FRIDAY FUNNIES: TRUMP'S HISTORIC CHINA SOYBEAN PURCHASE

La Cebolla

SEOUL—In a historic trade agreement that President Donald Trump touted as a major win for an American farmer, China reportedly agreed Thursday to purchase 11 U.S. soybeans. 

“I am extremely honored that President Xi has authorized China to begin the purchase of this unprecedented amount of American-grown soybeans—not merely nine or 10 beans, but 11 whole, intact beans,” Trump said at a highly anticipated summit in South Korea with his Chinese counterpart, moments after handing President Xi Jinping a small handful of dry soybeans from his pants pocket in exchange for 2 cents worth of aluminum. 

“I counted these beans myself, and frankly, it’s a massive quantity. President Xi is a great friend of mine, and even he has to admit that, together, we have finally delivered a fantastic deal for the American people. Wait, hold on, I think I handed you 12 beans there, Xi. Can you give me one back?” 

At press time, Trump confirmed he had started negotiations for a Chinese trade deal involving an entire corncob.

FOR HALLOWEEN: OUR HERO'S CONVERSATION WITH A GHOST

By Juan Montoya
Next time you're in downtown Brownsville and find yourself near the corner of Madison Street and 14th Street, look at the house on the northeast side.
It is across 14th Street from the new Cueto Building parking lot used by UTRGV now.
We had a friend who related an experience he had just had recently that set him thinking.

We have all heard of the apparition of ghosts across International Boulevard at Texas Southmost College. The late Yolanda Gonzales used to tell of janitors telling her of an old lady dressed in black looking for her son within the walled courtyard of the student union. After she had left, the janitors would wonder how she had managed to climb over the high fences surrounding the closed courtyard before she disappeared into the darkness.

Our friend said he had spent a night of carousing with some people who are tenants of the house on the corner and that – since it was after 3 a.m. – he had taken up their invitation and crashed in a roll-away bed in the covered common area between the house and a building in the back of the property.

The back building used to be some sort of garage that had been converted into apartments. There was no toilet and the only bathroom was shared by the dozen or so tenants from the big house and appended one-room apartments.

Just as daybreak approached, our friend woke up and realized he was sleeping in the roofed common area and turned to look at the building across the slab. There, standing framed by the door, was a kindly-looking middle-aged Hispanic woman. There was nothing unusual about her.

She was dressed in light brown polyester pants and had a light colored flowered blouse. Her stringy hair was dyed ash blonde as many ladies dye theirs in this area. In other words, a nondescript, everyday appearing lady, one of the many one is apt to meet in the streets of downtown Brownsville.
He looked at her and said good morning.
"Buenos dias, señora," he said.

She walked over close to to where he was on the roll-away cot and answered.
"Bueno dias. Como amaneciste, mijito? (Good morning, how are you, son?")
"Bien, gracias, señora," our friend said he replied.
"Hay, que bueno," she replied and walked back into the door.

He dozed off for another half hour or so and then woke up to see one of the male tenants standing at a distance by the entrance to the roofed common area. He was already holding a 24-ounce can of beer in a brown paper bag. He knew him, our friend said, because he was one of those car washers who plied his wares downtown carrying a plastic paint bucket looking for customers.
"Ya estas pistiando?," he asked him. ("You drinking already?")
"Yeah, the store on the corner starts selling beer at noon, but since they know me, I can get it at 6:30," he said.

"Hey, bro,' said our friend, "where can I take a pee?"
"Go into the empty warehouse all the way to the corner where the concrete slab ends about a foot from the wall and you can take a pee in the dirt there," said the car washer. "No one will bother you."
"But what about the señora who lives there?," asked out friend.
"What señora?," said the other. "No one lives in there. Go ahead."
Our friend went into the door where he had seen the woman enter and looking around saw a large empty interior. At the far end of the corrugated metal building he saw where the cement slab ended ended and the dirt began and he relieved himself.

Once outside, he told the car washer about the lady he had seen and spoke to.
"Aqui espantan," said the other, knowingly. 'They tell me that a doctor used to have a clinic next door where he would treat people who had been shot by the Texas Rangers many years ago. Maybe that was someone looking for one of her relatives."

Needless to say, our friend says he has never gone back anywhere near the house and  avoids being near it when he can.
"I don't know who she was, but I know I talked with her," he asserts. "Maybe she was my guardian angel, one of the good ones. I really don't want to know."

THE CACKLING WOMAN FROM INSIDE BUENA VISTA CEMETERY

 By Juan Montoya

It was a Sunday afternoon when Andres met his friend Esteban watching the Saturday Madness competition at the Palm Lounge in downtown Brownsville.

