OPINION: Awareness, The Key To Life

Magdalena Potluck
By Margaret Wiltshire

Each Memorial Day we remember those who lived and loved who are no longer with us. We remember veterans of wars who could still be with us but are not. We remember all who have come and gone from our homes and our lives. In New Mexico we give this nod of respect, two or three times a year.
The Day of the Dead, ends the growing season as Memorial Day begins it. Then there is Veterans day. During these times we stay linked in our humanity. We are aware of our vulnerability.
Alert awareness or as some say today, being in the “Now” has always been the key to staying alive. Life can be lost by uncontrollable circumstances, true enough, but it’s success is mostly secured by being aware of one’s surroundings.
Water is life as we know it; it is mother’s milk to all living things. The conditions surrounding water are dangerous to ignore. Ignorance, stupidity is the opposite of alert awareness. To ignore is to be unaware by choice. This “vulnerability” is suicidal.
At the yearly meeting of the San Augustin Plains Water Coalition one candidate for land commissioner said that land commissioners aren’t really connected to water issues. Obviously this candidate knew little or nothing of water sheds. There he was just a few miles from the Continental Divide.
The Great Sahara was once a land of virgin forests and great grass lands. It became the massive life eating desert long before aquifers were even known about. Over grazing and bad farming stripped the land of the means to hold water. For hundreds and hundreds of years the wind blew sand against grasslands burying more and more of Africa. The aquifers were untouched.
At our house as in much of Magdalena we support the Water Coalition’s battle against the greed of multinationals. Too bad our state is not on our side. How can any candidate, any party say they care about New Mexico and not care about water issues?
State and federal candidates still want our support (for as long as we can live here).
Have you become “aware” as I have, that supporting political hopefuls is getting pretty ironic? “Of, By and For” the people is a dark joke. The parties want your donations to support rich candidates to get jobs in Washington, paid for by US, to accept lobbyist benefits and bail out multinationals.
Politics is a popularity contest for mere millionaires who wish to move from “Squire” (S. Pearce and H. Teague) to Lord. If Richardson can influence movie casting in New Mexico these, “Squires” would be well cast. They vary on style but neither would be out of place in 17th century England. Could we film that here?
Our rebels of independence KNEW the rich and powerful would take over our country unless we remained aware and alert.
Human nature hasn’t changed. The popularity of propaganda, advertisement has grown to cloak the real invasion and coup.
Richardson disappointed everyone because he became an indifferent despot and he worked for multinationals. Those running now may or may not become despots. They will work for multinationals, in your “best” interest of course.
Has any one said “water” is out biggest issue?
In Feudal times, the “kings” required the “lords” and “squires” to take care of the people. Sometimes they did and sometimes they didn’t. So a lot of people came to this land. “Kings” of industry (US Steel) doesn’t mean much today. Multinationals (especially the banks) decided we the people don’t “do” industry.
Multinational’s are the biggest empires in human history. They make the world’s weapons and now they rule space travel. They decide if you can grow a business or remodel, repair your house. They decide if you have food, air and water. They decide on the quality of those things.
If you are not “aware” of who is running this country then words like Supreme Court rulings and Gulf drilling, theory and practice, won’t mean much to you. Congress (not Obama) wrote a 2000 page bill on health care to keep Health Care Providers on the multinational level; and your family dependent.
Do you see the cattle on the plains east and west of Magdalena? Do you see the bare spots that have no grass at all? Soon, with our winds, you may not. In the east it’s called a white out, it’s snow, water. Here it is a brown out, it’s sand.
Grass cleans air and holds water, feed’s cattle. It’s vital.
Ask your dog what time it is. The answer is always NOW. Maybe WE can learn new tricks.
GRIZZ event, folk music at Bear Mountain Café, June 19th.
Mag. Arts weekend June 5th and 6th.
With air and water available, life gets interesting. Enjoy!

Write Wshireoldadobe@yahoo.com Margaret’s views do not necessarily represent those of the Mountain Mail.

OPINION: Awareness, The Key To Life

OPINION: Can We Talk More About Immigration Standards?

