The Home of the Brave: Americans and Torture
According to the latest Washington Post/ABC poll, 59% of Americans believe that our use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” was justified after September 11. Perhaps CIA Director Michael Hayden was farsighted when he said in 2007, “This is not CIA’s Program. This is not the President’s Program. This is America’s Program.”
But I have to wonder how many of those who offered their opinions have actually read the executive summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. It’s a quick read. The findings and conclusions cover only 18 pages; it is the documentation of the findings that takes over 500...
Rio Rancor Public Schools: Doin’ the Inquisition Boogie
I’ve always thought, and I’m sure you’ll agree, that the Inquisition marks a highpoint in human history. When incidents such as what happened recently at V. Sue Cleveland High (see last week’s post) or public figures like V. Sue Cleveland herself, the Grand Superintendent of the Rio Rancor educational fiefdom who actually has a high school named for her, when this stuff burns itself into my frail synapses, I am reminded of the good old days when we used to roast disagreeable folks, or drown them and hope and pray they would confess to being minions of Satan...
Remembering Pat Baca – and Albuquerque Past
They prayed for adequate support for education. They prayed for the immigrants and strangers among us. They prayed for the quality of life in our community and for strong families.
And they prayed for Pat J. Baca who died a few weeks ago, one of the area’s true public servants.
As if there was no alternative, Pat dove into public service—as a teacher, a principal, a councilor, candidate and commissioner. His acts touched thousands who walk our trails in the Elena Gallegos, who look at exhibits in the Albuquerque Museum, who cross the river at Montano and Paseo del Norte, or who still have their first book, given to them by their teacher or principal, Pat Baca...
A Little Story about Satan and the Rio Ratchet Schools
Have you heard about Katrina Guarascio, the former Rio Ratchet Cleveland High School teacher and poet whose real name is S-A-T-A-N? Satan, I mean Guarascio wanted to make the classroom a safe place where students could express themselves freely. Can you believe that?
In her creative writing class, Satan-Guarascio asked her students to take a fairy tale or legend and rewrite it for our own enlightened, forgiving, tolerant, and compassionate times.
One of the kids in her class compared the story of Jesus, the loaves and fish in the Bible to Jesus handing out medical marijuana to patients today...
Reflections on Mary Jane
Okay, here it is: I started smoking pot in 1967, and I’ve continued to enjoy the Herb, on and off, since then. I’ve lived through it all. Mexican weed, which was the only kind you could buy, was ten bucks a can. A “can” was literally a 1½-ounce Prince Albert shiny red oval tobacco can, with a metal top, a lid, filled with their leafy “crimp cut” rolling or pipe tobacco.
The dealer would stuff one of these empty cans—a classic example of early recycling— with marijuana from Mexico, stems and twigs and buds and seeds into this can—a sawbuck. Two fins...
Logic fails to disuade county sprawl push
Yesterday marked a historic moment in Albuquerque but not for the good of the people, well I guess that really depends on what side you're on.
For those of you who still haven't heard or who have been detached from the whole thing, the Bernalillo County Planning Commission (CPC) approved the massive and now looming Santolina Master Plan in a vote of 4 to 2. The Santolina Master Plan is a 13,700-acre development with a projected population of 95,000 proposed for the West Side...
WiseGuys
Some WiseGuys here in BurqueAlb are going to send UNM Ath-uh-letic Tzar Crawl Pebs $5 million dollars to turn the beloved Pit into one huge pizza pie.
The WisePizza will be thousands of sq. ft. and will feature a soft crust, anchovies, green chile, and pepperoni, extra cheese, please...
Breaking Apart – Sentiments of Secession in Spain
“After I vote, I look up into the sky and say a prayer that it will turn out alright,” says a Spaniard named Francisco Noviola. It’s November 9 and I’m in Barcelona, Spain to observe the referendum on independence that was taking place throughout the region of Catalonia, of which Barcelona is the capital. Noviola was one of the many voters I interviewed...
Giving thanks for what we can get
Just in time for Thanksgiving, we finally have some good economic news. Without anybody really paying attention, New Mexico’s economy seems to have quietly turned the corner.
Although the evidence is tentative and not easy to read, for the first time since the Great Recession struck seven years ago, substantial signs suggest the New Mexico economy is slowly dragging itself out of the swamps. While one or two months may not establish a trend, these signs have been visible long enough that it is reasonable to conclude New Mexico has hit bottom and is starting to bounce back...
New Mexico’s two-billion-dollar gender pay gap
The gender wage gap has been a topic of interest for some time, so while you may not be surprised that women still earn 78 percent of what their white male counterparts earn, here’s something you may not know: New Mexican women who work full time lose a combined total of almost $2 billion every year due to the wage gap. That’s $2 billion—with a ‘B’—and it doesn’t even include what women who work part-time are losing. If New Mexico’s working women had $2 billion more to spend every year not only would fewer of the state’s children live in poverty, but the state’s economy would improve...