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Moria brennt.
Alice Kleinschmidt hat uns direkt mit einer Sprachnachricht informiert
https://www.dropbox.com/s/6u1j529ei08kapc/AUD-20200909-WA0001.m4a?dl=0
Auch die Tagesthemen berichten von der Katastrophe.
Dear supporters and friends of Borderline Lesbos,
we wrote a report on the fire yesterday that burnt down Moria Camp. The situation is still out of control.
Please find attached our report. "The ashes of the failure of European Humanism".
If you have any questions about our work and how we continue to support refugees on the island, please do not hesitate to contact us. Currently we do not form part of the emergency response teams on the ground, because there are many actors involved. We keep focusing on long term projects and currently our activities are on stand by /or reduced drastically until we know what will happen to all this people on the streets of the island.
warmest wishes,
Alice Kleinschmidt
ASHES OF THE FAILURE OF EUROPEAN HUMANISM
Early Report – by Salim Nabi – Borderline Lesbos, Mytilini 9th of September 2020
Moria camp in Lesvos, Greece burned down almost entirely, and it was long overdue; it should have been burned down years ago as a gesture of Europe's respect for everyone's right to life as part of its legacy of European humanism. However, the camp was continuously extended, the conditions continuously worsened, and all that with the clear gesture of European support for the continuous dehumanization of people fleeing European policies in their own countries. Moria should be left in ashes as a reminder that Europe has still much to learn from its past when after World War II millions of denationalized people stepped forward from the ashes of the war with the demand for the right to life, whence the Convention on the Status of Refugees was envisioned. To this day, Europe has not learned what it should have learned then, and the result is nothing short of new concentration camps like Moria. The ashes of Moria on the borders of Europe shall serve as a reminder that to this day we have not understood the responsibility that the words freedom and humanism bring with them, and that the right to life is nowhere near the priority it should get over national and international policies and corporate profits.
Over the night of September 8 to September 9, 2020 a fire broke out in the largest refugee camp in Europe, the notorious Moria Camp. It is not clear what caused the fire, although Greek media and politicians, including prime minister Mitsotakis, rushed to blame it on the reaction of the refugees to the health measures (complete lockdown of the camp). What is, however, also clear as witnesses in the camp stated, there was a demonstration against the situation which was met with the teargas response of the riot police that guards the camp. No one has questioned so far as to whether a teargas grenade can cause fire in a place overcrowded with tents. But let us put that aside, the fact remains that the camp burned down, and what remained of it is burning as we are composing this report on Wednesday night, September 09, 2020.
The fire in Moria was not a new thing, fires are a routine occurrence; an electrician who worked in Moria once said: "if you don't have a fire with all those make-shift electrical wirings, it will be a miracle." And a miracle it was that for so long the authorities managed to keep the "hell" going, and a miracle, too, it was that the dehumanized population managed to avoid burning down to ashes the hell that was designed and manufactured for them. But alas! It eventually happened. And, of course, needless to remind you that people who knew Moria closely enough shouted over their lungs, time and again, that this concentration camp was a disaster in the making. But all that fell on deaf ears – deaf ears of politicians, deaf ears of the media, and the blind eyes of what we have to term so proudly the "civil society". Not much of that civility was ever felt in Moria. But what now?
From March 2020, with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the camp has been on a lockdown; given the overcrowded condition of the camp, the lack of sufficient sanitary facilities, the lack of medical support, and last but not least, the lack of preparedness for the onslaught of the virus upon the population, those who were monitoring the situation did not hesitate to warn European public and politicians about the disastrous possibility of the pandemic making its way into the camp. But all those pleas fell on deaf ears – again, of politicians in Greece who are riding an anti-immigrant slate, the politicians around Europe who are riding the same horse of anti-immigration, and of course, the media which is predominantly preoccupied with the desire of hate-filled right wing, corona-deniers. But the reality on the ground was obvious for those who were there: corona will eventually make its way into the camp, it will spread like a wild fire, and it will become unstoppable if that happens.
Then the nightmare of 2020, Covid-19, arrived in the camps. It was in this context that a quarantine section was created in Moria for the case that the virus will appear, and it was in this context that the protest began, which then led to the fires. The fire swallowed most of Moria, and the following evening, Wednesday September 09, 2020, another fire broke out which is currently consuming what is left of the camp. In the meantime, the following is the "news":
While more than 12,000 people, approximately 40% of them children, who were seeking a home and a life found nothing more than a tent or a container to live in, in the aftermath of the fire they are now faced with absolute homelessness; in the language of academic description of poverty this amounts to "absolute poverty" in which one does not have a roof over one's head.
In the morning of September 09, 2020, the Greek prime minister held a ministerial level meeting to address the situation; immediately after the meeting a "state of emergency" was declared for Lesvos. What the measures imply and contain are still unclear, but what can be discerned from the move is that all of the state's resources, including the military and other repressive branches, are, now, at the disposal of the government to deploy on the island in order to meet its objectives. What the objectives are remains more, or less, clear:
As of 18:00 Athens time, it is clear that four hundred (400) unaccompanied minors will be transferred to the mainland, and the latest news on the ground is that they have partially departed from the airport for Thessaloniki. According to the briefing of the authorities, another thousand vulnerable persons will be transferred to the mainland by ships, one commercial ferry and two naval ships. The rest of the inhabitants of Moria will receive tents, which means rebuilding Moria.
Rebuilding Moria, however, means a completely closed structure. In February 2020 Athens attempted to build a closed camp in Lesvos north, which was met with the harsh resistance of the local population, but under the pretext of Covid-19 the current government quickly moved to turn Moria into a completely closed camp by November 2, 2020; and now on the ashes of the "hell of Europe", the government in Athens believes it has found the legitimacy for its "final solution", closed camps.
However, already the local population, although with strong anti-migrant sentiments, have already started mobilizing against the reopening of Moria or the establishment of new camps. Nevertheless, what resistance to the government policy and plans may mean under the conditions of a state of emergency remain unclear, as the state of emergency, by definition, gives the government powers that it legally does not have under "normal" circumstances. One thing is, however, clear: under circumstances where the national government and local authorities drum for war against migrants vigilante far-right elements will always feel empowered, and in Lesvos the situation is no other way. In the aftermath of the fire refugees, NGO workers, volunteers and other people who tried to help the refugees fleeing the fire came under attack of such vigilante far-right groups, and in the coming days and weeks, just as in the aftermath of February 2020 riots, we can only expect an increase in attacks on all non-Greeks and any Greek that works for an NGO or stands in solidarity with the refugees.
And concerning the fate of the residents of Moria there is only one thing to say: Moria shall never be opened, again; its ashes should serve as a reminder of the failure of European humanism for 5 consecutive years; and, last but not least, all the refugees must be transferred to the various European countries as part of the EU spirit of shared responsibility, otherwise Europe has already signed its resignation from its claims to solidarity and humanism. Evacuate the camps on the islands!


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Q: How to show booked dates in a different color in Materialize datepicker I am using Materialize datepicker to choose a date for bookings and I want to display the already booked dates (info can be gained from the database) in 'red' color in the datepicker. How can I do this? Any help is much appreciated.
Here is my html code for the datepicker -

     today
     <input id="calender" format="yyyy-MM-dd" type="text" class="datepicker" ng-model="later.from" required>
     From

The jquery code -
$('.datepicker').pickadate({
        format: 'yyyy-mm-dd',
        formatSubmit: 'yyyy/mm/dd'
    });

