred to Altiplano Prison.

Altiplano Maximum Security Prison