AbInPA

Ive been out of town for a couple of weeks and will return shortly....

I always liked this one... Read More

Prosper- Online People-to-People Lending

People who need money request it, and other people bid for the privilege of lending it to them. Prosper makes sure everything is safe, fair and easy.

Zunafish- Trade Stuff You're Done With

Your Music.com- All CDs $6.99, free shipping and handling

10 Cool Websites

Free Movies and Documentaries

Internet Archive

15 Great, Free Security Programs

100 Blogs We Love

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The Internet Movie Database

Readers United- Swapping Books

Bookins- Swap Books

Recent 3- a site of ideas

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From an email:

"Dear Alcohol,

First and foremost, let me tell you that I'm a HUGE fan of yours.

As my friend, you always seem to be there when needed. The perfect post-work cocktail, a beer at the game and you're even around at the holidays (hidden inside chocolates as you warm us when we're stuck in the midst of endless family gatherings).

However, lately I've been wondering about your intentions. While I want to believe that you have my best interests at heart, I feel that your influence has led to some unwise consequences:

1. Phone Calls/Text Messages: While I agree with you that communication is important. I question the suggestion that conversation after 2 a.m. can have much substance or necessity. Why would you make me call my ex's? Especially when I know, for a fact, they DO NOT want to hear from me during the day, let alone all hours of the night.

2. Eating: Now, you know I love a good meal. But, why do you suggest that I eat a taco with chili sauce along with a big Italian meatball and some stale chips (washed down with wine & topped off with a Kit Kat AFTER a few cheese curls & chili cheese fries)? I'm an eclectic eater but, I think you went too far this time.

3. Clumsiness: Unless you're subtly trying to tell me that I need to do more yoga to improve my balance, I see NO need to hammer this issue home by causing me to fall down. It's completely unnecessary, and the black & blue marks that appear on my body mysteriously the next day are beyond me. Similarly, it should never take me more than 45 seconds to get the front door key into the lock.

4. Furthermore: The hangovers have GOT to stop! This is getting ridiculous. I know a little penance for our previous evening's debauchery may be in order. But, the 3 p.m. hangover immobility is completely unacceptable. My entire day is shot. I ask that if the proper precautions are taken (water, vitamin B, bread products, aspirin) prior to going to sleep/passing out (face down on the kitchen floor with a bag of popcorn or wherever). The hangover should be minimal and in no way interfere with my daily activities.

Alcohol, I have enjoyed our friendship for some years now and would like to ensure that we remain on good terms. You've been the invoker of great stories, the provocation for much laughter, and the needed companion when I just don't know what to do with the extra money in my pockets.

In order to continue this friendship, I ask that you carefully review my grievances above and address them immediately. I will look for an answer no later than Friday 3 p.m. (pre happy hour) on your possible solutions. And hopefully we can continue this fruitful partnership.

Thank you,
Your Biggest Fan

P.S. Please take a moment or two and note the following items below that I think may be of some interest to you.

THINGS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

THINGS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:
1. Specificity
2. British Constitution
3. Passive-Aggressive Disorder

THINGS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN
DRUNK:
1. Thanks but I don't want to have sex.
2. Nope, no more beer for me.
3. Sorry but you're not really my type.
4. Good evening, officer. Would you like a soft taco?
5. Oh, I couldn't. No one wants to hear me sing

What officials claim was attendance at this years parade: 300,000

Total population of City of El Paso: 584,000

Percent of El Paso supposedly at parade: 51

Length of parade: 2.7 miles

What organizers at Carnival at Rio de Janiero and Mardi Gras in New Orleans each expected at their 2007 events: 700,000

Reminds me of this incident in San Francisco: here

What organizers claimed was true amount of attendance: 200,000

What a survey using ariel photography revealed was probably true attendance: 65,000

What 65,000 people look like:

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Where is the outcry over this one?

From EP Times, 11/22/07:

"Elizondo filed her first suit against the city in August 2006 in federal district court accusing Cook of making it known he would fire her if he won the mayor's election in 2005.Former El Paso City Attorney Lisa Elizondo will get $200,000 from the city to settle three lawsuits she filed since being fired by Mayor John Cook in 2005.

