In a soft-landing Saturday story, El Paso Times’ David Crowder discovers that the FBI is getting tips and allegations about public corruption.

In other news related to corruption, the El Paso County Council of Judges discussed allegations of — I guess you’d call it — computer tampering. The tampering is alleged to have resulted in cases being distributed to judges thought sympathetic to whatever lawyers thought they’d be sympathetic to. I guess. Allegedly.

John Travis Ketner’s license to practice law has been suspended. He, of course, pleaded guilty and implicated many, which has at least two, and many more, likely, up in arms on the border and pondering legal recourse, such as libel suits.

Also, El Paso Times has got a better URL for its FBI public corruption files here. The old URL had /election in it vice the current /publiccorruption. Heh. Why’d they bother to change?

BANDWAGON ALERT: A spokesman for El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in the same article that they’ve been working similar “public integrity cases” since before the big FBI courthouse search that kicked this whole thing into high gear, here on the border.

Naturally, the Border Observer’s ace journalists are on the public corruption case, though you won’t know them because bylines are scarce in the free weekly tabloid. It’s worth checking out for what passes for either a 1960s-era graphic or a fifth-grade personalities link chart. Naturally, Bush and Cheney are linked to the local corruption scandal.

If you want a link chart on the alleged corruption scandal, here’s a better one, based on publicly-available information.

More BO muckraking.

And even the BO recognizes the bottom line when it loses out. That just it with Lefties — the real world bites hard, and it hurts their little feelings. Owwie, indeed. But then, who cares, when a rag takes a copyrighted movie still and credits it to itself?

BONUS POINTS: To the BO for the creation of a new ethnic group: American of Mexican Descent. AMD, because “Mexican-American” is so assimilative, and hyphenated identities are just not where it’s at right now. Bonus points removed for grammatical mistakes and a constipated writing style. Maybe that’s why the BO has a problem with bylines. Those who write and edit so poorly are worried about getting promotions and better jobs elsewhere.

El Paso Times is reporting that lawyer Martie Jobe, who is reportedly one of the CCs named in Travis Ketner’s “information” paper, is suing for defamation and civil conspiracy. Thanks for confirming you’re one of the CCs listed through this lawsuit, Martie. Makes everyone’s job easier. You’re either JaneCC-1 or JaneCC-2 — those are the only females mentioned. I’ll figure it out after lunch. The suit claims Jobe has “suffered intense embarrassment, extreme anger, sleepless nights, prolonged anxiety, difficulty eating, bouts of nausea, emotional reactions and outbursts at the slightest provocation, nightmares and extreme stress.” Sounds like me after eating a lousy Chinese meal in El Paso.

Here’s a link to a PDF file of Jobe’s court petition, courtesy of El Paso Times. It’s an interesting read with a dig at the local FBI (also known as the local “Gestapo” to the editors of Border Observer).

In other news, the current heat wave has spawned another lawsuit. Former El Paso city attorney Lisa Elizondo is suing Hizzonner, the mayor, John Cook, as well as the City of El Paso for slander and violating the Texas Open Meetings Act. I don’t know what an Open Meetings Act says, but the story is a good read, especially the part that basically alleges that Cook is a world-class sexist and racist who thinks any Mexican female is not worth working with and she oughta be home tending her (presumarly) large brood of illegitimate kids. OK, I made up the part about illegitimate. And large. I don’t know how large Elizondo, or her brood, are. Elizondo was fired in 2005, and I’m surprised more Democrats haven’t jumped on her bandwagon. After all, there’s that whole Bush/Gonzalez/US Attorney thing going on right now. Or was going on, last time I rode Flossie into El Paso to read the paper and eat some char shiu at one of the city’s world-class Chinese joints.

OK, yesterday we hit 105 in the desert and it became time to think about cooling summer drinks. Alcohol-based drinks, of course. You’ve all had your mixed beer drinks, like a Radler (beer and lemonade) or a Diesel (beer and Coca-Cola, better for cold weather, actually). There is also a Mexican corollary to these European delights: The michelada.

