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Thank you for all of your support!

He'll Keep Your Money, Today!

You know, Mattress Mack should be lauded for all his charitable givings. Give him the key to the city for his efforts. We all know that when we are charitable, it's not just because we have good hearts, it's also because we can knock a little off our income tax bill. So, charity is nice, but there is benefit to it.

We also have a duty to pay our taxes, and Mr. Mack owes a nice amount to the Northside Management District.

Much like Mr. Mack's Republican Party enjoys ranting about, and have historically given themselves tax giveaways to coincide with their charitable givings, it's still the law. You gotta pay your taxes. The Republicans hatefully target immigrants as non-taxpayers, which is a load of Texas manure. Yet, they'll use the "representation" card when they are required to pay a tax voted in by their elected representatives?

It should not surprise us. Let's not forget the teabagging that went on recently. Their only reason for not wanting to pay taxes was because they didn't vote for President Obama, as if one should only pay taxes to the elected official they actually like.

The Northside Management District does much for the area, but it is not an entity the size of a city. Still, they provide much. As I drive through the area at times, I see the police cars, the crews filling potholes or cleaning neighborhoods. Here's the bigger question: Without them, who would do it?

Mr. Mack complains that he pays $1800 a week to have the lawn mowed, including rights of way. He should find out as to the ownership of those rights of way. Or maybe he can work out a deal with the management district to have them mow the lawn at a discount? What the heck, they'd only be doing it for him, because I doubt the district mows anyone elses lawn.

As most people with money will do, they'll make sure a taxing entity spends money in order to get what is owed them. So, he's suing. I see him losing.

Jim McIngvale did, however, pay taxes assessed by the district in 2008. He says he paid to limit the amount he’ll have to pay if he loses the pending court case.

He claims he's not represented, but he's already paid taxes, thus acknowledging the entity. Bad move Mack!

It's like a tell all those whining Republicans...PAY YOUR TAXES!

Still, I hope his store recovers quickly because it helps the economy. But we all know that no one person is better than the other, and we all have a duty to pay our taxes. Heck, even the folks in NOLA had to continue paying their mortgages and taxes after Katrina.

Ed Gonzalez's Shoeleather Express

Friends:

With only 2 weeks to go until the District H Special Election Runoff, the Ed Gonzalez campaign is hard at work in the community. We are knocking on doors and calling friends and neighbors to get them to the polls. Early voting begins Monday, June 1st, so there is no time to spare. There is only one candidate with the work experience, long-term dedication to the community and presence in all areas of District H and his name is Ed Gonzalez. Please help us talk to as many voters as we can this weekend before the polls open on Monday at 8:00 am!

Saturday, May 30, 2009 and
Meeting Location: 415 Fairbanks in Lindale Park
Time: 9:30 am
Remember to bring a hat & to wear comfortable clothing & shoes!
RSVP to edforh@yahoo.com

Sunday, May 31st
Meeting Location: 415 Fairbanks in Lindale Park
Meeting time: 1:00 pm

See you then!

UH-D Names New President

After 17 succesful, growth-filled years at the helm of the University of Houston-Downtown, Dr. Max Castillo is stepping down as President. The UH Board of Regents has placed their stamp of approval on the next president, William Flores.

As is customary, some Chron commenter will ask, I'm sure, about his qualifications, since he is, you know, Latino (there's a lot of that going on nowadays, in case you haven't noticed):

Flores previously was interim president and provost at New Mexico State University, following a six-year stint as executive vice president and provost there.From 1996 to 2001, Flores was a dean and professor of political science at Cal State Northridge. He previously taught at Cal State Fresno, where he was associate dean of the School of Social Sciences and, prior to that, chairman of the department of Chicano-Latin American Studies. He also has taught at Stanford, Santa Clara University and Cal State Hayward. He received a Rockefeller Fellowship for Scholarship in the Humanities in 1993 and spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York.

He has a Ph.D. from Stanford University in social theory and public policy and a master’s degree in political science from Stanford. He graduated cum laude from the University of California at Los Angeles with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Flores has directed several community service programs, including having served as associate director and interim executive director of Gardner Community Health Center in San Jose, Calif., 1981-84. He has served as co-editor of “Latino Cultural Citizenship: Claiming Identity, Space and Rights,” published by Beacon Press. He has also served on the board of the Pacific Chapter of the U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and has been active in numerous community organizations.

