Monthly Archives: September 2005

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Slash and Burn

Some good news regarding the impact of

“Healthy Forests” in the East Mountains. mjh

ABQjournal: Thinning Cut Back In Cibola Forest
Journal Staff

Report

The Cibola National Forest has scaled back a planned project to reduce fire danger and improve forest health by

thinning thousands of acres west of Tajique in the mountains southeast of Albuquerque.

The changes will be the topic of a

meeting at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Torreon Community Center.

A proposal to build 28 miles of new roads was eliminated, and the

project will be reduced from 17,000 to about 13,500 acres, said Mountainair District Ranger Vicky Estrada.

“We’re going to

use existing roads only,” she said. “That’s a big change.”

The change was made partly in response to concerns raised by the

environmental group Forest Guardians of Santa Fe and by some local residents.

In addition, the Forest Service now has more

information about its road network and has determined it can get farther into the forest from existing roads, Estrada said.

“No new roads is definitely an improvement but as far as we’re concerned I think that’s only half the battle,” said John Horning,

executive director of Forest Guardians.

“We still believe the real focus of all these projects should be a quarter mile at

most around people’s homes and fireproofing people’s homes, not fireproofing the forest because we can’t fireproof the forest.”

—–

ABQjournal: Bandelier Burn Set For This Fall By

Russell Max Simon, Journal Staff Writer

The first prescribed burn in Bandelier National Monument since the devastating Cerro

Grande Fire in 2000 will be performed late this fall, Bandelier officials announced Wednesday. …

Bandelier staff members pointed

to vastly improved inter-agency cooperation and communication as among the biggest changes since the Cerro Grande Fire. The Inter-Agency

Fire Center, where National Park Service and Forest Service employees, among others, train together, is one example Koontz mentioned.

“There’s a lot more communication and collaboration on all levels,” Koontz said.

The burn will

take place along N.M. 4 near the head of Frijoles Canyon. Staff members will wait for an appropriate weather window sometime from mid-

October through December in which to perform the burn.

I really want to have faith in this process, but

Katrina is on my mind. mjh

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Dream

In the dream, I was moving about

a 4-story house. People were on each floor. I was looking for pen & paper to write down a poem.

As I moved up the stairs, the

situation seemed to become more frantic. Now I had 2 — 3 — no, 4! — poems in mind. And no pants.

At the highest level, mind

whirling, I passed a man, played by William Shatner, who called out a lament. His wife sobbed, “why are you doing this to yourself?” His

son grabbed me and said, “this isn’t at all like you said it would be.”

Make the people disappear and give me a pen! Just then

the alarm sounded.

What follows is the only remotely poetic fragment to survive the chaos. I offer it as evidence of how much

better dreams are than reality. Still, it has some humor and a complex touch; somehow, it involves 5 people in 5 lines.

When I met

my brother’s
ex-girlfriend’s husband,
I said,
“oh, brother,
are you lucky.” mjh

Letters-to-the-Editor

It’s Hard Work!

1 Comment

Jim Villanucci, whose claim to fame is he is a talk-radio host, has a love letter to the Bush

Administration in today’s Albuquerque Journal.

After spending a day in a situation that cult deprogrammers call “love bombing,”

Villanucci wants us all to know that BushCo is full of smart people. This is important because smart people can relate to everyone, smart

people are never arrogant or distant, smart people never lie and, above all else, smart people are never wrong (so never admiting a

mistake is appropriate behavior for smart people). Not that Villanucci said it that way, he just said they’re really, really smart and

lets you fill in the blanks. Just as he is sure you’ll see the connection to cops killed in Albuquerque — keeping us safe is all one

big job, from street corner to Iraq.

Among our shepherds is the young Bryan White, one of Bush’s “good people doing hard work.”

He got up at 5:45am! Now it’s 7:40pm! and, gasp, “he’s still working, talking to New Mexico, getting out the message.”

Indeed, that’s what it’s all about: getting out the message. The smart guys of BushCo are all spin doctors. The most

important thing Villanucci says here is: “This administration is the first to effectively utilize talk radio.

From administration officials’ standpoint and the standpoint of many Americans, all of the news coming out of Iraq is bad news, and

the only fair shake the administration gets is on talk radio. And they want to get out their side of the story.” On

every matter, including science, BushCo has “their side of the story.” And, more frightening, they know how to get their version of the

truth directly to willing listeners. Notice Villanucci is proud of his part in the process.

It is completely appropriate to ask if

Villanucci actually wrote this piece — many “articles” and videos praising BushCo are actually produced by the marketing department. It

is also appropriate to ask if Villanucci was paid for this or his cozy broadcast among the stars from the Pentagon courtyard (where,

you’ll be glad to know, “you feel really safe. You realize our defense budget is money well spent.” You are getting sleepy, your leaders

are great, no graft or even waste here.).

Of course, every regime depends upon a large number of unpaid lackeys, willing dupes,

and fools. Perhaps Villanucci is simply one of those. mjh

ABQjournal: Listen Up: Some of the Nation’s Best Are

Talking By Jim Villanucci, KKOB-AM talk show host

loco

ABQjournal: Minimum Wage Fight Heats Up

A fellow blogger recently

said he is torn between Winter and Griego. Even with Winter’s opposition to a fair, living wage? Even with Winter’s support of the

most stringent voter ID requirements — the solution to a non-existent problem which, curiously, impacts Democrats and Independents

significantly while not inconveniencing that large number of Republicans who vote by absentee ballot. Voter fraud hasn’t caused as many

problems as Republican Secretaries of State.

Yes, Winter is a moderate Republican and I wish there were a thousand more like him

— or even one more. Yes, he’s tall, good-looking, anglo and male. But can one really be torn between Winter and Griego? mjh

ABQjournal: Minimum

Wage Fight Heats Up
What the candidates have to say
Do you support the ballot measure that would set a $7.50

minimum wage in Albuquerque?

