Least anyone think the Republicans get a free ride

I am waiting for the "Notable Quotables" from the conventions. The talking head take on things impresses me as much as another Weir anouncement.

M.

Former City Commissioner - get used to the title

It would seem that some of those presently on the Brownsville City Commission have their sights set on offices that they cannot possibly win.

At first, this looks puzzling. Why would someone run for another office when they have the incumbency advantage built in to running for reelection in their current office? The answer is simple when you examine the psychology of the situation.

Nobody like to be sent to the showers on a clear evaluation of their job performance. If one is beaten in a race in a different political environment, they don't feel faulted or blamed: It wasn't their fault, their opponent had xxx machine lined up, or we couldn't get our message out there, or.... a million excuses. The truth is they are taking a cowardly approach to avoiding judgment. If you know you don't stand a dog's chance in hell of being reelected because the people hate you for being childish and ineffective, just don't run again. Don't waste the people's time by muddying the waters of an elected slot you can't win either. Leave. Go home. Spend more time on your day job, but get the hell out of local government.

You know who you are, and we do, too. Avoid the charade, because we will laugh all the harder for your chalking up TWO failures.

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

My, Oh My!

Hasn't our DA been busy getting his name in the news in a positive light the last couple of days? You all know me and my questions, especially when political animals are not blindly repeating yesterday's behaviors. Is his office feeling some heat that he must deflect, or is he up to something that needs a built-up stock of "feelie goodies" to carry him through some nefarious plan that I am sure I won't like? Is he ever going to give that million dollars that was the Port's money IN HIS OWN WORDS back to the Port? In short, something is up, because something is different. "I found Jesus.", isn't going to cut it with me, not that I think that has the remotest connection to this situation.

This situation bears close watching. Get the binoculars and popcorn ready.
Oh,and Mr. Villalobos, Hinojosa will not get you a slot in the Justice Department, no matter what he told you.

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

Obama Cures Cancer, AIDS, and Global Warming!

Associated Press
Special to The Merovingian

Rochester, MN - In a move that stunned the medical community, presidential candidate Barack Obama and his entourage boldly entered the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN unannounced early this morning. While his Secret Service bodyguards ran interference against hospital security, Sen. Obama went directly to the biological research area and quickly decontaminated and entered the clean room where technicians were isolating genes which could be used as a marker for cancer risk. Calling all the researchers in the room together, he (Obama) quickly outlined the general plan for a retrovirus that calculates a checksum on the DNA of human cells which then in turn compares against the other cells in the body. Cells that do not match the checksum are inhibited from reproducing, thereby halting cancer in its tracks. In a hasty press release, it was stated that inoculation would become mandatory at birth, but would be paid for by the new National Health Care Department, so would be free and cost nothing.

After being bundled into his campaign limo, which was furnished by Greek shipping tycoon George Soros, the Obama crew headed for a waiting helicopter, which whisked him to the University of Minnesota, where AIDS research funding had been halted in December of 2006. Racing through the archives, Democratic hopeful Obama discovered two seemingly unrelated areas of study, that when combined would not only cure AIDS, but reverse the ravaging effects of the disease within a few short days. He left a sample of his blood to serve as the culture medium for further study. "It may only work on those of African decent at this point, but it is a start." Obama stated at a press conference held on the university steps. In a statement hearkening back to the core values of the Democratic Party, funding for the research and production would "Only come from those Americans that make money" further stating that "Those people who make money are morally responsible for those that don't."

Later that morning, Senator Obama met with Michael Moore, Al Gore, and a host of Hollywood celebrities at his favorite Five Star to unveil his plan to end global warming. "We could try to make the production of greenhouse gases illegal, but it would have limited effect. We propose to make the existence of these gases themselves illegal by international treaty. We intend to go after the problem at its source, not to merely patch it here and there with quotas." The presentation received a standing ovation.

After the luncheon, the Obama motorcade left for Lakewood Cemetery in Minneapolis. The purpose of this visit was unavailable at press time.

(EDITORS NOTE:I approve of this post.)

Bet there is one PO'ed Trooper out there

Atkinson DWI charge dismissed
August 27, 2008 - 10:13PM
By Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald
Brownsville City Commissioner Charlie Atkinson's pending charge of driving while intoxicated has been dismissed.

Attorney Oscar De La Fuente Jr., a special prosecutor for the Cameron County District Attorney's office, had the DWI charge dismissed against Atkinson on Aug. 20, court documents show.

"It wasn't a slam-dunk case," De La Fuente said Wednesday. "It was borderline case."

Like I couldn't see that one comming.

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

Take note, you worthless pigs at the trough!

Drainage District No. 1 tax rate to drop
August 27, 2008 - 9:18PM
By Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald

"You've got to learn to hold the line and maintain financial, fiscal year responsibility," Gamez said. "Taxing people over and over is not the answer. It's finding a way to make it work. Don't ask someone to keep feeding you."

At Drainage District #1 and at the BND, it was noted that the tax base has increased, so less of a bite was needed to make budget.

EVERY pig at the trough who votes for even maintaining the current rate as opposed to lowering it should face the wrath and justice of the citizens at the next election cycle.

Their rationalizations ring hollow, their budget postings are full of glaring errors, if not outright swindles. Enough is enough! Basta!

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

Smile, it's election season

A cowboy named Bud was overseeing his herd in a remote mountainous pasture in Montana when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, 'If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, Will you give me a calf?'

Bud looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, 'Sure, Why not?'

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer,connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg , Germany Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, 'You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.'

'That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,' says Bud. He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then the Bud says to the young man, 'Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?'

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, 'Okay, why not?'