And a PoliSci guy, too. Not bad at all! Congrats to President Flores.

Thoughts on Viernes...05292009

It's Not About Race...

Looks like the Hispanic Chamber went there! The 800 pound Jalapeno in the room: Since the Feds provided for the creation of an Hispanic-opportunity district, does it have to be represented by an Hispanic?

I'll be the first one to say it. No! It doesn't have to be represented by an Hispanic. But when you have a highly qualified, progressive-minded product of the district, why not?

As a highly-educated Chicano myself, I've been proud to click on a Anglo candidate running against a brown person, especially when the brown person is not a progressive (cough-cough, Roy and/or Danny More-or-Less Mexicano). So, no, it's not about race, or in this case, ethnicity. As a voter, I'm interested in having a highly qualified candidate with whom I can identify, whether it by that candidate's story, or something else.

And as someone who has worked in higher education, I am in agreement with great minds that strongly believe that diversity in the faculty and administrative ranks provides for a positive image to the burgeoning Latino college student community. In other words, when first-time-in-college Latino students see someone that looks like them in positions of power, they have a role-model. Perhaps more Latinos would vote with more people that look like us in positions of importance. So, why in the world would someone want to block that from happening?

Frankly, I don't expect Welsh to answer that as much as I expect his recent endorser who is supposed to support the ideal I just described as a member of the HCC board.

"The Race"

Well there they go again. Direct translation can be a terrible thing. Mizanur Rahman at the Chron's immigration blog goes through what I've had to do many times--defend the use of "raza". The bigots on the far-right (and even clueless lib-labs who don't like race issues) always attempt to attack Chicanos and other Latinos who use that word. There's a national organization called the National Council of La Raza. And in the 70s, Texas had a pretty successful political third party that I still say changed the face of the Democratic Party, La Raza Unida. Hell, there's even a radio station that calls itself La Raza. "Raza" is directly translated as "race." In Chicano-speak, it simply means people. Or if we are trying to get a crowd excited, we might say, "Orale Raza..." which loosely means, "C'mon, people..."

Have you (my Anglo readers), ever been pissed off at drivers who hold up traffice and say, "oh these people!" Well, when some of us get annoyed, we sometimes blurt out, "ay esta raza". We're not saying, "oh, this race." We're not saying, "C'mon, race..." It doesn't even make sense, unless you're some right-wing racist nut.

So, once and for all, right-wing: Cut the crap! Chicanos and other Latinos could never out-racist you. We simply don't have the power to be racist. But something tells me, that's what those nuts fear the most.

GOP: Latinos Are Watching

Victor Landa at the Express-News has a pretty good piece GOP reaction to Justice Sotomayor.

The real fight in the coming weeks will not be the obvious one, the one featured in news and commentary about the nominee and her qualifications and ideology. The real fight is going to be a side brawl where Republicans and conservatives will fight each other for dominance of the right-of-center political space. The blows will be aimed at Sotomayor, but they'll be intended to land on inner-party rivals.

Watch for the definitions, watch for the assumptions, and pay attention to what will be said and meant in light of the Republican struggle for identity. It's going to be a tough fight. Sotomayor will eventually be the next Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, but take note because much more will be going on than a debate over a Supreme Court nominee.

Foro Hispano Features Ed Gonzalez, Annise Parker

Bilingual Video--Watch it! Also featured is Vidal Martinez from the early-redistricting lawsuit against the City. Although I agree with his intentions, I'm hoping the Census numbers determine a better, more diverse outcome. Check it out!

Our future mayor also registers her thoughts on the two District seats that have been created to increase Latino representation (District H and I). I must say I agree completely with Annise Parker.

Media Misrepresentation of Justice Sotomayor

And MediaMatters is working on knocking the naysayers out.

