The Art of Interest Politics

Mikaela says:
Recently re-elected Mayor Bloomberg just spent $10 million compiling information about NYers interests in an effort to get beyond race and party politics to the interests that unite them -- that can be targeted and exploited.

This is a historic event for a few reasons:

1. It's the most money ever spent on polling.
   
2. It's the most extensive polling ever done.
   
3. It signals a shift away from "identity politics" toward "interest politics."

This goes beyond issues, beyond identity, beyond class or race, to group people based on not only what they care about, but what interest group their values put them in. This is really about re-categorizing people based on interest versus identity, interest versus values, interest versus ideology.

The strategy capitalizes on the idea of a "values voter" and mega-sizes it, parses it, and then ruthlessly targets it for political gain. Of course, that was the point of gathering the data: targeting voters.

Taken in another context, this could signal a radical shift in the political landscape, as well as a potential shift in focus of social and cultural theories. It's been coming for a while now. Seminal theorists in identity politics have argued for the last ten years that the debate should move beyond whether race or class is more important to an understanding that each informs the other to create groupings that overlap based on values. Both Republicans and Democrats have started realizing the importance of values and framing the message around them. That's not so new. What is new is a new grouping of people that categorizes them topically.

Here's what they came up with for Bloomberg:
The New York Times reports that a private firm compiled a vast database after phoning thousands of households, and some of the categories that emerged were as follows (and if anyone knows where to find all of them, please let me know, because this is PROFOUNDLY interesting and important):

• "FANS": Fearful and Anxious New Yorkers -- "lower" and "middle-class" voters interested in security who depend on New York functioning normally -- with social services and a service-based economy that can't survive under stress
• "MIDDLE MIDDLES": Middle-class people who believe that success is all about bootstrapping. Strong, independent leaders who "made" their own success do well with these voters.
• "CULTURAL LIBERALS": Voters who believe government should support the arts, so fiscal responsibility in other areas is important in order to have enough "left over" for cultural activities.
• "HOMEOWNERS": Voters who care about economic security of property values, aesthetics around neighborhoods, interest rates, and taxes.

As a strategy, interest-based grouping is not new. Negotiators and mediators have based their science on this art. It has long been recognized that getting people to negotiate across interests results in stronger, easier consensus than trying to negotiate across positions. Two parties can be diametrically opposed about how to approach a problem, but both can agree about the benefit of a solution. Their interest in solving the problem is the same, even if it won't benefit them both equally or in the same ways.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the political sphere, where politicians must eventually go beyond selling the problem to selling a particular solution. We can see a foreshadowing of how well that worked with the Bush Administration's desperate attempts to sell the public on the wisdom of occupying Iraq for the next ten years, after selling us so successfully on the need to invade in the first place.

Buyer beware.

This trend raises the issue for me of whether it's such a good thing for our politicians to know so much about us -- down to the magazines we read and where we buy them. On the one hand, they're supposed to represent us, so they better know what we're interested in, right? But if they're just going to use the information to target us in a marketing campaign -- "I care about what you care about" while artfully skirting the equally true message "I would try to solve this problem in a way that is diametrically opposed to what you would have me do, and which might actually hurt you in the long run, unintentionally and in more and more cases, intentionally" -- then shouldn't we be scared? Shouldn't we stop answering those surveys? What's the right balance between respresentation and exploitation?

Information is the new currency. It buys you elections now. Who will be "interested" next?

District 9 Webpoll

While you're at it...go over to SWOPblogger and vote in the hilarious webpoll about the District 9 City Council race.

TONIGHT: Wal-Mart -- The High Cost of Low Prices -- SWOP

Mikaela says:
If you're kicking yourself for missing the new Wal-Mart movie that was shown last weekend at the Guild, you have a second chance (don't you love it when life gives you second chances?)!

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices
Tonight, 7 pm
SWOP office on 10th and Park (near Java Joe's)

With great discussion afterward about the horrible labor practices by America's largest employer.

Don't miss it again!

Give Homage to the Petroglyphs

From the Sage Council:

Stand With Us!

March to Give Homage to the Petroglyphs

As the City of Albuquerque commemorates its tricentennial, a celebration of our multicultural heritage, it simultaneously begins construction of the Paseo Del Norte road extension through the Petroglyph National Monument, a Native American sacred site.

SAGE Council asks your participation in a March to Give Homage to the Petroglyphs, to commemorate those who have fought this 10-year struggle and to acknowledge the difficult work of sacred sites protection here and elsewhere.

WHEN: Sunday, November 20th, 2005

TIME: 1:00pm - 4:30pm

WHERE: The March begins at Pueblo Montano Park at the entrance to the bosque open space, off Montano just east of Coors.

The March will culminate with a rally at the Petroglyphs with speakers, prayers and song.

Code of Conduct

This action is our way of offering respect, honor and homage to the Petroglyphs.
We ask that people remember this is a spiritual event that is open to all people
of any race as long as they come in peace.

1. We will respect the diversity of all people who join us giving homage to the Petroglyphs.
2. Families are encouraged to join us.
3. No Drugs or Alcohol is allowed.
4. No violence – don’t engage in confrontations or arguments with bystanders not involved in our effort to give homage to the Petroglyphs

It will be cold!
Bring warm clothing, chairs and good walking shoes.

Elders and Disabled Allies
There will be a limited amount of parking right near the rally site. Please let us know if you will need this information.

Transportation will be provided back to Pueblo Montano Park. Restroom services available.

See www.sagecouncil.org for a map, and other information.

See you all there I hope.

