Border Blogs: Expressing our Border Culture

I had reported in a previous post that the rumors around town were that Philip Mena had been picked as the anchor for KDBC-TV Channel 4. That's the spot left vacant by Nichole Ayoub earlier this year. The rumors were...

The EMMY Lone Star Chapter announced the winners of their Excellence in My Market Award, or EMMAs, for the smaller TV markets in Texas. Here's a rundown of the winners from El Paso: Best General Assignment Report: "Pandillas en El...

Gov. Rick Perry, for the second time this year, announced that Texas would forgo federal stimulus dollars for education.

The governor has already accepted billions dollars in other stimulus money from the federal government but is opposed to Race to the Top funding.

He announced in January that the state would not submit an application to compete for millions in federal dollars.

Today he said the state would not apply for the money during the second round either.

Perry said accepting the money would cost more in the long run and could require that Texas adopt national curriculum standards that he believes would be inferior to the state's own standards.

Texas curriculum standards are set by the State Board of Education, which has recently been the focus of public attention after the board's conservative faction wielded its voting power to adopt history standards through a process that some educators and lawmakers considered politically motivated.

"This administration’s attempt to bait states into adopting national standards is an effort to undermine states’ authority to determine how their students are educated, and is clearly aimed at circumventing laws prohibiting national standards," Perry said. "Abandoning state standards and adopting new nationalized standards would cost Texas taxpayers $3 billion, and would likely weaken the rigorous college- and career-ready standards and assessments already in place in our state."

The governor, who is seeking an unprecedented third term in office, ramped up his criticism of the federal government during the primary campaign against U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Critics have said that Perry is playing politics and that the governor should not turn down money when the state faces a budget deficit of about $18 billion.

        

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/292678 Reality can not and will not be ignored.jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

To all men and women in the armed forces: Thank you for your service, sacrifice and commitment. In memory of those that have enriched our lives, let us all re-dedicate ourselves to our great country's founding principles. To all those who make dedicate their lives to the mission of protect all Americans. Thank you.jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

(What follows is a compilation of comments received by Mexican leaders for a report requested by the County Judge of El Paso.) Military actions directed by the Mexican government to disrupt drug corridors, capture drug cartel leaders and otherwise disrupt relations between the cartels are having severe consequences on the social fabric of key northern cities including those on the US side of thejaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com1

On Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, I received yet another confidential report of an American citizen -- a child, kidnapped in an effort to extort money and terrorize an El Paso family. There is evidence there may be more to the story relative to cartel revenge. The effort is no doubt the work of the "Desgraciados" - the despicable and filthy rich war lords that rule the streets of El Paso and jaimeoperezhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05168740247697542660jaimeoperez@yahoo.com0

The Dallas Morning News carried an article penned by Alfredo Corchado that spoke to Medellin, Colombia's "miracle" and the challenges facing Mexican cities.

Mexican alcaldes went to Medellin to determine whether investment in social justic programs would end the violence in their region.

I was gratified to see Mr. Corchado continue to write in the vein of other reporters such as Diana Washington Valdez and Ramon Bracamontes: balanced, fair and with true insight.

They exemplify the best of El Paso-produced journalists and are truly worthy of emulation.

Mr. Corchado spoke to the truth of the Medellin "miracle". He stated that the peace wrought in Colombia had everything to do with an "accomodation" between the drug cartels and the government NOT the overpowering of the cartels -- A case I have been making for some time.

Daniel Borunda, another emerging reporter for the El Paso Times, recently broke a story regarding spill-over violence, i.e. the murders and shootings between gang members related to the Sinaloa cartel in El Paso in our neighborhoods.

Yet, the mainstream television media and certainly the sentries at the El Paso Times (clearly in the pocket of the cartels or afraid of them or both) refuse to report the truth or allow commentary on it.

Astonishingly, editors, are blind, deaf and dumb when it comes to the real story relative to cartel violence. They refuse to provide analysis of the problems facing our community and report and editorialize at a level not worthy of this community.