Can We Talk?
By Jack Fairweather

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are: Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” United States Declaration of Independence, 1776
“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in the spirit of brotherhood.” Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“In everything do to others as you would have them do to you.” Jesus Sermon on the Mount,
Matthew 7:12 Holy Bible Revised Standard Version
The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant workers and their Families was ratified and adopted by the United Nations in 1990. It has been in force since 2003. It sets forth certain basic human rights of migrants and their families, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treat or punishment, and the right of privacy and property among others, irrespective of the migrant’s legal status.
The United States and Britain refused to sign this convention. The two countries are, however, signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
On any given day, there are more than 30,000 immigrants in detention in the US. Amnesty International’s latest report on immigration detention includes the following findings, all of them researched and found to be factual. The United States detains asylum seekers and other migrants it deems “illegal” who are survivors of torture and human trafficking. It also detains lawful permanent residents and the parents of U,S, citizen children. Immigrants can be detained for months and even years without any form of meaningful individualized review of whether their detention is necessary. The U.S. contracts with 350 state and county criminal jails to house approximately 67% of all immigrants in detention; non-compliance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement standards concerning health, sanitation, and safety is rife, 74 people have died while in detention in recent years; oversight and accountability for abuse or neglect of persons in detention is practically non-existent.
Along the US/Mexican border in Arizona volunteers with migrant support organizations collect accounts every day and night of the treatment, good and bad, of migrants taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol and detained by the ICE in centers in Nogales and Douglas, Arizona. They usually hear these stories while providing medical treatment and food and water. They treat wounds, broken bones, sprained ankles, injuries suffered in accidents or assaults, and dehydration. Border Patrol and ICE officers usually ignore these things.
On April 24 a young man from Oaxaca, Mexico was picked up in the desert. This was his first attempt to enter the U.S. He had nothing, there was no work for him in home village, he needed to work. A guard asked him how many people were with him. When he replied, It is just us”, the guard struck him in the face with a flashlight, knocking him to the ground. He was held for two days at small site in the desert. He was never told where he was being taken or to where he would be deported. He received no treatment for the wounds to his face or his blistered feet until volunteers provided it when he arrived at the detention center.
In April a man was picked up in the desert and was told if he signed a voluntary deportation order he would be released in two days. He was taken to Tucson and held for 15 days. When he askedwhy he was told he would be held for 8 more days. He was. Finally he was taken to Nogales where he told his story.
When another man tried to intervene when guards were teasing detained people by throwing food at them he was handcuffed, placed in a small dark cell where the temperature was held at freezing and left there, handcuffed and barefoot, for ten hours.
People leave Mexico, Guatemala and other points south because they have lost everything, if they ever had anything, there is no work, their small farms are foreclosed, and they are starving. They walk for days on end, are sometimes robbed by bandits, especially in our border country. They are not always mistreated when apprehended, but often enough that authorities admit there are problems from the time the migrants are captured to the period they are in detention. Families are split up, children deported in one direction, parents in another, young girls and women are targets for inappropriate attention from officers and guards, medical needs are ignored, people are packed into holding cells without regard to sanitation, the need for water or sleeping space.
Life, Liberty, Pursuit of happiness? Don’t complain. As many detainees in our border have been told, “Callarse la boca!” (Shut your mouth!”) “You have no rights! You’re illegal!”

Jack Fairweather’s views are not necessarily those of the Mountain Mail.

OPINION: Can We Talk More About Immigration Standards?

LETTER: Rancher Questions Discrimnation

To the editor:
This letter concerns the article in the Mountain Mail on May 27, 2010.
I’ve lived and been a rancher in this county all my life. Many years ago in school and elsewhere the Hispanics were called Mexican and we were Anglos. After all these people were, as this country was, Mexico at one time. Some of them had some Spanish blood in them. All of a sudden they wanted to be called Mexican-American. Then it was Spanish-American, some Latino American, later Chicano and now Hispanic.
So now Charlie Wagner who is a SEC board member is being charged with discrimination by the Hispanic people.
Who is being discriminated against?
Check all the SEC workers and elected offices in Socorro County. If they are not 95 percent Hispanic names I’m mistaken.
There is nothing wrong with this, but I wonder which nationality is being discriminated against.
Charlie Wagner is just trying to carry out the wishes of the membership - and to stop all the freebies and payments that have been going on for years - to make our electric bills cheaper.
Donald Wolberg ran for the board with the same thoughts Charlie had. At least he told us that, but as soon as he got in, his stripes have changed and he seems to be working against the members.
I really don’t know for sure what the Mexican, Spanish, Latino, Mexican-American or Hispanic should be called.
Felix Martinez was an old time cowboy and a good one. We were drinking coffee one day and I asked him what in heck a Chicano was. His reply was, “I was born a Mexican am still a damn Mexican, and am proud of it. A Chicano was a low class Mexican.”
So you figure it out.
Before this letter I had more Hispanic friends and than Anglo. Maybe I still have.

