m-pyre

New Mexico compared to Chernobyl

2009-11-17T15:27:00.002-07:00

marjorie says...

“Ground Zero. In some ways, New Mexico comes a close second to Chernobyl.”

So begins a review, published this week in the Akron Beacon Journal, of an exhibit of photographs of Patrick Nagatani. The New Mexico photographer’s work is on display at the Akron Art Museum for the next few months, in an exhibition titled “Nuclear Enchantment.” Nagatani’s work is “…all about questioning society’s blind faith in the so-called experts, in particular the expertise of science.” Nagatani’s work not only questions that faith but ridicules it, the piece states.

It then labels the New Mexico moniker “Land of Enchantment” as more accurately our “Better Business Bureau nickname.”

Known by its Better Business Bureau nickname as ”Land of Enchantment,” New Mexico is also the birthplace of the nuclear age. It has sites linked to research and development, weapon stockpiles, uranium mines, test sites and reactors alarmingly close not only to large population areas, but also to the tribal lands of the Hopi and Pueblo Indians, the oldest continuous culture in our country.

While the piece doesn’t show the actual pictures, it has great descriptions of the work. Here’s an example:

Uranium Tailings, Anaconda Minerals Corporation, Laguna Pueblo Reservation, New Mexico is a 1990 lifocolor print that illustrates a common misconception.

”If you’re on the right side of a Southwest Airlines 737 heading west and look down [if you're not over the wing],” Nagatani noted, ”you see beautiful white deposits below that make a striking contrast with the gray-brown landscape.

”I have to laugh to myself when I hear people around me admiring these ‘natural’ formations. They’re uranium tailings deposits, acres and acres of them.

”They’re all hot, they’re all radioactive.” And they’re mostly on the Laguna Pueblo Reservation, believed to have been settled in 1699.

It doesn’t stop there. Nagatani has chronicled mishap upon mishap, outrage upon outrage, presented often as bucolic landscapes layered with symbols of benign authority.

The entire piece is worth a read, especially if you can’t get to Akron to see the photographs. We can hope that the exhibition will make it to New Mexico in 2010.

Reading about Nagatani’s exhibit brought to mind a 2006 feature length piece in the Los Angeles Times that details the history of uranium mining and its human consequences in the Navajo Nation, and describes how the mines led to high cancer rates in a place where the disease had previously barely existed.

The U.S. government hasn’t done a systematic study of the human impacts of its nuclear industry on the communities in which it located it’s mines, mills, and experiments during the cold war, but various academic and individual scientific studies combined with oral histories and community based assessments over the years don’t make the comparison to Chernobyl a stretch.

A contentious debate over the future of uranium mining in New Mexico is currently underway. The Navajo Nation in 2005 banned uranium mining on its land, but mining companies are pursuing the development of new mines on the public and private land that snakes into and around Navajo land due to an expectation that a new uranium boom is looming.

NPR, my beacon of sanity

2009-10-22T11:19:00.006-06:00

I can't remember a time I didn't listen to National Public Radio. My fierce fandom is nearly entirely due to my father, who is as hardcore an NPR listener as they come. When my dad is home alone, he'll either have NPR playing on every radio in the house or have it playing on his hand-held radio, which he carries around the house with him. Now that is a fan. The voices - recognizable and reassuring - are instantly calming and grounding to me. The conversation is relevant and piquant, refreshingly free of the mindless chatter or shrieking stereotypes that clutter up television. And if pressed, I must admit that no jingle makes me happier than the chords announcing "Morning Edition." NPR is how I begin my day, how I like to fill my day, and how I like to make the transition from work to me-time. NPR even made it into our wedding vows. Is that more or less fanatical than carrying around a hand-held radio?

It's NPR pledge week this week, as all of you regular listeners are already aware. As much as we always know that NPR only exists with listener (and not government or commercial) support, we also know this: more than ever, NPR rises above the fray of broadcast journalism. So put your money where your ears, head, and heart are. Every dollar counts.

Have you pledged your local NPR station yet?

Pumping Horror 2: Traveling

2009-10-22T10:34:00.002-06:00

Mikaela says:
What's worse than trying to pump at the workplace? Trying to pump on a business trip! Not only are you at the mercy of other people's schedules, you also have virtually no control over the spaces you inhabit, which means you're going to end up pumping in public restrooms - asking wary strangers for the nearest family room and praying it has a working power outlet.