--marjorie

Next best thing to speaking from the pulpit

Mikaela says:
I was about to be really disappointed when I discovered that the photo I posted yesterday wasn't a REAL church sign but rather a digitally rendered one.

That is, until I went to the site and started playing around with what I would put on a church sign if given the letters. Well, who needs plastic when the world has gone digital?

The fruit of my efforts (and see for yourself here! It's so fun!):

Facilitator Update from Africa

Mikaela says:
I'm part of an e-mail list of facilitators in New Mexico. An update from Africa shows the still conflicted professional efforts to work in disadvantaged countries. The kinds of role play and education workshops described below are innovative attempts to empower local communities to solve and resolve problems by strengthening their skills and knowledge of what's possible. At the same time, the trip described below was a few months -- dropping from the sky, helping with a few workshops, and hopping back in a plane to a plane to a plane and landing again in New Mexico.

Still, the work toward peace in countries on the edge or at the center of war is hugely important. Why NOT share knowledge with people who might benefit? But if you do, how best to engage as an American? As a white person? As a Westerner? Keep these questions in mind as you read.

[W]e are having a great time in East Africa. The work has gone really well and been very rewarding. ...

In September I conducted the two workshop in Uganda that brought me to Africa. One was with 60 educators from the area of Entebbe -- outside of Kampala. The people were so warm and enthusiastic. My hosts and my co-trainer were both extremely fun to be around and also very professional and organized. The workshop focus on conflict resolution and mediation in schools and the wider community. The role plays were a highlight (the enthusiams and acting beats any I have seen in the U.S.).

The second workshop was organized by The Muslim Women's Desk Empowerment Initiative. I was one trainer/facilitator among a host of local education specialist. We had one day with students and another with teachers - both from Muslim founded schools. I have a very positive, eye opening experience working with the African Muslim community.

I also connected with a Ugandan woman, Stella Sabiiti, who is well known regionally and internationally as peacebuilder trainer. She is a close friend of Mary Margret Golten. I invited her to conduct a half-day training on African traditional Methods of conflict resolution at our workshop in Entebbe. As a result of this experience, she invited me to co-train with her at 5 day workshop in Western Uganda near the border with Congo. We were working with local community leaders who are working to become peacebuilders and mediators in their region. The Rwenzori region had suffered from armed rebel insugency from 1996-2001 and many people had been displaced. They are now integarting them back into their communities.

The workshop was a great success, and it was extremely rewarding to watch and learn from Stella, who is a very dynamic and special woman.

I have also been fortunate to set-up a workshop in West Pokot (rift valley area) of Kenya in late November. It all sounds exciting I am sure. Of course it has had its challenges, but they have really been minor thus far. I am thankful.

When I have not been working I have reaped some of the rewards of what this land has to offer - lots of wildlife, Gorilla treking in the Mountains near Rwanda, whitewater rafting on the Nile from its source at Lake Victoria, etc.

Africa is of course a socially, economically, and politically tough place. There are many things that are frustrating to see. War continues in Northern Uganda and people are suffering in many ways. Unfortunately, the Lord's Resistance Army (rebels led by the now infamous Joseph Kony) are now targeting foreigners who are part of humanitarian efforts in the North. This hit close to home when two days ago a young Brit, who owns the lodge I have been staying at, was shot by rebels while driving on a remote road in the North.

New Ideas for Border Strategy

The Onion: Thursday, November 10, 2005

U.S. Immigration Fence?

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) proposed legislation that would call for the creation of an $8 billion, 2,000-mile fence on the U.S.-Mexico border. What do you think?

Joan Novak, Postal Clerk
"Can it be a 2,000-mile-long picket fence? That would at least look nice and seem neighborly."

Luke Hurley, Tree Surgeon
"Building a fence along the border is a great way to keep fat, out-of-shape Mexicans out of our country."

Curtis Boyd, Fire Marshall

"$8 billion?! I know some day laborers that could put up that fence for under 60 bucks as long as you don't tell them what it's for."

Global Terror and Global Communication

Mikaela says:
Small world these days, ain't it?

An m-pyre reader and rising grammatical star just called today's NY Times article buried in the technology section to my attention. They think blogs are the communique mode of choice in the Paris riots. Go bloggers! Go internet! Go technology! Take over the world! (Frankenstein rolls in his grave...)


Similarly, technology shortens the distance between two points, geographically and chronologically. I'm talking Iraq & America and Then (when he was a spy for Iran) & Now (when we fly him in to talk to Condi). That's right, lynchpin diplomat Ahmad Chalabi, who passed faulty information that helped Bush justify our invasion of a sovereign country and was later discredited and accused of selling intelligence to another country who hates us -- Iran -- dropped by yesterday for a little visit and gets high-level access to our government (why not? I mean, Karl Rove gives away secrets for free, and he gets to keep his high-level access and classified security clearance...we can't be hypocrites in EVERYTHING...)

And technology links global capitalism with two other important global phenomena: global warming and global terror. Our own champion wordsmith, President Bush, coins the phrase "Global Terror" only to be surprised that terror, too, can be outsourced, and it appears everyone's doing it. Paris, Annan, London months ago (although isn't it interesting that no one talks about that anymore?) ... no place is exempt.

Interesting that both "Global Terror" and "Global Warming" are controversial yet observable, highly destructive yet slow-building, and stoppable yet slipperty to solve. Interesting, too, that the causes are hard to trace directly; similarly, the solutions are hard to argue for.