The city announced the settlement Wednesday and released this statement: "The parties have settled Ms. Elizondo's cases against the City for the total amount of $200,000 of which $50,000 will be paid by the City and the balance by the City's insurer. They have done this to put the matter behind them and move forward with their respective business...

...Cook, in fact, made no secret of his wish to remove Elizondo after he defeated incumbent Mayor Joe Wardy that year...

...She alleged that the City Council violated the Texas Open Meetings Act on the day she was fired and that Cook slandered her by telling a former council member that she was having sexual relations with former Mayor Joe Wardy and the city's former chief administrative officer.

Cook denied violating the law and said none of the comments Elizondo attributed to him were true."

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More on Cook's lies (here)

"A candidate's actual biography doesn't matter; George H.W. Bush flew fighter palnes when he was a teenager, and he couldn't overcome the "wimp factor" against Ronald Reagan, whose primary combat experience was battling his way to the bar at the Brown Derby. In the three major national elections of his life, George W. Bush, who couldn't find Alabama while he was serving in the National Guard, defeated three men- Al Gore, John McCain, and John Kerry- who had volunteered to go to Vietnam, and he did so by out butching them. Kerry's awkwardness in hunting clothes somehow trumped Bush's fear of horses."

- Esquire, August 2007- "The Beauty Contest"

ICE's Julie Myers & blackface; "Mexican" costumes at Customs; BATF & the KKK; Neo-Nazis working in Customs; discrimination against Hispanic agents at ICE in El Paso:

Read this excellent NarcoSphere article (here)

No surprise here...

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Jay Koester from the Best of Times once again punks out an LEA, the last time for fear mongering for dollars, this time for wasting resources hunting for undocumented immigrants (and pisses off a lot of  mexican err, illegal immigrant bashers in the process)- and all he had to do was point out the truth:

"When the El Paso County Sheriff's Office was hit with evidence that their "anti-crime operations" arrested very few criminals but somehow netted many, many undocumented immigrants, they just tried to claim that was the natural outcome of their police work. The county was just overrun with so many undocumented immigrants, that's who they naturally found while driving around.

Otero County sheriffs used the same excuse, but the stories above show their own reports make clear they were spending their days hunting undocumented immigrants. They weren't fighting crime at all. They didn't even have the sense to keep what they were really up to out of their reports!"

My take on the issue (from this piece):

"Why is it interesting you ask? It is interesting because the very same newspaper has researched the issue and found that increased funding for border security translates to more funds to pay for overtime for local law enforcement which yields a lot of undocumented immigrants but little else. (here and here and here and here and here and here ).

A blog post on racism within ICE and other feds: here

 I saw this pyramid in the Newspaper Tree (here and here) last week that was put out by the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce in 2000 "that explained the progressive prosperity of their economic development strategy."  The first piece in the NPT discussed an article published by the El Paso branch of the Dallas Fed publication Crossroads,titled "Low-Wage Occupations Remain a Hallmark of El Paso Economy."

The first NPT piece stated pointed out that the article mentioned how half of manufacturing jobs that existed in 2000 in El Paso no longer exist here and that service jobs have grown as a share of all private jobs by over 12% but that this has not brought improvement in per capita income in the city. The second NPT piece knocked past city leaders for recruiting call centers.

The Pyramid Is Accurate

While reading the pieces, I couldn't help but be surprised at how accurate that pyramid has been thus far. Interestingly enough, the NPT article came out a few days before this EP Times article (Tuesday, Nov. 06, 2007- New ADP facility to bring 600 jobs) which explained that ADP's addition of 600 more workers in El Paso will bring the total of employees they have here to 1,600 and that "almost 70 percent of its El Paso work force would earn $30,000 or more a year when the 1,000-plus employee mark was reached."

A Sign of Things To Come?

I also found it interesting that if the projections made by the Chamber continue to come to fruition, the .coms are next to find their way to El Paso.

