BND board election is crucial
Published Brownsville Herald May 4, 2008
This is the first of a two part piece - don’t miss part two in the next “Common Sense”
This election has the possibility of changing the pace and direction of the navigation district for years as three of the five positions will be replaced and none of those remaining were on the board when the “bridge debacle” took place. Only Carlos Masso and Martin Arambula remain!
I asked Dann Rivera, a successful political strategist for more than 20 years, for a comment on the races.
Dann indicated that he was very disappointed at the way the port has been administered and looks for improvement.
He expressed high hopes for candidates “who want to do good rather than do well.“
This election could create new centers of influence at the port for several years. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 4th May 2008
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What I want in a president
PublishedBrownsville Herald April 20, 2008
In recent columns the subject has been the loss of our freedoms as related to politics. Also as I mentioned previously the elites are step by step moving our world and in particular our nation towards a dictatorship of the politicos supported by the religion of the state. One only has to look at the candidates’ rhetoric related to experience such as perceiving folks in small towns as leaning on religion or their firearms as a crutch. That comes off as Marxist “elite” tome. In the same vein we cannot forget the excessive legal challenges to the way some celebrate the joy of their religions publically to get a sense of the prevailing directions. As a minimum I would prefer my representative –or even president – to be a person like my dad or mom.
I would expect someone with the ability to evaluate situations, determine when other advice is needed, secure several points of view, then based on needs of the time make a decision (which may be not to make one at all). My president should be fair and honest as well as highly motivated, and most of all, be able to communicate the realities of government to us, in a manner that we can understand. I am also presuming a modest education and experience that provided skills in management. Most of the other stuff that is being touted, really relates to information that should be provided by staff. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 20th April 2008
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Making the right choices
Published Brownsville Herald April 6, 2008
In my last column I focused on how the elite influence the outcomes of the elections so that they remain elites. I also pointed out how unique an opportunity there was for “We the people” to make our choices felt in this election. All that is needed is for “We the people” to become active in the campaigns and vote. The question then becomes what do we really want and whom do we vote for!
From my perspective, I want the least amount of government interference in my life as possible but I realize a certain amount of government is needed to maintain order and to preserve the liberty I have. As humans gathered together into groups certain choices and liberties were traded in to secure security and a stable source of supply of the necessities.
Most societies organized into groups dominated by the strongest and most powerful and for the most part the kings and dictators of most of the world before 1776 were the result. The elite dominated “We the people” for their own good and convinced us that we could not make choices on our own. With the birth of the United States a government was formed that derived its power from “We the people”. It seems to me that we are allowing that light of freedom and liberty to diminish with every election as government grows ever larger, feeding on the taxes that it extorts from us daily. Worse with every election we give the beast more power to enslave us further with our votes or apathy. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 6th April 2008
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Elections or Coronations
We are deep in the election season now. Hillary and Barack are duke-ing it out nationally with the next installment due in a few weeks when the Pennsylvania primary is held. There is also an ongoing serial of the Florida – Michigan debacle. What to do so that the voters of those two states will be included as real voting citizens by the Democrats. Recently, here in Texas the fact of the caucus and its importance in the Democratic nomination process was amplified by the contentiousness of the elections. In the twenty years I have lived here I have never seen any other public information encouraging voters to participate, though I was generally aware of the process. When I asked some precinct leaders about it, they advised that it was rare that regular voters participated in the caucuses. When you consider the “superdelagates” that are mostly elite insiders and the discrete caucus procedure it appears that the elite of the party do not believe that “We the people” should choose our leaders but really wants to dictate the outcome of elections – or should we say that they want to coronate their royalty. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 23rd March 2008
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To Fence or not to fence
Published Brownsville Herald March 9, 2008
This week we heard that the “technology based” border protection package was delivered and the “Secretary of Homeland Security” proclaimed it up and ready as he had seen it personally. Then we heard that it didn’t work! I wonder what it was that was working – obviously politics was working.
I have been silent on this issue as I am very biased. I worked for U.S. Customs for more than 25 years and then watched a formerly efficient entity with a clear purpose, be combined into a mess of other agencies without a clear direction for anyone.
The border control problem has not been approached in reality, it has only been fiddled with in order to satisfy some segments of certain political constituencies. To my knowledge no nation has ever been able to effectively control their borders, the iron curtain did and the bamboo curtain does a better job than most but only because they are not afraid to shoot. The only thing we had going for the “fence” was the use of technology, the physical fence only promises to divide our nation and even neighbors in our community as no other thing has. Just here in Brownsville the University will be segmented by the fence and individual properties that have been in the came families long before the United States was formed are being seized. Promises of continuing litigation abound! Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 20th March 2008
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Questions no Answers - Keeping up with reality at the port
Published Brownsvlle Herald February 24, 2008
My new issue of the Journal of Commerce reported that imports at the giant port of Long Beach, California have dropped by 4.6% and exports have risen by 18.9% . Further, while watching my favorite comedy show, the House of Representatives on C-Span, it was noted that we were exporting substantially more than we were importing since December of than year. On the home front, there are nine ships scheduled in the Port of Brownsville during the month of February. At a recent Port Board Meeting it was reported that shipping was getting better and that new business in the form of containers or trailers on barges from Tampa was expected to begin shortly. Congratulations to the marketing team for the hard work. I sincerely hope this is a trend that will continue and that the Port management is now moving away from continuing past mistaken directions and moving towards a realistic view of today’s realities.
