RGV Life

GW was wussing out by nominating Harriet Miers to the SCOTUS. I'm sure she is very talented and accomplished. Knowing Bush's track record on judicial nominations, she was probably "The One". The only issue that most conservatives have is that she has no track record as a judge, which makes everybody squeamish because they've been burned before (See Justice Souter). Now, GW has gone to the other end of the spectrum, he has nominated somebody with a well known track record, judge Samuel Alito. You know that he's a great judge because the Democrats are screaming bloody murder about him being an "extremist". I am pleased with the President's choice. I wanted to see a good dust-up in congress. The more time they spend arguing over this, the less time they have to reach into our pockets and curb our rights. That segues nicely with the next topic. Yes, it does. The reason that we should like judges like Scalia and Alito is that they follow the intent an...

I was just reading Steve Urquhart's blog . He proposed some changes that the Utah Education Monopoly could make to improve education in that state rather than the union's effort to get more money. The teachers think that by spending more money students will learn better. He proposed some things that the Utah Education Monopoly should rally behind if they really care about students. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently interviewed on a similar issue. The unions talked about tenure, pay raises, benefits, and other topics. According to Arnold, they never once mentioned what was good for students. Steve's suggestions are these: 1. Increased pay for the best teachers. 2. Increased performance in math for grades 4-6. 3. Increased ability to terminate the worst teachers. 4. Increased pay for starting teachers. 5. School choice. Obviously, the Education Monopoly of Utah won't support these things. My problem with the Education Monopoly is as follows. Essentially, public schools take ...

There is some cheating going on about Proposition 2. You've probably heard the news about how a former legislator is heading a group opposing the proposition with deceptive recorded phone calls. The opposition line is "Don't risk it, vote against it". It reminds me of Horse Feathers , a Marx Brothers movie (reminds me of the Dems in Congress too). I don't know what they have to say, it makes no difference anyway - whatever it is, I'm against it! No matter what it is or who commenced it, I'm against it! Your proposition may be good, but let's have one thing understood - whatever it is, I'm against it! And even when you've changed it or condensed it, I'm against it! I'm opposed to it. On general principles I'm opposed to it. For months before my son was born, I used to yell from night to morn - "Whatever it is, I'm against it!" And I've kept yelling since I first commenced it, "I'm against it!" You can ...

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People are up in arms because oil companies are reporting record profits. Leave them alone. We are paying high prices for gasoline because of legislators. They have regulated refineries so much that oil companies won't build new refineries. There is plenty of oil, but little capacity to refine it. It's funny that Congress acts like the oil companies are some kind of monster that just cropped up. They created them! Just leave the oil companies alone. These record profits don't just disappear never to be seen again. The money gets paid out in dividends, capital gains, salaries, bonuses, and capital expenditures. With the United States being such a financial powerhouse, the money will come back to us. Corporations don't just "pocket" money. The money gets paid out. Consequently, it gets spent or invested. It is my hope that oil companies will use some money to lobby for relaxed refinery legislation. If law makers really want to reduce gas prices, they'd reduc...

DiCaprio is a Moron .

This is an issue that I have with the whole Education monopoly and specifically a few people. I applaud Arnold Schwarzenegger for his work on reforming education in California. I think that Texas could use a little reform too. Here are my issues with education in Texas. The first point is that people who go through the Education department rarely pass their EXCET. We've all heard, "those who can do. Those who can't, teach. (Those who can't teach, teach gym)." Most of the people who go through the education department at UTPA tend to embody this saying. They don't pass the EXCET! On the other hand, people who go through other majors: business, biology, math, and whatever, have no problem getting certified. How is this possible? Why does't UTPA do something to fix the problem? They should do it as a matter of pride. Next issue. The TAKS test. I think I have GW to thank for this. The TAKS is such a colossal waste of time. Teachers spend a lot of time teaching...