Success Breeds Success

While this may seem somewhat absurd at first, check out some interesting quotes from the EP Times article that seem to indicate this is not as far fetched as it seems: "This is what economic development is about," Nachtmann said... and "Robert "Bob" Wingo, CEO of Sanders/Wingo advertising agency and president of the Texas Economic Development Corp. board, said ADP's success in El Paso should help draw attention of other large companies looking for facility locations"... and "Success breeds success," Wingo said" and "Our growth is driven by a positive overall experience (in El Paso), and our ability to hire quality associates," Steve Penrose, ADP senior vice president, told a group of El Paso community leaders in announcing the expansion. The 1,000-employee mark was reached 3å years ahead of projections, Penrose noted." and "Kathy Dodson, director of the city Economic Development Department, said ADP is hiring "the best and brightest" in El Paso, and the expansion will allow more college graduates to remain here." and finally, "Robert Nachtmann, dean of the College of Business at the University of Texas at El Paso, said the company is providing attractive wage and benefits packages that other El Paso companies are now having to match."

Continued below...

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O.K., I admit that the title is a little misleading but it is essentially true (sorta).

What the Texas Commision on Evironmental Quality says:

"Illegal dumping in West El Paso County has increased since the closing of a trash-collection site two years ago, and the closing of six citizen collection stations throughout the city will add to that increase, said officials of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which organized an arroyo cleanup Saturday morning in Westway." (from this Sunday, 10/26/07 EP Times article ).

What A City Council Committe Recommended (and what common sense dictates):

"An El Paso City Council committee recommended Monday to keep four of six household trash and recycling collection sites open as the city phases in a new monthly curbside collection program for large loads and items, including tree limbs." (from same article).

What El Pasoans Want:

"El Paso residents who regularly use the trash drop-off sites derided the plan as a recipe for illegal dumping and other problems. They've been speaking up at community meetings that continue today and next week.

"The concern I have is the congestion it's going to cause in one central area and how that congestion turns into problems with safety, pollution and other associated issues," said Arturo Franco, an administrator at Texas Tech who lives on the West Side and uses a collection site for yard waste more than once a week. "It's not going to work."

Environmental Services data show that about 6,000 of the 160,000 households use the six citizen collection sites. " (from a 9/15/07 EP Times article)

 What Enviornmental Services Director Ellen Smyth Wants:

"However, city Environmental Services Director Ellen Smyth told the four-member environmental services committee that she would prefer to close all six drop-off sites and go with a monthly collection program because it would be less expensive and more convenient." (10/27/07 article referenced above).

What City Representative Beto O'Rourke Wants:

"South-West city Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who supports consolidating the sites, said he would even back eliminating the collection drop-off locations completely or creating some kind of fee-based system. " (from 9/15/07 article referenced above).

How Much Can Be Saved?

"Ellen Smyth, director of Environmental Services, said one super site instead of several smaller sites will be designed to be safer and more efficient. She estimates the city could save as much as $1.2 million a year by consolidating the drop-off locations." (from 9/15/07 article).

minus:

"The more than 30 volunteers included students from Canutillo, Burges, Andress and Parkland high schools, helpers from the nearby Cemex quarry and helpers from El Paso Water Utilities. They cleaned up a large arroyo that runs from Westway down to the Rio Grande. Items including sofas, tires and a truck were found buried in the arroyo and removed...The trash might have contributed to flooding in Westway and Vinton during the historic rainstorms of summer 2006...

"People have been dumping in these arroyos for years," she said, adding that the Westway arroyo is on Cemex property. "Since the closure of the Westway transfer station, illegal dumping has just skyrocketed."

Aguirre said that the Camino Real Landfill in Sunland Park and the city landfill in Clint waived fees for volunteers dropping off waste from the cleanup site. If those costs hadn't been waived, Aguirre said, the clean up could have cost the state $500,000." (from 10/27/07 article).

equals

So $1.2 million can be saved by consolodating the sites, however, cleaning up is extremely expensive ($500,000 in dumping fees alone for just one arroyo!) and that doesn't include labor nor does it take into consideration the "cost" of the aesthetic harm of litter.

