Cereal, or Syria, or Whatever
I think we should just get in there to Swaziland as quick as possible before the UN can say diddle squat to tell Adam, or Sadam, or Asad, or Borat, or what’shisface to stop raising our gas prices and murdering his own people with postulations. We have lock-sure evidence he was the one who released sarin on all those folks who all look the same.
This is nothing like Iraq. This is nothing like Afghanistan. This is nothing like Viet Nam or New Jersey, for that matter...
The Sadness of Trayvon Martin
Sadness! Why is it that so many have lost their hearts and ability to think clearly in an America that grows more totalitarian and militaristic every day? Why do we confuse the victim and the executioner? George Zimmerman was acting in a militaristic manner and hunting with his gun. Travyon Martin was minding his own business and eating Skittles. Apparently being young, being black and wearing a hoodie makes one threatening and/or guilty-a target for all the George Zimmermans of America...
The New Mexico State Fair for the 21st Century
It’s time to open the New Mexico State Fair 2013. The rides on the Midway will turn you upside down. Now let’s turn the Fair inside out and make it great fun next year - all year long!
The future success of the State Fair in Albuquerque depends on the Fair becoming more a part of Albuquerque, not more of a secure, gated entertainment compound behind its blank walls and parking lots. As a public venue, Expo New Mexico has a greater duty to the community than say, Disneyland. At the same time, Expo has a duty to deliver a first class entertainment experience to the citizens of New Mexico and the residents of Albuquerque beyond the slot machines of the Downs at Albuquerque...
Countdown to health care reform
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is barely one month away from its first major milestone on October 1, 2013 when Health Insurance Exchanges (HIX) will be operational. The HIX is the marketplace for individual and small businesses to purchase affordable health insurance. As this deadline approaches, a flurry of anxiety and confusion will inevitably surface. Change is never easy even when it’s simple – and changes in health care are never simple...
One Million Bones on ¡Colores! particularly timely
My most striking memories of being on the National Mall for the One Million Bones installation are of the conversations I overheard. Families of four would stop and look. One of the younger family members would ask, “What’s that?” One of the older family members would pause for approximately a moment of silence. Then, I’d listen as the adult gracelessly tries to choreograph an explanation as to why there is a mass grave in front of the United States Capitol without stepping on the word “genocide"...
UNM involved in privatizing medical care in NM
Why is the UNM Health Sciences Center (UNMHSC) so keen to go into business with private Texas investors who were part of the largest medical fraud scandal in US history? The UNM Board of Regents has enabled the UNM Health Sciences Center to enter into a part-ownership deal with the for-profit LHP Hospital Group to buy up the Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services Hospital in Gallup. UNM will have a 20% stake.
The leadership of UNMHSC is being careless with our taxpayer money and trust. Either they choose to ignore the background of their business partners, or perhaps they just don’t know how to do a simple Google search...
The problems with Jamie Oliver’s idea of a food revolution
Jamie Oliver claims that he doesn’t understand modern-day poverty in the U.K. Yeah. That sounds about right.
In a recent interview promoting Jamie Oliver’s new television series and book, Oliver said, "I'm not judgmental, but I've spent a lot of time in poor communities, and I find it quite hard to talk about modern-day poverty. You might remember that scene in [a previous series] Ministry of Food, with the mum and the kid eating chips and cheese out of Styrofoam containers, and behind them is a massive f****** TV.” Perhaps with one of his TV shows on it...
For Berry, nothing sticks
Mayor Berry is Teflon, the Teflon being applied by the Albuquerque Journal. He says he has guided Albuquerque through tough economic times with a steady hand. The Journal doesn't really question his lack of action. Paul Heh, one of his opponents said it was 'bull shit' and pretty much lowered his expected vote from 5% to 2%. Pete Dinelli didn't get in any killer shots in this last debate. All of this is being fueled by incredible apathy on the part of the public who can't see that New Mexico and Albuquerque are falling further and further behind in economic growth compared to the other cities and states in the region...
The suicide of elders and the middle-aged
Many of us, I’m sure, have had friends or acquaintances who’ve committed suicide. And the longer we live, the ever more mysterious and frequent suicide seems to become in our experience – often to the point of grieving despair. Those left behind inevitably search themselves for missed opportunities to have helped, misperceived clues that might have signaled a call for intervention, and failures of compassion that might have lifted someone’s burden just enough...
Why aren’t more people in ABQ concerned about the Kirtland jet fuel spill?
During the past few months, a sense of dismay and outrage about the situation has been growing in me. In March, V.B. Price wrote a NM Mercury article entitled “Kirtland Spill: Get Serious,” which was commendable for its honesty in raising red flags. I began to pay more attention to this issue. Over the summer, I read with growing alarm various Albuquerque Journal articles by John Fleck. Fleck reported that the current effort to clean up the spill, the soil vapor extraction system, was malfunctioning repeatedly and even when running was only able to extract about half of the contaminants originally projected...