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ISSUE FOUR
"You pick up some fans and a handful of haters along the way." Bruno Mars
W ha t w om en w an t fo r Va le nt in es D ay !
January 31, 2013 6pm to 9pm Landmark Loft 144 Landa St.
Landmark Salon and Spa Blumen Meisters Leo Square Water2Wine Oldag Guns TX Citizen Cosmedical Esthetics Lisa on location The Body Shoppe The Gruene Flour Cupcakery Tan2K The Hungry Gypsy
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PHOTO CREDITS Cover, Music: Chase Cochran
1st Word
Logical fallacies collide with our Scooter Store piece, with varied results.
STAFF / CONTACT Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Mike Reynolds Director of Distribution Chase Cochran Art Director Kayla Wallace Sales Reps Chant Mazy Editorial: news@txcitizen.com Advertising: sales@txcitizen.com Distribution: distribution@txcitizen.com
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Citizen Soundcheck
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Ask a Mexican
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Motorsports
Gentlemen, star t your sanders...
13
All original content is copyright TX Citizen. TX Citizen is published every Thursday.
Located in the heart of downtown New Braunfels, the Historic Faust Hotel & Brewing Company is a onestop destination offering a variety of House Brews, Full Bar and Tapas-Style Menu, and Redesigned Guestrooms, Suites, and Event Center, which feature 1920s Art Deco design while incorporating modern amenities.
Perhaps this whole thing with the Redditt guy got out of hand.
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TX CITIZEN
The Hazards of Confirmation Bias Editors Note: Two weeks ago, we ran Part One of a two part piece on the Hotel Occupancy Tax, with a promise that Part Two would follow seven days later. We broke that commitment in order to run last
1 WORD
ST
MIKE REYNOLDS
WITH
two very different things, despite what I would like to believe. Not everybody can be a rocket scientist. Especially not Tiffany: I just want to thank you guys for publishing a story with half the truth. Your story about The Scooter Store is riveting! I really enjoyed your stories and what usually is the bold truth, but when you cant get full story, you publish almost the exact story CBS runs. Now thats good media there! Next time you would like to publish a good story, consider both sides. Like how The Scooter Store helps saves the government millions of dollars in long term care because they keep the disabled and elderly out of nursing homes... Or how they employ many of the citizens of New Braunfels and surrounding cities! Why not publish the good that comes of people and companies instead of slanderous accusations? The Scooter Store solely did what CMS told them to do, but thanks for the pseudo-plagiarism... Tiffany That example of an ad hominem attack appeared on our Facebook page at facebook. com/txcitizen. So far there are a couple dozen responses, many of them from Tiffany, and all of hers defending The Scooter Store, not on the basis of the Stores innocence, but rather because were jerks for pointing out that theres something wrong. But while I did attack the Stores history of Medicare fraud cases, the story wasnt really about the Store. It was about Tim Zipp. Tiffany missed the point. She later scolded other readers for judging the company on what 1 story some small town journalist publishes, completely forgetting that she previously accused us of publishing almost the exact story CBS runs. One wonders if she sent hate mail to them as well. Or the Houston-owned Herald-Zeitung. Or KGNB. That would be cool. As youll see on the Facebook thread, she had decided from the get-go that the Store was in the right, and that attacks on the company were illegitimate, despite their merit. A clear case of confirmation bias.
