Democracy for New Mexico

Mayoral Endorsement Featured at Tonight's DFA-DFNM Meetup!

Tonight's DFA-DFNM Albuquerque Meetup will begin with an exciting announcement of our group's endorsement for Albuquerque mayor. The candidate selected by Albuquerque's active membership will be on hand to accept the endorsement and say a few words to attendees. Come on down!

DFA-DFNM Albuquerque Meetup
Thursday, August 4, 7:00 PM
First Unitarian Church Social Hall
Carlisle and Comanche

Click to RVSP or to join our Albuquerque Meetup group and get on our email list.

Our endorsement process began with a mayoral candidate forum in May and culminated in an email vote by our active Albuquerque Meetup members. Candidates were evaluated based on criteria that included their dedication to socially progressive, fiscally responsible positions, grassroots campaigning and core Democratic values.

DFNM will recommend that our national group, Democracy for America, founded by current DNC Chair Howard Dean, follow suit and add the candidate to their endorsements on the DFA-List Candidates for America. Democracy for New Mexico is loosely affiliated with DFA and supports its goals for grassroots organizing and electing socially progressive, fiscally responsible candidates at all levels of government. Click to learn more about DFA.

You're Invited: Sen. Bingaman to Speak on Medicaid 8/10

The Medicaid Coalition

PROUDLY PRESENTS

SENATOR JEFF BINGAMAN

SPEAKING ON

MEDICAID

Update: What is happening in Congress

WEDNESDAY, August 10, 11:30-1:30

First Unitarian Church
3701 Carlisle NE
(corner of Carlisle and Commanche)

Sponsored By: The MEDICAID COALITION

Local agencies who advocate for Medicaid services and clients

All are welcome – bring your friends
For more information call: Health Action NM at 314-0656

Get answers to your questions.

Senator Bingaman has introduced legislation (Senate Bill 1007) which would put a limit on Medicaid cuts. The administration is proposing $10 billion in cuts to Medicaid. This year NM will be losing $80 million dollars of federal funding.

REMINDER: Hiroshima 60 Years: Come to Los Alamos This Weekend

August 6th: Hiroshima 60 Years in Los Alamos, New Mexico
Sponsored by the Los Alamos Study Group and more than 150 endorsing organizations (including Democracy for New Mexico).

On August 6th, 1945, 140,000 people were killed by a single bomb at Hiroshima. Another 70,000 were killed three days later in Nagasaki. About 90,000 others died later in both cities. The bombs used then were built at Los Alamos.

This year, sixty years later, we will gather in Los Alamos at the Ashley Pond Park on August 6th to say "Never again!" This will be a historic event. Many of the 130 endorsing organizations, and more than 20 speakers, presenters and performers are participating.

Join activists and concerned citizens from New Mexico and throughout the U.S. at Los Alamos to oppose nuclear weapons research and production and to make a commitment to work for a political culture based on the dignity of the human person rather than the violent politics of fear, hate, greed, and war. The day's tone will be nonviolent in word and deed. Our aims are education, awareness, beauty and the display of nonviolent solidarity and power.

General Schedule:

8 AM: Traditional sackcloth-and-ashes witness organized by Pax Christi New Mexico.

10 AM: Welcome, music, morning keynote speakers, including Nuclear Age Peace Foundation President David Krieger, Father John Dear of Pax Christi, and president of the Global Resource Action Center for the Environment Alice Slater, and others.

12 PM: Pageant with thousands of sunflowers (the international emblem of nuclear disarmament), procession and delivery of sunflowers and international mayoral letters calling for nuclear disarmament to Los Alamos County officials, and aerial photograph of the sunflower display.

1 PM: Lunch/Local Speakers, poets, and music with afternoon speakers.

2 PM: Workshops in nearby buildings: "History of the Nuclear Era" and "Building a Post-nuclear Economy for New Mexico".

6 PM: Break for dinner.

8 PM: Music, poetry, and 3,000 floating candle lanterns, one for each hundred victims of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

All Day: Participating organizations will have information tables. There will be lots of time to network and learn.