Hardly seems worth it to me.

Why It's Hypocrisy:

On the one hand, the city, or at least Ellen Smyth, is saying that we should accept more illegal dumping in order to save money but on the other hand, the city is preparing to ban plastic bags because of the "horrible" effect they have on our community, especially via littering. This littering is so bad that we are willing to make our local consumers possibly pay around $5,000,000 (a very conservative figure, see linked story above; ) a year through higher costs to ban these plastic bags.  

(How I came across the very conservative $5,000,000 figure: 422,000 adults in the city of El Paso alone; cost of paper over plasitic is about $.08 per bag or $24 a year for average 300 bags used per consumer, I halved the 422,000 and did not count shoppers from surrouding areas so, 200,000x $24).

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Sunday's EP Times headline, "Most EP voters want children's hospital" when read in context of the current debate occurring right now about whether the county should build a children's hospital implies that most El Pasoans are in favor of the proposal that is on the ballot which basically asks the voters if they want to pay for the building of a new children's hospital.  

However, upon reading the article, the reader learns that what is implied is not what the results of the Times' polling revealed. The questions that were asked, "Does El Paso need a children's hospital?" (yes: 77%, No: 16%, Unsure: 5.5%) and "Should the new hospital be funded by private investments or by taxpayer dollars?" (Private Investment: 59.8%, Taxpayer dollars: 23.8%, Unsure: 16.3%) actually reveal that if voters were voting based on these beliefs, they would vote against the current proposal on the ballot since the voters, while in favor of a children's hospital, don't want it built with taxpayer dollars.

A better question would have been, "Are you in favor of building a children's hospital in El Paso with taxpayer dollars but that will probably be self supporting thereafter?" or something to that effect.  

Other problems with the poll, as were mentioned in the article include:"Providence Memorial Hospital CEO Irene Chavez said the wording of the question in the poll was such that the results might not have been entirely reflective of the current mood among voters. They were asked "Does El Paso need a children's hospital?" "That question assumes that there isn't a children's hospital in place, and yet we have 109 beds dedicated to children in our children's hospital -- 144 if we include the neonatal ICU," she said. "The frame of the question, I believe, is faulty and if a person is only given a choice of 'yes' or 'no,' of course I'm not going to be surprised if everybody says yes," she said. She said the poll might have been more accurate if respondents had been able to say they believe El Paso already has a children's hospital or if the question's wording had asked about whether another children's hospital is needed."

Much has been said about the lack of attendance at UTEP football games; below is my explanation:

• Price of crappy seats at Boston Red Sox game: $27.00
• Price of crappy seats at UTEP football game: $25.00

 

You may have heard late last week about another border incursion by the Mexican military (since it was reported by different websites, blogs and traditional media sources. Guess what? It was all a lie! Check out the below from the Lone Star Times: Read More

Carve a pumpkin

"When questioned at a public hearing with the Potrero planning group on Sept. 13 about Blackwater West, Brian Bonfiglio, a Blackwater spokesman, said, "I don't think there's anyone in this room who wouldn't like to see the border tightened up." Blackwater currently had no contracts to help with border security, Bonfiglio said, but he emphasized that "we would entertain any approach from our government to help secure either border, absolutely." ... Lutz also asked Bonfiglio if Blackwater West would be used as a base for deployment of Border Patrol agents. "Actually, we've offered it up as a substation to Border Patrol and U.S. Customs right now," Bonfiglio replied. "We'd love to see them there."

See the rest of this scary Salon story (here)

mon·ger (n.)

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A journalist assigned to her paper's Jerusalem bureau rented an apartment overlooking the Wailing Wall. Every day when she looked out, she saw the same old Jewish man praying. Curious, the jounalist went downstairs and introduced herself to the old man.

"You come ever day to the wall, how long have you been doing this? What are you praying for?"