I wrote this comment on Grits for Breakfast . One challenge that Hidalgo County judges face is the proximity to Mexico. Many of the inmates would flee to Mexico and skip the trial altogether. This is not necessarily bad, once they skip their court date, they would have warrants out for their arrest. So long as they stay in Mexico, we would not spend money on incarceration or trials, unless they choose to come back. Perhaps the county can evaluate who the best flight risks to Mexico are and release them on personal bond. If they stay in Mexico, we save space and money. If they come back, we save space and money until they are convicted. I should also add that finger pointing is common here in the Rio Grande Valley. First and foremost, it is imperative for the older officials to avoid all blame. The new crop of officials coming up are not exactly immune to this, but are more professional about dealing with problems. I think this is a legacy of our old political system. Local government u...

Rio Grande Valley Politics: A Warning from Mexico Wow! I agree with this guy. Usually leftists blame America first. It seems however, that this person is not a self-hating American. I've known plenty of people who have been beaten and neglected in Mexican prisons. There are countless stories of judiciales abusing their positions. It is known that reporters critical of the government are often killed. I know many Mexicans who tell me about life back home. The only thing I can conclude is that the Mexican Government does its best to keep the poor in their present economic condition. To sum it up, Mexican civil rights suck.... a lot!

Rio Grande Valley Politics: Constitutional Crisis Again? Aw, geez. The lady wasn't undercover, so even if it was leaked, it wasn't illegal. What will happen here is the same thing that happened to Martha Stewart. She wasn't guilty of securites fraud; but, she was guilty of covering up. At most, Rove will be in trouble for covering up, maybe. What he is accused, and the Libby fellow, of doing wasn't even illegal. Plame was not undercover or doing any covert operations. There was no cover to blow. Same thing that the press did with hurricane Katrina, make crap up, is going to happen here.

POLITICO: Say It Ain't So Chris, not Molly Beth Malcom Rush Limbaugh has this theory that the Democrats are the only party that rewards failure. If somebody fails at something, you give them a higher and more powerful position. Donna Brazil, Beth Malcolm, and many others who have undermined the Democratic Party. Dems should follow the lead of Hillary Clinton. Go towards the center rather than veering to the left. Conservatives can and will say with pride that they are conservatives. Liberals will hem and haw before arguing that labels are not important; they never state that they are liberals (unless they are not in or running for office) because they know that nobody will vote for them.

www.DosCentavos.net Dos Centavos is having a field day with Tom Delay's bogus indictment. There will be such disappointment when Delay is off the hook. A DA who goes grand jury shopping? A judge who is a regular contributor to Dem causes and organizations? It will make headlines for a while but won't amount to anything.

A CAPITOL BLOG: Brownsville Herald: In December, Lawmakers to See Increase in Their Pensions First thing that comes to mind is that, of course Judges will bring overwhelming evidence for a pay raise. First, all judges are attorneys. Because they are attorneys, all judges are above average with the English language and logic. Being attorneys, they are trained to make an argument on their own or a client's behalf. It would not be so difficult for a judge to find evidence that points towards getting a pay raise. I would be skeptical of a judge arguing for a pay raise. Second, a judge, if he's any good as an attorney, will continue in private practice. If he chooses to be a judge, it is for love of the law and the prestige of being a judge. In addition, as shown by the new Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, if you love the law, you will be a great lawyer and a great judge. The pay increase comes by being good at what you do. If you stand out and do a great job, you will b...

We know that our Winter visitors are coming. It occurred to me that this annual migration is not new. When taking philosophy courses, I often read a bit of the biographies of the writers. It seems that the Rio Grande Valley, Florida, and other states in the southern United States aren't the only ones who had annual influxes of people. People have travelled south for the winter for ages. Many Europeans would travel to the southern coasts of France, Spain, and to Italy for milder winters whenever their health required. Back in those days, I imagine people rode by carriage or by horse to their Winter refuges. On top of that, they would have to travel through different countries and learn some languages on the way. If you are a Winter Texan, you are fortunate that you don't have to learn Spanish. It would be helpful, but not necessary.

