Loot - WARNING Intense Geek-Speak

What I got myself for Christmas thrilled me to no end.

I got a third monitor for my desktop computer.

This did, of course, necessitate cleaning and rearranging the desk so it would all fit. That chore took about 1/2 hour. I now have a pair of 22 inch flat panel wide screen monitors sandwiching a 19 inch CRT in the center. I did have to angle the outside panels slightly inward to fit on the desk as it is of modest size because it was not paid for with taxpayer funds. After getting the hardware all configured I hit the net searching for a very particular screen saver and after about 20 minutes of trying everything, I finally found the one I was looking for that would support multiple monitors. If you saw The Matrix you will recall the the bank of monitors on the bridge of the ship that showed the vertically falling streams of green characters and glyphs that represented the interaction of characters within The Matrix. I found a screen saver that does exactly that on my new three monitor desktop. It was most satisfying to see the falling green characters on all three monitors.

If any of you are in the market for something a touch nicer for you computer, I recommend the Envision G218a1 22 inch wide screen which is in stock at Best Buy for $209. It has DVI and VGA inputs, has built in speakers, and does an incredible 1680 x 1250 resolution. It comes with all the cables. The speakers are a little tinny by themselves, but on my system they perform well as the front speakers in a Dolby 5.1 setup.

It plays games VERY well, but before playing some games it is best to tell windows NOT to stretch the desktop onto the other monitors. You will know which games after the first time you drag the mouse to scroll the playing field and the mouse moves to another screen, instead of panning the play area. It is most annoying to have your game swap out because you panned off the screen and clicked on a different monitor.

This setup allows me to keep a ton of stuff open on the desktop at the same time for comparison and editing. The next steps for my machine include bumping the RAM up to about 6~8 gigs and upgrading the Windows Vista to the 64 bit version. The 32 bit versions of operating systems will only support 4 gigs of ram. The system already is set up to dual boot Vista or a 64 bit Linux release and it has 750 gigs of hard drive space installed.

I also finished building a Linux gateway/server machine to replace the tired old HP Brio Pentium that has been performing that function for a couple of years. The new system has a RAID 5 array of six SCSI drives in a hot-swap configuration with 5 active and one online spare. Getting it to boot from the RAID array was a pain in the butt, but that is what I get for laying Logical Volume Management on top of a RAID array. All this 'geek speak' means that if a hard drive fails, the system keeps running without losing any data and the spare kicks in to replace the failed drive. The missing redundancy is rebuilt on the spare drive and I could still lose another drive without the system crashing. As long as I don't lose two drives within 20 minutes, I will be just fine. I know it is a bit over the top, but that is just so me. To this system, I will add a couple of CD-ROM towers that were kicking around that will put 12 CD drives online. I found some really cool SCSI to IDE adapters that will let me replace the CD drives with cheap IDE DVD writers as finances permit.

I also have some excellent quality SCSI scanners that I will add to this system which will give me a commercial printing shop quality input system for photo editing and desktop publishing. I already have some quite good printers for high quality, high output printing.

At this point, all I am lacking is an 'E' size plotter or two. If anyone has any they wish to donate, I will put them to good use. Calcomp or HP would be preferred, because I can repair those.

This is the last post before the New Year as I am going on a short vacation.
So Happy Holidays to everyone and I will be back to clobber the incompetent powers-that-be shortly.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

One week till done date

I am sure by now they have all the data they need. Lord knows they spent enough money on it. Now that it is all done and all the money is gone, I am really curious how their findings will affect the estimated price tag for the yet-to-be-built Golden Palace, on the wrong side of the ship channel. Did the pilot project meet its production goals? What were its real operating costs? Did the 1/2 million in hardware installed justify the over $2 million spent on this "mini-pig" after the last bill was paid?

Did anyone think I forgot or was distracted? Not likely.

---

"Of course I know. It is my business to know."-The Merovingian

Well, what is the excuse this time?

Dates and times can be your friends. They can also hang around your neck like the proverbial albatross. Observe:

grand jury investigating BND
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO AND JOSE BORJON/The Brownsville Herald
May 2, 2007 - 9:48PM

The New Era was docked at the Port of Brownsville and was in the process of unloading its cargo of petroleum coke. The cargo was transported from Japan and is destined for Mexico.

The criminal inquiry into millions of dollars spent on the failed Brownsville Navigation District international bridge project is now in the hands of a special grand jury, District Attorney Armando Villalobos confirmed Wednesday. Villalobos said that District Judge Benjamin Euresti convened the special grand jury earlier in the day. “It’s our intention to have an answer within this grand jury term,” Villalobos further said.

The tools that a grand jury brings to an inquiry are unique. It has the power of subpoena and to compel witnesses to testify before it under oath with the exception of compelling suspects who could invoke the Fifth Amendment.

The special grand jury, whose term is for six months, will not be reviewing any other case other than possible wrongdoing involving BND’s project so as not to “lose focus” and to have ample time to conduct its review, the district attorney said.

OK, more than six months has passed. And......? What happened? Someone? Anyone?

"Of course I know. It is my business to know."-The Merovingian

Is Each and Every Pundit Stupid?

While the Clinton balsa wood juggernaut is still taking fatal hits delivered by feather pillow from the Obama camp and the Republicans are busy not delivering any message, other than, "I can beat Hilary!", a thought occurred to me:

What would happen if Rudy Giuliani were to nicely ask Joe Lieberman if he would serve as Vice President?

This would be the most middle of the road ticket possible today, a liberal Republican and a conservative Democrat.

I know that it violates all the popular rules for choosing a VP to balance the ticket, both ideologically and regionally, but regionalism is not what it used to be and the American people seem to be sick to death of both parties lip service to ideology. The further debates would be deliciously disturbed. The demos would look like they washed down a jar of jalapenos with a gallon of Turbo-Lax. The other guys would be stammering about the end of civilization as we know it. The entire east coast would be marked as Republican backers, and wouldn't that drive George Soros nuts! The pair would have to do zero campaigning, all the talking-heads on TV and in print would do it for them. Rudy G. could answer every debate question with, "I will nominate Joe Lieberman for Vice President." and quit ending every sentence with "9-11"

I know that Lieberman came out and endorsed John McCain, but is McCain out saying that he will ask Lieberman to be the VP? I don't think so. Would Lieberman do it? For the chance to be President Pro-Tem of the Senate, you bet 'cha. His party tried to trash him out of his Senate seat for being too hawkish and not "Moving on" with the rest of the party. His party left him.

Could Rudy work with Joe? Of course!

Would America vote for this duo? The answer is: Hillary who?


"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Award Reminder

The closing date for nominations is fast approaching for the Leaky Bucket Award.

When nominations close, I will post a poll for voting. There are a few of the "usual suspects" that I haven't seen nominated. It would be a terrible shame for their efforts to go unnoticed.

Turning Back the Clock

The other day a friend of mine was over for coffee and a morning chat. As we are both students of The Great Experiment, the conversation took its turn to current political events, most notably The Border Wall. We agree that the Constitution was one of the finest works of expressed human freedom to date, but our talk turned back the clock a bit to the document that made the Constitution possible, the Declaration of Independence.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

If the Federal Government were equally gung-ho about security at every border and port of entry, it would be understandable and consistent with national security. It is self-evident that this is not the case. If it is the will of the US government to stem the flow of Mexicans into the US, then just say so. America was not founded on the petty niceties of arbitrary statutes, but on the free and open observations and commentary on the way things are.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

People of all times and places have been jealous of their culture and heritage. History is replete with nations and states trying to keep out the ‘barbarian hordes’. In the past, however, there wasn’t the degree of political correctness demagoguery that we suffer from today.

When justification for a border wall hinges on blatant stupidities such as “needed for ecological protection”, I will have to join others in raising my right index finger and crying, “Bullshit!” It is what our founders would have done were they here today.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

When it comes down to it, most Mexicans would rather be in Mexico. Many do stay there in spite of the attraction of the US economy. A solution that has been offered is heavy investment in Mexico in order to make its economy as robust as that of the United States. This would work, if the whole plan wasn’t under the shadow of thievery or the threat of nationalizing the assets created. People leaving to look for work in the north is a safety valve on unemployment and social unrest

Looking at it from this point of view shows that the US does not have an immigration problem, but that Mexico has an emigration problem. The government of Mexico doesn’t see this as a problem at all. Social and governmental services are not being utilized by these emigrants and remittance payments flow back into the Mexican economy. If all those emigrants were to return home, that would cause a huge problem for the Mexican economy, not to mention the social unrest caused by the lack of decent jobs and government corruption. The truth of the matter is that the country of Mexico cannot take all these people back, and they know it. We can expect no help at all from the Mexican government on this issue.