If you're on a car trip - you're invariably carpooling with three guys, one of whom is your boss, and the other two you've worked hard to make them believe you weren't going to quit after having a baby as they automatically assume, no matter what you say.

The last car trip I went on with three guys, I had to excuse myself from our presentation practice 15 minutes before we were scheduled to leave on our 2-hour drive so that I could pump, then worry that they were waiting for me, badmouthing me for ducking out, and talking about what I was up to, anyway. We stopped for lunch before our presentation, and I inhaled my food so that I could sprint ahead to the car to pump again. Instead of waiting a reasonable amount of time (read: longer than 5 minutes, people), two of the guys decided to come on back to the car. I had hopped into the passenger seat to be nearer the car power adapter, and the guy who'd ridden up in the seat actually came to the door to give me grief, not really understanding what I was doing! The other just hopped on in the back and proceeded to talk to me like nothing was happening. I've never been so glad that he was a little deaf! Both guys now installed in the backseat, I've got to figure out how to unhook myself and put everything away discreetly - and quickly - before my boss comes back to take the wheel. He comes back just as I'm putting the last of my things away. He looks at me to ask if we're all set and ready to go. Redfaced but relieved, I say yes.

After the interview (2 hours later), I'm praying that someone wants to stop for soda or chips or something so I can hook myself back up again in relative privacy, even if they come back to the car right away. No such luck. I sit in the backseat, calculating the hours in my head to see if I can wait until we get back and still have time to fit one more pump in before it's time to go home and feed my kid directly, as nature intended. But no. I have to do this in the next hour or my daughter's going to go hungry - either tonight or tomorrow when she runs out of food! Now praying that neither of the guys in front clue in or -- god forbid -- turn around, I surreptitiously get out my supplies one at a time - modesty cape first. I'm all set to go but have to ask the guy in front to plug me in. He acts put out, and I just have to hope that he doesn't make a big enough deal out of it that I have to explain why it's important! And then there I am, surrounded by men I work with, as I'm hooked up like a cow at a dairy, hoping against hope that the whirring and buzzing is much less audible and embarrassing than I think. And 15 tortured minutes later, I have to risk further exposure by unhooking and putting it all away once again. As unlikely as it probably is, I don't think those guys even figured it all out. Or at least they had the decency to act clueless!

The last trip, I got to experience the joy of pumping in airports. Thank goodness for family bathrooms. Damn those family bathrooms with broken outlets! In the second bathroom, the outlet worked, but there was an entire outfit in the trash that smelled like unspeakable body fluids, and the only place to put the pump was a sink that I would normally not touch for any reason. I was beyond all this and covering my mouth with my little girl's pajamas, imagining the phermones "letting my milk down" when the janitor started knocking. He'd wait a minute and then knock again. And again. And again. More and more annoyed. I yelled each time for him to wait, but I didn't really want to announce to all the passers-by the real reason why. When I finally emerged, he looked at me accusingly, knowing I was in there shooting up or getting off or worse. I looked him right back and said, "I was trying to pump in there."

Flustered, he said gruffly, "Someone said there was broken glass in there."

"I didn't see any glass," I said, walking quickly away.

Of all the things to be surprised about in being a new mom, it's the little indignities that are the worst. I thought they'd end with pregancy, then with recovery after the birth. But I think they're just going to continue. Next comes the stage where your kids puke in public places, then when they act badly, and finally when they end up needing public assistance or something.

Sigh.

At least the benefits of motherhood more than makes up for the rest!

What it comes down to

2009-10-19T10:27:00.003-06:00

Mikaela says:
Oh to be a mom brave enough to order one of these for my new office door!

Today is the first real day in an honest-to-god office, with a lock on the door and blinds on the windows. I can leave the pump out, meaning pumping now takes 15 minutes instead of 20 because of set up and take down time, every time, every 2 hours.

You have no idea how annoying that is, not to mention the stress of fearing a work mate, or god forbid boss, will ignore the Do Not Disturb sign and the locked door and just come on in. You think this is unlikely? Think again. Happened to me. Happened with the big boss.

This was the third office they moved me to (and here I can only whine a little bit, because at least they were trying to provide a private place other than the bathroom to pump), but I'd just been informed I'd have to move again because the big boss was moving floors. It would be a few days, the office manager told me. So I readied myself and gathered my things but still went to pump at my regularly scheduled 10 am "de-canting" as one workmate called it. I'd gotten a bit lax about using the cover-up. I did have a locked office, after all, but thankfully I'd used the modesty cape that time, when I heard a key in the lock. Yep, my boss walks in, sees me, apologizes ... AND THEN CONTINUES TO CHAT WITH ME FOR A GOOD TWO MINUTES before backing out, locking the door behind him. He just wanted to check out his new office; he had no idea he'd be checking out just so much!

