Democracy for New Mexico

Los Lunas, 9/1: Social Security Town Hall Meeting

AN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
NEW MEXICANS UNITED TO PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY TOWN HALL MEETING

All are invited:
Students, Retirees, Senior Citizens, Labor and Communities

University of New Mexico Valencia County Campus,
Student Community Center
280 La Entrada
Los Lunas, New Mexico 87031
505-925-8560
September 1, 2005, Thursday 12:00 – 2:00 PM

Panel and Special Guests
Refreshment will be provided
Contact:
Michelle Mares 505-306-2157
Bonnie Greathouse 505-319-9023
Rose Peters 505-400-2904

NM Recount Case Hearing Monday at NM Supreme Court

From Holly Jacobson and Voter Action NM:
Oral arguments for the NM recount lawsuit are being heard at 9 AM, Monday, August 29, 2005 at the NM State Supreme Court, 237 Don Gaspar Avenue, Santa Fe. John Boyd will be arguing the case.

This should be interesting for anyone concerned about election reform issues and could impact how recounts are handled in future elections.

Open to the public.
****************
From Charlie Strauss and Verified Voting NM:
Mary-Charlotte did an interview with Will Doherty of Verified Voting.org, which will air on Monday, August 29th. 8:05 AM on KSFR, 90.7 FM, Santa Fe Public Radio. You can listen online too.

MUST SEE: Comedy Show to Benefit Living Wage Campaign

Tuesday, September 6th

8-9PM

Gorilla Tango Theater

With Special Guest Eric Griego

All proceeds to benefit Albuquerque Living Wage Campaign

Click for flyer.

REMINDER: Important Sessions on Development of New Nuclear Weapon Presented by Union of Concerned Scientists Next Week Around NM

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:
We wanted to remind you that next week the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) will be in your area talking with activists and supporters about our government’s dangerous proposal to build new nuclear weapons. Please see the schedule below for details. We hope to see you there!

Learn About Misguided U.S. Plans to Develop a New Nuclear Weapon!

During the last week of August, Dr. Robert Nelson, a physicist from the Union of Concerned Scientists, will give a series of presentations in New Mexico about the government’s proposal to build a new nuclear weapon—the “Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator” (RNEP). Numerous scientific critiques, including one by the National Academy of Science, have found that in many cases such a weapon would be ineffective. In addition, the nuclear blast and radioactive fall-out could kill millions of innocent people in surrounding areas.

New Mexicans can play an important role in influencing the fate of this weapon because Senator Pete Domenici chairs the committee that funds RNEP development.

Please join us in Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro or (NEW) Las Cruces. Check the schedule posted on the UCS website for additional venues or changes. If you have questions, please contact us at globalsecurity@ucsusa.org or telephone 202-331-5422.

Currently scheduled events:

Taos
Monday, August 29
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Enos Garcia Elementary School
305 Don Fernando Street

Santa Fe
Tuesday, August 30
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Unitarian Universalist Church
107 West Barcelona Street

Albuquerque
Wednesday, August 31
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Friends Meeting House
1600 Fifth Street NW

Socorro
Thursday, September 1
7:30 to 9:00 pm
New Mexico Tech
Workman Building 101

NEW EVENT!
Las Cruces
Friday, September 2
Brown Bag Lunch Presentation
12:00 to 1:00 pm
New Mexico State University
Room 229 Gardiner Hall (Physics Building)

Please invite your friends to attend these events.

Click to join the email list for the Union of Concerned Scientists.

YOU'RE INVITED: A Night of Music to Benefit Eric Griego for Mayor

Join us for a night of live music
to benefit Eric Griego for Mayor!
 
Live music featuring:
Red Earth,
Mystic Vision,
Elliott's Ramblers
and dv8.

Location: Sauce, 4th & Central Downtown
When: Tuesday, August 30, 2005
from 5:30-10:00 PM

Enjoy food, live music & spirits

Contact Tara at 224-9042 or tara@ericgriego.com for more information.

Contributions will be taken at the door.

Young Professionals Host Committee

City Councilor Martin Heinrich
County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta-Loeser
APS Boardmember Miguel Acosta
Josh Anderson
Diane Albert
Tara Aschenbrener Geise
Ozawa Bineshi Albert
Amber Carrillo
Jennifer DeGarmo
Gwyneth Doland
Brian Egolf
Josh Geise
Moises Gonzales
Michael Henningsen
Cheryl Hooks
Wade Irving
Tara Javaheripour
Jessie Keefe
Rachel Lazar
Antonio "Moe" Maestas
Gabriel Nims
Giovanna Rossi
Jared Saia

Click to dowload a pdf flyer on this event

Editor's Note: DFA-Democracy for New Mexico has endorsed Eric Griego for Mayor. You're urged to attend this event and pass the flyer on to friends, neighbors and coworkers. Only WE can provide the support that can make Eric Griego the next Mayor of Albuquerque! Visit Eric's website NOW to volunteer some hours or make a donation.