PAUL J. SMITH
Attorney at Law
Board Certified in Criminal Law Texas Board of Legal Specialization 651 S. Walnut Suite D #228 New Braunfels, Tx 78130
830-832-1534
www.pauljsmithlaw.com smithpaulj@msn.com
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weeks story about The Scooter Store and its relationship with the Citys 4-B Board, from which the Store received taxpayer money, and which itself is run by a Scooter Store executive. Prior to that article, we assured you wed have Part Two of the HOT story for you this week. But we dont. Because we got some quality hate mail on that Scooter Store piece, and we dont ever pass up a chance to make our detractors look brain damaged. Today were going to talk about two faces of confirmation bias: Selective interpretation and wishful thinking, and how the latter on my part created an opening for the former to take hold with a small portion of our audience. Last week, we ran a story about The Scooter Store and its connection to local government that needs to be severed namely that 4-B President Tim Tip of the Iceberg Zipp should remove himself from that position, as he is also a Vice-President at The Scooter Store. (The last 4-B President was also a Scooter Store guy. But Im sure thats nothing to worry about.) The Store has taken in millions of our local sales tax dollars courtesy of 4-B largess over the years, and now owes 4-B a massive refund for not following through on its performance agreements with the City. In other words, the man running 4-B is in charge of both writing checks to, and collecting penalties from, the same company from which he draws a paycheck. To make matters worse, that company is constantly in trouble with Medicare for fraud, and Zipp himself is the man in charge of Medicare compliance for the Store. Fox, meet henhouse. I hold that this is such an obvious conflict of interest that there should be no doubt of it in anyones mind. And thats where I fell victim to confirmation bias. Seeing whats obvious, and assuming that 100% of the readers can understand the situation as presented in standard American English, well, those are TXCITIZEN.COM
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Then of course theres the threat: I feel Continued from previous page. Then theres selective interpretation. We got this one from Rene. The emphasis is ours: I applaud your efforts as an investigative reporter. Unfortunately the culture of corporate America forces many good people to work for bad companies. I think the responsibility of your public voice lost course when you asked your readers to Stand up to those people. Ridicule them. Mock them. Demand their resignations. And dont ever forget who they are. That is an attack on many people who you do not personally know. I know and have known many good people who at one time have been employed by The Scooter Store and the negative news has followed these people throughout their careers, even as they look for new employment. Your call to action needs to be re-focused on the upper level tiers of this corruption, instead of the generalization of every employee at the Scooter Store. I am not denying the existence of corruption. I am asking you to watch your mouth in regards to your call to action on those involved. As a fan of your paper I feel you crossed the line on this one and suggest that you make yourself vary hard to find in the event that an innocent TSS employee gets harmed on the back of your words. You should be ashamed of yourself! Urging people to bully others? Most of these people show up daily to do a job! Just like you do! Shame on you to encourage anyone to ridicule and mock people of our community. It looks like you are fitting in just fine with this city after all. Way to join the heard of New Braunfels Finest you sound just like them. As you can see, that ones loaded with tender, juicy morsels to dig into. I didnt attack Store employees in the piece I have nothing against them. The story was about Tim Zipp, and the upper-level tiers of the corruption, just as Rene insisted it should be. How did he miss that? Worse yet, how did he read it as an attack on the rank-and-file employees? The answer: Because he wanted to. Confirmation bias at work. My encouragement was to ridicule those that stood up and defended Zipps involvement with 4-B. So far, nobody has done that, and in the end I would only expect government officials to be making those statements. Thus the demand that they resign. Rene believes Im asking Store employees to quit their jobs because they support their company, which doesnt make sense at any level.
you crossed the line on this one and suggest the event that an innocent TSS employee gets harmed on the back of your words.
In other words, if my report about The Owned Herald-Zietung, not the San Antonio in the unfair disciplining or firing of a Store employee, that I should make myself vary hard to find. Why? Is Rene going to hurt me? I dont know. I do know that the Police Chief his post with an insult directed at the NBPD. So I got that going for me. stealing from us, thats the best the public
can do. Jim Crow laws werent repealed until that be. Every last civil rights battle thats ever precise tactic. Its an appeal to conscience and an attack on social standing. When the corrupt stop getting invited to weddings and birthdays and ice cream socials, things will begin to change. solution to this, or any other political problem. corrected in the courts or at the ballot box its cultural in this Citys government. These people weapon we have is language. We cant take their money, we cant take their power, but we can get them taken off the social calendar when they line their pockets at our expense. Shame is a powerful motivator. I stand behind it as my weapon of choice. Besides, its funny. \m/ Mike Reynolds Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
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TX CITIZEN
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
PET PHOTO SHOOT
County Line Veterinary Clinic is holding an open photo shoot on January 24th from 7:30-5pm for pets in New Braunfels - one of the
1 3 pictures will be chosen for our 20142CLVC Pets of New Braunfels Calendar.
