Los Alamos holdouts decline evacuation

From KRQE-TV.com - LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - Almost all of the 12,000 people who live in Los Alamos pulled out when the evacuation was ordered Monday, but the city is not entirely a ghost town. Los Alamos Police Chief Wayne Torpy most of the town has cleared out with the exception of about 150 or so people. Jeff Aslin is one of those holdouts. "It looks worse than it is," he said. Aslin spent the night watching the glow of the fire from his house on the western side of town. He said is staying because he doesn't think the fire will reach the town site and because he is worried about looters even though the National Guard, State Police and even firefighters are patrolling the streets. Read more
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In Midst of Search, Board Member's Wife Promoted

From the Rio Grande Sun - By Chris McGuinness -The spouse of Española School Board President Andrew Chavez has been given a new job title that could come with a $12,000 a year raise by the woman seeking to become the District’s next superintendent. Jennifer Chavez, the wife of Andrew Chavez, was hired last week as the District’s Title I coordinator for the 2011-12 school year. The Title I position, which was posted on the District’s website in May, falls under the purview of interim superintendent Evelyn Maruska, who is also the District’s federal programs director. Maruska is currently in the running to be the permanent superintendent for the 2011-12 school year. As Board president, Andrew Chavez is one of the five men who will decide whether or not Maruska gets the District’s top job. Maruska was passed over for the job during the Board’s 2009 superintendent search; Andrew Chavez was also a member of that Board. State law prohibits a superintendent from employing or hiring “in any capacity” the spouse of a school board member. However, the law is waived for employees, like Jennifer Chavez, who were hired before 2003. Jennifer Chavez was not available for comment, and her current supervisor, Special Education Director Christina Baca, said all staffing questions should be addressed to the Human Resources Department. There, Romero refused to comment, referring questions to Maruska. Attempts to interview Maruska have been denied since May 25. Maruska’s secretary said Tuesday the superintendent was too busy to take a phone call for comment. Read more
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Audit Says 9 Charter Schools Have Issues

From capitolreportnewmexico.com -An audit conducted by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) shows that nine charter schools out of 28 across the state were cited for “major compliance issues” while nine others were completely cleared of all issues and 13 were flagged for what was described as minor compliance issues. The charter school audit results were released earlier this month by the PED and come on the heels of an audit of public schools in late May showing that four school districts in the state had major compliance issues in regards to record-keeping, coordination and compliance with state and federal guidelines. More News New Mexico
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Labels

A couple of funny things happened today. We got news from some folks (friends) in Santa Fe that we were running a right wing radio show that was way too conservative for any so-called moderate to tolerate. Then later in the morning I got personally chastised for supposedly uttering far left progressive comments on the show yesterday when asked to comment on the gay marriage law in New York.

A pattern is emerging. Last week the exact same thing happened. A couple of self-identified conservatives took me to the woodshed over my repeated calls for getting ALL American ground troops out of the Middle East in favor of maintaining intelligence activity on the ground and quick strike forces at from nearby naval units. And so-called progressives were incensed that we would dare to bring an expert on the show from academia and the Cato Institute that had the gall to question faith-based global warming and what we regard as dubious climate change theories.
The good news is our critics are still listening. The bad news is they were employing the use of a political label filters (liberal or conservative) instead of relying on their own ability to recognize that we always try to think on an issue-by-issue basis without concern for which “box” our conclusions land us in. Long ago I came to realize that labels are terribly dangerous. They cause partisan politicians in both parties to keep both hawk and dove hats available for issues regarding the military and the federal budget. Labels also cause political observers to treat commentary like a crossword puzzle where the object seems to be to search for the correct viewpoint "label" instead of evaluating for the best practice. We hate the restrictive nature of being in some sort of philosophical label corral.

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Brendan Fehr Selected for Lead in Roswell FM

Brendan Fehr
Los Angeles – Director Stephen Griffin announced today that thirty-three year old Canadian actor Brendan Fehr, has been selected to play the lead role of Jay Rathbone in the feature Roswell FM. Fehr will join co-lead Mirelly Taylor in the feature film scheduled for shooting on location in Roswell, N.M. starting July 25th. Born in New Westminster, British Columbia, Fehr http://www.brendanfehr.com is an accomplished actor who began his career modeling to earn more pocket money. Since 2008 when Fehr won the Gemini Award (Hottest Canadian Male Star) he has had a recurring role as the character Jared Booth on the television series “Bones.”
Mirelly Taylor
It is not the first time Fehr has played a role in a production based on the town of Roswell. He portrayed Michael Guerin on the WB television series Roswell from 1999-2002.
A romantic comedy, Roswell FM is a lighthearted story about Fehr’s character who must decide between his dream job hosting a quirky, UFO-themed talk show in Roswell, and the financial needs of his family. He is surrounded by a group of hysterically eccentric characters at the radio station, including the object of his affections, Lacy Del Rio (Mirelly Taylor).