REMINDER: Crucial Valle Vidal Public Hearings

From the Coalition for the Valle Vidal:
Keep Up the Momentum – Turn Out for the Valle Vidal!

The Carson National Forest is Holding Public Hearings on the Valle Vidal’s Future:

Raton - Tuesday, August 23rd,at 2 PM and 7 PM
Raton Convention Center, 9021  S.3rd St., Raton, NM

Taos – Thursday, August 25th,at 2 PM and 7 PM
Taos Convention Center, 120 Civic Plaza Drive, Taos, NM

Santa Fe - Tuesday, August 30th at 2 PM and 7 PM
Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Ave., Santa Fe, NM 

Sign-in will begin one hour prior to each meeting

These hearings are the first opportunity for the PUBLIC TO PROVIDE TESTIMONY during this official “scoping” on the future of the Valle Vidal.  A showing of strong support for protecting the Valle Vidal is critical.

The Forest Service will provide the latest information on the Forest Plan amendment process for the Valle Vidal.  The Forest Service will also solicit verbal or written comments on the amendment process from area residents.   

Please join the Coalition for the Valle Vidal at these hearings and submit oral or written comments on:
    1.  How you value the Valle Vidal, 
    2.  Why the Valle Vidal is important to you, 
    3.  How would you like to see the Valle managed.         

IT IS VITAL that we tell the Forest Service that we want to see the entire Valle Vidal closed to leasing and development of oil and gas resources NOW, in this Forest Plan Amendment stage, and NOT in another, future Forest Service planning process.  The Valle Vidal is too precious to remained threatened by Big Oil’s wells, roads, pipelines, compressor stations, toxic chemicals and traffic!!

See  https://www.vallevidal.org/urgent.html for more information on effective talking points.

Written comments concerning the proposed amendment should be submitted at the hearing or sent to:
Carson National Forest
Attn: Valle Vidal Forest Plan Amendment
208 Cruz Alta Road
Taos, NM 87571

Or by email: comments-southwestern-carson@fs.fed.us "Valle Vidal Amendment" must be in the subject line of the email.

Comments are due by September 14, 2005.

For more information on preparing comments visit https://www.vallevidal.org/urgent.html

Learn About Misguided U.S. Plans to Develop a New Nuclear Weapon!

From the Union of Concerned Scientists:

During the last week of August, Dr. Robert Nelson, a physicist from the Union of Concerned Scientists, will give a series of presentations in New Mexico about the government’s proposal to build a new nuclear weapon—the "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator" (RNEP). Numerous scientific critiques, including one by the National Academy of Science, have found that in many cases such a weapon would be ineffective. In addition, the nuclear blast and radioactive fall-out could kill millions of innocent people in surrounding areas.

New Mexicans can play an important role in influencing the fate of this weapon because Senator Pete Domenici chairs the committee that funds RNEP development.

Please join us in Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque or Socorro. Check the schedule posted on the UCS website for additional venues or changes. If you have questions, please contact us at globalsecurity@ucsusa.org or telephone 202-331-5422.

Taos
Monday, August 29
6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Enos Garcia Elementary School
305 Don Fernando Street

Santa Fe
Tuesday, August 30
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Unitarian Universalist Church
107 West Barcelona Street

Albuquerque
Wednesday, August 31
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Friends Meeting House
1600 Fifth Street NW

Socorro
Thursday, September 1
7:30 to 9:00 pm
New Mexico Tech
Workman Building 101

Screening of Film on Navajo Battle Against Uranium Mining Set for Indian Market Weekend in Santa Fe

(Click image for larger version.)

“HOMELAND” AT NATIVE CINEMA SHOWCASE SPOTLIGHTS NAVAJO BATTLE AGAINST URANIUM MINING

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley, Jr., the Honorable Stewart Undall, Owen Lopez of the McCune Charitable Foundation and Activists Mitchell and Rita Capitan to Attend Benefit Screening on Indian Market Weekend

Santa Fe, NM  – A Navajo couple’s against-all-odds struggle to stop uranium mining in their hometown of Crownpoint, NM, takes center stage at the Native Cinema Showcase with the benefit screening of the award-winning documentary Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action on Saturday, August 20th at 4:00 PM at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail. Homeland, produced by the Katahdin Foundation , is the first feature documentary to take an in-depth look at the environmental hazards that threaten nearly all 317 Indian reservations across the U.S., and at the handful of Native Americans – including Navajo activists Mitchell and Rita Capitan – who are leading the charge in these new “Indian Wars.” With the support of their communities, these leaders are actively rejecting the devastating affronts of powerful energy companies in order to protect the environment for all Americans.

