HELL ON EARTH: THE CONFLAGARATION OF LOS ANGELES IN LIVING COLOR

 

CANADA TO TRUMP MAKING IT 51'ST STATE: (POUSSE-LE) SHOVE IT!

By Jean Chrétien

Former Canadian Prime Minister

Today is my 91st birthday.

It’s a time to celebrate with family and friends. To look back on the life I’ve been privileged to lead. And to reflect on how this country we all love so much has grown and changed in my nine decades on this earth.

This year, I’ve also decided to give myself a birthday present. I’m going to do something in this piece that I don’t do very often anymore: address a major issue that affects the state of our nation and deeply concerns me and so many other Canadians. 

Of course, it’s the totally unacceptable insults and unprecedented threats to our sovereignty from Donald Trump.

I have two very clear and simple messages.
To Donald Trump, from one old man to another: wake up! What makes you think that Canadians would ever give up the greatest country in the world – and make no mistake, that is what we are – to join the United States?

I can tell you that Canadians value their independence. We love our country. We have built something here that is the envy of the world – in compassion, in understanding, in tolerance, and in finding a way for people of different backgrounds and beliefs to live together in harmony.

We have also built a strong social safety net – including public health care – that we are very proud of. It is not perfect, but it is based on the principle that the most vulnerable among us must be protected.

It may not be the “American way” or the “Trump way.” But it is the reality that I have witnessed and lived throughout my long life.

If you think that threatening and insulting us is going to change our minds, you really don’t know us. You don’t know that when it came to fighting two world wars for freedom, we signed up – both times – years before your country did. We fought and sacrificed enormously.

We also had the courage to say no to your country when it tried to drag us into a totally unjustified and destabilizing war in Iraq.

We built a nation on the most rugged and difficult terrain imaginable. And we did it against all odds. We may appear easygoing and gentle. But make no mistake, we are determined and tough.

A Message to Our Leaders

And that brings me to my second message, to all our leaders, federal and provincial – and to those who aspire to lead our country:

Start showing that determination and that tenacity. This is what Canadians want to see – this is what they need to see. This is what we call leadership. Canadians are ready to follow. You have to lead the way.

I know the spirit is there. Since Trump’s attacks, all political parties have come out in support of Canada. In fact, to my great satisfaction, even the Bloc Québécois is standing up for Canada!

But you don’t win a hockey game by playing defence alone. We all know that even if we meet one demand, President Trump will come back with another, bigger one. This is not diplomacy, this is blackmail.

We need a different approach. One that will break this cycle.

President Trump has accomplished one thing: he has unified Canadians more than ever before! All of our country’s leaders have come together in a determination to defend Canadian interests.

When I became Prime Minister, Canada was facing a crisis of national unity. The threat of Quebec separation was real. We acted to address that existential threat in a way that made Canadians, including Quebecers, stronger, more united, and even more proud of Canadian values.

Now there is another existential threat. And we must once again reduce our vulnerability. That is the challenge for this generation of political leaders.

And you won’t do it by using the same old approaches. Yes, telling Americans that we are their best friends and their closest trading partner is a good thing. So is the intense lobbying in Washington and state capitals, emphasizing that tariffs will also hurt their economies. As for retaliatory tariffs: when you are attacked, you must defend yourself.

Reducing our vulnerability

But we must also play offense. Let’s tell Trump that we have border problems with the United States, too. Canada has strict gun control laws, but illegal guns are flooding in from the United States.

We need to tell him that we expect the United States to act to reduce the number of firearms coming into Canada. We also want to protect the Arctic. But the United States refuses to recognize the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic as Canadian waters and insists that it is an international waterway. We need the United States to recognize the Northwest Passage as Canadian waters.

We also need to reduce our vulnerability in the first place. We need to be stronger. There are more trade barriers between provinces than between Canada and the United States.

Let’s make it a national project to remove those barriers! Let’s strengthen the ties that bind this vast nation together – for example, by creating a real energy grid across the country.

We also need to understand that Donald Trump is not only threatening us, he is also targeting a growing number of other countries and the European Union itself. He is just getting started.

Canada should quickly convene a meeting of the leaders of Denmark, Panama, Mexico, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to formulate a plan to combat these threats. Every time Mr. Trump opens his mouth, he creates new allies for all of us. Let’s organize! To counter unreasonable, raw power, we need strength in numbers.

Respect for our adversaries

The challenge is not to wait in fear for Donald Trump’s next move, but to build a country and an international community that can resist him.

Canadians know me. They know that I am optimistic. That I am practical. And that I always speak my mind. I have made my share of mistakes in my long career, but I have never doubted the decency of my fellow Canadians – or my political adversaries.

The current – ​​and future – generation of political leaders should remember that they are not each other’s enemies, but adversaries. No one has ever loved the harshness of the political arena as much as I have. But I have always understood that each of us is trying to make a positive contribution to making our community and our country a better place.

That spirit is more important than ever as we face this new challenge. They should keep that in mind.
I am 91 years old today and in good health. And I stand on the ramparts to help defend our country’s independence as I have done all my life.

Long live Canada!

IS GUERRA BUILDING AN EMPIRE OUT AT THE PORT OF B'VILLE? HAS ERIC GARZA FOUND A HOME AS PORT POLICE CHIEF?

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Some public entities, like the City of Brownsville and – most recently – the Cameron County Sheriff's Department, have been considered sieves of inside information. 

Que no se diga el Brownsville Independent School District (BISD).

