Last week it was revealed by various news sources that Cortney Niland had missed numerous Central Appraisal District meetings. On September 22, 2014, I published “Niland and the Central Appraisal District”. In it, I showed you how Niland had attended less than 20% of the meetings she was eligible to attend at the CAD. At […]
Posted inPolitics
Storm water Fees and Flooding
As many of you recover from the latest water event in El Paso, I thought I would bring you up to speed on the infamous storm water fee the city implemented in 2007. City ordinance 016668 established the Storm Water Utility under the auspices of the El Paso Water Utilities. The new utility and associated […]
Posted inWorld
ISIS is Why Dictatorships are Necessary
Octavio Paz once wrote that the United States was born as a nation intent on blazing its future independent of its past. Of course, I am paraphrasing what he wrote and his intent might have been different from how I am applying it today. However, in my opinion, it is this notion of the US […]
Posted inPolitics
Texas Attorney General Issues Opinion on School Trustee Resignations
Last April 10, 2014 in “School Board Members Intend to Resign December 31 to Avoid Financial Disclosure” I reported to you that Jo Anne Bernal, on behalf of the County of El Paso, asked the Texas Attorney General whether if school board trustees resigned would they still be subject to filing their financial disclosure forms. […]
Posted inNews Desk
KDBC 4 Familiar Faces Are Back
Author’s note: I inadvertently misidentified the co-anchor as John Purvis. It is actually Shelton Dodson. The post was corrected at 6:14am Eastern. One of the issues I blog the most about is the lack of reliable news outlets in El Paso. The El Paso Times, masquerading as a newspaper, has become nothing more than press […]
Posted inWorld
ISIS in the US
While xenophobic politicians and political operatives continue to mischaracterize the US-Mexico border as a terrorist magnet the real danger to the US homeland is within its own borders far from the US-Mexico region. Immigrants have always been the scapegoats for politicians who are intent on politicking instead of governing. Normally this is not a problem, […]
Posted inPolitics
Niland and the Central Appraisal District
Every year when the appraisal district sends out appraisal notices to the homeowners of El Paso, many complain about the raising taxes. The Central Appraisal District is usually the entity that is blamed for the high taxes in the community. However, as the CAD likes to point out, it is not they who sets the […]
Posted inWorld
Immigrants and Welfare Services
One of the problems about holding an honest debate about immigration reform in the United States is the myriad of misconceptions about what immigrants take from US society. Usually the debate is hijacked by unproven allegations that undocumented immigrants take more than they contribute to society. One of the biggest examples propped up by anti-immigrant […]
Posted inWorld
Why I Do Not Use American to Refer to US Citizens
Many of you have astutely noticed that I use the term US citizen when writing about citizens of the United States instead of the more commonly used word; American. Initially I didn’t really give much thought to the word American when describing a US citizen because my intent was to assimilate my English into the […]
Posted inPolitics
Comparing Beto O’Rourke to 50 Richest Member of Congress
Each year, online magazine Roll Call publishes a list of the 50 richest members of Congress. This year the magazine published its list on September 7, 2014. CQ Roll Call states that it is committed to covering Congress from “inside and out”. In its September 7, 2014 listing of the 50 richest members in Congress, […]