Then they moved me to a different floor, saying this room would turn into a conference room in a few weeks, but it was mine until then. There was a bookcase and a chair, so I set myself up in the corner, back to one wall of windows. Oh right, did I mention that this room was floor to ceiling windows on two sides? These windows faced one office to the northwest and one bank of cubicles to the southeast. Fun times! I picked my poison and faced the one office. Now, I thought the windows were reflective and no one could see in. I didn't really think to check that until I walked in one day (about a week or two after using this room at least 3 times a day) there was a window washer outside. I figured before I bared all, I should make sure just how reflective that glass was. To my horror, not only could I see into the bank of cubicles, I could see right into the office I'd been facing all that time, even to the desk where the head of Civil Engineering was sitting and had been sitting. No wonder his face got red every time he and I shared an elevator! I fled to share my embarrassment with my closest work girls. But the crazy thing? I had to go back to that room 2 more times that day, and every day thereafter! I learned to close the blinds, believe me! But as time went on, people started using the room for meetings. I'd run up on a break to pump only to find a room full of people, some of them facing my pump artfully draped with my modesty cape but still plugged suggestively into the wall. So horrifying...

Now you can imagine my relief to be sitting, trying to work on a contract job, in my very own office, where I can close the blinds, lock the door, strap on my boob shields, and pump away, SVU playing on one screen while I page through pictures of my beautiful baby on the other.

Ah, the modern world of a working mom!

Markets aren't everything...? (!)

2009-10-13T08:44:00.000-06:00

marjorie says...

A fabulously straight delivery given to us on Forbes.com--with the insightful news that "Markets Aren't Everything"--, about the work of the duo who won the Nobel for Economics (parenthetical commentary belongs to me):

The common theme underlying the prize this year is that markets do not solve all problems of resource allocation and incentives well or even at all. That is not a new idea. (!) What is important is that people and societies find ways through organizational structures and arrangements, political and other institutions, values, incentives and recognition, and the careful management of information, to solve these problems. Professors Ostrom and Williamson have led the development of this increasingly important part of economics. In reading their work, you are impressed that economics is not really fundamentally about markets, but about resource allocation and distribution problems. Markets appear because they operate effectively to handle a subset of these resource allocation challenges. Alternative creative institutional arrangements have been devised and refined over time to deal with those that markets handle imperfectly.

Isn't this another way of saying that capitalism has to be mitigated through the government or other social(ist) formations?

Now that economists have won the Nobel for confirming this, can we stop having that debate?

Something tells me, no.

Hat Tip to John Fleck.

Marty Chavez: Mayorship isn't a football game, it's a relay race

2009-10-07T01:36:00.002-06:00

marjorie says...

Mayor Martin Chavez said this last night as he was conceding the race.

"I believe in my heart these races and the mayorship, it is not a football game, it’s not a baseball game, with a winner and a loser...It’...s a relay race. And each mayor has to move that baton, have to move that team forward. And I am proud we’ve moved the city of Albuquerque forward immeasurably."

Note to Self: Do Your Research

2009-10-06T23:13:00.002-06:00

Mikaela says:
Damn. I am a bad voter! I did not look at the sample ballot or read the League's guide, so I was unprepared to vote on the proposed amendments to the City Charter, all of which passed with or without my uneducated vote.

(All the bonds passed, too, including affordable housing - yay! Does this surprise anyone else? I hear all the bonds typically pass, but when I vote, I picture all those pinched Republicans saying, "More money for libraries, community centers? Why I should I pay for those?")

Google leads me to believe no one's blogged about the story behind the charter amendments in depth, either. It's up a planning student's alley (hint, hint, kids), but I feel like there's a story there that I want to know, so maybe I should get off my you-know-what and have a little look-sie.

Here's where the trail is leading...

Marjorie's article that got the amendments on the ballot in the first place.
City Task Force studying the City Charter and proposing the changes and the report.
League of Women Voters NM summary of Proposed Charter Amendments.
Voting Results.

Phew! That was exhausting. I'm out of shape! Did I miss something? Please, god, let someone have done this already... Links, anyone?

