Election

Republican-controlled House backs bill to boost logging in national forests — throw these bastards out!

House backs bill to boost logging in nat’l forests | ABQJournal Online

The Republican-controlled House has approved a bill to sharply increase logging in national forests.

Supporters say the bill would create jobs in rural communities, particularly in the West. And it would help reduce wildfires and add hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from additional timber sales.

Opponents call the bill a giveaway to the timber industry and say it would harm water quality and habitat for fish and wildlife and would jeopardize recreation areas in national forests.

The White House has threatened to veto the bill, which was approved on a 244-173 vote.

The Obama administration says the bill would jeopardize habitat for endangered species, increase lawsuits and limit the president’s ability to create national monuments.

The measure is expected to die in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

House backs bill to boost logging in nat’l forests | ABQJournal Online

Election

“It simply is not within Republicans’ constitutional power to make Obamacare go away” — Eugene Robinson

In the first 8 years of the new century, Republicans gave the Idiot Tyrant everything he wanted. In the process, they almost bankrupted the nation and lost considerable power and any and all possible respect. Republicans lost in 2008 and 2012 but don’t accept that fact any more than climate change or other truths. Since 2008, the only “idea” Republicans have is to destroy Obama. Impotently, they have wasted countless hours on nonsense and they continue to do so. I’m so tired of these fools.

Eugene Robinson: Obama must not yield on Obamacare, debt ceiling or shutdown – The Washington Post

Mature adults in the GOP should have explained reality to these tantrum-throwing tykes long ago: It simply is not within their constitutional power to make Obamacare go away. They can scream at the top of their lungs, roll around on the floor, hold their breath until they turn blue, waste everybody’s time with 41 useless votes — whatever. All they can really do is hurt themselves or others. …

I happen to believe that Obamacare is a great accomplishment, providing access to medical insurance to millions of Americans who lack it and bringing the nation much closer to universal health care. It’s an imperfect law, to be sure, but it could be made much better with the kind of constructive tinkering that responsible leaders performed on Social Security and Medicare.

Even if Obamacare were tremendously flawed, however, it would be wrong to let a bunch of extremist ideologues hold the country hostage in this manner. If Republicans want to repeal the reforms, they should win the Senate and the presidency. If not, they’re welcome to pout and sulk all they want — but not to use extortion to get their way

Eugene Robinson: Obama must not yield on Obamacare, debt ceiling or shutdown – The Washington Post

loco

Heinrich says he will vote for military force in Syria | ABQJournal Online

I don’t want the US to attack Syria. However, I appreciate Heinrich laying out his reasons for favoring an attack. With great luck, this will prove moot. peace, mjh

Heinrich says he will vote for military force in Syria | ABQJournal Online

By James Monetelene / Journal staff writer

Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., announced Monday night that he will vote for a resolution authorizing President  Barack Obama to use military force in Syria.

Here is the text of an email Heinrich sent to constituents:

From: Senator Martin Heinrich
Sent: Monday, September 09, 2013 3:55 PM MDT
Subject: Syria

September 9, 2013

Dear Friends,

The last week has been the most difficult I have experienced in my more than eight years in public office.  What I share with you now will not win me any popularity awards, and some of you may well never forgive me for my decision today. All I ask is that you read this entire letter and seek to understand how I came to make this decision.

I have always believed that my decisions in public office should reflect my best judgment and what I believe to be the best course for our nation. Most of the time that leads to votes that are well aligned with most of you as constituents.  Just as importantly, it means that I can look my children in the eye and explain my positions with honesty, never having to explain why a vote was the result of politics or pressure. Today, I am taking a position that I believe is in line with those values.

From my position on the Intelligence Committee, I have been briefed regularly for eight months now on developments in Syria. Those developments have been very difficult to watch. Most people only hear about these things on a news report, where it is difficult to imagine the scale and intensity of this violence. I have had a much closer view.

Bashar al-Assad is a dictator who has shown a willingness to reduce residential neighborhoods to rubble, to imprison and torture children, and who has watched callously as his actions have killed over a hundred thousand civilians and displaced millions of Syrian refugees.

