Teachers and Students Want Access to YouTube

From edweek.com -McDougall can access those videos online, because they come from sites with strictly educational content. But other videos, like those posted on YouTube or social networking sites, are not available in Albuquerque Public Schools because of a districtwide filter that blocks access to them. The block, which has been in place for years, is intended to keep students from viewing inappropriate or distracting content.  More News New Mexico

Teachers and Students Want Access to YouTube

Proponents haven’t shown how voter ID would prevent fraud

From NM Politics.net - by Cisco McSorley - First of all, we must distinguish between the crime of illegally registering to vote and the crime of fraudulently casting a vote. Then, the case must be made to demonstrate how voter ID would prevent either of these two crimes. There are no documented cases of illegal registration or voter fraud that would have been prevented by the voter ID bill. Read column

Proponents haven’t shown how voter ID would prevent fraud

Green Chile Lovers Fired up Over Genetic Modification

From huffingtonpost.com -Some are worried about the future of New Mexico's signature crop. Labor costs, relentless plant diseases and competition from cheap imports have combined to put the chile industry in a steep decline. Scientists at New Mexico State University are helping through a series of efforts aimed at unlocking the genetic mysteries of red and green chile, but that has some pepper purists fired up. The thought of genetically engineering chile has galvanized a group of seed conservationists and others who are sympathetic to the national protests targeting corporate greed and economic inequality. The group is concerned that if scientists develop a genetically engineered pepper to boost the industry, small growers could face patent lawsuits if their crops become cross-contaminated by the new seeds. They're also worried about a lack of labeling of genetically modified foods and the potential for New Mexico's traditional varieties to be forever altered.  More News New Mexico

Green Chile Lovers Fired up Over Genetic Modification

Holder's Justice Dept. Explains in a "Letter" Why it Misled Congress on Operation Fast and Furious

Eric Holder

Yahoo News - WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday provided Congress with documents detailing how department officials gave inaccurate information to a U.S. senator in the controversy surrounding Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed law enforcement initiative aimed at dismantling major arms trafficking networks on the Southwest border. In a letter last February to Charles Grassley, the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department said that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had not sanctioned the sale of assault weapons to a straw purchaser and that the agency makes every effort to intercept weapons that have been purchased illegally. In Operation Fast and Furious, both statements turned out to be incorrect.

The Justice Department letter was responding to Grassley's statements that the Senate Judiciary Committee had received allegations the ATF had sanctioned the sale of hundreds of assault weapons to suspected straw purchasers. Grassley also said there were allegations that two of the assault weapons had been used in a shootout that killed customs agent Brian Terry. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Holder's Justice Dept. Explains in a "Letter" Why it Misled Congress on Operation Fast and Furious

Obama Planning 17 Day Holiday Vacation

The White House Travel Office has indicated in a memo regarding the "Trip of the President to Honolulu, Hawaii that the president will begin his vacation on December 17th, 2011 and end on January 2nd, 2012. It is a brief memo. In the "Trip Overview" section it says......no public events are scheduled during the trip. 

These plans seem to contradict his claim that he will not "rest" until every American who is able and willing to work can find a job. Yesterday the U.S. Department of Labor announced that 315,000 gave up on their searches for jobs. You can one of the videos where he makes this promise here: News New Mexico

Obama Planning 17 Day Holiday Vacation