I stopped by Circle K the other day for my morning taco. Normally, I will have their Q Taco or chicharron con chile taco. I saw that one of their pans had huevos con frijoles, egg and beans. That took me back to the days when my family and I worked in the fields. Those were our breakfast and lunch tacos. We worked in the onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, orange, grapefruit, and lemon amongst other things. When we were saving up money and simply trying to survive, Mom would make tacos with egg and beans. They don't taste bad. They are actually rather tasty. Even when they are cold, these are good tacos. My mom would wake up at 6 AM and start making our tacos for the day. They were always alternately stacked on a square of aluminum foil with a paper towel. She would make a few packs of tacos to last us through the day. We did this in Hereford, Tx; Wautoma, Wild Rose, Waupaca, and Berlin, WI; and here in the Rio Grande Valley. Eating a bean and egg taco brought back some nice mem...

If you live up north somewhere, you won't understand this. The Rio Grande Valley is starting to have beautiful weather again. My favorite time of year here in the RGV is the Fall. This is the season when we have 80 and 90 degree weather. In other parts of the country, this is probably hot weather. After a Summer of 100+ degree weather every day, a 95 degree day is glorious. If the temperature starts dipping below 80, as in the 70's or lower, we all start breaking out sweaters and jackets. Our comfort level is a bit hotter than other parts of the country. If you move here and live here long enough, even with our mild Winters, you too will grow accustomed to hotter weather.

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There are some people here in the Rio Grande Valley who have trouble with the SH and CH sounds when speaking. Words like chair, chalk, chain, or other words starting with ch become shair, shalk, and shain. Words that start with sh, like shower, show, and my name, Shaine will be butchered into chower, chow, and Chaine. I never could figure this out. I can't offer an explanation. It's just the way some people speak here in the valley.

I was able to resolve some problems that I had with RGVreunions.com and have brought the site back online. Obviously, it's outdated. So, I'll be posting reunion information as soon as it comes in. I'll also be adding any announcements I find in the newspapers. Submissions are welcome.

As a Mexican-American, I can't come to grips with the whole illegal immigration issue. It causes some mixed emotion and thinking. On the one hand, it should be stopped. On the other hand, it does bring good things. I'll give more details on both. I'll also go into what the real problem is and why it won't be solved. With any luck, this will confuse the hell out of you too. Illegal Immigration Should be Stopped There is always some ignorant Mexican who points out, "you want to stop illegals? How do you think you got here?" There used to be a brazero program that allowed Mexicans to cross into the U.S. to work. Believe it or not, Mexicans used to be able to come across the border without the need for a visa or other requirements like we have today. My grandparents on my father's side are from Texas. My dad was born in Uvalde. My grandparents on my mother's side were Mexican. They both came over to Texas to work under the worker program. My grandfather re...

I saw this in one of the Yahoo groups to which I subscribe. It's funny as heck. Thought I would share it. Here is a little test that will help you decide. Question: How do you tell the difference between Democrats, Republicans And Southern Republicans? The answer can be found by posing the following question: You're walking down a deserted street with your wife and two small children. Suddenly, an Islamic Terrorist with a huge knife comes around the corner, locks eyes with you, screams obscenities, praises Allah, raises the knife, and charges at you. You are carrying a Glock cal 40, and you are an expert shot. You have mere seconds before he reaches you and your family. What do you do? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Democrat's Answer: Well, that's not enough information to answer the question! What does my wife think? What about the kids? Could I possibly swing the gun like a club and knock the knife out of his hand? Is it possible he'd b...

I was suprised to learn that T-Mobile has stepped up to help with hurricane Katrina. My wife uses T-Mobile prepaid. We both use prepaid phones in order to avoid the contracts. Well, I noticed that after she refilled her phone the last time with a $50 card, she received over 900 minutes, which happens with $100 refills. Not only that, my father-in-law, whom I gave a prepaid, and my wife's cousin, had more minutes than what they refilled last. I though it was some promotion. I have a crapload of night and weekend minutes on my Virgin prepaid service, so I called T-Mobile To Go prepaid customer service to find out what happened. The T-Mobile To Go customer service rep checked into it for me and she told me that prepaid customers in Texas automatically topped up when they fell below their last refill level. This was something that T-Mobile did to help their customers who may have been impacted by the hurricane. Fortunately we were not affected by Rita. Yet, we still got free minutes. T...

