NM gets an official state necklace

From KRQE.com - SANTA FE (AP) - New Mexico has an official state necklace because of a new law. Gov. Susana Martinez signed a measure Monday designating the Native American squash blossom necklace as the official necklace of New Mexico. The law takes effect June 17. The necklace features silver beads called squash blossoms with turquoise or other gem stones. The necklace joins a long list of state symbols, such as the state flower, bird, insect and cookie.

NM gets an official state necklace

Dan Lewis Is In

Dan Lewis

NMPolitics - As expected, Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis formally entered the race to replace Martin Heinrich in the U.S. House on Sunday. The Republican vowed to help “stop the insanity of rampant government spending” and “protect and promote job-creating small businesses” in Congress, according to a news release. He described his main priorities as creating jobs and assisting small businesses, confronting the looming national debt, and strengthening national security. Lewis is the first candidate to enter the race. One other Republican, former gubernatorial candidate and state Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, has formed a congressional exploratory committee. On the Democratic side, State Sen. Eric Griego has formed an exploratory committee as he considers the race. In addition, State Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas, D-Albuquerque, announced that he is seriously considering running for the seat. So is Terry Brunner, U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s former state director who now heads USDA Rural Development in New Mexico. Heinrich, a Democrat, is vacating the Albuquerque-area 1st Congressional District seat to run for the Senate seat that is open next year because of Bingaman’s retirement. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Dan Lewis Is In

Kucinich: An Impeachable Offense

Dennis Kucinich

CBSNews-- Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) told Hotsheet today that it's an "indisputable fact" that President Obama committed an impeachable offense by authorizing a military attack without congressional approval. "The next question is what does Congress do it about it," Kucinich said, adding that he hasn't said he's introducing a resolution for impeachment. "This is a teachable moment," he said. "The American people should understand that our Constitution does not provide for the president to wage war any times he pleases." Kucinich and other lawmakers -- including both liberal Democrats and some Republicans -- are raising concerns about the air strikes the U.S. military is conducting in Libya to prevent Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi from killing civilians who oppose his rule.

The United States on Monday fired cruise missiles over Libya, after leading a round of air attacks over the weekend. The air attacks are part of an effort to enforce the no-fly zone over Libya approved by the United Nations last week. The U.N. resolution approving the no-fly zone also approved "all necessary measures" to prevent attacks on civilians. In a press conference, Mr. Obama maintained today that the U.S. will hand off control of the mission to the international coalition supporting the no-fly zone in a matter of days. But Kucinich said the U.S.'s continuing role in the mission does not change the fact that the president went outside of his authority. "They crossed the line," he said. "The president needs to explain to the nation why he went outside the Constitution to order this attack." Read full story here: News New Mexico

Kucinich: An Impeachable Offense

A Looming Disaster

Lurita Doan

Townhall - Once again, on energy policy and action, President Obama talks the talk, but has no substance behind his teleprompted words. In an address at Georgetown University, Obama touted his Administration's plans for energy dependence, outlined in the 44 page, Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future, recently released by the White House. The Blueprint is a banal and ineffective proposal more reminiscent of a poorly written, high school term paper than a substantive policy paper from the leader of the free world. In it, Obama continues his worrisome trend of avoiding decisions, clouding the issues, and sidestepping any responsibility to lead.

The President should be ashamed. Obama's speech made it clear that while he advocates making hard choices, he has very little experience and no plan for doing so. So when he tried to talk down the price of oil by outlining a new energy policy which would make America less dependent upon foreign oil, the market quickly reacted.

Within hours of Obama's speech, the Stock Market apparently weighed, measured and found Obama's proposals hollow, and ineffective, and the price of oil went up. Clearly, the President’s gift of persuasion is not what it used to be as we become more and more used to his unwillingness to make difficult decision or face problems squarely. Obama said: "we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we get serious about a long-term policy for secure, affordable energy." Obama then made a powerful case to demonstrate his own lack of seriousness. Read full column here: News New Mexico

A Looming Disaster

Guantanamo It Is

Guantanamo Bay

WASHINGTON (AFP) - In a major about-face by the Obama administration, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators are to be tried by a military tribunal at Guantanamo rather than a civilian court in New York, a US official said Monday. Attorney General Eric Holder will officially announce the U-turn later on Monday, a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity, saying: "KSM will be tried at Guantanamo." Proceedings for co-accused Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, Walid bin Attash, Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi will also be at the US naval base in southeastern Cuba rather than US federal courts, the official added.

President Barack Obama has vowed to close Guantanamo, having held it up as a symbol of all that was wrong with the so-called "war on terror" waged by his predecessor George W. Bush. The high-profile trials of Sheikh Mohammed and the four other alleged Al-Qaeda figures -- a date has not yet been set -- provide the latest evidence that the detention center will stay open for some time. In one of his first acts as president in 2009, Obama halted trials at Guantanamo Bay and announced he planned to close the detention camp within a year. But he has been thwarted in his ambition by legal challenges in prosecuting suspects deemed to be at war with the United States and strong opposition from both friends and foes in Congress. Obama's position softened last month when he lifted a two-year freeze on new military trials for Guantanamo terror suspects, paving the way for Monday's decision. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Guantanamo It Is

Parker: America Badly Needs Leadership

Star Parker

Townhall - As negotiations in Washington on this year’s budget (already halfway into the year that this budget is for) come to a head, the rumor mill points to a Washington-as-usual result. That is, split the differences down the middle. But, as King Solomon taught us, resolving a dispute by splitting the difference is not always a sign of virtue. Republicans want to cut $61 billion from a budget of almost $4 trillion with a deficit of $1.6 trillion. Current interest payments on the national debt, some $200 billion, dwarf these proposed cuts that Democrats are labeling “extremism.” From a purely political perspective, there are reasons to expect Republican feet to start turning to clay. First, Democrats and Republicans know that in the 1995 showdown that resulted in shutting down the government, Democrats and Bill Clinton came up the political winners.

