Local Opinion

One of my favorite science fiction movies is Forbidden Planet. This 1956 sci-fi stars Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielson, Anne Francis and Robbie the Robot. It was nominated for an Academy Award for best visual effects and is considered one of the best sci-fi movies ever made, frequently referred to as a modern version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is boasting that he survived a national recall vote. The truth, however, is more complicated, and many are saying it was a complete waste of time and taxpayers’ money.

One of the highlights of my long legal career was the honor of serving as César Chavez’ lawyer for 18 years and for the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO here in Texas during its organizing campaigns. I also had the opportunity of marching with César on twin 60-mile marches in South Texas, from Brownsville and Rio GrandeCity that met in San Juan, to raise farm labor wages.

Kudos to Mrs. Lorena Saenz Gonzalez’s commentary on being proactive and informed about colon cancer (March 23). It is an insidiously devastating disease that is ignored and sometimes difficult to suspect, until it is too late to address. It robs many people of their health and lives.

These are tough times for public schools. Enrollment has dropped so much in some areas that some schools are closing. The BrownsvilleIndependentSchool District is considering consolidating two more elementaries and two alternative schools in order to shutter one campus of each. The Donna ISD also plans to close its alternative school due to low enrollment.

In my 75 years, I have dedicated a great deal of my time and money to advocate for homeless cats and dogs. Pet shelters exist in most U.S. cities in an attempt to rehome the lucky ones that are considered adoptable.

If a veteran died on or after Oct. 1, 2021, we’ll pay a $300 burial allowance and $828 for a plot. The Social Security Department pays a whopping $225 for the funeral (the national average cost of a funeral with viewing in 2020 was $9,150. That cost does not include cemetery service or cemetery property charges.)

March was Women’s History Month, and I’m writing to honor the women who have come before us, recognize our current leaders, and celebrate our future trailblazers.

In the March 13 Monitor, we read about the ludicrous situations of hiring and firing in our local governments in America! Here in the Valley, people are hired to fill jobs with contracts containing loopholes stipulating terms of employment. These loopholes are costing taxpayers billions of dollars throughout America just to terminate someone, even if it is of a political nature!

The situation in Ukraine is getting downright genocidal with the Russian army killing civilians left and right. When you look at the maps of the entire planet, Russia takes up more land area than China and India combined with these two countries having 36% of the world’s population. Russia is losing people according to estimates of experts with only 148 million remaining.