News New Mexico: 11/28/11

The Ancestor of the Occupy Movement

By Doug Ross, from directorblue.blogspot.com -The birth of Occupy Wall Street's "99 percenters" may have occurred early in 2010. It was then that a group called "The Other 95%" came into being. The group was funded by Democrats and appeared explicitly designed to counter the Tea Party movement. And the group also fit a template for propaganda marketed by a man named Cass Sunstein. Sunstein, Barack Obama's 'Regulatory Czar', has a long history of left-wing advocacy. Unfortunately for Americans, it's for the kind of Statism that would make Mussolini cringe. Sunstein, among other egregious activities, supports the establishment of government propaganda ministries. More News New Mexico

Blacks Charge Discrimination at UNM

From bet.com -A new discrimination allegation happening in New Mexico right now is scary not only because of the discrimination itself, but also what it could mean for the future. A group of Black pastors and the Albuquerque chapter of the NAACP have teamed up to file a complaint of bias with the U.S. Department of Justice. The pastors and civil rights activists allege that the University of New Mexico, the state’s second largest institution of higher learning, is biased in its hiring practices and the way it treats employees. Reports the New York Times: The Title VI complaint, which was also filed with the federal Department of Education, says university administrators have created a racially hostile environment for Black faculty members, students and the staff. More News New Mexico

Dems Not Giving Latino Candidates Enough Opportunity

From latino.foxnews.com -As more Latinos seek public office running as Republicans, their family backgrounds, particularly having to do with immigration, have come under increasing scrutiny by liberal Latino activists -- a scrutiny that Latino Democrats have not previously faced. Brigham Young University history professor Ignácio García said most Latino voters tend to vote Democratic but Republicans are more successful at recruiting Latino candidates. "The difference now is that these new Latino Republicans, like Martinez and Rubio, are better prepared and are being groomed as national figures," said Garcia. "Meanwhile, the Democrats are falling behind. They have no equivalent and they aren't giving Latinos the same opportunity." More News New Mexico

Reid's New Bill Would Stop City and State Immigration Enforcement

Sen. Harry Reid

From washingtonexaminer.com -Democrats in Congress have proposed a new racial profiling ban that could thwart state and local laws on immigration enforcement, such as the controversial Arizona law currently tied up in federal court, by witholding federal funding for state and local law enforcement agencies engaged in "racial profiling" and empowering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to file lawsuits against state and local governments. Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and lead sponsor Ben Cardin, D-Md., are pushing the End Racial Profiling Act of 2011, which would, among other things, "withhold federal law enforcement funding if local and state governments failed to adopt effective policies that prohibit racial profiling" and "require the Attorney General to report on ongoing discriminatory profiling practices." More News New Mexico

Gary King Trails Most in Fraud Recovery Results

Gary King

NMPolitics - In 2010, Attorney General Gary King’s office recovered 53 cents for every $1 it spent to fight Medicaid fraud, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting. Only Alaska had a worse record than New Mexico, according to the newspaper. Leading the pack was Missouri, which recovered more than $31 for each $1 spent. The national average was a recovery of $10 for every $1 spent. Read full story here: News New Mexico

One Hundred Years of Statehood

Inside the Capitol - SANTA FE – What were the most important events of New Mexico's first 100 years of statehood? Mine appear below. The state Department of Cultural Affairs has a list, available in poster form. The New Mexico Blue Book has a list available from the Secretary of State's Office.

Jay Miller

1912 – Any such list must beginning with Jan. 6 when President William Howard Taft signed the statehood proclamation and Gov. William C. McDonald, a Democrat, is elected to office.

1916 – Pancho Villa's troops raid Columbus, NM. A massive Punative Expedition into Mexico, headed by Gen. Black Jack Pershing, ensued. It involved the first tactical use of air craft . A state park museum in Columbus tells a good story.
1926 – Route 66, the much celebrated "Mother Road," from Chicago to L.A., provides many with their first view of New Mexico and gave tourism a big boost..

1928 – Oil discovered near Hobbs. The Spanish had found insufficient gold, silver and copper to make New Mexico worth much to them but oil soon became New Mexico's biggest moneymaker.