The screening will benefit the Capitans’ organization, Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining (ENDAUM). A reception will follow. In attendance will be Navajo Nation President, the Honorable Joe Shirley, Jr.; former Congressman and Secretary of the Interior, the Honorable Stewart Udall; Owen Lopez of the McCune Charitable Foundation; acclaimed Native American director Chris Eyre (Smoke Signals); and the Capitans – as well as Homeland’s director Roberta Grossman, producer Lisa B. Thomas and the film’s director of photography, Santa Fe resident Dyanna Taylor.

In addition to the August 20th screening and fundraiser, Homeland will also screen on August 21st at 6:30 pm at the Center for Contemporary Arts. For tickets to either event, please call 505-262-1862 or call Katahdin Productions at 323-337-1177.

For the Capitans, the fight against uranium mining is especially personal. They, along with thousands on the Navajo Nation, have endured the painful effects of post-World War II uranium mining. During the height of the Cold War, Navajo men were sent into the mines to work without any warnings or protective gear. As a result, more than 1,000 have died from cancer; birth defects on the reservation are five times the national average; and bone cancer is five times the national rate. In 1994, when the Capitans learned that despite this shameful legacy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had approved a permit to mine uranium just miles from their home, they decided to act.

“We’d never been involved in politics or anything like that before,” says Rita. “But with grassroots organizing and endless legal challenges, we’ve been able to block the new mine for nearly a decade.” In fact, earlier this year, after an aggressive campaign by ENDAUM, the Navajo Nation Tribal Council passed a bill that bans uranium mining and processing in Navajo Indian Country.

In addition to the Capitan’s story, Homeland presents three other dramatic, first-person narratives set against the backdrop of some of the country’s most spectacular landscapes. Gail Small, an attorney from the Northern Cheyenne nation in Montana, is spearheading the fight to protect the Cheyenne homeland from 75,000 proposed methane gas wells that threaten to make much of the reservation unsuitable for farming or ranching. Evon Peter is the former chief of an isolated Alaska community of Gwich’in people, who are working against current efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. And Barry Dana, former chief of the Penobscot nation in Maine, is battling powerful paper companies and their allies in state government to curtail the companies’ dumping of toxic wastewater into the Penobscot River, on which his people have depended for food and medicinal plants for 10,000 years.

Produced by the Katahdin Foundation, Homeland premiered earlier this year at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award for Best Documentary and the Fund for Santa Barbara’s Social Justice Award. The film is accompanied by an extensive outreach campaign that includes collaborations with a network of Native American organizations, social justice and human rights groups and environmental organizations. The campaign is coordinated by Active Voice, an organization that puts socially relevant films to work for personal and institutional change in communities, workplaces and campuses.

The Katahdin Foundation, whose motto is "changing the world one frame at a time," also enlisted the aid of several leading Native American environmental activists in the production of Homeland. Those involved include Winona LaDuke (Anishinaabeg) of the Honor the Earth Foundation and Tom Goldtooth (Diné/Dakota) from the Indigenous Environmental Network.

The Katahdin Foundation is a not-for-profit, 501 (c) (3) corporation based in Berkeley, California. Katahdin’s mission is to tell compelling stories often ignored by the mainstream media – stories that inform, enlighten, entertain and inspire. Katahdin is dedicated to creating high quality documentary films, ancillary educational materials and media projects that open minds, provoke dialogue and encourage positive social change – outstanding works that touch the soul as they sound a call to action.

Contact: Carla Lopez, 505-988-3552
amorgraciela@yahoo.com
www.katahdin.org

ACTION ALERT: Many Opportunities to Support the Valle Vidal

NRDC's EARTH ACTION:
The Bulletin for Environmental Activists
Special alert for New Mexico Earth Activists: Come rally to protect the Valle Vidal!

The Valle Vidal (the "Valley of Life"), in northern New Mexico's Carson National Forest, is one of the places that makes our state special. The area is home to hundreds of wildlife species, including New Mexico's largest herd of elk, as well as irreplaceable cultural artifacts and unmatched scenery and recreational opportunities. The Valle Vidal is also a vital economic resource for the state, contributing $2-$5 million annually to New Mexico's economy.

But despite its unmatched beauty, cultural importance and benefits to our economy, the Valle Vidal is currently threatened by oil and gas development that would irreparably harm the landscape and wildlife, contaminate water supplies and destroy the majesty of this special place for our children and grandchildren.

During the next several weeks, New Mexicans have a number of local opportunities to learn more and speak out about the need to protect the Valle Vidal -- please join us at one or more of the events listed below. 

