Misc.

The fight is on to keep medical marijuana users from owning or carrying guns at the same time that felons are regaining their rights to do so.  The media is running with this story but they are zeroing in only on the ailing pot smokers.   The smokers are automatically outed on their use by having a prescription from a Doctor.  Maybe we could insist that anyone on alcohol, painkillers, anti-depressants, steroids,  and other legal drugs also be treated like this.  Sure, there is a law or two that says it is illegal to use a firearm while under the influence of these drugs, but does it ban ownership or carrying when not under the influence?

The first wake up call for our congressional delegation and city leaders has come as the Office of Inspector General has started looking at cost savings at our National Labs.  Sandia Labs and Los Alamos National Labs rake in the dough here and if spending is cut or consolidations are enacted we will feel the pain in a big way.  This state has a group that exists to protect military installations from cuts.  Maybe we need one to protect the labs and push for new and stronger basic research missions other than nuclear weapons.  Lets see if the Governor can get off her rightwing soap box and start something that will actually help save good paying jobs. Mayor Berry needs to concentrate on this too.  Some leadership is required here.  There is nothing more important to work on right now.

I am off to Salt Lake City for a meeting of the Board of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.  The wacko political leadership in that state keeps us busy.

Try, Try, Try Again

I changed the format a little bit on my blog.  I was just messing around with it last night as Bobbi and I were watching a first run movie on the Dish Satellite system.  It is the third time I have changed the format and I kind of like this one.  I decided to stop advertising on the blog because those oil and gas guys keep placing their ads into my blog.  The movie was pretty weird.  I was waiting for it to come to the theaters but there it was on satellite and it didn't require $11 for a popcorn and coke.  This movie was called "Melancholia".  It was not a happy movie, but it was good.  Last weekend we saw the latest Almovodar movie, "The Skin I Live In."  So all in all a weird movie week.  But we enjoyed them.

I see the federal prosecutors office is back after former Governor Bill Richardson.  They keep trying.  This is the fourth time they have tried to get some federal indictments from a grand jury.  They are batting zero so far.  Will it ever end?

Off to play golf now.

Anthem

My friend over at the blog Bubba Munster posted this on his blog.  It is a fine anthem for the Occupy folks.  You might not agree with all of it, but it is worth listening too.

The Catholic Bishops and Penn State

Now the American Catholic Bishops have once again put their diminishing influence into even more jeopardy by starting a fresh assault on gay marriage and abortion.  One Archbishop said, “We see in our culture a drive to neuter religion,”  Maybe they should have neutered some of their priests first. What can they be thinking about?  Is this a way to attract young people?


 I think it is interesting that the Princes of the church have lost their influence and are trying to regain by going against the strong social forces that have surrounded them.  Perhaps the NCAA, as represented by Penn State, might want to take some lessons from the church.  Seriously.  


This college athletic system that we have where winning is the only thing that is important because of the revenues it brings in might be in real trouble.  Look what it caused at Penn State.  Maybe it is time to back off that attitude and make college athletics something more than a profit center for the media and some trickle down for the schools.   I know.....it will never happen.  Here is an alternative.  Put Paterno and the rest of those reprobates into prison.  Make sure that any court awards their victims win are paid off by the Athletic department and not the state risk insurance pools that taxpayers fund.  The athletic departments could float bonds to pay off  the expected massive compensation to the victims and then use annual revenues  to pay off the bonds.  Not one cent should be paid by anyone other than the athletic departments.

Cats Agree

Those guys at Penn State should never have a place at the table again.  Ever.  What a bunch of dogs.  

Misc.

You can all sleep worse tonight as convicted felons are being allowed to carry guns again, courtesy of NRA and other  lobbying groups.  One can only wonder if the NRA and its legion of cowardly congressmen supporters have truly lost their minds.  Will they also be allowed to carry concealed weapons?  Probably.  No, for you gun radicals, I am not against having guns.  I have a collection.  I don't see any need for concealed weapons or ownership of assault rifles.  So that makes me a bleeding heart liberal in some peoples minds.

