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

5 stars

Looper (5 stars)

Looper is sci fi in the tradition of Blade Runner, even sharing a dystopian future. [I also detect a bit of Witness and the Matrix.] Of course, time travel is almost always difficult to wrap one’s head around. This is the best such tale I’ve seen since the Butterfly Effect (which was actually more disturbing). Naturally, the pairing of Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt is awesome, but the story itself is interesting and the dialog often clever. I can’t remember the last time Jeff Daniels seemed so good. Although there is plenty of gun violence (hey, this is America!) there are only a couple of scenes that were hard to take.

loco

New Mexico is not just another domino regarding marriage equity

Former governor Lew Wallace famously said, “All calculations based on our experiences elsewhere fail in New Mexico.”

Unique legal situation led to decisions on marriage | ABQJournal Online by James Monteleone / Journal Staff Writer

New Mexico is on track to become the 14th state in the nation to allow same-sex marriage – without the issue ever being approved by the state’s voters, the Legislature or the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Unique legal situation led to decisions on marriage | ABQJournal Online

Although I like the phrase “marriage equity” (or is it “marriage equality”?), I’m surprised how quickly the phrase caught on and how quickly “same-sex marriage” took a backseat. Political rephrasing is usually the work of conservatives, but not in this case.

Viddy

Moonrise Kingdom (2 or 3 stars)

I remember being captivated by the previews for Moonrise Kingdom. The visual style of this film is delightful, though not enough to carry it alone. But the cast is phenomenal (too many to list). Yet, the result is hard to recommend except as an amazing anachronism, a bit of amber preserving a long-gone time where affairs consisted of holding hands, people traded letters, and everyone smoked.

[With this movie, we resume our Netflix DVD subscription after several years of streaming-only. I still like Netflix streaming — especially the Windows 8.1 app — but the offerings are weak.]

Election, NADA - New American Dark Ages

ThinkProgress is not mincing words: “The Supreme Court has, with rare exception, been a largely malign force in American history.”

Court Is ‘One of Most Activist,’ Ginsburg Says, Vowing to Stay – NYTimes.com

In general, Justice Ginsburg said, “if it’s measured in terms of readiness to overturn legislation, this is one of the most activist courts in history.” …

“I don’t see that my majority opinions are going to be undone,” she said. “I do hope that some of my dissents will one day be the law.”

Court Is ‘One of Most Activist,’ Ginsburg Says, Vowing to Stay – NYTimes.com

ThinkProgress takes the ball and runs with it. Let me stress that the following are NOT quotes from Ginsburg.

Justice Ginsburg’s Terrifying Assessment Of Her Own Court | ThinkProgress

The Supreme Court has, with rare exception, been a largely malign force in American history. …

The Supreme Court in this era did not so much tear down established rights as it stood for a status quo that favored capital over labor and the rich over the rest of the nation.

The Roberts Court, by contrast, has actively rolled back existing laws protecting workers, women and people of color. …

[T]he Roberts Court is unusually willing to take from ordinary Americans rights they have enjoyed for a very long time. The Supreme Court has a long history of standing athwart history yelling stop. This Supreme Court, however, wants to shift history into reverse.

Justice Ginsburg’s Terrifying Assessment Of Her Own Court | ThinkProgress

media

ABQjournal trumpets website on A1 – did hell just freeze over?

Congrats to abqjournal for entering the 21st century, but I’m not going to let them pat themselves on the back without a flog in their hand. The journal website was gawdawful for more than a decade and that was in large part due to management’s cluelessness and hostility to the Web. I used to use it as the best BAD example I could find in my web design classes. Yes, it is much better. Yes, mobile formats and RSS are a boon. But, it is still hard to find specific stories on this site (such as this one – start at abqjournal.com and tell me how long it takes you). And the epaper version (which costs money) is maddening to use. But, congratulations, none the less.

“Readers tell us they like to take advantage of some of the digital benefits”

ABQjournal web, mobile traffic soars | 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