Abengoa Solar: Obama’s green energy projects fail, even when they are successful

From the Daily Caller - by Marita Noon, After a public meeting on Tuesday, April 15 in Palm Desert, California, the California Energy Commission (CEC) will vote, on Wednesday, in Sacramento on whether or not to re-permit a 500-megawatt solar thermal project that has been on hold since December. At that time, the commission indicated that it would deny the proposed BrightSource Energy and Abengoa Solar project based on “visual impacts to a network of trails, petroglyphs and other tribal sites stretching across the desert in eastern Riverside County.”
     Since December, the companies have done additional environmental impact studies and proposed mitigation. Apparently believing the votes are there, the companies have pushed for the commission to make a decision. Abengoa insiders have reported that the project is a go.
      While the CEC is concerned about visual impacts, and local tribes worry about the project due to potential artifacts that may be present, American taxpayers should be opposed to the cronyism, abuse, mismanagement, and violations involved in one of the companies: Abengoa — which received $2.8 billion in taxpayer funding.
     This report will expose one of the largest recipients of Obama’s green energy funding: Abengoa — which if not stopped, will get even more taxpayer dollars. On April 2, 2014, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, said: “the department would probably throw open the door for new applications for renewable energy project loan guarantees during the second quarter of this year.” Read the entire story

Abengoa Solar: Obama’s green energy projects fail, even when they are successful

Crews make progress on Bensen fire

NewsNM:Swickard - seems to me that every resource should be put on the Bensen Fire rather than let it burn 20 percent contained. This is how the really big fires in the last couple of years got out of control... they wree slowly burning for several days and then gusty winds made the difference. Put this fire out now. From KOB-TV.com - By: Jeffery Gordon, KOB.com Firefighters have made some progress on a fire burning in the Lincoln National Forest. The Bensen Fire is now 20 percent contained.

     The fire has burned nearly 100 acres since it started last Thursday. No structures are threatened but they are making sure that the flames do not spread to the Sunspot Observatory. The structure is about 3 miles west of the fire.
     Meanwhile, the Elkhorn fire burning in the Gila National Forest is now 100 percent contained. More

Crews make progress on Bensen fire

Swickard: Cow flop lessons apply to ObamaCare

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. As I wrote last week, I have had trouble with my new “healthcare.” It reminds me of something my brother did to me when I was five. Bill is three years older and when we were young that was significant.

     One day he and a friend were jumping off of one side of a barn into plowed ground. It was a fall of about six feet. After I watched a while I asked: did it hurt when he landed.

      He and his friend got an odd look on their faces. He put his hand on my shoulder as a sign of trust. “Yes,” he said, “It sure does hurt unless a person knows what to do so it does not hurt.”

     Wow, to be able to jump off things and it not hurt. I asked him for the secret. He leaned closer and said confidentially, as if he was about to impart something important, that if I kept my eyes closed real tight, it would not hurt.

      Double wow, so that was the secret. I was always trying to find the secret to things. And I had just found out how to jump off things without it hurting. My brother and his friend stood by the side of the barn in disbelief as I climbed to the top of the one story barn, firmly closed my eyes and said, “Oh, boy!”

     First off, I was not going to waste this secret going off the side onto plowed dirt, no; I jumped off the front of the barn with an air of pleasant expectation, like trying a new flavor of ice cream. Very quickly I learned what a credibility gap is all about. I did not break anything, but for a time I was not sure.

      Luckily I hit in the middle of a pile of cow flop which I would have missed if my eyes had been open. The good news is the cow pies broke my fall a little, but I would not recommend cow flop as a pillow, even if it is relatively soft when you jump off a barn.

     What made matters even worse was that I went into the ranch house crying and trying to wipe the cow flop off of me. Heads would roll if I had anything to say about it. I had the intention of getting my brother in big trouble for the dirty rotten trick he had pulled on me. Then it happened. 

     The first adult seemed slow to understanding why I was crying and fussing while covered with cow flop. Suddenly the first adult got the story and I am sorry to say laughed. I guess it just came out.

Further, I am sad to say that instead of sympathy which I deserved, instead of the kindness for my misfortune, instead of going out there and swatting my brother as he surely deserved. 

     Instead, the first blabbed to the rest of the adults and they all laughed. It was cruel cow-flop laughter and I remember it started with that same expression that had been on my brother’s face.