Here is a view of my current datepicker
In the datepicker functionality, using objects as a range of dates as in - $('.datepicker').pickadate({ disable: [ { from: [2016,2,14], to: [2016,2,27] } ] }) also doesn't work for me.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Jehovah's Witnesses in Wiesloch are not a bit ashamed and take to the streets with the magazine "ERWACHET". Nor should they be ashamed, for otherwise it would be proven that the heresy of the Watchtower Society is of the devil. Jehovah's Witnesses in Wiesloch are instructed to make a swift departure when I appear, for as long as I hold up my shields, the Watchtower Society's heresy will be evil exposed. This must be prevented. That is why a quick departure is inevitable. The "God" Jehovah presents himself in Wiesloch as a stubborn mold. According to the circumstances, he retreats and then quickly reappears.
Today I once parked somewhere else and - oops - the Jehovah's Witnesses in Wiesloch no longer had a clear view. They were caught spreading their heresies and had to endure exposure for twelve minutes. The liar was there, who had told me earlier that she was an alumna. I find this liar particularly perfidious in her propaganda appearance for Jehovah because her lie is always written in her face as literal ugliness.
On the way from my new parking lot to the pedestrian zone I heard a clear noise behind me. A woman had fallen lengthways on her way to the doctor. When I accompanied her to the doctor, I also passed the Volksbank, in front of which the Watchtower false teachers like to stand. The lady saw me, but could not believe that I was, because she had the certain information that I had not yet arrived in Wiesloch. After I had delivered the injured woman to the doctor, I went back to the Volksbank and in fact there were already two Watchtower false teachers standing there.
After a few minutes of confrontation with her own teaching, she was suddenly out of the hands of both high-ranking ladies of the AWAKEN!. Two other sovereigns of the Watchtower World Government had joined in and the four had a hectic discussion. Then they made a professional escape in two directions. I was so surprised that I could no longer photograph their departure. Perfectly arranged.
The Watchtower slave has learned. Jehovah's Witnesses, at least in Wiesloch, don't offer the possibility to enlighten people any more. It is important to know that I only hold up the enlightening signs when Jehovah's Witnesses are present to complete their publishing worship. Since the slave has realized that the truths from his false doctrine are a lasting deterrent to people, he prefers to withdraw his free advertising specialists as quickly as possible. It is sad to see the battered advertisers trying to preserve their dignity, which has already been taken from them by the Watchtower Society. Jehovah's Witnesses only have the Watchtower dignity left and must hide their personality like a boil.
While Jehovah's Witnesses teach that the Watchtower Society saves, someone has put up a sign with two candles pointing us to Jesus. The sign was read by many and no one dared to remove it from its place. Congratulations to the one who put this sign there!
The appearance of Jehovah's Witnesses is always frightening. Their skin is usually very pale and poorly supplied with blood. Many Witnesses make up their pallor and try to give themselves a good coat of paint. I noticed that again and again with the long blondes. Their face consists almost exclusively of make-up. On the one hand it is obvious that someone who studies the Watchtower permanently under neon light has to look worse and worse, because he does not lead a natural life. On the other hand, I can also vividly imagine that the psychological burden of the increasingly obvious false doctrine is literally eradicating these people. The higher one of Jehovah's Witnesses is, the more similar his appearance is to that of a dead man. The skin is ashen and even if one gets excited because someone is telling him a truth, his face remains colourless and his expression dull. Jehovah's Witnesses, through their anti-Christian religion, are becoming more and more like a dead person already in their lifetime.
What do Jehovah's Witnesses have to expect in their lives? They can only hope to die quickly before Armageddon so that they are not exposed to the risk of being destroyed in it because they laughed too much once. Apart from this hope, Jehovah's Witnesses only have hope for worldwide human extermination. However, they are not certain of this either, for none of them has even the slightest hint of certainty of salvation like one who listens to Jesus. Christians have the mark of certainty of salvation. Jesus himself gives them this incredible peace.
The tactic of the faithful and intelligent slave is evasion. The Watchtower Society is counting on mass and wants to make people forget that a lonely Christian with upheld DIN A4 sheets of paper distributes Jehovah's Witnesses like penicillin does the bacterium. An outstanding and particularly commendable achievement, however, is the skilful slavery in which she keeps her followers. But Adolf Hitler also deserves this recognition.


Faced with international investors' concern over China's potentially heavy interventions on money and commodity markets, Beijing has quietly postponed, probably by years, the launch of a new crude oil futures contract, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting five sources in the know.
China has had ambitions for years to create a new oil futures contract that would be traded on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange INE, but foreign investors have been recently spooked by Beijing's policies for the yuan currency and capital outflows and last year's intervention on the volatile commodity markets, according to Reuters sources.
China has been planning the launch of the new contract to add to the global benchmarks, the WTI and Brent, but faced with investor worries, INE has quietly put those plans on the back burner.
INE had been in contact with traders for most of last year, but then went silent at the end of 2016. The launch of the new futures contract is now being considered "off the table" for a few years, a manager at an international bank told Reuters.
In the middle of 2015, China was hoping that it could launch the new contract by the end of that year.
As this did not happen, the timeline was further pushed, and in March 2016 another delay, this time by government review of INE, postponed the launch of the contract to late 2016.
Related: Has OPEC Seriously Underestimated U.S. Shale Dynamics?
A few months later, officials told S&P Global Platts that the launch was unlikely to happen in 2016 because China wanted stricter regulations to prevent high volatility on the equity and steel markets.
Now it seems like international investors' concerns have prevailed over the ambitions to launch oil futures contract in China.


Potentially preventable hospitalisations are those that may have been prevented by timely access and appropriate provision of primary health care.
The fact that hospitalisations for a particular condition have been classified as 'potentially preventable' does not mean that a patient admitted for that condition did not need to be hospitalised at the time of admission. Rather, the rate of potentially preventable hospitalisations can be used as an indicator of patients' access to community-based health care services and the effectiveness of these services. There are 22 conditions for which a hospitalisation is considered to be potentially preventable. This report examines age-standardised rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations for all these conditions combined, as well as five conditions that together contribute to almost half (47%) of all of potentially preventable hospitalisations and almost two-thirds (62%) of bed days for these conditions nationally. These conditions are: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes complications, heart failure, cellulitis, and kidney and urinary tract infections (UTIs).
The data are presented for 2013–14 by Primary Health Network (PHN) area and for more than 300 smaller areas of geography, known as Statistical Areas Level 3 (SA3s).
Across more than 300 local areas (SA3s) the age-standardised rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations were nine times higher in some areas compared to others, ranging from 1,406 per 100,000 people in Pennant Hills-Epping (NSW) to 12,705 hospitalisations per 100,000 in Barkly (NT).
This report is accompanied by an interactive tool allowing users to explore the data in depth for their area and compare with other local communities.
Note: Potentially preventable hospitalisations data for 2012–13 and 2013–14 are not comparable in the report. Since publication in December 2015, figures have been revised following updates to methods and revised information from states and territories. Please see the Web update: Potentially preventable hospitalisations in 2015–16 for the revised results.


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Choreographers Creatives Cultural
Dancers Models / Hosts Musicians
Performers Presenters Shows
Hatty Pedder
Hatty Pedder is a British artist and illustrator based in Dubai, who trained at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, specializing in illustration. She moved to Dubai in 1995 and worked as a fashion stylist and photographer before returning to her artistic roots and becoming a full time artist and illustrator in 2005. Inspired by people, fashion, lifestyle and different cultures, her work is observational, witty, fresh, vibrant and conceptual. Whether she's exhibiting her new collections, undertaking private commissions, illustrational projects, live drawing/painting or Google Tilt Brush at events for renowned brands such as Cartier, Lanvin or Raffles Hotel Dubai, creating bespoke illustrated branding or murals, her vibrant beguiling style is instantly recognizable and sought after by brands, agencies and private clients across the world.
© 2021 DAN BOLTON EVENTS
INFO@DANBOLTON.ME

