June 2023, 2nd Quarter Issue

Photograph by: Janssen Panisales

JUNE 2023 2nd Quarter Issue

About Us

Fil-Am World Magazine was established by Romelette Metz on March 23, 2010. We are a publishing and advertising company. Our company provides professional and scientific development, technical management, advertisement, consultation, and training services to businesses and service providers. Fil-Am World Magazine has four active certifications: ABE, MBE, SBE, and WBE duly affirmed by the South Central Texas Regional Certification Agency for Business Enterprise Program and currently a registered vendor of the City of San Antonio.

Our Mission

We provide a platform to promote cultural expression through a variety of arts and entertainment and events, and networking between communities and businesses.

Our Clients

We provide services to professionals, self-employed, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Clients with whom we have partnered to help their business and audience grow includes; Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce, Campos Law Group Personal Injury Attorneys, Transpacific Investment Realty, AtHome Realty, The Red Horse Bar SA, AdoboJam Productions, FlipnTexFotos, XStatic ALL PRO., just to name a few

Warm greetings!

Fil-Am World Magazine wishes to thank you for your trust, continued support, confidence and your business relationship with us.

Please allow me to share with you our accomplishments as we owe our success to you.

In the past year, hence we’ve discovered and explored a wide array of strategic marketing and branding, we've partnered and worked with more organizations and businesses. We have broaden our range of customers from self-employed to small businesses, LLCs, various chambers of commerce and corporations and have worked with our clients, contributing to their overall success. We’ ve successfully proven to be an innovative and value driven company. Please see our Capability Statement on page 7 for your reference.

On July 2022, we got certified by the SCTRCA’s Business Enterprise Certification Program and now we currently have 4 active certifications; MBE, ABE, SBE, and WBE. We’re working towards more opportunities in private and government contracts. We are serving and seeking business opportunities in Bexar, Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson counties simultaneously.

Our network has grown exponentially and we now have 25, 000++ subscribers and followers. We’ve also established our email campaign and/or digital newsletter to regularly send updates, announcements, promotions, articles, etc... to our readers and subscribers. As of today, we have thousands of email contacts in our database.

Our accomplishments have opened opportunities for us to grow without limits and have set us a high standard in providing quality services and work ethics. We thank our business partners like you as you are the reason that we strive to do our best and achieve more success!

All the best,

Romelette Metz, CEO/Owner

“

We appreciate and compensate any referrals.”

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A Day At The Capitol

May 09, 2023, Austin Texas- Senator Joan Huffman and Representative Angie Chen Button were extremely excited in welcoming Asian-Americans from across Texas! The Texas Capitol hosted Asian-American community leaders and members for a day of Asian cultural recognition, engagement, and celebration. For the first time, there were many Asian American communities came and visited the Capitol.

There were several Asian American organizations from San Antonio, Texas attended this historic event, to name a few; Asian American Alliance of San Antonio, Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce, AREAA San Antonio, Organization of Filipinos in Texas, and Philippine American Chamber of Commerce-Central Texas.

Asian American Day had given the Asian Americans a day of opportunity to explore the Capitol, photo opps with government officials, and meet with Texas officials to discuss certain policies/issues in the morning and there was a scheduled program with Statewide Officials begun at 1:00pm.

Photo above (L-R): Asian American Alliance of San Antonio (AAASA) Board of Directors; Dr. Danet Lapiz Bluhm (President- PACC-CTR), Elisa Chan (Founder - AAASA & AAACC), Romelette Metz (Board Member- OFT & Publicist- AAACC), Kin Yan Hui (Past President - AAASA) and Willie Ng (President- AAACC and President Elect- AAASA).

The Asian American communities across Texas, perhaps across the U.S., have been a huge part in community engagements, political influence and endeavors, and economic development and growth. It was inspiring to see Asian Americans from all over Texas participating and rep-

resenting their respective communities. Some of them wore their national and/or cultural costumes, held their national flags, carried distinctive accessories, to display a glimpse of their heritage. It was a beautiful sight indeed!