There are a lot of good reasons for changing the New Mexico constitution to allow the Governor to keep authority when traveling out of state instead of handing it over the the Lieutenant Governor.  Things have changed since 1912 when that was adopted at statehood.  While they are at it they need to change language that insists that statewide elected officials reside in Santa Fe.  Most of them make around 90K a year and that is not enough to buy a home in the City Different.

We had our regular group over for dinner last night and we all decided that everyone of those worthless bastards that covered up the Penn State child rapist foot ball coach should serve prison time.  Including Paterno.

Mysterious Ways

A Penn State coach who is a rock hard Christian led prayers at the beginning of the Penn State Game yesterday.  He said he felt God was in the stadium.  Unfortunate that God wasn't in the Penn State locker room with a little fire and brimstone when required.

Penn State and Scalzi

John Scalzi, one of my favorite SciFi authors, put Penn State debacle all together in this essay on his blog.

Cowardly

The Obama administration produced another cowardly and basely political move when they 'postponed' a decision on approval of the horrendous tar sand oil pipeline from Canada to Houston.  They say they are worried about its effect on Nebraska and will need to study it more until after the next election.  So, they are worried about Nebraska but not global warming and fossil fuel consumption.  Much less Canada who is willing to destroy its own beauty to mine tar sands.

I for one will not be a chump here.  No money for Obama's campaign as I told their fundraiser on the phone the other night.  His reaction was that he had heard this before. (Obama will have all the money he needs anyway.)  These guys are really playing with fire for a huge and mostly ignored group of voters.  The conservationists and environmentalists who supplied much of the shoe leather for his last campaign.  They know there is no other choice for this group in the upcoming vote next year and they are playing us for suckers.  It is a dangerous game.

I will say that I have never been so disappointed in a President I supported than Obama.  Ever.

Where is PNM?

The Public Service Company of New Mexico just told 100,000 of its customers to go screw them selves.  So much for their personal commitment to our state. They have announced that they are closing all of their pay stations where customers can come in to make their payments or interact with a human being on other issues.  Of course, these would mostly be poor people who can't make their payments on line or would like to speak with someone in Spanish.  With 498,000 electric customers you just know their might be many people who need a personal customer service interaction.  After all, this is one of the few large corporations still headquartered in Albuquerque.

 This PNM is not the one that used to be an involved company with community service and a record of generous charitable giving.  Another 18 PNM employees will be let go into a merciless job market.  PNM is becoming a run of the mill corporation that values only the bottom line.

Having said that, they are pretty good at providing reliable electric service.

Good News

Some days the news is good.  There seems to be an outbreak in some states.  A common sense outbreak.  Ohio voters slapped their governor and legislature and repealed the grossly anti union laws there.  Mississippi voters stuck it to their fundamentalist governor and legislature and voted down the notion that human life begins at conception, which would have made abortion and morning after birth control illegal.  And the SOB racist State Senator Russell Pearce in Arizona was beaten by a moderate republican in a recall election yesterday.  He was the leader of the pogrom on undocumented workers in Arizona.  Makes me think better of Arizona voters.

There wasn't much good news in New Mexico though.  The right wing Martinez administration is trying to kill New Mexico's forward looking climate change legislation.  She is doing this for the oil, gas and coal boys who value profit over breathing.  Secretary of State Duran has pie in her face after finding only two illegal voters out of the 64,000 she claimed. (I guess that is good news depending on how one looks at it.)

Pueblo Bonito at Sunrise August 2007

In a serious vein, the possibility of a 1000 year drought starting in the Southwest is being discussed.  Anyone who has been to Chaco Canyon would see the results of the last such event.  It would be a dislocated civilization.  The last time Bobbi and I were at Chaco we attended a tree ring lecture that visually showed what happened during that epoch.  It was truly amazing to see the history laid out in ancient trees.  It really shows that civilizations are pretty ineffectual when confronted with mother nature.