Props and a background will be provided and all participants will receive an emailed copy of the picture. For more information, call 830-626-2580.
the hungry
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13 15 an actual event, the play combines 14 story of a segregated hospital with the
words and experiences of civil rights demonstrators in the 1960s. The theater is located at 1300 Bulverde Road in Bulverde. Admission
is $18 per person, cash or check only. For tickets or more information, contact Brooke or Stacy at 210-385-3635. Curtain time is 8pm.
I bought these pens for the gals last year for Secretarys Day. I thought it would be a nice gift to show I recognize the broads as women and that their gender is welcome at the workplace.
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The first thing I noticed was how similar this ink was to a more masculine ink. It applied and dried in a very efficient fashion, and was remarkable legible, despite my expectations.
Found a product you think we should have a look at? Send the link to news@txcitizen.com.
5
Blowin Off Steamboat: The Aftermath From the dust of a conversation on Facebook was born a concept; organize a music festival here at home in the spirit of The Music Fest in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. After a very rapid planning and booking process the Blowin Off Steamboat Music Festival arrived less than two weeks after its inception. Things were already buzzing at Freiheit Country Store early last Saturday morning. Tables were rearranged, outdoor lighting was restrung, things were being put into shape for this event and you could feel the anticipation for things to get rolling. Dave Jorgenson was kind enough to come in early and set up the sound system that he uses on the road, and he literally constructed a wall of sound that we were not expecting for the day. Dave, his lead guitarist Slim and rhythm guitar and vocalist Dawn were kind enough to run the sound all day and they did a fantastic job making everybody sound their best. What follows are capsule reviews of just a few of Saturdays performances. A complete rundown of all the acts can be found on my blog at musicofnewbraunfels.com. The first group of musicians, which was Steven Vee, Kori Free, Fallon Franklin and Blake Powers, arrived early and were kind enough to help Dave do sound checks so he could fine tune the sound to Freiheits great dance hall. Chris King was scheduled to join the first set at noon but was unable to due to time constraints. When the first set began, Blake, Fallon, Steven and Kori delivered some great songs. Fallon is among alumni of the television show Americas Got Talent, where she reached the top 25 in 2007, and Blake Powers is an accomplished singer and songwriter on his own and joined Fallon (his cousin) to form the singing duo Blake and Fallon in 2002.
MUSIC
They have released four albums together and sometimes perform as Blake and Fallon as well as in a full band named The Boxers. Steven and Kori have played together for several years, and Kori has been playing guitar in public since the age of eight, and it shows! Kori can be seen often playing on a custom cherry sunburst Epiphone Les Paul that was a gift from non-other than her idol Nancy Wilson, whom she met after a few years of playing guitar. She first saw Nancy on an episode of CMT: Crossroads, performing with her sister Ann Wilson in their band Heart. Kori began taking lessons from Steven at the age of seven, and quickly became fluent in blues. Steven retired after a 20 year career with the US Air Force and later worked as a district sales manager for Fender, Inc. Steven writes and performs many styles of music and performs solo, with Kori as a duo and Steve and Kori also perform in a full band known as The Groove Hounds. Jordan Minor and the Bottom Dollar Band then came in for a full band set and sounded great delivering some of the excellent songs Jordan has written over the years. Jordans band consisted of Slim Bawb on lap steel, Court Nance on lead guitar, Stan Little on upright bass and Tony Taylor on drums. Jordan won the Student Songwriter of the Year at the Kerrville Folk Festival in 2006, and has gone on to perform in venues such as Gruene Hall and Cheatham Street Warehouse, and has also opened for the likes of Hayes Carll, Bruce Robison, Gurf Morlix, Chris Knight, the Band of Heathens and others. Kyle Reed, Court Nance, Tony Taylor and Jordan York are four local musicians that not only play in others bands, but also front bands of their own. Kyle Reed recently opened for Guy Clark at Sams Burger Joint Music Hall.