Politico, Wash. Post omit context of Sotomayor remark about "Latina," "white male" judgesDiscussing the politics surrounding Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination, the Politico and The Washington Post omitted the context of her 2001 remark about "Latina" and "white male" judges. Read More

Will baselessly claims Sotomayor "embraces ...idea of categorical representation"In his Washington Post column, George Will baselessly claimed Sonia Sotomayor "embraces identity politics," including the notion that "members of a particular category can be represented -- understood, empathized with -- only by persons of the same identity."Read More

Conservatives react to historic Supreme Court nominee by smearing Sotomayor as "racist," "bigot"Numerous conservative media figures have misrepresented remarks Judge Sonia Sotomayor made during a speech at Berkeley in 2001 to smear her as a racist and a bigot. Read More

WSJ, USA Today advance conservatives' distortions of Sotomayor's Duke remarkThe Wall Street Journal and USA Today advanced conservative efforts to portray Sonia Sotomayor as an activist judge by misrepresenting a remark she made about the difference between district and appeals court justices. Read More

Lauer falsely claims Sotomayor said appellate courts make policy rather than interpreting lawsMatt Lauer misrepresented comments made by Sonia Sotomayor about the role of appellate courts and suggested that Sotomayor was "an activist judge." Read More

Milbank joins smear campaign challenging Sotomayor's intellectEchoing an early smear of Judge Sonia Sotomayor, The Washington Post's Dana Milbank wrote that "portraits" of Sotomayor describe her as merely "competent, but no Louis Brandeis" -- but numerous "portraits" Media Matters has identified describe Sotomayor as "highly intelligent" and even "brilliant." Read More

Fox airs on-screen graphics featuring Sotomayor's college yearbook quote of Socialist ThomasFox News featured on-screen graphics noting that Judge Sonia Sotomayor quoted Norman Thomas, a six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America, in her Princeton yearbook. Neither Sotomayor's yearbook page nor Thomas was discussed during the segment. Read More
Lowry distorts Sotomayor statement on whether "judges should transcend their 'personal sympathies and prejudices' "Rich Lowry falsely claimed that Judge Sonia Sotomayor "disagreed with a colleague who thought judges should transcend their 'personal sympathies and prejudices.' " In fact, in the speech Lowry referenced, Sotomayor made clear that she "agree[d]" with the sentiment that judges should seek to "transcend their personal sympathies and sentiments" whenever possible. Read More
Fox's Bream falsely suggests Sotomayor ruling in firefighters case outside the mainstreamShannon Bream echoed a conservative talking point by falsely suggesting that Sonia Sotomayor's position in Ricci v. DeStefanoindicates that she is outside the mainstream of the current court. Read More
Media cite "policy" comment in falsely accusing Sotomayor of "judicial activism"Several media outlets and figures have advanced the falsehood that Sonia Sotomayor's statement that the "court of appeals is where policy is made" means that she believes in "judicial activism." In fact, numerous legal experts have stated that her comment was accurate and uncontroversial. Read More
Wash. Times, CQ uncritically report criticism that Sotomayor's Supreme Court reversal rate is "high"The Washington Times and CQ Today advanced without challenge the charge that Judge Sonia Sotomayor's reversals, which theTimes reported as three of five cases, or 60 percent, are "high." But the Supreme Court has reversed more than 60 percent of the federal appeals court cases it considered each year since 2004. Read More
Some media reject claims that Sotomayor is a liberal activistConservative media figures have been quick to describe Sonia Sotomayor as, in Sean Hannity's words, "left-wing" and an "activist." Several media figures and legal experts reject this characterization, describing her as a "political centrist." Read More
Media, others dredge up discredited smear piece in reporting on Sotomayor nominationNumerous media figures have cited anonymous smears of Sonia Sotomayor's intellect and temperament reported by The New Republic's Jeffrey Rosen, though Rosen has admitted he had neither read enough of her opinions nor spoken to enough of her supporters to form a fair assessment of her. Read More
Myths and falsehoods surrounding the Sotomayor nominationThe media have advanced numerous myths and falsehoods about Sonia Sotomayor. In addition to evaluating these claims on their merits, the media should also consistently report that conservatives were reportedly very clear about their intentions to oppose President Obama's nominee for political purposes, no matter who it was. Read More

A New Singing Sensation in L.A.!

Who needs canned "reality" shows when you actually have talent?