A down and dirty summary (still looking for the dirt behind these... who's for them? who's against? who pays? who benefits?):

Elections - adds a summary of where to find policy on elections in the charter, since it's scattered throughout.
Salaries - creates an independent salary commission to determine Mayoral and Councilor salaries, which then get voted on by the public, to start with the next term after an election. [This was the subject of lots of debate - is this self-serving? an end-run around the voters? Umm... No!]
City Clerk - makes the position coincide w/ the Mayor's term & subject to approval of 2/3 of the Council, which also gets the authority to remove the Clerk w/ the same majority vote.
Petitions - clarifies how amendments can be made to the Charter and allows the City Clerk (with approval from the City Attorney and City Council) to fix clerical errors and delete outlawed sections.
Budget - attaches dates to the current budget process for accountability.
Ethics - changes the authority for election ethics from the City Attorney (criminal charges) to the Board of Ethics and Campaign Practices (civil process).
Zoning - adds an article clarifying the legislative role of the Council as the "ultimate planning and zoning authority (including adoption and interpretation of Plans, ordinances, and individual cases) versus the Mayor's role for implementation, enforcement, and administration of plans. [This is a big deal, and we'll see how it shakes out inside the Planning Departments... the Mayor's and the Council's!]
Disputes - establishes a 3-person arbitration committee (1 appointed by the Council, 1 by the Mayor, 1 jointly) to resolve disputes about duties under the Charter. [Also very interesting! How often will this committee get used? All the time? Never?]
Signatures - changes the signatures needed on a petition from a percentage to a number - 3,000 - to become a candidate for Mayor and 500 to become a candidate for City Council (making this equal across districts of different sizes).
Attorney - changes the City Attorney's term to coincide with the Mayor, similar to the change to the City Clerk above, w/ the same approval & removal provisions by the Council.

Well, what do we think? Voters think they look okay...

(Incidentally, what's the knee-jerk response from voters on charter amendments? Is it, "They're fixing something that's broken, which is always a good idea!" Or, "They're *&^%$ing with our constitution, which is always a bad idea!" The approvals across the board seem to indicate the first instinct. Yikes!)

ABQ to Mayor Marty: No to Unprecedented 3 Terms!

2009-10-06T22:32:00.004-06:00

Mikaela says:
Well, this may be a disaster, but the people have spoken (at least those who cared enough to go the polls this election), and they've all said, "More Marty? Not again!"

They couldn't quite go all the way to the left to vote for Romero, so it appears many people chose the box marked "Other," or in this case, Berry, sadly a Republican, yes, it's true. But I have to say, having heard all the candidates on KUNM's calling show on subsequent weeks, this guy said a lot of things that I was shocked to agree with. For the moment, he seems, well ... reasonable. And that's a breath of fresh air compared to Mayor Marty's childish and petulant grudge-keeping dictatorship.

Eric says the worst that can happen is he'll cut all the social programs, so when we elect a Democratic in the next mayoral election, then it will seem like Christmas again, or maybe a chance to re-assess our values and put money where our hearts are. That's what I'm hoping for, anyway.

This was a tough call. I knew I couldn't vote for bubble butt (there's a reason you never see him filmed or photographed from the back, don't you know!), but Richard Romero agonized me with his picking on the Council Service Planning Department, which I think is a really good idea when the Planning Department is inextricably linked to the Mayor's office, no matter who's in it. I think it's an important check-and-balance for our local government. And he also denigrated hiring outside architects and planners (something Maggie and I have both talked about) for city projects, and okay, he has a point, but what's his solution? The city does NOT have the capacity in its planning program, and won't if it doesn't offer competitive wages, which it can't in a budget crisis and hasn't, anyway.

So Berry's advantage? He's not the other guys, and he seems, to quote the Hitchhiker's Guide, "Mostly Harmless." We'll see if that bears out. It's fitting that it's balloon week. Just picture us all holding our breath while a new pilot gears up to blow hot air at us!

Go vote people

2009-10-05T19:43:00.001-06:00

marjorie says...

It's October 5th, 7:30pm. Reed is playing his guitar. Kiki just had a bath, and is moping in his room because I won't let him go roll in the dirt until he's dry. I'm not going to check my email again tonight. If I do, there might be something else I want to put up in a blog. But this portion has come to an end. Albuquerque's municipal election is tomorrow.

Having written about the race since the first of the year, I can honestly say I'll feel some regret for any of the three candidates for mayor who don't make it into a run-off. They each have things to recommend.

