Home of Today’s Common Sense

Published in the Brownsville Herald on May 22.
The local political season just ended and like many of you I am politicked out. I now have the opportunity to focus on another of my passions.
In the Brownsville Herald, Education Section on May 4 there was an article describing May as “Asian Pacific American Heritage Month”. In the article contributions of the people of many nationalities were noted such as Chinese, Irish, India, Japan and the State of Hawaii. While I am convinced that the Irish are capable of great things, moving the Emerald Isle to the Pacific isn’t one of them.
Not to diminish the achievements mentioned or those of Australia and New Zealand there are many peoples and places, that should be honored during the Month of May, that were not mentioned.
I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to travel extensively in the Pacific Area thanks to my government service. Places like Chi Chi Jima, and Iwo Jima, in the Ogasawara Islands (Formerly the Bonin Islands); Saipan, Tinian, and Rota, in the U.S. Commonwealth of The Northern Mariana Islands; The U.S. Territory of Guam; Yap, Ulithi, Truk, Eauripik, and Pohnpei, in the Federated States of Micronesia; Enewetak, Bikini, and Kwajalein in the Republic of The Marshall Islands, and The Republic Palau are not just names on the map; to our soldiers in World War II they were places where their friends and comrades remained; to me they are places where so many warm friendly people made me feel welcome, and places where in many cases they are just as they have been for hundreds if not thousands of years. The People of Yap for instance still preserve the loin coverings and “grass skirts” of old times, as well as the famous stone money that is too large to move. I remember visiting one island where they had not seen an outsider for decades. At the same time in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Bikini and Enewetak Atolls stand there still, in evidence of the horrors of the Atomic Bomb, despite many years of attempts to clean up after the tests. On the other side of the coin, due to the “free association agreement” with the United States and flexible business laws the Marshalls are becoming a popular place of convenience to register Corporations.
Palau is a beautiful vacation destination, Guam, the crossroads of the Pacific, is the “Niagara Falls” for Japanese newly weds and Chi Chi Jima is a renowned ecological tourism destination. Some others are peopled by races that don’t seem to exist anywhere else on earth; all are unique and hold a prominent page marker in our growth from a fledgling country to a world power and deserve to be recognized.
A country that I believe contributed as much or more than any mentioned was America’s only colony, from the end of the Spanish American War until its independence in 1946. I have worked and lived in the Philippines at different times over the last forty years; and must admit to a considerable amount of positive bias. Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted to various publication April 28, 2005
Published Brownsville Herald 7/10/2005
I am really stunned to read that educators are trying to give attorneys many thousands if not millions of dollars to sue themselves (the government is us – we will pay in any outcome) relating to issues that the same educators have the most control over. I also wonder why the educational system has deteriorated so much that the federal government had to step in and tell communities and states what to teach the children. Were I an administrator, I would be embarrassed by the enactment of a law that told me I was not doing my job and in order to get federal help you have to prove you are doing things right according to standards that you select.
I must also say that I don’t believe that there should be any law at the federal level that dictates how our children should be treated, this one or any other. I believe that the national Dept. Of Education should be reduced to where all it does is apportion the “dole” equally directly to each school according to a per student attendance day without regard to what “school” the student receives education. The only reason I even accept the premise of federal support is for practical reasons not ideological ones.
There is no requirement for any school to subscribe to the requirements of the Law. Only if you want “Title 1 Federal Assistance” must the rules be followed.
I read all 690 pages of the law and looked at a number of the federal regulations and found it quite reasonable and mostly a description of what should have been done anyway. The main issue I noted is that in order to get the money, it must be used in a certain way and proof is required that it is.
Once you wade through all the legalese, the premise is one that is common throughout quality control systems in business. Read the rest of this entry »

Submitted to Brownsville Herald on 4/27/2005
for Publication on May 1, 2005
By Fred Drew and Michael Fritz
What happened to the juicy, tasty and flavorful steak, I seem to remember from other places and times. It seems that unless you soak it in all manner of marinades, and cover it with sauces and flavor enhancers that make it taste like something else, eating such a steak reminds me of cardboard.
Alone one evening without anyone to regulate my fat intake, I remembered back a few years, how wonderful a thick chuck steak tasted when grilled on the barbecue, and went to the supermarket and bought a chuck roast; (the steaks were much too thin).
I cooked it to perfection, a bit on the rare side of medium rare, so it would be juicy and tasty.
Wrong! It was dry and tasted like paper! It even made the salsa taste dull.
Knowing that I could not be at fault, I dug through the trash and pulled out the label. It said Chuck ‘seven’ roast - USDA Grade Select.
Like many others, I haven’t read the labels for a long time and had no idea what “Select” meant. I only remember Grades like Prime – Choice – Good – Standard and so on. Most markets I remember only put beef marked USDA Choice in the meat cases. What happened? Is it just different here in South Texas, where beef comes from?
Thinking that I had the beginnings of an expose to rival, the use of rendered beef fat in cooking french fries by McDonalds; (They taste great and if the oil is clean and hot, I really wonder just how much fat stays in a fresh cut potato)
I determined to find all the meaty secrets. Read the rest of this entry »