For the most part, it is disaffected employees who are given no outlet for what they consider to be favoritism, unfair treatment, or who honestly believe that there is wrongdoing going on in their workplace that the public should know about.

Until Eric Garza left office at the beginning the year, the sheriff's department was the number one leak factory, and the scuttlebutt emanating from the CID, the jail, patrol, etc., was more like a torrent than a leak. With the local newspaper now just an advertising cash cow and published only two or three times a week, the preferred  media for the information have been social media, this one included.

Now we're hearing that out at the Brownsville Navigation District (the Port of Brownsville, AKA the Golden Ditch), its chair Esteban Guerra has started to build a personal empire by surrounding himself with family and political allies and putting them on the port's payroll.

Guerra, who has made no secret that he would like to occupy the Cameron County judge's seat now held by judge Eddie Treviño, has made inroads toward that goal by making himself appear indispensable to congressman Vicente Gonzalez in the last congressional election in his run at House District 34 against Mayra Flores.

But even before that, Guerra has been very, very busy trying to get his allies elected at the city and the county and to influence the races that send local candidates to Austin and to Washington, D.C.

But charity begins at home, and Guerra took a highly active part in getting port commissioner Ernesto Gutierrez elected to the BND board, and cementing his hold on that board. Then, when former Port Police chief  Oscar Garcia "retired" in 2022, Guerra – with a majority of the commission – placed William Dietrich, a retired Brownsville P.D. commander, as "interim" chief. 

They made the usual noises and paid lip service (and a national head hunter firm) to conduct a national search and spent thousands looking for a permanent chief of at the port police, and predictably choose Dietrich from among all the other applicants despite his reputation among his law enforcement colleagues and prosecutors as a surly, authoritarian bully with little to no people skills.

Before that, the rumor mill had begun to grind out rumors that Dietrich was romantically involved with one of Guerra's cousins and that the couple had been seen together in public events.   

Then came the "retirement" of former Port CEO Eddie Campirano. They made the usual national search noises and spent thousands looking for a port director. Hugely qualified applicants from all over the United States and other countries sent in their resumes and visited the port for interviews. 

Among the applications was none other's than that of retired police commander – and Guerra's BF – from Brownsville, one William Dietrich.

Well, after the national "dog and pony show" search for port director to replace Campirano was concluded, the majority of the board agreed that Dietrich, who had spent his life chasing crooks and fighting crime, was the perfect candidate to lead an international port of entry without the benefit of maritime cargo experience, international law, or maritime commerce. Based on such flimsy qualifications – and with a reputation for being an unrepentant hothead – Dietrich was chosen nonetheless.

All that was supposedly rumor, but turned out to be borne out by facts. What the chairman wants, the chairman gets. And what happens if you don't kowtow to Guerra's political directives? Ask Beto Torres, who ran against Guerra's wishes in the last election, and he'll give you a mouthful about political and commercial retaliation doled out to Guerra's "enemies." https://rrunrrun.blogspot.com/2024/11/at-port-of-brownsville-chairman-guerra.html

Now the port has no police chief, with Julio Romo, a port police lieutenant, viewed as "interim" police chief. Can we expect another "nationwide search" for police chief before Guerra's wishes are carried out?

About the only political contest that Guerra's candidate lost was the one where he supported former county sheriff Garza over eventual winner Manuel "Manny" Treviño, and he made no bones of his support of his opponent by openly bragging before Treviño's supporters that Garza would mop up the floor with the Primera police chief.

 Not only that, but Guerra had let it be known that he was eyeing making a run against county judge Treviño's for his seat. This, coming out when Gonzalez was nurturing Democrat unity to beat Flores, did not go over well and reached the ears of eventual congressional winner Gonzalez, who sought to tamp down the tempers on both sides of the issue.

And if you pick up the next copy of Port Matters, don't be surprised to see either Guerra or Dietrich featured in every other article spreading the good news that the current commissioners and port administrators are the best thing that has happened out there since sliced bread. We've never had it so good as under this crew, the publicly-paid de facto propaganda organ gushes monthly. 

Here's Steve handing out an award. Here's Dietrich announcing some wonderful statistic. Next thing we'll hear is that Noah's Ark made a landing at the port and that Noah imparted his blessings on the undeserving, awe-struck natives. 

So why is it that local longshoremen – the workers actually loading and unloading cargoes and making everyone but themselves rich – are the lowest paid longshoremen in the entire Gulf coast and the Eastern Seaboard? Is the Brownsville port the port that works, but for everyone else but the workers?  

Romo, the "interim" port police chief, has been seen representing the BND at some public events, but the rumor mill is once again grinding out its product and the latest tidbit is that the rejected sheriff Garza will find a home at the port's police chief position, elbowing out Romo.

Will this also turn out to be borne true by upcoming events? 

If we were Romo, we wouldn't get too comfy at the Port Police Department seat.

SPACEX'S MUSK: TO BOCA CHICA STARBASE, AND BEYOND...

By J. David Goodman
New York Times

Over the past few years, Elon Musk has expanded his footprint in Texas, moving his companies from California and building offices, warehouses and manufacturing plants across a growing number of Texas counties. 

Now Mr. Musk is trying to do something that few, if any, titans of industry have done in a century: create his own company town. Mr. Musk has long talked about his desire to make a new town – which he hopes to call Starbase – in coastal South Texas, where his rocket launch company, SpaceX, is based.