The vision of the Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce is act as catalyst for creating local and international alliances in support of business growth through advocacy, educational and informative programs and cultural initiatives.

To find out more of AAACC and to become a member, please contact 210.560.6443 or simply visit our official website at www.alamoaacc.org or our Facebook Page https:// www.facebook.com/AlamoAACC/ and send us a message.

The annual Romelette Solo Art Exhibit, a by invitation only and one of our marquee events which attracted many people in Texas, Washington, and Oregon states, is back! We halted our annual art show for more than 3 years due to the pandemic. We now resume our art show this year and it’s going to be better than ever before.

Fil-Am World Magazine is proud to have such a diverse and inclusive audience attending this year ’s Romelette Solo Art Exhibit. Thus, this event will provide awareness and connection between distinguished list of community and business leaders. Thus, making this event a great opportunity for your business development; to engage and to introduce yourself to prospective customers as well as promote growth strategies.

For event sponsors, this is a unique opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and business professionals because Fil-Am World Magazine is committed to:

Romelette Solo Art Exhibit started in 2011 as part of Fil-Am World Magazine's strategic marketing and branding as it has proven to engage people. Since then, past art events have steadily helped to grow interest.

The art's theme this year is impressionistic paintings of landscapes, people, objects, and variety of other subjects, with the goal of surpassing our past art events.

We wish to acknowledge our generous principal sponsor, Lanielyn Naylor, CEO and founder of Pura Vida International.

Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce President, Willie Ng, Jr., Was Chosen As Keynote Speaker

By: Romelette Metz

Photo Courtesy: Willie Ng, Jr.

Willie Ng, Jr., President, Alamo Asian American Chamber of Commerce, had been honored to be chosen by the FIRST EVER graduating class of IDEA Mays College Preparatory, senior class student body as their 2023 keynote speaker.

On his speech Willie said:

“

I have received several awards and accolades throughout my career, but this is by far the best recognition I’ ve ever experienced.

I am humbled to have been selected by such an impressive class of students:100% of this senior class was accepted to a 4-year university, with 65 students receiving over $6 million in scholarships.66% of the senior class has been accepted into Top Tier 1 & 2 schools, and one graduate was awarded Ivy League Acceptance.

Today’s economic environment, graduat-

ing from high school is no small feat. It is a momentous achievement and a testament to the students’ hard work and dedication. Many come from difficult backgrounds, and with this incredible triumph of advancing on to higher education, they are now making generational changes. Their children and grandchildren will have a different life because of what they are achieving today. As they embark on the next chapter of their lives, I hope they remember to stay curious, take risks, and never stop learning. But also stay true to themselves and remain humble. Adversity is inevitable, but if they don’t lose sight of their self-worth, they can accomplish anything.”

Willie prayed for guidance and wisdom to be prevalent in their lives and journeys be filled with prosperity that surpasses all understanding and wished all 2023 graduates the best of luck in all their future endeavors!

Photo Courtesy: Willie Ng, Jr.

San Antonio, Texas- June 03, 2023, Saturday, at the Red Horse Bar SA, the LaughTrip Night with ALex Calleja, thus far, was one of the best Filipino American entertainment produced by AdoboJam Productions, owned and operated by a Filipino nurse, Albert Tarriela, partnered with Fil-Am World Magazine, XStatic-SA Mobile, Alan & Raquel Villanueva.

The show started with front acts and the most talented Filipino local artists, namely; Jocelyn Baucom- who is known of her clear & silk-like voice and a member of all-female group singers the GPower, an acoustic live performance of Ace with Sarah Sutton- 2021 Grand Champion of Fil-Am World Magazine Texas Karaoke Star, MJ– 2013 Grand Champion Fil-Am World Magazine’s Texas Karaoke Star and a member of G-Power, and Love Duka a.k.a. “Jokay” - the first-ever rising female comedian in Texas.