"The old man replied, "I have come here to pray every day for 25 years. In the morning I pray for world peace and the brotherhood of man. In the afternoon I come back and pray for the eradication of famine and disease from the earth."

The jounalist was touched. "How does it make you feel to come here every day for 25 years and pray for these things?" she asked.

The old man looked at her sadly and said, "Like I'm talking to a wall."

About 1,000.... and for what?

I wrote the following about 1 year ago (10/24/06):

Iraq War- Death Count

A letter writer in Sunday's Times wrote: "Thanks to people like Chilo L. Madrid, Ysleta school district teachers are getting a deserved pay raise. I was a little disappointed with voters because it was very close.

I think the people who voted against the tax rollback would think different if they had seen that teachers do not make near the amounts that came out in the newspaper.

Teachers deserve more than what they are getting paid. Ignorant people get caught up with all those numbers that were presented in the newspaper. In reality, most of the money will be going to teachers and not to those (administrative) people.

Why doesn't Mr. Reveles post teacher pay as opposed to other professionals with degrees? You will realize that teachers are underpaid and overworked.

One of the main reasons why there are less and less teachers is due to pay. I have talked to construction workers who say they make more money and don't even have a high-school diploma. How about that?

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From page 133 of Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity by John Stossel:

"Nationally...K-12 teachers average $45,081 a year. But most teachers only work nine months a year. If you look at the average hourly K-12 teacher wage ($30.91), it's more than chemists ($30.64), computer programmers ($28.98), registered nurses ($26.87), and psychologists ($28.49) make."

From The Newspaper.com:

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But how many people will actually use totes?

Part 1 is (here)

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And part 2 below:

I caught Katheryn Palofax of Keep El Paso Beautiful on the Lisa D show today and she is just tickled about the soon to be ban on plastic bags. Apparently, the government ban on plastic bags is needed because plastic bags are at the bottom of the recycling food chain or something to that affect, plastic bags don't biodegrade, plastic bags take up a lot of space in landfills and of course, they are an eye sore when they find their way onto vacant lots. Too bad the host of too busy gushing over her too ask any real questions, for if she had, we might have heard Ms. Palofax address some of the following:

About Landfills

We often hear about landfill/space crises but this is just a myth. One has only to look at our own Clint Landfill to see this. The Clint Landfill, which is owned by the City of El Paso is built it the middle of barren desert- and there is identical barren desert land next to this landfill for about 500 miles. Besides, filled landfills can be topped with soil and grass and be made into parks, golf courses, malls and currently used landfills can be used to produce electicity as is being done in Sunland Park and like I've mentioned before. Not only that, but landfill space has actually been increasing in the U.S. in recent years since landfills have largely been privatized in recent years and thus there is now competition for trash!  

As far a plastic bags not bio-degrading in landfills- guess what? Hardly any garbage biodegrades in landfills! That's right, hardly anything biodegrades in landfills because there is very little air and water in landfills because landfills are compacted and topped with dirt daily.

Also, if hardly any garbage biodegrades in landfills, doesn't it stand to reason that it is preferable to have plastic rather than paper bags in landfills since paper bags are bigger and take up more room than do plastic ones? (By the way, paper accounts for 40 to 50% of garbage in landfills). The obvious retort to this is to recycle the paper bags and thus avoid this dilema. However, do we know for sure that the city will accept paper bags as recycables? Keep in mind that the city is locked into a 14 year contract with the current recycler.

About Recycling

Well why doesn't the city recycle them in the first place? Because its too expensive (she actually did address this). However, if plastic bags pose such a deleterious effect on our community, why doesn't the city recycle them anyway, regardless of whether doing so will earn the city a profit or a loss?

Not A Problem

The answer is obvious- because this whole plastic issue is bull- its not a problem and never has been. We've been using plastic bags for perhaps 20 years now and in all this time- all of these years- think of all the plastic bags that have ended up as litter. A lot I'm sure, but not that many. I see more glass littering our environment than I see plastic. Why not ban glass as well since glass is not recylced by the city either?

What Are The Actual Causes of Litter?