Do all these foreign people working here hold down wages? Of course they do! Arguments to the contrary are totally disingenuous if not outright lies.

Can our political parties do anything to make the situation better for US citizens? The sad answer is no. Each party is internally conflicted to the point of standstill.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

The Democrats historically look for votes from the wage earning working class, so all these immigrants should be a shoe in for citizenship and vote with the ‘party of the people’. The major conflict with the Democrats is that the Mexican people have NOTHING in common with the anti-family, anti-god, and pro-abortion platforms of the party. The party conflict with their existing base is that all this immigration is holding down wages, so they will lose their base of support among unions is they support citizenship.

The Republicans internal conflict is that the abundance of low paid workers increase profitability and robust economic growth at the cost of more government expenditures on education and social services. The flip side is a national security issue with lax border enforcement.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

If each party cannot get its act together, how in the world could anyone expect them to get together on a policy and vision that would be the best for the country?

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

Now, we have a Department of Homeland Security. What is their major contribution to making us more secure? A half-hearted attempt to stop the flow of Mexicans into the US. Well, there are also all the unfunded mandates thrust onto business, but that is another topic.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

DHS has been holding a series of ‘public education’ meetings where the purpose is nebulous and the public statements hold no guarantee of effect on the planning or policy.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

States that attempt to deal with the problems caused by illegal immigration face totally conflicted opinion from the court system and all the Federal agencies. States that years ago wanted to build a fence were prohibited from doing so and now it is being mandated.
of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Something needs to be done about real security in the US. Starting with kicking out every foreigner who overstayed a visa would be a good start. A legitimate way for Mexicans who want to work here needs to be taken care of post haste.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian

Frijolero

Villalobos Billboard Accidentally Unveiled

BROWNSVILLE,TX- In what was surely a wind caused accident, a brand new billboard featuring “ReElect Armando Villalobos” was accidentally unveiled on Old Port Isabel Road, across the street from Treviño Funeral Home. Witness’ agreed that it must have been a accident, because no sitting elected official would blatantly violate a city ordinance that was addressed recently, especially the County prosecutor. An alternative theory was offered by a Hanna student walking home after school that it may have been done, “by some really expert taggers” who have been deprived of workspace since most of the through-town train traffic has been diverted over the past few years. Local conspiracy theorists blame the Zavaletta campaign. “I know it is Peter’s people putting all those Villalobos signs up everywhere. It is a brilliant move to make it look bad for the DA. It doesn’t affect me one way or the other, ‘cause I got my foil hat on.”, volunteered a local street figure while pushing a cart recently liberated from Wal-Mart. Efforts to locate the covering for the billboard were unproductive and the idea that it may have been deposited miles away by a highly localized sheer wind were provided by the local National Weather Service. “These things are unpredictable and are most common around election time. Most often the effects are seen in the clean removal of all campaign yard signs in a neighborhood a couple of weeks before an election.”, they further added.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian

--Election and Politiqueras.

The only reason that politiqueras have any relevance is the low voter turnout we have. The 200 or so swing votes, all in the same handwritting consistantly sway the election BECAUSE WE DON'T VOTE! Voter registration drives are not the answer. As a matter of fact, the drives in recent years to register voters has made it virtually impossible to mount a sucessful recall of anyone on the city commission. The bar is set at 17,000 signatures because of all the registration drives have these morons who never vote clogging up the system. I would like to see it changed to 51% of the voters in the last general election, but that is another article.

Anyone of us could make politiquera's irrelevant. Anyone reading this could make 200 of their aquaintances go vote. If even half of us did, politiqueras would be obsolete within two election cycles.

There is also the issue of boycotting candidates who buy the nursing home vote. Bobby WC was right on this one. Were we, as an active, involved community, to do the two things in tandem then politiqueras would only be a footnote in the history books.

"Of course I vote. It is my business to vote." -The Merovingian

--Hats or No Hats

There is a decorum to be observed, and if you are going to do something with a history of a particular set of social niceties to be observed, then observe them.

If one is not sure, ask or look it up. When one doesn't, posts like this one occur to address the issue.

Personally, I think that people entrusted with public money shouldn't worry so much about hat etiquite. I would rather that they had no pockets, instead.

M.

-- To Diet or not to Diet

Fat Kid Successfully Avoids Ridicule By Swimming With Shirt On


In The Know: Should We Be Shaming Obese Children More?

As promised I would handle the issues put before me.

-Diet or not-

In short, NO. The real problem is exercise. That is it. All of it. Period.

Active people, not those who describe themselves as active in phone polls from the couch with a remote in one hand and the other digging in a bowl of chips, do not have weight problems.

As a people we have gotten so fat and lazy that we blame everyone else for what they put in the food we shovel down our gullets while driving our Lincoln Navigators to sit at the movies, then home to veg in front of cable TV.

Of course, here I am perched before a keyboard calling the kettle black, however I lead a very active lifestyle and I can eat anything and as much of it as I want. When I get 'that ice cream feeling' that one gallon pail of cookies n' cream ain't safe.

Why do we have fat kids? Nintendo. Plain and simple. Kids have too many hand-eye toys and not enough upper torso strength activities. The other reason is that parents would rather shove a ho-ho in a kid's hand than discipline them for whining. Every time I see a fat kid at the mall, I have a serious urge to take a swing at their parents.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. I expect a slew of responses from 'fat appologists'

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Johnson-Castro: Blackwater flows to the Rio Grande

By Jay Johnson-Castro
Jay Johnson-Castro

November 26 - As if a border wall is not enough of an insult and act of tyranny against our border community…how about this brute reality? Blackwater USA wants to police our Texas-Mexico border.


For some time, it has been well documented that the world’s largest mercenary army is not only setting up a new military training camp in Potrero, CA, but has applied to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to be on the Texas-Mexico border to assist in border security.


As John Ross, of Global Research, has reported: “For months, the North Carolina-based corporation has been pressuring local San Diego officials to grant it an operating license for an 824-acre training site to be known as Blackwater West in Potrero, California, 45 miles east of that bustling port city but only six miles from the Tecate, Mexico, border crossing.”


Ross has also reported on the testimony then-Blackwater president Gary Jackson gave before Congress in 2005. Jackson said his company was “prepared to provide assistance on border security” and that Blackwater’s long-time connections inside DHS “could generate lucrative contracts training increasingly heavily-armed ICE agents.”


Ross pointed to remarks San Diego Congressman Bob Filner, a Democrat, gave Salon Magazine's Elaine Zimmerman last month: that he believes Blackwater is positioning itself to move into the border security business.


Our Texas congressmen and senators must know this. Why have they not informed us? Why has the media not belted them with questions about Blackwater locating on the border?


All this year, we’ve been trying to get folks to look at the darkness that looms in our country due to the atrocities that Blackwater committed in New Orleans during the Katrina fiasco as well as the perpetuation of the Iraq way where their forces of international gun slingers are paid $1,000 a day to kill whomever they so choose with total impunity. No one seemed to want to believe it until recently when the Iraqi government itself demanded Blackwater’s exit from their country. Now, everyone has heard about Blackwater, probably because it was finally reported on by the national TV networks.


Recently, Blackwater has been under investigation for the atrocities it has been committing in Iraq. The U.S. State Department Inspector General, Howard Krongard, recently denied before a House Congressional committee that he knew his brother, a former high ranking CIA official, now serves on the Blackwater Advisory Board.


One thing for sure…we did not come to know about Blackwater from our senators and congressmen. One has to ask “Why not?” Do they not know that Blackwater, as far back as 2005, applied to be the privatized military presence here on the border? How about our state legislators and senators? Hopefully, our journalists “inside the checkpoints” will start asking the right questions. Here are a few hints for them:


According to Jeremy Scahill’s acclaimed book “Blackwater,” the company is “looking for a lucrative domestic opportunity.” Scahill writes that Blackwater made an application in early 2005 “to serve as a force to deal with immigration and border security.”


That was months before Katrina. So now we know that Blackwater is positioned to crack down on “illegal aliens.”