Spillover violence is here and has been here for over a year. The refusal to report on it is deeply concerning as it points to media corruption at levels so deep, it should frighten every citizen of El Paso.

The fact that leaders of local Law Enforcement are "not worried" is, in itself, worrisome. Either all Sheriffs on the U.S. Mexico border are wrong and our so-called law enforcement leaders are right OR, to beat the daily dead, tattooed and decapitated bodies, such commentary points to corruption at law enforcement levels so deep, it should frighten every citizen of El Paso.

Do not expect to see any of the reports provided by regional officials and sanitized analyses compiled by local analysts any time soon. The fact they have been buried points to corruption at governmental and judicial levels so deep, it should frighten every citizen of El Paso.

As more public figures are indicted and others die "accidentally" in El Paso, cartel spillover violence reporting will see an uptick in large media markets.

In El Paso, however, under the direction of current leaders expect, only, to see an uptick in stories relative to cell phone, seat belt, car seat, brake light, redlight cams and dui arrests, not to mention, the new mantra of putative elected leaders doing the cartel's bidding, i.e. "Spark one up" (translation- Let's take over the marijuana market and allow Mexicans to kill themselves over the cocaine trade).

Dear Mr. President Barack Obama:
As a life-long environmentalist, I am unable to articulate the depth of feelings at the incessant contamination of the Gulf of Mexico. Deeply frustrated by the inability of British Petroleum to solve the problem and outraged that deep sea drilling was allowed without appropriate testing by the government of the potential hazards, every American and environmentalist calls upon you and your administration to muster every resource, military and technological, to save the coastal gems of our nation from Lousiana, to Florida.

I suspect that more ecological damage will be the end result of this spill as I no longer believe either what British Petroleum or your administration is telling the American public relative to the degree of environmental damage and financial impact.

Nevertheless, it behooves you to do whatever it takes to handle the problem and to name a "team" of Presidential advisers to work with British Petroleum and other oil companies with deep see drilling experience to respond to this disaster.

Until such time as the American public can be assured there are fail safe mechanisms in place to guard against another similar spill, there should be no ocean drilling at all.

Mr. President, we were shocked you indicated you would allow off-shore drilling and it did not go unnoticed that you approved drilling permits even as millions of gallons of oil were spilling into the Gulf.

Of all the conflicting challenges facing your administration and the on-going partisan vitriol, the one thing that will hang on your legacy will be what you did (or did not do) to protect America's environment.

Shame on British Petroleum and shame on those whose responsibility it was to provide oversight to the companies activities that served the previous and your administration.

And shame on you, if you allow the destruction of the southern states bordering on the gulf and potentially the entire eastern seaboard.

Hace una semana, mis amigas Fabiola y Claudia me organizaron una pequeña despedida de soltera. Fue en el Moon Bar de Cadereyta, comimos frijoles a la charra, tamales, bebidillas, cantamos con kareoke, bailamos y lo más divertido fué el show que me llevaron de unos bailarines jajaja
A la mañana siguiente me levante con un doloooor de cabeza….
Con las fotos que pondré ya con eso se darán una idea de como estaba yo jajaja


Y aquí estaba desde el trono viendo el show!!

Ya me puse a quitar el polvo del blog que lo tenia muy abandonado. Y es que he tenido que cambiar prioridades un tanto drásticas.
En 4 días es mi cumpleaños y mi matrimonio… ¡¡¡ahhhh qué emocióoooon!!!



Y mi novio, tan lindo conmigo, me adelantó mi regalo de cumpleaños porque dice que voy a estar emocionada por el matrimonio y no voy a emocionarme por el regalo, entonces… me dijo que como le gusta como tomo fotos, quiere que aprenda bien y me regaló una cámara Nikon D3000 para empezar a adentrarme en ese mundo oscuro de la fotografía jaja
No he practicado mucho todavía, solo he tomado unos autorretratos (echando a perder se aprende jajaja) al estilo Shakira (es que traigo el cabello con luces y ese día me lo habia ondulado).