The solutions most often proposed don't really get to the heart of the matter. Even if you believe in global warming, it's hard to give up your car or advocate for the U.S. to sign the Kyoto Treaty (ahem). Instead, let's recycle a little more and maybe if we're really wild and crazy, carpool occasionally with whoever drives the biggest car. Likewise, if you're worried about global terror, you won't agitate in the streets to stop the World Bank or the IMF, support your senators when they try to get the U.S. to stop developing and stockpiling the biggest military arsenal in the history of the world, or wonder outloud whether the presence of our troops in Iraq is helping or hurting the cause. You won't even stop driving so goddamn much even when gas hits $3.00 a gallon and you start to sweat that oil maybe did have something to do with this war. Instead, you stay silent, allowing Bush to declare war, send our soldiers to kill people and get killed.

Hmmm... Most of us won't give up our SUVs or attend a peace rally, but we will silently endorse killing people.

That's global terror, alright.

Some Kenyan official was on NPR last night raving about how terrorism is a foreign problem. Surely it can't happen there. Right.

But it did raise a flag for me. Wouldn't it be an interesting strategy to adapt what Maggie analyzed below -- reasons why America and France can both expect to be hit by chaos and violence -- to learn from countries who AREN'T currently experiencing terrorist attacks?

You could look at all the factors that we don't share and try to do more of what they do to keep terrorists from targeting them (or less of what we do to piss people off). I'm thinking Switzerland might be an interesting case study. They've got capitalism, so we wouldn't immediately lose our genial libertarian friends in this analysis, and they haven't been to war ... ummm ... let me demonstrate my ignorance, here ... in a really long time? ever?

So what do the Swiss do right?

• Neutrality vs. world bullying and outright attempts at world domination. They have that going for them for sure.
• Chocolate. Cause even the hardest of suicide bombers has to love chocolate, right? We're all human, afterall.
• The Alps. Make tough border crossings. Hard to angle planes in for attack landings. Plus, everyone's having so much fun skiing, no one's focused on planting slope-side bombs.
• Open border policies. If you can make it across, you're welcome across. Actually, I don't know that that's true, but it sounds good.
• A good economy balanced with social programs that help everyone to have a high quality of life and equal access to opportunity. That used to describe America, too, but I think we can all admit that's no longer true.
  
• Watchmaking. No, I'm not talking philosophy or religious ideology. This is really about focus on the details and the system and the balance between the two.
  
• Regular spottings of Big Foot. "Saskwatch" is scary. Let's be honest. Even the terrorists are terrified. Who needs neighborhood watches when you've got big foot wandering around? Who needs the FBI, CIA, and IRS spying on everyone, for that matter?

I think those are the real differences; don't you? What are we to learn here in the land of the free, the brave, and the silent, obese masses?

• Stop terrorizing the world. Economically and militarily.
  
• Be more like Willy Wonka and less like Freddy Krueger on the world stage. More chocolate, less blood.
• Move to Europe to be close to the Alps.
• Open our borders and embrace the children born here from workers who help our economy.
• Balance capitalism with socialism -- all for one, one for all. We can do it! Together! Cue the singing!
  
• Less intelligent design, more human design that's intelligent. We need to balance our emphasis on what's natural and what's human and stop forgetting about all the people suffering on the poor end of the spectrum.
  
• Capture, stun, transport a couple Big Feet and let them loose in Yellowstone. Stand back and watch peace flourish forever.

Leave the important questions to the Church!

Children born here Belong here

marjorie says...

Hi Folks: Life has been so hectic lately that I've barely had time to think about blogging...so, thanks to my fellow M's for keeping the Pyre burning!

There is certainly lots to comment on lately.

First, Maggie pretty much hits it on the head regarding the unrest in France right now. One thing you got to say about France, when radicalism rears its head there it does it in force. I will be very interested to see how that nation addresses the rights of immigrants and their children after this. I'm hoping they will offer anglos in this country some ideas about how to shift toward a more humane and open perspective on difference. Not that the reactionaries in this country would take note.

Obviously, we have some incredibly reactionary tendencies in this country. Case in point: the idea being floated around by Republican Senators to end "birthright citizenship" for babies born in the U.S. to an undocumented mother.

HELLO: While the folks in Kansas want to deny it, we *are* biological beings. I was born into this world with no choice as to who my parents were or where I would live. Vast numbers of children are born to undocumented workers in this country (workers who right now are rebuilding the gulf coast states) and they grow up here. Taking away THEIR birthright citizenship essentially makes them people without a country. We ALL have to speak out on this issue--it is one of the most profound issues we face as a nation.

Moving on, yeah, check out those people in Kansas. If I were a Kansas liberal, it would be pretty tempting to get the hell out of Dodge...but I'm hoping they will stay and fight. They need to organize. That's what it is: they've been out-organized. We've all been out organized. They did it with a long-term strategy, and we need to dig in and do the same. All of the children born in this country deserve it.

Watching Paris, we watch ourselves

Maggie says:
For a country used to congratulating itself for being one-of-a-kind in the best of ways, for celebrating everything that's “uniquely American,” the recent riots in Paris are useful reminders that we in fact share lots in common with our global neighbors. Our world isn't so big that our problems aren't universal ones.

Due to global decisions by powers that be, strikingly similar populations everywhere are subjected to discrimination and poverty by those with power. Most depressing, it takes "straw on the camel's back" moments that incite explosions in segregated neighborhoods for anyone to really take notice. As we watch France handle its own "Katrina will now make us talk about race in this country" moment, it'll be interesting to listen to their conversation, consider its lasting impact, and compare it to our own.