Although circumstances are very different today from then, that history certainly looms large in political minds. Second, it’s a good bet that current polling gives pause to many Republicans. Polls show that although in the abstract Americans are concerned about the size of government and runaway spending and debt, when you get down to specific programs, there is little positive sentiment for making significant cuts in the big areas that would make a difference. And third, there is a critical difference today between the two parties. Ideological differences pose a much greater internal problem today to the Republican Party than to the Democrats. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Parker: America Badly Needs Leadership

Ruidoso fire destroys, threatens homes

From KRQE.com - RUIDOSO, N.M. - Fire officials are responding to a grass fire that has reached some of the trees to the North of Ruidoso Downs. It is being called the "White Fire," which started burning near Gavilan Canyon in Ruidoso. Quickly was estimated to be 2 to 3,000 acres at this time. High winds and thick fuels is causing the fire to grow rapidly and move to the West. Areas along the north side of highway 70 in Ruidoso Downs and the Ruidoso Downs Racetrack and Casino were evacuated. It is not known how many houses are being threatened at this time though there are reports of at least four houses being lost. Read more

Ruidoso fire destroys, threatens homes

Ruidoso on fire

This weekend saw several fires in New Mexico. Sunday afternoon Ruidoso was hit with a wind-driven fire. Instead of watching a news channel (Swickard) I got lots of information and pictures from Facebook with my friend Julie Baker Carter, who is a reporter for the Ruidoso News. She lives in Carrizozo and writes a great column on the Cowboy life. Here are several photos she posted or reposted from her Facebook friends: This first was taken by Jessica Snowden.

This next was taken by Kristie Trotter

This was taken by Julie Baker Carter

Ruidoso on fire

The Circle Of Corn-based Ethanol

From redstate.com - The US Government subsidizes the production of corn-based ethanol, as a substitute/supplement for gasoline. To maintain a demand, the US Government pushes for standard gasoline mixtures containing 10% ethanol.  This will supposedly decrease pollution and increase efficiency. Corn is then turned into ethanol wholesale. Corn-based food prices rise.  That includes critters that eat corn, by the way. This results in higher food prices domestically.  This decreases efficiency. This also results in more food insecurity globally. Corn-based ethanol, being subsidized, crowds out other ethanol fuels.  If this is confusing: please, reference Gresham’s Law, and generalize from its specific example. Ethanol, being less energy efficient than gasoline - which is why we weren’t using it to begin with - ends up causing effective inflation, as it costs more to go the same distance in your car.  This also increases pollution. In short, 10% ethanol gasoline results in more pollution and less efficiency. Therefore, the only solution… is to raise the amount of ethanol in gasoline to 15%. You have to realize, of course, that darn few DC bureaucrats actually drive anywhere.  And the ones that do rarely pump their own gas.

The Circle Of Corn-based Ethanol

Heinrich's World of "Good and Evil"

Reresentative Martin Heinrich’s announcement over the weekend that he will be seeking election to the U.S. Senate was a case study in false premises. In Heinrich’s world there is a desperate struggle going on between “good” and “evil.” And much like his voting teammate in the House, Nancy Pelosi, Heinrich calls on New Mexicans to enable him to increasingly empower the federal government as a worthy protector of the greater “good.”

Nancy Pelosi

Unfortunately, the simplistic “good” and “evil” economic premises Heinrich uses were also adopted by Lenin when he seized power in Russia. Chairman Mao used the same system of economic logic in his arguments for controlling China’s businesses. Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro have always positioned themselves as the enemies of corporations in Venezuela and Cuba. And perhaps most sadly, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been using a familiar “protection from evil” angle to maintain control of the day-to-day lives and property of Native Americans. At its core, Heinrich’s governing paradigm requires a denial that anyone willing to develop ability, work ethic, drive, and team building skills, can actually create their own breaks. He prefers that voters live on the government plantation and believe that only when more decision-making authority falls into the hands of government, can we ever hope to fix our nation’s problems.

Fidel Castro

Martin Heinrich’s vote last year for Obamacare reveals a deep trust in government's management capabilities and deep distrust in the individual. New Mexicans should recognize that Martin Heinrich feels comfortable in Washington with other ruling elites. He sees no value in encouraging self-reliance or fiscal responsibility. He offers no proposals to end the borrowing insanity in Washington. And like Castro, Chavez, Lenin, and Mao, his preferred economic views will be framed as follows: Government tends to be “good” and Business tends to be “evil”......therefore, empower government and increase CONTROL of all businesses. He wants to protect you.....from yourself.

Heinrich's World of "Good and Evil"