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global nomads
Home/Tag: global nomads
Our Tribal Elders, part 1
Today I am beginning a unique and exciting project, in collaboration with Paul Asbury Seaman. Paul attended Murree Christian School in Pakistan. He currently lives in the Bay Area, California with his wife Catherine. He has published several articles about the impact of growing up overseas as well as a memoir, Paper Airplanes in the Himalayas: The Unfinished Path Home (West and the Wider World)
Website: Paul Asbury Seaman and you can contact him at pasburyseaman@gmail.com
Paul wrote a paper looking at the impact of four leaders in the thinking and research of Third Culture Kids: Ruth Van Reken, Ruth Hill Useem, David Pollock, and Norma McCaig. He has graciously given permission for the paper to be posted here in its entirety, divided into six separate sections beginning today with the Introduction (I have highlighted some parts in bold). Please be sure to come back on future Tuesdays to read the remaining pieces. And head on over to Paul's website, check out his book, leave a comment…he would love to hear from you. Thank you Paul, for sharing this with Djibouti Jones readers.
Our Tribal Elders and the Global Nomad Medicine Wheel
© 2014 Paul Asbury Seaman (orig. ms. 2011, unpublished)
A culture doesn't happen by accident. Neither does it simply evolve through inevitable phases and developments. The beliefs and emotional tone of a culture are based on countless discoveries and the meanings assigned to the structures created. As global nomads, our culture is largely invisible. It has no geographic boundaries and no designated symbols. We resort to surveys and anecdotes, cautiously giving labels to the patterns we see. What we name becomes an identity, but one that is never quite complete because the labels are porous and the patterns keep shifting. A roving heart and ambiguity are commonly part of the global nomad legacy; but they are also aspects of a way of life many of us have chosen—with all its costs and merits. Living in limbo means we might often feel anchorless, but it also suggests that we are good sailors and bridge builders.
Instead of pushing boundaries, we pull on them—curious about what they are made of, what function they are supposed to serve.
We find commonalities where others may see none. We ourselves can be bridges across the limbo, not to explain it away, but to provide someplace solid from which to explore it.
It has taken less than two generations for the TCK phenomenon to be documented, deconstructed, and recognized around the world.[i] Isaac Newton once wrote, "If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants."[ii] American Indians would call this honoring the Grandmothers and Grandfathers. Four people who have had the most impact on identifying the TCK subculture, and who dedicated their lives to developing a global nomad community, are Ruth Van Reken, Ruth Hill Useem, David Pollock, and Norma McCaig. Although widely traveled and employed internationally, they all made their home in the United States, the country of their citizenship.
Many ancient cultures have used the concept of the Four Directions. The principles of the Sacred Circle and the Tree of Life are universal, as are the themes of interdependence and duality expressed in the yin yang or taiji symbol. For American Indians, the medicine wheel is a spiritual map that echoes the meaning of all these symbols. The Medicine Wheel
is a kind of mandala, a meditation device similar to "walking the labyrinth" in some Christian traditions. Its most basic form is simply a cross inside a circle. It is a common motif in Native American jewelry and the central meaning of the sundance ceremony still widely practiced today; the image appears on sacred shields and in ancient stone circles.[iii](Variations of the medicine wheel are also found in some pre-Columbian cultures of South America, but its use can be seen most prominently by the Plains Indians of North America, including the Arapaho, Ojibwa, Cheyenne, Cree, Dakota, and Lakota Sioux.)
The word "medicine" is a somewhat misleading translation. Medicine men and women were the spiritual leaders of the tribe as much as they were healers. For Native Americans, "medicine" is closely associated with balance, cosmic unity, and finding one's individual gifts—or calling, as Christians might say—and thus, is akin to the Eastern concept of karma. To say, "That's good medicine!" can mean "That's a powerful truth."
The term "third culture kids" implies the merging of different influences and ways of seeing the world; "global nomads" emphasizes something both universal and continually changing as we move through different stages of life. The medicine wheel is about seeing patterns in what we often experience as chaos, finding the reassuring constants within the cycles of change.
In a very primal sense we are formed by the landscape of our upbringing—by specific events and social factors as well as the physical place. But our identity is equally influenced by how we interpret this heritage. The basic human question Who am I? is not just about self-discovery but finding our place in the world.
No wonder so many people write memoirs! Underneath all the angst and adventure is a search for truth. Any journey of discovery conducted with integrity—whether scientific, religious, or personal—requires being aware of our own subjectivity, even in what seems self-evident. By definition, every adventure involves confronting uncertainty. Those who don't have the courage to walk into the limbo—and risk getting lost in there for a time—will miss out on the gifts waiting in the unknown. One thing that distinguishes global nomads from many people with a more home-grown childhood is not just a difference in perspective, but the very concept that there are different valid ways of perceiving things. This principle also can be valuable for understanding our cross-cultural heritage.[iv]
The four quarters of the medicine wheel have multiple layers of meaning, from the seasons of nature to the major characteristics of a mature, well-rounded life. We can use this template to help us become more aware of the various internal resources available to us, to bring different perspectives on how we see and respond to the world—or to our emotional legacy as global nomads.[v] Placing each of our tribal elders—Van Reken, Useem, Pollock, and McCaig—in one of the Four Directions of the medicine wheel will highlight their distinct contribution and also illustrate four different "windows through which to view the global nomad enigma.
These are heart, identity, wisdom, and integration.
Part 2: The Heart of Ruth Van Reken
Part 3: Identity With Ruth Useem
Part 4: The Wisdom of David Pollock
Part 5: The Integration of Norma McCaig
Part 6: The Circle of Life
[i] I use the terms third culture kids (TCKs) and global nomads interchangeably, and generally have in mind adult TCKs. Early publications of Global Nomads International succinctly defined global nomads as "those who have lived outside their passport country before adulthood due to a parent's career." (Cf. The Global Nomad Quarterly 2:2 Summer 1993).
[ii] The phrase originated, however, with the philosopher Bernard of Chartres in the 12th century, more than five hundred years before Newton used it (in any case, a remarkable statement from one of the greatest scientific thinkers of all time). The ritual practice of honoring those who have gone before us has always been part of indigenous cultures. What Europeans often viewed as "ancestor worship" might better be understood as acknowledging our debt to history, our place on a continuum of time. This requires a humility rarely seen in modern society—to our detriment.
[iii] More than sixty of these "architectural hoops" have been found in the north-central plains of the United States and southern Canada. The largest archeological medicine wheel is twenty-three meters across, about two-thirds the diameter of Stonehenge. It is located in Big Horn County, Wyoming—less than sixty miles from a better known historical site: the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. Sometimes known as "Custer's Last Stand," this is where the pompous American general was defeated by a combined force of Indian warriors under the leadership of Chief Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. I mention this because of the ironic symmetry between these two locations: the presumptions of Manifest Destiny that brought George Armstrong Custer to Little Bighorn and the 10,000-year-old culture represented by the medicine wheel.
[iv] One of the challenges for researchers today is that the terms "third culture kids" and "global nomads" were defined by the experience of people who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s—a very different world. How has the Internet and micro communications devices affected issues of identity, loss, and cultural transitions for those coming of age now?
[v] In the past few decades some segments of the personal growth movement have developed a "Four Quarters" model that overlays Jungian archetypes with the principles of the medicine wheel. One set that I am most familiar with (starting in the East and going clockwise around the wheel) is Lover, Warrior, Magician, Sovereign. Or in more general terms: heart, purpose, wisdom, and leadership. See Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1990) and Carol S. Pearson, Awakening the Heroes Within: Twelve Archetypes to Help Us Find Ourselves and Transform Our World
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). For a good ecumenical introduction to the medicine wheel see Philip Lane, Jr. et al., Sacred Tree: Reflections on Native American Spirituality
(Twin Lakes, WI: Lotus Press, 2004; first published by Four Winds International Institute, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, 1984) and Roy Wilson, Medicine Wheels: Ancient Teachings for Modern Times (New York: Crossroad, 2000).
*post includes amazon affiliate links
By Rachel Pieh Jones|March 24th, 2015|Categories: Expat Thoughts, Third Culture Kids|Tags: expatriate, global nomads, paul asbury seaman, third culture kids|9 Comments


Done in a Day (DIAD) projects consist of short-term volunteer involvement through one-day events. Typically, these events are in conjunction with one of the JLEFC's current community partners and/or other non-profit organizations, that operate in the JLEFC focus areas of healthy eating/nutrion and/or literacy.
Projects include creating Thanksgiving baskets for organizations such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Mercy Learning Center; hosting holiday parties for children at the Bridgeport YMCA and organizing a field trip to a local farmer's market for the students of Mercy Learning Center.


Press Conference by Ms. Louise Arbour, the Secretary-General's Special Representative for International Migration, on the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, which will take place in Marrakech, Morocco, 10- 11 December.
Note: This press conference was held on 27 November and posted here for background information.
This entry was posted in News and tagged #Migration Conference in Marrakech, #Ms. Louise Arbour, Secretary-General's Special Representative for International Migration on December 4, 2018 by Julia Dean.