Why not ban the actual causes of litter as well? From Keep El Paso Beautiful's own website of all places:

What are the most common types of roadside litter?
· Fast food packaging (20% of roadside litter)
· Tobacco litter including cigarette butts (19 %)
· Household/personal items like cardboard pieces (19%) and
· Non-alcoholic beverage containers (16%)

Why Not Fight The Problem At Its Source?

From Keep El Paso Beautiful:

What are the primary sources of litter?
o Household trash handling and its placement at the curb for collection
o Dumpsters used by businesses
o Loading docks
o Construction and demolition sites
o Trucks with uncovered loads
o Pedestrians
o Motorists
Litter is blown about by wind and traffic or carries by water.   It moves until trapped by a curb, building or fence.  Once litter has accumulated, it invites people to add more.

We Already Decided

I couldn't help but chuckle at all of the self righteous indignation going on after Rep. Holguin proposed that the city intervene in the private business affairs of Time Warner and force them to broadcast all of this season's Dallas Cowboys games, especially since these same people say nothing of this same council's unquenchable thirst for power and seemingly weekly interference in the private business affairs of many other businesses. (I guess its okay when the "progressives" on council do it but not when Rep. Holguin does). Even the newspaper got into the act, calling for the voters to decide on the ban in today's editorial, "Plastic Bags: Let voters decide on ban".

However, we already decided what we wanted and we decided we wanted plastic. This is evidenced by the fact that businesses have actually been using plastic instead of paper bags for many years now. This is because the consumers preferred plastic because plastic bags are more convenient, practical and cheaper and the businesses also preferred plastic over paper because plastic bags are more convenient, practical and cheaper (its called the free market, by the way). 

You Owe Us This Much

Ultimately, what this all comes down to is that the ban is yet another tax on the consumer and the supporters of this ban, especially those in government, owe the citizens of this city an honest explanation of how much this ban on plastic is going to cost the consumer. I know that this council, when taking away people's rights and/or intruding into the private business affairs of business, does not like to back up their ludicrous claims with facts or local statistics (strip club ordinance, sex offender ordinance, double curfew ordinance in bridge areas), but this time they really should. Really they should. Again for good measure, I repeat:

 The supporters of this ban, especially those in government, owe the citizens of this city an honest explanation of how much this ban on plastic is going to cost the consumer.

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I'm not finished with this post but still working on some of the following:

*El Paso Inc article (here)

*Of all the media coverage of this issue so far that I know of (EP Times, NPT, KVIA, KFOX, EP Inc), noone has really discussed the issue of cost- how much will this cost the consumer? 

*Cost of plastic bags: 2-3 cents each

*Cost of paper bags: 5-10 cents each

*Thats about a $30 yearly tax on the average consumer, to accomplish what?

*Doesn't the use of more paper bags mean more deforestation?

*I doubt any of this will be mentioned in the "debate" on the ban.

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I never finished this piece but I did write this on the strelz's forum:

Before my computer went out, I was going to preface my post with, "Things about the plastic ban that too many don't know, don't want to know, won't know and definately won't discuss." And sadly, this ban will probably pass and none of the points that I brought up will be discussed because in this city, most on our council and most in our city can't reason beyond a middle school level (trash bad so if we ban plastic, it has to be good or recycling good so municipal recycling program good) regardless of the particulars of the programs or if the programs are bad for the community.

Magicians On Council

I pointed out in the past how over $1 million was made to disappear from El Pasoan's pockets by council with the microchip program; the microchip program that not only intrudes on your freedom but has no benefits- unless of course you DON'T KNOW ABOUT ANIMAL CONTROL. This plastic ban is also a disappearing act in regards to El Pasoans money- of course El Pasoans have a lot of money to disappear or to make the city into a mini San Francisco, yuppie utopia (because thats what the average el pasoan wants you know).

Keep in mind that every paper bag costs about 5-10 cents while plastic bags cost about 2-3 cents each and each consumer uses about 300 bags per year (.08 more x 300= $24 a year more for each consumer; 422,000 adults in El Paso (i omitted people from the county, Juarez, NM) x $24 is ?