Tom Kelly
Water Canyon

LETTER: Rancher Questions Discrimnation

LETTER: Question About Discrimination

To the editor
Are Hispanic people the only ones who are not allowed to be insulted as alleged re: Charlie Wagner’s comments as purported by “Pablo” Martinez, director of LULAC, and condemned by the SEC board of directors?
I, and the other 16 member-owners who attended the Wednesday SEC meeting, were insulted by the board’s lawyer, Dennis Francish (whose salary is paid by the member owners) by being referred to as “wannabes who want to be involved but can’t get elected (to the board)” Does he infer we are stupid, inept or – what?
Mr. Francish owes us an apology for his disrespect; the board should have reacted to his negative, slanderous statement by censoring his remarks. By letting his statement go unchallenged, they are accepting the rude statement that characterizes us unfairly.
The member-owners are frustrated at the negative dismissal and total lack of acceptance of our overwhelming vote to make changes to the SEC board and the way it conducts itself. That does not qualify us as “wannabes.”
We have been discriminated against and are owed an apology.

Ruth White
Socorro

LETTER: Question About Discrimination

LETTER: Open Letter To Attorney General Gary King

Dear Mr. King
Thank you, your staff of lawyers, and Sarah Welsh of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government for coming to Socorro on May 27 to discuss and explain the Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records act (the Sunshine Laws). Your meeting made it very clear that the proposition passed by District 3 on Octobevr 2, 2009 and full membership at the April 17 Annual Meeting of the SEC, “The SEC Board of Trustees shall voluntarily agree to a bide by the New Mexico Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act.,” Is workable, legal and reasonable and went into effect on April 17, 2010.
Trustees Mauldin and Wagner along with several members of the SEC and the press clearly heard that other nongovernmental and/or nonprofit agencies have voluntarily placed themselves under the “Sunshine Laws” and abide by them. The copies of “Open Meetings Act: Compliance Guide” and “Inspection of Public Records Acot Compliance Guide” handed out at the meeting makes other issues very clear. According to 10-15-3. Invalid Actions: Standing, the fact that the SEC has held meetings and taken lots of actionwithout adhering to the “Open Meeting Act” makes those meetings and actions invalid. The remedy in this case calls for provisions of the OMA to be enforced by the attorney general or by the district attorney in the county of jurisdiction or for an individual to apply for enforcement through the district courts.
As a member of the SEC, I ask that your office enforce the provisions under 10-15-3 and make it clear to the Board of Trustees and Attorney Dennis Francish that their actions are illegal until they comply with the Sunshine Laws. The members of the Socorro Electric Cooperative need relief from the delays and distortions that are adversely affecting our rights.

Charlene West
Lemitar

LETTER: Open Letter To Attorney General Gary King

LETTER: Keeping Socorro Beautiful

To the editor:
On the Socorro Plaza, in front of Sundance Gift Store, on the sidewalk, there are large flower pots with flowers and plants in them to help keep the Plaza looking nice.
The people of Socorro and Socorro visitors enjoy them also. We want to make Socorro proud and someone else must like the pots and flowers as they keep going away! Please leave them where they belong so we can take care of them so everyone can enjoy the flowers and plants! The city is making the Plaza beautiful and we would like to do our part in keeping Socorro beautiful around the Plaza.