Usually jovial and ready with a back slapping abrazo as a saludo, Esteban was abnormally subdued that day. Even the tight basketball game didn't seem to hold his attention, and he seemed distracted and only looked up when he heard a group of women laughing from a corner table near the entrance.

"What's the matter, Steve?," Andres probed. "You're kind  of quiet. Did you get in a fight with your girlfriend again?"

Esteban leaned over to Andres. He looked around to see if anyone was listening and began his tale.

"On Friday night me and Lupita decided to go to Pava's on 14th Street to close the night with a last beer," he began. "Well, she is kind of jealous and she began accusing me of having wandering eyes. I protested, but things got worse when a new waitress came over and was making small talk with us. I said I didn't know her, but it didn't help when she called me by my name from across the bar asking if we were ready for another. She got mad and stormed out of the bar and I was left on foot to hoof it home.

"Since it wasn't closing time and I had a good long way to walk, I decided to stick around until closing time and I sat with some friends until then. I could have called taxi, but I'm kind of a tightwad and I decided to walk instead. It would take me between half an hour to 45 minutes with shortcuts and I started off. I was angry that Lupita had left me on foot and thought nothing of it.

"I cut across the county courthouse on Harrison and then over to Seventh Street and hit the hike trail in front of the federal courthouse. From there it was a straight shoot across the expressway, and then on to Paredes along Buena Vista Cemetery. I had hear stories about scary stuff happening there, but I thought it was just shit people make up to scare you. There are stories about an old lady dressed in black asking for a ride to the Palo Alto Battleground to looking for her son, insisting on getting off there on the lonely stretch of road on the way to Los Fresnos, and then simply disappearing.

"Anyway, I crossed over the frontage and started up the sidewalk toward the HEB at the corner of Paredes and Boca Chica.

"I hadn't gone but a few steps along the side of the cemetery when I thought I heard someone laughing from inside the fence," Esteban told me at a lower voice. "I thought maybe some kids from the Villa Verde housing project were drinking because they sounded 20 or 30 feet way in the darkness. But it was getting close to 3 a.m. already and as closely as I could squint, I could see no or hear no one, except for the laughing.

"It wasn't the usual laugh of people drinking," he continued. "It was high cackling laughing as if there were a group of women walking together parallel to me in the fence in the darkness. As I walked along the outside of the fence, the laughing – a kind of taunting, mocking laughter –  seemed to follow me along the inside of the fence, sometimes erupting into shouts of laughter. The half-dozen or so voices seemed to hover above the ground and followed me as I walked toward Boca Chica. But I was so mad at Lupita for having made me walk I put it out of my mind. I think I called out once or twice asking who it was, but there was only another peal of laughter in response. It was strange."

Esteban then said that as he neared the end of the cemetery, the voices subdued and when he crossed into the HEB parking lot they ceased altogether.

"I never believed in ghosts or stuff like that," he said. "But I can't explain the laughing of the women who seemed to be floating parallel to me inside Buena Vista. Hasta el pedo se me quito. If I have to walk from now on, I'm staying on the trial and forget about walking beside the cemetery." 

EARLY VOTING ON BISD PROPS A AND B CLIMBS TO 4,000 WITH ONE DAY TO GO

 Special to El Rrun-Rrun

A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY SONG FOR A SPECIAL PERSON...FELIZ CUMPLEANOS SWEETIE

DIME CON QUIEN TE JUNTAS, Y TE DIRE QUIEN ERES..WOULD YOU GIVE THIS MAN 40 BILLION OF U S. TAXPAYERS' MONEY?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

This foreign POS is getting $40 billion from American taxpayers and TACO Trump's corporate donors while 22 million Americans in Red and Blue states are losing their Affordable Care Act (OBAMACARE) health insurance.

This POS from Argentina tanked the Argentina economy and now Trump and his billionaire corporate donors who are huge investors in Argentina want to help this POS get re-elected.

Trump: (M)aking (A)rgentina (G)reat (A)gain AND (M)aking (A)merica (P)oor (A)gain.

STARBASE HONORS LOCAL VETS THIS NOVEMBER 9 AT BOCA CHICA BEACH

 

"DUTCH" REAGAN LOVED IMMIGRANTS...AND SAID SO

WITH PUTIN HAVING TRUMP ON A LEASH, THERE GOES DEALING DON

COMMENTS:

"What is going on with him? One day he is all strong, tough man and makes statements that he is standing up to Putin. Then Putin talks to him and he bows down to Putin. It’s like Putin reminds him what he can release. In 1987 trump spent a lot of time in Russia making plans to build/open casinos and in early 90’s the American banks did not want to loan him any money and that's when he started doing a lot of business with Russia and known Russian crime mobsters. Enough to make you wonder what Putin has over him."