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The Consent of the Governed

Michael and Conrad
“We, the people, are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln.
The most important duty we have as Americans is to ensure our Constitution is not perverted since it is the rule book for our government. Alas, the power the government has over citizens has increased over the years outside of the method prescribed in the Constitution. At all times each citizen must consent to be governed if we are to live in a free society. Without our consent there is no legitimate government. We must decide when we will and will not give our consent.
George III
Our country began because of an unjust government. The Declaration of Independence said we will no longer consent to be governed by England. They did not consent to our withholding our consent so there was the Revolutionary War. We won the chance to be free as long as we remain willing to fight for our freedom. Over the years we have found we cannot schedule the defense of our nation; we must defend it at the moment of attack. We must act in our defense when we are well and when we are sick. We must defend our freedoms when we are rested and when we are tired. We cannot put off defending our country; we must do it or lose our liberty and country.
Importantly, our nation is not the land, sea and sky. It is not the buildings, roads and houses. No, it is the hearts and minds of the people who make up this country. Our fight is for those hearts and minds. Each day the battle is on. We either defend our freedoms or we help the agents of evil destroy first our Constitution and then our very country.
It would be easier if we could meet on a battlefield, an army of Constitution defenders against those who seek to bind our citizens. Instead we must meet in battle often one citizen at a time confronting those in the government. That is our battle line. Our leaders are our leaders until we no longer consent for them to govern us.
Lately it appears the leaders of both parties are leading us to destruction. They are ignoring the financial implications of spending vast sums of money far beyond the wealth of our country and citizens. And, they are trying to spend even more wealth we do not have.
We have an economy that produces about $2.2 trillion a year in tax revenue while our government is spending about $3.5 trillion. Worse, the promises made by politicians to fully fund Medicare, Social Security and other “entitlements” adds up to more than $200 trillion. Consider: it would take all of our tax revenue for 100 years to pay for what has been promised to citizens today. Can our country actually fulfill those promises? No, it is not possible. Know this: it is not if we will default on our promises, only when.
Further, the places where our country has borrowed money in the past are no longer lending so we are printing bogus dollars to the tune of $2.4 trillion this last year. Can we continue being governed by people who are leading us to destruction? No. I never consented to spending the money of 100 years for the purpose of them getting more votes.
Often it is one citizen at a time against the allied forces of the government. That makes for a lonely battle. Sadly, other citizens often are too preoccupied to see that an attack upon one citizen by our government is an attack upon us all. That the lions are preoccupied while they eat other animals does not really protect us from being eaten in the long run.
This 4th of July, we must think past fireworks and a day off with hot dogs and beer. We must consider what our founders would think of this unsustainable financial perversion of debt. Would they have withheld their consent to be governed? Yes they would. The fight would have been on. Perhaps it is time to withhold our consent to this debt lunacy.

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Las Conchas Fire Engulfs 93 Square Miles

Capitol Report New Mexico - Fire officials said Tuesday morning (June 28) that the Las Conchas fire had grown to 60,740 acres — roughly 93 square miles — as Los Alamos was a virtual ghost town following the evacuation of thousands of residents while officials guarding the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) from the wildfire say that no hazardous or nuclear material is in danger. In the meantime, firefighters continue to try to turn back the blaze on the Parajito Mountain, home to a ski resort, and some residents of the nearby Cochiti Pueblo are leaving under voluntary evacuation orders and a mandatory order may be in the offing. Officials at public radio station KSFR in Santa Fe say the station’s transmission tower located on Parajito was hit by the fire, knocking its signal off the air. Update 12:18 p.m. Tuesday: Station back on the air. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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UNM to Start a Presidential "Search"

David Schmidly
KOB TV - University of New Mexico Regents' President Jack Fortner will chair the search for the next president of the university. President David J. Schmidly has announced his intention to leave the presidency when his contract is completed in May 2012. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Arnold-Jones Ramping Up Exploratory Committee

Janice Arnold-Jones
ALBUQUERQUE – Former four-term State Representative Janice Arnold-Jones announced today she has added staff to her congressional exploratory committee. Arnold-Jones has retained Sagac Public Affairs, LLC to lead the fundraising arm of her congressional exploratory committee. Sagac Public Affairs, headed by Trey Richardson, is known for their aggressive donor and voter engagement tactics and have frequently broken local or national records for fundraising and voter contact.
“When one forms an exploratory committee the first thing done after determining support and financial resources are available is to build the professional organization necessary to go to the next level,” Arnold-Jones said. “I’m proud to add Sagac Public Affairs to our team. Trey Richardson and his team come to us highly recommended and I look forward to their assistance and guidance in helping us bring in the additional necessary financial resources we will likely require. In the coming weeks, as we work with our exploratory committee team and build toward the next level, we will announce more additions to the professional team,” Arnold-Jones commented. “At this point we are proceeding with a businesslike approach to ensure all the pieces are in place when we decide to take the next logical step.”

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Boeing Builds Truck Mounted Laser Weapon

From cnet.com -Boeing recently built key parts of a truck-mounted laser weapon for the U.S. Army that will shoot down short-range projectiles and UAVs and it's set to test it later this year, according to a company release. It's scheduled to be tested at low power at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in the fourth quarter of 2011. More News New Mexico
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U.T. Professor Says Mexico Winning versus Cartels

Ricardo Ainslie
Houston Chronicle - The Mexican government, finally, is gaining the upper hand in a drug war that has turned much of the border region and parts of interior Mexico into war zones. President Felipe Calderón's campaign against the cartels is now three-and-a-half years old and the death toll is nearing 40,000. After a series of visits to Ciudad Juarez, the war's epicenter, and interviews with federal law enforcement and intelligence officials in Mexico City, I see convincing evidence that the government has dramatically weakened the drug cartels, an essential step if the country is to restore peace. The strategy of "disarticulating" the cartels has been largely successful. The command-and-control structure of the cartels has been decimated and the cartels are severely fractured. Twenty-one of the 37 individuals on Mexico's most wanted list have either been apprehended or killed. Of the five original cartels, two of them, the Juarez Cartel and the Tijuana Cartel, are mere shadows of their once powerful selves. The Gulf Cartel has split into two warring factions. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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The Face of the Fire

Capitol Report New Mexico - Here are some dramatic photos of the Las Conchas wildfire as it threatens Los Alamos and other communities in northern New Mexico as thousands of homeowners were evacuated from the area: View picures here: News New Mexico
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