News New Mexico: 09/29/11

Prostitution charges dropped against ex-UNM prez

From KOB-TV.com -By: Stuart Dyson, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Bernalillo County's District Attorney has dropped prostitution charges against former UNM President F. Chris Garcia. However, the decision doesn't mean the nationally known political science scholar is out of hot water. It's a move that buys the D.A. and the police more time to analyze evidence and the build their case against Garcia and other men busted in what police call a prostitution ring. "When we have complex, multi-defendant cases that involve a lot of documents that have been seized, computers that have been seized, typically it takes awhile to analyze all of that," said District Attorney Kari Brandenburg. The law requires prosecutors to take a case to the grand jury within 60 days of the defendant's arraignment. Dropping the charges and re-filing later gives the prosecution extra time – even months. Read more

Telling the truth to the public does not win races

From NM Politics.net - Commentary by Michael Swickard - Many people, including myself, talk about Ronald Reagan as one of the best presidents. But in the middle of exceptional popularity and support he could not bring himself to tackle the Social Security defects. Likewise, while George W. Bush basked in approval following the 9/11 attacks, he gave lip service to the overhaul of Social Security but could not continue. What stopped both presidents from attempting to fix this program? Both realized that telling the truth to the American public would not win and, therefore, truth was discarded. In a recent column I explained exactly the nature of the Social Security program defects. Money people all know these truths about the structure. But the reading public was less inclined to believe the truth because it did not fit their own desires for receiving Social Security. I came to realize that most people would not accept that the trust fund was filled with unfunded debt instruments rather than bonds. No amount of data supporting the truth made any difference to these people. Read column

Punctuation saves lives

Miller: Lawyers Full Employment Act

Jay Miller

Inside the Capitol - It wasn't intended to be a jobs creator but the recent special session stalemate over redistricting plans has effectively produced the Lawyers' Full Employment Act. Without even waiting for Gov. Susana Martinez to exercise her threatened vetoes, three lawsuits were filed within two days of the special session's adjournment. So the courts, once again, will have to do the dirty work, aided by several million dollars' worth of lawyers. Redistricting lawsuits have been filed in Bernalillo, Lea and Santa Fe counties. More may be on the way. It is likely the state Supreme Court will end up consolidating all suits into one and assigning a mutually agreeable district judge to hear the case and draw new maps. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Ronald Pelosi #2 at Receipient of Latest Solar Loan

Ronald and Nancy Pelosi

The Weekly Standard - Despite the growing Solyndra scandal, yesterday the Department of Energy approved $1 billion in new loans to green energy companies -- including a $737 million loan guarantee to a company known as SolarReserve: SolarReserve LLC, a closely held renewable energy developer, received a $737 million U.S. Energy Department loan guarantee to build a solar-thermal project in Nevada. The 110-megawatt Crescent Dunes project, near Tonopah, Nevada, will use the sun’s heat to create steam that drives a turbine, the agency said today in a e-mailed statement. SolarReserve is based in Santa Monica, California. On SolarReserve's website is a list of "investment partners," including the "PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund (East) LLC." As blogger American Glob quickly discovered, PCG's number two is none other than "Ronald Pelosi, a San Francisco political insider and financial industry polymath who happens to be the brother-in-law of Nancy Pelosi, the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives." Read full story here: News New Mexico

Illegal Immigrants Riding School Bus In NM

Pulaski note: I have heard this complaint numerous times from a teacher in Deming for over three years, this is not a new problem. Teachers are saying illegals use the school bus to transport drugs since Border Patrol does not search school buses. From chron.com - Authorities say four more suspected illegal immigrants entered the U.S and then boarded a New Mexico public school bus. The Deming Headlight reports that Deming Public School transportation office director Ray Trejo says once the four were in Deming, the school bus driver notified the school district which in turn notified the Deming Police Department. More News New Mexico

"Job Loss Greeting Card for 2012"

Courtesy of Conservativedailynews.com

What $5 Billion in Aid to Pakistan Can Buy

Washington Times - In Pakistan, thousands of protesters denounced the United States in marches throughout the South Asian nation. Hundreds of demonstrators shouted, “Death to America,” in a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi. Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik met with a visiting Chinese official in what some analysts interpreted as an attempt to bolster relations with China. He promised to attack Chinese militants hiding along Pakistan’s border with China. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani praised Pakistani-Chinese relations, calling them “higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, stronger than steel and sweeter than honey,” the Associated Press reported. U.S. concerns about the relationship between the ISI and the Haqqani Network have dominated recent diplomatic meetings, including a 3½-hour session between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Pakistan’s foreign minister in New York last week. Pakistan’s relationship with the Haqqani Network is “complicated,” said a U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss intelligence matters. Read full story here: News New Mexico

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