LaughTrip was sponsored by Delia Aquino, AtHome Realty, as gold sponsor and our silver sponsors were David Gaston (Realtor), the Organization of Filipinos in Texas or OFT and D'Journey Enterprises - Platinum Vision

Photos courtesy: AdoboJam Productions/Albert Tarriela

American comedian, and mentioned that they s performance and jokes better. As one of the respected producers in Texas, , said, “he is hilarious!”

Thanks to AdoboJam Productions and its partners, for putting this show together and bringing joy to the community! We had a full house and

Jocelyn Baucom

Ace and Sarah Sutton

Love Duka, a.k.a. “Jokay”

Love, Jocelyn, Alex, Sarah and MJ Albert, Alan, Alex, Raquel and DJ Orly

Local Celeb Chefs to Usher in 2023 Filipino Food Oregon

(Portland, OR)- On its second year, Filipino Food Oregon (FFO), an event hosted by the Philippine Department of Tourism- San Francisco (DOT), heralds the Filipinos’ love of celebration, and yes, food.

Chef Melvin Trinidad of Barkada PDX who has a cooking segment at KATU Afternoon Live and was Willamette Weekly’s Portland’s Best Chef 2020, will kick off the event on June 23, Friday (11am to 2pm, and 5pm to 8pm) with the soft launch of his brick-and-mortar Filipino-Hawaiian restaurant, Hapa Barkada. The soft launch will be at Hapa Howie’s food cart on 2299 NW 23rd Ave, Portland. This year, Chef Melvin created FFO’s 2023 Signature Mocktail, called “Project 7”, named after his father’s neighborhood in the Philippines. It is a mixture of Calamansi juice, 7-UP, soda water, splash of grenadine, garnished with mint, cherry, and lime.

This signature mocktail will be sold June 24 and June 25 at the World Beat in Salem, an annual festival attended by an average of 25,000 visitors. One of Food & Wine Best New Chefs 2021, and a 2022 James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Northwest and Pacific, Chef Carlo Lamagna of Magna Kusina, who just opened his second restaurant, Magna Kubo, a lechoneria, will give a food demo, June 25, Sunday, at the Cultural Center at the World Beat.

Finalist of 2022 The Great American Recipe, Fil-Am cook Christina McAlvey, is collaborating with brewery to do a dish – likely a trio of tacos (adobo, longanisa, tocino). More information about this will be announced in the coming weeks.

And from June 25 to July 1, participating Filipino restaurants, food carts, and food businesses will offer specials during the week, highlighted by a contest among diners and customers, winning as much as $300 in cash and other consolation prizes.

As the Filipinos love celebration, DOT will have the "Harmony of Cultures: Celebrating Philippine Festivals and Dances" on June 24, Saturday, 5:45pm to 6:45pm, at the Riverfront Amphitheater during the World Beat, featuring five of the most popular festivals in the Philippines, complete with ultra colorful costumes, drums and percussions, choreographed by Ric Decatoria who also designed all the costumes.

All DOT and DTI (Philippine Department of Trade and Investment) booths will have a Boracay Vibe themed décor, with DTI, headed by Trade Commissioner Celynne Layug, bringing in Merkado Kultura products in their booth.

Consul General Neil Frank Ferrer of the Philippine Consulate General- San Francisco will do the Welcome Remarks for World Beat.

“We are very excited to showcase Filipino culture, music and flavors at the World Beat Festival this year. Our goal is for the festival guests to have a glimpse and taste of what the Philippines has to offer and make them want more. Visit any of our 7,641 islands and step into a vibrant tapestry of natural wonders, warm smiles, and rich cultural heritage”, said Soleil Tropicales, Tourism Attaché of DOT-San Francisco and organizer of FFO.

Filipino Food Week is a project of Filipino Food Oregon, a culinary heritage celebration highlighting the Filipino cuisine, with all its variety and uniqueness, and the skills of the talented Filipino American chefs behind this delectable fare, the presence in the state of the various Filipino restaurants/ food carts, and other food establishments, with special attention to Filipino food ingredients that are available in the US. For more on the Filipino Food Oregon, schedule of events, and list of participating restaurant/ food carts/ food establishments, visit: Filipino Food Oregon | Facebook

A social media presence for your business can boost brand recognition and sales effectively. Engaging with followers on social media increases interest in your brand, enticing customers, repeat sales, and advertising based on your reputation.