Misc.

Now that the Albuquerque City Council has banned traffic cameras maybe the local media will start covering some important issues.  Like the lack of jobs legislation on both the city and state levels.  Mayor Berry and Governor Martinez have done little to relieve the economic downturn.  The governor spends more time talking tax decreases than job creation.  When will folks figure it out?

The other big stories the media are covering now are, you guessed it, sex stories.  GOP Presidential hopeful Cain is an apparent serial groper and Penn State Athletics is being accused of covering up a coach's pedophilia. (Quick, call the Archbishop for advice.)  The media will hang on to these stories  until we all die of terminal nausea.  Mark my words.

The Governor appointed a former advisor to Qadaffi's government in Libya to fill the NMPRC vacancy created by the fall of Jerome Block.  This may make him qualified for the rough and tumble politics on that board.

Follow the Money

Once again the Albuquerque Journal has written a story about the 'Domenici Institute' which is located at New Mexico State University.  It is named after long serving Senator Pete Domenici, a long term supporter of the oil, coal and uranium industries.  The Institute is meant to advocate free market approaches indoctrination to fellows and researchers who participate. It will 'advise' governments on its policy findings.  This is all suspect to me.  Some of the things it will advise on are,  the impact of new uranium mining in New Mexico, the effects of recent health care reform, and deficit reduction and economic recovery. Oh, and energy issues.

This all sounds okay except for one thing.  Who is funding the Institute?  As I read through the article I kept thinking I would be offered that information by the reporter.  Maybe the uranium industry?  Maybe Yates Petroleum?  Maybe the Koch brothers?  Anti government regulation groups like the US Chamber of Commerce or the Wall Street Investment Banks?  Who knows?

Since this facility is soaking up tax dollars by being quartered at NMSU we should know if there is any outside funding for this Institute and who is providing it.  The Institute says it is non partisan but the lack of the Journal's inquisitiveness is telling.

Little Girls

I spent the night at my niece Stephanie's house in Los Angeles.  Her daughters and a friend kept the morning lively.  Left to right is Olivia(the friend), Maya and Emma.  All little cuties!  Home this afternoon.

Solar

Schott Solar has done their fourth annual survey of American citizens to get their preferences on energy production.  Our people are way ahead of the Congressional crowd.

Here are some of the basic findings.

•    Nine out of ten respondents (89%) think it is important for the U.S. to develop and use solar power.

•    Solar energy is non-partisan: Independents (90%), Republicans (80%) and Democrats (94%) all agree that developing solar energy is important.

•    Eight out of ten Americans (82%) believe that solar energy should receive the same level and type of support as fossil fuel industries have enjoyed for decades, and that the government should support solar manufacturing.

•    A plurality (39%) would choose to prioritize solar if they were in charge of U.S. energy policy, more than natural gas (21%), wind (12%), nuclear (9%) or coal (3%).

•    More than half of Americans (51%) would be more likely to buy a product if they knew it was made using solar energy.

So, why the disconnect between the people and the Washington crowd?  Simple really.....the campaign finance laws favor the dirty energy crowd.

I am taking a mini golf vacation to California to see old friends and visit the beach.  I will blog from my smart phone if possible.

The Occupy Movement

As Rod Serling would have said on Twilight Zone, "Presented for your consideration a photo from history that shows the face of civil outrage in a disquieted America."  Or something like that.

This is a photo that master photographer Mark Bralley sent me today of the prelude to a large and violent civil disturbance in 1972 at UNM in Albuquerque.  That is me as a young reporter/photographer holding the camera(hidden) as an anti Viet Nam war protestor tries to make peace.  Later people were b wounded on the campus and things went from bad to worse with riots and property destruction for a week.  These protests and many like them led to an end of that war.  It took a while.