BY BRIAN STRICKLAND
STEAMBOAT
Court Nance plays a weekly residency on Monday nights at Tavern in the Gruene, and can often be found at numerous locations playing with other bands or doing his own show. Tony Taylor regularly plays happy hour at Tavern in the Gruene on Friday nights with Claire Cunningham, and like the other guys keeps busy filling in various positions in other bands. Tony can sit in on drums, lead guitar or pretty much any spot in most any band around as he knows the material of most of the local musicians. Jordan York not only plays full-time bass for Seth Candan, but is an amazing singer in his own right. Walt Wilkins took the stage with just his cool voice and his cool guitar and blew us away with a set that could only be delivered by Walt himself. Ive heard some great covers of Walt Wilkins tunes by many very talented people, but nobody does it like the man himself. I had a list of songs in my head that I really hoped hed play, and almost as if he had read my mind, he handed them to us with an energy Ive seen from him with much larger crowds and a full Mystiqueros band backing him up. Not only is Walt a highly accomplished songwriter, but when he plays that guitar and sings you just get drawn in and you feel the music in your soul. Before his set began he handed me a brand new CD titled Wildcatpie & The Great Walapateya which is an amazing assortment of Walts classic, Mystiquero originals and Mystiquero favorites. When this is released you WILL want to buy a copy! Thank you to all the musicians, to Freiheit Country Store and the TX Citizen for helping make the Inaugural Blowin Off Steamboat Music Festival a success!
BLOWIN OFF
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Thu 1.24
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Garrett Heinrichs 8pm
Fri 1.25
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Colt Landon Baker 8pm
Triple Crown
Joel Hofmann Band 6pm Jericho, Loose Leaf 10pm, $5
Phoenix Saloon
The Georges 9pm
Rileys Tavern
Cornell Hurd 9pm
Vino en Verde
Aaron Stephens 8pm
Vineyard at Gruene
Sarah McSweeney 7pm
Sat 1.26
Adobe Verde
Mandy Sloan 8pm
Gruene Hall
Aaron Einhouse Band 6pm
Gruene Hall
Van Wilks 8pm
Triple Crown
Girling, The Organics, Chasca 10pm, $5
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Lucas Taylor 5pm
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Dry River Religion 9pm
Rileys Tavern
Peppers Blues 9pm
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Steven Vee 5pm DJ B.Read Presents: Two Handfuls of Funk 9pm
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Sun 1.27
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Allan Goodman 8pm
Rileys Tavern
Jesse Dayton 9pm
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Flat Top Jones 1pm Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights 9pm, $10
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Quiet Comapny w/ Wild Child, Telegraph Canyon, Magnolia Sons 8pm, $12-$15
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Sat 1.26
Antones
What Made Milwaukee Famous w/ The Preservation, The Heavenly States 8pm, $10-$100
Phoenix Saloon
The Al Barlow Show 2pm TBA 7pm
Triple Crown
Tony Taylor 6pm Fine Fellows, Ashley Monical 9pm, $5
Mon 1.28
Cheatham Street Warehouse
Hayes Carll, Adam Carroll, Jon Evans 9pm, $15
Cowboys Dancehall
Concert for the Cure Jack Ingram w/ The Aaron Einhouse Band 7pm, 21+ $15, 18-20 $20
Cowboys Dancehall
Cowboy Breakfast 4:30am
Wed 1.30
Billys Ice House
Kyle Reed Band 8pm
Gruene Hall
Bret Graham 6pm
Triple Crown
For Elise 6pm Chief & TheDoomsdayDevice 10pm
Tues 1.29
Billys Ice House
Moonlight Social, Missoula Slim 8:00pm
Gruene Hall
Warren Hood & the Champeens 6pm
Rileys Tavern
Mike Ethan Messick 9pm
Stetson Bar
Chris Saucedo & The New Age Outlawz 9:30pm
Stetson Bar
Shawn Allen & The Bout Time Band 9:30pm
Gruene Hall
Jordan Minor w/ Owen Temple & Mark Jungers 6pm
Triple Crown
Little Boy Blue 6pm Landon Bullard, Dry River Religion 9pm, $5
Stubbs BBQ
Sounds Under Radio w/ Wesley Lunsford, Hooka Hey 9pm, Inside, $10
Stubbs BBQ
Zappa Plays Zappa 7pm, Outside, $25
TXCITIZEN.COM
Male 600 180 lbs DOB: 07/16/1977 CHARGE: Motion to proceed with adjudication for assault public servant
Male 507 215 lbs DOB: 04/15/1987 CHARGE: Failure to appear for theft of property