Despite that, I remain of the belief that as a nation, we cannot become directly entangled in a civil war that we do not fully understand. It is for this reason that I do not think we should arm the Syrian rebels and I do not support sending American troops into this conflict.

However, over recent months I also learned of the facts that are now the subject of so much debate here and around the world. What I can tell you from my perspective, having seen the public evidence as well as much that remains classified, I do not have any doubt about the following facts:

One: a chemical weapons attack occurred on August 21;

Two: that attack was planned and carried out by Bashar al-Assad’s regime; and

Three: that as a result, hundreds of children and non-combatants were gassed to death in the suburbs of Damascus.

I have seen how Assad incrementally tests the international community as he employs more and more brutal tactics in order to cling to power. And I can tell you that August 21 was not just some anomaly, but that it is part of a long and predictable pattern of behavior.

What’s more, I believe that when any country chooses to ignore the international norms against chemical weapons, they have made a deeply immoral decision with worldwide implications, implications that the United States and the international community cannot ignore. If you want to understand why chemical weapons were singled out for international actions, you can watch videos that were taken in the aftermath of the Damascus attacks. These videos show the real effects of chemical weapons and are completely consistent with international forensic evidence showing that the agent was Sarin nerve gas.  I would warn you not to view these with children in the room. They are real and they are horrible.

I know that we are a nation that is not only rightfully weary of war, but also jaded by the dishonest use of cooked intelligence reports that led to terrible mistakes in Iraq. But this is not Iraq and we have a moral obligation to deter Assad and every regime watching him from thinking that they can gas their people with impunity, commit genocide, or employ internationally prohibited weapons.

It is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I will support President Obama’s request for the authorization of use of military force.

I will seek to make sure that the resolution before the Senate remains narrow in scope and does not put American troops on the ground in another Middle Eastern war. But I believe that President Obama and the international community should be able to send a message to Bashar al-Assad: that he is not above international norms and that he will suffer real, military consequences should he choose to gas civilians.

I will continue to support additional foreign aid to alleviate the humanitarian and refugee crisis in Syria and neighboring countries, and I will also continue supporting diplomatic options so long as they are credible, verifiable, and enforceable.

While I know that my vote on this matter will be controversial, especially among some of my closest supporters, I want you to know that I have little doubt it is the right decision.

Sincerely,

MARTIN HEINRICH
United States Senator

Heinrich says he will vote for military force in Syria | ABQJournal Online

Heinrich backs Obama plan to strike Syria | ABQJournal Online

by James Monteleone / Journal Staff Writer 

Sen. Martin Heinrich said Monday that he will support a resolution authorizing the president to use military force in Syria, splitting with Sen. Tom Udall, who has argued against U.S. intervention.

Heinrich – like Udall a New Mexico Democrat – said in a letter to constituents that he would support President Barack Obama’s proposal for military intervention only if the congressional resolution rules out deployment of U.S. troops in Syria.

Heinrich backs Obama plan to strike Syria | ABQJournal Online

Election, loco

VOTE October 8th! (Early voting starts 9/18)

More voters support abortion ban | ABQJournal Online

map template

More voters support abortion ban | ABQJournal Online

Abortion does NOT belong on a city ballot. The people don’t get to vote to restrict rights of others, especially in private medical matters. But, bullies have shoved this on the ballot and fools will give away their own rights.

Clerk Mailing Absentee Ballots for 2013 Election — City of Albuquerque

Early Voting

Beginning on Sept. 18, 2013, the City Clerk will open ten (10) additional locations for Early Voting, which will 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays through Oct. 4, 2013.

Election Day Voting

On Election Day, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 8, 2013, voters can vote at any of the fifty (50) Voting Centers.

View a list of Election Day voting locations.

Register to Vote

The last day to register to vote for this election is Sept. 10, 2013.

Voter registration information is available from the Bernalillo County Clerk.

