I was doing some research for an upcoming project and I came across this little nugget of utter nuttiness from the University of Texas at Austin. What makes this most egregious is the tag line on the website: “Trusted Internet portal for Latin American Studies content since 1992”. According to the About Page of the… Read More Is Puerto Rico a Country?
Do I hate America? That’s the question that I am asked routinely whenever I criticize American politics. It’s as if the concept of free speech exists for certain things but not to criticize the country’s politics. If that’s the case, then why have free speech? Or, is it that only Americans can criticize the country’s… Read More Do I Hate America?
The United States Postal Service sucks and there is no way anyone can convince me otherwise. Growing up in México we all knew not to trust the postal service for anything important. Well, USPS should not be trusted for anything important as well. A few years ago, the postal service lost not one, but three… Read More The US Postal Service Sucks
We interrupt today’s regularly scheduled podcast and blog post due to a knee the size of a watermelon. OK, maybe not a watermelon but big enough to warrant some time off. Seriously though, today’s podcast is delayed until next week. I hope to return back to my regular schedule tomorrow. I apologize for the inconvenience… Read More We Interrupt Today’s Podcast/Blog Post
Happy New Year! ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! I just want to take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful 2019. May all your wishes, dreams and hopes come together for you in 2019. I’ll be back tomorrow with more posts about the politics of the border.
Today I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. If you do not celebrate Christmas, than I wish you Happy Holidays. If you happen to not celebrate at all, then I wish you a wonderful day full of joy. The spirit of the Christmas holiday, as those of us who celebrate it understand… Read More Merry Christmas 2018!
Normally I do not like to discuss controversial issues, like immigration, so soon after the horrific murder of someone. But, several anti-immigrant politicians have invoked Mollie Tibbetts for their immigration rhetoric. Tragically, Miss Tibbetts is not alive to share her thoughts about the issue. However, those closest to her have chosen to be the voice… Read More Mollie Tibbetts and Immigration
An open letter to Sean Hannity: Riddle me this Sean Hannity, you claim that Michael Cohen has never represented you in any legal capacity. Yet, Michael Cohen presumably under oath stated that among his three recent clients, you are one of them. I am confused, and I imagine others are as well to the contradiction… Read More Riddle Me This Sean Hannity
I usually have lunch in one of the downtown Orlando restaurants. Being downtown means that there are lawyers who frequent the restaurants as well. Recently, as I was quietly enjoying my lunch, a group of four lawyers were sat next to me. Normally, I don’t look up and I mostly don’t notice who sits next… Read More Overheard Some Lawyers
Late last month I posted that party politics is killing America. (link) I used the Veronica Escobar versus Dori Fenenbock race as the example of how party politics has supplanted public policy as the determining factor in an election. I argued that the El Paso race was about who was “more Democrat” then the other,… Read More Party Politics is Killing American Democracy
Unless you’ve been living under a rock the last few weeks, you have likely noticed that sexual malfeasance will be the defining moment for 2017. Funny thing is, that American’s have a love-hate relationship with sex. When I lived outside of the United States, it was assumed that American girls were promiscuous, and that Americans… Read More Sexism and Sexual Harassment in America
As has now become my tradition for Thanksgiving Day ever since Donald Trump made it acceptable to demonize Mexicans and Mexican immigrants, I want to remind all of you reading this today that you must include a big thank you to all the immigrants, especially the Mexican ones that made today’s meal possible. Although hate… Read More A Reminder to Thank and Immigrant for Today’s Meal
I firmly believe that my wallet should do the talking for me when it comes to abusive companies. I don’t listen to XM or Sirius radio (link 1 and link 2) because of their unethical billing practices. I work too hard for my money to spend it on companies that use subterfuge, fraud our billing… Read More The Unethical Business Practices of ADT
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
Let me start out by writing that, in my opinion, Papa John’s is the worst delivery pizza out there, so I wouldn’t be persuaded to eat Papa John’s pizza no matter how much they spend in advertising. I’m not the only one that feels this way about the pizza, I came across this quote describing… Read More The Awful Papa John Pizza and Karma
Want to understand the mindset of the Donald Trump administration and their surrogates? Look no further than the comments made by Donald Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly two days ago. In an interview on Fox, John Kelly was asked about the controversy over the Confederate statues. Kelly stated that the “lack of an ability… Read More John Kelly and Slavery
As Donald Trump’s approval ratings continue to hover as the worst of any president, the Democrats, and Hillary Clinton, are blaming the “deplorables,” Russia and middle America for the disastrous eight months of the Trump regime. Absent is an honest discussion about the part that the Democrats played in putting Donald Trump into the White… Read More Democrats Are Also to Blame for Trump
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
Unless you believe that cultural diversity means speaking only English, or that culture is defined by the Anglo-Saxon way, then you know there is an ongoing cultural war being fought across the country. The cultural war has many levels of intensity – from basic arguments over what is culture, to accusations of cultural misappropriations. Some… Read More Columbus Day in the Age of Cultural Wars
Politicians are driven by the need to be reelected. A politico will perform at the minimum threshold needed to be reelected. That is the nature of the political beast. Accepting this inconvenient reality, then it makes perfect sense on why the new County Judge for El Paso is Ruben Vogt, Escobar’s Chief of Staff. El… Read More Political Cronyism and Veronica Escobar