How To Gain Followers and Increase Engagement:

Building relationships with followers on social media builds loyalty and generates higher reviews.

When customers engage with your posts on social media, you can get to know them and build a relationship with them. You can answer questions and provide stellar customer service.

Your reputation and loyalty will increase when you build relationships with your customers and demonstrate excellent customer service.

By being active on social media and engaging with customers, you’ll make followers confident about purchasing from you, and your sales will increase.

Grow Your Social Media Following:

More followers provide more engagement. Creating unique content boosts your following and keeps readers engaged. Consider striking a balance between original content and exciting content you encounter online. Always give credit if you're getting your content from another page.

Some ideas for content include quotes, funny GIFs, and viral videos. Creating compelling content takes time but will result in more shares and followers.

Post interesting content. Create content that makes people want to engage with it. Try choosing content that will evoke an emotional response from the reader.

Try to create content that people will want to share on their pages. This brings attention to your business and boosts your potential client base.

Create a consistent theme with your posts. The theme can refer to the type of content you’re posting or how it looks. For example, the theme could be funny, endearing, or always have a bright, cheerful look.

Aim for a consistent personality and voice for your content:

Be sure to interact with your followers. Answer their questions, like their comments, etc. If a problem arises and someone posts something negative on your page, always remember that everyone is watching how you deal with that person. Keep it light and professional.

Try collaborating with other brands with a similar audience but selling a different product. For example, If you sell fishing lures, try collaborating with a company that makes rods or reels.

Get people to share your content or invite friends to like your page. This is a fantastic way to generate followers for free. You can, of course, also try paid advertising which is available on most social media platforms.

Increase Social Media Engagement:

There are several ways to ensure you increase your overall social media engagement.

Respond to all comments. Responding to comments demonstrates your commitment to your brand and shows that you care about your audience. It takes some time, but it’ s well worth your results.

Encourage comments, likes, tags, and shares. Include a call to action where you can to inform your readers.

Use images on every post. Pictures can help you break up walls of text and allow people to stay focused.

Use emojis. People enjoy visual aids to support them and capture their attention.

Optimize your headlines. The headline is how you grab your audience's attention. Be sure it makes them want to read more.

Post multiple times daily. Remember to engage with your audience. People generally like to see posts 2-3 times a day.

Ask appropriate questions. This is an effective way to get a response from the reader. Post multiple photos and ask which they like better.

Creating an engaging social media page does take work, but the resulting brand loyalty and increased sales will be worth the effort.

Fil-Am World Magazine offers social media management and marketing services. For more information, 210-693-3112 Or email us at

romelette@filamworldmagazine.com

15 Minutes… but whose counting?!

By: Robert Baker

“In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes." This quote attributed to Andy Warhol lives today, permeating our social media-saturated culture. Reports released thereafter casts doubt on Warhol coining this infamous phrase. Regardless, this phrase is Warhol’s enduring brand. Forget Warhol. Another 15 minutes beckons….Nope this isn’t the Fight for 15 featuring fast-food workers’ demanding a $15 hourly wage. Workers demanding anything not approved by the Economic Czars are redirected to servility, ensuring smoother transitioning to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The newer better 15 beckons all. This beckoning on the surface appears to be good news for those fameseekers who needed to rely on fortuitous mixtures of coincidence and strategic depravity to jumpstart their 15 minutes. This new 15-minute city concept requires no effort..no critical thought it finds you…Yet the attention this 15-minute entails ain’t the fame trip coveted by Tik-Tok “influencers” covering planet narcissism.

