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THE TEXAS OBSERVER VOLUME 101, NO. 16 A Journal of Free Voices Since 1954 FOUNDING EDITOR Ronnie Dugger CEO/PUBLISHER Carlton Carl EDITOR Bob Moser MANAGING EDITOR Brad Tyer ASSOCIATE EDITOR Dave Mann INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Melissa del Bosque STAFF WRITER Forrest Wilder ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Julia Austin CIRCULATION/OFFICE MANAGER Candace Carpenter ART DIRECTOR Daniel Lievens WEBMASTER Shane Pearson POETRY EDITOR Naomi Shihab Nye COPY EDITOR Rusty Todd EDITORIAL INTERN Josh Haney CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Nate Blakeslee, Robert Bryce, Emily DePrang, Michael Erard, James K. Galbraith, Patricia Kilday Hart, Steven G. Kellman, Robert Leleux, James E. McWilliams, Char Miller, Ruth Pennebaker, Kevin Sieff, Andrew Wheat CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Jana Birchum, Alan Pogue, Steve Satterwhite CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS Maggy Brophy, Michael Krone, Dusan Kwiatkowski, Alex Eben Meyer, Ben Sargent TEXAS DEMOCRACY FOUNDATION BOARD Lisa Blue, Melissa Jones, Susan Longley, Jim Marston, Mary Nell Mathis, Gilberto Ocafias, Jesse Oliver, Bernard Rapoport, Geoffrey Rips, Geronimo Rodriguez, Sharron Rush, Kelly White, IN MEMORIAM Molly Ivins, 1944-2007, Bob Eckhardt, 1913-2001, Cliff Olofson, 1931-1995, Frankie Carter Randolph, 1894-1972 entire contents copyrighted 2009, is published biweekly except during January, March, July and October when there is a 4-week break between issues \(22 TX, 78701. Telephone fax \(5 12-1175, org, www.texasobserver.org . Periodicals Postage paid in Austin, TX, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER Send address changes to: The Texas Observer, 307 W. 7th St., Austin TX 78701. Subscriptions: 1 yr $32, 2 yr $59, 3 yr $84. Students $20. Foreign, add $13 to domestic price. Back issues $5. Airmail, foreign, group, and bulk rates on request. Microfilm available from University Microfilms Intl., 30o N Zeeb Rd, Ann Arbor MI 48106.. INDEXES The Texas Observer is indexed in Access: The Supplementary Index to Periodicals; Texas Index; and, for the years 1954 through 1981, The Texas Observer Index. Investigative reporting is supported in part by a grant from the Open Society Institute. Books & the Culture is funded in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division and by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts. Cahund A,,. DIN:sion 11.11 OPEN SOCIETY INSTITUTE t, kSaes hiev,eek Ilexes Crennusslon on the Arts DIALOGUE CLEARING THE AIR This is by far the best, most comprehensive article I’ve seen yet regarding the Las Brisas issue \(“Something in the Air,” standing piece of journalism. Bill Reeves Posted at texasobserver.org You have done a service to the people, especially the children, of this area, many of whom attend schools within a short radius of the proposed plant. Thank you for bringing this issue before the people of Texas, as we need help to oppose the moneyed interests and the powerful who do not protect those liable to suffer harm from this plant’s emissions. Ann Smith Posted at texasobserver.org Poetic and powerful journalism. I hope city, county, and state officials will read it. Margaret Duran Posted at texasobserver.org Our air, our water, and the aesthetic pleasure of the sea are the life of our city. We cannot have that stolen from us. Thanks for a great article. Emilie J. Olivares Posted at texasobserver.org Thank you so much for reporting facts. It’s tough to get anything but glossed-over myth s, fear-mongering and misquoted partial truths from the majority of the “press” in Corpus. These facts need to appear daily in local and state news venues or the CEC movement will be shut up and bulldozed under. Greed, greed and more greed seem Corpus Christi. Please stay on this issue and see if you can get your fellow investigative journalists to do the same! Jamie Josephs Posted at texasobserver.org . Thank you for this piece, although I wish more effort had been put into investigating claims about what jobs would truly be provided in Corpus Christi. Half-a-dozen white-collar executives and dozens of minimum-wage employees is a far cry from 8o jobs at $75,000 a year. If Corpus Christi sells its soul for those pitiful numbers, it can expect declines in tourism and an end to attracting new residents based on quality of life. So begins a downward spiral. Not what the Chamber [of Commerce] crowd wants, certainly. Sensible people call upon the Corpus Christi business community to end its usual shortsightedness and set its goals a little higher. Don’t build Las Brisas. Alyssa Burgin Posted at texasobserver.org STEALING SOUTH TEXAS Some historians might say that Texas is a rogue province of northern Mexico would view the taking by military force of approximately half of Mexico in 1848 as illegal. These poor people are simply being exploited. Lisa Lebowski Posted at texasobserver.org HOODIES UNITE Thank you very much for covering Under The Hood Caf and the good people who go there \(“Injured Hearts, Injured Minds:’ Aug. Casey Porter Posted at texasobserver.org Wow! This really opened my eyes. I figured the whole town of Killeen was prowar because it keeps them in business. Congrats to Under the Hood! Chayo Zaldivar Posted at texasobserver.org BEN ONBOARD It’s fantastic to have Ben Sargent producing cartoon commentary for the Observer Congrats to the Observer and Ben! Ted Siff Posted at texasobserver.org Thank you for Ben Sargent’s latest cartoon. Whatever would we do for vicarious erotic entertainment if it weren’t for Republican politicians? Richard Sutherland Los Altos, Calif. AUGUST 21, 2009 TEXASOBSERVER.ORG 3