You may have noticed some changes on the blog over the last day or two. Like for many of you, 2020 has been a year of changes. I am now writing on three online publications in addition to my upcoming book. All of this in between my real job. And, you all likely know there… Read More Time To Make Another Change
I apologize that there have been no posts in the last two days. All is well, I have just been terribly busy, believe it or not considering the pandemic. I am not complaining because I have some exciting projects I am working on. One of them is continuing to write about border politics here. But… Read More A Quick Update On What Is Up
The news media has been on a disruptive curve from the moment news consumers realized that the internet provides instant information. Many news outlets have either evolved, gone out of business or are trying to survive. Pleas for money has become the norm in the news media industry. The internet has disrupted many business models.… Read More News Media Cuts And Pleas For Money
On Saturday, March 28, 2020, the Mexican Air Force with the help of Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department evacuated 134 Mexican citizens from Cuba. The Coronavirus COVID-19 had stranded the Mexicans in Cuba. The air force flew a Boeing 737-800 to Cuba. In addition to returning the stranded Mexicans, the air force flight also returned 39… Read More Mexican Air Force Evacuates Mexicans From Cuba Due To Coronavirus
Readers constantly ask me to write more about the ongoing controversies in El Paso. Others ask me to bring back the El Paso Forum. Some of you just want me to go away. The fact is that I moved away from El Paso almost ten years ago. And, as I have written before, I am… Read More It Is Back!
Donald Trump and the Republicans have decided that the best way to respond to the impeachment hearings is to create illusions of reality. The GOP talking points are simple: 1. It is unfair to Trump, 2. What about the Biden’s, and 3. Where’s the crime? Trump and cohorts just do not want to have the… Read More Fox News and the Impeachment Hearings – Surprise!
Yesterday, British authorities were allowed into the Ecuadorian embassy by Ecuador and they arrested Julian Assange on an American warrant. On the surface it looks like a simple case of America violating freedom of speech by targeting Assange for his journalistic activism. Focusing on journalistic activism misses the whole point of why Assange is under… Read More The Real Problem is Julian Assange
As 2018 ends, I want to take this moment to thank all of you. I want to thank anyone that has read or reads my musings. The fundamental success of my blog are the readers who take the time to read my posts. You and your fellow readers give me the reason to continue my… Read More Thank You For Your Support in 2018
On Tuesday, Dr. Miguel Juárez asked the following question on his Facebook page: “What would Facebook do without us giving them their content for free?” It was an intriguing question which got me thinking about how social media platforms depend on the free content from users who give it to them and in turn allows… Read More We Are Facebook Slaves
The United States is the second largest Spanish-speaking country in the world, in terms of population. We are constantly told that the Latino vote is rising and yet it bubbles up but never asserts itself. Latinos are present in America, but our voices are muted in the national dialog. The reason for this is that… Read More The Missing Latino Voice
In yesterday’s article (link) we looked at how the news is evolving. We looked at how professional news providers are changing and adapting to what the future news will look like. The question which remains is whether the news will be delivered through Facebook or some other social media channel or will broadcast media, like… Read More The News Platform of the Future
Anyone who has being paying attention has noticed that the news industry is in great flux. The way we read and consume news, whether that be via traditional print sources, online, on our devices or on the myriad of social media sources, the way we access and consume news is fluid. How we consume information… Read More What Is The Future of Journalism
Yesterday’s post about Saudi Arabia resulted in an unexpected response: “be careful writing about Saudi Arabia” was the ominous message. I write – unexpected – because I’m used to being threatened all the time, especially when writing about El Paso politics and the drug trade. My Twitter account has been referred to the Immigration Customs… Read More An Unexpected Warning
Part of the problem with politics is that each side has an agenda and thus any discussion about any political issue gets bogged down in self-serving propaganda. In the case of the Russia Probe, or the Special Counsel investigation into Russian meddling, we are faced with those who want Donald Trump out of office forthwith… Read More The Russia Probe Documents