For years, the plan did not appear to be moving forward in any official way, in part because creating a new municipality in Texas requires a certain number of residents and support from a majority of voters. But in that time, SpaceX employees have packed into newly refurbished midcentury homes and temporary housing – some of it in the form of silver Airstream trailers — in the shadow of the company’s rockets. 

Then this month, company employees who live around its offices and launch site took the first major step toward incorporating a town, gathering signatures and filing an official petition to hold an election. The petition, filed with top officials in Cameron County and shared with 

The New York Times based on a public records request, provides some of the first details on the size and the operation of the new city that Mr. Musk and his company are envisioning. 

If authorized by the county, the election would allow voters to cast a ballot for a slate of three new city officials, including the city’s first mayor. The petition suggests that the mayor will be SpaceX’s security manager, Gunnar Milburn.

“This is a very unique situation,” said Alan Bojorquez, a lawyer in Austin who specializes in helping groups of Texas residents through the process of incorporating new towns. He said he had never helped a company that wanted its employees to form their own town. The Starbase petition describes a community of around 500 current inhabitants, including at least 219 primary residents and more than 100 children, in an area at the very end of State Highway 4 by Boca Chica Beach, where SpaceX launches many of its rockets.

The town would be about 1.5 square miles, a little larger than Central Park but small by Texas standards.

Nearly everyone is a renter and works at SpaceX, according to the petition.

There are few examples in Texas of such company towns, though there is one north of Houston where the founder of the Texas Renaissance Festival created the town of Todd Mission and became its mayor. And Mr. Musk may not be content with just one new town. He has already looked into the possibility of housing employees in a development outside the town of Bastrop, near Austin. 

The area is home to a swiftly growing campus for Musk companies, including a manufacturing plant for SpaceX; the headquarters of the Boring Company, which is creating tunneling technology; and, soon, offices for the social media platform X. It was not clear from the petition why Mr. Musk and his company were seeking to create the new town of Starbase nor what benefit they might obtain from doing so.

Mr. Bojorquez said that most new towns were created by people who live in unincorporated areas and want to prevent their area from being gobbled up by an expanding city, or to keep a particularly undesirable business from moving in.

The new town being proposed by Mr. Musk could create its own police or fire departments, or issue its own ordinances. But it would not have to.

“Cities are required by law to do very little,” Mr. Bojorquez said. One of the biggest practical issues is road maintenance, which would no longer be handled by the county.

Of course, incorporation allows communities to elect their own local leaders, and also to create municipal utility systems, such as for water. As a city, Starbase would be eligible for state and federal grants, would have certain immunity from lawsuits and could also condemn property, Mr. Bojorquez said.

In a letter filed along with the petition, Kathryn Lueders, SpaceX’s general manager for Starbase, said that the company needed “the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” and noted that SpaceX “currently performs civil functions” because of its remote location, including managing utilities and providing schooling and medical care. “

“Incorporation would move the management of some of these functions to a more appropriate public body,” Ms. Lueders wrote in her letter to the Cameron County judge, who is the county’s top executive and must approve the petition if it meets all of the legal requirements.

For years, SpaceX has run into local opposition in Cameron County from environmental groups over the effect of large-scale and frequent launches on the nearby protected coastal ecology. And residents and officials from Brownsville, about 20 miles away, have at times complained that launches shut down roads and cut them off from the beach. Previously, the company had appeared interested only in having the area’s name changed for the purposes of postal delivery. An application to do so is pending before a federal agency. 

“We thought that was what they were really looking for, but I guess they wanted to extend that a little further,” the county judge, Eddie Treviño Jr., said in an interview. “Obviously, they think that there’s some advantage to it.”Mr. Treviño said that the county’s legal team and elections office were studying the petition to see if it met the legal requirements. “I’m waiting to hear back from them,” he said. An election could be scheduled next year.

The proposed new mayor, Mr. Milburn, declined to comment when reached by phone on Monday. So did others who signed the petition. Cayetana Polanco, who lives on Memes Street, which is within the proposed new town, said she was looking forward to the creation of the city of Starbase and hoped that it could be “a model of what new cities should be.” She said that she did not work for SpaceX but that her husband did.

“If all goes through with this petition, my baby might be the first child born in this city,” she added. “It would be pretty epic!”

Nearly all of the residents who live in the area work for SpaceX or have family members who do. Most live in company-owned houses clustered around the company’s main buildings, including at least one restaurant, open only to SpaceX employees.

“SpaceX is the predominant landowner in the proposed Starbase area and, with only a few exceptions, owns all the real property,” Richard Cardile, the senior manager of spaceport operations for SpaceX, wrote in an affidavit as part of the petition.

The company, he added, keeps “detailed records of all individuals who reside in each dwelling unit in the proposed city of Starbase.”
For those reasons, if county officials greenlight an election, voters appeared likely to be supportive.

One of them, presumably, would be Mr. Musk himself. He was not among those who signed the petition. But he has a residence in Cameron County, and has said he voted there in November.

BUCKEYES – THOSE WORTHLESS NUTS – HOOK THE HORNS: IT'S FIGHTING IRISH, OHIO STATE FOR NATIONAL COLLEGE TITLE

 

TCOLE'S BURRUSS BRINGS ROUND TABLE TO BROWNSVILLE AT TSC

Brownsville TCOLE commission member Patricia Garza Burruss (r) hosted the roundtable. 

By Juan Montoya

With 11-year veteran commission member Patricia Garza Burruss hosting the event at Texas Southmost College where her mother Adela Garza is board president , Gregory Stevens, the Executive Director of the Texas  Commission on Law Enforcement, held a wide-ranging round table discussion with area law enforcement entities on how best to collaborate to provide security to Texas residents.