Not gonna tell you who I'm voting for though ;-)

Go here to find out where you vote: http://www.bernco.gov/wherevote/

The polls are open from 7 to 7, tomorrow.

Barb Wold at DfNM has endorsed Marty Chavez for Mayor

2009-09-29T09:11:00.003-06:00

marjorie says...

I've read Barb's blog for a really long time, and I think it's notable that she endorsed Marty Chavez for mayor on her blog last night.

She's pretty much sat out the mayor's race this year, which is a fact I've been paying attention to in and of itself. I actually was not surprised by this development.

Barb is sharp, and a great polemicist. Not to mention she's the doyenne of New Mexico's Democratic netroots. I'll be checking out the comments section over there--I suspect it'll be an interesting way to pass the time today (since I simply have nothing else to do).

Interesting day in the Duke City for the left

2009-09-28T21:22:00.001-06:00

marjorie says...

My title speaks for itself.

Van Jones: "Green jobs, not jails."

2009-09-12T10:14:00.005-06:00

marjorie says...

Van on Van before he resigned from the Obama White House gig, from Politico in early August:

“I didn’t start out as an environmentalist. I started out helping urban kids in trouble and I burned out, going to way too many funerals and court cases that turned out badly,” Jones said in an interview. “I was just trying to get my own health back.”

“I went to these retreat Centers in Marin County, and it was a different world. They had all this organic food and solar panels and hybrid cars, and I was like -- why don’t they have this in my neighborhood?” Jones said. “I thought, if we had these kind of jobs and services in Oakland, we’d probably have less violence. So I came up with a slogan: Green jobs, not jails.”

Congrats to the residents of Pajarito Mesa

2009-09-10T22:24:00.004-06:00

marjorie says...

The many years of struggle and long hours of hard work between SWOP and the Pajarito Mesa Water Association to develop a safe, clean, dependable source of water for the residents of Pajarito Mesa is finally bearing fruit.

This Wednesday morning we met with TLC, the company that was awarded the contract for this project, and other engineers, and we saw for ourselves the construction in action. The project is just beginning but by early December the residents of Pajarito Mesa should start getting water from this filling station.

Bringing water to the Mesa has taken a long time, but as the saying goes, “la perseverancia siempre gana.”

-Sandra Montes

This was originally published on SWOPblogger.

Marjorie on nmpolitics.net

2009-09-08T13:10:00.002-06:00

Did you see Marjorie over on nmpolitics.net?

Marjorie: Dems should use health care reform

Go read!

Cancer and cannabis

2009-09-07T23:53:00.004-06:00

marjorie says...

Here's a piece I wrote for the NMI last week, about the one medical marijuana non-profit in the state running out of its product. The person who've I've written about before here clued me into the fact that they had run out, and he also elaborated a little on why cannabis is seen as a medicine by so many. I was aware of the mitigating effect on nausea, pain and lack of appetite, but had not considered the issue with anxiety before...

New Mexico’s one medical marijuana producer is all sold out

According to a medical marijuana patient who has access to the secure Web site of the one nonprofit in the state producing marijuana for patients, the nonprofit has run out of its product and won’t have more available until October.

From the Santa Fe Institute for Natural Medicine (SFINM) Web site:

8/28/09 PRODUCT UPDATE

We are currently sold out of our inventory. Not knowing what members would like, our first crop was 50/50 indica dominant/sativa dominant. And although we are so sorry to run out, we now know that members prefer sativa dominant. We will try and adjust our proportions accordingly so this does not happen again. Also, please keep in mind that it takes 12-18 months for a smooth running ongoing production. This is especially tricky when it is a pilot project and mother nature is involved. We very much appreciate your patience.

Come October, we hope to introduce Big Buddha’s Cheese, Chocolope, and Kandy Kush to the menu. More details will come in September.

The source for this story, who wished to remain unidentified, told the Independent that if he didn’t have a producers license he’d have to risk buying it on the street — which is legal for him under state law, but dangerous because it forces him to purchase from people working in an underground economy.

“It’s not safe. You could be ripped off or killed, not to mention, it’s still a federal crime. So, say you bought some in front of a post office, you could be prosecuted by the feds,” he explained.

Still, he’s come to rely on medical marijuana as he makes his way through a debilitating chemotherapy cancer treatment regime, so figures most of the state’s medical marijuana patients are taking those kinds of risks.

“It significantly helps all of the serious side effects I’ve told you about… like relentless nausea, extreme anxiety, and loss of appetite. It also helps me sleep, which is good,” he said.