"I believe Putin has something very incriminating on Donald Trump."

"Putin has Trump in his pocket. He’s taking Ukraine and there is nothing Trump can do about it."

 

GOP CONTROLS THE HOUSE, SENATE, EXECUTIVE, SCOTUS...THEY OWN IT!

By Jessica Knurick, PhD, RD

This is a violation of the Hatch Act.

It is also wildly disingenuous. Please remember that 3 months ago, Republicans voted to decrease SNAP funding by nearly $200 billion, which is estimated to result in millions of people losing nutrition assistance funding, including hundreds of thousands of children.

Republicans control the White House, the Senate, and the House.

They could extend ACA subsidies, so American's healthcare costs don't skyrocket next year, and they could ensure adequate funding for SNAP, so "mothers, babies, and the most vulnerable can receive critical nutrition assistance."

But they refuse to do it.

BISD CHAIR DANIELA LOPEZ LAYS BARE THE TRUTH ON PROPOSITIONS "A" AND "B"

(Click on video to watch.)

TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS: "LET THEM EAT CHANDELIERS..."

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Donald Trump just found another way to make history — by starving his own country.

While 40 million Americans brace for lost food benefits, the Trump administration is refusing to use a $5 billion emergency fund to keep the SNAP program, better known as food stamps, running during his government shutdown.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t a lack of money. It’s a lack of humanity.

The funds are sitting there, legally available, ready to prevent hunger. But Trump’s USDA decided it “would be illegal” to use them — even though past administrations used the same reserves to cover families during hurricanes and wildfires. Instead, the White House is holding the country’s hungriest hostage to a political tantrum.

At the same time, just blocks away, construction crews are busy gilding Trump’s new $300 million White House ballroom — funded by tech giants, defense contractors, and billionaire donors. Apple, Google, Palantir, Lockheed Martin — all chipped in so the president could have a private Versailles for his friends.

So yes, while Americans skip meals, the chandeliers are being hung.
If the shutdown continues into November, experts say benefits could vanish completely for millions.

Some states are scraping together their own emergency funds, but the USDA has warned they won’t be reimbursed. Others are simply out of options.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pretending Democrats are to blame — even though this crisis is entirely self-made.

“We’re only cutting Democrat programs,” Trump bragged earlier this month. Apparently, feeding hungry Americans now counts as a “Democrat program.”

Trump’s America will always find billions for marble floors and gold-plated chandeliers, but not a dime for a struggling mom trying to buy groceries.

It’s the clearest moral contrast you’ll ever see: a government that feeds billionaires while letting children go hungry.

IS DONALD TRUMP A REINCARNATION OF THE ANTI-AMERICAN FASCIST?

WE'RE HALFWAY THROUGH EARLY VOTING ON BISD BOND ISSUE: LET'S TAKE CONTROL

  

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Let’s support the BISD bond election this November 4.

I am very proud to be a product of the BISD school system. I enjoyed attending our schools and supporting my children at school events when they attended school at BISD.

Now, halfway into early voting into the bond issue on projects that have been recommended by a committee composed of a cross-section of our fellow district residents, we are not just voting YES for Propositions A and B in this November's bond election, we're empowering the citizens of Brownsville to take charge of our school district's future. We can ensure that the improvements and changes we need are guided by the community, for the community.

This bond proposal will ensure our schools are rebuilt, maintained, and provide the right environment for our children to learn, and we will be able to take control of our district, and not continue the top-down, business-as-usual practices that have guided us in the past. Now is our chance to wrest control from bureaucrats and return it where it belongs: in the hands of the people.

Our fellow district residents have determined that 45 district facilities are in desperate need of improvements and maintenance.

Many of BISD's schools are between 50-100 years old and need facility and infrastructure upgrades for basic operation such as air conditioning units.

BISD also has a need for a new Career and Technical Education Center to keep programs moving forward. I also support a new performing arts center for our growing community that will be the largest in the Rio Grande Valley.

While previous elections have addressed growth with new schools, this election is to invest in what we already have. The District has done a good job at retiring most of its old bonded debt and has the capacity to finance new facilities through the voter approved bond election this November 4. And the way we've structured it, new taxation will be minimal. 

But let's face it, things cost money, and good things cost good money. It's a fact of life. Do we want the best for out kids?

In certain cases involving senior citizens, they will pay nothing at all.
 

