From a comment in BATB

At May 29, 2008 11:51 AM, Anonymous said........
Do you all just look at Brownsville stuff? Because it looks like there's a potential firestorm about to develop in Port Isabel. I understand there's a new mayor and new set of commissioners after a decade long control of a certain faction. Based on this special meeting scheduled (http://www.portisabel-texas.com/city/commission/May312008SpecialCityCommissionMeeting5B15D1.pdf), it looks like they might be cleaning house.


I think this is the agenda item being referenced:

3. Personnel Matters pursuant to Section §551.074 of the Texas Government Code to deliberate the
appointment, employment, evaluation, re-assignment, duties, discipline, or dismissal of a public
officer or employee:
􀂙 City Manager
􀂙 Assistant City Manager
􀂙 Finance Director
􀂙 City Secretary
􀂙 Building Inspector
􀂙 Police Chief
􀂙 EMS Director
􀂙 Fire Marshal
􀂙 Museum Director
􀂙 Library Director
􀂙 Public Works Director
􀂙 Municipal Judge

Argh !!!!

There are THREE sections marked Latino and one Hispanic.
In addition, following the Asian section, there are two gondolas with imported Mexican products, that I guess they didn't know how to classify. It seems to me by what I saw with the imports that Walmart classifies foodstuffs imported from Mexico as neither Latino, nor Hispanic. Why is Asian squeezed in between the imported Mexican and Hispanic? If there was no buffer zone, would fist-fights break out in the aisle? Is it of some utmost importance that there are THREE classifications for people who trace their ancestry to south of the border?

As near as I can figure it, there are a lot of Latinos, enough Hispanics to warrant their own section, and the rest are Mexicans who don't even get one of those aisle markers that have been driving me crazy. But Walmart please, if you are reading, don't add one on my account, I'd have to visit the pharmacy section for some calming medication.

You may think that I obsess on this issue, and you are right. It is just too weird for me and I would really like to hear Walmart's thinking on this. I am worried, however, that their explanation would be stranger than my imagination running wild could have invented.

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

A few minor changes

I was getting a bit miffed at reading my blog using only the middle 25% of my monitor, so I widened it. If this causes problems, let me know.

Music. (by choice, not obligatory)
When cruising the local scene, I open them all at once (cool trick on IE 7) and the cacophony of ensuing caterwauling was driving me crazy, so I didn't wish to add my own to the mix. It was also driving me crazy to pop into comments and the song blowing up, so I use the pop-out player first, then comment away without musical interruption. Give it a try, it is especially helpful if the musical tract gives you some inspiration for what you are going to write.


Besides, some of the selections are crude and offensive, and as anyone who has read here knows, I am never crude. Offensive,maybe, but never crude. Play for your own amusement.

M.

Lawyer Jokes

A friend asked......



Did you hear they are going to start replacing lab rats with lawyers?

1) Lawyers are more plentiful.

2) No one really cares what happens to a lawyer.

3) There are just some things a rat won't do.




Q: What do you call a ship with 5000 lawyers stuck in it at the bottom of the ocean?

A: A good start.


The devil visited a lawyer's office and made him an offer. "I can arrange some things for you, " the devil said. "I'll increase your income five-fold. Your partners will love you; your clients will respect you; you'll have four months of vacation each year and live to be a hundred. All I require in return is that your wife's soul, your children's souls, and their children's souls rot in hell for eternity."

The lawyer thought for a moment. "What's the catch?" he asked



How many personal injury attorneys does it take to change a light bulb?

Three--one to turn the bulb, one to shake him off the ladder, and the third to sue the ladder company.


What is a criminal lawyer?

Redundant.



What's the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer?

A bad lawyer can let a case drag out for several years. A good lawyer can make it last even longer




A junior partner in a firm was sent to a far-away state to represent a long-term client accused of robbery. After days of trial, the case was won, the client acquitted and released. Excited about his success, the attorney telegraphed the firm: "Justice prevailed."
The senior partner replied in haste: "Appeal immediately."


The lawyer (thinking he'd trap the witness): "Well, sir, will you tell the jury how you knew it was exactly that distance?"
The witness: "Because when the accident happened I took out a tape and measured it. I knew some annoying lawyer would ask me that question."


Two lawyers were out hunting when they came upon a couple of tracks. After close examination, the first lawyer declared them to be deer tracks. The second lawyer disagreed, insisting they must be elk tracks.

They were still arguing when the train hit them.



What's wrong with Lawyer jokes?
Lawyers don't think they're funny, and nobody else thinks they're jokes.