Similarities between us and France abound (to the heated denial of many a Freedom Fry eater, I'm sure). Here's what we both are:

• Countries famous for turning a blind eye to our race problems
• Countries with massive unemployment among our minority population
• Countries with residential segregation
• Countries with extreme neighborhood-by-neighborhood disparities, depending on the color of who lives there
• Countries where blatant stereotyping by the dominant group toward minorities and male youth in particular is common
• Countries with heavy-handed policing within its minority neighborhoods
• Countries where rampant discrimination, poor housing, and few job opportunities for its people of color are common

This list is the build-up to the Paris riots. But it's also the build-up to Los Angeles in the '90s and New Orleans this fall. This time, we watch urban riots from across an ocean. We see Paris - city of romance, money, and culture - exposed for what it is: a place just like our places, full of problems like ours. For the first time, many Americans are realizing that Paris is not just home to urbane smokers and art patrons; Paris is a city of immigrants, in a country plagued by discrimination, poverty, and few opportunities for those new arrivals. In America, in France, immigrants have left their homes for better chances and better lives, only to be beaten down at every turn because they can never really be Americans. They can never really be French.

They can't because our cities, our dominant societies, won't let them be. Those are our choices.

For every conservative commentator who believes that Katrina "proved" how out-of-control urban African-Americans are, or how unfit for proper French society North African immigrants are, we can only hope dozens of average countrymen are seeing fellow citizens pushed to the brink, pushed beyond what us "average" (read: dominant) folk could ever take, have ever been asked to take. Recognizing those different starting points helps us understand each other's breaking points.

From there, and only from there, can true change begin.

Technorati tag: paris riots

My name is Michael Brown, and I am a piece of shit

Maggie says:
Besides the obvious reasons to be anxiously looking forward to next Tuesday, otherwise known as The Day I Am Done With My Thesis, I'm also relishing the opportunity to have the time and mental capacity to get back to writing m-pyre-worthy analysis. Not that cute little quips about Winning's Coffee aren't worthy, but they're not exactly hard-hitting. This story, though, caused even me - overstressed, barely reading newspapers these days me - to erupt in a fit of outrage.

Seems that former FEMA head Michael Brown has been properly busted for being the complete piece of shit that he is. About damn time.

In what is nothing short of a remarkable public reckoning featuring some very private e-mails, Brown is exposed at his core - as a spineless, spoiled, heartless, out-of-touch bureaucrat. You know, a classic unqualified political appointee (in BushWorld, breeding Arabian horses somehow qualifies you to be FEMA director) absolutely unable to handle the real responsibilities of his job. In the midst of the House proceedings gauging the federal response to Katrina, Rep. Charlie Melancon (from a district just south of New Orleans) decided to expose Brown in all his glory, and expose him straight from the horse's mouth: by posting personal e-mails written by Brownie during the Katrina tragedy. Check them out - they're truly breathtaking.

Here's what we learn:

• Brownie's compassion and responsiblity about his role in the hurricane relief effort include the questions, "Can I quit now?," "Can I come home?," "Is there anything specific I need to do?," and the heartfelt, "I'm trapped now, please rescue me." Never mind that he was the one in charge of rescuing people really in need of help.
  
• In the midst of thousands of people losing their lives - and tens of thousands losing their homes - Brownie's real concern was, you know... fashion. "Tie or not for tonight? Button-down blue shirt?" A few days later, a staffer advised Brown to "Please roll up the sleeves of your shirt, all shirts. Even the president rolled his sleeves to just below the elbow. In this [crisis] and on TV you just need to look more hard-working." And when Brown was later complimented for looking "fabulous" on television, he responded, "I got it at Nordstroms. ... Are you proud of me? If you'll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you'll really vomit. I am a fashion god." Brings a whole new perspective to "heck of a job, Brownie..."
• These comments, of course, need to be considered against the deadly serious e-mails he was receiving but choosing not to respond to: e-mails with subject headings like "Medical Help" and detailing water and food shortages, the situation in the Superdome and Convention Center, and how to get relief to trapped residents. No comment on those e-mails from Brownie... must have been too busy shopping online at Nordstrom's for the appropriate Katrina relief attire.

To me, what's most appalling about these e-mails is the clear evidence as to Brownie's utter lack of leadership, qualifications for his job, and just plain human compassion. I remember watching the Congressional hearings a month or so when Brownie proudly proclaimed, "I'm no hero." At that moment, all I could think of were his children, who must have also been watching their gutless father tell all of America he's not a hero. Well, duh. Shame on him and everything he stands for.

It's easy sometimes to talk about leadership with a grand 'ol sweeping gesture, as if our only real heroes are all dead. I think what Katrina showed us - and continues to show us, as these e-mails reveal - is our modern dilemma of having real heros at work in our schools, or in hospitals, or in rescue efforts while juxtaposed with the absolutely worthless individuals placed in positions of power. In the context of the newest Supreme Court nomination, this lesson rings all too clear.

How did we sink this low? And more importantly, how do we find a way to rise above the criminal mediocrity of this administration?

Technorati tags: fema, michael brown, brownie, katrina

Mayor Marty Strikes Again

Mikaela says:
This time, in the dead of night. This time, Montano Bridge. Yessirree, boys and girls. Following through on his campaign promise, Mayor Marty has managed to re-stripe the Montano Bridge to 4 lanes. He's working on striping the rest of Montano from the bridge west to Coors. Silly historic neighborhoods are still in his way on that one, but they, too, will soon fall to his will. Nice summary in the Trib yesterday, with timeline of historic events.

Is it any wonder that two of the most controversial decisions Marty's made in his 100 years or so in office -- oh, sorry, just feels like that -- let's see 1, 2, 3, 4 for term 1, then 5, 6, 7, 8 for term 2 after 4 years of Baca and now 9 for term 3, my bad! -- okay 9 years in office revolve around serving Westside growth?

Hmmm... Is it just coincidence that Mayor Marty served as the Westside representative when he served in the NM legislature?