Students perform better in newer and/or recently renovated buildings with proper air conditioning and heating systems. Our children deserve access to nice classrooms, no matter where they live. And it's in our hands to provide them this and keep control of the improvements every step along the way.

And if we are vigilant, we can demand that local preference on bidding for their construction be implemented so that our tax money will stay here.

Join me in voting for Proposition 1 and 2 on November 4.

TRUMP BLOWS UP AT REAGAN FOR HIS ANTI-TARIFF STAND

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It looks like Donald Trump had another late-night meltdown this time over a TV advertisement from Canada that quoted Ronald Reagan. The ad, backed by the Canadian government, was meant to remind Trump and Republicans of Reagan’s more cooperative trade philosophy, urging them to reconsider Trump’s heavy tariffs that are harming both economies.

But instead of engaging diplomatically, Trump fired off an angry post on Truth Social, accusing Canada of running a “fraudulent” campaign. He claimed the ad used “selective” clips from Reagan’s old speeches and insisted that the Reagan Foundation was “reviewing legal options.”

Trump then went a step further announcing that, because of this so-called “misrepresentation,” he would increase tariffs on Canada by another 10 percent. Yes, you read that right a serious economic decision triggered by a TV ad.

For many observers, this incident highlights a bigger concern: the instability and impulsiveness of Trump’s decision-making. When the leader of the world’s largest economy reacts to televised criticism by escalating tariffs, it sends a troubling message to allies around the globe.

No country can plan long-term partnerships when U.S. policies seem to depend on the President’s mood swings. Until the White House returns to steady, rational leadership, America’s credibility and global trust will remain at risk.

ADD MURDER TO CRIMES MAGAS ARE WILLING TO OVERLOOK OF TRUMP

WHY ARE HEALTH CREDITS LIKE A NEWSPAPER? BECAUSE THEY'RE RED ALL OVER

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

When Republicans voted for Trump’s Big, Ugly Betrayal, they put over 20 million Americans at risk of paying THOUSANDS MORE for the exact same insurance coverage. Democrats are fighting to restore health care tax credits and stop these huge Republican price increases.

WHEN TAX CREDITS COME TO AN END, GUESS WHO'LL BE AFFECTED MOST?

ARE RED STATE MAGAS READY FOR HEALTH BENEFIT HIT, SNAP CUTS?

SAY GOODBYE TO THE BAD SUBSIDIES...

EN EL CASO DE TRUMP, "EL PEZ, POR SU PROPIA BOCA, MUERE..."

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

 

The main criminal in this story is Trump, again. 

The MAGA cult are gullible and brainwashed. Trump has failed the economy. Tariffs have decimated soybean farmers. We've closed the market with China, the largest client. Crops rot in the fields because there is nobody to harvest them. 

And then he gives Argentina a $40 billion bailout so they can sell their soybeans in record numbers...to China, that before the tariffs, was the American farmers' biggest customer. Genius.

Now ranchers are being squeezed. Beef - also from Argentina - will begin to flood the U.S. market. Cry for - or maybe laugh at - us, Argentina.

The most vulnerable Americans are in danger of losing their SNAP benefits next month while Trump builds a ballroom and tries to extort millions from the DOJ. He is going on vacation while the GOP-controlled government remains shut down. 

This is not leading, this is failure. 

Food prices, inflation and unemployment continue to rise. He stated that the Ukrainian/Russian war would be over 24 hours after the election. Ninety economic deals in ninety days. The only promise he kept was to give permanent tax breaks to billionaires and corporations, including himself.

The failed policies and promises hurt everyone. Even the MAGA diehards that continue to shield, make excuses and blame everyone else for their errant vote.

SS C0ST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT UP 2.8% FOR 2026 BECAUSE OF TRUMP'S TARIFFS INFLATION

“Starting on Day One, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.” — Donald Trump, August 2024

By Jose Rodriguez
Special to El Rrun-Rrun

SAN BENITO – Good news for the 75 million Social Security recipients who will receive a 2.8 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) increase in their SS benefits beginning in January 2026.

This year 2025 the increase was a 2.5 percent increase. However, despite Trump saying inflation is down, inflation is creeping upward triggering this 2.8 percent COLA. Social Security recipients should be notified by mail starting in early December 2025.

Trump will probably try to take credit for this Social Security COLA as he does with all good news. Trump’s philosophy is when the economy is hot, it is because of Trump; if the economy is in the dumps, it is Biden’s fault.

The truth is The Social Security Act dictates how the COLA is calculated. The Social Security Act ties the annual COLA to the increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as determined by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

On the bad news side, many Social Security beneficiaries may lose some of the 2.8 percent COLA to a yet-to-be-announced increase in Medicare Part B premiums for 2026.