Friday-Sunday, August 19-21
Valle Vidal Great Outdoor Adventure, Ring Place, Valle Vidal: Join in a weekend-long, family-friendly public rally that includes guided hikes, horseback riding, fishing and more. Speakers may include Governor Bill Richardson, Gary Fonay (former president of NM Oil & Gas Association), Joe Torrez (Valle Vidal Grazing Association) and others. Directions below. For more information, visit https://www.vallevidal.org/calendar.html or contact Oscar Simpson of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation at 505-345-0117.

Wednesday, August 24, 7:00pm
Valley Vidal: Valley of Life or Valley of Pumpjacks?
Randall Davey Audubon Center,
1800 Upper Canyon Road, Santa Fe: Join a panel of experts as they discuss what the Valle Vidal is, its importance to New Mexico and what we have to lose if it is sacrificed to natural gas industrialization. For more information, call the New Mexico Environmental Law Center at 505-989-9022, ext. 28.

Friday-Monday, September 2-5
Valle Vidal Trail Rides, Valle Vidal : Spend the weekend enjoying the beauty of the Valle Vidal! Guided horseback trail rides filled with breathtaking landscapes, lush grassy meadows, sparkling streams and wildlife are available all weekend long. Rides range in difficulty from easy to moderate. Directions below. For more information, contact Oscar Simpson of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation at 505-345-0117.

Forest Service Open House Community Meetings: The Forest Service is holding community meetings on the proposed coalbed methane development project in the Valle Vidal. These meetings are important opportunities to show our support for preserving the area. Two meetings will be held at each location, at 2:00pm (doors open at 1:00) and 7:00pm (doors open at 6:00).

Tuesday, August 23
Raton Convention Center, 901 South Third Street, Raton

Thursday, August 25
Taos Convention Center, Rio Grande Room, 120 Civic Plaza Drive, Taos

Tuesday, August 30
Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe
===
Please also forward this message to your friends and co-workers, and urge them to join us at these events as well.

And if you haven't already, please don't forget to send a comment opposing coalbed methane development in the Valle Vidal before the September 15 deadline. To take action, visit
https://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=52851

Thank you!
===
Directions to the Valle Vidal: The Valle Vidal lies northeast of Taos and northwest of Cimarron, and is approximately 15 miles south of the Colorado-New Mexico border. The campsite is approximately a 4.5 hour drive from Albuquerque, 1.5 hours from Cimarron and 2.5 hours from Taos.

From I-25 take exit 419 approximately five miles north of Springer. Go west on Highway 58 to Cimarron (19 miles). At the intersection of highways 58 & 64, take Highway 64 and go north toward Raton for approximately four miles. Look for a small green Valle Vidal sign on the right side of the road and turn left. Go west on the dirt road (FS 1950) approximately 30 miles to the camp site.

The campsite is primitive: portable outhouses and a limited supply of fresh potable water will be available; you should bring at least five gallons of water or more per vehicle. Nights can be cool (high 30-degree range), and rain is always a possibility, so pack accordingly and bring your own sleeping accommodations. The campsite is suitable for truck/camper, truck-horse trailer and tent camping. Make sure you have good tires and as a precaution we suggest you carry several bottles of fix-a-flat and a flat tire repair kit (plug type). Cell phone reception is limited to a lookout point on the side of the mountain five miles west of the campsite.

==========
About NRDC
==========

The Natural Resources Defense Council is a nonprofit environmental organization with more than one million members and online activists, and a staff of scientists, attorneys and environmental experts. Our mission is to protect the planet's wildlife and wild places and ensure a safe and healthy environment for all living things.

For more information about NRDC or how to become a member of NRDC, please contact us at:

Natural Resources Defense Council
40 West 20th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-727-4511 (voice) / 212-727-1773 (fax)
Email: nrdcaction@nrdc.org
https://www.nrdc.org

Peace Vigils in Solidarity Set for Tonight

Nationwide peace vigils honoring our troops and Cindy Sheehan's efforts in Crawford will be held at 7:30 PM local time tonight (Wednesday). MoveOn, TrueMajority and Democracy for America are supporting and helping to organize and publicize the events. More than 1600 solemn, candlelight events have been scheduled so far.

Many vigils will be held in New Mexico. Click to find one near you or create your own. As of right now, at least seven events are scheduled for Albuquerque, including large gatherings along Lomas at Girard near the First Congregational Church, at Mitchell Elementary Athletic Field on the North side of Comanche on city property at 10121 Comanche NE and at the Cultural Crossroads Sculpture behind UNM Bookstore. Events are also scheduled for Rio Rancho, on the plaza in Taos, on the East Side of the Capitol Rotunda in Santa Fe, Abiquiu, La Madera, T or C, Hillsboro, Silver City, Las Cruces and Farmington. No doubt more will be added throughout the day.

It's so important that this effort be supported all over America, so click on the link above and get involved NOW.