Blackwater’s game plan has been enhanced founded Erik Prince’s connections. His old boss is Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican who represents the 46th congressional district in California. Rohrabacher has endorsed the Minutemen. Blackwater has been further enhanced by another Republican congressman from California, Duncan Hunter, who is now running for president. Hunter is a strong supporter of the border wall plan. The ruling supremacists have been pushing for the “outsourcing” border security…with Blackwater in mind.


It’s all about the corrupt money. Money like that comes in the form of “outsourcing,” and here’s how it stacks up. Israel's private defense contractor, Elbit Systems, which has plenty of experience building border walls against Palestine, has been hired by private contractor, Boeing, to build the security system along our border. G4S Global Security is headquartered in England and Denmark. Its Wackenhut buses run around the country transporting immigrants on our nickel. We have “for profit” internment camps that leach mega-millions of our tax dollars to imprison the “huddled masses yearning to breath free.” All the while, Blackwater is waiting like hired guns for its border contract.


Where are our protectors? Are there really any in Congress? Why the silence and secrecy?


Meanwhile, we now know where Blackwater is now focused - the U.S.-Mexico border.


Do we of the Rio Grande corridor in Texas just roll over and allow this to happen? Will we allow our money to fund Blackwater to do to our Texas-Mexico border region what it did in New Orleans after Katrina…and now in Iraq?


Will we allow Blackwater to flow…unimpeded…to the Rio Grande?


Jay Johnson-Castro, Sr., is a humanitarian activist and businessman from Del Rio, Texas. He has traveled the U.S.-Mexico border extensively and organized the first public protest against the border wall plan. His column, Inside the Checkpoints, appears weekly in the Guardian.


For further reading:


http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7310
http://www.gringogazettenorth.com/v6e17_03.php

Topics for Discussion - Impact fee first

From a comment on Recall Them All

Anonymous said...

M,
for discussion,
--Election and Politiqueras.
--BND and DEC
--PUB and/or City Commission
--The Wall and/or No Wall
--Hats or No Hats
--BISD or UTB
-- To Diet or not to Diet

Ok, I can take a hint. Get back with the program? Right?

PUB and impact fees for developers:
The report to the City Commission that the report will be available in August is not only slow, it is silly. I could do it in about 2 weeks.
Here's how:
First, we know that no matter where it comes out, the developers are going to squeal like stuck pigs and the amount will be lowered. This works exactly like a property appraisal. Therefore the method to apply is quite simple. We will use one of my favorite formulations called BG-squared (By Gosh and By Golly) and estimate each facet of each impact a bit on the low side. Then we will add up each slightly underestimated facet. Now we have a total impact that cannot be argued because it was done low on purpose. Apply this fee because there is no valid argument against such a low estimate. Done!

Now wasn't that easy? Let's see, I think I am due about 1/2 of 1% of the revenue generated for my study here, which is far less than the process is taking.....Oh, and maybe a $1000 bonus for completing the study so far ahead of schedule...Some small credit for saving so much fuel and paperwork.... Oh, what the heck, how about PUB just send me a check for $5000 total and we call it even. Do you think this will happen? I guess we will just have to wait to see where the actual cost of calculating the impact fees, which will be argued down if implemented at all, come in. Be prepared to lose your lunch when they do. Add to the study costs the lost revenue for all the time that passed before implementation and we will have to pass a bond issue for a new city vomitorium.

I'll get to the other discussion issues until they are all addressed.

"Of course I know, It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

Capt. Bob's Forum

Sorry, the board is unavailable at the moment while we are testing some functionality.

We will be back soon...

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:45 AM.

What functionality is being tested?
Will the original posts be there when it comes back up?

The time zone is STILL wrong, try GMT -6 for the timezone your readers live in. It may not seem like a big deal, but I get disturbed reading posts that haven't occured yet. It upsets my sense of reality.

Just really curious.......

Comment Worthy of Distinction

Can You Say: UTB/TSC? said...

Truth be told, UTB/TSC is only marginally "an institution of higher education." Much of that condition arises from the abysmal lack of preparation of the students coming to the school from the surrounding public schools. Beat your chest and tear your hair all you want, you misguided apologists for the hideous state of public education, it's not going to change that fact.

Any weight UTB/TSC carries in the world of education comes from its accreditation. Without that, it irrefutably becomes what many already see it as: Juliet Garcia's combination money factory and playground for border retards.

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the organization that provides the accreditation to UTB/TSC. They accomplish this by periodically coming to each institution and looking very closely at what the institution claims its mission is, what the institution is actually doing as relates to accomplishing that proclaimed mission, what sorts of results the various schools and colleges are getting, and the levels of academic progress students are making.

They are very serious, and they don't play at it. And they're coming to you-know-where in the very near future.

Most institutions have what is generally known as an office of institutional effectiveness, or something very similar. This is the office charged with making sure that when the accrediting body comes to check stuff out, it all looks good. Most institutions have had such an office in place for years, if not decades. The office at UTB/TSC was only created in the last couple of years. And this was somewhat of a panic response to the realization that SACS was coming and they weren't really looking like a good candidate for continued accreditation. Or at the very least, not without sanctions, a probationary period or some other very obvious process that the entire rest of the educational world could not help but see as proof of failure and incompetence.

One way to make the horrendous numbers that accompany hundreds of students requiring more than the state or national average number of hours of remediation in order to even qualify to attempt college level work; degrees taking six, eight or more years to complete by students barely able to maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA); students typically losing access to federal student aid due to failure to maintain academic standards mandated by that program; students completing enough hours to account for at least a bachelor’s degree, but their completed courses to not conform to any approved course of study for which a degree can be awarded – one way to get the low graduation numbers to look better, is to get all those struggling students out of the system.

It appears that it was decided that a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) evaluation would be made as a means for culling some of the more embarrassing members of the student body. Finally, we’re getting close to addressing the Dual Enrollment students.

A Freedom of Information Act request will yield nothing. The institution, regardless of the fact that it disburses state and federal monies, is not a governmental body and is not required to comply. Even if it were, you can be sure that there is no appreciable paper trail in existence regarding this activity. All students, including high school students who are being duped into duel enrollment by the office of Enrollment Planning in order to artificially bolster sagging enrollment numbers, are subject to SAP standards.

(One of the university’s, and the Office of Enrollment Planning’s, paramount objectives has been to meet or exceed expected national averages for enrollment increases. This is essential in demonstrating that a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) in one of the poorest regions of the nation is being managed so remarkably by a Hispanic woman, Juliet Garcia, that it is able to show such advancement, which is undoubtedly being followed with the well known benefits that accrue to the surrounding area through the increased educational level of the population.)

The additional hidden problem here is that many of these dual enrollment students are C- and D-average public school students, not those students for whom the rather demanding dual enrollment program was designed. As a result, many of the little Pedro’s y Bonita’s don’t make the grade; they might come for a few classes but their English isn’t good enough and they’d rather be “hangin with their homies” so they just quit coming. Next thing you know, little Bonita is looking to get into TSC so she can get a respiratory therapist’s certificate, but she’s already on SAP probation because she doesn’t have a 70% completion rate and a 2.0 GPA because of her long forgotten episode with dual enrollment. Another 18 year old in skin-tight mid-calf length hip-hugging designer jeans, $65 dollar blouse revealing no more cleavage than would be appropriate for an 11 pm appearance at the favorite club, set off with pink patent leather Hello Kitty seven inch stiletto heels and coin purse-sized hand bag has her dreams of future financial success stomped hard in the middle of the back by the big muddy black boot of reality.

There is a LOT of ugly crap going down there, on the border by the sea, and it’s not all coming from across the border. To all appearances, Dr. Garcia has taken what could have been a beacon of hope, painted it up as a one-size-fits-all solution for the region’s ignorance and poverty, bought red rubber noses for all parties, and transformed it into her own private legacy building empire.

Post script:

The catch 22 to all this, and you knew with this level plotting and intrigue there would be at least one, is that if they ditch the students that make their numbers look bad for SACS, then their claimed amazing enrollment accomplishment disappears.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practice to deceive!”
~ Sir Walter Scott, Marmion, canto vi, stanza 17.