Martin Chávez: “No, I agree with Sens. Domenici and Bingaman that it should be done at

the federal level.”

Eric Griego: “Yes, I strongly support a fair wage for a fair day’s work. The best thing we can do to

fight crime, fight poverty and enhance our economy is to pay a decent wage.”

David Steele: “Yes.”

Brad

Winter: “No. It will create an unlevel playing field and drive jobs to places like Los Lunas or Rio Rancho. It is not the role of local

politicians and bureaucrats to set wages for private employers.”

Dump Duhbya

Duhbya can’t or won’t name one thing that went wrong

I’m only slightly hopeful that

the spell has been broken and more people see Bush for the distant, muddle-headed fool he is. Only slightly hopeful that a few more

people see the Emperor is buck naked. mjh

President Bush Meets the Press in New

Orleans, Admits ‘Sense of Relaxation’ After Hurricane Hit

THE PRESIDENT: … And I know there’s been a lot of

second-guessing. I can assure you I’m not interested in that. What I’m interested in is solving problems. And there will be

time to take a step back and to take a sober look at what went right and what didn’t go right. There’s a lot of information

floating around that will be analyzed in an objective way, and that’s important. And it’s important for the people of this country to

understand that all of us want to learn lessons. If there were to be a biological attack of some kind, we’ve got to make sure we

understand the lessons learned to be able to deal with catastrophe. …

THE PRESIDENT: Look, there will be plenty of time to

play the blame game. That’s what you’re trying to do.

Q No, I’m trying to —

THE PRESIDENT: You’re

trying to say somebody is at fault. Look — and I want to know. I want to know exactly what went on and how it went on. And we’ll

continually assess inside my administration. I sent Mike Chertoff down here to make an assessment of how best to do the job. He made a

decision; I accepted his decision. But we’re moving on. We’re going to solve these problems. And there will be ample time for people to

look back and see the facts.

Now, as far as my own personal popularity goes, I don’t make decisions based upon polls. I hope the

American people appreciate that. You can’t make difficult decisions if you have to take a poll. That’s been my style ever since I’ve

been the President. And, of course, I rely upon good people. Of course, you got to as the President of the United States. You set the

space, you set the strategy, you hold people to account. But yeah, I’m relying upon good people. …

Q Did they misinform you

when you said that no one anticipated the breach of the levees?

THE PRESIDENT: No, what I was referring to is this. When that

storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet [1]. When that storm came through at first, people said, whew.

There was a sense of relaxation, and that’s what I was referring to. And I, myself, thought we had dodged a bullet [2].

You know why? Because I was listening to people, probably over the airways [?], say, the bullet has been dodged

[3]. And that was what I was referring to.

Of course, there were plans in case the levee had been breached. There was a sense of

relaxation in the moment, a critical moment. And thank you for giving me a chance to clarify that.

Q Mr. President, where were you

when you realized the severity of the storm?

THE PRESIDENT: I was — I knew that a big storm was coming on Monday, so I spoke to

the country on Monday morning about it. I said, there’s a big storm coming. I had pre-signed emergency declarations in anticipation of a

big storm coming.

Q Mr. President —

THE PRESIDENT: — which is, by the way, extraordinary. Most

emergencies the President signs after the storm has hit. It’s a rare occasion for the President to anticipate the severity of a

storm and sign the documentation prior to the storm hitting. So, in other words, we anticipated a serious storm coming. But as

the man’s question said, basically implied, wasn’t there a moment where everybody said, well, gosh, we dodged the

bullet [4], and yet the bullet hadn’t been dodged [5].

Q Mr. President —

THE PRESIDENT: Last

question.

Q This is two weeks in. You must have developed a clear image at this point of one critical thing that failed,

one thing that went wrong in the first five days.

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I think there will be plenty of time to

analyze, particularly the structure of the relationship between government levels. But, again, there’s — what I think Congress needs to

do — I know Congress needs to do — and we’re doing this internally, as well — is to take a sober look at the decision-making that

went on. …

Thank you all.

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National Rifle Association slams New Orleans for confiscating guns

The Raw Story |

National Rifle Association slams New Orleans for confiscating guns

The National Rifle Association slammed New Orleans

authorities Monday for seizing firearms in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying that citizens must be able to “protect themselves”

during a time where there is “breadown of law and order,” RAW STORY has learned.

The release was issued on their website Monday.

“What we’ve seen in Louisiana – the breakdown of law and order in the aftermath of disaster – is exactly the kind of situation

where the second amendment was intended to allow citizens to protect themselves,” NRA chief Wayne LaPierre said in a statement.

“When law enforcement isn’t available, Americans turn to the one right that protects all the others – the right to

keep and bear arms,” LaPierre added. “This attempt to repeal the Second Amendment should be condemned.”

A Louisiana state

statute allows the chief law enforcement officer to “regulate possession” of firearms during declared emergencies, the NRA notes.

But, quipped the NRA’s chief lobbyist, Chris Cox, “regulate doesn’t mean confiscate.”

“The NRA will not stand idly

by while guns are confiscated from law-abiding people who’re trying to defend themselves,” he said.

“Local

authorities in New Orleans are turning nature’s assault on human life into man’s assault on human rights,” LaPierre added. “Four million

NRA members intend to stop this unconstitutional power grab.”

I wondered days ago what the NRA thought

about this. Why did it take them so long to react?

“The one right that protects all the others”? These guys really believe that,

don’t you know. So, instead of standing idly by, what are they going to do — shoot someone? No, they’re going to use the Media and the

Courts — the real tools for defending freedom, not your gun. mjh

mjh’s blog — What Does the NRA Think? (Friday 9/9/05)