'You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government', says Bud. 'Wow! That's correct,' says the yuppie, 'but how did you guess that?' 'No guessing required.' answered the cowboy. 'You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew,to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about cows...this is a herd of sheep. Now give me back my dog.

Least we forget while being bombarded with BS

Impact fees.....
The window is open, and the clock started running again.

If I may be so bold as to suggest that impact fees and zoning be coupled so that we have a Planing and Zoning board instead of a Board of Variance. Just decide it at the Commission level, because I don't want another stinking board created that would allow the developers to "take a knee" until the clock runs out again.

My stable of 'Usual Suspects' has been quiet lately, that can only mean one thing. They are up to something, and I am sure I won't like it.

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

New poll

Well people, what are your thoughts? Are there any diamonds in the the muck of the barnyard, or is it time to re-rack the balls and try again? Can any of them find Jesus at the last minute, or is it too little, too late no matter what they do from now on? I know how I feel about it, I would like to know what you think.


Note to commissioners who read this: Please don't go running all over town to look for different machines to vote from to skew the results, because I'll write about it.

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

Heat

Texas school district OKs pistols for teachers, staff

....snip

"When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog," Thweatt said in Friday's online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

snip.....

What? A newspaper taking a conservative,practical, and potentially validating pro-gun position and putting in print, without even bothering take it out of context? The editors of the NY Times and Washington Post must be huddled around their office trash cans loosing their breakfast if they saw this come across the news wire.

I have harbored a fantasy that our state would pass a mandatory carry law. Who would rob a bank, if they thought that some white haired grandma might pop a cap on their way out the door?

Besides, in the rest of the world, Texas passing such a law would seem normal.

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

Sometimes, you just got to ask...

What is the mathematical correlation between the proposed tax increase and the current debt obligation of the Sports Park?

I am guessing that it is pretty close to one to one.

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

And why after all these years and millions of dollars....?

Official support for the weir project has all but died over at PUB. I am not unhappy at this turn of events, because they wanted a money pit, not a weir. But (and there is always a but) I have to wonder exactly why? What ever the official story for the change in mood and direction is bound to be a lie. It is more natural for bureaucrats to lie about just about anything. The real motivation has me curious. Well, in my case, a little more than curious.

Did they have too many big dollar irons in the fire? My guess is yes. I will also posit that they got word that one of their big irons in the fire is starting to glow red and they are going to concentrate on that one. Cutting the strings on the weir seems like a logical first step if this is the case, so they can concentrate their energies on what is sure to be a cash cow and a money pit for everyone involved.

Now, where did I leave my list of piggie projects they have thrown millions at? Oh, there it is! Why, it is the Regional Desalination Project! Yep, our old friend with the water that costs too much to make is back! Mind you, I don't have a shred of documentation to back this up, but I have to be right. They are as predictable as the rising sun, and less likely to change their ways.

Watch how by a miracle in these days of skyrocketing energy costs, this thing will be cheaper to run than the last go around. There will be much hoopla, promise of construction jobs, and claims of technical breakthroughs. I won't buy it. Nothing has changed in the design that will save a penny on production costs.

Mind you, this is prognostication. But when it comes to these guys. I know what they will do 10 minutes before they do.

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

When will the Prosecutions Start?

As I was driving from Central Blvd to 802, I was in my "correct" lane before making the zig-zag-shuffle across the 77 frontage, a car in the turn lane went straight instead. I was going to jog to the right, but there was a car in that lane, so a dive on the brakes was my only salvation. This time, it worked. I wonder how many times and for how many people it hasn't, and for how many more it won't.

But, the story gets better! As I was approaching Paredes Line Road, I could see all kinds of emergency lights across the horizon. As the now crawling traffic worked it's way toward the intersection, only to be diverted to the right, I saw the cause was an overturned tanker truck that looked like it had gotten an axle dropped into the dug out former roadbed, causing the rollover. Could this have been avoided? Absolutely! The construction itself was unnecessary and from what I saw, was the cause of the accident. I hope those responsible are sued, jointly and severally for those actions.

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

For the technically curious

Latency probes: 2865ms2372ms 2991ms 3109ms 3226ms 2907ms 2667ms 3098ms 2877ms 2696ms
Speed: 99kbps

Statistics..
alltime today
GPRS 43 kbps / 1421 ms
94 samples 48 kbps / 1417 ms
23 samples
EDGE 141 kbps / 913 ms
4265 samples 143 kbps / 875 ms
666 samples
3G 746 kbps / 401 ms
24253 samples 843 kbps / 373 ms
2816 samples
Wifi 2318 kbps / 145 ms
865 samples 2619 kbps / 152 ms
174 samples

..... now if the phone would quit dorking itself forcing me to erase all the application data, then reloading my phone book, I would be reasonably ok with the speed, which is about 3 times what I used to get with dialup from here. It is amazing how spoiled one gets with high speed data.

SitRep on Merovingian Central

I have the house running on a generator. I made a fancy cable to feed the whole house through the dryer electrical receptacle. There are a few things I have to do without, though; central air, and hot water. I should count my blessings. My neighbor only has a fridge, a single florescent desk lamp, and two box fans because I tossed an extension cord over the fence. They were very grateful and I wish I could have spared more power, but such is the nature of things.

If I time my showering right, the pipes through the attic are hot enough for a brief hot shower. I found myself wishing that my hot water was augmented by solar water heating.

There is nothing I can do about the air conditioning. It would take a minimum of 18 Kilowatts just to run one unit. I have only 5.5 to run everything. It is costing $40/day to run the generator.

AEP will get the power back on to this street....Thursday.

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