HACEP Commissioner Pushed Bid to Aliviane
This story is so, so long it's mind-numbing. Reading it doesn't impress me. -- Observer
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Editor's Letter: Think Compassion
Thank you for your heartfelt letter and your heart for humanity. In my experience I’ve found that what precedes compassion is re-thinking. Until we’ve taken a sharp look at the way we live our lives, the priorities we keep, the movies we see, the things we buy, the culturally-induced images we hold of ourselves, the people we care for and the people we ignore, we may never fully experience the tsunami power of compassion. We must first ask ourselves many questions, some that will shake us to our core.
Compassion in its Latin etymology means “to suffer with” and in its Greek etymology it evokes a more visceral gut reaction to others’ circumstances. It is more than sympathy and kindness, more than a pat on the back. Compassion displaces us and drives us to give of ourselves, to be more relational, to resist materialism and show our love not with iPhones, diamonds, or Macy’s gift cards.
Only when we re-think ourselves out of Western society, out of history and nationalism can we truly see ourselves as people without borders, without hatred, people who are global neighbors, who thrive in community, people who are family, people who are one. -- Elias
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Your piece on compassion was very sensitive and should be read by all.-- Patt
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Snow ... Snow ... Snow ... Snow
To my brother-in-law, Dov Kupfer...great pics!!! The snowmen were hilarious!! -- Janet
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In Lomas de Poleo, "A Dream of Living in Peace"
The Top 5 Reasons Susie Byrd’s Comments are Absurd:
5. She attacks Paso del Sur individually despite the fact that six other organizations co-organized the event at UTEP and the panel included residents of Segundo Barrio and Lomas de Poleo, not members of Paso del Sur. Ms Byrd’s accusation that the speakers on the panel are “intellectually dishonest” is tragically ironic and frankly hilarious. All of the events surrounding the Downtown “Revitalization” Plan have been fraught with dishonesty and double-talk that would make George Orwell cross-eyed.
4. Ms. Byrd conveniently fails to recognize that physical violence is not the only type of human rights violation. No one is accusing the Council of carrying actual weapons into the Barrio. However, the underlying issues and methods are the same. In both communities developers identified property that could be profitable to them, but which was inconveniently occupied by families, shop owners, and churches. Subsequently in both communities developers and politicians partnered in efforts to “clear the land.” In Lomas de Poleo the methods are burning and destroying homes. Here the methods are eminent domain, designating entire communities as blighted in order to circumvent new legislative protections, and even creating blight by refusing to maintain City infrastructure downtown. Either way, the result is the same.
3. Ms. Byrd is shockingly insensitive to the fact that comments like these as well as the Glass Beach marketing study, references to rats and roaches in Segundo homes, and other threatening and degrading rhetoric by the City creates an environment of fear and send the message “You don’t matter. We are coming for you.” This same message is communicated in Lomas de Poleo.
2. The one thing Ms. Byrd is right about is that we should all be concerned about what’s going on in Lomas de Poleo. However, if Ms. Byrd had actually attended the event, she would know that people there have already been harmed, and indeed everyone should be concerned about Segundo Barrio as well. We must ensure that they are not harmed. Assuming that Ms. Byrd is correct, and the Mayor and the Government are the ones to call on when faced with forcible removal from your home, who do we call?
1. Who is she to decide who gets to be a part of “the conversation” (What conversation? Isn’t that the problem?)? She is an elected representative. In fact, I am a voter in her district. She is supposed to speak for me. To be clear, she does not. Further, if she had attended the event she would know there were over 200 people there. Is she saying that the opinions of all of those people are meaningless? The members of the panel were victims from Lomas de Poleo and probable future victims from Segundo Barrio; her comments undermine their experience and deny their right to engage in public debate and fight to save their homes. While we realize it is more efficient to exclude people who disagree with you from “the conversation,” in a democracy, that is not how it is done. -- Briana Stone, Director of the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project and Gabriela Garcia, Deputy Director of the Paso del Norte Civil Rights Project
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At County, Union Leader Alleges EP Disposal Violations
George Wayne, when describing drivers brought in from out-of-state to replace local drivers on strike as "every driver possesses a current commercial driver’s license, meets federal Department of Transportation standards, and is trained on the equipment used," seems to have forgotten to add."SCAB"!-- Ron
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Commentary: Barring MTV is Latest UTEP Gag
This is a good article and I wonder why no one is writing about UTEP issues at all? Especially about the tuition being increased and the fact that UTEP doesn't write anything about it in their paper other than to promote increases. The above mentioned atmosphere is still prevalent. -- Norma
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Asarco Noose Tightens, But Who Will Hang?
I am a resident of El Paso, and have lived here my entire life. It seems to me that even though it seems that asarco is meeting all the requirements to reopen, the reopening of asraco is not worth risking the lives of the many young people who live El Paso. Lives are more important than anything else especially when it comes to young children getting lead or arsenic poisoning because of this smeltering buisness. -- Crystal
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HACEP Board Picks Cichon as Executive Director
Regarding the Mr. Parra as a candidate for the Housing Authority, I believe you would make an excellent choice by hiring him. If we are going to look for everyone that is under investigation, better go to the convent (maybe), because it seems that everyone has some sort of past, but it does not mean that they are not qualified for the job. !! -- Gloria
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NFL Says Show Me the Money; Fans Say, Show Us the Game
I think the NFL is in for a fight. I will not pay to watch any game. Before long they'll be trying to charge for the Super Bowl. -- Gary
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I've had it with the NFL. They're about to have a bunch of fans like me decide we don't need them just like we decided we didn't need to watch major league baseball when greed got the best of the players after they walked out. I am as loyal a Dallas Cowboy fan as you will ever find, but I refused to change my cable subscription or to go out to a bar to watch. I did listen to it on the radio, which is all that I will do henceforth. Hope everyone else does the same. -- Bob
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Privatize HACEP, Former ED Candidate Argues
So, we pay $150,000 for an Executive Director with little or no experience in this field and already has a full time job as a union lawyer. Who benefits here? If he is not a full time executive, why the high salary? If he has no experience, why the high salary? El Paso deserves full time, experienced executives. If this was a private sector corporation, no board of directors would approve - neither would the share holders. In this case, the share holders are the voters and I guess we simply do not care enough to demand accountability. Hmmm. -- Bill
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The "Happiness Gap" and the Politics of Victory
Tongue-in-cheek or not, there's a lot of truth in Mr. Suerken's essay. In veers from reality only in overdoing the resistance to taxation. Voters will vote for more, not less, taxation if they believe the added revenue addresses a specific need that they support. Witness approval of the Children's Hospital. In Texas, taxation rhetoric is hampered by our inflexible overreliance on property and sales taxes. Our obstinate refusal to consider taxes proportional to an ability to pay, punishes those on low and fixed incomes most, and gives a pass to those with higher incomes who are better able to shoulder their share of our collective responsibilities.
I will go out on a limb to the point of suggesting that many of those higher income folks would be willing to shoulder their share of public needs if asked to do so by public officials with the courage to do so. -- Louis
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