“NO CONFLICTS BUT A LOT OF INTEREST”

NEWS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION
Brownsville, Texas. November 18, 2007

“NO CONFLICTS BUT A LOT OF INTEREST”

Peter Zavaletta, candidate for the Democratic nomination for Cameron County District Attorney, addresses Baybridge and conflict of interest:

“After the Brownsville Navigation District Board voted unanimously on August 29 to authorize the Port Director to negotiate a lease contract with Baybridge, I ‘met’ Barry Chambers for the first time. Before that‘meeting,’ I had never met or even spoken with Chambers before, but it was common knowledge that he, along with Bob Berry, were the local managers of International Shipbreakers, a large ship dismantler at the Port, who had bitterly opposed both the lifting of the moratorium on additional shipbreakers at the Port and allowing Baybridge to locate there.

“After the August 29 BND board meeting, I bumped into Mr. Chambers in a social setting - entirely by accident. He was alone, apparently having a drink, and I was with some friends. I got up to go to the restroom and recognized Chambers standing at the bar. At that moment, I had no reason to think Chambers was anything but still a manager of International Shipbreakers, and an individual who probably wasn’t too happy with me - now that I had succeeded in letting Baybridge into the Port. For those reasons, I was somewhat surprised that as I approached where Chambers was standing on my way to the restroom, he smiled at me, and reached out his hand to shake mine. I stopped, shook his hand and formally introduced myself. He told me he really appreciated what I had done in allowing Baybridge into the Port, adding that he was seriously considering applying for employment with Baybridge to manage
their Brownsville operation.

“I wished him well, and thanked him for the kind words. I asked if he was aware of the taxpayers lawsuit I had filed against Dannenbaum. He said he was and thought it was tremendous. I said ‘Great - would you like me to add you as a Plaintiff, ’ and asked if he owned property within the tax district? He said yes - he had a small place at the turning basin at the Port and asked if that was sufficient? I said it was, so he said to please add him to the case.

“As a brief aside, as lead plaintiff in the taxpayers’ suit, I am asking that the court declare the settlement the BND reached with Dannenbaum void because of Dannenbaum’s failure to perform under the settlement agreement. That was the same result I was asking for when I filed the case and I was the only Plaintiff. The requested remedy hasn’t change and would be the same if I were the only plaintiff or if there were 100 plaintiffs. Adding Barry Chambers as a plaintiff does not change the remedy and doesn’t confer any benefit on either he or I or on any other plaintiff. He and all other plaintiffs are simply saying, ‘I agree, and will take a public stand as well.’

“I added Chambers as a plaintiff on September 7, a little over a week after the August 29 vote to allow Baybridge into the Port. At that time, I did not know
what Chambers’ employment status was - whether he still worked for International Shipbreakers or whether he had in fact followed through and applied with Baybridge. Moreover, neither Chambers, nor any Plaintiff, nor any other person or entity for that matter have paid me a dime for the work I have done in the taxpayers’ litigation. And I haven’t and won’t ask any BND taxpayer to do so.

“Equally important, I have neither asked for nor received any contribution or payment of any kind from any shipbreaker - including Baybridge. And, I have not and will not ask for or accept any campaign contribution from Baybridge in the District Attorney’s race. My sole interest in advocating for and supporting Baybridge - as long ago as this past Spring - is for one thing and one thing only - it was and is the right thing to do.

“When it comes to bringing growth, industry and high paying jobs to our people, I have no conflicts but a lot of interest."

Returning to Mr. Chambers, he contacted me a couple of months ago, after he had been added as a Plaintiff, asking for my help as Commissioner with an insurance issue he and other turning basin lessees were having at the Port. My response - he should take his concern to BND staff and work it through the chain of command, which I told him I believed in very strongly. I didn’t think to ask and didn’t ask what his employment status was - that is, whether he had in fact been hired by Baybridge or whether he had even applied. It just didn’t occur to me and I didn’t give it any importance.

“Apparently Mr. Chambers did take his concern to BND staff and then gave a public comment about that issue at a board meeting. As recently as that meeting, which was either in September or October, I had no reason to think Chambers was working for Baybridge - after all, he was speaking to an issue he and other turning basin lessees were dealing with. The land Baybridge was interested in was across the channel from the turning basin.

“With respect to Mr. Chambers’ concerns at the turning basin, I never intervened on his behalf. In fact, I seem to recall that I, along with the rest of the Commissioners, voted against the position Mr. Chambers was advocating.

“Before the BND board voted unanimously on November 14 to authorize the Port Director to negotiate a lease for land Baybridge would need for parking space, I didn’t think to follow up with Barry Chambers again and ask if he was employed by Baybridge. I did not know and wasn’t told that he was the registered agent for Baybridge of Texas. (I learned that for the first time in the newspaper article). In fact, the first time I learned Chambers had been hired by Baybridge was on November 14, after the vote, when Port Director Campirano briefed Commissioners in Executive Session on the main lease negotiations with Baybridge, and that Campirano was dealing primarily with its local manager Barry Chambers.

“Even when I heard that, however, it didn’t cross my mind that Chambers’ being a Plaintiff in a taxpayers’ declaratory judgment lawsuit posed any conflict of interest. It didn’t and it doesn’t.

“However, I understand some may feel differently. I respect their right to their opinion. I did nothing wrong. I did nothing unethical. I apologize to those who might have been confused by my actions. I hope and trust I have set the record straight.”

END

For more information:
COMMITTEE TO ELECT PETER ZAVALETTA
Tracey M. Zavaletta, Treasurer
5261 Wilderness Drive
Brownsville, Texas 78526
Telephone
(956)
546-5567
Facsimile
(956)
541-2205
email: peter@thezavalettalawfirm.com

Republicans Ecstatic

By LAURA B. MARTINEZ — The Brownsville Herald
November 13, 2007 - 11:29PM
Democratic Party precinct chairs on Monday selected former Cameron County Judge Gilberto Hinojosa to serve as their chairman.

In a stunningly bonehead move,Gilberto Hinojosa was crowned Democratic Party chair. Any and all previous promises to not use politiqueras are now null and void. Look for unheaded complaints from primary contenders that are not in the clique that party support is slanted even before the primaries.

Sanchez said he does not remember who nominated Hinojosa at the meeting......
I seem to recall that nobody could remember exactly how the Yates papers made it to the DA's office. Was not Hinojosa's name firmly in the middle of that one, too? Is this the new mantra for the local party of the people?

Local Republicans are beside themselves with glee. How else could they get an across-the-board 10% negative slapped on the opposition party without Karl Rove level spinning?

At least the Republicans will say that they came to the decission after praying for guidance.

Now Accepting Nominations

From now until Christmas, I will be accepting nominations for the Leaky Bucket Award. This non-prestigous award will be presented to the local entity who does the best job defending poor results while failing in their mission and wasting as many resources as possible in this pursuit.

The winner will be entitled, nay encouraged, to shamefully display the award graphic and award date on their website and on any and all correspondence. The use of window decals is strongly encouraged for all winners of this award, so that patrons can see exactly what kind of entity they are dealing with as they enter the door.

Depending on the volume and catagories that the various nominated enties fall into, it may become necessary to award to multiple receipients. In the case of a tie, both nominees will be awarded equally.

Nominations should include a short narative on the qualifications and lack of achievements of the nominees. Nominations will be accepted via reply to this post, or by email to revtallywhacker@yahoo.com.

Cameron Works - Francisco Castellanos Who is this Guy?

The Stable of Mice


From Spending powers curtailed for Cameron Works director
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO/The Brownsville Herald

“The board decreased the sum to $500,000, then at its meeting last month lowered it further to $50,000. This decision, however, has not been ratified. When the board decreased the amount to $50,000 it was not in compliance with state regulations because it lacked two members representing community-based organizations.”

Ok, who was the one that pointed that little tidbit out? I could see someone pitching an awful fit if broader powers are being granted improperly, but doing something a prudent as requiring that the board be notified? I would think that should require no more than a memo from the chairman of the board to the CEO. That is the way it is done everywhere else in the US.

While I am on this, “notified”? What the hell is this “notified”? Shouldn’t the proper venue for large expenditures be “ratified” or “approved”? What is this board, this “Stable of Mice”, and gelded mice at that? Do we or do we not appoint boards to oversee public fund and expect them to do that job? If these folks don’t understand that this is their job, replace them all, at once or at the very least have a training in-service to explain to them what their job is. Castellanos, of course, is not invited to that in-service, because after the training the board can tell Castellanos what his job is, as is proper for a board to a CEO.

I was not happy with the move from the Southmost facility to ITEC in the first place. The explanations at the time made no sense, unless, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”, satisfied your doubts some years ago.