Click for flyer. Click for brochure.

Nearby parking is limited, although there is plenty of legal parking in the Los Alamos community surrounding the park. Invite your friends to fill your car, arrive early and park legally.

Bring water, hats and sunscreen. For lunch and dinner bring your own food or grab a bite from the restaurants nearby (lists will be available).

To find out more about these events, to volunteer, or to help support this work, call 505-265-1200, email us at clong@lasg.org, or use the secure credit card portal at www.lasg.org.

Claire Long
Outreach Coordinator
Los Alamos Study Group
2901 Summit Place NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505)265-1200 (office)
(505)795-8025 (cell)
(505)265-1207 (fax)
clong@lasg.org
www.lasg.org

Editor's Note: If you can help harvest the sunflowers that will be used at the large display at this event, contact Claire (see above). This will happen in Corrales all day on Friday:

Help is needed to harvest sunflowers in Corrales on Friday, August 5

It's time to harvest the thousands of sunflowers now maturing in a field in Corrales and load them into a semi-trailer for shipment to Los Alamos.  Call us for the exact location of the field, and please join us on Friday (all day or evening) to help cut, bundle, put in buckets, and load the harvest of peace. 

The harvest will symbolically begin on Wednesday afternoon August 3. led by Mr. Koji Ueda (Hiroshima survivor, Assistant Secretary General at Tokyo Federation of A-bomb Sufferers Associations) and Mrs. Masako Hashida (Nagasaki survivor, board member of local survivors association).  The flowers will be at peak readiness on Friday and that's the day we really need a lot of people to help.  Bring gloves, hat, and if you can also some garden clippers (the small ones, not loppers) although we do have a some extra clippers.  Recruit your friends! 

Bush to Sign Energy Bill at Sandia Labs on 8/8

Soy Blue has the scoop.

You're Invited: Duke City Shootout Events Friday & Saturday

The Duke City Shootout, Albuquerque's thriving digital film fest, ends this Saturday with a premier of the films produced over the past week, award presentations to the winners and general partying. The gala event will be held at 7:00 PM at the Kiva Auditorium in the Albuquerque Convention Center.

Also, there'll be a "Keeping The Torch Lit" Award Ceremony Honoring the legendary Tom Waits (below) at 7:00 tonight, Friday, July 29, at the Bank of America Theater at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (4th Street SW and Avenida César Chávez/Bridge Blvd.) Christopher Coppola will discuss the creative process with Mr. Waits.

Many of you may know Tony DellaFlora (below), one of the festival's creators, from various political events or his years of reporting on the arts at the Albuquerque Journal and other places.

Visit the festival website for tickets and more information: https://www.dukecityshootout.com/

Welcome Vets for Peace 8/1

From Albuquerque Veterans for Peace:
Please join the Albuquerque Veterans for Peace in welcoming the Veterans for Peace caravan from California on its way to the national convention in Texas - Monday, August 1, 6 PM, at the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice.

Music, friends, fun. (Remember last year?  These guys are a ball!) Please bring a potluck dish to share and help give the California vets a warm NM welcome.  For info call 268-5073 or 268-9557.

More on Effort to Preserve NEPA: Rio Rancho Hearing 8/1

From Patricia Lee (following up on our original post on preserving NEPA -- the National Environmental Policy Act):

I received a postcard from The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance with further contact information for those wanting to attend the August 1st hearing on NEPA (at 10AM at Rio Rancho High School at 301 Loma Colorado) in Rio Rancho or to submit written comments.  Here it is:

In northern New Mexico contact Bryan (505)988-9126 X 157 or Jim (505) 758-3874 for more information.  In Albuquerque contact Sarah (505) 243-7767.