BTW, this announcement was delayed because the government shutdown delayed the release of September’s CPI numbers until today. The Trump Administration had to call back some furloughed employees of the Bureau of Labor Statistics to manage the CPI release. It is what it is!

MONEY AND POLITICS TALK. AND JUST LIKE THAT, THE 1920-CIRCA SINCLAIR STATION IS GONE. SO MUCH FOR BTX'S HISTORICAL PRESERVATION B.S.

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Oh, yeah! But if you own a house in the city's historical district try to move a door or paint it the color you want.

Photograph of the Sinclair gas station in downtown Brownsville, pictured on the corner of 10th and Levee Street. The gas station, visible at center-left, is a light-colored building with several roofed gas pumps and signs bearing several wordmarks for the gas station and for Goodyear tires.

Cars turn and ambulate along the intersection in front of the gas station, and other buildings are visible further down the road to the right, such as the George Ury Motor Company. Pedestrians walk along the road's sidewalks at left and center.

It now belongs to Benito Garcia, visible at the extreme lower right walking into the picture. Garcia also bought the old HEB downtown and has been trying to buy the historical Mexican village buildings facing 10th Street across from the old Majestic theater with the aim of demolishing them to extend the parking lot. Garcia has personal connections to several city commissioners and has contributed to get them elected.

The rumor around town is that he will build a car wash at the site, despite the region's continuing problem with water shortages.

Garcia has also been the recipient of $100,000s of grants from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) for projects such as this one and the HEB under the name Solaris, leading to the logical question: Is the BCIC contributing to the demolition of Brownsville's historical structures through its use of its publicly-funded grants? 

Hey, what the hell, the building was only 100 years old.

MOM OF GIRL KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER IN CHICAGO PROTESTS TRUMP'S POLITICAL EXPLOITATION OF HER DEATH

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

BREAKING: Grieving mom FURIOUSLY fires back at Trump after he exploits her daughter’s death to justify Chicago ICE invasion.

In a gut-wrenching open letter published in The Chicago Tribune, Denise Lorence — the mother of 20-year-old Katie Abraham, who was killed by a drunk driver in January — is speaking out against what she calls a “cruel and cynical hijacking” of her daughter’s name by the Department of Homeland Security. It’s a letter that should shake every American with a conscience,

Abrams was allegedly killed by a Guatemalan man without legal immigration status who fled the scene of the fatal accident. Katie’s name, Lorence reveals, has been used to brand “Operation Midway Blitz,” a Trump immigration enforcement campaign in Chicago — the same city her daughter loved and called safe.

The operation, which has already drawn fierce criticism for its heavy-handed raids and militarized tactics, was reportedly named in Katie’s honor. But her mother says the real Katie would have been horrified.

“Katie would not have wanted this,” Lorence wrote. “She would not support scaring kids with the use of military efforts in their neighborhoods or in their apartment buildings.”

Let that sink in. A grieving mother is being forced to publicly reclaim her own child’s legacy — because Trump’s DHS decided to weaponize her daughter’s name to sell fear and xenophobia.

Katie wasn’t a politician. She wasn’t an activist. She was a kind, empathetic college student who loved her friends, her city, and the world around her. But now, her name has been plastered across a campaign of intimidation and deportation — a campaign that rips children from their parents’ arms.

“She cannot advocate for herself and stand up to say, ‘I am not a political pawn,’” Lorence wrote. “So I am here for her.”

It’s hard to imagine a more chilling example of how far the right will go to manipulate tragedy for political gain. Katie’s memory — a young woman full of empathy and light — is being twisted into propaganda for an agenda of cruelty.

And while Lorence acknowledges her ex-husband’s grief — he reportedly approved the use of Katie’s name — she makes clear that grief cannot justify injustice. “Association with the operation’s actions,” she writes, “is not a positive reflection of who she was.”

The real Katie Abraham believed in compassion, not fear. Healing, not hate. Bridges, not walls. Yet the MAGA machine saw only an opportunity — another life to exploit, another story to twist, another name to drag into their endless war on empathy.

Denise Lorence’s message to the DHS — and to Trump’s enablers — is one every American should hear loud and clear: “Katie Abraham is my daughter, and I am reclaiming her legacy.”

Because no mother should have to fight the government to protect her child’s memory from being used as political propaganda.

THE FINAL VESTIGES OF THE FAILED UTB-TSC "PARTNERSHIP" COME DOWN

THE EXTINCT UTB MASCOT

THE UTB-TSC TOWER IS FINALLY GOING DOWN

THE HUNS WHO TRIED TO KILL HIM DIDN'T ASK IF HE HAD PAPERS...

