Trash Fee Increase - Statistically Sound, but Politically and Motivation Wise, Who Knows

This chart appeared in today's Laredo Morning Times. It shows that Laredo is paying less than the cities shown for trash pickup, even with the proposed increase.

Are they right in comparing cities like Austin and Brownsville with Laredo.

I really never like these kinds of analysis, because they fail to get to the heart of the matter, which is; "Can the community afford it?".

In this case, the answer is yes, if these trash collection fees are apples to apples numbers.  I do not have the "free" time to dig to that level.

But, I did do a very quick, unscientific, look at the following numbers.  I have listed each cities the percentage of people in the city at or below the poverty level, and the trash pick up bill.

Notice, that Laredo is third highest in the percent of people in poverty.  This simple chart shows that the cities with higher poverty rates have lower trash collection bills with the exception of Brownsville.  Not sure why they are out of whack.   Note, that I have divided the trash rate for bi-weekly pickups in half.

What is not shown here are the recent expenditures by the city to have trash collection done by robot armed trash trucks requiring less labor to operate.  This was supposed to reduce cost through less employees and a reduced risk and cost of injuries to workers.  Where, and how much was that savings?

One man trash truck

Overall, Laredo does not appear to be out of line with it's increase, at least from a simple statistical standpoint.  Politically, and as for motivational reasons, those are different issues, and I wonder if we would really need this increase if our police and fire departments did not consume over 65% of the city budget.

This is the kind of analysis that I would like see when we talk about any pay scale increases for any city employee.  Yet, no one seems to want to take the couple of hours to do it.  So sad that the local media fail in this respect.

Pin Headed Decisions and Whiners - Lance Armstrong's Debacle

7 Time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong

Lance's Title to be Stripped After He Quits Fight:
read full story here


I for one am tired of all of the bicycling groups trying to take racing titles away from Lance Armstrong, arguably the best cyclist in the world with seven Tour de France titles.

Lance has finally said he is tired of all of the defending he is having to do to keep his titles.

Lance has NEVER failed a drug test after taking hundreds of them.  Yet, some whiners who are either jealous, mad, or will do anything to tear down a good man, cannot accept that.  They wish to continually investigate Lance, and he has had it.

Good for you Lance.  You beat cancer, and you beat hundreds of riders in the many races you ran.  You need to prove nothing more to me or most Americans.  You are a true sports hero.

Note:  To the whiners in this country, whether you be going after Lance, or anyone who is successful (rich) in this county, SHUT UP, I AM SICK OF YOUR WHINING, JEALOUSY, AND CHILDISHNESS.  TAKE YOUR WHINE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY, I A SURE THEY WILL LISTEN.

The Troops are Getting Restless

Some ICE agents are suing the Department of Homeland Security for failing to allow them to do their jobs.  This will be interesting.  Not sure they can do that, but we shall see.

Read the whole story here.

Rape and Abortion

How can a community, like Laredo, that is well over 50% Catholic support President Obama and a national Democratic Party that supports abortion?  How is that possible?

"LIFE" of the unborn should outweigh the taxpayer entitlements promised by the President.  Without the gift of life, there is nothing.

All this uproar over a "democratically supported/funded" Senate candidate in Missouri who made a stupid comment about illegitimate rape, is overshadowing the fact that the Democratic Committee has inserted a plank in it's platform that calls for unlimited abortions at the taxpayers expense.

How can a Catholic support this?

Peace Activist Blame United States for Mexican Drug War

Here is the headline from the San Antonio Express News article today:

Activists blame America for toll of Mexico drug war

Read full story

While the activist are somewhat correct in their statements that the US consumption of drugs has lead to violence in Mexico, they try to shift too much of the blame to us.

For one, had the Mexican government long ago not gotten so close to the cartel bosses and groups, and they had actually enforced Mexican law, I doubt we would be having near the problems of drug violence we are seeing today.

As for the legalization of some narcotics, I agree we need to really discuss that and look at funding shifts from the "War on Drugs" to the prevention of use of drugs and treatment for those afflicted.

But that will never happen until Mexico and it's citizens look deep inside their government institutions and take action to fix what is broken.

Leave the Prince Alone

Of all the stupid and idiotic things for the world press to be concerned with.   Prince Harry partying in Las Vegas with some of his fellow soldiers who are leaving for the Afghan war zone soon.