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Gov. Martinez Likes Part of Obamacare
Gov. Susana Martinez does not agree with the "individual mandate" portion of the Affordable Care Act, but there's certain aspects of Obamacare she does like.
In case you've been in an isolation tank all day, the Supreme Court this morning upheld the law. Martinez was asked today whether she agreed with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that the law should be completely repealed.
"You know, what I think is important is that we provide a system that is, um, available to those that are most in need. Making sure that we have, are not forcing families to buy something, that they can't afford. But, by the same token, I think there are parts of it, for example, you know being allowed to have your child, um, until they are 26, insure them. They are going to college, etc., I think that's a good thing. I think the pre-existing conditions, you know, we want to make sure that were taking care of people. So, I want to make sure that, is it in its entirety, or are there parts of it that we can keep, to make sure that we're taking care of that very needy population."
The Obama campaign sent out a news release linking to an edited version of this video by Capitol Report New Mexico. (It leaves out the part where she slams the individual mandate as a "tax" many people can't afford.) Here's the complete video
Heather Skipping GOP Convention
There's been a lot of headlines about Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill skipping the Democratic National Convention this year. She's in a tight re-election race and the conventional wisdom is that she wants to avoid being tied to the Obama administration, which apparently isn't that popular in Missouri.
But McCaskill isn't the only U.S. Senate candidate skipping her party's national convention. Here in New Mexico, Republican Heather Wilson will be staying here in New Mexico during the GOP's national shindig in Tampa in August.
"Wilson spokesman Chris Sanchez said that the former congresswoman does not plan to attend the convention in August and will be campaigning in New Mexico at the time," the National Journal reported yesterday.
And Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post commented:
Simply put: Not going to the convention won't save McCaskill from having to defend herself against attacks that she was a major Obama backer. The same goes for Wilson and former Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, who is running for Senate and will have to find ways to get separation from their national party, even though they won't be at the Republican National Convention.
Having to answer for your party — in any and all of these cases — is far from a political death sentence. After all, there is a Republican senator from Massachusetts and a Democratic senator from Alaska. People can be convinced that you are your own person — particularly in these high-profile Senate races.
But simply skipping the convention won't make the problem go away.
Or maybe Karl Rove is right and Heather really is an independent. (That's a sarcastic reference to the new American Crossroads ad for Wilson. Read my analysis of that and an anti-Wilson ad in today's New Mexican. And check out those ads below)
Parole Board Shakeup
On the first day I returned to work after recovering from my hip surgery I went up to an interim meeting of the Senate Rules Committee. Nothing exciting happened there. Most of the meeting consisted of hearing Gov. Susana Martinez's nominees for state Parole Board. None of these were controversial. The committee gave all nominees unanimous positive recommendations. To be truthful, it was pretty boring.
State Parole Board Chairwoman Sandy Dietz
But that 's only because I didn't know then what was going on the background. One of the board members who was confirmed that week was Mary Thompson, a Santa Fe counselor and former forensic evaluator who had been on the board since 2005. Gov. Martinez had nominated her for a second term.
What I didn't realize at the time was that Thompson was in an extremely bitter dispute with board chairwoman Sandy Deitz. About a week after the Rules Committee hearing, Thompson wrote Deitz a blistering letter that revealed not only a serious personality conflict, but a deep philosophical disagreement over one particular issue.
A state law enacted in 1980 says anyone sentenced to life in prison becomes eligible for parole after 30 years. First-degree murder is the only crime that carries a life sentence. (When the state repealed the death penalty in 2009, it created a new option for sentencing first-degree murder convicts: "life without possibility of parole.")
There's only about 10 "lifer" inmates have become eligible for parole hearings since 2010. Of those, only one was granted parole -- and that inmate already is back in prison.
Even though such inmates have a right to a parole hearing after 30 years, there's no guarantee they'll get such a hearing. Thompson accused Dietz of having a blanket policy of rejecting all parole requests from lifers. Dietz agreed that she's opposed all the requests that have come so far, but denied Thompson's charge that she was improperly manipulating the system to be sure all requests are denied.
Martinez removed Thompson from the board one day after Thompson sent the letter. The governor also fired longtime Parole Board executive director Ella Frank, who had the job for eight years.
My story about this is in today's New Mexican.
The Return of Joe Carraro
Former state Sen. Joe Carraro wants to return to the Roundhouse.
Carraro announced in a news release today that he's submitting petition signatures to run for the District 10 Senate seat in Albuquerque, currently held by Sen. John Ryan.
Carraro is a former Republican who changed his registration to "Declined to State" after an unsuccessful Congressional primary in 2008.
"I registered as an Independent because I have always represented the people rather than ideologies or political parties, since they have their own interests," he said in his news release.
"Over the years I have been able to work with both sides of the aisle to accomplish worthwhile projects and legislation for the State and my district," he said. "As an Independent member of the Senate I hope to provide less acrimony and more communication and Ideas. We owe it to those who elect us, to communicate with each other to provide opportunities for them so they can live a better life."
Carraro, an Albuquerque business man, won his first term in the Senate in the mid 80s. He left at the end of 1988, but came back in 1993, serving until the end of 2008.
His old district was District 23, now represented by Sen. Sander Rue, R-Albuquerque.
UPDATE 6-27-12 6:10 p.m.: Carraro just told me that his residence -- as well as a huge chunk of his old district -- was put into District 10 in the redistricting process. He says District 10 contains about 90 percent of his old district and about 10 percent of the district Ryan currently represents. I'm not sure how exact that is, but if it's anywhere close. that could be a boost to his candidacy.
ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Private Emails, Public Property
Gov. Susana Martinez isn't the first New Mexico politician to cause controversy by using private email accounts to communicate about public policy.
Three years ago in Las Vegas, N.M., the late former Mayor Tony Marquez was in a similar, if not identical situation.
And the response by Attorney General Gary King's office might be an indication of how King might respond to a request by two legislators to investigate a May 2 email sent from a Public Education Department spokesman's private email account to Gov. Martinez's political director and several administration officials (on personal email accounts.)
Sen. Linda Lopez and Rep. Rick Miera, both Albuquerque Democrats, are mostly concerned that government employees might have been doing political work for the governor. But they also want King to look at "high government officials using private email accounts to shield their activities."
In early 2009, the Las Vegas Optic was trying to receive email messages between Marquez and City Council members. The newspaper filed a a formal public records request.
However, City Attorney Carlos Quiñones believed the city had no obligation to release those emails, because they all were on the personal accounts of the mayor and council members. So the city responded to the Optic's request saying it couldn't locate any of those emails on the city's email server.
At some point, according to an Associated Press story, the paper received — through some unofficial channel — copies of about 20 emails between the mayor and his councilors, all on private accounts. Many of those had been copied to the city attorney. The Optic complained to the Attorney General's Office.
On July 31, 2009, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Lowe wrote to the Las Vegas city clerk, saying she disagreed with Quiñones' argument that the city didn't have to turn over private emails. Rowe, reading from Inspection of Public Records Act, informed the city that "public records" means "all documents, papers, letters, books, maps, tapes, photographs, recordings and other materials, regardless of physical form or characteristics, that are used, created, received, maintained or held by or on behalf of any public body and relate to public business."
"My interpretation of this section makes the mayor's emails, without regard to the account he uses, public records, if they relate to public business, and subject to disclosure."
Apparently this advice didn't immediately settle the issue. According to The Associated Press, Quiñones wrote back to Lowe saying Mayor Marquez would voluntarily give up the emails from his private account. But he still argued, "There is no specific legal authority in New Mexico providing for the inspection of private email accounts of government officials." He contended the Legislature would have to amend the law to specify that personal emails are subject to the Inspection of Public Records Act.
Finally in September, the city handed over more than 100 pages of emails to the Optic. But that wasn't the end of it. In March 2010, the Optic complained to the attorney general that the city had violated the Open Meetings Act — which forbids public business being discussed by a quorum of the governing body outside of a public meeting.
But the funniest thing to come out of the Las Vegas situation was a headline in the Optic in October 2009 after the paper uncovered a memo from Quiñones to various city officials.
Apparently the city attorney was still steamed about that initial batch of private emails between the mayor and the councilors that the Optic got its hands on. Giving those emails to the press was a breach of confidentiality, Quiñones claimed.
The paper's headline: (See below)
(Stolen from NM FOG website)
Labels: Roundhouse Roundup
More on Personal Emails for State Business
The Progress Now New Mexico organization -- a left-leaning group that has been critical of Gov. Susana Martinez -- has uncovered a couple of more Martinez cabinet secretaries communicating about government business on personal emails.
One is Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela, who in May 2011 received an email from Martinez's deputy chief of staff Ryan Cangiolosi at his Comcast email account (though the report has no email from Barela on that account.)
The other is Cultural Affairs Secretary Veronica Gonzales, who used her Comcast account to send messages to Cangiolosi and others about a government contract in May 2011.
Progress Now New Mexico obtained these emails through a public records request. But their website says this was possible in both situations only because other government employees included in the communications used their official government emails.
Martinez on Monday announced that from now on all email communications dealing with state business will be on state email
Here's the webpost by Progress Now New Mexico.
"I May Have Had My Last Race ..."
Richardson campaigning in Concord, NH, 2007
This probably won't come as a shock to many of you gentle readers, but former Gov. Bill Richardson said on national TV over the weekend that it's not likely he'll ever run for office again.
Fox News' Juan Williams asked the question in an interview with Richardson on Fox News Latino. Richardson said, "I am now a member of the private sector. I'm happy. I've got a little foundation. You never say never, but I may have had my last race and that was the Presidential race. I think that you only get one shot."
Might there be other serious Hispanic candidates in the future?
"Well, Juan, I think they're up and coming right now," Richardson replied, "They may be two, three elections away. The mayor of San Antonio, I think the mayor of Los Angeles has that potential. There're some Republicans that may be candidates. The governor of Nevada, possibly Senator Rubio. I don't know much about him, I'm intrigued by him."
The entire interview is below:
Governor Tells State Employees to Use State Email
After a week of criticism following the disclosure that Gov. Susana Martinez and top officials in her administration used personal emails to conduct state business, Martinez this afternoon said all state employees in agencies under her authority should use official state email for state business.
Here's the entire news release:
Today, Governor Susana Martinez issued the following statement and directive, following a recent productive meeting with the Foundation for Open Government, regarding the use of official emails throughout state government:
"Today, I am directing all state employees under the governor's authority to utilize official state email when conducting state business via email. This includes discussions preliminary in nature to final decisions or actions that have occasionally been sent via personal email because they are not required to be maintained under state law. There is no state law that requires this to be done, but utilizing only state email to conduct state business in connection with public employees' duties is another important step to ensure continued confidence in government."
"This directive goes beyond what has been required or practiced in the past in New Mexico, and it exceeds what is practiced in most other states. In addition, given that numerous other public officials, including legislators, discuss public matters on personal email addresses, I am urging the Legislature, other executive branch agencies, and local governments and municipalities to also adopt a similar policy that requires official email to be used when conducting state business and retained according to state regulations. Furthermore, we would be pleased to work with interested parties to ensure that our records statutes and regulations are coherent, strong, practical, and consistent across government."
Martinez met with the board of New Mexico Foundation for Open Government on Saturday.
Last week, in response to my questions about a several emails showing the administration was using personal email accounts to communicate about routine business, spokesman Scott Darnell said, "the types of communications in personal email accounts fall into categories that are not required to be maintained -- preliminary in nature, do not reflect final action, etc. Final agency action is conducted through official state email or other correspondence and maintained."
UPDATE: 11:45 p.m. Several hours before Gov. Martinez issued her news release about her new email policy, I obtained a sworn affidavit from Martinez's former Corrections Secretary, Lupe Martinez.
The document describes a cabinet meeting last year in which the governor's chief of staff Keith Gardner told those present "to, whenever possible, use our private emails when communicating, because by doing such would prevent them from being discovered through public records requests."
Martinez's spokesman Scott Darnell responded,"Her statement is simply false, and she knows it."
Read my story HERE
ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Some Primary Wounds Still Open
Just when you thought the primary truly was over, here comes a little reminder that some political wounds take time to heal.
Two progressive-leaning Albuquerque groups that earlier this year sent a mailer blasting state Sen. Phil Griego, D-San José, are demanding an apology from the senator — who won his bitterly contested primary this month — over an advertisement that ran in an Albuquerque paper.
Neri Holguin
The ad, "An Open Letter to the Voters of State Senate District 39," begins, "Most Democratic activists in Santa Fe know that Jack Sullivan's chief political consultant and campaign manager Neri Holguin is also paid by a so-called 'nonprofit.' "
One small problem with that: Holguin wasn't paid, secretly or otherwise, by any of the four groups Griego listed. "I was entirely paid by the Sullivan campaign for the management services I provided," Holguin said Thursday.