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

The Most Decorated Texan of WWI...was also an undocumented immigrant.
"Many of these non-American soldiers went on to prove that their bravery and dedication to the cause was of the highest order. Among these, one of the most highly decorated was a Mexican-born [undocumented] immigrant named Marcelino Serna, the first Mexican American to collect a Distinguished Service Cross."

When the U.S. entered World War One in 1917, it is estimated that roughly 500,000 people who joined the United States armed services were immigrants. According to the National Park Service, this amounted to 18 percent of U.S. troops.

From the memoirs of Sergeant Alvin York from Tennessee, one of the most highly decorated Americans who served in the U.S. forces during World War One, we can learn more about life for this diverse collection of people.

 At first, he writes, he had been shocked by the fact that there were so many foreigners in his units: Italians, Poles, Irish, Greeks, and Mexicans. But, as he recollects, they soon became his buddies and he “learned to love them.”

Many of these non-American soldiers went on to prove that their bravery and dedication to the cause was of the highest order. Among these, one of the most highly decorated was a Mexican-born illegal immigrant named Marcelino Serna, the first Mexican American to collect a Distinguished Service Cross.

He migrated from his home country of Mexico to El Paso, Texas, in 1915, when he was almost 20 years old. After working illegally for two years, Serna was eventually arrested by Federal officials concerning his status as a citizen. While he waited to find out if he was to be deported back to Mexico, Serna decided that he would show his desire to become a U.S. citizen by volunteering for the army.

He received less than a month of training in Kansas, after which he was deployed with his infantry unit to Europe, to fight in the French trenches. He was part of the 89th Infantry Division. Serna did not speak much English and upon his arrival, his superiors immediately noted he was Mexican. They offered to discharge him from service, but Serna politely declined.

On the battle lines, he proved his courage as a soldier several times, his actions speaking for themselves as to why he was worth all the decorations he later collected. In one confrontation with enemy soldiers, his squad was attacked and 12 fellows were killed. Injured himself, Serna nevertheless proceeded with the fight, going after the attackers and capturing eight adversaries.

https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3779-marcelino-serna-most-decorated-texan-of-world-war-one.html

WE HAVE CONCENTRATION CAMPS, THE TRUMP BUNKER, THE I.C.E. SS...

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Adolph Hitler was appointed chancellor on January 30, 1933. Hitler had a large reception hall/ ballroom added to the Old Reich Chancellery in 1936 officially known as the Festsaal mit Wintergarten in the garden area.

The expansion also included an air-raid shelter known as the Vorbunker and completed in 1936.

FYI, the East Wing of the White House torn down also had an underground bunker built in. Trump’s new ballroom will also include a much larger bunker and the total price for the project has increased to $300 million (due to tariffs) to be paid by so-called (billionaire) patriots who have government contracts in the billions of dollars. Can you say quid pro quo?

In October 2024, reports emerged from interviews given by retired Marine general John Kelly, who served as Trump's longest-serving White House Chief of Staff.

Praise for Hitler: Kelly claimed to The New York Times that Trump "commented more than once" that "Hitler did some good things, too".

Admiring generals: Kelly also told The Atlantic that during a 2020 conversation, Trump expressed admiration for the loyalty of Hitler's generals, saying, "I need the kind of generals that Hitler had".

Fascist tendencies: Kelly described Trump as having authoritarian tendencies, admiring dictators, and fitting the general definition of a fascist.

A new much larger Reich Chancellery was built from 1938 to 1939 by architect Alber Speer. The new building was called the New Reich Chancellery.

Sources: World War II Database
WIKIPEDIA

GARCIA, A WW II MEDAL OF HONOR WINNER, WAS DENIED SERVICE WHEN HE RETURNED HOME TO TEXAS

Wikipedia

Staff Sergeant Marcario García, also known as Macario García (January 20, 1920 – December 24, 1972) was the first Mexican American immigrant to receive the U.S. Congressional, the United States' highest military decoration. He received the award for his heroic actions as a soldier during World War II.

Early years

García was born in Villa de Castaños, Mexico in the state of Coahuila, one of ten children born to destitute farm workers. In 1923, Garcia's family immigrated to the United States in search of a better way of life. They eventually settled in Sugar Land, Texas, where he worked alongside his parents as a cotton farmer.

Upon the outbreak of World War II, Garcia joined the United States Army at a recruiting station in his adopted hometown in November 1942. He was assigned to Company B, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. 

World War II Service

Garcia participated in, and was wounded during, the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Awarded the Purple Heart, he soon returned to duty where he later earned the Bronze Star. On November 27, 1944, García was an acting squad leader in his platoon, which found itself engaged in combat against the German troops in the vicinity of Grosshau, Germany. 