He doesn’t blame the dispensary for running out, though, saying its the state’s fault for not devising a better system for producing marijuana that meets the demand.

“Why are they limiting the ability of people to produce when its clear so many people in the state really need it,” he asked rhetorically.

You can read the rest here, including information about the prices of medical marijuana in NM. I'll have a follow-up piece soon I hope.

Fouratt does a disservice to Richardson

2009-08-31T11:33:00.005-06:00

marjorie says...

By now, many of you will have read or heard the news that Governor Bill Richardson will not being indicted by the grand jury that spent a year investigating whether an investment services company won a big state contract after making contributions to two of Richardson's political action committees in 2004.

This is the investigation that caused Richardson to withdraw from his nomination to the position of commerce secretary.

The news that he wouldn't be indicted was quickly followed last week by details pulled from a letter that U.S. Attorney Greg Fouratt wrote to defense attorney's letting them know there would be no investigation.

You can see the letter for yourself here.

Fouratt said in the letter that while there would be no indictment, the investigation "revealed that pressure from the governor's office resulted in the corruption of the procurement process so that CDR would be awarded the work."

He further said that the lack of indictments shouldn't be considered an exoneration.

That the letter, which is dated August 27, quickly made its way into the hands of the press bolsters the assertion made by a former Republican U.S. Attorney, Joseph diGenova, that the letter is blatantly political.

I tend to agree.

Here's why it seems so political, to me.

Fouratt's statement in the letter that the procurement process was corrupted by pressure from the Governor's office begs the question: why, then, was there no indictment?

It could be that Fouratt wants us to believe that the decision to not indict Richardson was itself political.

But in order to believe that, we'd have to believe that the Justice Department with all of its career prosecutors colluded together to decide to let a crime of that magnitude go unpunished.

After a year long investigation by a grand jury, and a Justice Department under major scrutiny for letting decisions be swayed by politics during the Bush years, that's a bit of a stretch.

We need prosecutors who take to heart the bedrock principle that people in this country are innocent until proven guilty. If his grand jury didn't lead to a simple indictment--which is simply a greenlight to go to trial--then Fouratt needs to let the people he pursued in this case be innocent rather than further damage their reputations.

Instead, he issues a letter casting further aspersions on them, after they've been subjected to relentless public suspicion since last year. He must know such a letter would play out in the press, and that it would impact public opinion about the governor. That's political.

The governor's spokesperson called it "sour grapes." To me, its more like a threat, an unwarranted one.

Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009

2009-08-26T06:33:00.006-06:00

Like so many Americans, I woke up completely heartbroken this morning to the news that Senator Ted Kennedy, standard-bearer for liberalism, Lion of the Senate, had passed away.

It's overwhelming to take in all that Kennedy did to fight for justice over nearly fifty years of service, all the ways in which he championed the cause of those without desks in the Senate chambers, all that legislation - an entire generation's worth of legislation - that bore his mark in some way.

More often than not, Kennedy served as a barometer for that single, highest measure of importance: are we treating others the way that we'd like to be treated? Are those who are ignored and forgotten helped by what we are doing? Are those who have been wronged a little more righted by our efforts? Is it enough? What more can we do?

Over the years, here on m-pyre and in a hundred conversations, Marjorie and Mikaela have lovingly teased me that my heroes tend to be dead white men. This is true to an extent, the reason being that our structure of government lies at the center of my own experience. (And that structure, as we know, has historically enabled one demographic more than others.) I've always felt strongly that there is a time and a place to work within that system, as flawed as it may be. Like it or not, it is the arena that translates activism into policy. If ground-up, community-based action is the heart of any movement (and I believe it is), we need instruments of change inside the power structure to harness that passion and translate it into law. Progress is easier when there are allies on the inside. And there was no stronger ally, or more knowledgeable figure about the legislative process, than Senator Kennedy.

I began here by pondering the overwhelming scope of Kennedy's legacy. So, too, is the thought of a future without him. I look around and don't see that new standard-bearer in wait. Paul Wellstone was taken away from us too soon. Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. Barack Obama became President. Whereas Kennedy's failed bid for the presidency freed him to dedicate himself to the Senate, I fear that "ambition or bust" is more common today. We cannot all become a Lion of the Senate, after all. Nor should we. There can only be one.