Y mugre cámaraaaa!!!, quedé encantadaaaa!!!! es que te hacen parecer de porcelana jajaja claro que no sé aún que le piqué, porque le moví a todo y donde me gustó zas!
Así que, como lo exhibicionista que soy, dejó las fotitos aquí.

El Paso Times

Fallen Soldiers: Men of bravery, sacrifice remembered

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_15191773The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

Director: Lorena Mendez Quiroga
Editor and co-producer: Emily KoonseThe Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

The 63rd edition of the International Film Festival Cannes was lived in a very Mexican way, demonstrating that Mexico is following close in the film industry. One of the first signs of this is that Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal was elected to preside the jury, which is made up of experts, actors, directors, etc.

The award of the Golden Camera for Best Opera Prima was for the Mexican film Leap Year, directed by the Mexican director, Michael Rowe. As he handed over the award, Gael García Bernal said, “It was difficult to choose among 24 films, but we made an unanimous decision,” he said. He also stated that “It is a very special film that has been done with great love and is noted for his mastery.”

The director Michael Rowe thanked his production house (Machete Productions), his actors, Monica del Carmen and Gustavo Sánchez Parra, as well as the Mexican Institute of Cinematography and dedicated his gift to his daughter. “It’s for my daughter Ximena, who is Mexican.”

Michael Rowe was born in Australia and has been living for 16 years in Mexico, country whose nationality he adopted. Michael Rowe stated that the tape is completely Mexican. “I have something legitimate Mexican and this film was born from my Mexican soul, my love for this country,” said the director. The film tells the story of a couple who maintains a relationship of degrading sexual violence.

The director feels that the film will be successful in Mexico because “In Mexico, the public is mature, and the times when scenes with nudity provoked laughter or frightened people have now been passed.”

Besides the award for Leap Year, Biutiful, a film by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu highlighted in the festival, and actor Javier Bardem, won the Palme d’Or prize for best actor. The Spanish actor took the opportunity to thank Gonzalez Inarritu for the prize. “This award is received on behalf of what the film Biutiful, by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, represents.. After my hard work under the direction of Iñarritu I have changed my attitude towards work. I have now more compassion and love for the art of interpreting. ”

These are some examples that show how Mexican cinema is coming up strong worldwide. Awards such as this, in addition to the awards received in Madrid, in the 7th Documenta Madrid Festival, to the Mexican documentary Presumed Guilty, demonstrate the growth and international recognition of our cinema. Presumed Guilty is a documentary of Mexican directors Layda Negrete and Roberto Hernandez and, who had to beat 22 other international films to win the prize for best documentary in Madrid.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's plan to send 1,200 National Guard troops to the U.S./Mexico border does not go far enough.

“While I appreciate the President’s acknowledgment that his Administration has done too little to secure our border, his proposal still comes up short," Cornyn said in a statement. "Temporary fixes are no solution to long-term challenges."

Obama also plans to request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to the Associated Press.

Cornyn, though, touted his proposed amendment to a supplemental appropriations bill as a better approach for the border.

“My amendment reflects the real needs of federal, state, and local law enforcement," he said. "With the right equipment, more personnel, and better infrastructure, these agencies can be much more effective in keeping our communities safe. I urge the President to support my amendment, which would demonstrate a real presidential commitment to border security.”