What are today’s realities here in the Valley.. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 24th February 2008
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Questions no Answers
Published Brownsville Herald February 10, 2008
When incarcerated by illness one gets a lot of free time to observe and consider. Some of the more important appliances to sanity are the radio and television as they just keeps pumping the information at you.
If you have an avid interest in the political landscape, after a while even the entertainment shows take on a relationship.
Of late I have had a bunch of time to “observe and consider” and instead of bringing clarity the result has been more questions.
On the national front there appears to be a kind of revolution building that demands a change in how the government is perceived and administered; sort of a loud “I am not going to take it any more”.
The most obvious is Presidential Candidate Dr. Ron Paul’s passionate and growing support for his freedom message of smaller less intrusive government that is also shared by Candidate Huckabee such as a more literal interpretation of the Constitution, less intrusion by the government in the daily life, less or no use of imminent domain, the importance of second amendment rights, health freedom, fulfilling the promises to our veterans that were called to protect us, as well as many other freedoms that are being forced upon us because “we the people” are viewed as victims of one thing or another, by the elites as incapable of making decisions for ourselves.
The people seem to be saying: I am responsible for the education of my children and I don’t want the federal government mandating what is to be taught and how. People also want “Congress or the Courts not to make any laws respecting religion” and quit advancing the religion of the state. People also want to be able to make decisions for themselves about there own health. If the government becomes the provider, we can expect laws like one recently suggested hat would prohibit obese folks from eating at fast food restaurants. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 10th February 2008
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Making the choices
Published Brownsville Herald 1/8/2008
During the recent days, I have been following the political debates, and primaries as well as the media news about the issues. After viewing the same story on three different channels, it became increasingly clear that no one tells the whole truth without embellishing or adding opinion as though it were part of the report.
This has contributed to a Nation that is so passionately polarized that the “folks” are formed into partisan groups sometimes based on information they “heard” from friends, on the “Comedy Channel” or from the many slanted reports from the media outlets committed to a particular view. This is further aggravated by government officers issuing less than straight forward information and others ineptly presenting complex information in an overly simple manner with a demeanor that would lead one to believe it to be inaccurate. Lastly, the government in its paranoia, sometimes well founded, intentionally misinforms or avoids clarifying the issues.
The bottom line is that one must search diligently to get the straight story; most don’t.
The most important issue of our time is WAR! Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 14th January 2008
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“We the people” have to get back in charge
Published Brownsville Herald Decamber 30, 2007
2007 has come and is on its way out and will usher in what could be one of the most pivotal years in our history. Our nation is more deeply divided than it has been since the Civil War by some of the same things that were in dispute then.
The issue of whether the people should have some control over their own lives or whether the government should decide the future for them is still very much alive. Both of the major political parties want to decide what folks make and how much income they can take home from their work. The government wants to dictate the social norms as well by advancing the “Religion of the State”. They have dictated that no Religious icons should be seen in “the public square” during festive times of the year, the concept of a “Higher Power” should not be discussed in educational institutions and on and on. Only the “Religion of the State” is to be discussed publically. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 30th December 2007
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Christmas Wishes
Published Brownsville Herald December 9, 2007
A year ago, on December 17, 2006 , my Christmas article, hoping for a “Miracle” of the Season was published in the Brownsville Herald. The Christmas party I described, impressed me with opportunities for a number of our community leaders and new County Judge Cascos, to break the gridlock of personal power obsessions, and long standing political animosities. I hoped would get some of the reforms needed by “the folks”, accomplished. I had a genuine possibility that the spirit of the season would actually encourage “Good Will” toward our neighbors that might support the real changes at PUB and the “Unity” that would be needed to accomplish the peoples’ work in the city and county. “The folks” did their job by voting in higher than normal numbers and effected the political change that was advertised as the solution for the city. The actual result has been anything but unifying; the Utility Connection Fees, one of the most touted issues during the election still have not been dealt with and any change seems to be getting more distant; the PUB itself is becoming less and less stable in staff and operation. My PUB bill has a different monthly pay schedule with each billing. I appreciate the lower rates but cannot get away from the feeling that it will all come crashing down. I wonder where the money came from when we were supposedly losing thousands in debt costs and lost connection fee opportunities. While all of this is “not going on” our city leaders seem to be lost in jousting for personal advantage and one-upmanship. The personal priorities have taken precedence over the good of the community. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 9th December 2007
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Where oh where have our rights gone?
Published Brownsville Herald 11/25/2007
The media these days are full of stories where this person or that says “I know my rights” or “I have the right of free speech. Just recently the Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge to those rights related to the right to “bear arms” that many of us here in Texas take very seriously.