• Or that he's suspiciously tied to development interests on the Westside and along arteries connecting Westside residents to eastside business centers?
  
• Or that he was the Mayor in office when the 30-year controversy surrounding an additional bridge crossing in the North Valley ended with bulldozers clearing 100-year old cottonwoods to start Montano Bridge's construction?
  
• Or that it was on his watch that the 2-lane bridge that the neighbors, environmentalists, and Corp of Engineers finally agreed to was actually constructed to be wide enough to 4 lanes (even though that meant the EIS performed was thereby invalidated, making the Bridge illegal)?
  
• Or that one of his first moves after coming back into office was promising to re-stripe to 4 lanes?
  
• Or that he declared that intention publicly less than a month after a coalition of neighborhood residents and businesses came together for a community visioning workshop to decide the future of their area?
  

No matter that this re-striping goes against the City's own agreements to do planning studies and traffic improvement measures before moving forward. No matter that recent reports just concluded offer contradictory evidence about the traffic impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. No matter that surrounding neighborhoods are vehemently opposed to this re-striping and are trying desperately to get themselves organized and figure out what THEY want for their community.

Cause let's be honest people, who cares about residents? Who cares about neighborhoods? Not Marty! Well, okay, maybe he cares a little bit for the residents who live on the Westside who serve as his political base. Maybe they make the cut.

The simple truth is that Mayor Marty wanted what Mayor Marty wanted, and that's unfettered expansion of Albuquerque's Westside. Let's not muck up those waters with any other claims. He may say we need to get past this whole east vs. west debate, but as any traffic engineer or any resident living anywhere NEAR 4th and Montano will tell you, expanding roads only INCREASES congestion. The more capacity you provide, the quicker it will fill. Widening Montano Bridge throws lighter fluid on the flames of Westside growth pressures. That's the truth.

Thanks, Marty, for your visionary leadership and unthinking quickness to move on what you know is wrong in the dead of night.

When the traffic gets even worse, and the Westside sprawls even more, we'll all know who to thank.

P.S. Yes, a tiny little piece of my bitterness comes from needing now to revise the entire first chapter of my thesis. Had he waited and done things LEGALLY, I might have had time to graduate first... But my bigger bitterness is for the loss of quality of life and sense of place for the neighborhoods surrounding 4th and Montano, whose struggle to gain control over their own community just got that much harder.

Silly, strange meditation -- Bush in Freefall

Mikaela muses:
This thing is making the rounds in Cyberspace, but I find it strangely calming and therapeutic.

No sound. Just visual. You can also use it to get out some aggression, if that's what you need most.

http://www.yeeguy.com/freefall/

Does it get any clearer than this?

Mikaela says:
This from Washington Post via Democracy Now:

House Republican Measure Would Cut 300,000 Food Stamp Recipients
The Washington Post is reporting House Republicans are pushing a measure that would remove nearly 300,000 people off food stamps. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the number includes 70,000 legal immigrants. 40,000 children who would lose eligibility for subsidized school lunches. The food stamp cuts are one several measures included in a congressional budget cutting-package. Others include a $5 billion reduction in state child-support enforcement, and a cut of almost $400 million in foster care programs. The Post notes these cuts would be more than offset by the $70 billion in tax cuts Republicans will be pushing in the coming weeks.

Now, I know the Democrats are busy (or should be) on multiple fronts right now -- escalating deaths in Iraq, PlameGate at the White House, etc. -- but they better be doing something about this, too. This is precisely the type of low-down, dirty legislation passed while the American public is looking the other way. How on earth can you cut social programs at the PRECISE moment that inequities unveiled during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita started a national conversation about the government's role and responsibility in assuring equal access and opportunity to a decent quality of life for all Americans? How can they get away with this?

It is blantant and undeniable that this Republican legislation furthers their ideology of rewarding the wealthy for their moral/economic virtues while punishing those with inferior work ethic (because if you're poor, it's your fault, this being the land of opportunity and all) -- regardless of the reality that these are the WORKING poor who can't get hired at better jobs because racism and discrimination are real, alive, and well in all areas of the country.

Democrats -- pay attention and STOP THEM. Do you really want to make the victims of Katrina and Rita victims AGAIN, but this time of Congress?

Isn't it time to send a different message that not only will we help in times of disaster, we recognize that MOST times for these families are times of disaster, and we'll work to AVOID disaster together as a nation?

This makes me so unbelievably angry.

Republicans have got us chasing down each crisis so that we're distracted and ineffective, and they can do what they want -- with the war, with ANWR, with the Supreme Court, with social services... It goes on and on, but it must stop somewhere!

I loved the Democrats going on the offensive in enforcing a closed-session Senate until an agreement was reached to review intelligence information. That was great. And if they're ready to do it every day for that, why not for a lot of this stuff? The country is ready for a larger discussion about government responsibility and accountability. Well, at least, I know I am.

Winning's: CRP Coffee Shop of Choice

Maggie says:
As I sit at here at Winning's, sipping coffee and working on Draft 4 of my thesis, there's something funny going on: the Community and Regional Planning program is taking this place over!

Right now, there are four CRP graduate students here (three of whom are frantically getting ready to defend) and three CRP professors. All supporting community-based coffee, of course.

Happy caffeination...

Happy "We Didn't Elect Bush AGAIN?" Day

Mikaela says:
Here's where we were but a year ago: Maggie hoping against hope that the worst nightmare wouldn't come true.

Seems like longer, doesn't it? Time goes by slowly when you're in a funhouse of torture and eroding freedoms.