There is a campaign to make my head explode

What is next, a contract with J.D. Powers and Associates? This has got to be one of the sillier things that I have ever seen PUB spend advertising money on, let alone getting those guys to pose for the picture holding it. This is an award received for form over substance. An award for how pretty the package was wrapped.

I saw this and had a flashback to the movie A Christmas Story and images of the box arriving containing "a major award". What does it cost them to belong to the association that presented this award? What does this association actually do? Are there meetings, or merely annual trips to the post office box to collect dues and mail out a bi-annual newsletter and a few plaques once a year?

If they were awarded a Leaky Bucket, would they also take out a 1/8 page add with photos holding it up (properly bandaged and with makeup to hide the bruising, of course)?

I wonder......

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

Imagine Brownsville Public Forum

Yes fans, I was there.

What we were presented with was classic urban planning, which was just a narrow sliver of the scope of the Imagine Brownsville study.


I found that curious, as I had expected far more be presented to the public before the next phase of the study was implemented. If I had to make a guess, and unfortunately I have no choice but to do so, I would say the urban planning was given to the public because it was more comfortable and recognizable to the general citizen who was invited to participate.


Each audience member had a little electronic polling transmitter, that I did not have time to disassemble. The explanations of the different urban planning strategies were well explained by experts in that type of scenario.

On each question, we were given four options:
1) Strongly agree
2) Agree
3) Disagree
4) Strongly disagree


The types of urban planning scenarios offered were:
Regional
Village
Ecological
Downtown centric


Each has its pros and cons and the final plan will have elements of each.
I did find it a bit of a letdown that some of the polling questions were "no brainers" for answers. Having a, shall we say, better than average knowledge of statistical methodology, I found that intellectually insulting, but then again, I do insult quite easily when it comes to matters of the intellect.

Some of the responses that the consultants clearly thought would be 75%+ Strongly agree brought in the low 50's and they were visibly shocked that it wasn't higher.
I don't recall the exact question that caused the biggest shock, but the way it was worded touched on landowner rights vs. eminent domain. That was what I felt at the time and was one of the "Agree" votes when they expected far heaver in the "Strongly Agree" category. Your mileage may vary, but that was how I explain it.



The walls were plastered with the major objectives from all the different sub-committees. An usually high number of the objectives from all the subcommittees began with the word "Want". I again was a touch bothered by this because I associate "want" with "wish" and the word "objective" has military overtones of "do" to me. "Want" is a wishy-washy word in my mind. I'll still have to see how that plays out as the rest unfolds.

Overall, it was professional and concise. I had expected a broader scope, but then the meeting would have taken at least 6 more hours. There were water and cookies, but no coffee. If I had my desire for full involvement, there would have been major casualties as the night wore on and I wore out, so perhaps it was for the best that a small sliver of the overall schema was presented for polling to the public.

I will answer any questions that I can on the presentation.

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

I found this funny, I do not know why.

Cameron County Hillbillies

I know you all know the tune, so lets all sing along!
(The theme song from the Beverly Hillbillies)






Come and listen to my story about Armando V.
Needed Gilbert’s blessing when he had to take a pee.
Then one day the Port’s money he had found,
And squeezed Dannenbaum when no one was around.

Graft it is. Power-play. Perry’s stooge.

The date on the check and indictment didn’t jive.
The Grand Jury’s page he did hastily contrive.
“No way they will buy it down in Cameron County.”
So the big load of crap was read by Mattingly.

Lies it was. Fabrication. Balderdash.




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

She's Back!!!!!

Bloggin' All Things Brownsville
I have not the words to express my joy and happiness. So here is a picture I stole.

This little piggie went to market.....

Mayor asks commissioners to repay city for benefits
May 10, 2008 - 11:18PM
BY EMMA PEREZ-TREVIÑO/The Brownsville Herald

.......
Present Brownsville City Commission members that receive insurance at taxpayers' expense: Commissioners Carlos A. Cisneros, the family of Ricardo Longoria Jr., and Charlie Atkinson.

Photo not part of the original article,unfortunately.

The day of the Corpus Christi ruling, you would have thought these people would have seen the writing on the wall and requested immediate removal from the "program" themselves. But no! They have to wait and push until they get the same bad news for exactly the same reasons as given in the Corpus ruling.

I know that when you were little, mama told you that you were special and not like the other little children. Guess what? Mama was wrong again!

There appears to be a long list of things that mama was wrong about during your formative years. Your personal agendas seem to be high on this list.

"But mama says..but mama says....", no! Fix the streets. Quit pushing debt on future generations. Put qualified people on boards. Lower the number of these boards. And for God's sake, quit micro-managing! We have a city manager form of local government. Turn off your cell phones during meetings: The Heads of State that you seem to be advising can get your "sage wisdom" after the meeting concludes.

