Border Blogs: Expressing our Border Culture

The 6 p.m. newscast for KFOX-TV Channel 14 (cable Channel 8) will move an hour earlier to the 5 p.m. slot starting on Sept. 13. The move is aimed at improving the ratings of the show, which faces stiff competition...

What part of living within your means does the Commissioners Court not understand? This talk about cutting expenditures and raising taxes lays bare a distressingly sad fact: 1) The court has precious little long-term consideration for the possible outcomes related to their current predicament and 2) their frugality is not based on considerations of efficiency and a focus on mandated programs butjaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

What part of living within your means does the Commissioners Court not understand?

This talk about cutting expenditures and raising taxes lays bare a distressingly sad fact: 1) The court has precious little long-term consideration for the possible outcomes related to their current predicament and 2) their frugality is not based on considerations of efficiency and a focus on mandated programs but rather on some warped sense of what is fair.

The Court is cutting off its fiscal nose to save its budgetary face. Decisions that have been made are hurting everyone across the board. This is not prudent nor fiscally sound.

At least three Commissioners, including my opponent, are suggesting a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. But, the spending cuts are hurting County efficiency and a tax increase will hurt taxpayers.

So, this begs two questions:

1. What is Jaime O. Perez' plan to cure the immediate shortfall?

2. What is the shot-term goal (2 years) for fiscal responsibility?

Previously , I have written the fiscal situation facing the County will not be improving any time soon. The next four years promise increasing budgetary challenges and it is best to prepare now for that eventuality. The fact is that if the national economic situation improves, which is highly doubtful, then the budgetary consequence to El Paso County, the budgetary constraint issue becomes moot.

Therefore, I propose the following:
Cut County Debt - Moratorium on Capital Projects
1. Impose an immediate moratorium on $21 mm capital projects excepting two on-going projects already in progress: a. IT (redundant) data center and the Fabens port of entry improvements.
2. Move .015 cents from interest and sinking (I & S) to maintenance and operations (M & O) for fiscal year 2011 and 2012.

Lower Tax Rate - Provide Tax Relief to Homeowners
1. Adopt a lower tax rate that will raise the same dollar amount of revenue as was raised in fiscal 2009-2010 (This is $1.85 mm less than the effective tax rate). In short, you freeze the total amount of tax levy at the current level.

Spending Cut Recissions
1. Restore salaries to Judges (5 percent)
2. Restore cuts to Tax Office (5 percent)
3. Leave the Sheriff alone (2 percent)

Targeted Spending Cuts
1. Eliminate non-mandated, non-essential services at 100 percent level.
2. Outsource Parks.
3. Eliminate law enforcement overtime.
4. Eliminate "take home" county vehicle privileges.

These actions will, as a whole, accomplish a balanced budget over the next two years and will not burden taxpayers with additional taxes.

What part of living within your means does the Commissioners Court not understand?

This talk about cutting expenditures and raising taxes lays bare a distressingly sad fact: 1) The court has precious little long-term consideration for the possible outcomes related to their current predicament and 2) their frugality is not based on considerations of efficiency and a focus on mandated programs but rather on some warped sense of what is fair.

The Court is cutting off its fiscal nose to save its budgetary face. Decisions that have been made are hurting everyone across the board. This is not prudent nor fiscally sound.

At least three Commissioners, including my opponent, are suggesting a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. But, the spending cuts are hurting County efficiency and a tax increase will hurt taxpayers.

So, this begs two questions:

1. What is Jaime O. Perez' plan to cure the immediate shortfall?

2. What is the shot-term goal (2 years) for fiscal responsibility?

Previously , I have written that the fiscal situation facing the County will not be improving any time soon. The next four years promise increasing budgetary challenges and it is best to prepare now for that eventuality.

Therefore, I propose the following:
Cut County Debt - Moratorium on Capital Projects
1. Impose an immediate moratorium on $21 mm capital projects excepting two on-going projects already in progress: a. IT (redundant) data center and the Fabens port of entry improvements.
2. Move .015 cents from interest and sinking (I & S) to maintenance and operations (M & O) for fiscal year 2011 and 2012.

Lower Tax Rate - Provide Tax Relief to Homeowners
1. Adopt a lowered tax rate that will raise the same dollar amount of revenue as was raised in fiscal 2009-2010 (This is $1.85 mm less than the effective tax rate).

Spending Cut Recissions
1. Restore salaries to Judges (5 percent cut)
2. Restore cuts to Tax Office (5 percent cut)

Targeted Spending Cuts
1. Eliminate non-mandated, non-essential services at 100 percent level.
2. Outsource Parks.
3. Eliminate Sheriff's Deputy overtime.
4. Eliminate "take home" county vehicle privileges.

These actions will, as a whole, accomplish a balanced budget over the next two years.