Surely recent events will continue to snowball toward his early removal. I'll go out on another limb and hope that a worse monster's not waiting in the wings to take over where Bush left off.

Free Trade Off the Table at Western Leaders Summit?

Mikaela says:
CAVEAT: I am not anywhere NEAR the resident authority on either Free Trade or South America and am very much hoping Marjorie will have time to talk about this next week once her masters degree is over (YEAH, MARJORIE!!), but I wanted to be sure to call attention to key quotes from today's New York Times article about the upcoming summit of Western Leaders:

Bush Faces Tough Time in South America:

• Polls show Mr. Bush to be the most unpopular American president ever among Latin Americans...
• [T]he feeling among many Latin Americans is that the United States is coming with little to offer other than the usual nostrums about free trade, open markets, privatization and fiscal austerity, the same recipe that has vastly increased social inequality throughout Latin America during the past decade. ...
• No country on the continent has suffered more economically in recent years than Argentina... .After an economic and political crisis in 2001 and 2002 that led to the collapse of its currency and the biggest debt default in history, Argentina is now the fastest growing country in South America, despite ignoring the guidance of the Treasury Department and the International Monetary Fund.
• "There is just a lot of skepticism and mistrust, because the United States continues to regard Latin America as a region we can take for granted, that has to go along with us on whatever we do," said Michael Shifter, an analyst at Inter-American Dialogue, a research group based in Washington. "But Latin America has changed and is behaving very differently on the world stage."
• A "countersummit" by groups opposed to free trade, globalization and Mr. Bush is scheduled to begin Wednesday. ... Mr. Chávez, the current hero of the Latin American left, said he would attend.
• "Bush is a torturer, a violator of human rights and a murderer, who does not respect United Nations resolutions, international treaties or the sovereignty of peoples, as in the case of Iraq," said Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who is one of the protest organizers. "He is not welcome in Argentina, and he should be repudiated."

Time to Fight to Protect Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Mikaela says:
Another war for ANWR brewing in the House and Senate this week. Time to dust off your letters and speaking points and contact your representatives and senators.

Here's what I sent to Srs. Domenici & Bingaman and Sra. Wilson:

Please protect our nation's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Your vote can go down in history as helping to resist the short-sided, selfish, and false efforts to drill in an irreplaceable wildlife preserve for questionable gain. We will destroy millions of acres of pristine wildlife ecosystems to extract an unsustainable resource that we should be pressuring our industries and oil companies to give up. For what? For a few years' gain?

Support instead research of renewable energies. Put pressure on oil companies to do what they are already capable of doing: providing alternative fuels for our industries, our automobiles, and our energy needs. This is not the time to lie again tot the American people about what we need.

What we need is freedom from ALL oil, not just foreign oil. We need to be free of pollution from greenhouse gases that worsen storms like Katrina and Rita that killed so many people and changed the lives of millions -- perhaps forever.

Take the long view and be thanked by the American people and especially New Mexicans, who even now are being poisoned by oil and gas exploration and extraction in your own state.

Your vote this week will decide the fate of the Refuge. It's no time to be sitting on the sidelines. Please help support the voice of reason and the voice of valuing our natural, irreplaceable resources.

Please vote to protect ANWR from greed and short-sightedness.

Petition to Stop Sam Alito Nomination for Supreme Court "Justice"

Feel like there's nothing you can do to counter the recent devastating changes to the Supreme Court? Does it make you nervous that we're moving from diversity to all white, all male, all Ivy League, all Catholic Supreme Court?

Here's the least you can do: Sign moveon.org petition today:

TO: Your Senators
FROM: (Your Name and Email)
SUBJECT: Stop the nomination of Samuel Alito
__________

Dear Senator,

The nomination of Samuel Alito poses a grave threat to the protections Americans count on, including basic workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights. We call on the Senate to stand up for all of us and reject the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Here's what I had to add:

This time of war is precisely the time to protect our freedom, and one of the tenets of freedom is our civic freedom of our bodies and the basic protections of the citizen from government oppression. Sam Alito is on the wrong side of these essential freedoms that must be protected at all costs. Diversity must be protected on the Supreme Court. Sam Alito is the wrong symbol of justice and the wrong nominee for our country at this time. His nomination must be denied.

Washington Post ROCKS Today

Mikaela says:
Check out these very important articles from today's Washington Post:

Diversity Gets Benched -- on the disappointment of yet another white, ivy-league judge being nominated to the bench.

Well, that certainly mixes things up. The first Supreme Court vacancy went to a white Catholic judge who went to Harvard College and Harvard Law School. The second, chances are, will be filled by a white Catholic judge who went to college at Princeton and law school at Yale.

At this rate, a WASP male from Stanford is going to look like a diversity pick.
...
I also find it disturbing that the drive for diversity has been so quickly, so blithely abandoned: Been there, tried that, now we can pick who we REALLY want. Diversity at the expense of quality is no virtue, but quality without diversity is nonetheless a vice.

Questions of Trust in the Briefing Room -- laying clear the case against McClellan as lying mouthpiece for the administration. Also shows the increasing frustration of the press, who (now are starting to) refuse to be megaphones to the lying mouthpiece for the administration.

After three weeks of telling the world that Harriet Miers was the best possible Supreme Court nominee because she is a woman who was not an Eastern Ivy Leaguer serving on the appellate bench, McClellan made the case yesterday that the second-best possible Supreme Court nominee is Samuel Alito -- an Ivy League-educated man from New Jersey who has been on the appellate bench for 15 years.

Worse, McClellan personally vouched for White House officials Scooter Libby and Karl Rove, saying that they had nothing to do with the leak of a CIA agent's identity and that anybody who did would be fired. Libby was indicted in the case on Friday, Rove has been identified as a leaker but remains on the job -- and McClellan says that, on advice of counsel, he can't say a peep about the whole thing.