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

Readers Choice

Since many of us are hard core news and fact junkies, and BATB is on hiatus, I would like to make my site more friendly and useful to you all.

My first poll question really applies to PDA's. Fewer main posts make the page load a lot faster. The downside is for the desktop user who needs to click archives instead of scrolling down the page for the past few posts.

I personally find it annoying to access my blog with a PDA because of this, but I didn't do this blog because I like to read my own stuff. Let me know how you, the readers feel about this. If there are other PDA issues, let me know and I'll try to accomidate.

Guest Posting
I am not a prolific poster of articles, as you all know. I don't wish to bore everyone who is checking 4 times a day just to see that I have posted nothing new within the last 3 days. Are there some people that you would like to have guest post here? They don't have to be the 'usual suspects', and it would not keep me from writing about them, should they be, shall we say, lacking in the personal privacy department.

Is there more of a type of posting you would like to see? My usual MO is when something strikes my fancy, or I come across something peculiar or stupid, I simply write about that. I am not promising to go wiretap phones, or setup camouflaged video feeds on certain somebodies, but I keep this blog so you can have access to the same information I do, which some of you may have noticed is pretty extensive.

In short, I am doing what most newspapers won't or don't: Asking what you want, then doing my best to deliver the content that satisfies you and doesn't waste your time.

In no way could I ever replace BATB. No one could. But I am suffering withdrawals here, as all of us are. I just want to help.

M.

Ran across this, for anyone who has older kids

Problems with Bloggin all Things Brownsville

The blog shows as deleted, but I am not panicing yet. I have seen that problem before when blogger loses an entire blog. If the archives are gone, that will make me sad.

Could someone let me know what is going on here? I know that "it is my business to know", but at this point I am in the dark as anyone else.

[EDIT]

It is official. Bloggin' All Things Brownsville is off the air. I can not find the right words to express my sorrow, yet if Melissa felt it was the best decision, then I will respect that and will surmise no more. Buena Suerte, Chica!

Your friend,

M.

Why do they bother playing hanky-panky with numbers?

When clicking around to find where they burried what used to be a front page item on PUB's website, I once more took a look into public documents burried in their links to the much vaunted Golden Palace. Bad numbers cause an immediate reaction of disgust and revultion in me akin to that of a nun overhearing the football players the day after the homecomming dance.

For those of you that like the Play at Home Version of What disgusts The Merovingian Today, Right click on the following link and pick "Open in New Tab" or "Open in New Window"
2006 Technical Memos

Every one of the scenerios has an explaination of assumptions at the bottom of the table that reads like this:

"Power Costs were added in the annual water treatment estimate of $.40 to treat a gallon of water. It is a line item under O&M Costs."

Now if this is the case, how come I can go to a Watermill and get 5 gallons of ultrapurified drinking water for .... $1? This price includes buying the source water from PUB and yet the company still shows a profit after ALL their overhead expenses related to selling me that water at 20¢ per gallon.

Making water cost more is the ONLY way these folks can justify the Golden Palace.

Call in the cleaning crew, 'cause they wee-wee'd on the carpet again.

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

From the Houston Chronicle

Sunday, May 4, 2008
Contributions to the Harris County Commissioner's Court


Harris County Commissioners Court members — commissioners Jerry Eversole, Sylvia Garcia, El Franco Lee and Steve Radack; former county judge Robert Eckels and current judge Ed Emmett — have raised more than $10 million for their campaigns since 2003, despite rarely facing significant challengers.

This database contains a record of each donation made since January 2003, as reported in campaign filings kept by Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman’s office. Court members may accept checks of any size but are not allowed to provide favorable treatment in direct exchange for contributions.


ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77006 2003-06-26 $5,000
EMMETT DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2007-05-11 $25,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2003-08-02 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2004-06-18 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2005-05-26 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2005-06-28 $5,000
GARCIA DANNENBAUM, JAMES 77098 2007-05-24 $5,000
ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2006-04-25 $10,000
ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-02-24 $10,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2003-06-23 $5,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2004-06-28 $5,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-07-07 $10,000
EVERSOLE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2006-07-05 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2003-04-23 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2004-04-12 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-04-21 $5,000
LEE DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2007-04-10 $10,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2003-02-10 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2004-01-30 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2005-04-05 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2006-07-09 $5,000
RADACK DANNENBAUM, JAMES D 77098 2007-06-25 $5,000
ECKELS DANNENBAUM, JAMES D & SHIRLEY M 77098 2004-05-05 $10,000


And they say that money can't buy happiness!

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