walking home from work down Haight men who came of age during the 1990s Street in San Francisco one evening to listen to this rola off their cholo cousins and stopped into Watusi Records to Lowrider Magazine Volume 1 CD. look through the dollar cutout bin. I Chingas other songs are similarly flipped through it for a bit and then hilariousEl Corrido del Bato Loco stopped dead when I saw the Jonny (Ballad of a Crazy Vato), Yo Quiero Tirar Chingas Pachuco LP. I looked closer, Chingasos (I Want to #### Someone Up) saw what was written in small print on and La Dolencia (The Longing), the most the license plate of the car on the cover romantic song about blue balls EVER. But who (se me paro), and went, Holy crap! Ive gotta have this! The record (especially the title cut and El Corrido del Bato Loco) was funnier than hell (and musically not too bad). A dozen years later, just after the Internet came in, I ran a search on AltaVista and got a single result, for a little indie record company in East L.A. I wrote to ask them if they had any more Jonny Chingas recordings and received a single-sentence reply: Hey man, I think the vatos dead. Running a Google search now, there seems to be no info whatsoever on who the dude was, other than his name, Ral Garcia, which matches the credits on the original Billionaire LP: R. Garcia. In 200 words or less (to match your column length), who was this incredibly funny, talented guy and what in hell happened to him? Ye Olde Gabacho
Dear Gabacho: Se Me Paro! Literally Dear Nosy Wabette Who Wants to Know If I Know Information About the Piteado Technique: Youre referring, of course, to the belts featuring arabesque designs that are a staple of hombres from central Mexico. The was he? Real name Raul Garza, recorded mainstream Chicano tracks with a bunch of East L.A. Chicano rock bands during the 1960s and 1970s under the names Raul Garcia and Ruly Garcia, but achieving immortality with the Jonny Chingas persona. J-Vibe of Dragon Mob Records produced some of Chingas last recordingsand, yep, Chingas is now cruising alongside Jesus in that dropped 64 Chevy Impala in the sky. Finally, sorry for crossing your 200-word border, but you know how we Mexicans are with imaginary boundaries
Male 507 190 lbs DOB: 07/05/1991 Female 504 190 lbs CHARGE: Engaging in DOB: 04/11/1989 organized criminal CHARGE: Engaging in activity and forgery of organized criminal financial instrument activity and credit card or debit card abuse
Male 601 185 lbs DOB: 12/21/1977 CHARGE: Possession of a controlled substance
Female 501 134 lbs DOB: 08/29/1976 CHARGE: Motion to proceed with adjudication for possession of a controlled substance
LANE, JUSTIN
Female 501 130 lbs Male 600 180 lbs DOB: 08/16/1964 DOB: 08/23/1980 CHARGE: Possession CHARGE: of marijuana over 4 oz Unauthorized use of a under 5 lbs also bail motor vehicle and theft jumping and fail to appear felony over $1500 under $20,000
Female 505 130 lbs Male 508 180 lbs DOB: 10/28/1976 DOB: 04/20/1978 CHARGE: Motion to CHARGE: Theft of revoke probation for property over $1500 possession of a under $20,000 controlled substance pg 1 under 1 gram
-A R E RC RA ES LT LE ED D --
LAWSON, CHRISTINA
translating as It Stood Up, but Mexican most famous city for production is Colotln, Spanish for I Got Hardas in, My Jalisco, but the best ones come from Jerez, Chorizo is Ready to Get Into Your Pink Taco hard! By the legendary Jonny Chingas, the Blowfly of Chicano rap! Man, I hadnt heard that songa raunchy doo-wop Spanglish retelling of a homeboy getting it on with his heina, complete with moans and mecosin Zacatecasnot that Im biased or anything.
$200 REWARD
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FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE ARREST OF COMAL COUNTYS MOST WANTED. Callers will remain anonymous.
The names listed have been released in accordance with the Texas Public Information Act Code 552.001 st.seq.annotated Public Record and Information disclosure statues. This is a true and accurate account as of Monday, January 14, 2013 at 10:45 am and may not be current by the time it is read. Do not try to apprehend anyone. For anonymous tips and rewards, please contact Crime Stoppers at: 24-Hour Phone number 830.620.3400; Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm 830.620.3411. These are listings of criminal warrants with the Sheriffs Office and are not indicative of guilt or innocence. Officers are to verify the status of each warrant prior to making an arrest. Any person is innocent of wrongdoing unless proven guilty in a court of law.