Instead of explaining himself, McClellan appealed for understanding.

The White House Stonewall -- reviewing the day's coverage of Scooter-Gate/Plame Game and Another White Guy Hits the Bench

The indictment of Scooter Libby on Friday was not just an embarrassment for the White House -- it also raised serious questions about the way President Bush's inner circle does business.

But rather than addressing any of these questions, Bush and his aides are stonewalling. Rather than taking steps to rebuild their credibility, they are trying to change the subject. Rather than apologize, they are refusing to admit anything is wrong.

And yet something is wrong. Their credibility is damaged. And the questions won't go away.

Alito Schmucko

marjorie says...

(hey check it out: i'm still around!)

I think Senator Leahy's comments today pretty much sum up the Alito nomination:

Last week, the president succumbed to the partisan pressure from the extreme right wing by withdrawing the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. In doing that, the President allowed his choice to be vetoed by an extreme faction within his party, before hearings or a vote,” said Leahy. “This experience exposed the right-wing litmus test that they insist be used, rather than selecting judges and justices who will be fair and impartial in applying the law. They, in fact, demand judges who will guarantee the results that they want.

With turmoil engulfing the White House, with no way out of the disastrous and deadly occupation of Iraq, with a worsening federal debt, and with obscenely high profits that continue to pile up for the administration's big oil friends, catering to an extreme wing of one political party risks removing checks and balances for the majority of Americans,” continued Leahy. “It is unfortunate that the president felt he was in such a weak position that he had to bend to a narrow but vocal faction of his political base. The Supreme Court is the ultimate check and balance in our system that protects the fundamental rights of all Americans.

It's pretty amusing in a sick way to see these rightwing zealots go on and on and on about "judicial restraint," "not legislating from the bench," "strict constitutionalism," when in fact, they are *only* satsified by someone who *will* legislate from the bench. They are complete hypocrites.

Make no mistake: all of those catch-phrases are code for an ultra-conservative who will impose a conception of the world on the rest of us that is derived from fundamentalist christianity.

Let's be clear: Rolling back Roe v Wade would be legislating from the bench...because a woman's right to privacy is overwhelmingly accepted as law in our society.

And on the point that Leahy and other Democrats confirmed Alito 15 years ago: Yeah, and its a good thing we all have the potential to learn from our mistakes. We have 15 years of legal cases that show what a rightwing zealot he is.

Any Democrat that votes to confirm Alito deserves to lose his seat, pure and simple. In the coming weeks we'll all see who is who in the Democratic Party. Let's hope it isn't a bloodbath.

Iraq Timebomb: 2,000 American deaths and counting

Mikaela says:
New York Times has beautiful page of American soldiers killed in Iraq -- pictures and personal details that help to remind us of the human cost of this war.

In this sea of lies and deceptions, this truth stands very stark, very undeniable: We're sending soldiers to their deaths. We're not improving the situation for Iraqis. Things are not getting better. People continue to die.

The stated mission for invasion was a lie. The next stated mission has not come to pass: democracy in Iraq is still a sham, still in shambles. And the latest stated mission -- peace in the Middle East -- was dealt another blow with the recent bombing in India.

We're outsourcing terror faster than we can deploy troops (which this week hit the highest level in Iraq at any point during the invasion or occupation).

The following cartoon was created by Mike Luckovich for the Atlanta Constitution Journal 10/26/05, printed enlarged so that you can read each of the 2,000 names of the American soldiers killed. You can print a full-size version with legible names here.


What can be done? Anyone got a bright idea? Cause I'm in the dark, and all I can see is tragedy and cowardice. Who will lead us into the light and toward peace? What will it take to change the tide?

Bush Regrets Letting Scooter Go

Mikaela says:
Today Bush gave an unscheduled "press conference" to announce his acceptance of Scooter Libby's resignation.

Here's my very loose and wildly inaccurate but meant-to-be-funny transcription (If you're a stickler for truth or a buff for history, see the real thing here) of Bush, speaking from the White House south lawn:

Scooter’s worked tirelessly to deceive the American People and now we’ve asked him to sacrifice much to the service of this country’s fascist leaders. Wait, that's me! No, that's okay, I am. I take that as a compliment about my strength and tenacity.

He served the Vice President and me through extralegal times in this Nation’s history.

Special Council Fitzgerald’s investigation and ongoing legal proceedings are serious, kinda. Okay super-serious. And we’re scared shitless now the process moves into a new phase.

In our system, each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process in a fair trial.

• Well, unless you’re in GitMo. Hehehe.
• Or an enemy of the President. Hehehe.
  
• And until I can get the last of my minions seated on the Court, at which time we’ll do away with the time waste that is “due process” and just send people straight to detention centers as enemy combatants.

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. I’m here to talk about Scooter Libby – one of my loyalists, and no one would ever dare to imply that he’s not one of my loyalists and therefore a friend of the State.

• Well, except those pinko commie liberals who value things like “freedom” and “civil rights” in this country,
  
• but you know and I know they’re a dying breed. Or will be soon. Hehehe.

While we are all saddened by today’s news,

• (and if you’re not, we will round you up like the political dissidents and unpatriotic criminals that you are and send you to GitMo, as I said before)

we

• (and by we I mean, the few staffers that I can still convince to stay on the job because really, they’ve already proven themselves loyal to the worst of abusers of government corruption and secrecy, so where are they gonna go? Who else would possibly hire them, right? Am I right or am I right? GodDAMN I like being right. Gotta savor the moments when they come. But I digress…)

we remain wholly focused on the many issues and opportunities facing this country.