For written testimony which is due no later than August 10 you can send it via e-mail to:

resources.committee@mail.house.gov.

Be sure to indicate that you want your testimony entered into the record for the hearing on the Role of NEPA in NM, CO, UT, WY.  See information below for suggestions on comments.

For background information go to: www.sierraclub.org/lookbeforeyouleap

P.S.  More important info on the hearing as well as key points from the NMAC posting are listed below.

Everyone,

The following notice is very important. If you cannot attend the hearing, then please send in written comments. Word on the street is that the previous three hearings only had "invited witnesses" from the anti-NEPA contingent -- we can expect the same at this one. Written comments are important, because if they don't receive them, they can say that the public doesn't think NEPA matters. If you are not that concerned about NEPA, then consider the subsequent potential effects to NHPA and ESA. Gutting NEPA would be a precedent-setting action that this administration would love to follow for other environmental laws.
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NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (NEPA)  UNDER ATTACK?
URGENT - NEPA Task Force Hearing: YOUR PRESENCE AND TESTIMONY IS NEEDED!

The fourth of six hearings on NEPA will be held in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

Time: 10 AM, Monday August 1, 2005
Place: Rio Rancho High School located at 301 Loma Colorado, Rio Rancho, NM

* Only invited witnesses will be allowed to testify and no questions or comments from the public will be taken. Witnesses who will be testifying have not been announced to the public. Community members are allowed to watch and are encouraged to attend to show support for this bedrock environmental law.

Transportation will be available to bring you and your family and friends to the hearing and lunch will be provided! Call Forest Guardians @ (505) 988-9126 for information.

WRITTEN TESTIMONY AND COMMENTS ARE ALSO NEEDED:
Deadline is Tuesday August 11th.

Make sure your voice is heard by submitting comments into the record for the Southwest NEPA hearing. It is critical that the Taskforce hears from a broad range of local leaders, citizens, and organizations about the importance of NEPA to our health, our communities, and our environment. You are encouraged to submit comments and circulate this alert to other organizations that you are involved with (civic, religious, wildlife, recreation, etc.) and elected officials and urge them to send comments in support of NEPA.

* Key points to include in comments are below.

We have an opportunity to submit written testimony into the Congressional record for the Rio Rancho hearing through Monday, August 10th. Testimony is limited to 12 pages. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to submit written testimony. Be sure to indicate that you want your testimony to be entered into the record for the hearing on the Role of NEPA in the States of NM, CO, UT, WY.

If you want your comments in the official hearing record, you should submit them via email to resources.committee@mail.house.gov (or fax to 202-225-5929). Please also copy Congressman Tom Udall at fax # 505-986-5047

If you can’t submit written comments by August 10th, the NEPA Task Force will accept comments throughout all 6 hearings. Send your comments to nepataskforce@mail.house.gov and send a copy your comments to your Congressional Representative. Go to www.congress.org to look up your Members of Congress.

To find the e-mail address or fax number for your Member of Congress, go to www.house.gov to find Member websites.

Format for official comments:

YOUR NAME
TITLE (if you have one)
ORGANIZATION (if you have an organization affiliation)

Written Testimony
To the Committee on Resources
United States House of Representatives

The Role of NEPA in the States of New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming
DATE

Background on NEPA – DEMOCRACY IN ACTION
NEPA, one of America's bedrock environmental laws signed into law by President Nixon 35 years ago, is considered the Magna Carta of environmental protection. NEPA is the foundation on which all other environmental laws are built. NEPA requires federal agencies to study and disclose the environmental effects of major projects on the surrounding community and include the public in the decision-making process for federally funded projects.

To read about the NEPA Task Force, and to read written testimony from hearing witnesses go to: https://resourcescommittee.house.gov/nepataskforce/schedule.htm Written testimony is currently available from the Northwest hearing held in Spokane on April 23rd. Testimony from the Southwest hearing will be on the website following the hearing on August 1st.