In the tradition of DosCentavos, I now have the opportunity to show off my nephew, Benny Briseno, performing a Jazz number at the Smokehouse in L.A.

According to reports, after his performance, he was swarmed by all-new legions of fans.

Joaquin Phoenix could learn much from Benny.

@ The 1400 w/ Ed Gonzalez

Come support the DosCentavos-endorsed candidate in City Council District H!

Come one, come all on Thursday night to 1400 on Shepherd Drive for an Ed Gonzalez Campaign event! Join host Rick "Ricky B." Barajas and Friends of Ed for an evening of live music featuring Johnny & The Heartbreakers. Suggested donation is $25...

Thursday, May 28th

6PM

1400 Bar and Grill

1400 Shepherd Drive

RSVP on Facebook

Who To Blame? The Republinuts, That's Who!

Ratcliffe and Sharrer have in article in MYSA.com regarding the blame game that is going on in Austin. Of course, in theory, each side can bring up what the other side did to lay the blame. But nothing is as hilarious as this Republican Line:

“We did spend five days asking meaningless, pointless questions about butterflies, cold remedies and Christmas trees when we could have been working on clean air and access to health care,” said Chairman Brian McCall, R-Plano, whose committee set the voting bill for House debate.

That's right folks, the Chair of the committee that approved the bill to disenfranchise millions of Texans, the same bill which forced Democrats to "chub" and block a vote for it, shoveled that line to the press.

Since when have Republicans been interested in Clean Air and Access to Health Care?

As far as Voter Suppression is concerned, the Republican started this mess.

But Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said Dewhurst and the Republican senators made the bill the session's problem by changing their rules for this one piece of legislation so they could run over Democrats to pass it.

“If you want to set blame, you have to start with the catalyst,” Coleman said.

Lalo Alcaraz on Sotomayor

My friend and Cartoonista Lalo Alcaraz posted his editorial comic in commemoration of our first Hispanic and third woman nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. According to Lalo, it's a rendition of his youngest daughter.

POTUS and SCOTUS: It's Sotomayor

OK, sure, I was hoping for a Chicana, but a Puertorriquena is just fine with me. And like hell if I'm going to let Rush Limbaugh dictate on interLatino relations:

"Sotomayor is Puerto Rican, this is going to make the Mexicans and the Cubans angry."

After all of the attack ads from the right, and even a funny, yet, stereotypical, view of things from Letterman, President Obama has decided to go with Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Frankly, after seeing that Obama has been very careful as he navigates the immigration issue, I am surprised that he is willing to go through a possible firestorm to get his nominee on the bench. That tells me that she is worth the battle, or, things may be tempered because of her Ivy League background.

There's no doubt that Sotomayor has the qualifications to be on the bench, so that aspect will not be challenged from the right-wing. But one can expect the "L" word to be thrown around, and I would expect Republican e-mails to go crazy with the whole Latino thing (is she illegal? are her parents illegal? is she an anchor baby?).

Well, ultimately, this is a political message to Latinos: From which political party did the nomination come?

Some say that Bush appointing Latinos to various positions helped him achieve some of his numbers. And let's face it, in politics (political ads, appointments, and all that), image is everything.

Congrats to Justice Sotomayor. Let the confirmation begin.

From Gov. Goodhair to Gov. Klansman?

Well, it was bound to happen. Some nut-bar anti-Mexican Republinut is running for Governor!

"I want to run for governor because there's one major problem in this state that no one seems to be addressing, and in of fact they are completely avoiding it, and that was quite evident in this legislative session as well, and that's the question of illegal aliens in Texas."

Now, some Democrats may be treating him like a nut. I, on the other hand, can see this guy bringing the nuts from both parties together. Why? Unlike the other nut, Kinky, who was slinging some of his own anti-immigrant BS a couple of years ago, this other nut actually lives for it and is a true believer in his verson of America. When he targets the U.S. Constitution for change, not only is he serious, but he is a real danger to America and Texas.

So, at least in early 2010, this may be a test for Republicans. Are they that nutty?

And if they are nutty enough to make him their candidate, how will Democrats respond? Republican-lite? Just as nutty? Or even nuttier?