Then everything went quiet for the 80's, 90's and 00's.  Thirty years of apathy.  Now the Occupy movement here in Albuquerque and all over the planet is starting to stir emotions and support.  There is a big difference though between the civil disobedience in the 70's and now.  That difference is a clearly defined goals and go-to leaders.  Oh, and the fact that the media has been completely mongrelized by big corporate holding companies who see no percentage in spending resources on covering the causes of this unrest.

In fairness, it is harder in the current globally connected national economies to put a finger on anything other than 'greed is bad.'  And unlike the past, there are few identified leaders who are willing to stick their heads out to plan a political upheaval.  We though Obama might be one, but not so far.  It may be that the internet is now a leader, as in the Arab state rebellions, but there were leaders there to direct and plan.  Not here, so far.  But make no mistake that there is a movement growing.  Whether it is the people hanging out in the parks expressing outrage at the ever widening division of wealth, or be it the consumer revolution that has forced American Banks to rethink plans on overcharging its customers, there is definitely something afoot out there.  To ignore it is political and corporate denial.  Aren't they really the same entity now?  Of course they are.

Litmus

If the ass clown CEO of Bank of America gets a bonus this year after the debit card charge attempt then we will all know just how corrupt corporate America can be.  This guy got handed his head on a platter by his own customers.  If his corporation was a person as the Supreme court says they are then it would collectively be demoted to the mail room.

Misc.

Score one for the Obama administration in its denial for funding to the Catholic Church because of their refusal to refer women for family planning issues under a program that helps victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery.  The church through its Conference of Bishops had received funding in the past but now has been passed over in favor of other organizations.  It is ironical that the church would on one hand want to help victims of slavery, and then make them slaves to the church's anti family planning policies.  Just plain weird.

Score another one for the Obama crew in discovering the Country's Antiquities Act which has been used by many other presidents, including republicans.  That Act will be used today to proclaim the Fort Monroe National Monument in Virginia.  It is only 500 acres, but it is a glimmer of hope for us folks in the West who strive to get monuments proclaimed on western landscapes worthy of protection.  Now, lets see the White House take on the 'Lords of Yesterday' in the west.  That would be the oil and gas, coal, and mining industries.  Their motto is, "Give us your land, give  us your money, and leave  us alone."

And finally, I was reminded by a friend today to mention something.  What ever happened to the 64,000 cases of voter fraud in New Mexico?  Governor Martinez and her Secretary of State clone made a big deal out of that number and told the state police to investigate it.  They politely told her they had better things to do.  Now, can we suppose that it was all just a political attack on everyone except right wing republicans?  All rolled out for barrels of ink usage by the Albuquerque Journal?

Angels

Our first tricksters tonight were three angels accompanied by nine adults.

Many of our kids come on Halloween from  the Duranes neighborhood which abuts ours.  Ours is a upper middle class neighborhood and theirs is a strong working class neighborhood. There is a gate offering access to either side at any time of the year.  But our walls fall every halloween in a big way and it is glorious.

We keep count every year.  We ran out of candy after 261 little monsters came to the door.

Vitriol

The Albuquerque Journal just keeps trying to put public employees in the crosshairs of everything that is wrong in our lives.  Today their weepy front page columnist drove the last nails into the public servant careers of two employees by celebrating their departure after they made an error in judgement.  Good people I am sure, but no mistakes can be made in the Journal's estimation if you are a person that works for the public.  Why, they are just vampires aren't they?

Do you thing the editors could at  least do one story on a dedicated government employee a month?  Just throw out a bone?  Given the number of government employees around the area, including ones on contracts, it might be a good idea.

On another issue of vitriol the Journal finally.....finally,  printed a story on the scientist who got wide coverage for debunking global warming changing his mind and saying he was wrong after studying the data he attacked.  This story came out last week and was somewhat glossed over by everyone and ignored by our hometown paper.  I guess it just became to obvious that the story had to be done.  I mean they have to keep up appearances don't they?

Waking up to the Journal every morning is good for me.  It gets my blood moving quickly!  I owe them thanks for that.