On another, but surprisingly related topic, I love the little popup calculator in Windows. If you don’t have it on your taskbar, right click on the task bar, near the start button, pick open folder. In the open folder, right click on a blank area and pick New, then pick Shortcut. Copy and paste the following in the blank “C:\Windows\System32\calc.exe” without the quotes. Now finish and the calculator is instantly available to check out little facts and statistics like the one I am about to show you.

The unapproved, but “perfectly ok under the existing policy” move to ITEC cost $1,000,000. Without even going into the further, long term additional $1,000,000 option, let’s see what we could have done locally that still put the million bucks in Juliette’s hands (we can’t forget the primary mission). Hmmm... Ok, a 4 year degree at the local money pit costs about $40,000 so. Using the little popup calculator we just installed, take the million for the move, divided by 40 thousand per 4 year degree and we get the number 25. That means that for the same money, Cameron works could have provided 25 residents of the Southmost area with a fully paid 4 year scholarship. People with a 4 year degree have no further need of the services offered by Cameron Works, so I would say that they would have done their job in providing decent jobs for 25 people with that money. Now let’s look at how many permanent jobs they did create with the million bucks…..Zero. Castellanos still accomplished the mission of routing a million bucks to the university, but if he had done it my way, he would have gotten something moderately defensible in return.

Now maybe he can see that there are good reasons to ask a board for guidance and approval. And maybe if any of the mice on the board aren’t afraid to read my site, they might see that, too. I promise not to post pictures of cats. I do, however reserve the right to display a rat or two.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

The Harlingen Post Reference Article

Let's play a game

This game is for the folks who keep up
with the "Bridge to Nowhere"
For bonus points, name everybody who
swore they weren't in business with one
or more listed parties. People who are
new to the game are welcome to join.

Game Board Here

Now, let's discuss the findings of our players.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

The 800lb Gorilla in the Room

One of my readers has been prodding me to say what everyone knows, but the politeness of social fiction prevents from being verbalized in public. It isn’t pretty, but it is very ‘South Texas’ and I wish I wasn’t the one to have to say it.

In order to clarify where I am coming from, here is the logic I employ for most social problem solving.

From Wikipedia, not an authoritative source, but adequate for our purposes:
Occam's razor (sometimes spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae ("law of parsimony" or "law of succinctness"): "entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem", or "entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity". This is often paraphrased as "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood.

Now we get on to the meat of the matter.
The 9.2 million that Dannenbaum paid out was indeed stolen money, but it wasn’t stolen from us. I’ll give you a moment’s pause to let that outrageous idea sink in. Now that everyone has their normal skin tone back, I’ll explain.

Bribing Mexican officials is something that we don’t talk about openly anymore. It is not polite, nor politically correct. We like to think that those levels of corruption are a part of a distant, forgotten past and not a part of the “New, Modern Mexico”. Because we in the Valley share such close ties with Mexico, we try hard to ignore it the same way we ignore a close family member’s vices. We are ashamed of it and do not discuss it.

In 1988 the Congress passed Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This act’s anti-bribery provisions are quite explicit and the penalties are stiff. More about it can be read here.
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

It used to be commonly known that to do business in Mexico, you had to know who to pay off. Just because our law changed did not make the situation in Mexico change. Our rosy eyed social view of the “New, Modern Mexico” didn’t change this situation, either. So we still have the ugly, dirty fact that bribery was part and parcel of doing business with Mexico.

The Port Bridge, now commonly known as “The Bridge to Nowhere” was no different in any respect than any other business with Mexico. To make it happen, bribes needed to be paid. This fact was not lost on a single person or entity involved with the project. Not a one. As a matter of fact, the amounts needed were so large for a project of this size that it was impossible to simply pay it as a lump sum and disguise it as “fees and licensing” and because of the law in the US, it was impossible to pay it at all, yet it had to be paid.

Corruption only continues because it works, people are paid off because they can deliver. It is ironic that the amount that can be demanded for a bribe is contingent on the ability of the corrupt official to keep their word and deliver the goods. So if the money was sent out, and the unwritten terms and conditions were complied with, why isn’t the bridge built?

"All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the right one."

The money never got into the hands of the people it was intended for. Had it done so, construction would be underway, everyone would be happy, Dannenbaum’s name would not be mud, Eddie Lucio would not look like he was part of an orchestrated theft, Lencho Rendon wouldn’t look like a criminal mastermind, and there would have been no public uproar. All of this because it would have been business as usual with Mexico.

So what went so terribly wrong? At this point all I have to offer is conjecture, but it fits the facts as we know them.

Dannebaum was “the intermediary for the intermediaries” in the payoff. The three interlocked Mexican consulting firms were the bagmen for the payoff. It took three companies because the amount of the bribe was so large that it had to be broken up to try to keep it under the radar. Knowing what the money was really for, the BND board went along. The money was paid to the bagmen. This is the point where something went terribly wrong.

One of two things happened, and I’ll opt for the “greed” scenario. They simply kept the money. Pure and simple. Who could complain? It was now dirty money. The amount that the three companies could skim for their part as bagmen in the deal wasn’t enough, or the temptation for the whole $9.2 million was just too great. So there you are.

The other scenario is a touch more complicated, but still fits well with the facts. For some reason the bribe could not be accepted at this time and the bagmen were stuck with the money for a while at least. During the time they were stuck with the cash, the BND stupidly decides to toot their own horn by having a ground breaking ceremony for the new Port Bridge. There was only one small problem. There were no Mexican officials of any kind in attendance and the Brownsville Herald was right there covering the event and noticed this. With the light of day on this seemingly odd fact, the Mexican officials who were supposed to eventually get their bribe money could not touch it, because the house lights were on and they would be spotted.
This all explains things as they stand. I am afraid they offer no way out, other than a lot of jail time and very heavy fines for everyone involved, because the law is quite clear on that. I could go on for several more pages about nowhere investigations and all the piddly details of each and every irregularity, but they all fall neatly into the scenario that I have laid out.

I should feel triumphant at this point, but I do not. The Port board, Dannenbaum, Mr. B., and everyone involved were just doing business as usual with Mexico.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know” -The Merovingian

Bridge to Nowhere is Still News

This morning’s Brownville Herald had me glued to Emma Perez-Treviño’s articles tying Louis Jones of Dannenbaum directly to the lion’s share of the money that Dannenbaum paid out to Mexican consulting firms on the Bridge to Nowhere.
I have a couple of questions (but you all knew that was coming, didn’t you?) that really need answers.
The first is so obvious that I shouldn’t be the one to have to ask it. How in the hell does the Brownsville Herald find out all this horrible, RICO level involvement of previously named players in the scam and fraud perpetrated on our community when special investigations with bevies of attorneys paid buckets of money couldn’t do it? I did about ten minutes of internet searching on the information contained in the articles and it looks even more disgusting, if you could believe it, than the articles paint the picture.
My second question is a logical extension of the first: Who benefited from dead end investigations conducted by local entities? I ask this because simple incompetence, though common enough around here is insufficient to explain missing these direct financial involvements by Louis Jones at these levels. Also, were I in the position of James Dannenbaum, with his resources, I would have found out years ago about my top guy muddying my good name and not only fired his crooked ass, but turned him in to the FBI. And yet, he is still there. Not only is he not tucked away in an office without a window, he is out and about in public doing the company’s business. Posit: Dannenbaum knows, or has the IQ of a field mouse. Since he passed the DPS driver’s license test, I have a hard time believing the latter.
Based on what I saw about TBX in the articles, I did my own kind of research. It didn’t take long because I knew what I would find before I even started looking. TBX stock has been involved in “Pump and Dump” stock spamming. If you don’t know what that is, I’ll explain it here.
A flood of good looking spam e-mails are sent out, most look like they either “accidentally” found their way to your inbox, or look like you were subscribed to some mailing list that included hot tips on investments. When enough idiots take a chance that this information was legit, they buy the cheap, low cap stock (not a huge amount on the market) and the price zooms skyward. Wow, that tip was good. Now for the hammer. The “pump and dumper” has been sitting on the sidelines with a bucket of the cheap stock in their hand waiting for this moment. He dumps the stock at the inflated prices and walks away, profits in hand. The people who bought the stock, hoping to catch a ride on this rocket watch for their purchase to increase in value. It doesn’t happen. Some people start selling off this non-performer and the price starts to drop. As it drops further, the speed of its decline increases. In most cases the final price is even lower that the market price before the “pump and dump” campaign was started. This scam can involve totally innocent companies that are low cap and low priced. This is not the usual case, though. This game almost always involves company insiders and the end play of the game is even sicker than simply lying about the company’s upward movement to drive the price up.
After screwing the unsuspecting public and letting the price hit rock bottom, they take the bucket of money they made and buy back the now cheap stock until the price comes back to its starting point. The company or the insider who masterminded the play now makes the ‘pink sheets’ on the company look at least as good as they did before the scam. If it was a private criminal enterprise, the insider who did it has a larger stake in the company for no net cost. If it was the company itself that did it, there is less outstanding stock at the end of the play, with zero net cost to the company, which makes the apparent value of the company in the pink sheets look better. Either way an unsuspecting investor threw their money away on this and directly into the pockets of someone else.
It shouldn’t be too hard for someone at the SEC to prove who did it. Again I have a question. Why didn’t they?
Here are some links showing the “Pump and Dump” of TBX stock.
Spotted here
Showed up here
More spam
Spam -yet again!