In a perfect utopia all citizens would follow the law while respecting their fellow men. However, we must all be mindful that there are crazy people out there. It is a reality that all of us experienced with the mass murders in Las Vegas recently. Like the Orlando Pulse shootings, Las Vegas has reopened the… Read More It Is Too Late to Ban Assault Weapons
Where are you from? It seems like such a simple question. In most countries it has a simple answer. When I lived in Europe, Beausoleil, France to be precise, my answer to “where are you from?”, was simply, “je suis mexicaine,” or “I am Mexican.” Not a grammatically precise answer, but there was never any… Read More The U.S. Crisis of National Identity
I was talking to a diehard Donald Trump supporter yesterday about the Russian hacking of my blog, when he suddenly blurted out that he now thinks Trump will be unable to deliver on his promises to the voters. I was surprised because this individual has made it clear that I was completely wrong about Trump.… Read More The Donald Trump Base Is Losing Patience with Trump and Breitbart Agrees
Jose Rodriguez, the District 29 Texas senator, was recently embroiled in a controversy for using the term “gringolandia” to refer to the ongoing controversy involving the proposed El Paso sports arena and the destruction of the Duranguito neighborhood. There is no doubt that Rodriguez has been helpful, some would argue instrumental, in keeping the Duranguito… Read More Duranguito and Jose Rodriguez
Apparently, there is a controversy over NFL players kneeling or holding up fists during the national anthem ceremony. Like everything else, there two sides to the debate – those that use the anthem to protest and those that argue that protesting the anthem is disrespectful. It is those that argue that it is about respect… Read More The NFL and Closet Patriots
These last few weeks have been really strange. I’ve seen a lot and have lived through a lot in my lifetime. To be sure, I’ve had an exciting life, especially when aircraft are involved. As a pilot, I try to live on a plan – knowing what’s going to happen between point A and point… Read More Rocket Man
As you all likely know, Bob Moore is leaving the El Paso Times next month. Moore says he is making way for reporters to stay on at the newspaper. But, I don’t believe so. As some of you likely know, my blog is the direct result of Bob Moore. Specifically, it is my belief that… Read More Bob Moore Quits, Or So He Says
Well, we still don’t have electricity which means the Internet is cellular based, which is slow and sporadic at best. Without electricity I need to carefully ration my use of the tablet and smart phone. For that reason and because I’m living the post Hurricane Irma life in Orlando, I thought I’d share my experiences… Read More Post Hurricane Irma Quick Notes
Due to Hurricane Irma there will be no post today on the blog. Although we are all safe and there is no serious property damage, we have been without electricity since Sunday at about 18:30 Eastern. Although I have limited cellular Internet access, it is too clogged up at the moment to upload images or… Read More No Post Today Due To Irma
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
As you know, I oppose Donald Trump’s administration because of the hate he has expressed towards Mexicans. However, there is a difference between protesting to point out an issue and being paid to protest. Protesting is supposed to be about expressing your opinion on a subject matter out of concern for the issue and not… Read More Paid Protestors in El Paso Today
Today is a unique day and for that reason I’m not in the mood to discuss politics. Ok, I lied about the politics part. As you likely know, today there will be a total solar eclipse in parts of North America. As unique as this event seems to be from the news narratives, today’s solar… Read More Total Eclipse of the Sun
Yesterday’s post about slavery elicited very strong emotions from my readers. Emails, telephone calls and a couple of comments on the blog showed the displeasure of many readers. Like Donald Trump often does, today I’m doubling down. The point that I am making is that the question of slavery remains un-addressed in the United States.… Read More Doubling Down on Slavery
The City of El Paso, which boasts the highest property taxes in the nation, has been on a taxpayer-funded downtown redevelopment spending spree. Along the way, the city leaders are also destroying the Mexican character of the city. They are erasing Mexicans from the culture and attempting to replace it an Anglo-centric cultural identity as… Read More Dee Margo Tells You Why City Feels Empowered to Tax You
Yesterday, Judge Amy Clark Meachum of Travis County delivered a blow to the proponents of a sports arena for downtown who had intended to use the 2012 bond money for a multi-purpose performing arts center that the voters had voted on in 2012, or so some believe. The City of El Paso had sought a… Read More Court Says No to Sports Arena, But is it Dead
From a young age, I was fascinated with the Richard Nixon saga. As a young Mexican, I was becoming aware of the duplicity of politics and the idea that government was self-centered and focused only on its own gain. I was living two sides of an argument at the same time – on one side,… Read More The Donald Trump Conspiracy
To understand how ineffective the Donald Trump administration is, look no further than the Republican Party. Remember that Donald Trump ran on the Republican ticket. The congress is Republican controlled. Up until the Trump administration, both the Democrats and the Republicans kowtowed to their president, sometimes screaming and kicking. But the two-party system assured that… Read More The GOP Checkmates Trump on Russia
Whether you believe that the Russian scandal is a “witch hunt” or the search for the truth, there is one reality that must be accepted by all. The Donald Trump administration has been emasculated by it. The first six months of the Trump presidency can be characterized by two issues: the Russian scandal and the… Read More The Emasculation of Donald Trump
I hope you enjoy RumpToons No: 38.
John McCain, a Republican congressman and war hero, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. It is devastating news for his family and the nation. Normally, this type of news is something I tend to shy away from as it difficult for all concerned. However, McCain’s service to his nation needs to… Read More The Contrast Between John McCain and Donald Trump