I'm remembering this morning that voice looming over debates on the Senate floor. I'm thinking about my own lifetime of being invested in politics, as defined in large part by Senator Kennedy. I'm remembering working in politics in Massachusetts, and seeing the senior senator here, there, everywhere, his hands in everything that mattered. And since I'm traveling back anyway, I'm thinking too of that childhood concept wherein it's impossible to believe that certain people will ever leave this world, because they are in so many ways the center of it. That girl wishes beyond hope that Senator Kennedy could've lived forever.

From the greatest senator of our lifetime, his most quoted pronouncement:

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

Why the rest of the bloggers shake their head at a certain blogger

2009-08-20T08:16:00.005-06:00

marjorie says...

Ever wonder about the occasional upheaval among writers in the blogosphere? Well, the following example should clue you in.

From Heath Haussamen's original story yesterday:

"For example, according to the indictments, a $2 million voucher from the state treasury was deposited in the account of Gutierrez between Sept. 29 and Oct. 5, 2004. That voucher was based on a false invoice, the indictment states.

"Then, between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7, 2004, a $140,000 check from Gutierrez was deposited in the account of the Kupfers. Similar transactions occurred several times between 2004 and 2006, according to the indictment."

From Joe Monahan's blog this morning, uncredited, eerily almost exactly the same:

"For example, the indictment asserts that a $2 million voucher from the state treasury was deposited in Gutierrez's account between Sept. 29 and Oct. 5, 2004 and that the voucher was based on a false invoice. Between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7, 2004, a $140,000 check from Gutierrez was deposited in the Kupfers account. Such activity happened several more times from 2004 to 2006."

A fellow blogger questioned me about this a little more, so here's some additional information:

The issue being written about is a 50 count indictment covered in 21 pages of legal language.

Heath wrote two paragraphs letting readers know what Count 3 and 4 say, in his own words. You can compare how he wrote it with the indictment: http://media2.krqe.com/_local/pdf/vigil-giron_indictment_20090819.pdf

The Swopistas make me happy

2009-07-28T19:43:00.001-06:00

Maggie says...

You guys rock!

Palin Poetry

2009-07-28T10:28:00.005-06:00

Mikaela says:
Thanks to Maggie Mae, the Freckled Citizen, for posting this. It was too good not to throw on the old m-pyre.

As a dabbler in poetry myself, I thought I could recognize a good poem when I heard one, but apparently not. Leave it to Conan O'Brien and William Shatner to uncover the poetic heart in Palin's dumbass farewell speech.

Verbatim transcript provided below for you to follow along!

"[S]oaring through nature's finest show. Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun. And then the extremes. In the winter time it's the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty. The cold, though, doesn't it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs? And then in the summertime, such extreme summertime, about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter than just some months ago, than just some months from now, with fireweed blooming along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins. It is as throughout all Alaska, that big, wild, good life teeming along the road that is north to the future."

Friday Funny

2009-07-24T09:08:00.008-06:00

Mikaela says:
I work at a Native-American owned company, and one of the things I love is the paradigm shift that occurs here, where white is NOT the norm and shouldn't be.

My coworker, who happens to be part Navajo and part Cochiti, sent me this Top 10 List of Things Native people should say or ask white folks. It's funny because it's true!

How much white are you?
I'm part white myself, you know.
I learned all your people's ways in the Boy Scouts.
My great-great-grandmother was a full-blooded white American Princess..
Funny, you don't look white.
Where's your powdered wig and knickers?
Do you live in a covered wagon?
What's the meaning behind the square dance?
What's your feeling about Las Vegas casinos? Do they really help your people, or are they just a short-term fix?
Hey, can I take your picture?

(This also reminds me of a similar list of things people ask when you say you're from New Mexico... Maybe I'll share that next Friday!)

...watching the advent of medical marijuana...

2009-07-21T07:08:00.002-06:00

marjorie says...

A friend of mine has qualified for a medical marijuana license, or maybe it's called a prescription. He recently got his official card in the mail. The email from the non-profit that he'll be able to purchase marijuana from sent an email with program details, and signed off, "we look forward to serving you."

He was rather incredulous when showing it to me, noting that he'll be in on the first crop produced by the non-profit.

It is rather eyebrow-raising to see it in action up close and personal. For so many people who have illegally medicated themselves with pot for years, there must be a significant element of relief involved with the state no longer treating them like criminals.

I've been intellectually on board with pot legalization forever, frankly, but seeing this up close and personal drives home for me how important it is for many who have serious illnesses.