“Of course I know. I is my business to know” -The Merovingian

Commission Impossible

Sorry for the Delay

Some of the readers may have thought (or possibly hoped) that I had gotten lazy. I assure you that is not the case. Over the last few days I have been doing my bit to help bring down those that are flying high on your money. There have been ah... certain notices that I should get out and do something instead of just spotlighting the waste, abuse, intellectual and financial fraud that is perpetrated on the people of Brownville by those giggling idiots that think they are untouchable. Worry not, for I play as good a game as I write.

On the positive side, I managed to get a few good things done for the area. For obvious reasons, I cannot discuss them here. Suffice it to say that I am satisfied with progress in certain areas.

I noticed that the link to Ortiz's press release was broken, so I hunted down where the press release was moved to and fixed the link. It was probably simple routine site maintenance that caused the link to break, but it was a little difficult to find afterwards. If any of the click links don't work, please let me know.

I know that there are many prayers said for me, although I'll admit that some of those prayers are that I rot in hell for all eternety. At this time I wish to offer my interpretation of the 23rd Psalm:

The facts are my Shepherd; I shall not want. They maketh me throw buffalo chips from green pastures: they leadeth me to the truth. They restoreth my resolve: They leadeth me to the guilty and the stupid for their sake. Yea, though I walk through the Rio Grande Valley shadow of deceit, I will fear no obfustication: for they are with me; good research and a baseball bat they comfort me. They spread files on the conference tables of my enemies: they annotate my writing with links; my blog runneth over. Surely subpoenas and firings shall follow the guilty all the days of their lives: and they will dwell in the big house forever.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

I Hope the Water tastes Better

As the Southmost Regional Water Authority brackish water desalination plant gets ever closer to production goals, the cost of the water you are drinking has been creeping up. Yep. When it is running at full capacity, it will provide 40% of the water requirements of the partner entities (read PUB, which owns 94%). The production costs for water from this plant are far higher than those of PUB Water Plant #1 and #2. So naturally, plant #1 is scheduled to be decommissioned.

Folks, in an earlier posting I told you that there was an actual plan in place to raise the cost basis of drinking water. I am sure that some of you out there thought I was just being alarmist or silly. I assure you that this is not the case. Just look at it. The more they run the desal plant on FM 511, the higher the drinking water production cost. That is an absolute fact that cannot be argued nor spun with one of their famous number juggling acts.

They were originally talked into this by Dannenbaum Engineering. The project was picked up as the "Poster Child" for NRS Engineering, who have sucked it for all it is worth. Now they are blasting full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes for an seawater desal plant. They are doing it in partnership with the Port of Brownsville, and that should make anyone nervous. They are not slowing down to look around the landscape to see if anything is more cost effective.

Well, ok, they did try to send some people to Spain to look at this, but I have a hint for them: They have phones in Spain now, just call. If this is just to un-hip, could I suggest a virtual presence via video teleconference? Yes, we can actually do that from here. It is very hip and now and you don't need an engineering study to accomplish it. You don't even need lawyers. If it is too much to handle I suggest sending someone to hang around a video arcade and hire a promising looking eleven year old to set it up for you.

I don't know how else to say this. They don't care what you have to pay to live here. These are people who are trying to look hip and cool and with-it on the engineering scene without any regard for the costs to the people who have to ultimately pay for it. The cost basis for water is rising and PUB is the one raising it.

It isn't carved in stone. It is built with brick and steel and your money.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian

How I Spent my Summer Vacation (sort of)

There have been rumors to the effect that the Merovingian is a Unix based AI program that has run amok, delving into databases and making cognoscente connections among the bits and pieces thought buried safely away by those that would steal the very shirts from our backs. I wish to lay these rumors to rest.

I spent the evening where there were no agendas, no gavels, no lying, and maybe just a little cheating. Where I spent my time may be a bit of a shock to those who feel they have come to know me, however it was a story and I am glad that I was there to be able to tell it to you. I spent the evening at the Sixth Annual Stiletto’s Erotic Ball in McAllen.

The number of other people from Brownsville (who I will not name, as it is none of my business) surprised me at first, but as the evening progressed it felt just as natural as being at the Jazz Festival or Sombrerofest . It was so refreshing to be among people just being people. The unwritten agenda was to simply be, and that we did with wild abandon. The crowd was unusually smart. I do not mean to say that it was anything like a geek convention, oh so far from it. The creativity of the costuming said so much about the people enveloped in them. The many people that I engaged in conversation, or who sought to engage me were all well read and witty. In that brief time I learned so much about so many of them. It was not my usual quest for facts and figures. People were sharing who they were and what they were about. The only thing I can compare it to would be a family reunion, where you meet people you may not have even heard of, but share stories of people you have in common. The theme of the party was lewdness, but the people there simply saw that as an excuse to ditch the social walls and barriers that surround every one of us in our day to day lives and just be. The party was a good colonic for the soul and it was one of the most satisfying times I have had in recent memory. If I were limited to one word to describe the experience, that word would have to be “existential”.

As I drove home at two in the morning, I reflected on the evening remembering each and every one of the hundred or so people in attendance that I interacted with out of the vast number that were there. I want that feeling again.

The Merovingian

By request

What others are saying

Gobs of content, kind of the "Port Deal in a Basket"

It is Paul Burka but I was most fascinated going through the comments.

Perry Appointee to UT Regents Linked to Scandals

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

Newtonian Physics

Historically, when Brownsville needs something from Solomon Ortiz, it is a pretty fair bet that Corpus Christi will get it. In a stunning upset of the status quo, I find the passage of a bill where Brownsville and the Lower RGV get the lion’s share of the goodies and Corpus Christi got the crumbs. Of a $6 million appropriation, the Port gets $3.4 million, $2 million for RGV canals and drainage, and a paltry $500 thousand for the Nueces River Authority and the City of Corpus Christi.
This is the first time I can remember where Corpus Christi and Brownsville were in the same bill where the amounts of money discussed were not the other way around.

Not that I am complaining: The Port needs dredging work, like yesterday. But as is my wont, there is that little nagging question of why. The Newtonian Laws of Motion apply to politics as well.

For those who need a refresher, I'll tell you the one about inertia: "Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it."

We also know from living in a political environment that politicians are no different than anyone else in this respect. They keep doing what they have been doing until external influences force them to change what they have been doing. This is the nature of people and probably always will be.

So that finally brings me to the question that should be on everyone’s mind when something in politics is different: What were the external forces or influences that caused this change of direction? Maybe these forces are something that we can bring to bear again. Maybe they are not. I won’t know until I know what the nature of those forces or influences are.

Solomon Ortiz Press Release

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian

Perry Puts Thumb in Eye of Brownsville, AGAIN.

From the Daily Texan:

Four expired terms at the UT System Board of Regents have attracted a pool of at least 100 applicants, including a civil engineer, attorneys, investment managers, oil and gas executives and company presidents.

Three of the applicants cited current regents in their references, according to documents obtained through an open records request. The three are UT-Austin alumni, and they've all donated thousands of dollars to Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints all public university system regents.


Dannenbaum has donated $247,000 to Perry since 2000, records indicate. Regent Caven appears on his list of references.

A civil engineer, Dannenbaum's company has done work for the Texas Department of Transportation and General Land Office.

If it isn't bad enough that James Dannenbaum's operation took the BND for a $15 million dollar ride, here Perry goes and appoints him as a UT System Chancellor.