Javier Benavidez of the Center for Civic Policy said, "We have contracted with her in the past but not since 2009 — when she completed a one-month contract to research issues related to New Mexico's Hispanic population for nonpartisan civic engagement."
Benavidez's group and the Southwest Organizing Project, in a news release last week, sent letters to the senator as well as the Journal North demanding apologies. They want Griego's apology to be in the form of an ad at least as big as the one that ran two days before the primary. They want a half-page ad in the Journal North.
Both letters say the groups may seek legal action if the ads aren't run.
Griego couldn't be reached for comment.
Griego's ad correctly says that these organizations don't disclose their contributors. Personally, as I've opined in the past, I believe that's a bad thing. When any group, no matter what its tax status, sends out a mailer attacking someone running for office in an election, I believe the public should be able to know who's buying the stamps.
Unfortunately, federal courts disagree. Even before the infamous Citizens United case, the very same groups demanding an apology from Griego were vindicated in court by federal judges who ruled that their election-year mailers aimed at certain legislators were not "political" and the groups did not have to disclose their donors.
Fact check: One item that caught my eye in the news release was a statement that the Journal "appeared to have run these ads without verifying the truth or falsity of these accusations."
As much as I'd like to pile on a competitor, when I read that I tried to imagine the ad department in any paper fact-checking all the ads that come in. I've never met an ad department fact-checker in any of the three papers I've worked for (including Journal North). So I asked New Mexican Publisher Ginny Sohn, who used to run our ad department.
"If we see or notice something we believe is wrong, we'll go back to the candidate and say, you need to rethink this," Sohn said. But the candidate, not the paper, is responsible for the content — which, she said is why the paper requires ads to include the name and some kind of address or website of the candidate or organization buying them.
So here's a tip for you the voter: Be very, very skeptical of any political advertising, print, TV or Internet, from any candidate of any stripe.
The New Mexican will be monitoring political ads (TV, print and radio) and checking for accuracy during the upcoming campaign. But that's a reporter's job not an ad rep's.
Kenneth Gomez of Farmington Proclaims Himself Chief Executive of NM and USA
Sorry President Obama and Gov. Martinez. But when you weren't looking, Kenneth Gomez of Farmington took your jobs.
Gomez, who was an official write-in candidate for governor in 2010, has filed a document with the San Juan County Clerk declaring himself such. His reason: There's been "active insurgency against the Constitution of the United States of America and the Constitution of the State of New Mexico."
He says he will free all prison inmates, end abortions and nullify any laws that have passed since the "impostors" -- Obama and Martinez I suppose -- took office.
Read the entire proclamation below. I'm sure that Obama and Martinez will do their best to ensure a smooth transition.
Proclamation & Directive for Citizens of the USA
More Administration Emails on Personal Accounts Unearthed
More emails from various members of Gov. Susana Martinez's administration conducting state business and sent to officials via personal, non-government email accounts — including one email from the governor herself — emerged on Thursday.
The emails all come from the case file of a wrongful termination case being handled by Albuquerque lawyer Sam Bregman, a prominent Democrat.
Gov. Martinez, Chief of Staff Keith Gardner behind her
The emails mostly deal with Corrections Department business in August 2011. Most of the administration officials, including the governor, sent or received messages on their SusanaPAC.com accounts. Susana PAC is Martinez's political action committee.
Martinez's spokesman, Scott Darnell, said Thursday that "the types of communications in personal email accounts fall into categories that are not required to be maintained — preliminary in nature, do not reflect final action, etc. Final agency action is conducted through official state email or other correspondence and maintained.
"As you know, we send and receive hundreds of emails out of the Governor's Office every day and have produced thousands of pages of emails in response to [Inspection of Public Records Act] requests about the actions taken by the administration," Darnell said.
Gwyneth Doland, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said Thursday, "I am horrified to think that it may be the practice of the state of New Mexico to conduct public business in secret using email accounts that no records custodian could access.
"This is absolutely unacceptable to think the public's right to know is being so brazenly violated. I'm shocked to hear that this is coming from a governor so [publicly] supportive of transparency."
Earlier this week, an email from the personal account of a Public Education Department spokesman in response to a public information request by Martinez's political director, Jay McCleskey, was made public. That message also was sent to other administration officials at their non-government accounts.
Bregman on Thursday said, "This administration had the audacity of running a campaign on the issue of transparency, but they're the most secretive, covert government in the history of the state. Shame on the governor for conducting state business with her cronies on private emails."
Darnell said of Bregman, "Keep in mind that this information is coming to you from the attorney of a former state employee who has an incentive to try to create issues where there are none."
The message from the governor is dated Aug. 14, 2011, and had the subject line "Mansfield Escapee." It was sent to her chief of staff, Keith Gardner; deputy chief of staff, Ryan Cangiolosi; Darnell; operations director, Alexia Darnell; Duffy Rodriguez, who is deputy secretary of the Department of Finance & Administration (all on SusanaPAC.com addresses); and to McCleskey. Cangiolosi forwarded it the next day to former Corrections Secretary Lupe Martinez and to Gardner, again from and to non-government emails.
David Mansfield, an inmate at the state prison in Los Lunas, had escaped from a prison farm Aug. 13. He was captured the next day.
In her email, the governor is talking about a report, apparently about the escape. "I have painfully gone over this report and I have questions," she wrote. "I have also provided INSTRUCTIONS ... These have deadlines. These are not suggestions. I want my questions answered on this same document by the Corrections Department," she wrote. "... I want responses to my questions no later than Tuesday, August 17, 2011 at 5 p.m."
Why was McCleskey included in the email? "It's likely due to the fact that he is an adviser to the governor, and like many governors, she seeks broad input on situations," said Scott Darnell.
There's also a lengthy email dated Aug. 10, 2011, from Janel Causey, director of policy administration on her SusanaPAC.com account to former Corrections Secretary Lupe Martinez and Tax & Revenue Secretary Demesia Padilla (on their private accounts). It was copied to Cangiolosi and another person (whose identity can't be determined from his or her Gmail address).
In this message, Causey wanted to know about prison inmates who have no Social Security numbers but do have driver's licenses. It appears she is gathering information about the issue of driver's licenses being issued to noncitizens. The email lists the convictions for these inmates.
However, some of the initial information Causey received from the agencies didn't pan out. "We have now gone to the governor with incorrect information … We need to get this cleared up right away," she wrote.
Another email is dated Aug. 16, 2011, from Cangiolosi's assistant, Tiffany Smyth, from her personal account to the former Corrections secretary at her personal account. Smyth said Gov. Martinez wanted to see lists of warden candidates before they are hired. "We would like to do a bit of vetting on our end before the hiring has taken place," Smyth wrote.
An Interesting Public Records Request
I did an interesting story about the state Department of Public Education sending Gov. Susana Martinez's political director lists of teachers' emails in the state. You can read that HERE
What makes it interesting to me is that the email was sent on a private email account by the Ed Department spokesman, Larry Behrens. And it was sent not only to political consultant Jay McCleskey, but to state officials, including Gov. Martinez's chief of staff and spokesman -- also on private e-mail accounts. Then Education Secretary designate Hanna Skandera, who received a copy on her personal account, forwarded it to Martinez on a non-government account.
Both Behrens and McCleskey say this was just a routine request for public information. McCleskey said many political organizations of all persuasions makes such requests of state agencies all the time -- including the liberal Independent Source PAC, which obtained Behrens' email in the first place.
That's true. Reporters do too. But more than once I've had records requests denied by the records custodian of the particular agency on the basis that the agency does not maintain a list like the one I was seeking. The standard line is that the agency is not required to compile such a list for me.
Also usually such records requests are just between me and the records custodian, or sometimes the agency spokesman or spokeswoman. I don't think I've ever had information I was seeking forwarded to the governor's staff, the cabinet secretary, etc. (Such responses I've received are very formal and official, stating "In response to your request of June 12, 2012, etc. etc. ..." This wasn't the case here.)
Behrens said it was an "oversite" on his part to use his personal account for the records request. But that doesn't explain why he used non-government accounts for those officials included in the message.
Here's the document below:
New Mexico teacher lists
ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: Keeping it Positive ... For Now
When I saw the news release about a new TV spot from Republican U.S. Senate nominee Heather Wilson's campaign, my first thought was, "Here it is. It's starting already." My assumption was that, just like the governor's race two years ago, attack-ad season would be starting early again.
Then I saw the ad. It's an upbeat, positive, soft-focus biographical ad with the heart-warming message, "My family taught me to love America, but the military taught me not to take it for granted."
I'm almost expecting her Democratic rival Martin Heinrich to come back with an ad saying he loves America too and has loved it ever since his teenage years sacking groceries.
Then I learned that Karl Rove's super-PAC, American Crossroads — a sister organization to Crossroads GPS, on whose board Wilson once sat — was buying ad time in New Mexico in support of Wilson. Politico reported that the PAC is spending more than $250,000 in the Albuquerque and El Paso markets.
"Now, it's coming," I chuckled cynically. But again, here's smiling Heather with Old Glory waving in the blue sky behind her. Nothing bad about Heinrich, just a friendly female voice praising Wilson as an "independent record of standing up to her own party."
Wait, a minute ... since when did Karl Rove like Republicans bucking the party line?
Boy, if there's one thing that a political junkie hates worse than negative ads, it's positive ads.
A couple of things probably are going on with the pro-Wilson ads. Neither of them mentions her political affiliation. These obviously are targeted to independent voters and Democrats who might be on the fence.
And, as National Journal pointed out last week, "A positive ad could also help lower Wilson's unfavorables. There's been a lack of independent, nonautomated polling in the state, but a late April poll conducted by Democratic pollster PPP poll showed Wilson with considerably higher unfavorables than Heinrich [45 percent to his 31 percent]."
But don't think the mudslinging isn't going to come in this high-profile Senate race. In fact, another conservative PAC, right after the primary, launched a $100,000 ad campaign targeting Heinrich. The 30-second ad features the pensive piano music, pictures of shut-down factories, a sad-looking girl in a dress shop and Heinrich being sworn in by (gasp!) Nancy Pelosi.
In its blog post about the American Crossroads ad, Politico's Alexander Burns noted that Heinrich has led Wilson in polls, writing, "New Mexico is a race that's looked like more of a reach for Republicans. ... The fact that outside groups are investing there is a sign that the race isn't a foregone conclusion."
And pro-Heinrich PACs aren't sitting out this race. A coalition of five national environmental organizations is about to launch a television ad campaign in this state, running ads for nearly two months starting this week. "One source pegged the cost of the flight at just over $850,000. Another suggested it could climb closer to a $1 million when all the buying is done," Politico reported.
I haven't seen the ads, so I can't say for certain what tone they'll be taking. Maybe they'll just show Heinrich camping with his wife and kids and talk about how he loves the great outdoors and wants to protect it and working families.
But if I had to bet, I'd probably go with grainy photos of Wilson with grim smokestacks in the background and horror-movie music.
I'll also bet that by October, not even the most jaded political junkie will be complaining about a lack of attack ads.
BLOG BONUS:
Here's what might be the only positive ad Karl Rove has ever made:
Johnson on Daily Show
When most political junkies here in New Mexico was busy with the primary last night, former Gov. Gary Johnson appeared on the Daily Show to promote his Libertarian Party presidential candidacy.
Watch it below:
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
Susana's PACs Fared Better in Dem Races
It looks like Reform New Mexico Now got better results than the other political action committee located at 6100 Uptown Blvd. NE; Suite 590, Susana PAC -- meaning Republican Gov. Susana Martinez might have had more influence in the Democratic primaries than in the GOP contests she got involved in.
"We are encouraged that New Mexicans stood with Democratic candidates who are willing to work across the aisle," McCleskey told The Associated Press.
But he apparently doesn't feel that way about Republicans who do the same.
In Martinez's effort to choose the GOP candidate to replace retiring Sen. Clint Harden of Clovis. she backed Angie Spears, who lost to rancher Pat Woods. Spears hired McCleskey and went intensely negative on Wood -- largely for contributing money to Democrats who had helped him on agricultural issues.
Wood responded by making McCleskey an issue in the campaign urging east-side Republicans to reject "mudslinging" by a "slick Albuquerque consultant."
Though there might be a couple of awkward moments between Woods and Martinez, he's likely to be a reliable vote on most issues. He's taken conservative positions on virtually all the issues and last night in a radio interview, Woods predicted he and Martinez will get along fine once she gets to know him.
Susana PAC also backed Albuquerque Republican Chris Saucedo, who won his low-key House primary. So, score 50/50 for the contested GOP races backed by the PAC
However, despite complaints by the targets of its ads and robo-calls, Reform New Mexico Now had a much better scorecard Tuesday night, most notably in Carl Trujillo's victory over Santa Fe Mayor David Coss. Coss' campaign blamed the PAC's involvement for the loss, though Trujillo told me he thinks the unsolicited aid of Reform New Mexico Now and the conservative New Mexico Business Coalition could have caused a Democratic backlash that took away from his vote total.
Reform New Mexico Now, which largely was funded by to Artesia oil companies that are major Martinez contributors also backed incumbent Sens. Phil Griego, Pete Campos, John Arthur Smith and George Munoz, as well as maverick Democratic Rep. Sandra Jeff -- all of whom won. It's not certain how big of a role the PAC had in these victories.
The PAC also attacked Rep. Eleanor Chavez of Albuquerque, who gave up her House seat to run for Senate. Chavez lost to Michael Padilla in that primary.
Not all of the PAC's choices won however.came in a distant third in his Democratic primary. Billy Moore lost to incumbent Rep. Eliseo Alcon of Milan.
Two incumbent senators and two representatives who lost, or are trailing after yesterday's voting. Rep. Richard Vigil, D-Las Vegas, lost to Tomas Salazar in a race that had received little attention outside of San Miguel County.
Sen. David Ulibarri, D-Grants came in a distant third in his primary.
Sen. Lynda Lovejoy is behind former Indian Affairs Department Secretary Benny Shendo of Jemez Pueblo.