Changes may be adopted after two years as a function of the level of improvement of the economy.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White was not in Austin today to greet President Barack Obama.

Deputy White House press secretary Bill Burton was asked on Air Force One about the implications of White's absence and what it said about the president's coattails, image and popularity.

"I don't think that it says anything broadly about the President's coattails," Burton said according  a White House pool report. "I think it says that Bill White had something else going on today that he would rather do than campaign with the President."

Burton was then asked if the President was insulted by White's absence.

"No, he thinks that candidates should make their own decisions about how best to spend their time," Burton responded. "He definitely does not take that as an insult."

    President Barack Obama received a letter from Republican Gov. Rick Perry today in Austin that called for an additional 1,000 troops along the Texas border with Mexico.

    "The need for border security along the Rio Grande should no longer be underestimated by the federal government, Mr. President," Perry wrote in the letter. "An unsecured border is a threat to our national security and to the safety and security of all our citizens."

    Perry attempted to give the letter to Obama directly but instead it ended up with an aide, according to the press pool report

    In his letter, Perry detailed events along the border that he said showed the need for more security. He mentioned bullets that hit El Paso City Hall.

    "On any given day, the Mexican border region is beset with vicious murders, torture, kidnappings, and armed confrontations with Mexican law enforcement and military," Perry stated in the letter.

  

President Barack Obama will speak to students at the University of Texas at Austin today.

The president will also meet briefly with Republican Gov. Rick Perry at the Austin airport to discuss border security.

Meanwhile, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White will be campaigning away from the city.

Stay tuned for updates.

KINT-TV Channel 26 (cable Channel 2) welcomed back a familiar face to their reporting ranks. Heidi Renpenning returned to the station after being gone for about a year. Renpenning, who can already be seen on air reporting stories, left the...

CISEN director reports a higher number for victims of the Mexican drug wars

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_15679980

Diana Washington Valdez featured in Global Journalist radio interview todayThe Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

The UTEP women's soccer team made its official debut to the media today, but in the event's main attraction, members of the media made their soccer debuts to the world in the form of a penalty kick shootout. In most...

You may have noticed some changes in the way KTSM-TV Channel 9 (cable Channel 10) is doing their newscasts. Let's start with the morning show. For some months now, the show was a two-man operation with Kai Porter on the...

Businessman Dee Margo today accused Democratic State Rep. Joe Moody of using taxpayer dollars to distribute a newsletter that he says recycles information and serves as campaign material.

Margo, who is challenging Moody for the House District 78 seat, points to a newsletter Moody sent to constituents last week that shared legislative efforts during the 81st session.

  Moody said it is his duty, as a state representative, to the keep constituents informed, whether it's through newsletters, gatherings or phone calls.

 Margo said the newsletter was a waste of money at a time when the state faces a budget deficit of up to $18 billion and state agency’s have been asked to trim their budgets.

Moody posed five voluntary questions in the newsletter that he said would help him better serve constituents. The questions asked residents in the district to rank issues in order of importance, address which cuts could be made during the next Legislative session, give input on how to best secure the border, consider whether class sizes should be increased and remark on whether the state should support the expansion of alternative energy

Margo argues that the questions served as taxpayer-funded polling for Moody’s campaign.

        “It has been 429 days since the 81st legislative session ended, but we’re only 97 days from the General Election,” Margo said in a statement. “Joe Moody’s unfortunate decision to waste taxpayer funds should be corrected by his campaign by reimbursing taxpayers and apologizing for this unfortunate lapse in judgment.”

        Moody said lawmakers should always reach out to voters and ask about their priorities and concerns.

        "I guess Dee has a problem with State Representatives communicating with their constituents and explaining the important issues affecting the state," Moody said."The fact is I have run my office in a very fiscally conservative way. We are $8,000 under budget and will be returning that money to the state's general fund at the end of August."

A recent internet study has shown that internet use varies by country. For instance, in Asia, the use of the internet is in a social manner, while in the West the Internet is considered more as a tool to publish ideas and make public personal point of views.

In general, BRIC and other developing countries are the countries that demonstrate more use of the internet, although for different purposes. For example, in Asia, about 45% of Internet users write some kind of blog, but this is considered to be in a more familiar way such as to keep in touch with the family rather than for other purposes. However, in Western countries -where less than 15% of internet users have admitted to write a blog- the blog is used as a means to publish or disclose a point of view.

Out of all internet users in Mexico, over 54% of Internet users have said they use social networks to upload photos and/or videos. Among them only 15% say they use micro-blogs (i.e. twitter), which represents a percentage similar to that of Brazil, and well above the United States. In our country there is still a very important area of opportunity for micro blogging. However, Mexico has a big portion of internet users who write a blog. About 30% of Mexicans who use internet have written in some kind of blog, while in the United States and Brazil, only about 12% and 20% respectively have written a blog.

