"Border Bandits" Documentary Airs on KMBH

Click photo for trailer.

Speaking of The Art of Brownsville blog, I'd like to forward on a post I saw there this morning. Fire up those Tivos and VCR's and set them to record "Border Bandits" next Tuesday, June 7th, at 7:00PM on KMBH (the PBS channel). It supposedly deals with an incident in 1915 where Texas Rangers shot two Mexicans in the back at the Guadalupe Ranch near Edinburg. I know, I know, PBS usually means hopelessly biased liberalism, but I'm fond of many of their documentaries (Ken Burns, etc.) and I'm willing to give this one a chance.

A Couple of Cosmetic Changes

I'd like to thank Mayra Cruz of The Art of Brownsville blog for her excellent photography skills in helping create the new banner for Cafe Brownsville. She has a great eye in finding images that represent Brownsville to me. I hope that, given some time, she sends more pics my way. I'd be happy to include and rotate them in the banner.

Also, readers may have noticed I recently changed the commenting system for posts. I now have the ability to prevent comment spam and general lameness from detracting from worthwhile discourse. Older comments from previous posts have not been removed, but seem to be inaccessible now that the new system is in place. I'm trying to find a way to get them back.

Elitism Personified

Good piece in today's Herald covering Memorial Day. At least until it gets to Tullos quote:

Justice of the Peace Oscar Tullos, also a Vietnam veteran, walked alongside other veterans, their friends and family Monday.
He supports those fighting in Iraq, Tullos said, but questions the wisdom of the campaign.
"“I have negative feelings when it comes to our policy and going over to introduce democracy,"” he said.
"I support our troops and I wish them the best. I think we did well in Afghanistan, but Iraq is different."

How's it different, exactly? Why are one nation's people worthy of democracy and another's not? And either you support the troops and why they're there, or you don't. Having it both ways for the sake of political expediency or correctness is a copout, plain and simple.

Winds of Change Are a-Blowin'

Congratulations to Commissioners Ernie Hernandez and Carlos Cisneros on their swearing in ceremonies yesterday.

In Memoriam - Margaret M. Clark

Tadpole. Waterbug. Turtle. Fish. Duck. Swan. Dolphin. Seahorse.

If I recall correctly that's the order, from beginner-level (blowing bubbles) on up, of patches given at Mrs. Clark's summer swimming classes at the Dixon Motel back in the 1970's. They were cut, I think, from swatches of colorful wallpaper and my mom & other moms would sew them onto our swimming suits as we earned them. While our parents watched at picnic tables under mesquite trees, Mrs. Clark oversaw and taught the various classes going on during the morning. But like clockwork and about 45 minutes or so into the lesson, she'd blow her whistle, yell out "Playtime!!!!", and dump laundry baskets full of toys into the pool. 15 minutes later we all were climbing out of the pool exhausted and happy, running into our folks' towel-draped arms. I swear half of Brownsville learned to swim there, for decades.

She was a proud fixture in this community and, appropriately, the Aquatic Center was named for and dedicated to her. We would all do well to remember her service and words:

“You can sit on your como se llama and do nothing and get through life very well or you can try to contribute something,” she said.

From her obituary:

Mrs. Clark’s family, together with Rev. Richard Aguilar, invite all who were touched by her to a Celebration of Life which will be held tomorrow, Monday, May 16, 2005 at 6 p.m. at the Church of the Advent Episcopal, 104 W. Elizabeth St. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions in Mrs. Clark’s name be made to the Boys and Girls Club of Brownsville Inc., 1338 E. 8th St., Brownsville, Texas 78520 or the donor’s favorite charity.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Darling-Mouser Funeral Home, 945 Palm Blvd., Brownsville, (956) 546-7111.

She will be missed by legions.

Other articles:
Herald coverage of her passing
UTB-TSC Press Release on her passing
Herald editorial on her service to the community

Diana Zarate's 1995 Herald article
Marcie Lasseigne's 2003 Herald article
2001 Orange and White (TSC) article honoring her

I Swear I Can't Make These Things Up. But They Can

"Just when I thought that I was out... they pull me back in."
-Michael Corleone, The Godfather: Part III

Update: Turns out to be a hoax. Ya got me. Ha.

So Much For Projections

So my career in voter turnout projections is over. We missed my (admittedly arbitrary) target by a bunch and I don't really know why. I figured, with all the heat generated between opposing factions and all the money obviously spent on campaigns, that voter interest/turnout would be directly proportional. Many folks commented that the Herald must have made a killing with the frequency and size of this season's political ads.



The chart tells a different story. Looks like there was merely a transfusion from election day voters and they just decided to get it done sooner than later. Total turnout was around 9.5% among registered voters in Brownsville. Not too good. Any thoughts on why this happened? How to turn the downward trend around?

Precinct by Precinct Report

Here's the precinct data (PDF - 37pp.) for City Commission races only. Please consider it unofficial until canvassed.

Mother Brownsville Spanks Her Misbehaved

Herald recap.

District 3
2,290 votes (73%)
844 votes (27%)

At $59.24/vote, (actual costs rumored to hover around $70K, but let's go with the latest finance reports) the Cap'n got more than he bargained for in taking on incumbent Commissioner Carlos Cisneros. If polls are to be believed, and some say they are, this was as big a reason as any that his political career more than likely ended before it ever began. But hey, at least he won the Kids Vote, with dashed promises of lemonade-filled waterparks and gingerbread playhouses throughout the city.

District 4
729 votes (37%)
902 votes (46%)
339 votes (17%)

In what many considered the biggest surprise of the night, newcomer Edward Camarillo grabbed the most votes from his district. Earlier in the evening, it looked as if he might win outright, gaining 5 votes for every 4 that went to De Leon. And he certainly would have, if dubious identity-theft victim Justin Ramos hadn't wished-washed his way through the entire race. The nerve of Ramos to question "...the approximately $40,000 the city would pay if a runoff election is necessary" is astounding.

At Large - B
2,869 votes (39%)
4,562 votes (61%)
Little surprise that the good Dr.'s legacy of rancor and condescension finally caught up with him in his race against a tried veteran of city politics, Ernie Hernandez. In spite of Zavaletta's slogan of "No Strings Attached", chaining his campaign to the Cap'n's plunging shrimpboat probably didn't help matters, either. Meanwhile, Ernie just kept it simple, focusing on family, integrity and humility.

Early Voter Turnout On the Rise.

Despite what the Herald reported yesterday on the low early voter turnout for the City Commission and BISD races, the numbers are significantly up from prior years.


Early voting this time around saw over a 30% increase from the 2003 election numbers which included a hotly contested mayoral race. However, the Cameron County Elections Department puts an estimated 80,000 registered voters in the city (& BISD district) proper and even if my unofficial projection of 11,000 votes holds true, a 13.7% turnout rate is still pretty dismal.

On the brighter side, even a city the size of San Antonio faces voter apathy, having rates of 13.5% and 5.46% for their municipal elections in 2001 and 2003, respectively. At least we're heading in the right direction.

Who Is This Guy?

No way do I believe today's article reporting that Justin Ramos is back in the District 4 City Commissioner race. I mean, he just endorsed Edward Camarillo a few weeks ago. This is surely the work of those pesky identity thieves in Kleberg County, impersonating Justin's re-entry into local politics.

The Cap'n Is Seeing Red (and Green)

May Day! May Day!

Today's Herald details the good Cap'n's single-handed vision for the economic development of our community.