Down in Las Cruces, Rep. Antonio Luján trailing by 41 votes behind former Rep. Jeff Steinborn, while Rep. Dennis Kintigh of Roswell lost to his friend Rep. Bob Wooley in the Republican primary. The two incumbents were pitted against each other because of redistricting.
Though Steinborn is ahead of Lujan (and either will have to face Republican Charlie Green in November), other would-be political comebacks were thwarted last night.
These include former Sen. James Taylor of Albuquerque, (he lost his Senate seat to Eric Griego in 2008), former Rep. Bengie Regensberg of Cleveland, who lost to Rep. Nick Salazar in the Democratic primary and former Rep. Ben Rodefer, who lost to incumbent Sen. John Sapien. (Sapien must now face Rep. David Doyle in the general.)
Two lawmakers who tried to go on to other offices failed last night. These were Eric Griego, who lost to Mcihelle Lujan Grisham in the CD 1 Democratic congressional race and Rep. Al Park, D-Albuquerque who lost his Public Regulation Commission race.
UPDATE 11:24 am. The first version of this post left out Sen. George Munoz as a Democratic candidate backed by Reform New Mexico Now.
UPDATE 2:45 pm Earlier versions of this post incorrectly indicated that Reform New Mexico Now backed Sen. David Ulibarri in his primary. And while the PAC did slam Eleanor Chavez in her race, it did not back James Taylor as originally stated. The text has been modified to fix those errors.
Undercover Reporting: KOB News Producer Gets Whiskey for Vote
Looks like Rio Arriba County politics is living up to its reputation.
KOB News producer Peter St. Cyr disguised himself as a street person in Espanola last week and got offered a ride to an early-voting center. He asked for a drink and got offered a miniature of Admiral whiskey. He also got instructions who to vote for -- state Senate challenger Alfredo Montoya -- who is running against incumbent Sen. Richard Martinez -- as well as incumbent County Clerk Moises Morales and county treasurer candidate Elias Coriz. St. Cyr was told he could have more whiskey after he voted.
It's all captured on a hidden camera. The whole story is HERE.
Watch below and don't miss the great confrontation between reporter Gadi Schwartz and political operative Elias Fresquez.
I think this might even be better than the Saints & Sinners brawl. (Both stories involve Fresquez.)
Eichenberg Joins List of Departing State Senators
Some incumbent lawmakers might not be coming back after today's primary vote. But one incumbent, Sen. Tim Eichenberg, D-Albuquerque, who was facing no primary opposition, took himself out of the running before any ballots were cast today.
Eichenberg just confirmed to me that he's withdrawing from the race and let the Bernalillo County Democratic Party Central Committee decide upon a replacement candidate. (Joe Monahan broke this news early this morning.)
He's not seeking re-election because of his three older brothers are ailing. One has cancer and one recently suffered a heart attack, Eichenberg said. Also, he said, his 87-year-old mother requires care.
Eichenberg says he knows of four who are interested in the job -- lawyer Daniel Ivey Soto, a past state elections director and lobbyist for the state county clerks association; lobbyist and former Democratic Party executive director Vanessa Alarid; and two political newcomers, Kevin Hooper and Scott Lefevre.
Whoever gets the nomination will face Republican Diane Snyder in the general election. Snyder is a former senator who Eichenberg defeated in 2008.
Eichenberg said that his major accomplishments in the Senate include passing the Government Conduct Act. He also chaired a legislative task force that recommended many proposals to consolidate government agencies -- though he said one of his biggest disappointments was the fact that none of those proposals ever got traction in the Legislature.
Eichenberg joins a long line of incumbent senators who decided not to seek re-election this year. Others are Democrats Dede Feldman, Eric Griego, and Bernadette Sanchez, all of Albuquerque plus Cynthia Nava and Steve Fischmann, both of Las Cruces. Departing Senate Republicans are Clint Harden of Clovis, Vern Asbill of Carlsbad, Mark Boitano of Albuquerque and Rod Adair of Roswell. That's a total of 10 out of 42 senators.
ROUNDHOUSE ROUNDUP: More on NMBC's Coss Attack
Note: The bulk of this column was written before news broke about the Reform New Mexico Now PAC, which is associated with Gov. Susana Martinez's political operation. Before this is over you're going to need a program to keep up with all the independent expenditure groups.
The House District 46 race has turned into an increasingly nasty spitball fight between Santa Fe Mayor David Coss and his supporters, and self-styled outsider Carl Trujillo and his supporters. While each side has relentlessly ripped on the other, one of the more curious attacks has come from an outside force — a right-wing group from Albuquerque.
The New Mexico Business Coalition doesn't think very highly of Coss. But, as I reported Thursday, they think about him enough to send out mailers to voters in Santa Fe lambasting Coss' performance as mayor. "Call Mayor Coss and tell him Santa Fe deserves better. He should return contributions from questionable sources, focus on jobs, reduce crime, and forget about a second job as a state representative," the mailer says.
It makes me wonder why a conservative, anti-tax, anti-regulation group would be so interested in a Democratic primary in a district that's so heavily Democrat (71 percent Democrat to 18 percent Republican) that the GOP didn't even field a candidate for the seat being vacated by House Speaker Ben Luján.
The coalition, according to its website, is a "non-partisan advocacy group that will openly speak the truth about business issues, public officials, candidates, legislation and regulatory policies." The website says the group will promote a "pro-business environment" in ways that include "printed information that will be mailed to registered voters."
OK, they say they're nonpartisan. Even though the coalition's principal officer currently is a member of the state Republican Central Committee, I can't call this a "Republican" attack on Coss.
But I also can't say it's not Republican. The fact is, we don't really know who's behind the group. As the coalition proclaims on its website, the group is a "501c(4) nonprofit corporation that has no obligation to report our source of contributions to the IRS. And, in fact, we will not disclose contributions outside of our Board of Directors, making your contribution completely anonymous."
On Friday, the coalition's principal officer, Carla Sonntag, defended keeping contributors secret. She said much of the cost of the mailings comes from membership dues, so, in effect, each member could be considered a contributor. She argued that the mailings are just a fraction of the group's total budget.
She also argued that when unions make contributions to candidates, they don't have to list individual union members.
Sonntag is also the director of New Mexico Utility Shareholders Alliance and has written op-eds for papers, including this one, in support of energy companies.
District 46 isn't the only Democratic primary in which the coalition is getting involved. A news release Friday pointed to several. The group heaped praise on incumbent Sen. Phil Griego of San José as well as Sen. Richard Martinez of Española. Sonntag said the coalition sent out mailers in Martinez's District 5 race, but not in Griego's District 39.
The group's news release also sang the praises of Coss' opponent, Trujillo.
As I reported last week, Trujillo also was the target of an attack by a group hiding behind anonymity. Something called the Concerned Citizens for an Honest Debate bought $440 worth of radio ads on KSWV sliming Trujillo. The concerned citizens don't have to report contributors because expenses were under $500. Later, a mailer surfaced attacking Trujillo, and it's also not clear who sent that.
In a way, these anonymous attacks might just be big chickens coming home to roost. Back in 2008, progressive nonprofits in Albuquerque came under criticism from conservatives for sending out "voter education mailers" highly critical of certain incumbents — mostly conservative Democrats — before the primary.
In this post-Citizens United world, I'm afraid this is the way of the future.
Coss Files Ethics Complaint Against Reform NM Now; Trujillo Distances Himself from PAC
Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, running as a Democrat for a House seat in District 46, is asking the Secretary of State's Office to investigate a political action committee associated with Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's political operation.
McCleskey
Reform New Mexico Now -- which is funded primarily by two oil companies who have been some of Martinez's major contributors, and which uses the same address as Martinez's political director Jay McCleskey -- last week sent mailers in support of Coss' Democratic primary opponent Carl Trujillo.
In his letter to Duran, dated today, Coss points out that in a campaign finance report filed last week, the oil company contributions to the PAC were dated April 24. However, the PAC itself did not register with the secretary of state until May 29. According to the state election code, "A political committee shall register with the secretary of state within ten days of receiving, contributing or expending in excess of five hundred dollars."
On Saturday the PAC filed an amended report that changed the dates of the two major contributions to May 21 and 24.
"I believe that serious violations of the Campaign Reporting Act have occurred and request an immediate, formal investigation. I look forward to your timely response to this request," Coss wrote.
I just sent an email to McCleskey asking for comment. I'll update this post when he responds.
Meanwhile, Trujillo issued a news release Sunday in which he reiterated that he has nothing to do with the recent mailings sent by Reform New Mexico Now and the New Mexico Business Coalition.
" ... sometimes we get support from organizations who may have agendas that are likely to be at odds with our interests. And sometimes they may do things on their own, without our knowledge or our consent -- whether it's putting up a sign, sending out emails, making a financial contribution or something bigger.
"This week, we had a few interesting examples. Organizations that have independently done things without any involvement from us. For example, two organizations sent out mailers that were negative to our opponent. We had nothing to do with them, but there's nothing we can do to stop them.
"Unfortunately, the opposition has been using slimy tactics to insinuate that we are somehow connected to these organizations and that's proof that we have some kind of secret evil agenda."
Trujillo said while he's on record as being willing to work with those of opposing political views, "This does not mean that I don't have strong views on vital issues which are often in opposition to these big special interests."
UPDATE: 8:38 p.m. I got an e-mail from a Reform New Mexico Now spokesman Dominic Aragon. Here's what he said:
Reform New Mexico Now is in complete compliance with the law and, unlike other groups involved in these elections, we disclose all of our contributions and expenditures.
There was a typo in the initial report filed with the Secretary of State by listing all contributions as 4/24/12. We quickly notified the Secretary of State when the report appeared with that erroneous information. We were instructed on how to file an amended report and did so. The Secretary of State's office has informed us that we are in total compliance with the law.
This frivolous complaint by David Coss is a desperate attempt to distract attention away from the main issue in this race, which is whether Mr. Coss should be able to simultaneously serve as mayor and as state representative.
UPDATE: 6-4-12 12:38 am Jack Sullivan, who is challenging incumbent state Sen. Phil Griego in the District 39 Democratic primary, also has requested the SOS investigate Reform New Mexico Now. Apparently the PAC has sent mailers in that race as well. I haven't seen any of those yet.
Reform NM Now: The Plot Thickens
I mentioned in my story on campaign finances today that a PAC called Reform New Mexico Now, funded mostly by large backers of Republican Gov. Susana Martinez, has sent mailers praising House District 46 candidate Carl Trujillo as a future leader in education reform.
According to documents filed with the Secretary of State's Office, the group's major contributors are two Artesia oil companies that have been major backers of Gov. Susana Martinez. Chase Oil contributed $130,000 to the group, while Mack Energy gave $50,000.
Now I've learned that the PAC's billing address on a receipt from the Secretary of State's Office shows the group's address on Uptown Boulevard in Albuquerque to be the same one used by Martinez's Susana PAC as well as the governor's political advisor Jay McCleskey. (Tip of the hat to KOB's Peter St. Cyr who posted that receipt HERE.)
Interestingly enough, this is not the same address listed on the PAC's campaign finance report. (They used a post office box there.)
(And no, the rumors that it's also the same address Lee Harvey Oswald used on his Fair Play for Cuba pamphlets are completely false.)
Reform New Mexico Now has become involved in several Democratic legislative primaries around the state, mostly helping conservative Democratic incumbents. Heath Hausamen has a good story about the other races Reform New Mexico has become involved with HERE.
This is the mailer sent by Reform NM Now supporting Trujillo
Nice to Know Someone Is Reading This Stuff
Earlier this week, I wrote a story for The New Mexican about how low the turnout has been for early voting in the primaries in Santa Fe County. As of Tuesday, only about 4.5 percent of Democrats and 3.5 percent of Republicans in this county had voted early or absentee.
But yesterday, county Elections Bureau director Denise Lamb emailed me that the day after the article appeared, turnout at the polling place at the County Fairgrounds nearly doubled, while the early-voting places in Eldorado and Pojoaque showed healthy increases also.
Lamb said poll workers at the fairgrounds reported that several people who voted there said my story was what sparked them to vote.
By the way, as a registered Declined to State, I don't have a dog in this fight. As I noted in the story:
Of the 17,085 people registered as "declined to state" (independent) voters and the 2,155 registered as members of other parties, exactly zero have voted early. That's because they aren't allowed to vote in the primaries, even though primary elections are paid for with tax money. Independents and third-party members make up 20 percent of Santa Fe County's registered voters.
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Gawad Nabi is the Founder and CEO of Guardian Group. Gawad has sought out experts within various industries and brought them together under one Group to deliver something truly unique to the local Australian community.
As a member of the Association of Financial Advisers (AFA), Gawad has been providing financial advice since 2012 and has qualifications and training in providing professional advice in a multitude of business and finance related matters.
Gawad is financial services industry experienced and is competent and compliant with relevant industry education, both through formal education (RG146 as a minimum) as well as continuing ongoing education and training. Details of his years of experience as an authorised representative, specialist and general qualifications can be found on the Financial Adviser Register on the ASIC website.
Gawad has over 15 years of experience as an entrepreneur, and in fact, his first business began when he was only 7 years old. He has expertise in saving small businesses and capturing the essence of what makes a business successful. Gawad is a serial entrepreneur and has helped start and scale several businesses within the Financial Industry and currently does consultancy to help troubled businesses in a variety of industries.
Having earnt the nickname "the ripplemaker" within his industry, Gawad began a new journey to create a ripple within the Real Estate Industry, combining services from the Financial Planning, Finance and real estate sectors he recognised a distinct lack of focus on the customer in these industries and decided to change that with a highly skilled and experienced team and the ethos of "dont be surprised if you make a profit by providing a good service" and making important connections within these industries and introducing powerful partnerships and alliances with industry leaders allowing Guardian Group Corporation to be born.
Guardian Group Corporation, deliver a full service to its customers, Which is captured in the company tag line, 'Your Life, Your Future, Together, Our Journey. Guardian Group champions a spirit of "to serve" rather then "to sell".


