Gov. wants more funds for telemedicine

Gov. Susana Martinez will ask the Legislature to provide $600,000 next year for telemedicine services to help provide access to medical specialists for patients and primary care providers in rural areas. 

The governor proposed Monday that the money be used for buying and installing equipment and computer technology, such as teleconferencing video systems.

 If the money is approved by lawmakers, Martinez said, health care provider organizations could apply for grants. 

The governor said telemedicine programs, such as Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, can provide medical care to patients in rural areas without the need to travel long distances to Albuquerque or other urban areas where most health care specialists are based.

Gov. wants more funds for telemedicine

High number of police shootings prompts reform

A rash of police shootings across New Mexico has prompted renewed calls for reform of law enforcement procedures. 

Albuquerque police on Sunday shot and critically injured a man after a domestic call — the fourth shooting involving police in the state's largest city in just over a month. Albuquerque police are already under federal investigation for shootings and excessive force claims. The shooting comes on the heels of four shootings in a similar time period by state police officers, including an officer firing at a minivan full of children. 

Jewel Hall, president of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center Board in Albuquerque, says the past four weeks have been like a Wild West movie. She blames training and police culture for the shootings.

High number of police shootings prompts reform

U.N. climate change talks: it’s really all about the money

Commentary by Marita Noon - “Rich countries are still not pledging enough money to begin financing a shift to a cleaner global economy,” reports the Financial Times (FT) in its coverage of the United Nations climate talks in Warsaw that ended with little more than a “vague road map on how to prepare for a global climate pact they’re supposed to adopt in two years.”
     Leading into what has now been called an “unsatisfactory summit,” predictions suggested the “talks could collapse because of a lack of financial support from rich nations.” Delegates from developing countries, such as Ecuador’s lead negotiator Daniel Ortega, believe “an effective 2015 emissions reduction agreement has to be based on a clear financial package.”
     Ortega stated: “I’m not personally expecting any commitment by Warsaw. What we need to have is a clear roadmap of how the discussions of financing will allow us to have a clear idea of commitments by 2015.”
     Even low expectations like Ortega’s were dashed when, on the opening day of the climate talks, November 11, Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s government produced a document, outlining its position at the Warsaw conference, which boldly stated: “Federal cabinet has ruled that Australia will not sign up to any new contributions, taxes or charges at this week’s global summit on climate change.” The Australian points out: “This rules out Australia playing any role in a wealth transfer from rich countries to developing nations to pay them to decrease their carbon emissions.” But, perhaps, the most dramatic line in the government document is: Australia “will not support any measures which are socialism masquerading as environmentalism.”
     A few days later, November 15, Japan announced that “its emissions would increase slightly rather than fall 25 per cent as promised in 2009.” Japan was struggling to meet its previous emissions promises—which were the most aggressive of any big developed country—even before the Fukushima accident prompted the shutdown of its 50 still-operable nuclear reactors and its corresponding rise in the supplemental use of fossil fuels. Read full column

U.N. climate change talks: it’s really all about the money

Merry Christmas: Shoplifters busted on Black Friday

From KRQE-TV.com - By Gabrielle Burkhart - The Black Friday deals drew huge crowds at stores across the country, but some of those shoppers in Albuquerque weren't there for the sales. Police said some shoplifters got violent, while some even used their kids to help snag loads of stolen merchandise.
     Store employees have had an eye on the crowds, many claiming they've caught several people red-handed trying to sneak their own five-finger discount.  Case after case, a metro court judge saw multiple accused shoplifters for their first appearances on Saturday, all of them arrested on Black Friday.
     And, police said one suspect got violent with employees at Hobby Lobby on Juan Tabo, when workers approached him about stealing.  A judge instructed 20-year-old Max Teufel to not return to Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby employees told police Teufel threatened them with a knife after he admitted to shoplifting a pocket watch for $11.99.  Police said store workers held Teufel to the ground, prying a knife from his hand before police got there. 