Warhol’s brand in 1968 morphed into a single 15 minute pixielated curiosity…an ephemeral spectacle...destined for instant oblivion..zapped attention spans...Imagine a panoramic of ADD-society's casualties. This panorama consists of persons and lapsed catchphrases. Kato Kaelin..I Feel Your Pain…Sara Palin....Release the Kraken…Stop the Steal…Joey Buttafuoco....No Hope in Socialism Let’s Go Brandon (has a one last gasp in it) these only name a few...Only now the fast forming control grid...or Tower of Babel is changing the 15 minute meme...Warhol's 15 identifies the attention seeker is on borrowed time programmed to be memory holed.

This post-Warholian setting renders humans into surveillance objects...virtual hands ticking on

clocks resetting every 15 minutes. So all will have 15 minutes..again and again.

Your existence will be 15 minute intervals...not ticking independently...time ceasing to be an objective measurement...Bill Gates and Kenyan children both see 3pm on the clock...His overseeing vaccine mishaps on Kenyans, Congolese, Nigerians doesn't affect time..it is what it is. Until now. Once an objective measure...15 minute cities re-purpose time as another construct..at least scads of vocal critics say so.

Of course the New 15 is possibly the latest establishment plan to herd humans into the next iteration of their control grid.

And of course within our society of pervasive corruption of language and discourse, the corporate media frames such discussions replete with strawmen..

The Commentariat and their corporate paymasters lump many critics of social engineering schemes into the excessively and predictably used pejorative conspiracy theorist. That term first introduced into popular discourse by the CIA as a rhetorical device to preempt our seeing blood dripping underneath whitewashed court histories like the Warren Commission is now uttered by the corporate media so frequently and indiscriminately that its overpaid talking heads, and establishment editorialists coalesce into an occultic chant. Each critique of the building out further of a control grid queues this occultic choir to chant conspiracy theorists.

The establishment publication The Guardian maintains a ready supply of straw with which to assemble strawmen, ridiculing laypersons concerned with their being further modulated and monitored: It is not the first time that an online

conspiracy theory has made it into the Commons chamber, but it may be one of the most surreal. Simply put, the 15-minute city principle suggests you should have your daily needs – work, food, healthcare, education, culture and leisure – within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from where you live. It sounds pleasant enough, but in the minds of libertarian fanatics and the bedroom commentators of TikTok, it represents an unprecedented assault on personal freedoms. [1]

Their clever use of strawmen sufficiently silences the unenlightened..With the laymen pushed to the outer margins of discourse, corporate commentariat proceeds to "debunk myths" lest we fail to see and consent to the trappings of the Brave New World.

Regardless of what form shapes each social engineering scheme, commentariat flacks rhetorically wrap them with progressive-parroted social goals...Carlos Moreno who is credited with the concept of 15-minute cities conceived of using urban planning ingenuity to provide our basic needs within a more narrow landmass.

Is this the latest form of the panoptican? On the surface some may this term functions now as an exhausted metaphor...

Except you cannot deny we are subject to more mass surveillance compared to the reach imagined by Bentham's panopticon. Guards watching prison inmates in a more economical setting debilitates their psyches knowing no movement evades its allseeing eye.

Yet today all of society is snagged into surveillance nets.. The old adage all we have is time...is being

inverted..time has you..

The surveillance state's size and scope today exceeds both Bentham's panopticon. Time's primary purpose will cease to be an objective measure by which: two or more parties agree to meet, or by which one agrees to do something by a precise deadline, etc. Time will function as a state's monopoly, their exclusive tool to measure their subjects' predetermined range of action. Normalcy and health will be graded to the degree each subject complies with the new 15.. Of course if all inputs necessary for daily functioning are integrated into the control grid, non-compliance triggers shutting off the means of subsistence…Are 15 minute cities conducive to integrating further society into a control grid?