MOST WANTED
COMAL COUNTYS
ASK A MEXICAN!
By Gustavo Arellano years. And I urge everyone to give it a spin,
Dear Mexican: In 1983 or 1984, I was as it was a rite of passage for all Mexican
In what state and city are the cintos piteados made? Una Metiche que Quiere Saber si Sabes T Informacin del Piteado
Ask the Mexican at themexican@ askamexican.net, be his fan on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @gustavoarellano or ask him a video question at youtube. com/askamexicano!
TX CITIZEN
UNCLE ESEL
Dear Uncle Esel, I have a relative that is an absolute nut about showing the world what a liberal she is. Its not that shes a liberal as I have several friends that are liberals. My problem is that she goes so out of her way to announce how liberal she is and always has to out-liberal everybody else. Recently she weighed into the gun debate at a small dinner at another relatives home and declared that she did not even want to attend an event if anyone at the event was carrying a concealed handgun. I have been carrying a gun and have been licensed to do so for many years and this dinner was no different. My question is, do I need to be concerned with her wishes? What if the event had been at her house? Thank You, Pete
Dear Pete, Since you were legally carrying (and not drinking, I hope) and had not been specifically told you could not by the actual homeowner, you are breaking no law. Uncle Esel is a strong advocate of the 2nd Amendment and the right to carry, but that only applies to public places A SPECIAL NOTE FROM KEN ESEL: This past week Pauline Phillips, more commonly known as Dear Abby passed on to the Advice Column Coffee Shop in the sky. Of all the advice columns out there, Paulines edgy wit and occasional double entendre were influences on this Esel. If imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery, then Esel along with countless other advice column writers have been flatterizing Pauline more than any other columnist out there. It would even seem that Pauline had written columns for us here, as in this one seemingly directed at local officials;
ADVICE FROM
AVA IL A B LE FO R :
Birthday Parties Family Reunions Business Functions Other Group Events WE HAVE SPACE!
&
830.625.1919
Dear Abby: I have always wanted to have my family history traced, but I cant afford to spend a lot of money to do it. Have you any suggestions? M. J. B. in Oakland, Calif. Dear M. J. B.: Yes. Run for a public office.
Today Dear Abby survives, written by Paulines daughter Jeanne Phillips, and it
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and places where the public is likely to go, appears in over 1400 papers with a daily like stores and theaters. The home is a little readership of over 100 million people across different. Had you been at the liberal relatives the globe. In an interesting parallel, Pauline house, you should have the courtesy to comply was a bored housewife with journalism training with her prior ramblings even if you had not that decided not to sit around the home all day been specifically requested to not carry. Of course the other option would be to just not go playing mah-jongg, not at all unlike the Esel to her house and be honest about your reasons with her. Be clear though, that once asked story. Imagine my shock comparing her story to mine of just sitting around the house all day to remove yourself or the weapon, you are playing Farmville before deciding to embark breaking the law if you dont comply and can on my journalistic road. be arrested. Best bet: Leave it in the car, make In the end, I thank Pauline for paving this an appearance and make a hasty retreat. road and making the lucrative advice gig what Love, K it is today. Meanwhile Uncle Esel will remain
in hiding in his home until the advice column death triumvirate has been fulfilled. If only Lindsey Lohan wrote a column. Dang it. Love, K
Uncle K. Esel is a lifetime resident of our fair city, and is well known for his sage advice on a wide range of topics. If you find yourself perplexed with no one to turn to, send your question to Uncle Esel at: askesel@TXCITIZEN. COM. Be sure to write Question for Uncle Esel in the subject line of your email.
11
t was a beautiful day at the Happy Cow's Belt Sander Races last Saturday, with what may have been a record spectator turnout. Team Colonel (Belt) Sanders placed First in the stock division, while Team TCB, with a substitute driver at the switch, brought home the gold in the modi ed class. For more information on the Cows monthly belt sander races, call 512-353-0030.
