Seeing an entry on Chaco Canyon at www.dukecityfix.com makes me point you to my Chaco Canyon Home Page. Lots of links, photos, maps, etc.

And it makes me start to worry about the hive mind we’re growing at TheFix. mjh

I remember the day after the bombing of Oklahoma City, I was at the Y. Two guys near me discussed loudly how likely it was that the government (read, “Democrats”) had blown up the building as a pretext to a coming fascist movement. I could only listen to so much of this madness before I said they were nuts. One of the two virtually exploded on the spot, pounding the adjacent stairmaster. “Do you want to take this outside?!,” he bellowed in rage. No thanks.

After he calmed down a bit, he sought me out to help me see the coming threat. “You see those little cameras above the traffic lights?” I felt sorry for him at that point, a little less afraid of him.

This guy was no liberal wacko. I doubt he voted for Kerry 9 years later. But he probably hates the Patriot Act even more than I do. Common ground in uncommon places.

Oklahoma City showed us the correct response — what we didn’t get right after 9/11. After OK City, we got the perpetrators (some of them). We did NOT turn the country into a frightened fortress. I still think the greatest threat is within. mjh

mjh’s Dump Bush weBlog: Domestic terrorism threats continue

15. “Y’all”…
Just rolls off your tongue [+5%]
Is not sometihng (sic) you say [-5%]

I have a quarrel with all surveys. I’ve never taken ONE that didn’t put me in a bind with its choices. I grew up in Northern Virginia (accent on Northern), a few miles from Washington, DC. My parents were from Kentucky and Tennessee. “Y’all” is something I *almost* never say; “you guys,” “you two,” are more common in my speech, but I do need a collective/plural you — as most languages provide.

In Virginia, we drove on Root 1, but I take a particular rOUTe to get somewhere.

A cellar is an unfinished basement. My house has a crawlspace.

I grew up accenting “impotent” differently if it was figurative or literal. I struggled to identify the difference in meaning implied by Ecomomic vs EHconomic. I wondered how BEfriend could be so different from BEhead (why isn’t it dehead?). That’s called an ideolect; I’m the only native speaker of mine. mjh

Now this I’m proud of. I’m in the top 20 for Google Search: worst president ever. Out of over 6,000,000 sites! I’ll bet visitors don’t even know about my related sites:

mjh’s Dump Bush weBlog
Dump Bush

mjh

Yesterday, as I entered the UNM Continuing Education building, I heard a very loud man talking. We’ve all encountered oblivious cell phone users, but this guy may be a prize-winner. He had positioned himself at the top of the atrium stairs so that his already loud voice echoed through the whole building. He projected over the voluminous entryway about something important to him. When I reached the top of the stairs, I had to pass close to him. I could actually hear the OTHER person, too.

So, maybe this is the nicest guy in the world. As far as I can tell, as a passing stranger, he’s a champion jackass. Remember this tale the next time you pick up your cellphone. mjh

ABQjournal: Paintballers May Play Tag the Elk By Jeff Jones, Journal Staff Writer

The New Mexico Game and Fish Department is considering springtime paintball “disruption hunts” to spook elk out of greening meadows, where they’re chomping grass cattle ranchers intend for cows.

The elk-cow conflicts have led to the killing of elk in the past. Game and Fish figures paintball sniping — which apparently would be a first for public wildlife management in the United States — might deter elk from the greener pastures without any elk deaths.

Elk-zapping probably would be a big hit with paintballers, said Jerry Gibson, general manager of Albuquerque’s Hinkle Family Fun Center. The center has two paintball fields where gung-ho players blast away at fellow humans with the gel-enclosed spheres of bright, water-soluble paint.

So, we’re going to let crazies run through the meadows terrorizing deer so that ranchers can have the grass for their cows. Nice. Public land, public wildlife, personal profit = corporate welfare. Hey, I’ll bet ATVs and chainsaws would help! Let’s get drunk first!

In a not entirely unrelated matter, my wife and I were SHOT IN THE BACKS by a carfull of fun-loving paint-ballers. Those aren’t “markers,” they’re god-damn guns. Check out one of my wounds. We thought we were dying. The shooter laughed his head off. The sport of kings. mjh

I’ve been remote, I know. Each day you come back, wondering, ‘where is he?’ ‘He could be hurt!’ ‘Why isn’t he blogging!’ Sorry — my real life overwhelmed my virtual life. It started with cross-country skiing last Friday. Then an old friend came to town. We three ate well. In addition to Mer’s homemade strawberry pie and pots du creme, there was the peanut butter pie at the Range. And fillet mignon. And burritos from Golden Pride (the new huge one on east Central). And we hiked the Ojito again. Then I had two classes to prep and teach. So, here I am days later, finally showing up with my shoes in my hands, sorry I worried you but glad you waited up. mjh