With some 25 law enforcement officials in attendance representing local police departments, school districts, constables, the Cameron County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Cameron County District Attorney's Office, Willacy County, and the Port of Brownsville, Stevens said Friday that this was the first time ever that the TCOLE had held such an event in the city.

"We always enjoy coming to the Rio Grande Valley and we are excited to come to Brownsville,' Stevens, a 35-year law enforcement veteran, said, noting that previous meetings had been held in McAllen the past two years. The round table was held in a second-floor conference room at the Arnulfo Oliveira Student Center at Texas Southmost College.

Burruss opened the round table and introduced Stevens to the group, after which each attendee introduced themselves. Garza introduced herself as "her mother" and TSC president Jesus Roberto Rodriguez told the group that although he held three departments close to his heart, Criminal Justice was closest because "you keep our community safe. You don't call your English teacher or an electrician when something goes wrong. The people who keep our most vulnerable safe are you guys."

Brownsville Police Department Chief and Asst. City Manager Felix Sauceda welcomed Stevens and said the local department looked forward to collaborate with TCOLE to stay abreast of legislative changes that affect local departments and other law enforcement agencies.

His remarks were followed by Brownsville Independent School District Chief of Police Oscar Garcia who said that the roles of the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and TCOLE had to be synchronized so that school district departments could get a clear definition of their roles and obligations. Specifically, Garcia asked Stevens how TEA directives that require "guardians" in schools in response to active school shootings. Are "guardians" and "school marshals" the same?, Garcia asked. And were the TEA requirements the same as TCOLE's as far as training and certification?

During a recent athletic event, Garcia said that marshals from the visiting school showed up in full tactical gear, while BISD preferred them to exercise more discreetness as not to alarm the public.

This was followed by Cameron County Asst. District Attorney Edward Sandoval who told Rogers that in prosecuting active shooting cases, if a suspect was detained and held by a "guardian," would the rules of evidence and chain of custody required by courts the same? What is a guardian and what is a marshal? Can a guardian search children?

"We recently had a report of a student with a loaded gun at a school and a 'guardian' (under TEA rules) and he was detained by a teacher until the police arrived," he said. "What are the minimum standards which are needed to prosecute in a court?"

"A guardian could be a shop teacher who can lock the door and keep the students safe, while a marshal is a person who is well trained and has the authority to hunt down the school shooter and is required to attend an 80-hour program academy.," Stevens said. We need a consistent definition."

Toward that end, Stevens said the TCOLE has established three statewide committees to address the minimum standards on officer wellness, job standards, and define job descriptions.

What we have is a mess," Stevens said, as  some participants nodded in agreement. "We need to bring order back to these things. We need to bring order to these things."

"Citizens call law enforcement when everything goes sideways," he said. "When they call us what they expect is a uniformed law enforcement officer in  marked patrol unit to show up in a reasonable amount of time. How do we make this happen?"

"We appreciate our TCOLE Executive Director (Stevens) and commissioner Burruss for choosing to hold their Law Enforcement Round Table at TSC," said board president Garza. "This listening session is important to our entire law enforcement community, as it provides a unique opportunity to hold one-in-one discussions with the TCOLE leadership. Through this forum, our local law enforcement representatives have been invited to express their concerns and suggestions regarding topics such as policies, administrative issues, and training that will assist them in keeping our communities safe."

MAKE 'MERIKKKA GREAT AGAIN, AND AGAIN, AND AGAIN....

 

NOT TO BE UPSTAGED, TRUMP HOLDS HIS BIGGER, BETTER FUNERAL

La Cebolla

WASHINGTON—Peeking out of his coffin with one eye open, a jealous President-elect Donald Trump reportedly threw his own state funeral Thursday in an effort to upstage the late Jimmy Carter’s ceremony.

“I’m way deader than he is,” mumbled Trump, who lay at the opposite end of the National Cathedral as his senior aides attempted to persuade Carter funeral attendees to leave their seats and pay respects to the 45th president. 

“This coffin sure is impressive, isn’t it? The guy in here must be super beloved. We’re going to need way more than a national day of mourning. More like a month—but who knows, maybe my mourners will demand a year.”

At press time, reports confirmed Trump had sat up in the coffin to deliver his own eulogy.

A UNIQUE BROWNSVILLE INNOVATION: A CITY WARMING CENTER

(Ed.'s Note: We are always surprised at the creativity of local residents and care providers of the homeless to confront dire weather events like this recent cold snap. As can be seen above, someone hit upon the idea of recycling carboard from local dumpsters to construct a shelter to stave off the cold and rain. One of our seven readers tells us that this individual warming center is on the south side of the Good Neighbor Settlement House at Tyler and 13th streets to protect its occupants – a homeless man and his dog – from the northern gales and the elements.

With the access to three warm meals and shower just around the corner, the site was well chosen to give its occupants access. Notice the square black box – a rodent trap – in front of the carton structure, to ward off the pests.

Many years ago city voters approved a bond issue that included the construction of a homeless shelter where the Mother of Perpetual Home, but the money was diverted and it became a senior citizen assisted living center. The homeless, unwilling to travel all the way out to the Ozanam Center on Minnesota Road, looked for nooks and crannies in the empty downtown buildings and alleys, where they still remain. With the cold snap breaking, these "warming centers" will soon disappear until the next cold front.)