     In fact, about all I got from the fall into the cow flop was a close look at that expression. I remember it well even now. When I see that expression I keep my eyes open. Read full column

Swickard: Cow flop lessons apply to ObamaCare

Group protests Dona Ana sheriff's deputies acting as immigration cops

From the Las Cruces Sun-News - By James Staley - LAS CRUCES >> Holding large signs with messages predominantly in Spanish, dozens of people gathered Tuesday morning in front of the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office to protest an agency they say oversteps its law enforcement duties.
     Officials from the Border Network for Human Rights organized Tuesday's demonstration because of "documented patterns of immigration enforcement during traffic stops," according to a news release from the organization.
     As the demonstration came to a close, BNHR organizers delivered to DASO 10,876 signed copies of a petition urging Sheriff Todd Garrison to take four steps, which included instructing deputies to stop asking about immigration status or for Social Security numbers during routine traffic stops.
     DASO spokeswoman Kelly Jameson said deputies don't ask such questions in those situations. "We don't act as federal immigration agents," Jameson said. "We uphold the laws we are sworn to enforce."
     She said a person's immigration status "is none of our business," but that deputies do have to record traffic infractions, and that includes logging the identity of any person they pull over. So, they will ask for driver's licenses — which undocumented people can get in New Mexico — or other forms of ID to make sure the person has no warrants.
     Jameson said if deputies have to call Border Patrol during a traffic stop, it's because there is an issue with immigration documentation. Deputies aren't trained, as Border Patrol agents are, to inspect such documents, she said.
     But to many in the crowd Tuesday, deputies too often blur the line between local and federal law enforcement.Many signs referred to "polimigra," blending the Spanish words for police and immigration. More

Group protests Dona Ana sheriff's deputies acting as immigration cops

Feds face legal action over jaguar protections

NewsNM:Swickard This is complete nonsense since there are no Jaguars in New Mexico nor is there any reason to have them in our state. It is a money-grab by the environmental groups to find some reason to sue because a law allows the same environmental groups to be paid by the Federal Government when they sue the Federal Government. How stupid! From KRQE-TV.com - LBUQUERQUE (KRQE) – two environmental groups are threatening to sue the federal government claiming they’re failing to protect endangered jaguars.The Animal Welfare Institute and Wild Earth guardians say the USDA’a wildlife services uses traps and snares as part of their work with other animals.
     The groups say that could affect the jaguar and its prey. In March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set aside nearly 1200 square miles along the U.S.-Mexico border for jaguar habitat. Jaguars have been on the federal endangered species list for nearly two decades, and were last spotted in New Mexico about 8 years ago. More

Feds face legal action over jaguar protections

If the goal is “energy independence,” what issues should be a priority in America?

Commentary by Marita Noon - Recently the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) sent out a “2014 Priority Issues Survey.” In addition to the obligatory Tea Party bashing: “help the Democrats protect the progress we have made from Tea Party radicals, deliver the positive changes America needs and help Democrats win a Majority in the U.S. House of Representatives!” and the fundraising requests to “help protect House Democrats against Republican attacks”—there is a section on energy.
     Section VII, asks: “Which of the following will help America achieve energy independence?” It offers five options that do little to move America toward energy independence—which isn’t even a realistic goal given the fungible nature of liquid fuels. Additionally, most of the choices given on the DCCC survey actually increase energy costs for all Americans—serving as a hidden tax—but hurt those on the lower end of the socio-economic scale the most. The proposals hurt the very people the party purports to champion.
     Achieving the higher mileage will require new technologies that include, according to Edmunds, “turbochargers and new generations of multispeed automatic transmissions to battery-electric powertrains.” The National Highway Traffic Saftey Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have estimated that the average new car will cost $2,000 extra by 2025 because of the proposed new fuel-efficiency standards.
     Additionally, new materials will have to be used, such as the proposed new Ford F-150 made with aluminum, which is predicted to add $1500 over steel to the cost of a new truck. Aluminum also complicates both the manufacturing and repair processes. Edmunds reports: “Insurance costs could rise, both because of the increased cost of cars and the anticipated hike in collision repair costs associated with the greater use of the plastics, lightweight alloys and aluminum necessary for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. (Plastics, lightweight alloys and aluminum are all more difficult than steel to repair.)”
     Another concern is safety. “The use of weight-saving materials will not only affect repair costs but could make newer vehicles more susceptible to damage in collisions with older, heavier vehicles, especially SUVs and pickups. Their occupants could be at a safety disadvantage.” Read full collumn

If the goal is “energy independence,” what issues should be a priority in America?