Seemingly well-intentioned packed with “progressive” goodies of sustainability and smart cities, what fact checkers (a recent function thrusts upon us to vet content during the “pandemic” to preempt us sheep falling prey to wolves’ mis-info) ignore is the 15-minute city concept is composed of structures that seamlessly enable implementing a more scalable control grid. The authors of the 15minute city explain their concept thus:

The achievement of Smart City concept in the current epoch is tied to availability of a rich interconnected array of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that have the capacity to collect, and send data to a centralized network, where this data is then computed, analyzed and distributed, in real-time to respective urban department for actions [48]. The availability of IoT devices, which Alam [49] note will be in excess of over 75 billion devices by 2025, coupled with technologies

such as Artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, Machine Learning and Crowd

Computing and others is expected to actualize the proposed 15-Minute City concept. At the core of the concept is the availability of different amenities and urban services; which with technology, would render it easier to use available data on different aspect to ensure novel urban planning to ensure optimal service delivery within intended areas of proximity. [2]

This passage above suggests this Internet of Things (IOT) is essential to the development of the 15minute city. This concept relies on data-gathering that provides faster feedback loops thereby providing critical information to urban planners…..to do what exactly? In their fluffy prose the authors answer “to use available data on different aspect to ensure novel urban planning to ensure optimal service delivery within intended areas of proximity.” This reads more like marketing PR or a Silicon Valley startup puff-piece in Forbes. (Speaking of Forbes they were Johnnie on the spot with their glowing puff piece of Silicon Valley Bank weren ’t they???)

Basically this report’s authors gloss over the causes of the woes of the working class. The main author Carlos Moreno is a professor at the Sorbonne. Will Yellow Vests’ grievances be resolved if their combined total of over 1 million protesters lived in 15-minute cities where urban planners monitor algorithms to “ensure optimal service delivery within intended areas of proximity?” Coincidentally what ended their protests occurring weekly from 20182020? French President Macron’s antiCovid lockdown did. But, they have since erupted again over Macron’s and Parliament’s pension reforms. Would Macron’s converting each Parisian

arrondissement into a 15-minute city generate safety, security, and a sustained quality of life?

The authors contrast the 15 minute city from the previously established Smart City concept. They mention the latter’s shortcomings, particularly its emphasis on technologies that sufficiently don’t facilitate human interactions and are too costprohibitive for wider rollouts to less affluent groups.

As of now the 15-minute city plan for Oxford, UK published an Introduction and Chapter 1 of its document wherein they disclose their concept for this new city design. What is published shows no explicitly stated measures such as limiting its citizens’ mobility. Rather, they sketch a strategy for shrinking the residents’ collective carbon footprint by reducing their dependence on cars. Predictably, any document drafted by politicians and bureaucrats and academics explaining their agenda to accomplish the most progressive objective-dejure will consist mostly of vaguely worded platitudes. So it is impossible to deduce from such documents what specific implementation tactics will be used. Hence the devil is in the details.

Speak of the devil. I don’t see enough concrete details to repeat the battle cry within echo chambers of the alternative media that 15 minute cites are forming another integrated circuit into a globalist power grid. The alt-media battle cry conflates Oxfordshire’s 2040 plan for its 15-minute city with their City Council’s proposals to reduce traffic congestion:

Residents in Oxford and some areas just outside the city will be able to apply for a permit allowing them to drive through the traffic filters for up to 100 days each year.

Other Oxfordshire residents will be able to apply for a permit allowing them to drive through the traffic filters for up to 25 days each year. [3]

Folks this proposal is not similar to sections of Jerusalem divided by concrete walls wherein tens of thousands of Palestinians are contained. I understand the concerns given our society is led by a class of pathological liars who weaponize anything to induce the masses into Androids dreaming of electric sheep. So should we assume that Oxfordshire’ s requests for driving-permits with selected congested areas serves to gauge the public’s acceptance thereby establishing a baseline that city officials will ratchet up in the future?

Much of the 15-minute city concept is presented in progressively sounding though vague rhetoric, rendering it a tail wagging the dog. Their underlying premise is that the world possesses insufficient resources to sustain the overall population. So, if they design a city based on the current trend of organizing society around the IOT, then that magically produces all other desirable outcomes. They vaguely refer to quality of life. Overall, their major flaw is failing to identify what mechanism distributes the wealth generated by 15 minute cities. Will whatever desirable outcomes resulting from 15 minute cities generate enough wealth to resolve the financial impact of US total public debt of $32 trillion before we account for unfunded liabilities? Trillions of $ of public debt are only one significant problem minimizing the added benefits of 15minute cities. The details of this concept thus far does not necessarily signal it laying the next transitional step into a control grid. But, at the same time their implied Build it and they will come battle-cry so far is pretty prose lacking substance.