Below are some of the priorities Cornyn mentions in his amendment:

Border Security Equipment and Technology
· Provides $144 million for expanded unmanned aerial vehicle operations, including the purchase of six additional Predator B unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), ground control stations, and funding for UAV pilots and support staff
· Provides $49.4 million for 10 additional helicopters for border enforcement
· Provides $360 million for border surveillance and monitoring equipment, vehicles and mobile technology
 
State and Local Law Enforcement

· Provides $300 million for State and local law enforcement entities, operating within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border, to purchase equipment, hire personnel, including investigators and detectives, and cover salaries and expenses associated with border enforcement
 
Southwest Border Taskforces
· Provides $140 million in funding for High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Programs in Southwest border states
· Provides $44.7 million in funding for National Guard Counterdrug Programs in Southwest border states to support drug interdiction and anti-drug activities
 
Border Enforcement Personnel
· Provides Federal agencies (DEA, ATF, ICE and CBP) with over $340 million to hire and support criminal investigators, special agents, intelligence analysts, and other personnel for drug enforcement and illicit firearms trafficking
 
Detention and Removal Activities
· Increases detention capacity an additional 3,300 beds annually over a two-year period at a cost of $151 million
· Provides $125 million to hire 500 additional detention and removal officers
· Provides $89 million to expand repatriation programs that return illegal aliens to their home countries
 
Ports of Entry
· Provides $200 million to hire 500 CBP officers to staff southwest border ports of entry and for infrastructure improvements at high-volume ports of entry

The decision by President Obama to deploy 1,200 national guard troops to the border is partly correct.

There is a need to beef up the ports of entry and relieve border patrol to those tasks they do best. However, the deployment of the national guard to rural areas may not have the desired outcomes.

There is a need for stronger presence of national guard troops at the busiest ports of entry including El Paso, McAllen, Laredo and Brownsville. A rural strategy will not work to effectively interdict either drugs or human smugglers.

    Nearly 60 percent of Texas voters polled in a recent Rasmussen Reports survey said they support legalizing casino gambling to reduce the state's looming budget deficit.

    The deficit could be upwards of $18 billion by the time lawmakers meet to write the budget next year.

    Some lawmakers, who include Jim Pitts the Republican chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, have suggested that gambling should be a consideration for drawing additional revenue to the state.

    Still, others, such as Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Gov. Rick Perry and former Houston mayor Bill White have not expressed support for the expansion of gambling in Texas.

    The Rasmussen telephone poll of 500 likely voters shows that 57 percent of likely voters in the state are in favor of legalizing casino gambling, while 33 percent opposed such a measure. Ten percent remained undecided in the poll.

    The same poll asked voters if they would support new taxes. About 68 percent said no, while 21 percent said they would pay additional taxes to reduce the deficit.

Courtesy photo/ArtMarch blogger

5/25/2010
El Paso Times online: Frank Bender, forensic artist, and the Philadelphia ArtMarch

PHILADELPHIA - Forensic artist Frank Bender assisted in identifying several women who were killed in Juárez and Chihuahua City.

He is an international facial reconstruction expert who has worked with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies around the world. He has also helped catch some of the most-wanted U.S. criminals.

Now that the episode in Juárez is behind him, Bender, 69, said, he can talk freely about the harrowing experiences he had there in 2003 and 2004.

Bender was at his home-studio on South Street in Philadelphia. The place is filled with trinkets, mementos, souvenirs, a train set, childhood photos, books, busts and art that Bender has collected over a lifetime. He was busy at work on a new art series about his late wife, but much of his focus this particular day was on

Juárez.
Bender said he was threatened and drugged while he was in Juárez. At the time, the authorities required him to maintain secrecy on his role in the investigations of murdered women. Since 1993, more than 800 girls and women have been murdered in the city.

"I couldn't reveal the identities of the girls because it would endanger their families. In fact, they would be killed," Bender said. "One of the girls was actually identified by someone in El Paso."

Chihuahua state officials introduced him at a news conference in 2003 in Juárez to announce that he was going to help with the women's murder investigations. At the conference, officials displayed skulls of unidentified victims they had turned over to Bender.

Bender is among the artists whose work is featured at the "Ni Una Mas" (Not One More) exhibit at Drexel University's Leonard Pearlstein Gallery. It opened May 15 with the ArtMarch performance art to protest the murders. The exhibit will run through July 16.

A week before the ArtMarch, Bender's wife, Jan, died of cancer. Frank Bender is terminally ill with the same disease.