More information on NEPA can be found at: https://www.sierraclub.org/lookbeforeyouleap/

Key Points for Comments

• NEPA is the guarantee that Americans affected by a federal action will get the best information about its impacts, a choice of good alternatives, and the right to have their voice heard before the government makes a final decision.

• NEPA ensures balance, common sense and openness in federal decision-making, it is an effective tool to keep ‘Big Government’ in check.

• At the heart of NEPA is its requirement that alternatives must be considered – including those that will minimize possible damage to our health, environment or quality of life. NEPA also lets Americans have a say before the government makes its final decision about a project.

• By making sure that the public is informed and that alternatives are considered, NEPA has stopped some damaging projects or made them better.

• Cutting corners can have disastrous consequences, especially when it comes to spending taxpayer money on projects that might harm citizens or their environment.

• There is no need to improve NEPA because it works.

Limiting public involvement and weakening environmental review won’t avoid controversy or improve projects.

NEPA saves time and money in the long run by reducing controversy, building consensus, and ensuring that a project is done right the first time.

NEPA’s promise of project review and public involvement must be safeguarded, not sacrificed in the name of speed.

• Explain why NEPA is important to you. You are encouraged to include specific examples of how public participation in the NEPA process provided critical input to protect human health, the quality of life of your community, and the environment, and how the choice of alternatives led to informed decision making and improved projects.

Historian to Tell "How Peace Activists Saved the World"

From the Los Alamos Study Group:
Albuquerque, NM – On Saturday, July 30, at 4:30 PM, Dr. Lawrence Wittner will speak on “How Peace Activists Saved the World” at the UNM School of Law, Room 2405. His lecture will detail the worldwide history of the popular movement against nuclear weapons and tell how activists and intellectuals played a key role in preventing nuclear Armageddon.

This lecture will be open to the general public at no charge.

This event is part of three-day authoritative seminar on the legal status of nuclear weapons and the history of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, as well as a review of the civil society response over the past 60 years. For more information: https://www.lasg.org/current/press/2005-07-26-Remembering.htm

Dr. Lawrence Wittner attended Columbia College, the University of Wisconsin, and Columbia University, where he received his Ph.D. in History in 1967.  Since then he has taught at Hampton Institute, at Vassar College, at Japanese universities (under the Fulbright program), and at the State University of New York/Albany, where he is currently Professor of History.  A former president of the Council on Peace Research in History (now the Peace History Society), he has written extensively on the history of peace movements and on the history of United States foreign policy. 

His books include Rebels Against War (1969, rev. ed. 1984), Cold War America (1974, rev. ed. 1978), and American Intervention in Greece (1982). His most extensive project has been a scholarly trilogy entitled The Struggle Against the Bomb, a history of the world nuclear disarmament movement. He has also edited three other books and written more than 130 articles and book reviews.

A longtime participant in the peace, civil rights, and labor movements, Lawrence Wittner also performs (instrumentally and vocally) with the Solidarity Singers at peace and social justice gatherings.

Contact: Greg Mello or Claire Long, 505-265-1200

Greg Mello
Los Alamos Study Group
2901 Summit Place NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
gmello@lasg.org
www.lasg.org

Seminar Offered by Los Alamos Study Group on Nuclear Weapons Law, Policy & Public Intervention

Albuquerque, NM - On July 29-31, the Los Alamos Study Group will provide an authoritative short course on the legal status of nuclear weapons and the history of U.S. nuclear weapons policy, as well as a review of the civil society response over the past 60 years. 

The course will be held in Room 2405 at the UNM Law School.  It begins Friday evening at 7:00 PM with a précis of the course from all four lecturers.  The course resumes Saturday morning at 8:00 AM with a 4-hour review of international legal status of nuclear weapons.  The Saturday afternoon session, beginning at 1:30 PM, is to be devoted to nuclear weapons technology and effects and to the historical development of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. 