THEN, YEARS AFTER SILVER DIES, LONE RANGER FEELS TONTO'S BETRAYAL

TODAY, JAN.9, 2025 NATIONAL DAY OF MOURNING FOR JIMMY

January 21, 1977
Draft evaders pardoned
Carter pardons Vietnam War draft evaders.

Emergency Natural Gas Act
Congress passes Emergency Natural Gas Act, authorizing the President to deregulate natural gas prices due to a shortage in supply. Carter signs the bill and announces plans to present an energy program to Congress. He later proposes the establishment of a cabinet-level Department of Energy.

February 15, 1977
Secretary of State travels to Middle East
Secretary of State Cyrus Vance travels to the Middle East in an attempt to reconvene the 1973 Geneva Conference.

February 17, 1977
Soviet dissident receives Carter’s support
Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov receives a written letter of support from President Carter.

April 18, 1977
Carter addresses nation on energy
In an address to the nation, Carter calls his program of energy conservation the “moral equivalent of war.”

May 22, 1977
Carter speaks at Notre Dame
Carter speaks at Notre Dame University, presenting a new direction in foreign policy which takes the focus off anti-Communism and emphasizes support for fundamental human rights.

June 20, 1977
Carter opposes B-1 bomber
Carter announces opposition to production of the B-1 strategic bomber.

July 19, 1977
Carter meets Israeli Prime Minister
Newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin meets with Carter in Washington.

December 29, 1977
Carter meets Geirek in Warsaw
Carter meets with Polish First Secretary Gierek in Warsaw.

December 31, 1977
Carter visits Shah of Iran
Carter visits the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, in Tehran, calling Iran “an island of stability” in the Middle East.
Carter takes a tour
Carter travels to India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France, and Belgium.

March 9, 1978
Coal strike busted
Carter invokes the Taft-Hartley Act to end a strike by coal miners.

March 17, 1978
Potential Soviet threat
Carter warns of the Soviet threat in a foreign policy address at Wake Forest University.

June 7, 1978
Carter delivers graduation speech
Carter graduation speech at Annapolis emphasizes the importance of human rights in foreign policy.

September 5, 1978
Mediation at Camp David
Carter mediates talks between Prime Minister Menachem Begin of Israel and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt at Camp David, resulting in a peace treaty between the two nations.
Camp David Accords Signed

The peace treaty was officially signed in March 1979. It was a major breakthrough, perhaps the most significant by an American President dealing with Middle East affairs, and established a precedent for future high-level negotiations over these issues.

October 15, 1978
Congress passes energy, employment bills
Congress passes a revised energy bill eighteen months after Carter proposed it. Congress also passes the Humphrey-Hawkins full employment bill.

December 15, 1978
China granted diplomatic status
The Carter administration grants full diplomatic status to the People's Republic of China.

April 5, 1979
Phase two of energy plan
Carter announces his “phase two” energy plan calling for conservation and phasing out price controls on oil.

June 7, 1979
MX missile approved
Carter approves development of the MX missile.

June 18, 1979
Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
Carter signs the second Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT II) with the USSR. The U.S. Senate never ratifies the controversial treaty, although both nations voluntarily comply with its terms.

July 15, 1979
A crisis of confidence
Carter delivers what becomes known as his “malaise speech,” blaming the problems of the nation on “a crisis of confidence.”

July 18, 1979
Five cabinet members resign
Carter accepts the resignations of five cabinet members and names Hamilton Jordan chief of staff.

September 14, 1979
Approval ratings low
A Washington Post poll gives Carter the lowest approval rating of any President in three decades.

October 17, 1979
Department of Education established
Carter signs a bill establishing the Department of Education and appoints Shirley Hufstedler as its secretary.

November 4, 1979
Americans taken hostage in Tehran
In the longest hostage situation in recorded history, Iranian students take fifty-two American diplomats and citizens hostage for 444 days at the American embassy in Tehran. The students were supporters of the Iranian Revolution and took the hostages in protest of the United States’ harboring of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi who was accused of numerous violent crimes against Iranian citizens. After several failed rescue attempts, the death of Pahlavi in Egypt, and Iraq’s invasion of Iran (beginning the Iran-Iraq War) Iran was forced to negotiate a release; the crisis ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords on January 20, 1981.

January 23, 1980
“Carter Doctrine”
Carter announces the “Carter Doctrine” in his State of the Union address, asserting that threats to the Persian Gulf region will be viewed as “an assault of the vital interests of the United States.”

March 14, 1980
Anti-inflation program
Carter announces his anti-inflation program which includes a proposal for a balanced budget for fiscal year 1981.

April 17, 1980
Economy in recession
Carter announces that the economy is in recession, with the inflation rates hitting ten percent and interest rates climbing to eighteen percent.

April 22, 1980
Summer Olympic Boycott
The U.S. Olympic Committee votes to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympics, supporting Carter in protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

April 25, 1980
“Desert One” failure
Carter announces the failure of “Desert One,” the mission to rescue the Iranian-held hostages, and that several American military personnel had been killed.

June 1, 1980
Approval low
Carter's approval rating reaches the lowest mark of any President since 1945.

November 4, 1980
Reagan wins election
Carter loses election to Ronald Reagan, winning only 49 electoral votes to Reagan's 489.

January 20, 1981
Reagan inaugurated
Ronald Reagan is inaugurated President, and Carter leaves Washington, D.C.