     Most of the arrested shoplifters from Black Friday have criminal records. Read more

Merry Christmas: Shoplifters busted on Black Friday

Happy Thanksgiving

 Thanksgiving 1942 - Office of War Information Photograph Collection

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving for a dog who has lost his bite

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “I’m accustomed to a smooth ride or maybe I’m a dog who’s lost its bite.” Paul Simon Thanksgiving looks different to me with miles and age upon my eyes. The splendor of Thanksgiving to me is always tempered by the realization these gifts are not always deserved. For my undeserved gifts I am thankful and mindful of my life made better.

     Our nation has changed in my lifetime from these feelings of thankfulness to the point that some people feel entitled to Thanksgiving. They forget being thankful. Rather than pleased, they are bored since they are supposed to get everything they want.
     Our nation has gone from some who look at their glass to see if it is half full to those who are stuck just looking for a glass. The majority do not dialog the glass half empty or full, they maintain they are entitled to the glass so hand it over.
     Some will spend time on Thanksgiving remembering Thanksgivings past when glasses were held by loved ones who are long since gone. It is the consequence of age to live beyond people we have loved. In my lifetime so much has been gained in our society and so much lost.
     Like Paul Simon there are times when I think I am a dog who has lost his bite in today’s world. That is a common thought to those over the age of sixty in a world that worships youth. When I was young old people were revered. No longer. Knowledge is not even revered, only political advantage.
     It is Thanksgiving week and as usual I am thankful. However, none of what I really hold close to my heart is material. There was a time when I was younger that all I could think of was Martin guitars. Forty some years later I still have those two guitars, a six string and a 12 string Martin. They have traveled with me for decades and they mean less to me than a granddaughter’s smile.
     While I do occasionally have a smooth ride in life, compared to others, I have never become accustomed to a smooth ride. No, this life of mine has always been stormy, just as I have liked it to be. Early in my life I found that a placid ride held no interest for me.
     In the storms of life I am captain of my ship, though I cannot control the weather. So I must adjust to the changing weather of life. While I habitually am not much to worry, the future of this nation does worry me because of the challenges, not to me, but to the next generations.
     In fact, I am worried not because of what our leaders are doing, rather, because of what my fellow citizens are not doing. This Thanksgiving is a good example of this change in America. Years ago we got down on our knees to give thanks to Almighty God for that which we were given despite being flawed humans. We were honestly and completely thankful. It was not just a photo-opportunity, it was what we felt.
     Today many Americans rise from their Thanksgiving table saying, “I certainly deserve this and more.” Rising from the table with the butter from the rolls still on their lips many citizens do not see the thanks in Thanksgiving. For these modern American citizens the holiday does not resemble what it has been in the past.Read full column

Thanksgiving for a dog who has lost his bite

Green Energy: The Rotary Dial Phone of the Future

Commentary by Marita Noon - The whole idea of green energy—renewable resources—grew out of an energy reality that was much different from today’s. It was in the 1970s, following the OPEC Oil Embargo thatsolar panels began popping up on rooftops and “gasohol” subsidies were enacted. It was believed that green energy would move the U.S. off of foreign oil and prevent oil from being used as a weapon against us.
     Today, that entire paradigm has been upended and OPEC’s power has been virtually neutered by increasing domestic oil production and decreasing gasoline consumption.
     Jay Lehr, Heartland Institute science director, likens continuing “as though our new energy riches did not exist” to “ignoring our telecommunication revolution by supporting operator-assisted telephones with party lines.”
     Instead of growing our gas, we need to be growing food that can feed a hungry world and balance out the U.S. trade deficit.
     In a November 17 editorial, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) perfectly sums up the current renewable resource status: “After 35 years of exaggerations about the benefits of renewable fuels, the industry has lost credibility.” Similarly, on the same day, the Washington Post (WP) went a step further, stating that ethanol “has been exposed as an environmental and economic mistake.”
     It seems that ethanol is an idea whose time has come—and gone. Read full column