Realizing that his company could not advance because it was pinned down by enemy machine gun fire fire, Garcia, on his own initiative, went ahead alone, destroying two enemy emplacements and capturing four prisoners. Despite being wounded himself, he continued to fight on with his unit until the objective was taken.

"Only then did he permit himself to be removed for medical care," his Medal of Honor citation states. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle several years later, Garcia said: "I did not know the wound was so serious. I was numb, I think, and besides, we were moving forward, and it was not the time to stop." 

Captain Tony Bizzarro, B  company commander, made the initial recommendation for the Medal of Honor. He thought Garcia was nothing less than the best soldier in the Army. "He was always willing to do anything he was asked to do," Bizzarro later told the Chronicle.

Honors and Discrimination

On August 23, 1945, the President of the United States, Harry S. Truman presented Staff Sergeant García with the Medal of Honor at a ceremony in the White House. Shortly afterward, his native land of Mexico awarded him the Mérito Militar,  one of the highest awards in the Mexican Army, for valor.

A month after he was awarded the Medal of Honor, Garcia was denied service at a restaurant located in a town just a few miles south of Houston because he was Hispanic. Garcia was beaten with a bat by the owner. No one was arrested and no charges were initially filed. 

It was only after national columnist Walter Winchell reported the incident and labeled Sugar Land the most racist city in America that charges were filed – against Garcia. Then the incident was covered by the news media, and caused an uproar amongst the Mexican community who rallied to his aid. The nation was made aware as to the discriminatory policies that Mexican-Americans were subject to, as the case against Garcia was repeatedly postponed before being dropped.

Later Years

García became an American citizen on June 25, 1947, and earned a high school diploma in 1951. On May 18, 1952, he married Alicia Reyes with whom he had three children. For twenty-five years he worked as a counselor in the Veterans' Administration.

On the evening of November 21, 1963, Marcario García greeted President John F. Kennedy at the door of the Rice Ballroom in Houston Texas. The ballroom was filled with a diverse crowd of attendees that included Hispanic World War II veterans, Civil Rights advocates and future political activists. The president spoke of U.S. and Latin American Foreign Policy and the importance of recognition and acknowledgement of Hispanic organizations like the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Speaking in fluent Spanish, Mrs. Kennedy offered words of inspiration and encouragement. The day after this meeting Kennedy was assassinated.

García died on December 24, 1972, from injuries which he received in a car accident. He was buried with full military honors in the Houston National Cemetery in Houston, Texas. The local government of Houston honored his memory by naming a middle school after him as well as renaming part of 69th Street in Houston "S/SGT Marcario García Street". 

In 1983 Vice President George Bush dedicated Houston's new Macario García Army Reserve Center, and in 1994 Macario Garcia Middle School of the Fort Bend Independent School District in unincorporated Fort Bend County, Texas, near Sugar Land, was named in García's honor.

On November 11 2021, a mural by artist Mez Data, was unveiled and dedicated along an exterior wall of Houston Fire Station #20, which is along S/Sgt. Macario Garcia Drive at Navigation Boulevard.

REPORT: IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN CRATERING TEXAS JOB GROWTH

 

By Sanford Nowlin
San Antonio Current

The Trump administration’s intensifying immigration crackdown led to to Texas reporting its worst job-growth numbers since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows.

One in five Texas businesses reported that they’re having a hard time hiring and keeping foreign-born workers in the wake of the White House’s policies, according to the Dallas Fed's latest Texas Business Outlook Survey. Further, 13 percent said they’re experiencing a “negative impact” from the federal crackdown.

Indeed, Texas’ job growth so far this year plummeted to 1.2 percent, its lowest rate since 2020, when the pandemic shut down much of the economy, Dallas Fed economists found. This year’s job growth also is first time since at least 2018 that the state has dropped below its long-run trend rate of about 2 percent.

“Since the immigration enforcement changes began in mid-2024, U.S. and Texas job growth have fallen well below their respective long-run trends,” the report states. “Given the decline in immigration inflows, increase in arrests and removals of immigrants already here and the chilling effect, labor supply is clearly being affected.”

The negative impact on Texas businesses is likely underrepresented in the numbers since the Dallas Fed survey doesn’t include some of the sectors most dependent on immigrant labor, namely construction and agriculture, according to the report.

Further, fear spread in immigrant communities by the administration’s increasingly aggressive enforcement actions has also harmed Texas businesses in other ways, the document states.