NOT TO MENTION THE CAMERON COUNTY TAX APPRAISAL DISTRICT

 

INJURED JAN. 6 COP: "WE WERE KEEPING OUR OATH. NOT THEM."

By Lauren Irwin

The Hill

Former Capitol Police Sergeant Aquilino Gonell in a new op-ed criticized President-elect Trump over his pledge to pardon supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, calling it “devastating.”

In the New York Times op-ed released Sunday, a day before the fourth anniversary of the attack, Gonell relived his day inside the halls of Congress attempting to keep lawmakers safe as a mob entered looking to stop the certification of the 2020 election results.

He detailed the beating he suffered, noting he thought he would die and “never make it home to see my wife and young son.”

“Over the last four years, it’s been devastating to me to hear Donald Trump repeat his promise to pardon insurrectionists on the first day he’s back in office,” Gonell wrote.

As Trump prepares to return to the White House for a second term, he’s stated one of the first things he would do back in office is pardon Jan. 6 defendants.

Gonell wrote that he sustained long-lasting injuries that required multiple surgeries and years of rehab for post-traumatic stress disorder. Yet in the op-ed, he calls himself one of the lucky responding officers.

“Although I left the Capitol Police force, I remain haunted by that day,” he wrote. “Now Mr. Trump’s promised actions could erase the justice we’ve risked everything for.”

He later added that he wonders why he risked his life for elected officials inspired by Trump “only to see him return to power stronger than ever.”

Gonell, who’s become an outspoken Trump critic and testified in court, also noted his fear of retribution from the new administration.

Ahead of the anniversary, Gonell also told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart that it would be an “outrage” and a “desecration” to the sacrifice of those who died serving that day if Trump pardoned rioters.

Gonell noted on air that he’s applied for benefits for the trauma and financial burden he’s experienced since leaving his job that have yet to be approved.

He said he didn’t think four years ago that he would be on air in 2025 telling his story ahead of another Trump presidency.

Gonell in the op-ed called on Trump to let the Jan. 6 rioters’ convictions stand, saying it would help heal a divided nation.

“Those people, they attack us, the police officers. They are not warriors. They are not the victims,” Gonell said on MSNBC. “They chose to commit a crime because they were so gullible enough to believe the lies of Donald Trump without any evidence.”

“We were doing our job,” he continued. “We were keeping our oath. Not them.”

PREMIER COMING TO THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 20, 2025

RGV COUNTIES LEAD STATE WITHOUT HEALTH INSURANCE

SmartAsset.com

Top 20 counties with the highest rates of uninsured people

No. 1 – Hidalgo County, Texas

 People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 32.05%

Population per primary care physician: 2,158

Population per mental health care professional: 1,199

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.57%

No. 2 – Cameron County, Texas 

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 30.08%

Population per primary care physician: 2,034

Population per mental health care professional: 1,128

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 13.65%

No. 3 – Webb County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 29.69%

Population per primary care physician: 3,268

Population per mental health care professional: 1,913

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.28%

No. 4 – Starr County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 29%

Population per primary care physician: 3,885

Population per mental health care professional: 4,695

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.46%

No. 5 – Ector County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 25.26%

Population per primary care physician: 1,751

Population per mental health care professional: 1,962

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 18.56%

No. 6 – Potter County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 24.44%

Population per primary care physician: 1,143

Population per mental health care professional: 385

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 13.36%

No. 7 – Dallas County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 24.15%

Population per primary care physician: 1,387

Population per mental health care professional: 487

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 14.88%

No. 8 – Harris County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 23.76%

Population per primary care physician: 1,717

Population per mental health care professional: 613

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 13.93%

No. 9 – El Paso County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 23.52%

Population per primary care physician: 2,014

Population per mental health care professional: 810

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 10.09%

No. 10 – Whitfield County, Georgia

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 23.43%

Population per primary care physician: 1,870

Population per mental health care professional: 742

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 10.12%

No. 11 – Liberty County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 23.24%

Population per primary care physician: 4,649

Population per mental health care professional: 3,643

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.51%

No. 12 – Bastrop County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 22.81%

Population per primary care physician: 4,252

Population per mental health care professional: 1,455

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 14.94%

No. 13 – Jefferson County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 22.68%

Population per primary care physician: 2,097

Population per mental health care professional: 758

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 11.51%

No. 14 – Angelina County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 22.52%

Population per primary care physician: 1,518

Population per mental health care professional: 593

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 13.25%

No. 15 – Gregg County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 22.01%

Population per primary care physician: 1,099

Population per mental health care professional: 451

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.65%

No. 16 – Nacogdoches County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 21.99%

Population per primary care physician: 1,406

Population per mental health care professional: 721

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 11.64%

No. 17 – Henderson County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 21.69%

Population per primary care physician: 2,789

Population per mental health care professional: 1,432

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.11%

No. 18 – Smith County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 21.18%

Population per primary care physician: 1,014

Population per mental health care professional: 593

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 11.74%

No. 19 – Nueces County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 21.16%

Population per primary care physician: 1,266

Population per mental health care professional: 648

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 9.83%

No. 20 – Wise County, Texas

People under 65 that are uninsured, 2024: 20.88%

Population per primary care physician: 2,656

Population per mental health care professional: 1,702

Children under 19 who are uninsured, 2024: 12.98%

COWBOY FAN ALERT! HOW TO SPOT A FAKE PLAYOFF TICKET

ESTOS BATOS! SIGHTING OF THE ANGEL OF DEATH IN BROWNSVILLE. YOU GET DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER AND GUESS WHO SHOWS UP?