The following is a compilation of comments and insight shared with me by three current Sinclair employees regarding the promo controversy. I promised each of the Sinclair employees absolute anonymity because they fear losing their jobs. This fact takes us directly to the crux of the issue that has been lost behind the fury on… Read More Three Sinclair Employees Share Their Thoughts with Me
The United States has, without a doubt, the strongest military in the world. The U.S. military is based on its doctrine, leadership and technology. Although other countries, like China and Russia, could create havoc against the U.S. military, the U.S. military still retains a measure of strategic and technological superiority on a one-to-one scenario. However,… Read More U.S. Military Is Losing Its Luster
Two people were arrested yesterday on federal charges of interfering in the 2016 presidential elections. Former Donald Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, and a Manafort business associate, Richard Gates, found themselves in front of a federal judge. Both pleaded not guilty. George Papadopoulos was arrested earlier in the month, arriving from overseas on charges related… Read More And the First Domino Falls
Many people are anxiously keeping their news feeds close by today as they wait for the announcement of who will be the first Trump associate indicted in the Russia scandal. Most readers reading this post today know that special counsel, Robert Mueller, will be filing indictments today. When the first indictment is announced, it will… Read More And The First Contestant Is
All in one day, Donald Trump was called a liar by a Republican senator and Gold Star widow Myeshia Johnson. Surrogates for Trump like to create the illusion that Donald Trump’s is under attack by the Democrats and the establishment that he is supposed to be cleaning up. They blame the “fake” media and those… Read More The Liar Liar President
In 2006, the City of El Paso paid $100,000 to a dubious research firm to create the Glass Beach Study presumably to rebrand the future for El Paso. The study created much controversy in the El Paso community because it suggested that El Paso would be better off if it was de-Mexicanized. The study depicted… Read More The El Paso Glass Beach Study in the Trump White House
On Tuesday, the Fourth Round of NAFTA negotiations concluded. Leading the U.S. delegation was United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. The Canadian delegation was led by Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of the Economy, Ildefosno Guajardo led the Mexican delegation. The three ministers issued a joint statement stating that the concluded… Read More NAFTA Closer to Ending
There are three things I don’t get about the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment scandal. In the unlikely event that you don’t know about the scandal: it involves Harvey Weinstein, a Hollywood mogul, harassing and paying hush money to various women for about a decade. As the scandal continues to unravel, I keep being bothered by… Read More Here is What I Do Not Get About the Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Hold the Presses! Alert Everyone! The El Paso News is no more! No, not really, so those of you celebrating can put away your champagne glasses for now. Some of you, unfortunately, have been the victims of some Russian hacking of my blog. Yup, the Russians! It has been an ongoing battle for ten days… Read More Hold the Presses
Author’s note: Thank you all for the well wishes, the notes and the support as we recover from Hurricane Irma. We expect the electricity to be up by this weekend. It’s been HOT, but we have coped and are thankful that lack of electricity is are only problem. I apologize for not responding personally to… Read More Technology is Changing the Diplomatic Battlefield
As the DACA debate intensifies there is one constant and misleading accusation being made against the Dreamers. Some assume that the Dreamers are either too lazy or refuse to immigrate “the right way”. This argument assumes that the immigration process is reasonable and a process that considers today’s realities. Let’s look at what a hypothetical… Read More The Path to Citizenship: A Dreamer Case Scenario
Most of you are likely aware that Equifax, one of three credit reporting agencies in the United States, reported that about 143 million individuals may have had their personal identity and credit information breached by hackers last week. The hacker stole the private information from Equifax data files. Many people will suffer the consequences of… Read More The Equifax Hack and Corporate Irresponsibility
The Donald Trump administration is actively seeking leakers of classified information that various news outlets have been using over the last few months to expose Trump administration shenanigans. Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that his department has active investigations and more are to come after Donald Trump publicly humiliated Sessions into opening leak investigations… Read More Trump Tweets Hypocrisy