text:
Autoantibody to apolipoprotein A-1 in hepatitis C virus infection: a role in atherosclerosis?
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Simon Bridge, Emeritus Professor Margaret Bassendine
© 2018 The Author(s) Background/purpose: One to three per cent of the world's population has hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, which is not only a major cause of liver disease and cancer but also associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis, despite an ostensibly favourable lipid profile. Autoantibodies are frequent in HCV infection and emerging evidence shows that autoantibodies could be valuable for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk stratification. This study investigated a novel independent biomarker of CVD, autoantibodies to apolipoprotein A-1 (anti-apoA-1 IgG) and lipids in patients with chronic HCV before, during and after direct-acting anti-viral (DAA) therapy. Methods: Eighty-nine blinded serum samples from 27 patients with advanced chronic HCV were assayed for lipids and anti-apoA-1 IgG by ELISA. Results: Pre-treatment HCV viral load correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, r = 0.417; p = 0.042) and negatively with apolipoprotein (apo)B (r = − 0.497; p = 0.013) and markers of CVD risk, the apoB/apoA-1 ratio (r = − 0.490; p = 0.015) and triglyceride level (TG)/HDL-C ratio (r = − 0.450; p = 0.031). Fourteen (52%) of 27 patients had detectable anti-apoA-1 IgG autoantibodies pre-treatment; only two became undetectable with virological cure. Autoantibody-positive sera had lower apoA-1 (p = 0.012), HDL-C (p = 0.009) and total cholesterol (p = 0.006) levels. Conclusions: This is the first report of the presence of an emerging biomarker for atherosclerosis, anti-apoA-1 IgG, in some patients with HCV infection. It may be induced by apoA-1 on the surface of HCV lipoviral particles. The autoantibodies inversely correlate with apoA-1 and HDL levels and may render HDL dysfunctional. Whether these hypothesis-generating findings have clinical implications in HCV patients requires further study.
Author(s): Bridge SH, Pagano S, Jones M, Foster GR, Neely D, Vuilleumier N, Bassendine MF
Journal: Hepatology International
Publisher: Springer India
URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12072-018-9842-5


