Home of Today's Common Sense

“Immigration trumps other issues” published Brownsville Herald 1/23/2005 Though the Herald demoted me to The New York Times News Service, I am not in their employ. I am an independant and am solely responsible for the content.Were I to pick an ideological News Agent I would pick “The Freedom News Service”.
I was recently asked, how I select a topic to write about in my column. My problem isn’t finding something to write about but to select which subject. I must admit that my passions play a big part and often I will scrap a column written several days in advance of a deadline in preference for one that an item in a paper or on the news stirs my juices the day of deadline.
In this case Sunday’s paper nearly everything stirred me from the fact of the personal attack on Ms. Zamora by Jeffery Millar; just on the surface the numbers of political names and the financial sums mentioned, would lead me to suspect that there is much more to benefit them personally than meets the eye. The political undertones and obvious conspiracy issues contained in the Beetle Baily cartoon even stirred me.
How the administration deals with the issue of fixing immigration is so important that it trumps all others and has such far reaching impact on everything from our basic concept of the rule of law to Social Security. Immigration is indeed broke and needs fixing and has the potential to damage the nation as no other issue.
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Published – Brownsville Herald January 9, 2005
Like everyone, I have been inundated with so much news of catastrophic events, corruption, murder, and all manner of sick things like people even quibbling about who is more generous. I was taught that you helped quietly so as to not hurt the dignity of the needy. So I looked elsewhere.
I want to report the good news that I have personally witnessed that true capitalism is alive and well here in Brownsville and I suspect in most of the rest of the U.S.
Last Sunday, I went the Flea Market on Highway 77 as I often do for – exercise, as I tell myself and discovered that it was packed. Parking was difficult and I had to walk quite a ways to get to the vendor area. People were everywhere and many had new purchases clutched in their hands. My first thought was: ”Where are those enterprising souls that used to help shoppers from the HEB downtown across the bridge to Matamoros?” Then I stopped to look at what was being purchased – and at what prices! This struck me as a perfect opportunity to do a rather in-depth market survey and wondered if the department store managers were out there. All of the elements of pure capitalism were there; The buyer – the seller and a medium of exchange. There were so many different items being offered and after some aggressive negotiating some one’s products became another’s treasures. It was relatively easy to evaluate what a particular product was worth when I watched similar transactions being negotiated over and over. It was also easy to see what kinds of products were most sought after when you just look at what kinds things were being loaded into the cars in the parking lot and what vendors remain in the market week after week.
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