"The doctors told me I might have a month left to live," he said.

He gave this account of his time in Juárez:

"I was forced to work out of a room at the Hotel Lucerna, and my phone calls and visits were closely monitored. I came to suspect that police were involved somehow in the abductions of the missing women.

"People from the United Nations were there at the time, looking into the murders. Amnesty International also had gone to Juárez to report on the femicides. An official for Chihuahua state told me 'they were the enemy.'"

On another occasion, Bender said, his Mexican hosts offered to take him to a brothel to have sex with young women.

"I declined the part about sex, but I did want to go to the clubs so I could study Mexican women's facial features," he said.

At some point, Bender's persistent questions about the women's murders began to bother the authorities. Although assigned police bodyguards, he said, he did not feel safe in Juárez.

The scariest experience he had occurred shortly after a meal with a high-level law enforcement officials and the official's entourage.

Bender said he and Ed Barnes, the Time correspondent, suspected they were drugged during a meal with Mexican officials. However, Bender said, he wasn't as affected as Barnes because he threw up right after the eating-and-drinking session.

"That's what saved me. But Ed Barnes was out for about a day and a half," Bender said. "One of the officials came to see me later and demanded to know where Ed was. I told him that he had left for his next assignment, which was in Russia. Actually, he was still interviewing people in Juárez, and then he left after I warned him they were mad at him."

Back in Philadelphia, Bender's wife had received an anonymous e-mail from Mexico recommending that Frank Bender look out his window.

"I didn't want to leave until I finished what I set out to do. I was able to help identify three of the five victims from the skulls they gave me to work with," Bender said.

A woman in El Paso with connections in Mexico helped to finance Bender's final trip to Juárez, this time under the cover of the Mexican federal government. But strange things continued to happen, and Juárez police continued to monitor Bender's every move.

Former FBI profiler Robert Ressler, a friend of Bender's, told him he should leave the border city immediately. The Mexican authorities had invited Ressler to the border during the 1990s to get his views on the women's murders.

Bender said he left as soon as he wrapped up the last details of his reconstruction work at another hotel in Juárez.

Ted Botha wrote a book about Bender titled "The Girl With the Crooked Nose." Botha also attended the art exhibit opening, along with Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and other dignitaries.

According to Botha, two of the girls Bender's work helped to identify were Mayra Juliana Reyes Solis and Veronica Martinez Hernandez.

A girl with a crooked nose was tentatively identified, but possible relatives who saw the reconstruction would not provide DNA samples to confirm her identity. They did not trust the authorities.

Brian Maguire, an art activist from Ireland, showed up to visit Bender at the Philadelphia studio to pay his respects. The two men bantered about civil wars, the Mexican drug cartel wars, politicians and injustices around the world.

Maguire had taken several drawings by children in Juárez to the "Ni Una Mas" exhibit. Maguire said he first traveled to Juárez and El Paso about two years ago. He did so after reading a story about the women's murders.

Marisela Ortiz, a teacher in Juárez who works with children who suffer the effects of violence, asked Maguire to do an art workshop when he came to Juárez.

Maguire decided the rest of the world should also see the children's work, and asked Ortiz for permission to take several drawings with him. Ortiz saw those drawings next at the "Ni Una Mas" exhibit.

As for Bender, he tried to pace himself so he didn't wear out. He was mourning his wife's death, but was excited about the ArtMarch events. He had to rest because of his illness, and said he lamented that he could not take part in the ArtMarch protest march.

His daughter, Vanessa Bender and his friends stood in for him.The Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_15155425

El Paso Times online: Frank Bender, forensic artist, and the Philadelphia ArtMarchThe Killing Fields: Harvest of Women, the first investigative book about the Juarez murders by a U.S. journalist.

Gov. Rick Perry has a nine-point lead over his Democratic opponent Bill White in a University of Texas at Austin/Texas Tribune poll released today. Perry had 44 percent support from 800 voters polled in the survey. White had 35 percent...