“[We have experienced] reduced sales to foreign-born customers, and customer counts [have been] down periodically due to raids by ICE in the area,” one retailer said in the survey.

While employers could offset some of the labor problems with automation and AI, the Dallas Fed cautions that neither can completely make up the difference. That’s especially the case because, by 2031, all U.S. population growth is expected to come from immigration.

“Hence, when officials set immigration policy, they may also be setting the speed limit for the economy,” the report states.

U.S. HATE YOU, U.S. HATE YOU NOT...U.S. HATE YOU, U.S. HATE YOU NOT

 

Being Liberal: The White House/GOP-led effort to demonize No Kings rallies is an abysmal failure.

Hating America is in fact, saying our people are TERRORISTS and CRIMINALS while locking up innocent people, so they’ll be less people to vote against them; less people to fight against them if it comes to that. 

KKK Karoline Leavitt and Speaker Milk-it Johnson made this moronic statement to America and the world. They made complete MAGA morons out of themselves. I won’t be dropping this fact!
👑 ALL, WHO PARTICIPATE AT THE NO KING’S PROTEST, ARE THE TRUE PATRIOTS. YOU’RE ALL HEROS, THE USA AND THE WORLD THANKS YOU!
🚘 Thank Tramp for these average prices! This is per Kelly Bluebook, the average cost of a new car is $50,000!
⏰ IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME DONALD! These women deserve justice now! Meanwhile, Maxwell is getting steak dinners and exercising in luxury! 47 did that for her, just a few weeks ago.
🗳️ POLLS SAY IT’S TIME TO GO

🩺 The Republicans explicitly want to raise the cost of healthcare for millions of us. They are delaying a vote on releasing the full Epstein files. Remember, they have been trying to lie to us about it all.
💙 Keep being strong, be safe.

LOW EARLY VOTING TURNOUT MADE WORSE BY PRIVATE SCHOOL FUNCTION

(Ed.'s Note: It's bad enough that the turnout in Brownsville had been less than 1,000 votes in the first three days days, but a function for the private Kenmont Montessori school behind the main library - the busiest voting site for local elections - made access to the site virtually impossible for potential voters. 

A voting clerk said that when they arrived to open the polls the rear library  parking lot facing the school was already packed.

"Im sure some votes were discouraged and left when they couldn't find parking because of the event over there," she said.

A cursory drive around a two-block area from Central Blvd., N. Coria Street, and Wildrose Lane showed that the area was clogged with traffic from parents and relatives of the private school students who were attending the function. Ironically, there are two bond propositions for improvements in the Brownsville Independent School District which may be adversely affected by the lack of voting access to the site.)

ITS' GETTING SO WE KNOW IT'S A LIE, BUT ABOUT PAR FOR TRUMP

“It won’t interfere with the current building,” he said in July. “It’ll be near it but not touching it — and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

AFTER THREE DAYS OF EARLY VOTING, JUST A BIT OVER 1,000 VOTES

MADAME DEFARGE HAD NOTHING ON DONALD'S TANGLED WEB...

WHAT EXTRAORDINARY ABILITY? SHE CAN'T EVEN SPEAK ENGLISH

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Melania Trump obtained US citizenship on a visa reserved for immigrants with “extraordinary ability” and “sustained national and international acclaim”, according to a report in the Washington Post.

Nicknamed the “Einstein Visa”, the EB-1 is in theory reserved for people who are highly acclaimed in their field - the government cites Pulitzer, Oscar, and Olympic winners as examples - as well as respected academic researchers and multinational executives.

Mrs Trump began applying for the visa in 2000, when she was Melania Knauss, a Slovenian model working in New York and dating Donald Trump. She was approved in 2001, one of just five people from Slovenia to win the coveted visa that year, according to the Post.

Becoming a citizen in 2006 gave her the right to sponsor her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, who are now in the US and in the process of applying for citizenship.

The reports of how Mrs Trump obtained her EB-1 visa will rankle with some, at a time when her husband is railing against immigrants and attempting to scrap the right of new citizens to sponsor family members. And questions have been raised about her suitability for the extraordinary ability category.

IMMIGRANTS DO JOBS AMERICANS AREN'T WILLILNG TO DO

 

ACCORDING TO VANCE, THE SWAZTIKA AND LOVE OF HITLER IS JUST "A KID'S PRANK."

In the office of U.S. MAGA Congressman Dave Taylor, an American flag was found altered to display a swastika — seen behind a staffer during a zoom meeting.
Whether a sick prank or something worse, this is not a minor incident. We know where hate symbols lead. We’ve seen democracies fall to silence and complicity before. We will never normalize Nazi imagery — not in parliaments, not in politics, not ever.