Yesterday, the Washington Post published a White House transcription of a telephone call between Mexico’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto and Donald Trump on January 27, 2017. The telephone call happened seven days into Donald Trump’s administration. Below is the original telephone call transcription as published by the Washington Post. I have annotated my comments throughout… Read More Annotated January 27 Telephone Call Between Trump and Pena Nieto
Also lost in the noise and the distractions about the Russian scandal and healthcare reform is another little piece of information that Donald Trump and his supporters do not want you to notice. In the first six months of this year, U.S. consumers are still buying Made in Mexico cars over the U.S. versions. This,… Read More Car Shoppers Still Buying Mexican Made Cars
As you likely remember, Donald Trump called the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) the worst trade deal the United States has entered. During his presidential campaign, Trump argued he was going to end NAFTA. After the election, he toned down his argument, instead now arguing that he would renegotiate NAFTA, and if need be,… Read More NAFTA Negotiations
As with all political intrigue, the recent release of the Donald Trump Jr. emails regarding his meeting with the Russian attorney has been overwhelmed with both political spectrum sides trying to dominate the narrative. The anti-Trump crowd is wooing about the criminality of it, while the pro-Trump side is arguing nothing to see here, move… Read More Piercing Through the Fog of the Trump Jr. Emails
The issue of Russian meddling is consuming the United States electorate. Lost in all the noise is the simple fact that Russia interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. However, most U.S. voters and the news media believe that it is an issue of collusion by the Donald Trump administration. Notwithstanding the many tidbits of political… Read More Russian Meddling and the Time the US Unleashed Cyberwar
It is a small church in Normandy. Like many contemporary churches of its time, it has an attached grave yard. The Sassy Churchyard is in Sassy village, which is about six miles (11 kilometers) from Falaise, a small town in Normandy France. The Sassy Churchyard has two recognized burial sites for British Commonwealth personnel that… Read More Mexican Spitfire Pilot in World War II
Donald Trump ran on the political platform of making decisions centered on prioritizing the United States first. This has become known as the America First doctrine. Among his major platforms are doing away with trade deals, like NAFTA, that Donald Trump has argued are detrimental to the good of the country. Trump has also argued… Read More Trump Entertains Work Permits for Mexicans
To this day I believe that my blogging projects were the reason that Ray Caballero was not reelected. Blogs were a new thing and many people, including Bob Moore at the El Paso Times, underestimated how online discourse could have an impact on politics. Do not get me wrong, I am not suggesting that my… Read More Social Media Comes Unto Its Own in Politics
By now you know that Donald Trump’s first 100-days in office ended last Saturday. On October 23, 2016, when Donald Trump was still a candidate, he declared a Contract with the American Voter outlining his plan for the first 100-days in office. The two-page pledge laid a set of promised legislations that Trump would pass… Read More Donald Trump 100-Day Scorecard
Last week there was some controversy regarding KVIA’s decision to limit their mayoral debates to the top three mayoral candidates that have raised the most money. It was a controversy about the news media’s responsibility to be fair. Let us put the KVIA mayoral candidate debate in context. It is nice to believe that the… Read More The KVIA Mayoral Candidate Debate Controversy
As expected, Donald Trump is now backtracking on doing away with NAFTA, or substantially renegotiating it, as he promised during the campaign. This is because the reality of NAFTA sobered up his political rhetoric when his supporters realized the cost to them. Supply chains and global trade are very complex systems that cannot be debated… Read More Donald Trump Backtracks on NAFTA
The single most important issue that I have been focused on in my blog since its inception is my belief that the high level of El Paso corruption and ineptitude, that has led to one of the highest tax rates, is the local news media. Specifically, editors and reporters who supported the Caballero-Rodriguez-Shapleigh troika that… Read More David Crowder and the Politics of News
Most of the vocal narrative about undocumented immigrants is surrounded by many falsehoods that is perpetuated to support the notion that undocumented immigrants are criminals. The use of the word “illegal” and the notion that to be in the United States as an undocumented immigrant is a crime are designed to demonize undocumented immigrants so… Read More Undocumented Immigrants Are Not All Criminals