Where Are The Cons?

Almost every media outlet in the city has covered the issue and almost none have mentioned the possible "bad" side of the issue- Why is that? (good job all media outlets!) I hope that after reading this, at least you will be able to reference these points when reading others' account of the issue.

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Over the weekend, I was talking to some friends about local politics and I was chided for being against the bike rack ordinance- how can you be against more people riding bikes they asked.

Well riding bikes is healthier than driving to work and it does pollute less than driving, I agree. So then I asked them if they or anyone they know actually rides a bike to work- ever or even bike rides- ever. And of course the response was noone rides a bike either to work or for recreation nor do they know anyone who does.

I am not surprised.

As a former avid cyclist, which is to say I used to ride many miles per week on my Sears bike either commuting or for recreation, I have probably ridden a lot, a lot more than most in our community. More often than not, I rode a bike because it was my only option but I also enjoyed riding for fun on occassion as few things are more enjoyable than riding in rural areas on cool days.

But why didn't I ride more you ask? Because for the most part- riding bikes sucks.

For one, riding bikes is extremely dangerous and scary. Every time a car passes (or God forbid, a truck) you pray that it doesn't hit you since you don't stand a chance. Bike riding is also sweaty- especially since we live in such a hot environment. Showering at work is not very pratical either. Not only that, but when you ride to work, you are limited to what you can do at lunch and what you can do after work (pick up the dry cleaning?, groceries?, keep dreaming).

So you can put force every business to turn their parking lots into giant bike racks all you want and you can build as many bike trails as you want but at the end of the day, bike riding in order to commute really really sucks and therefore, very few people will ever do so. I know that some on our city council are trying very hard to make our city look like their college campus (no plastic bags, free wi-fi, bike racks, yuppies in birkenstocks and coffee shops everywhere, etc...) but try as they may, no amount of goverment intrusion in places it doesn't belong will change what is practical and what is not. 

From the Houston Chronicle:

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Upon hearing that some of our city reps want TWC to be forced by the government to show all of the Dallas Cowboys' games in El Paso, like others, I thought that this was ridiculous interference by government upon business.

However, a few seconds later I remembered that El Pasoans love government interference in business matters and El Paso politicians even more so! None more than the enlightened "Progressives" who want to dictate to El Pasoan's which businesses can even exist in the city (Asarco but not the $50 million giving Western Refinery) or how businesses should conduct their own affairs (smoking ordinance, bike rack ordinance, plastic bag ban ordinance, strip club ordinance, etc...) or what sex toys should be used for...or even how they should design their own buildings (Suzy's advise to architects and businesses how to build more marketing friendly buildings) or even where they should be allowed to exist regardless if they already exist there and own the property (downtown plan).

After all, what's good for the goose...

I have often argued that it is much better to finance new road construction with an increase of the state gas tax, which is currently .20 per gallon in Texas than with tolls for the simple fact that by spreading out the cost of a new road over millions of gallons of gas is a lot cheaper to the individual than is tolling the individual users of one particular road (millions more pump gas than use particular roads thus the millions of gas users need only pay a little bit to come up with the same amount of money than the few hundred thousand who use a particular road who would have to pay considerably more to come up with the same amount of money).  I used this hypothetical example in the past: lets say you have to pay $1.00 each way to commute to work each day, thats $10 a week. now lets say, you double the current state gas tax to .40 cents a gallon- the average car has 15 gallons so thats $3.00 a week (assuming you use a tank of gas per week).

The only problem with that is that special interest$ don't lobby as hard for a fuel tax because the politicians are already stealing using that money for their own pet projects.

Now check out what the business council tells the legislature:

View deaths of myspace members-

http://mydeathspace.com/map/

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I had to take an unexpected trip out of town and barely got back yesterday... thus the lack of posts here. Things should be back to normal next week.

Yet another El Paso Forum- City-Data

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Saw her on Emiril Live yesterday, awesome!