He is a young man with the means to have a huge party.  So be it.  Are all you press morons jealous...of course you are...you are always whinning about the rich and famous.  Grow up.

Harry, enjoy your time in Vegas, and keep your head down in Afghanistan.

US Dept. of Justice's New Motto: To stupid to know better, to crazy to care.

Just when you think you have seen the federal government do everything along comes this memoout of the US Dept. of Justice. (Read the entire memo here.)

It appears that in a memo outlining the types of disabilities that are acceptable by the DOJ, these two pop out:

• severe intellectual disability
• psychiatric disability

As PJ Media reports, the plan is even worse than you might think:

Those with “targeted disabilities” may be hired through a “non-competitive” appointment. That means they don’t have to endure the regular civil service competition among applicants, but can be plucked from the stack of resumes and hired immediately instead.

According to the documents, those with these “targeted disabilities” may be hired “before the position is advertised” and even “before the position’s closing date.” Moreover, lawyers with psychiatric disabilities and “severe intellectual” disabilities receive a waiver from the requirement that a new DOJ employee have practiced law for one year before being hired.

Yes, it is true folks that the DOJ is looking for lawyers that are stupid and crazy...Now I see how "Fast and Furious" came to be.  And many other DOJ actions now start to make more sense.

Big Ado About Nothing

Explain to me how a city of 250,000 people care that a school principal got a ticket for a suspended drivers license?  What could possibly make that front page news, or even newsworthy enough to make the local television news?  What should probably be the headline is who convinced the paper and KGNS to put the story out?  A potential new principal wannabe in the making....

Headline in today's LMT:  "Police Arrest LISD Principal with Suspended Drivers License"  Read story here

The only really interesting thing in the story was the amount of unpaid tickets that were held by the driver.  The real story should be why are drivers in Laredo allowed to accumulate thousands of dollars of fines without paying them?  City hall should be held accountable.

Oh well, as we say here;  "That's Laredo."

Braincloud......maybe "That's Laredo" could become our motto...

Voter ID Vs. Ammunition Purchase: Which is more demanding?

From the Laredo Morning Times August 19, 2012

It appears as though Mr. Neseman of the Laredo Morning Times is as uninformed as most liberals are on the issue of guns and what it takes to purchase a gun or ammunition.

Mr. Neseman is asking whether it is harder to get an ID to vote in Texas, or harder to purchase ammunition online.  Mr. Neseman means this to be a rhetorical question versus a real question, because he obviously believes that it is harder to get a Texas ID than it is to purchase ammunition online.

Well Mr. Neseman, I have an answer, and it obviously does not fit the answer you are trying to elicit.

It is harder to buy ammunition online than it is to get a Texas ID as I show below:

To get a Texas ID from the state, the easiest of ID's.

a.  You must produce a birth certificate, or passport and prove you live in Texas.  Of course you have to drive to the license bureau and file.

To purchase ammunition, as well as anything else online.

a.  You must have a state issued ID.  In other words you have to at a minimum, do all of the things required to obtain a state ID.
b.  You must have a bank account or credit card, which the banks require a state ID to issue, and the credit card companies require a bank account.
c.  You must have a job or a source of income to get a bank account or credit card.
d.  You must have a ship to address that matches the credit card you used to purchase the ammunition.

All of these require more time an effort to obtain than a state ID card, and they require constant management, as a voter registration card does not.

So, another liberal deduction meets reality.  As usual, reality wins out.

Austin Bans Plastic Bags - Should Laredo?????

Downtown Laredo  merchants will not be happy,
nor will Mexican shoppers.

The Rio Grande International Study Center has posted that Austin has banned plastic bags.  So what.  Austin joins about 20 or so cities in the United States that have banned plastic bags like the ones you get at the grocery store, or any retail establishment.

I have included the article that was printed in the Austin Statesman.   Click Here

I want you to read the article, then read the comments made by the public.  They are 10 to 1 in opposition to the ban.  And they threaten to vote out the council who passed this ordinance.

Laredo city leaders, take note.

Where Were His Parents??????????

In today's Laredo Morning Times there is a front page story about a boy/young man whose parents decided to bring to the United States illegally.  Yes, it was a concious decision.  How do I know that?  Well they went through the trouble of obtaining an matricular consular card from Mexico which allows the holder to enter the US border zone for up to 36 hours.