Commenter: "Erasmo has been diagnosed with cancer supposedly, and Robert Sanchez (Captain Bob) jumped on the opportunity to do a show on his (supposed) dying bedside holding his hand and kissing it a few times (in hopes he would get sympathy from some desperate woman?)."

SPACEX: FIRST, 12 SATELLITE LAUNCHES A YEAR, NOW 25 STARSHIP LAUNCHES; HEARINGS TUESDAY AT TSC CIVIC CENTER. THURSDAY P.I. HEARINGS CANCELLED

By Juan Montoya

Elon Musk and SpaceX came to South Texas under false pretenses back in May 2012.

During the initial hearing of the Federal Aviation Administration at the ITEC at Amigoland Mall, there was talk of using his leased or owned properties out at Boca Chica Beach for 12 satellite launches a year, and – with the help of cheerleader Gilbert Salinas, then a VP at the Brownsville Economic Development Corporation – dangled sugar plums of 600 employees at $75,000 and a multimillion space "tourism" industry.

Some 500 people attended that meeting and the half dozen or so who voiced environmental concerns and the loss of public access to the beach were not allowed to speak until the very end of the hearing.

Steve Davis, SpaceX’s project leader for the Brownsville site told The Brownsville Herald “It is really important to go to a place that wants us to be there and to know both the positive impacts and the negative impacts and really judge that. That is kind of the stage we are in right now. It has been very, very positive, which has been great.” Davis said of community response.

"What do you see when you look out at the beach from here," former Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez said he asked Musk during the groundbreaking at the site. "The future," Martinez said Musk replied.

Well, here we are and how do we like it 13 years into the future?

Well, those 600  - or was it 1,000? - jobs at $75,000 - or was it $55,000? - never materialized. Neither did the 12 satellite launches that would generate the tourism dollars.

According to the Federal Register, SpaceX proposed to build a vertical launch area and a control center to support up to 12 commercial launches per year. The vehicles launched would include the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy and smaller reusable, suborbital launch vehicles. There was no mention of a Starship or of a Starbase private city for Musk and his minions.

Instead of a launch site, and with the help of the often too-willing state and federal environmental agencies, SpaceX instead turned their Boca Chica site into a rocket manufacturing and rocket test site. Despite the Salinas hype (he is now the CEO of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation, or GBIC) and that of the city, no one is going "From Boca Chica to Mars...and Beyond" from there.

Instead, the site has emerged as the premier rocket-manufacturing site for NASA's plans to return to the moon and start the process to send manned missions to Mars. But the missions to the moon and the red planet will not launch from Boca Chica. All launches of those rockets and craft will  be from Cape Canaveral in Florida. After all, they do have running water there, unlike Boca Chica, Starbase, or whatever.

At the time of the initial FAA hearing on May 2012, Salinas and his former boss (the late Jason Hilts) were saying this:

Brownsville Herald quoting BEDC's VP Gilbert Salinas and BEDC CEO Jason Hilts:
"If constructed, the new launch site is reported to directly or indirectly create about 1,000 jobs, all paying in excess of $55,000.

This was quite different from the Environmental Impact Statement that SpaceX submitted to the FAA:
Approximately 30 full-time SpaceX employees/contractors would be present at the vertical launch area and/or control center area in 2013... During a launch campaign, an additional 100 local or transient workers would be working at the vertical launch area and/or control center area. During launch campaigns, the additional workers could work extended hours; however, 2 days prior to launch, full-time SpaceX employees/contractors and the local or transient workers would need to be on-site for up to 24 hours per day. Staffing on-site would return to normal levels (approximately 30 full-time SpaceX employees/contractors) within a day or two after the actual launch. 

Table 2.1-2 shows the number of full-time SpaceX employees/contractors working on site plus the local/transient workers necessary during launch campaigns that would be present between 2013 and 2022.
Table 2.1-2. Personnel for Proposed SpaceX Texas Launch Site Operations

Year                      Full-time SpaceX                                   Full-time SpaceX
                            Employees/Contractors                           Employees/Contractors plus
                               Working On-Site                           Additional Local/Transient Workers
                                                                                         during Launch Campaigns

2013                                          30                                                       130
2014                                          75                                                       175
2015                                         100                                                      200
2016                                         100                                                      200
2017                                         110                                                      210
2018                                         130                                                      230
2019                                         150                                                      250
2020                                         150                                                      250
2021                                         150                                                      250

2022                                         150                                                      250 

As we said at the top, things have changed drastically than when these plums were dangled before local eyes. SpaceX has dropped all pretenses that it will launch 12 commercial satellites. What is out there, according to Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño, is a site that currently employs over 3,400 full-time workers and contractors, albeit not all local workers. It's not what was promised, but in comparison to what was there in 2012, a vast economic improvement. 

All this, of course, comes at a cost. For all practical purposes, Boca Chica is no longer a public-access beach, and is open to residents only when not used by SpaceX. With the proposed 25 Starship launches (two a month) that is no longer a public beach. And the environmental cost to that once-pristine coast and the maritime nurseries of the laguna is far from having been fully measured.

But the hype from Salinas and the Sunshine Boys over at the city and the Chamber of Commerce and his GBIC has never stopped and just keeps rising. Brownsville is rising in the national "hotspot" rankings and is "shaping the future of economic growth in the region,” he now says, crediting the power of "collaboration, strategic investment and forward-thinking leadership." Retch. 