text:
module RCL.Services where

-- imports

import           RCL.Types

-- exported types

data Services m = Services {
  querant :: QueryURL -> m RawData
  }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


He was an inspiration to the then young Robert Johnson. His music was often described as the Deepest and Darkest of all the Blues, eerie. mesmerizing down right haunting. His vocal style featured his falsetto phrases. His guitar playing was based mostly on open tunings, in G and D minor.
John Cephas begins each tape with a very thorough explanation of all the licks and signature moves Skip James used. Chord progressions and turn arounds, bass runs, and tuning to D minor is all explained. John sings each song he teaches several times and explains how to train your voice to get the falsetto sound. Clear close up shots of each hand and picture in picture techniques are used so the viewer won't miss a lick.
John style of teaching breaks down each move very slowly multiple times, and he constantly tells the student which finger is on what string. John has been teaching guitar for decades and it shows, in all his videos.


Our Freedom to smoke cigars is hanging in the balance. As the FDA's decision whether or not to heavily regulate premium cigars looms, more and more people are joining in the fight the keep the government's hands out of our local smoke shops and humidors.
We are reminded of a time when our great nation was on the verge of birth when every person from every walk of life had the opportunity to stand up for freedom and make a difference. Paul Revere was among those who answered the call with selfless courage and made his mark on history. 262 celebrates that passion with our 3rd full release line, the Revere.
Paul was not a member of the political high class, nor was he a great military leader. Although he did serve some time in the military, Revere was an average, blue collar, working class citizen. But, it was his passion for the American Experiment and his sincere belief in freedom and liberty that drove him from obscurity to national hero.
Paul Revere saw his opportunity to play a part. He was tasked with a specific mission, and through dark of night, many altercations with the enemy, and under penalty of death, Revere and others like him played a pivotal role in America's success in the Revolutionary War.
We christened the Revere in celebration of this passionate spirit. We also hope to inspire this spirit in others as we fight to keep the government out of our humidors. We must stand together, stand strong, and stand free.
Will you sit idly by or join the revolution?
The 262 REVERE is a Nicaraguan puro with a wrapper from the Jalapa Valley, a double binder of both Jalapa and Estelí tobacco, and the filler is a combination of Estelí, Condega and Jalapa tobaccos. The Revere will ship to 262 retailers in the Fall of 2012.