If there is one reason why anybody should not move to the Rio Grande Valley, it's because of fire ants. We used to have, when I was a kid, lots of these little orange ants that smell funny when you kill them. Those you can avoid simply by putting food, particularly sugary food, on a dish sitting in water. I used to play with the big red ants. We'd pick them up and put them in bottles or other containers for an ant farm. Those we never really tried to kill. You just knew to stay away from their mound. As I have grown up, I've seen more and more fire ants. These are vicious little ants with an painful sting. If you accidentally get some on you, they all sting immediately. You can't get them off fast enough. If they sting long enough, their sting becomes a watery pustule on the skin. God help you if you get them under your clothes. There is no way you will strip down in time to avoid some serious pain. Well, I have them in my apartment. We had them before. The recent rains...

One of the better things that our local talk radio station, KURV, has brought to the audience is the Dave Ramsey Show . The show is played at 9 PM. If you miss the show, one of the better things that Dave Ramsey does is that he provides the show in mp3 format for free if you miss it. Dave Ramsey provides atypical advice on financial success. His biggest emphasis is living debt free. He's crazy about NOT using credit cards or borrowing any money for any reason. If you really MUST borrow, he recommends a 15 year fixed-rate mortgage. That's all. As a result of this advice, you never have to worry about a credit rating because you won't need to borrow. Essentially, whatever money you would have used to make payments on debt can be used to invest. Dave repeatedly states that you should live like nobody else so that later you can live like nobody else. Meaning, you can retire rich rather than in debt. Best of all, Dave has a system to help people climb out of financial problems. ...

The following came from the PSJA Class of 86 Yahoo Group . rikk_escamilla wrote: Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 6:00 pm Parade/Bonfire - Social hosted by Manny and Ada Gonzlaez (at their house following parade/bonfire email me if you will be attending) Friday, October 21, 2005 - 8:30 am Breakfast @ Junction Cafe (on your own) - 1:30 pm Tea at PSJA High School - 2:30 pm Pep Rally at PSJA High School - 7:00 pm Game PSJA Stadium vs Edinburg Bobcats - Social hosted by Lisa Cantu (at her house please email me if you will be attending) Saturday, October 22, 2005 County Inn & Suites - 6:30 - 8:00 pm Pictures Individuals - 7:00 - 8:00 pm Dinner - 8:00 - 8:30 pm Group Picture - 8:30 - 12:00 am Dance with a DJ Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 1:00 - 3:00 Family Day at JAGZ (on your own) Time to hang out and say good-bye UPDATE Friday July 7, 2006 -MIXER- Valley Greyhound Park-Harlingen, Tx Saturday July 8, 2006-DINNER-Louie's Back Yard-S. Padre Island, Tx $7...

This week's Rio Grande Valley food custom is Pan Dulce and coffee. You will probably not see a panaderia outside of the RGV. Even here, they are losing their appeal because Wal-Mart and other grocery stores are picking up that customer base. Panaderia means bakery. If you live outside of the RGV, you may see packaged Mexican breads and pastries. These are OK, because our culture is getting out there. Unfortunately, they never taste as good as the fresh stuff. So, let me give you some details about the custom. In Mexico, people don't always just wake up, have breakfast, and go to work. Many people, like farmers here, wake up early, and have some prep time before breakfast. Now, this mostly happens on weekends. People wake up, they have a desayuno before almuerzo. Desayuno, directly translated, means breakfast. Being "en ayunas" means that the person is fasting. The desayuno varies from region to region. In Guanajuato, where my mother's side of family originates, th...