Clerk Mailing Absentee Ballots for 2013 Election — City of Albuquerque

abqbosque

Is the bosque natural? #abqbosque

I was struck by the romantic naiveté of some bosque supporters. You hear this bosque is thousands of years old, that it is a wilderness. That view ignores the bike trail, the jetty jacks, the trash heaps, the graffiti, the homeless, the invasive species (including us). This wilderness view celebrates the ditches and ignores the dams, both of which have destroyed the natural seasons of the bosque.

I recently saw a great short film on birders in Central Park, NYC. That park is completely man-made and unnatural but a jewel nonetheless. We are lucky to have a place that really is remarkably close to being a wilderness in a city, but we need to recognize it won’t last without wise care. It won’t last without change — nothing in life does.

Have you hiked the bosque near the Rio Grande Nature Center? What do you think about that chainlink alley ending at a powerstation? Is that the proper entrance for a treasure? From there, you figure out which way to go on the dilapidated asphalt trail, cross a rustic bridge that ends in a railroad tie stairway or a steep trail preferred by cyclists. Speaking of cyclists, look both ways several times before taking your life in your hands and crossing to … well, where? Do you want to go through the jetty jacks or take your chances on the adjacent paved trail? Wander far enough and you’ll find the river, probably. Don’t worry. There’s hardly ever a fire or rape in the area.

My point is those of us who love the bosque overlook a lot of flaws to see what we want to see, which is wildlife, more than anything else. To be a part of nature. To stand in the middle of the largest city in New Mexico and feel like we’re alone in the woods. It’s a great feeling. Ironically, more people need to experience that, though doing so risks destroying the experience. How can everyone find solitude in a small space. How do we manage a wild space?

abqbosque

In the Albuquerque Bosque, there are three camps #abqbosque

One group wants vigorous change, development, construction, the kind of change that puts money in people’s pockets. This group is as relentless as termites.

Another group wants NO CHANGES AT ALL. I sympathize with these people and, therefore, try not to see the selfishness of that. For them, the bosque “works” (an objectionable word in this context) — they have what they want and fear losing that.

More than likely, the third group is the largest and includes those who have never been into the bosque. This group’s apathy, indifference, and ignorance, has to change. Some of these people need to choose another group. I recommend you start at Alameda, cross under the road and head northwest toward the river.

Rio Grande Valley State Park — City of Albuquerque

Established by the State Legislature in 1983, this Park is managed cooperatively by the Open Space Division and the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD). The 4,300-acre park extends from Sandia Pueblo in the north through Albuquerque and south to Isleta Pueblo.

The Rio Grande bosque offers a unique environment in arid Albuquerque. Large cottonwood trees, coyote willow, and New Mexico olive create a cool, shady forest and provide habitat for beaver, numerous bird species, turtles, and snakes.

Recreation

Low-impact recreation such as hiking, bicycling, mountain biking, in-line skating, boating (see access points at the bottom of this page), and horseback riding are allowed on the Paseo del Bosque paved trail or the natural surface trail beneath the cottonwood trees. The Paseo del Bosque trail is approximately 16 miles in length from Alameda Blvd. to Rio Bravo Blvd. and runs along the east side of the river. Natural surface trails run along both sides of the river intermittently and a myriad of unmarked trails wind throughout the bosque.

The Rio Grande Valley State Park Trail MapAbout PDF Files provides a guide to access points in the park system.

Hours of Operation

April – October: 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
November – March: 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM

Rio Grande Valley State Park — City of Albuquerque

Election

The Wealth of Nations

Gessing does what he’s paid to do: promote views and policies that benefit his employers. He’s a shill.

Letters to Outlook | ABQJournal Online

Under the conservative mantra of “the government is bad,” the U.S. has steadily fallen in the rankings of the quality of life among the wealthy democracies. The countries that appear at the top of lists for highest quality of life, highest life satisfaction, strongest democracies, best health care, best educated – are primarily the highly taxed and regulated countries of northern Europe.

This is not to say there is some utopia out there, or that all taxes and regulations are good. But Paul Gessing and his ilk aren’t pushing polices that are designed to raise the boat for everyone, rather they are pushing polices that support only the 1 percent.

John Liebendorfer

Albuquerque

Letters to Outlook | ABQJournal Online

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams