elpasospeak

Sometimes comments get lost and only read by a few whereas posts are easier to find.

This was originally posted as a comment and we feel that it should be promoted to a post:

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Relevant excerpts from Rex Tillerson’s commencement speech at Virginia Military Institute:

“As I reflect upon the state of American democracy, I observe a growing crisis of ethics and integrity.”

“When we as people, a free people, go wobbly on the truth, even on what may seem the most trivial of matters, we go wobbly on America. If we do not as Americans confront the crisis of ethics and integrity in our society, and among our leaders in both the public and private sector, and regrettably at times even the nonprofit sector, then American democracy as we know it is entering its twilight years.”

“If our leaders seek to conceal the truth or we as people become accepting of alternative realities that are no longer grounded in facts, then we as American citizens are on a pathway to relinquishing our freedom.”

“This is the life of nondemocratic societies, comprised of people who are not free to seek the truth. … A responsibility of every American citizen to each other is to preserve and protect our freedom by recognizing what the truth is and is not, what a fact is and is not, and begin by holding ourselves accountable to truthfulness, and demand our pursuit of America’s future be fact-based, not based on wishful thinking; not hopeful outcomes made in shallow promises; but with a clear-eyed view of the facts as they are and guided by the truth that will set us free to seek solutions to our most daunting challenges.”

He quoted John 8:32 twice: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

This came in from a loyal reader:

The other day I drove south on Stanton Street from Robinson to Montana.  It is now one lane each way.  Thanks to bike paths and the trolley, Stanton has been transformed into a congested mess.  At every traffic light it took at least two, and sometimes three, cycles to get through.

This city needs more common sense and less political vision.

This came in from Judy Maddox:

The Ysleta school district superintendent evidently has “denied that the school supported the walkout…” in an interview with the Times.

Does anyone know how the students learned of the walkout?

Even if there really was a 6th grader that learned of the national walkout through sources other than the school, I doubt that his or her classmates would pay much attention.

Google offered “enable to function or act” as a definition of the word support.

It is a fact that the teachers allowed about 400 students to walkout of class.

The superintendent is wrong.

We deserve better

Brutus

We received this note from Helen Marshall:

This notification of a FREE event was sent to us. 

The Border Youth Athletic Association is one of the unsung success stories in El Paso.  They are a not for profit organization that helps youngsters both athletically in academically.  Take some time to learn about them by following the link below.

Evidently space is limited so register early at www.elpasoborderyouth.org

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Border Youth Athletic Association is pleased to announce Major League Baseball will be visiting El Paso to hold a special event for children from across the Borderlands.

The event is called PLAY BALL and it is part of MLB’s effort to reach a more diverse audience. It is made possible by BYAA’s affiliation with MLB Youth Programs through the RBI initiative. The MLB Baseball and Softball Development staff held over 30 PLAY BALL activations in 2017, but ours will be their first ever bi-national PLAY BALL event. 

PLAY BALL is a free, 90-minute celebration of baseball and softball for kids ages 5 to 13. Games and activities will be staged on the Southwest University Park field, thanks to the generosity of the El Paso Chihuahuas. There will be two PLAY BALL sessions. The morning session is dedicated to Border Youth’s RBI program participants and select Canutillo and Gadsden schools. It will run from 10am to 11:30am.  The afternoon session is open to the public and we are expecting children from El Paso, New Mexico and Juarez. This session will be from 12:30 to 2pm. We estimate we will have 250-300participating in each session, or 600 for the day.

MLB’s New York office is sending a prestigious group out to participate in our Cinco de Mayo PLAYBALL. We will have:

          David James, Sr. V.P., Baseball & Softball Development, MLB

          Chris Haydock, Director, Baseball & Softball Development, MLB

          Destinee Martinez, Team USA Softball Player and Event Manager, USA Softball

           Renee Tirado, V.P., Talent & Acquisition, MLB 

           Kerline Battista, Coordinator Business Communication, MLB

           Sandy Charles, MLB Network, Talent/Producer

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This is better!

Brutus               

We’ve been told that the school yard (edited: was year) fence at Parkland middle school is a rock wall.

Does anyone know how tall it is?  Obviously it was scalable by a 6th grader.

We deserve better

Brutus