Well the young man was stopped for a traffic violation and had no drivers license, but apparently showed his Mexican ID.  The Laredo PD officer notified US Border Patrol and they detained the young man.  He would face deportation, except he may be eligible for forgiveness due to President Obama waiving the deportation proceedings for kids brought here illegally.

My questions are:

Why aren't the parents deported for brining this poor kid here, getting him a Mexican ID card, and leading him to believe he would have no future issues?  Apparently, and I draw this maybe false conclusion that one of his parents, or he works at Wells Fargo Bank, as he stated at the end of the article that he was not sure if there was a Wells Fargo in Mexico.

If he or one of the parents do work at Wells Fargo, how did they get the job?  Did they get a green card?  Or did they use a fake work permit?  If they got a legal green card,why not apply for US citizenship for their son the proper and legal way?

These people are not your farm worker crossing the border looking for work.  They have some status to allow them to enter the US, get a job, and send their child to college.    Why didn't they do it legally?

The parents are at fault here, and it is they who should be deported.

I will save my rant on the attorney's complaining about Laredo PD calling Border Patrol for another day.

Coincidence, Or Am I That Smart?

I just saw this across the AP Wire.  I posted early this week about the need to ban knives...hummmm.   Be sure to read the last sentence.  China is pretty strict on guns for the civilians.

BEIJING (AP) -- A teenager killed eight people with a knife and wounded five more in northeast China after falling out with his girlfriend, state media said Thursday.

The teen killed two of her family members and six more people before fleeing, the state-run Legal Daily newspaper said. It reported he was caught but did not describe the circumstances.

The official Xinhua News Agency said the attack took place Wednesday night in Liaoning province. Media said the 17-year-old suspect is from Fushun city and his surname is Li. The attack happened in Yongling town.

Police in Xinbin county, which oversees the town, declined to comment.

Violent crimes are growing more common in China. There was a string of knife attacks against schoolchildren across the country in early 2010 that killed nearly 20 and wounded more than 50.


OK gun grabbers, fire away.........

LMT, Help Us Out- Pie Chart the City Budget

Chart the Budget

Laredo Morning Times, how about a little help for the people who pay for the city to operate, the taxpayers.

Show us a pie chart of the proposed city budget similar to the one I have put up to the left.  Show us what percentage of the city budget goes to which departments, so we can see where our money is going.

Note:  my chart to the left has each department allocated equal portions of the budget, which I know are not true, nor are they realistic expectations.  What will be interesting is just how much goes to police and fire (when all costs including retirement/insurance) are added in.  We, the taxpayers, need to know just how, to borrow a phrase from my environmental friends, "sustainable" our city budget is.

In fact, if the LMT really wants to show "sustainability", they would chart the last 10 years of city budgets and show just where the money is going.

However, my bets are on receiving a newspaper article reporting only what the city says and presents on its own, which will be of little value to the taxpayers.

Just Teenagers Ringing Doorbells - Me Thinks NOT....

Last week there was a group of "teenagers" roaming the streets in Winfield ringing doorbells at 3 a.m. in the morning.  At least that what the police reported to the local media.

However, the truth is these "teenagers" were in their twenties, and had gang style tattoos and were wearing dark hoodies and carrying baseball bats.  Yet, the police released them with no charges filed.  The police department spokesman said that the "Winfield Home Owners Association" had worked out a deal and that was that.

Now, I believe I read there have been some other home invasions in north Laredo over the last couple of weeks.

What I cannot believe is that there was no action taken by the police in regards to these "kids."  At a minimum, disturbing the peace comes to mind.

What say you?

Ban the Assault Rifle???? Why Not Knives?????

In the rush to ban "assault rifles" people seem to forget about a weapon that is responsible for 5 times more murders.

In a data check of the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting System, I found the following data:



2009:
Rifles used in 348 murders
Shotguns used in 418 murders
Knives used in 1,825 murders

2010
Rifles used in 358 murders
Shotguns used in 373 murders
Knives used in 1,704 murders

You are 5 times more likely to be killed by a knife than a rifle.  That is a fact.  So, where is the outrage?

Gun Control

Assault Rifle

Now that there has been another mass shooting, the national news media and others are pushing for a "gun control debate."  Well, not really a debate, but a call for stricter gun control.