Recipes vary by region and taste. Some prefer a “light” colored beer, like Corona or Tecate, and some want a full-taste beer, like Nego Modelo.

I’ve posted a few variations below, culled from Ted Stevens’ Intartubes. An old desert rat will need to taste and refine. Your standard for this tried-and-true refresher is solicited: all recipes will be posted here.

Michelada #1
1 bottle Beer
1 tsp Salt
2 oz Tequila
Juice of 2 lemons
Add lemon juice to 4 ice cubes in a beer mug. Add salt and stir to blend. Add tequila and again, stir to blend. Fill with corona and serve.

Michelada #2
12 ounces beer, preferably a dark Mexican beer like Negra Modelo
1/2 lime, preferably a Key lime

Coarse salt

2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

1 dash soy sauce

1 dash Tabasco sauce

1 pinch black pepper

1 dash Maggi seasoning, optional

Squeeze the juice from the lime and reserve. Salt the rim of a highball glass by rubbing it with the lime and dipping it in coarse salt. Fill with ice.
Add lime juice, Worcestershire, soy sauce, Tabasco, pepper and Maggi, if desired.
Pour in beer, stir and serve, adding more beer as you sip.

Michelada #3
12 oz. Mexican Beer, non-dark, (Negro Modelo or Corona)
2 dashes of Jugo Sazonador (Maggi) “This is the key to a REAL Michelada”
2 dashes of premium Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins)
2 dashes Tabasco brand hot sauce (add more if you like it spicy)
juice from 2 non-yellow key limes (Very important)
Mix all the ingredients except the beer into a beer glass, stir well, and add a few ice cubes. Rimming the glass with celery salt is optional, but adds to authenticity.

Michelada $4
1 Beer
1 lime
Hot sauce (Chicagoist used Cholula for this recipe)
Salt and pepper
Chile powder or other seasonings
Ice
Chill a glass. Rim it with salt. Add spices and ice. Pour the beer in. Stir lightly to mix ingredients.
The michelada was not unpleasant. It had some medium heat on the palate and we particularly liked the way the lime and hot sauce complemented each other. Then again we like spicy things- foods, music, women. Our miscue with this beverage is that we used Bohemia as the base beer. Bohemia is one of a handful of Mexican beers with character and flavor. The spices we added completely masked the flavor of the beer. Michelada spices are made specifically for flavorless beer like Corona.

Michelada #5
1 Bottle of Beer, preferably a Negro Modelo
4 drops of Tabasco Sauce
1/4 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
Dashes of Salt and Ground Pepper
Juice of 1 Lime wedge
Combine above ingredients except beer in a glass, and pour beer to top.  Serve with wedge of lime in a salted glass.

Michelada #6
1 ice cold Mexican beer: Corona or Negra Modela for example
2 tablespoons of course salt
1 tablespoon of chili powder
2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice
1-2 dashes of your favorite hot sauce
1 dash of soy sauce
1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
Ice
Black pepper
Lime wedge for garnish
Mix together the salt and chili powder on a small plate. Rim a beer glass with a little lime juice and then dip in the salt and chili mixture to cover the top of the glass.
Fill mug with ice (yes, ice in a beer is popular in Mexico and other parts of Latin America).
Add lime juice, hot sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of black pepper.
Slowly pour in beer. The salt on the rim will cause the beer to foam up, so be careful while adding beer.
Stir. Enjoy.

Clicky for full-sized goodness.

EL PASO CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS UPDATE:
LKG Enterprises Inc. was named in the 15 May FBI search warrant — one of 22 businesses and individuals. El Paso County Commissioners Court decided to withold payment for contracted services. There’s also information about $675k in services contracted for but not received.

Meanwhile, this public corruption case is the biggest ever for the El Paso FBI office.

The Border Observer takes flight on the case, but the article soon nosedives into a wannabe political screed against corruption nationwide. South Gate, California and Maryland are mentioned as examples, presumably to shore up the local argument by the unnamed writer.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Curmudgeonly Skeptical finds some new Limousine Liberals pondering the problems of the poor. Ace journalists from the Border Observer not noted present.