1930 – Dr. Robert Goddard is convinced by Charles Lindbergh to move his rocket testing to the vast expanses of New Mexico. His many successful experiments earn him to title "father of rocketry."

Los Alamos National Lab

1940 – Milton "Doc" Noss claims to have discovered a huge storehouse of gold at Victorio Peak, very near what is now Spaceport America. The Army later closed the area for Alamogordo Bombing Range. Noss never could retrieve the gold he claimed but stories have persisted of government excavation of the hill. It became a topic of the Watergate hearings.
1941 -- New Mexico National Guard activated and shipped to the Philippines.
1942 – 1800 New Mexico Guard troops were surrendered on Bataan Peninsula. Half died on Death March, Hell Ships and Japanese work camps.
1943 – Manhattan Project locates in Los Alamos on secret mission.
1944 – Navajo Code Talkers distinguish themselves for development of unbreakable code.
Read full list here: News New Mexico

Retail Sales Surge on Black Friday

USA Today - Retail sales broke records during the Thanksgiving weekend, giving a needed boost to a long-suffering economy and raising retailers' hopes for the best holiday shopping season ever. This year's sales were up to $52 billion from $45 billion last year, the National Retail Federation said Sunday. A record 226 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 212 million last year. The average holiday shopper spent about $400 over the weekend, up from $365 last year. That augurs well for sales today, which is known as Cyber Monday for all the online promotions. Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day of the year in 2010. Read full story here: News New Mexico

From Fighting Sioux to Fighting Sue

As Americans celebrated Thanksgiving and perhaps even consider how far our nation has come since the days when the Pilgrims relied on help from a Native American named Squanto to survive, a new lawsuit over whether a university should use an Indian nickname may have some people wondering just how far America has really advanced after all this time. This is not, however, a story about a Native American tribe suing to stop a sports team from using its name. Surprisingly, it’s a story about a tribe that wants a local college to keep its Indian nickname, the Fighting Sioux.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that one of the lead plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the college, Archie Fool Bear, doesn’t have the full support of his tribe. Some members of the tribe can’t bear the lawsuit and think it’s foolish to sue the university. They would rather spend the money now being spent on lawyers on more productive things that would improve the quality of life for the tribe. Now, that’s an idea worth fighting for.
After finding out about this unfortunate situation, my first thought was, where is Squanto when we really need him? There are better ways to resolve this conflict than by litigating it.

Here is a little background on the situation. In 2007, the University of North Dakota bowed to pressure from the NCAA and agreed to drop the Fighting Sioux nickname. The NCAA had decided a couple of years earlier that schools with American Indian mascots it considered “hostile and abusive” would be banned from postseason play unless the schools received permission from local tribes to use the names.
Some schools like the Florida State Seminoles and the Central Michigan Chippewas obtained that permission, but the University of North Dakota decided to drop its nickname because the two Sioux tribes in the state couldn’t reach an agreement on the issue.

Afghans Say Pakistanis Fired on Them

MSNBC - Afghan troops and coalition forces came under fire from the direction of two Pakistan army border posts, prompting them to call in NATO airstrikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, Afghan officials said Sunday. The account challenges Islamabad's claims that the attacks, which have plunged U.S.-Pakistan ties to new lows, were unprovoked. It also pointed to a possible explanation for the incident Saturday on the Pakistan side of the border. NATO officials have complained that insurgents fire from across the poorly defined frontier, often from positions close to Pakistani soldiers, who have been accused of tolerating or supporting them. Pakistan's political leaders and military establishment, still facing domestic criticism following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, have reacted with unprecedented anger to the soldiers' deaths. They closed the country's Western border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan, demanded the U.S. vacate a base used by American drones within 15 days and said they were reviewing all cooperation with the U.S. and NATO. Read full story here: News New Mexico

News New Mexico in Albuquerque on December 1st

News New Mexico is pleased to announce an agreement with radio station affiliate AM 1550 KIVA in Albuquerque. AM 1550 KIVA will begin airing News New Mexico live each business day from 6:00am to 9:00am beginning on Thursday December 1, 2011.

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