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Hangeditt They say, You get what you pay for. This though. And thank God for that. Can you online social bookmarking and networking site. Through it all he worked tirelessly technological and intellectual ideas could was pursued by U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz anyway. In what was clearly an attempt as property, particularly when that property to encourage a plea bargain, Swartz was is not held by its creator. loaded with charges that would, if he were and $1 million in fines. A monstrous price to every college in the country. our society. We should question whether we are better served by a system that withholds axiom fails when applied to government, to create an open-access society, where imagine the level of offensive intrusiveness we advance unfettered. His attempts to serve convicted, win him up to 35 years in prison could expect from government if our money society in this way did not go unnoticed. done by the productive class. Fortunately, our government (in most cases, local, state and federal) is full of crooks and incompetents, less interested in doing their job than they are in lining their pockets Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics in 2011. On Jan. 11th, Swartz was found in hanged himself. was spent efficiently? Nothing would ever get Harvard University made him a fellow at the pay for information that is available at nearly information, or one that is open with it. We Ortizs office has since said that they may be some middle ground that is better that may be true, but there is no question that What we shouldnt do is accept a
his Brooklyn apartment where he had never threatened maximum sentencing, and for everyone.
What could make such a stupendous our judicial system encourages its prosecutors government that is so focused on the law that it
or snoozing their way to a lavish retirement success story and shinning light for the future to charge high in order to bargain down. package. Certainly there are some who see take his own life? Our Justice Department. their work as a calling and public service, but they are for the most part hamstrung by the very bureaucracy they seek to serve. Pages upon pages or rules, regulations and codes of making a difference. Every once in a while, though, the empower themselves, and when that happens, horrendously wrong. This was the case for Aaron Swartz, known as one of the co-founders of Reddit. You see, Swartz was under indictment for hacking (wire fraud and computer fraud specifically). It wasnt the sort of hacking you sentences if they refuse to plead guilty. The rate, but it is at the cost of the civil rights threaten punishments so onerous that no Thats not justice; its blackmail. There is no question that Aaron Swartz
goes out of its way to bury justice. Aaron Swartz point, to try to persuade the public. He shouldnt
This leaves defendants facing outrageous should have had the opportunity to make his benefit to prosecutors is a high conviction have been placed in a position that forced unreasonable imprisonment. And he certainly
or I think of when we hear the term, and it of ordinary citizens. Our government can the charges he faced. Swartz gained access to an academic
are stacked between them and any real hope wasnt fraud by any definition, but those were
shouldnt have been hounded to the extent standing up for what he believed in.
normal person can chance facing them. that he saw suicide as an option preferable to
government and its minions manage to truly database (JSTOR) where academic articles you can be certain that something will go Swartz downloaded some 4 million of these papers that he intended to put online so that they would be available freely to everyone. JSTOR pays royalties to the publishers of academic
and papers are stored for research purposes. broke the law. He would have argued that country forward, let me suggest that this topic law. The idea of intellectual property is often we reign in our justice system so that people a difficult one for libertarians like me. People are punished appropriately, but the innocent create, and a written work or an idea is no The law shouldnt be used as a means to different than a house or a car or a computer in this regard. We probably do need some in the justice system. Carmen Ortiz should be
the law was misguided, but he did break the is one that should be on our minds. How can
a 26-year-old computer entrepreneur, best charges a fee for access to their database and The term computer-genius is thrown journals. The authors themselves are not around far too freely in our modern world, compensated. Swartz felt that liberating this but it Swartzs case it was apt. By 13, Swartz work would make things better for everyone. had won recognition among the internet He didnt need them himself. As a Harvard community, and by 14 he was helping to develop software that changed the way we fellow, he had access to them for free. JSTOR refused to file civil charges versus
should be compensated for the things they or the harmless arent railroaded mercilessly?
way to enforce property rights that are less ashamed of herself, but until she and others over to the government. But, Swartzs intent was not criminal. He wasnt attempting activist. He was protesting the idea that that they have over us away.
tangible, and right now we hand that power like her are, we should work to take the power
all use the internet. By 18, he was merging Swartz even though his actions damaged to gain materially. His intent was to be an his own company with Reddit, an innovative, one of their servers, but the criminal case
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