Proponents of the 15-minute concept shouldn’t ignore the political trends emerging in some large cities today. Prosecutors adding non-prosecutable offenses in large cities unleashes instability. Examples abound of district attorneys (DAs) attacking the masses whose psyches softened by expectations of law and order and safe neighborhoods need a long-awaited shakeup. The vanguard of the decriminalizing trend features trusted saboteurs in the cultural rotting sprawls of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.

But, now in quaint little San Antonio, TX different groups working under a progressive banner attempted to carry this torch. On May 6, 2023 a ballot proposal was subject to a citizens’ vote entitled Prop A This Proposition included several measures, but one in particular deserves special attention. I am citing directly from a copy of Prop A that discloses the following:

Sec. 180. - Cite and release policy.

Except as provided under Section 180(b), a citation, ticket or verbal warning, rather than arrest, shall be issued for individuals charged with committing the following offenses, in accordance with Article 14.06 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure:

All Class C misdemeanors, except Class C Public Intoxication, which shall be addressed in accordance with Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Section 14.031;

Possession of Controlled Substance less than 4 oz, Penalty Group 2-A (synthetic cannabinoids), Class A or B misdemeanor under Texas Health and Safety Code §§ 481.1161(b)(1) & (2);

Driving while License Invalid, Class A or B misdemeanor under Texas Transportation Code § 521.457;

Theft of Property less than $750, Class B misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 31.03(e)(2) (A);

Theft of Service less than $750, Class B misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 31.04(e)(2);

Contraband in a Correctional Facility, Class B misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 38.114(c); Graffiti, with damage less than $2500, Class A or B misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 28.08 (b)(2) & (3); and

Criminal Mischief with damage less than $750, Class B misdemeanor under Texas Penal Code § 28.03(b)(2). [4]

So multiple organizations sponsored this ballot proposal wherein they stacked several sections. But, the section cited above is most illustrative of the political conditions that will in my view limit the 15 -minute cities’ potential for good. Thankfully, the voters rebuffed this attempt to unleash this smallsample size of anarcho-insanity.

Yes it is somewhat unfair to reference actual political movements underway in America to judge the viability of the 15-minute city concept. But, on second thought..is it really that unfair? One constant in any society is that no changes occur in a vacuum. The social milieu in which changes are proposed and implemented shape and influence the impact of such changes. A densely populated city wherein DAs pad their lists of non-arrestible offenses is a current-day reality we face. Therefore, in such an environment the benefits from 15-minute cities that seem so appealing to affluent urban planners only cattle herd the working classes into a setting where they are subject to constant surveillance while being surrounded by criminals who will wage chaos with impunity.

Meanwhile, Joseph-81 million voters can’t be wrongBiden shovels our tax dollars to Ukraine to cover their pension payments:

This so-called supplemental funding addresses the needs of the Ukrainian military during the crucial weeks and months ahead. And it begins it begins to transition to longer-term security assistance that’s going to help Ukraine deter and continue to defend against Russian aggression. This assistance would provide even more artillery, armored vehicles, anti -armor systems, anti-air capabilities that have been used so effectively thus far on the battlefield by the Ukrainian warriors.

You know, and it’s going to deliver much-needed humanitarian assistance as well as food, water, medicines, shelter, and other aid to Ukrainians displaced by Russia’ s war, and provide aid to those seeking refuge in other countries from Ukraine.

It’s also going to help schools and hospitals open. It’s going to allow pensions and social support to be paid to the Ukrainian people so they have something — something in their pocket It’ s also going to provide critical resources to address food shortages around the globe. [5]

Fleeced from above by an empire in its zenithstage, mugged from below by DAs decriminalizing “minor” criminal acts, the 21st century serfs in 15

minute cities comfort their consciences with reduced carbon footprints. And, as compensation their 15-minute cities will be adorned with avantgarde graffiti.