An interesting phenomenon is that the use of the internet in developing countries is much better distributed than in developed countries. This means that users in developing countries use internet tools in a much more even way. This may be the case because when the Internet started being used in developed countries there was a much more limited tool supply which made it harder to adopt the technology while nowadays there is a greater variety of user friendly services and technologies. It seems that this trend will go on.

We have seen that users in BRIC and other developing countries use the web in a much more diverse way. What would be possible if developing countries used the internet in a manner that improved communication between them? What would happen if in countries like Mexico and the USA, who have a lot of users who do write blogs, used these blogs to promote powerful contexts and the wellbeing of their citizens?

Poor Mexico, So Far From God and So Close To The US.

With Traitors Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico. Santa Anna wrote to Mexico City saying he had no aspirations to the presidency, but would eagerly use his military experience to fight off the foreign invasion of Mexico as he had in the past. President Valentín Gómez Farías was desperate enough to accept the offer and allowed Santa Anna to return. Meanwhile, Santa Anna had secretly been dealing with representatives of the United States, pledging that if he were allowed back in Mexico through the U.S. naval blockades, he would work to sell all contested territory to the United States at a reasonable price."

In 2010, the United States made preparations to take over Mexico's oil and natural resources using the drug cartel violence as cover. It infiltrated and backed one cartel in order to leverage political opposition to intervention within Mexico's ruling class. Under the guise of the Merida Plan, the US infiltrated the judicial, legislative and military institutions of the nation. Meanwhile, Felipe Calderon had secretly been dealing with representatives of the US, pledging that if he were allowed to continue amassing a fortune and keeping his family safe, he would enable the occupation of the northern part of the territory by the US, decline to actively seek a solution to the problem of illegal immigration and sell oil to the US at a reasonable price."

Again

Poor Mexico, So Far From God and So Close To The US.

With Traitors Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

Some Internet studies have shown that internet use varies by country. For instance, in Asia, the use of the internet is in a social manner, while in the West the Internet is considered more as a tool to publish ideas and make public personal point of views.

In general, BRIC and other developing countries are the countries that demonstrate more use of the internet, although for different purposes. For example, in Asia, about 45% of Internet users write some kind of blog, but this is considered to be in a more familiar way such as to keep in touch with the family rather than for other purposes. However, in Western countries -where less than 15% of internet users have admitted to write a blog- the blog is used as a means to publish or disclose a point of view.

Out of all internet users in Mexico, over 54% of Internet users have said they use social networks to upload photos and/or videos. Among them only 15% say they use micro-blogs (i.e. twitter), which represents a percentage similar to that of Brazil, and well above the United States. In our country there is still a very important area of opportunity for micro blogging. However, Mexico has a big portion of internet users who write a blog. About 30% of Mexicans who use internet have written in some kind of blog, while in the United States and Brazil, only about 12% and 20% respectively have written a blog.

An interesting phenomenon is that the use of the internet in developing countries is much better distributed than in developed countries. This means that users in developing countries use internet tools in a much more even way. This may be the case because when the Internet started being used in developed countries there was a much more limited tool supply which made it harder to adopt the technology while nowadays there is a greater variety of user friendly services and technologies. It seems that this trend will go on.

We have seen that users in BRIC and other developing countries use the web in a much more diverse way. What would be possible if developing countries used the internet in a manner that improved communication between them? What would happen if in countries like Mexico and the USA, who have a lot of users who do write blogs, used these blogs to promote powerful contexts and the wellbeing of their citizens?

The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," including slaves. The Constitution should be left alone. John McCain stated, "I believe that the Constitution is a strong, complete and carefully crafted document that has successfully governed our nation for centuries.." He is correct. Tinkering with the Constitution in the jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com2

After the El Paso Times softball team was deemed the best media squad in this year's softball charity, the people of KVIA-TV Channel 7 issued a challenge. The teams would play one game with the winning team getting bragging rights....

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill White is running a new television ad in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that talks about a "future" Texas and jabs at Republican Gov. Rick Perry without ever mentioning his name.

The ad touches on several points that include White's religious upbringing and education — two key issues to appeal to independents and moderate Republicans.

In the commercial, White talks about the state's need to "plant not just harvest." He says Texas should lead the nation in high-wage job growth and government should be "well-run in Austin."

   

Perry's campaign has also released a web video that channels David Letterman's top 10 lists.

The video is called "Top Ten White Lies."

Below is that web video:

Dear Bishop Ochoa: With permission of my grandfathers and grandmothers, I address you today on behalf of many, and I dare assert, the majority of the members of the El Paso Catholic community. We are deeply disappointed in your leadership and your permission to Rev. Michael Rodriguez to express his rejection and hatred of the homosexual community of El Paso. Michael Rodriguez wrote, "Any jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0