Green Energy: The Rotary Dial Phone of the Future

Storm makes driving a challenge in Grants area

From KOB-TV.com - By: Maria Guerrero, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - Along Interstate 40 westbound, the closer KOB Eyewitness News 4 got to Grants, the icier the roads became.
     Semi-tractor trailers weaved in and out of traffic trying to stay on the road. KOB found near white-out conditions near Laguna and snow packed icy-roads near Cubero. State Police and road workers helped a semi-tractor trailer that ended up stuck in the median.
     "I’m coming from the west from Shiprock. It's been pretty good til I got here. It's starting to sleet and getting windy here,” said one truck driver. Before long, Grants cleared up a bit.
     But the howling winds did not let up, which forced drivers to take a break. "It’s hard (laughs) to keep control of your car especially if you go under the bridges and stuff,” one woman said.“It wips ya. We almost saw a semi jack-knife in front of us."
     This might just be the beginning of more wind and snow coming to the area over the next couple of days. More

Storm makes driving a challenge in Grants area

Swickard: What do you believe in the news?

© 2013 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Sometimes in newspaper stories the truth of what happened in the story is easy to see. At other times it is not. To deal with this ambiguity I have always wanted to enable readers to give a confidence rating to these more ambiguous stories. It would be a way of showing which stories, well, smell fishy.
     So some stories are just a matter of facts. An example would be: Bif Largecrash drove his rust colored 1986 Ford truck off the side of a hill last Saturday. He did so while trying to tune the radio to a different station because he said the song playing reminded him of his ex-wife’s lawyer.
     He was thrown from his truck and rescuers found him still clutching the aforementioned radio knob. An ambulance took him to the Emergency Room where he received 17 stitches and a stern lecture. Police chief, Al L. Blanks said, “It sure was good thing that the ground broke Bif’s fall or he could have been hurt.”
     Others stories contain more conjecture. Example: At the recent Town Council meeting Town Councilor I. M. Shady called Mayor Dee Power a cheater and stupid. “Am not,” replied Power. “Which one?” asked Shady. “Let me think,” said Dee.
     In the second example there is a conflict of opinions. We all have had those conflicts of opinion. It would be nice in the newspaper to have a section where the “conjecture” stories were all listed so that readers could indicate if the person is a cheater and stupid or just one. We need to know this.
     Here are some examples of facts and conjectures. Rate your confidence in the statements from 0 to 100. A rating of 100 means you are completely confident of it being true, like something your mother told you, whereas 0 means you do not believe it at all, like something politicians promise on the campaign trail.
1 - President Richard Nixon was a crook. _____
2 - Americans did land on the moon. _______
3 - Aliens crashed a space ship near Roswell. ______
4 - The police arrive quicker than pizza delivery. _____
5 - Van Gogh was an artist because he had no ear for music. ______
6 - Eight out of every five people cannot do math. _____
7 - Outlaws are more interesting than in-laws. _____
8 - Elvis is still alive. _____
9 - Japanese remember Pearl Harbor better than Americans. _____
10 - If taxes are outlawed, only outlaws will have taxes. _____
11 - The Marquis de Sade is an ObamaCare Administrator. _____
12 - 81% of American schools are below average. _____
13 - The number 13 is unlucky. _____
14 - If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three. _____
Read entire column

Swickard: What do you believe in the news?

NMFA hires new CEO

The governing board of the New Mexico Finance Authority on Wednesday approved Robert Coalter as its CEO. 

Coalter has been executive director of the Texas Public Finance Authority since 2012, and worked for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts from 1991 to 2011. 

Former state budget director John Gasparich has been interim CEO since last year when Rick May was fired after the discovery that a financial audit had been faked. NMFA ex-controller Greg Campbell pleaded guilty to forgery and securities fraud. 

The New Mexico authority uses bond proceeds to provide low-cost loans to cities, counties, schools and other governmental organizations for capital improvements. 

Coalter's starting date and salary is to be negotiated.

NMFA hires new CEO