Our first obligation is to the truth. The truth here today is that too many of our political class at all levels are attacking our individual dignity and sovereignty. We are passive carriers of information uploaded into networks awaiting analyses that feed algorithms as necessary to adjust your mode of living to function optimally within the desired setting. Who will set such desired settings? Who could argue with our medical establishment determining such settings…you know blood sugar levels, blood pressure, caloric intake, bone density levels, testosterone levels? Fear not the 1984-like implications; rather, our being tracked and traced only creates much needed efficiencies into our healthcare system. To what purpose are such efficiencies being directed? Something benevolent? When we ask that question we should never forget safe and effective.

I believe for now that it is too soon to condemn 15minute cities either as 2023 Potemkin Villages or promoted as solutions to the crises most hyped by progressives: climate and pandemic(s). Build it and they will come? Such an approach implies using carrots. But, history shows elites using carrots to influence desired behavior ALSO never occurs in a vacuum. Nope. the carrots are used with the understanding that if they fail to induce sufficient thresholds of desired behavioral change, then notice how eagerly our overlords swing sticks in all shapes and sizes. While we await experts working under the title urban planners polishing their 15-minute concept, I recall French philosopher Jacques Ellul’ s sobering observation about the progressive promis-

es of The City:

But this liberty is a farce. The city must, in order to stay alive, have its night shifts, the accumulation of a proletarian, alcohol, prostitution (under whatever form it adopts, including the ‘very noble naturalism’ practices in Sweden), an iron schedule of work hours, the elimination of sun and wind. And it is simply false to say that we can do away with all this and still keep the city. This is the urbanists’ illusion-very respectable individuals, but perfectly idealistic in the worst possible sense. For they have no conception of where the city is really going. They do not understand what makes the city necessary, and they believe that they can modify the city like a piece of child’ s putty. According to them, the city is freedom. But this liberty never gets off the architects’ drawing boards. [6]

No Ellul’s passage does not invalidate the underlying basis of the 15-minute city concept. But, Ellul wrote that passage in 1951, which justifies weighing that his observation is an omen for today. Specifically, Ellul’s stating experts “believe that they can modify the city like a piece of child’s putty” refers to a conceit echoed today by experts whose 15-minute literature characterizes humans as abstractions on flow charts, inanimate objects to be rearranged as urban planners redesign and refine Cities of the Future.

We need to strike a balance between reaching for wisdom inherited over centuries and identifying the

inflection point to start a new path. Where are we within this divide?

1. Oliver Wainwright. “In praise of the ‘15-minute city’ -the mundane planning theory terrifying conspiracists.” The Guardian Feb 16, 2023. https:// www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/ feb/16/15-minute-city-planning-theoryconspiracists

2. Carlos Moreno, Zaheer Milam, Didier Chabaud, Catherine Gall, Florene Pratlong. “Introducing the “15-Minute City”: Sustainability, Resilience, and Place Identify in Future Post-Pandemic Cities.” 2021, 4 (1), 93-111. https://www.mdpi.com/26246511/4/1/6

3. Oxfordshire City Council. “Traffic filters.” https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/roadsand-transport/connecting-oxfordshire/trafficfilters

4. San Antonio Justice Charter. https:// docs.google.com/document/ d/1q81ZufmCvWOSgFRYApH_GVoYzxHt7qD8lu 87FNEJjYg/mobilebasic

5. President Joseph Biden. “Remarks by President Biden on the Request to Congress for Additional Funding to Support Ukraine.” Apr 28, 2022. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/ speeches-remarks/2022/04/28/remarks-bypresident-biden-on-the-request-to-congress-foradditional-funding-to-support-ukraine/

6. Jacques Ellul. “The Meaning of the City” included in Essential Spiritual Writings. Orbis Books. 2016. Kindle version. page 153. ****Ellul first wrote this essay in 1951.