The most disgusting thing about this, to me at least, is that now Dannenbaum is one of Juliette Garcia’s bosses. Of course, she is a well known fiscal conservative who will be in a good position to protect us from further predation. (Yea, right!)

I wonder if when he is sworn in if he will raise his right hand, or his middle finger.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian

PUB to Conduct Rate Study

Oh Boy! I can't wait!

The results are foreordained. They are brain-dead and on autopilot.

Let me quote from the report that has yet to be written:

“The Brownsville Public Utilities provides services at the lowest possible cost to the customers in its service area. In comparison to other utility providers, we at BPUB are lower in cost while providing a wider range of services than utilities in other service areas.”

Pretty good, isn’t it? Of course this was simply some crap I made up, but they are going to pay for a study to someone to make up the same crap you read here first for free.

They need to scream and holler how they are the cheapest right now, but mark my words well:

The debt levels they are chomping at the bit to swallow will make the results of the glowing study absolutely irrelevant. The present pursuits of stalled and/or expensive projects are keeping rates far higher than they need to be.
“We are the cheapest.” It just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” - The Merovingian

Late Breaking Border Security Appropriation

Looking to 2008

Poll: The Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters

Submitted for Your Approval

October 16, 2007, Brownsville, Texas

Over 8 months since the settlement between the Brownsville Navigation District & Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation, and over 2 months since a number of taxpayer plaintiffs sued Dannenbaum in Cameron County, with engineering plans yet to be produced, taxpayers today have asked a state district judge to grant “summary judgment” in their favor.

“There is ‘no evidence’ that Dannenbaum Engineering Corporation has performed, much less completed the ‘tasks’ and ‘deliverables’ it contracted to perform over 8 months ago,” said Peter Zavaletta, himself a Plaintiff, and lawyer for the Plaintiffs. “As we prepare this case for trial, I have today filed a motion asking the court to rule on the obvious – that Dannenbaum has failed to do what it contracted to do – including producing the engineering plans that were alleged to be worth $2.9 million,” Zavaletta added.

Bay Bridge?

After a very noisy and heated public discussion about Bay Bridge wanting to open up shop in the Port of Brownsville, I have to ask: Well?

With much harrumphing, posturing, references to moratoriums, complaints about stealing from the labor pool (in the poorest city in the US as per the census?), front door, back door claims, counter-claims, etc. the further handling of the matter was claimed by the Port Director. And?

It has been quite a while and it doesn’t seem to me that we are exactly planning the Temple at Karnack or Mount Rushmore. So?

There have been no further agenda items, no ribbon cutting, no hiring notices in the classifieds, no “sorry it doesn’t work for us.”, nothing.

Is there some stare match waiting for someone to blink happening? Is anything going on? Do commissioners on the phone want to be someone’s friend? Did everyone forget about it, and if so, why?


"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Where are the Engineering Plans?

More than enough time has passed since Port Director Eduardo Campirano made written demand of Dannenbaum Engineering for the engineering plans for the Bridge to Nowhere. If during all this time Dannenbaum had indeed been diligently working on them, where are they?

That sweetheart deal that they cut with the Port should have had boxes of unsorted crap flooding in the front door of the BND building with delivery guys in shorts all shoving clipboards in front of the receptionist for delivery signatures. No deliveries to date.

Are they buying time to actually dummy up some plans, or are they afraid that they will be sued for the quality of the work they have actually done? That would be a separate issue, not covered nor protected by the sweetheart good night kiss that they received from 4/5 of the BND commissioners. Are they in the middle of a Catch 22 with their own counsel wondering if what they have actually complies with the letter and spirit of the agreement? Did the deal get offered simply to buy time to engage in furious rounds of CYA?

I know I won’t forget that the agreement included over two million in extra work to be performed in the future. This was in the spirit of goodwill, but doesn’t everybody realize that future goodwill from that company with BND is (or should be) worthless? If so, why did they offer it? I would have been far happier with the difference in cash. BND would not have been able to use the money for other purposes, like the dredging they need, but they could have used it to retire some of the outrageous bond debt on the Bridge to Nowhere.

The deal was supposed to be in the flavor of “Half a loaf is better than none” but we have only gotten the heals (colas), and those are moldy. Maybe criminal fraud should be “El Cristal con que se mira.”

Go Peter Z!

“Of course I know. It is my business to know.” -The Merovingian

Tired of it All?

Here is a thought. The Port of Brownsville is protected by Congress. But guess what? The Brownsville Navigation District is not. What say we simply remove it as a taxing entity and let the place stand on its own feet, if it is such a great thing.

It should be fairly easy, lets just look at the charter here...Hmmm? Well, lets just look in this drawer here. AH HA! It must have slipped behind the file cabinet. Huh, not there either. Well....Hmmm....I don't seem to be able to find one.

Ok, fun time is over! Which one of you has the charter that establishes the Brownsville Navigation District as a taxing authority? Come on now! Give it back! This isn't funny anymore! Guys,GUYS!

Well, anyway, once we can find the charter, I am sure we will find the mechanism to dissolve it.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Border Wall Important Notice

Immigration: The Human Cost

THE Question for Imagine Brownsville

In The Know: Should Brownsville Return To A Simpler, Stone Age Lifestyle?

Conjecture as to the Recent Rate Lowering

In an earlier post I speculated that PUB was up to something when they lowered the monthly account fee. After thinking about it, I realized that the options open to them for something to do that might be a bit of a hard sell to the citizens of Brownsville were limited. I may have it figured out, as I am not privy to all the meetings at PUB. This time I am going to grossly speculate that they are trying to buy out the remaing partners in the Okla-Union coal fired plant. If this is so, how come they aren't telling us? The power produced at that plant produces electricity at a fraction what it costs to fire up the natural gas Silas Ray plant which I think is a pretty good thing, but isn't the extention cord just a bit long?
It would nice if Brownsville were a net producer of electrical power, but with the main power plant located a full state away any grid damage between here and there could still problems with power delivery to Brownsville in the event of some natural disaster that otherwise did no damage to the city.


"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

Oh, Lowe's Where Are You?

Has anyone other than I noticed the glaring lack of a single Lowe's in Brownsville? Why, even the sprawling metropolis of San Benito has one. Could it be that makes it no economic sense to put at least one Lowe's in the largest city in the Valley? Help me out here. Ok, we have three Walmart Supercenters, two Home Depots, scads of Radio Shacks; you can practicly push the same shopping cart through three HEB stores and where is Lowe's? Did they use a map that showed the "Border Wall" passing north of Brownsville?

Sadly, this is not the case. Now before I have Lowe's weigh in on this, and they will, I want the Brownsville government people responsible to step forward, admit that what you did was stupid and wrong and say you're sorry. It only hurts for a second, but people will think better of you in the long run. After you have done so, and fix what you did wrong, then maybe, just maybe, Lowe's will come back and build the three stores that they wanted so desperately to build in Brownsville.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." The Merovingian