One week after an Albuquerque teen goes missing, experts weigh in

From KOAT-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Lacey Dewent, 14, is missing one week after police said the Albuquerque girl ran away with 26-year-old man. Robert Butler met the girl on the Internet, according to investigators.
     "We are seeing more and more children exploited, both online and in person, by various people," said Kevin Abar, assistant special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations.
     While he can't comment on Dewent's case, Abar warned parents that any young girl or boy could fall into the same trap.
     "The people out there trying to exploit our children. They're very good at what they do," Abar said. He's offering the following tips for parents:
-- Ask your child who their friends are on the Internet
-- Monitor the websites they're visiting
-- Keep the computer in a common area, such as a kitchen or living room
     Abar said predators can use other online venues, such as XBox and Playstation, to chat live with children. "Often time, they'll portray themselves as a young adult, and gain the trust of a child," Abar said. The search for Dewent and Butler involves Albuquerque police, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.
     All agencies are working to piece together the victim's Internet history in hopes of locating her and protecting teens like her in the future. More

One week after an Albuquerque teen goes missing, experts weigh in

Swickard: Cranky Columnist Complains Happily

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Hello, I am a cranky columnist. I did not start out that way but I certainly am one now. Example: I went in the Comcast store to make a payment. A guy told me to sign in and then directed me to the Service Line.

      I protested, “I do not want to change my service, I want to make a payment. The textbook way is to be in the payment line.” He shook his head, “No, payments are in the Service Line.” Mr. Cranky came out of my mouth, “I see you got your prescription for stupid pills refilled.” Well, one of us enjoyed it.

     Lately it seems I am getting crankier and crankier. Worse, I am really enjoying it. Another example: last September I was thrown off my medical plan by the Affordable Care Act. So I have spent gobs of time trying to get another plan with Democrats telling me that the problem is I am resisting signing up for political reasons.

      Not so. My old plan took me back month by month when the new plan was not ready. Finally last week I got my new policy. I was prouder than when I got long pants. However, I went to the pharmacy to check on a prescription. “I am sorry Mr. Swickard; your prescription for Insulin has been rejected by the new insurance.”

     So far it has not mattered whether I was cranky or not, I cannot get my Insulin. You might ask why does Michael want Insulin? Answer: because he is an Insulin dependent diabetic. When Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the House said you would have to pass the Affordable Care Act to see what was in it, I never thought some person in our nation’s capital would want to take Insulin away from me and call it Affordable Care.

      Now I do not expect this impasse to last too many more weeks, but I have had a cranky-fest talking to people on the phone and in person. While it has not moved the marker even one inch closer to me getting the drugs I need to stay alive, at least I have enjoyed the moments of pure unadulterated crankiness. Read full column

Swickard: Cranky Columnist Complains Happily

Susana Martinez. announces changes for CYFD

Susana Martinez, CYFD Secretary Yolanda Deines

From KOB-TV.com - By: Jen Samp and Elizabeth Reed - Communication, follow up, recruitment. On Wednesday, Gov. Susana Martinez announced several proposals to improve child abuse investigations in New Mexico.
     Martinez said she will issue an executive order later this week for the state's Children, Youth and Families Department to permanently transfer a team of investigators to the Family Advocacy Center in Albuquerque.
     In addition, the governor will direct CYFD to work with local partners in other New Mexico communities to identify areas where it would be feasible and helpful to establish additional child advocacy centers.
      Martinez said CYFD also needs upgraded communication tools. She said the department's software dates back to 1998. She wants to improve communication by enabling officers and CYFD to use smartphones and tablets. The governor also wants CYFD to identify and keep track of families who have faced multiple investigations. She wants these families to undergo counseling and intervention services.
      Lastly, Martinez is proposing to increase salaries of newly hired case workers by 3 percent. She wants to hire a specialized recruiter to work to identify prospects and recruit them into CYFD. Qualified applicants would also be eligible for higher pay.
     The reform efforts come months after the death of a 9-year-old boy who Albuquerque police said was kicked to death by his own mother. CYFD had a history with Omaree and his mom, Synthia Varela-Casaus, but that there were no open cases at the time of the boy's death. More

Susana Martinez. announces changes for CYFD

ABQ Mayor wants more money for police training

Albuquerque's mayor wants more money for police training - especially for the way cops deal with mentally ill people. 

Mayor Richard Berry's brand new budget proposal comes just when the U.S. Department of Justice is close to wrapping up their two-year investigation into police shootings and civil rights complaints. Mayor Berry said the budget was crafted with the justice probe in mind. 

The mayor's budget also calls for seven new civilian employees in APD for help in public records and telecommunication and the crime lab in addition to 3 million dollars for new police cars. 

The city council will get to work on the budget soon - coming up with their own ideas - and by the end of May the mayor and the council should have something worked out.

ABQ Mayor wants more money for police training