At 4:30 pm Saturday, Dr. Lawrence Wittner will speak on “How Peace Activists Saved the World,” a lecture open to the general public at no charge. 

On Saturday night, the history of resistance by civil society will again be the theme. 

On Sunday at 9:00 AM, the last session of the course will begin with a review of current issues in nuclear weapons policy and will conclude with a discussion of the contradictions and challenges inherent in nuclear weapons policy and law overall.

This information-intense seminar is aimed a broad audience, including citizens interested in active participation in nuclear policy decisions; journalists looking for background often missing in the daily news context; attorneys interested in international law or in nuclear issues; and weapons complex personnel looking for an outside perspective. 

Study Group Director Mello: “The very strong legal norms against nuclear weapons have been enacted, often against strong state opposition, because of humanity’s moral convictions against mass slaughter and needless suffering.  These norms deserve our careful attention.  In the long run if not the short, nuclear weapons must give way to law, or law itself will fall to nuclear weapons.” 

Lecturers include: Dr. John Burroughs, Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee on Nuclear Policy, a specialist on treaty regimes and international law relating to nuclear and other non-conventional weapons; Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director of Western States Legal Foundation, a leading voice for nuclear weapons abolition in the U.S. and worldwide; Greg Mello, Executive Director of the Study Group, an expert on U.S. nuclear weapons policy and the U.S. nuclear weapons complex; and Dr. Lawrence Wittner, a SUNY Albany professor and former president of the Council on Peace Research in History (now the Peace History Society), author of the acclaimed three volume history, The Struggle Against the Bomb. 

The course is accredited for 8.4 general units of continuing legal education (CLE) credit.  Full tuition is $50 for non-attorneys and $150 for attorneys seeking CLE credit.  For those who cannot attend the entire weekend, single “blocks” of time (Friday evening; Saturday morning, afternoon, and evening; and Sunday morning) cost $10, except for the 4:30 pm lecture by Dr. Wittner, which is free.

Pre-registration is required; contact Claire Long at clong@lasg.org or 505-265-1200.

(Click image above for larger version.)

Next Ecumenical Voices for Democracy Forum Set for 7/31

From Ecumenical Voices for Democracy:

Citizens take action to prevent misuse of religion in politics: Forum Panelists to discuss Civic Virtue, Civil Rights, and Individual Liberties:  How can conflicts be resolved?

Ecumenical Voices for Democracy, a group of New Mexico citizens, organized to combat the misuse of religion in politics, is announcing its second forum on Religion and Politics. The event will take place on Sunday, July 31, at 2 PM, at the TVI Main Campus, Smith Brasher Hall Auditorium, Coal and University in Albuquerque. Get street map or see .

The forum will utilize a panel composed of religious, political and academic leaders. The panel discussion will be moderated by Reese Fullerton, a recognized expert in conflict resolution whose experience includes defusing conflicts in Beirut, Macedonia, and Northern Ireland.

Panel members for the forum include:

• Rev. Charles Becknell, Minister of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Rio Rancho.
• Prof. Rob Schwartz of UNM Law School and former Director of UNM ACLU
• Imam Isam Rajab, Imam, the Islamic Center and School of Albuquerque
• Dede Feldman, (D) NM State Senator, District 13
• Mark Boitano (R) NM State Senator District 18

Panel members were chosen for their ability to present diverse opinions, and their knowledge of issues to be discussed. 

In addition to the upcoming Forum, two additional forums are planned in 2005. They will deal with topics of The Sanctity of Life, and Poverty Issues.

Information on Ecumenical Voices for Democracy and upcoming events can be found at www.Evoices.org or by calling organizers Tom Solomon (505)856-1244, or Eric Elison (505)271-0271.

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Editor's Note: If you attended this group's first forum in May, as I did, you know what an excellent job they do in coordinating a lively, informative event with top-notch panelists. Be sure to check out their second forum on July 31st if you possibly can!