Don and MiRan Brown
Sundance Gifts
Socorro

LETTER: Keeping Socorro Beautiful

‘Rev. Ed’ Retires

By John Larson

SOCORRO - A much-loved “goodwill ambassador” at the Good Samaritan center On Highway 60 has retired.
“Rev. Ed” Adams turned in his signature black hat Thursday, May 27, at a short ceremony prior to the start of Good Sam’s annual Volunteer Carnival. Adams has been visiting Good Sam’s for 25 years, ever since he retired from Socorro Consolidated Schools as the librarian at Socorro High School in May, 1985.
Adams originally served as Chaplain for 10 years, and for the last 15 years his weekly visits included a devotional, then entertaining the residents with his guitar, “playing them a little country music every Thursday.”
He has occasionally been accompanied musically by George Murillo, Jim Ruff, and George Shoemaker.
“It’s doing something people need,” Adams said. “It’s a real joy, providing ministry to these people. It’s the most rewarding thing you can do.
“I may stop in every now and then to say hello, but not on a
regular basis.”
According to “Rev. Ed” he has been involved with church work for many years.
“I’ve pastored little churches here and there,” he said. “San Antonio’s First Baptist Church, Mesquite Baptist and Hill Baptist in Belen, and of course Magdalena.”
Adams is Pastor Emeritus at the First Baptist Church in Magdalena, and is currently an interim pastor at the First Christian Church in Truth or Consequences. “I moved to T or C in 2002, and they needed somebody and asked me to fill in as pastor for a couple of weeks. That was two years ago.”
After graduating from Belen High School in 1943, Adams spent 10 years as a farmer and rancher before relocating to Alamogordo to work in the post office.
“It was there I got my degree in language arts and my teaching degree,” Adams said.
He also spent time with the Home Mission Field in Dayton, Ohio, building churches.
“The Lord seems to send me in these directions,” Adams said. “I’ve enjoyed every bit of it.”

Picture: Michelle Apodaca holds up the signature black hat donated by “Reverend Ed” Adams at a ceremony honoring his 25 years of ministering at Good Sam’s.

Photo by John Larson

‘Rev. Ed’ Retires

Memorial Day 2010

The Memorial Day observance at Isidro Baca Park drew an estimated crowd of 100, who heard remarks by Peter Romero, paying respect to women in the armed forces. The prayer was delivered by Civil Air Patrol Chaplain Phil Preston. The National Anthem was performed by Elizabeth Barteau and Elizabeth Smoake.

Left, guest speaker John Larson speaks on the importance of respecting the fallen.

Photo by Vanessa Quinones

Remarks By John Larson On Memorial Day

From what I understand, the first Memorial Day in 1868 was to honor those soldiers who died in the Civil War, both Union and Confederate. It was looked on as a day of American reconciliation. For both sides were fighting for different aspects of our American principles.
So, I ask myself what Memorial Day means to me. I can only speak from my own experience – not from movies or books, but from people I knew that are now dead.
It means mission accomplished. By saying that, I mean these fallen men - and women - fulfilled their mission when their lives were cut short.
Their first mission was to serve their country, whether voluntarily enlisting or being called up – as in past conflicts. To fulfill a responsibility with which most countrymen are not faced. Those who go down to the enlistment office to sign up may feel a strong sense of moral obligation – to fight the good fight - or patriotism - or may be simply looking for an adventure – to be part of something bigger than he or she.
Those who were “called up” were no less. They perform their job conscientiously and carry out their duties honorably and professionally. Like those who enlisted, they are trained well - and together they become like a flaming sword for what is right and what our nation stands for.
Their other mission was that for which they were trained – to follow the orders of their superiors. Throughout the years, from the deserts of North Africa to the jungles of Guadalcanal to the Korean peninsula to the foot trails of Vietnam to the villages of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan – they carry out their assignment. For far too many, their lives were cut short in doing so. But the fact that they consciously put themselves in harm’s way – says to me – they were successful. They performed their duty. And I honor those countrymen of mine for putting our ideals – our freedoms – the defense of our families and communities - above their own lives.
I have no higher respect than for those men and women who know what it’s like to be in service to our nation – us – and have sober reverence for those whose very lives were ended serving the United States of America – that’s you and me.
And to those currently serving – I salute you.

Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day 2010

Many of Socorro’s veterans pose for a group shot. After the ceremony everyone was invited to the DAV for hamburgers and brats. Between 300 and 400 meals were served by volunteers. DAV Commander Paul Drake thanked those who attended.

Photo by Nicky Romero

Memorial Day 2010

Memorial Day 2010

The program included the playing of Amazing Grace by piper and minister Bob Farmer.

Photo by Nicky Romero

Memorial Day 2010