There are a lot of advocates in the state who deserve credit, but I still chuckle when I recall the simple one-liner uttered by Gov. Richardson back in 2007 on the topic. "My God, let's be reasonable," he said. Indeed.

I'll keep you all updated on any interesting details about using the program as he mentions them.

Women and our "temperament" problem

2009-07-15T08:46:00.005-06:00

Maggie says:
Let's review yesterday's gems from everyone's favorite Southern gentleman, Lindsay Graham, in which he uses phrases such as "nasty," "fiery," "a bit of a bully," "a terror," and asks that very gendered question, "Do you think you have a temperament problem?" As you can see in the following clip, the only temperament I see in effect here is the graceful, calm restraint used to respond to such questioning.

Oh, Lindsay. Let's expand this a bit. Might I remind you of some of the other women in U.S. history with "temperament" problems?

It takes a certain temperament to achieve great things, wouldn't you say, LG?

Harry Time!

2009-07-13T13:47:00.010-06:00

Mikaela says:
Oh my. Feels like I can hardly wait the 2 days until Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is here! But I hate crowds. I hate crowds of fans even more, so my wait is even longer. Add to that wait the factoring in of a viewing with audience small enough that I can risk taking my 3 month old! We're talking Monday night, now, people! Can I make it?

In preparation, I listened to the audio book again. Love that Jim Dale*! I will admit that I like the audio book more than reading it myself because it actually stretches the experience out longer. It took me about 2 weeks to get through the audio book, listening mostly on my way to work and on walks. Reading the book takes about a night. That would be all night, and now that my baby sleeps through the night? I want to, too!

I'm reading reviews, but you know what? Critics are too critical, and fans are too breathless. All fans care about is how much the film deviates from the book. All the critics care about is how slavishly the movies follow the books at the detriment of making a good movie.

Me? I see the movies as an added bonus to a literary and cultural event that's made me happy for 10 years. I'm even glad they're splitting the final book into two movies, just so the series won't end for that much longer. What on earth will I ever be this excited about again? We've gotten to build excitement and anticipation for 8 movies! That's incredible.

The C.S. Lewis Narnia series might work well as a movie experience, but they need to get their act together a little more. Actually, the first couple Harry Potter's weren't that great, either. The first installment in Narnia -- The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe -- was pretty good, mostly because of Tilda Swinton (love her).

But the books? I read them as a kid and was a fan... right up to the moment I heard they were all a big Christian parable. Bleck! Even if you are a Christian, isn't THE BIBLE good enough for you? Why pollute children's books with MESSAGES? Harry Potter's got its share of morality -- the deadly battle between good and evil -- but it's somehow specific to itself and therefore not just a thin veneer for a deeper message. Aslan's a great character, but he's a pretty poor Jesus, if you ask me.

But that's neither here nor there. What matters is that Harry's almost here. And even after I finally see the movie, there will be 2 more installments to come! Woo-hoo!

(After that, do I have to stoop to reading the Twilight series? And yes, I know how that sounds. I was all uppity about Harry Potter, too, until my little brother's fan-dom forced me to read the first one, after which, of course, I was hooked!)

[Trivia via Freakonomics blog: Dale was given only 100 pages of manuscript at a time to read and then record, so he never knew what was coming; in order to keep track of the 146 voices he’d created for all the characters, he often pre-recorded a bit of the characters’ voices and then held a tape recorder up to his ear in the studio to remind himself.]

Memories of Palin

2009-07-06T21:33:00.003-06:00

marjorie says...

I figured we needed to save the highights of the Sarah Palin comedy year here on m-pyre, those moments that have really sent us collectively over the edge into flabbergasty. Yes, that's a word. It may be a touch uncharitable (there goes my Christian upbringing again), but on the other hand...this is the woman who McCain thought could be president. It pretty much boggles the mind.

I would love to hear a defense of this kind of delivery, keeping in mind that this is the person McCain wanted to have in the wings, ready to represent us on the world stage.

This is probably my all time favorite Palin clip. She did a staged press event where she "pardoned a Thanksgiving turkey" and then gave a bizarre interview in front of turkeys being slaughtered around back. It was November 20...and many of us thought it was all over.

In the interest of space, and not burying Mikaela's stellar blogs by a kazallion clips, here's a greatist hits put together by Talking Points Memo. Now, granted, this is an edited montage with a clear editorial bias (they felt they needed to tell us how to feel at the beginning--which for the life of me I can't understand the need for), but on the other hand it has some real golden moments that we all remember.