I would guess that few of us actually read the Constitution and think about its meaning and then take the time to consider what it all means when filtered through Common Sense and not the perversions of political correctness, partisan political or legal arguments.
The body of the United States Constitution is relatively short and sets out the only powers granted by “We the people” to the government and specifies what methods must be followed to use them. The first assumption was that “We the people” had all the powers and rights and were allowing our representatives and employees of the government to do certain things for us. That would seem to mean that any amendment to the Constitution in some way should provide a new power that was not previously granted. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 25th November 2007
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An unplanned study in health care!
Published Brownsville Herald 11/11/2007
Up until a week or so ago health care, for me, was pretty much only an issue to be discussed. In just a few days it became one of the most critical issues, as I found myself in Valley Regional Medical Center bloated like “Michelin Man” with hives and other evidences of a severe allergic reaction. Though that was bad enough the treatment was aggravated by a preexisting skin problem and diabetes. To that point in my life, health care was the country doctor in the rural area where I grew up. Then forty years ago there was the corpsman in the Vietnam conflict and the Jacksonville Naval Hospital that put me back on my feet when I returned to the “States”. While in the Philippines six years ago, I was hospitalized for three weeks for an emergency surgery and serious infection at one of that nation’s foremost hospitals, The Makati Medical Center. More recently I was the guest of the Brownsville Surgical Center for three days for a non-life threatening procedure. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 12th November 2007
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Constitutional Election Amendments
Published Brownsville Herald October 28, 2007
Many of you may not know that there is an election going on and in fact early voting began on Monday. There are sixteen amendments to the Texas State Constitution being considered, five of which authorize the state to borrow money by issuing bonds and it guarantees that the “first money coming into the treasury each fiscal year” will be used to pay the interest and principal. The fact that these actions require approval by the entire electorate of the State and will become a permanent part of the state Constitution, make them very important. The fact that these actions are being presented at a time of historically low or less than low voter turnout makes them very suspect.
Additionally, a quick reading of the ballot description identified several that showed little resemblance to the actual wording of the resolutions. Bond issues are the taking out of a mortgage that must be paid back with interest over a period of many years in the future which obligates the state and future governments to limit what actions they can take because the money has already been spent. If you think of it in terms of how we live, it is like a mortgage on your house. Such a loan should only be used to purchase a real, definable asset that would be expected to hold its value until the loan has been paid off. Then if something goes wrong with the economy and income, the asset could be sold or used for another purpose. Credit advisors and bankers often advise not to borrow to cover recurring expenses that should be paid for by normal income. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 29th October 2007
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The MEDELLIN V. TEXAS issue is about more than “States Rights”
I have been reading the commentary about the MEDELLIN V. TEXAS case and those of the 51 other foreign nationals.
At issue is article 36 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations which reads in part ….if he so requests, the competent authorities of the receiving State shall, without delay, inform the consular post of the sending State if, within its consular district, a national of that State is arrested or committed to prison or to custody pending trial or is detained in any other manner. Any communication addressed to the consular post by the person arrested, in prison, custody or detention shall be forwarded by the said authorities without delay. The said authorities shall inform the person concerned without delay of his rights under this subparagraph; It would appear that the arresting or booking officer did not ask the person if he was from another country and did not inform the violator of his right to notify his national Consul…. This is a very important issue as should the U.S. fail to observe this requirement other nations around the world need not advise the U.S. Consuls when U.S. citizens are arrested or detained.To take the issue a step further in sanctuary cities there is an official policy not to determine if an arrestee is a foreign national thereby violating his legal rights. The issue is not one where there is agreement that the International Court can tell us what to do or whether the federal government can tell a state what to do nor has it anything to do with the crime committed and its seriousness. It is all about protecting other Americans from unreasonable detention or arrest when they are traveling outside the United States. A wrong step here can place all of us who travel to Mexico or any other country at a much greater risk.
Posted on 10th October 2007
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Someone has to be responsible
Published Brownsville Herald 10/14/2007
It is problematic to find out whether a war was begun for “the right reasons”; it is even difficult to determine what the right reasons are before, during or after the event.
I cannot support the initiation of any war that is solely for political or commercial gain, as it as it would seem may have been the reasons for the War of 1812 and World War I . In looking back, I can’t even determine what the reasons, America’s first War, The War of 1812, were if not for commercial ones. A large opposition claimed at the time “…to launch the war was anti-democratic and hostile to “representative liberty”; that “war upon the land” as a response to attacks against “commerce upon the ocean” was not justified or effective; that the war would involve a dangerous entanglement with France, then fighting Britain in the Napoleonic Wars; and that with the U.S. unprepared for war and militarily weak, a disaster might result - “a war of invasion may invite a retort of invasion.” A quote from an Address of Members of the House of Representatives… on the Subject of War with Great Britain,” and was signed by 34 of 36 House Federalists. It appears the war was more for commercial reasons than homeland defense. The prosecution of the war limited any opportunities for finding the truth. Read the rest of this article »
Posted on 7th October 2007
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