The problem they have by using this incident, is that there is very little that any law short of banning guns could have done to prevent this shooting.  Even the banning of guns would not stop the guy from buying a gun on the black market (See Mexican Gun Laws for details.)

You have a person with no criminal record, no record of mental health issues (although those will come to light later, as it is inconceivable that a person can shoot that many people in this scenario without being mentally damaged), who bought guns and ammunition in a legal way.

Of course there are a couple of talking points (and my quick answers) the anti-gunners will try to use:

1.  If the assault rifle ban was still in effect, he would not have had a rifle to shoot with.   Answer:  wrong, semi-automatic weapons are readily available and could inflict the same damage.  In fact, we will soon find that the majority of the victims in the Colorado shooting we hit with buckshot from the shotgun he fired in the opening moments of the attack.  Shotguns have never been mentioned as needing to be banned.

2.  He had over 6,000 rounds of ammunition.   That should be illegal or at least trigger an investigation of the person.  Answer:  Most people have no idea of how much ammunition is purchased and shot by regular gun sport enthusiast.  I can probably name 20 to 30 people in Laredo, and they are not gun store owners, who have much more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition at home.  This type of regulation would swamp the feds, or whomever was designated to investigate such things.

These are just a couple of things being tossed about by the anti-gunners.  There will be much more heard on this issue in the next few weeks as more facts surface.

Even Mexican President Calderon thinks we should abolish the Second Amendment.  He has a great knowledge of just how great strict gun control laws work.

Bag Ban Survey

The Rio Grande International Study Center is going to survey the people (800 or so) of Laredo to see if they really want a ban on single use plastic bags.

The RGISC called for volunteers to show up at the public library yesterday evening.  The volunteers would go out into the community and knock on doors and complete the survey.

Well, I wonder just how accurate a survey can be when the people taking the survey obviously are intent on banning plastic bags at any cost to the community.  The volunteers are obviously in favor of the ban, or they would not show up to volunteer.  And being an un-scientific survey, what value is it really to the community or the city council who will be voting on the ordinance, if it gets that far?

If the all the survey questions have not been completed, I propose a couple of questions for the citizens:

1.  Are you willing to support a ban on single use plastic bags, knowing that you will now be paying for any bags that you will need to use to carry your purchased products home from the store?  And knowing that the retailers will be making additional money on your purchase by selling you bags?

2.  Are you willing to support a ban on other items that litter our community, like tires, construction materials, food wrappers, plastic bottles, cans, newspapers, or anything that the public might discard into the environment?

We'll see just how above board this survey is soon enough I am sure.

A "MUST" Read on Education in America

This is North Kansas City High School.  Note, no fences, more on that
at a latter dateThis school originated in 1917, and the above building
 was opened in 1925.  It is stlla high school serving 1,700 students
 yearly.  It just goes to show that kids do not needbrand new buildings to learn.
NKC High School Info
School Performance Data
Note:  Laredo could use a website like the one on school performance.

I know many of you will disagree with the attached article, but the facts are that our kids are not being educated to the level required to maintain our workforce or global competitiveness.

Post your thoughts after reading a few clips:

.For full story click here.

(From the Wall Street Journal  July 9, 2012)


My comments in yellow.

America Has Too Many Teachers

Public-school employees have doubled in 40 years while student enrollment has increased by only 8.5%—and academic results have stagnated.

By ANDREW J. COULSON

"Since 1970, the public school workforce has roughly doubled—to 6.4 million from 3.3 million—and two-thirds of those new hires are teachers or teachers' aides. Over the same period, enrollment rose by a tepid 8.5%. Employment has thus grown 11 times faster than enrollment. If we returned to the student-to-staff ratio of 1970, American taxpayers would save about $210 billion annually in personnel costs."

Amazing, 

Or would they? Stanford economist Eric Hanushek has shown that better-educated students contribute substantially to economic growth. If U.S. students could catch up to the mathematics performance of their Canadian counterparts, he has found, it would add roughly $70 trillion to the U.S. economy over the next 80 years. So if the additional three million public-school employees we've hired have helped students learn, the nation may be better off economically.

To find out if that's true, we can look at the "long-term trends" of 17-year-olds on the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress. These tests, first administered four decades ago, show stagnation in reading and math and a decline in science. Scores for black and Hispanic students have improved somewhat, but the scores of white students (still the majority) are flat overall, and large demographic gaps persist. Graduation rates have also stagnated or fallen. So a doubling in staff size and more than a doubling in cost have done little to improve academic outcomes.