A Bed Time Story

“…and once he had finished involving his partners and supporters so deep in the plan that they could never squeal on him, he bought houses and cars and women on the side and lived happily ever after. The End.”, said dad as he closed the dusty leather bound version of The Valley Political Reader.
“But papa, what about The Merovingian?”, asked the child.
“He is just a myth. He is something that people whisper about when they are jealous of your successes. Why does it bother you, mi hijo?”, the concerned dad replied.
“Well, some of the kids were thinking about closing down on the lunch money business. I didn’t want to, because it is doing so good, but some of the other guys were getting nervous.”, confided the child.
“Did you remind them that they were in it up their eyeballs, like I taught you?”, sternly queried the dad.
“Yes papa, and it calmed them down, just like you said it would.”
“So what is the problem?”, asked the dad with real concern.
“There was a substitute in school last week and the other guys thought that maybe it was him.”
“Him, who?”
“The Merovingian!”, said the child as he pulled the sheet up a touch higher.
“Son, I told you he isn’t real, and even if he was, I don’t think that your little business would catch his attention.”
“The kids said that he is real and their daddies were coming home from work in bad moods and talking on the phone about him.”
“Don’t worry son, he won’t find out about you”
“I thought you said he wasn’t real?”
“He isn’t, now go to sleep!”, said the dad with a little more snap than he intended.
“Can you check the closet?”
“Check it for what?”
“Him.”, nervously said the child with a shudder as the sheet inched up a bit higher.
“He is not in the closet, there is no such thing. But if it makes you feel better, I’ll check anyway.”
Dad crossed the room, opened the closet, turned on the light and made an effort to search the closet.
“See, there is nothing in the closet. You are just being silly, now go to sleep!”
Dad returned to his son, kissed him on the forehead and patted his cheek, “Good night, mi hijo.”
“Good night, Papa.”
Dad left the room, turning off the lights as he went and retreated to his bedroom. He prepared for bed, turning on the reading lamp before extinguishing the other lights in the room and propping up the pillows for a read before sleeping, he made himself comfortable. He carefully read the contracts and agenda items that were stacked beside him, making sure that every name and company in them were people he could trust. Half way through the stack, he dozed off. He had not been sleeping too well lately and these bouts of drowsiness were becoming more common. He woke with a bit of a start as the stack of papers slid off his lap to land on the floor with a slap. “Crap!”, he exclaimed. Forced to crawl out of bed, he got on his knees to gather the papers. While on the floor he had an irresistible urge to peek under the bed which he gave into. Satisfied that there was nothing there, he rose with the pile of papers neatly restacked and glanced toward the closet. “What the hell.”, he thought as he walked to the closet, opening it with mild trepidation. After he had done so he felt just a little sheepish. Closing the door and turning toward his bed, the fact that the window was open just a crack caught his eye. He walked briskly to the window and pushed it down a miniscule amount and turned the latch on it. He crouched a bit and cupping his hands to his eyebrows he peered out the window. He saw nothing, as he expected and returned to his bed, placing the stack of papers on the night stand. He repositioned the pillows for sleeping, rolled over and turned out the light. Blissful sleep was quickly overtaking him when again, he was startled into wakefulness by the sound of a car starting just down the street. “Kind of late, but….Naw.”, he thought. He sought to return to that soothing state that he had been startled out of but now sleep would not come as had been far too common these last two months. He rolled back over, turned on the lamp and returned to pouring over the papers, looking for anything that might give something away.


A tribute to Jerry McHale and others who like a good piece of fiction (or is it?)

How Low Can You Go?

I seem to recall that PUB sends out 19,000 bills per month. If I am way off the mark would someone please correct me? While I will do the polite clap in response to the recent (if paltry) fee cuts at the utility, lets all do a little game of what if !

Q: What if 6 Million had not already been spent on the invisible weir dam (or dam weir) ?
A: Across the board $26.32 bill reduction for everyone
in Brownsville, for every month, for a year.

(Insert vomiting sequence from The Exorcist here)

I have seen first hand, and more than most, the day to day work the front line employees do. For the most part it is cost effective and professional. The days of being paid to lean on shovels seem to be gone along with the times of the company picnic and family reunion being one and the same. Equipment and plant maintainence are all within what I consider to be prudent, cost effective levels. This makes me pretty happy, because money bleed from those areas is much harder to fix.

Ok now that eliminates the vast majority of the people at one of the largest companies in Brownsville, so the message to you remaining few, CUT IT OUT! Just stop it, already.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" -The Merovingian

Out and about

It was a busy couple of days for the ol' M. I did not spend my days refilling my bag of rocks that, unfortunately, would have been far too easy. I was in need of a moral recharge so I went out into the community to try to make some good things happen. (I can’t be nasty and bitter all the time.) There are some truly great people in the area that think beyond their needs and are concerned and, most importantly, active in helping their fellow man and the community at large. They probably don’t even know what esteem I hold them in because what they do is a core part of their nature. These people do not see their outlook and attitude as somehow different. It is who they are. They expect no recognition and are embarrassed when someone wishes to honor them for their efforts. Each of you out there knows at least one person like that. If you are truly blessed, you know many. I felt as if I walked in the shadows of really great people and somehow felt as if I was not fitting company. That feeling did not last long because their presence made all the discomfort of the weary journey and up-hill fight of the daily grind melt away as they looked me in the eye and asked, “How can I help?” instead of the usual, “What do you want?” and they meant it. This made me want to help them in their endeavors as much as they wished to help me in mine. The funniest thing to me is that in the unlikely event that any of them read this, they will be sure that I was talking about someone else. Don’t be embarrassed, I talked to a lot of people today, so if it makes you feel more comfortable, it was someone else. I know different.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program of vitriol and verbal violence.

Free Exchange of Ideas - I was mistaken

Please read the note at bottom of post.

A University is the bastion of free expression as long as you think exactly like they do, speak exactly like they do, and dare not speak a word against socialism as the savior of all mankind. Oh, when they partner up with a "Freedom" newspaper it is doubly so.

Is the wit of The Merovingian such a dangerous thing that a two line comment must not be posted on Brownsville2020? Oh my God! Angels and ministers of grace defend us! Such a comment could squelch all academic freedom and bring back serfdom and slavery. It could cause economic failure and bring back the dark ages!

In response to:

Prioritize: Community Groups Can Improve Area by Reducing Demands on Government
http://bro2020.blogspot.com/2007/09/prioritize-community-groups-can-improve.html

I simply replied:

I would like to see this headline:
Government Can Improve Area by Reducing Demands on Community

Other analytical posts from The Merovingian pop right on through. What nerve did I gouge with a hot poker? What is so wrong with downsized efficient government? What is so dangerous that the mere suggestion not be entertained?

These are the same people who want to integrate, department by department with our city government. Well, I just made up my mind. No Town-Clown partnership for this cat. In short, I am outraged and you should be, too. They have NO journalistic integrity. To the U. and the Herald: A pox on both your houses!

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian


The above posting was the result of a misunderstanding. I try not to be wrong, but this time I was. I am only leaving it because the comments are very good reading and a good example of dispute resolution.

To Fred Drew : Thanks for Reading

I was a bit shocked yet gratified to see someone else has an eye on that potential money pit. I do agree that a proper desal facility would be to our benefit, but like you I must wonder at what cost? PUB has a L-O-N-G history of going off half-cocked on things with an engineering study in one hand and a waving checkbook in the other, followed by armies of consultants and politicians with hands in each others pockets like some weird Twilight Zone Conga Line. They have never been open to a new idea or the concept of putting a project on hold to take a breather and evaluate exactly where they are. By taking a breather, I do not mean contracting another outside study. Ask the people. Explain where you are and ask for help and ideas. There is an incredible number of talented people walking the streets of Brownsville. Did Alexander the Great send out for a study? He confered with advisors and acted. He did have one advantage that we don't, he could execute people who failed instead of shuffling them off to another department or agency.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." -The Merovingian

Area Fascination with $21 Million figure

It seems every time I turn around this place has an obsession with the 21 Million figure. I feel like I am taking crazy pills here !

Everyone knows about the Port 21 Million, the Dam Weir(d) is also going to need....... 21 Million. "Of which we have already spent 6 Million." ON WHAT? There is no agreement with Mexico, some high paid consultants, press and push on like construction will start tomorrow. I know that radio statons don't play the same song back-to-back, so why do these morons keep trying to PLAY US THE SAME SONG AGAIN ! What is this obsession with crossing the river for $21 Million. Oh, maybe it is like the Texas Lottery where there is a minimum jackpot....... with the same odds of winning. Well, I never asked to buy a ticket.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.


http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/board_80385___article.html/project_pub.html

"Of course I know. It is my business to know." The Merovingian

Contact me

There has been some talk on the street and around the cooler and breakroom about how people can get info to the Merovingian. You might not have noticed, but I was there and listened.

My good sockpuppet, err friend, the Right Reverand Tally Whacker has agreed to accept mail on my behalf. Anon source is ok. If you think you are being anonymous, and aren't good at it, don't worry. I will happily show you how to make it more secure.

I am not real interested in who is doing who's domestic partner. If it ain't spending my money or trampling someone's rights, I don't really care. Funny stuff, like catching an assistant DA with his/her finger stuck in a soda bottle is ok, though. (a long ago story, not really funny anymore)

As you may know by now, I am pretty darn good at digging stuff up, but if you have some backup or can fill out a story, please do. There is only so far I can go in certain areas without being shut out. If you need to maintain the same, I will happily send you back articles for publication prior to doing so if you are paranoid that you will get burned. There is a word for reporters that get their sources burned. Unemployed. Although I do this for free, I do wish to remain effective.

So forgoing further foppery; here is the mail address:


revtallywhacker@yahoo.com


Thank you for reading and I hope you got a smile or two worked in there while screaming outrage at your screen.

"Of course I know. It is my business to know" - The Merovingian