And, more Ec-Dev buzzwords and cliches in the press release that gushes that SpaceX has turned the region into “a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse.”

The press release states: “The company’s investments in its Boca Chica facility – nearly $3 billion – have had a profound impact on the local economy, supporting over 21,000 indirect jobs and creating a ripple effect that fuels continued growth. With SpaceX’s focus on commercial launches and advanced manufacturing, the city is positioned to continue its upward trajectory.”

Put on your high boots as Salinas piles on the hype, citing outmoded transportation metaphors to refer to the impact of space age industries on South Texas.

“I like to refer to the economic development as a locomotive,” he said. “It’s slow at first but once it gets traction, there’s no stopping it. We’re seeing how Brownsville is really starting to gain traction in different facets of the economy, especially as it pertains to industry and forward thinking companies such as SpaceX. Can’t wait to see when this train reaches full speed."

Take all that with a grain of Boca Chica sand, if you can get there. Here's a list of the places and times where the FAA hearings will be held and make your voice heard above the hyperbole-filled din of these gents.

*Tuesday, January 7, 2025; 1:00 PM–3:00 PM & 5:30 PM–7:30 PM CT at the Texas Southmost College, Jacob Brown Auditorium, 600 International Boulevard, Brownsville, TX 78520

*Virtually on Monday, January 13, 2025; 5:30 PM–7:30 PM CT

ALERT!

-------------------THURSDAY MEETINGS IN PORT ISABEL CANCELLED----------------------------- 

*Thursday, January 9, 2025; 1:00 PM–3:00 PM & 5:30 PM–7:30 PM CT at the Port Isabel Event & Cultural Center, Queen Isabella Room, 309 E Railroad Avenue, Port Isabel, TX 78578


Public comments can also be submitted to www.regulations.gov under Docket No. FAA-2024-2006.

They can also be mailed to Amy Hanson, FAA Environmental Specialist, SpaceX EA, c/o ICF, 1902 Reston Metro Plaza Reston, VA. 20190, or delivered in written or verbal form during a public meeting. 

COUNTY JUDGE TIES THE KNOT, MARIACHIS AND WELL WISHERS

Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Treviño (The former Erika Liliana Flores, now CC First Lady.)

Well wishers included Cameron County Pct. 1 commissioner Sofie Benavides and her daughter J.P. 2-3 Mary Esther Sorola and hubby local attorney Louis Sorola. 

FEDERAL POST OFFICE AT LOS EBANOS BLVD. NAMED AFTER BROWNSVILLE US ARMY OFFICER KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN

Office of U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34) released a statement following the signing by President Joseph R. Biden Jr. of his legislation, H.R. 6244, into law last evening. H.R. 6244 will rename the U.S. Post Office located at 1535 East Los Ebanos Boulevard, Brownsville, Texas, in honor of fallen soldier and Brownsville native, First Lieutenant Andres Zermeño.

Gonzalez introduced the bill more than a year ago on November 6, 2023. The bill passed the House December 16, 2024 and was signed into law by President Joe Biden on January 2, 2025.   

First Lieutenant Andres Zermeño answered the call to serve in 2008 by commissioning into the United States Army where he served overseas during “Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)”.

In 2011, First Lieutenant Zermeño was tragically killed in action while on patrol in Shekhabad, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered from a rocket-propelled grenade. He is survived by his wife and two children.

“First Lieutenant Andres Zermeño was an American hero who bravely laid down his life for our country,” said Congressman Gonzalez. 

“I would like to thank President Biden for signing this bill into law, which will allow the people of Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley to pay tribute to First Lieutenant Zermeño’s sacrifice and courage.”

PETE BENAVIDES' DREAM OF A STATE-OF-THE-ART PARK BEING FULFILLED

Brownsville Herald

The Pedro "Pete" Benavides Park began with two baseball fields, a soccer field and picnic pavilion. Since then the county has added a full-covered basketball court, walking and mountain bike trails, a splash pad, playground, exercise and volleyball courts, and picnic pavilions.

On Monday, an $183,000 addition now includes pickelball as an amenity.

On Dec. 22, the park hosted the first of what will be an annual mountain bike race, Cameron County_Pct. 1 Commissioner Benavides said, adding that the event drew 63 competitors from across the Valley and even the Mexican cities of Camargo and Reynosa. More improvements to the park are coming, including another playground a “pump track” – like a skate park but for bikes, she said.
J.R. Raschilla, PB drill instructor for RGV Pickleball, led officials and others in attendance to an adjacent court to explain the rules of the game. Players then offered a demonstration.

The two new courts cost approximately $183,000 to build, including nets, shade structures, landscaping, fencing and picnic tables, according to the county. The project was funded by 2024 certificates of obligation. The contractor was A&I Custom Manufacturing.

Benavides said her husband would be proud to see how far project he initiated has come, and welcomed everyone to take advantage of it.
“I try and bring something new every so often when we have money,” she said.

County Parks Director Joe Vega, taking a turn at the microphone during the ceremony, described it as “an exciting day for Cameron County parks,” adding that $25 million in improvements to county parks, including Benavides, will begin in the new year.

“We’re fixing to start getting busy here,” he said.
Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño noted that he was mayor of Brownsville when Benavides Park opened, and expressed amazement at what Benavides and the county have done with it over nearly 20 years.

“Really this is a state-of-the-art facility,” he said. “But it would not have been realized without Sofia’s commitment and leadership.”

DRONE, UFO, ORB, OVER SAN BENE? OR CAN ANYBODY GUESS?