Nor can the explosive growth in public-school hiring be attributed to federal spending on special education. According to the latest Census Bureau data, special ed teachers make up barely 5% of the K-12 work force.

Again, more proof that money is not the answer to the education problems we are facing today.

While America may have too many teachers, the greater problem is that our state schools have squandered their talents on a mass scale. The good news is that a solution is taking root in many states.

Every time I read the first line in this paragraph, I go back to watching LISD scool board meeting with all the petty complaining and childish politics.  Our parents and school administrators are lacking in commitment and imagination.  If it only takes a couple of hundred out of thousands of voters to elect a school board member, we are doomed, and NO amount of money can fix it.

Mr. Coulson directs the Cato Institute's Center for Educational Freedom and is author of "Market Education: The Unknown History" (Transaction, 1999).

Supreme Court Rules Obamacare Mandate A Tax

The US Supreme Court just ruled that the mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act is Ok under the US Constitution. The only way it is allowed is if the mandate is considered a TAX. Of course President Obama and every democratic legislator said during the congressional battle that the mandate was not a tax and therefore should be approved was obviously a multi billion dollar lie. More to come.

I'm BACK

Why I love baseball....by me....pictures speak a thousand calories....








Any way, I'M BACK.  My little 4 month sabbatical is over, and I am ready and willing to jump back into the blog world.

Let's see, what have I missed:

1.  Bucks left....of course they did, attendance was way down.  Lots of causes, some self inflicted, some not.  Anyway, spilled milk now.   PS, informed rumor, there will be a Junior team coming to Laredo.  Actually the hockey is pretty good, and will surprise a lot of folks.

2.  Baseball stadium opens.  It will always be the ballpark to me, no matter what the naming rights.  Of course plenty of you in Laredo hate the ballpark, like you hated the arena, and will hate the city golf course.  Not much one can do to change your minds, but it surprises me that while you hate these venues for fiscal reasons, you never say anything bad about the park system and the money wasted there, nor about the enormous percentage of the city budget spent on fire and police.  Oh well, pick your fights I guess.

Anyway, I attended my first game 5 days after the grand opening.  I cannot stand political glad handing and backslapping, so I stayed away from opening day.  No matter what anyone says, the ballpark is a great venue for watching America's pastime.  Not a bad seat in the house as they say, and ticket and food prices are good.

3.  The Floor....of course city council bought a basketball floor for the BB team in Nuevo Laredo so they can play some games here.  OK, let's see what the city's deal is with the BB team...I have heard it might be zero rent at the LEA....wow, if only the other team had that deal, we would still have a CHL team.  PS< I really wonder if LISD or UISD will pay to play any playoff games at the LEA.  It would cost (my guess) $2,000 to $5,000 to put on a game (staff, cleaning crews, off duty fire and police, etc....)  Just have to wait and see.

4.  The Roses or whatever scantily clad football team was named, they were unable to play at the ballpark last weekend.   Not a Ventura Sports decision, but a city of Laredo decision.  Now, I hear the fireworks for July 4th at the ballpark have also been cancelled.  Wonder if the city did that to stop competition with their fireworks show at the Civic Center on July 4th.  If so, how stupid, idiotic, childish, dumb (and many more descriptors I can't think of right now) is that?

Oh well, that covers the sports scene.

5.  The plastic bag ban is another topic of discussion.   I would ask the banners why just plastic bags, why not cans, bottles, tires, and all the other trash in Laredo?  Oh, that is a littering problem.  Anyway watch out for bags that jump into trees.

6.  Local elections.....all Democrats as usual, enough said.

7.  Gas prices.  Laredo, we are getting screwed by our local gas companies.  Gas is much cheaper all around us.  Thank you neighborhood gas man for that.  PS, gas should be under $2.50 nationally, except we still refuse to allow more oil drilling access and we refuse to embrace natural gas as a vehicle fuel.  Electric cars are not the answer, never have been.  Just ask a golfer or golf course manager what is better, a gas cart, or an electric cart?   Gas wins out the majority of the time.

8.  National politics...I will save this for some later post.

Anyway Laredo, I woke up, and am back.  Hope you all tune in regularly.

Tom