• (Mainly the challenges, though, cause let's face it, there are more of those!)

I have a job to do and so do the people in this White House.

• (At least until the next phase of Fitzgerald’s investigation.)

We got a job to pull on the American people, and that’s what I’ll work hard to do.

I look forward to working with Congress to keep this economy moving forward for my richest friends.

Pretty soon I’ll be naming somebody to the Supreme Court.

• What’s that? No, that wasn’t a slip up. I’ve decided to dispense with the nomination process and just name someone directly to the bench.
• Who’s gonna stop me? The Democrats? Don’t make me laugh. Even with this fiasco handed to them on a silver platter, they can’t even pull themselves together long enough to point a gilded finger at me. Fuck them. I want the Court I want, and I want it now.
• Can't even rely on my own damn right wing to support me? I'll do it alone. Everyone knows I LOVE to be a cowboy. And if there are cameras rolling, then I'm even playing one an tv. Hehehe.

Anyway, enough of this. I’ve got a great vacation planned this weekend at Camp David. Rove’s coming up, too. We’re gonna play strip poker and then watch re-runs of Libby limping to his car from the White House and beat off. Oh, god. Good times. I can’t wait. No time for questions! Tootles.

Putting Humpty-Dumpty Together Again

Mikaela says:
While the President's advisor, Karl Rove, has been momentarily spared from indictment, he's still on the firing squad wall.

It is VERY unclear what will happen with the Grand Jury investigation now, but if the worst happens, and nothing else comes of this, it's going to take a whole helluva lot of the King's Horses and all ALL of the King's men to put this Humpty-Dumpty together again.

Today's quote from the Washington Post will not help him. You'd think today would be a day for humility and gratitude for having been spared and humbled in the scene of the sacrifice of his compatriot, Scooter Libby, to be the fall guy. But no, here's what good ole Karl said to reporters on the way to work this morning:

"I am going to have a great Friday and a fantastic weekend and hope you do too."

What a pompous ass. He may not be a perjurer. He may not have been proven to have done anything illegal -- yet (he's certainly implicated up to his big thick neck!) -- but DAMN. What an asshole.

The First of All the Emperor's Men Falls

Mikaela intones:
Lewis "Scooter" Libby has resigned after being indicted for obstruction of justice and perjury in the Grand Jury investigation about the illegal uncovering of a CIA agent.

From NY Times transcript of Fitzgerald's Press Conference:

"The grand jury's indictment charges that Mr. Libby committed five crimes. The indictment charges one count of obstruction of justice of the federal grand jury, two counts of perjury and two counts of false statements."

Patrick Fitzgerald is the newest American hero.

At the very least, he's a new one of mine. His plain-spoken and straightforward exposition of the initial results of his 2-year investigation enters him into the Pantheon of public figures who take on power and win for the little guy. Here's to justice.

Here's to a dark day in American history. Let's hope he's the first domino of the Emperor's Yes Men to take the fall, start the dominos of facts coming to light, and knocking down all the liars and players in the path that leads straight to the heart of the White House. What's at the center of this labrynth? We can only speculate. And fear.

Formerly Mired and Newly Tire-Tracked Miers Mapped

Mikaela says:
Washington Post has an EXCELLENT article on the Miers Supreme Court nomination debacle.
Chief points to consider (edited for length):

In the beginning:

Day after day, colleagues from the Bush administration grilled her ... in practice sessions meant to mimic Senate hearings. Her uncertain, underwhelming responses left her confirmation managers so disturbed they decided not to open up the sessions to the friendly outside lawyers they usually invite to participate in prepping key nominees.

When Bush floated the idea of her nomination to conservatives:

"All of us who were supporting the White House on this expressed that this isn't a cakewalk," said another lawyer advising the Bush team on the Miers nomination. Others flatly protested and warned against naming her. Miers had not been prominent on anyone's short list but Bush's.

When Rove was still focused on his job:

Recognizing that conservatives might not find Miers exciting, Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove tried to lock up a few important figures who would back her, mainly James C. Dobson, head of the evangelical Focus on the Family. As Dobson later recalled it, Rove assured him "that Harriet Miers is an evangelical Christian [and] that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life." That was enough for Dobson, and Dobson's blessing was enough for Rove.

But Rove was distracted with his own legal troubles:

In the past, the White House had been able to tamp down conservative unrest over Bush policies on federal spending, Medicare and immigration. But Rove, the president's chief enforcer and ambassador to the right, was recalled to appear before the grand jury investigating the leaking of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name, and insiders differ over how involved he really was able to be.

The growing discomfort by conservatives coupled with the lack of leadership (embroiled in legal implications of national security breaches and obstruction of the Grand Jury investigation) from the White House led to more and more people jumping ship on Miers' nomination:

Usually, he said, "the White House rolls out the big guns and everyone pretty much falls in line." But a call from Rove left William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, unpersuaded this time.

Pop goes the weasel.

But here's my question: If the vetting & nomination process uncovered her basic ineptitude and lack of knowledge, clarity, or nuance surrounding the Constitution, doesn't that cast shadows of doubt on whether she's even qualified to be White House attorney, much less a Supreme Court Justice? Especially with the White House so deep in legal trouble?

I think as long as they're searching for a new Chief of Staff for the Vice President, they should fish around for a new White House attorney, too.

HINT: Find someone with some experience with the laws surrounding Secret Intelligence. Oh, while you're at it, find someone who knows a little something about the legalities of Presidential Conspiracy. Just a thought.

Housing Reform: One Vote - One Disqualification

Mikaela says:
I was just talking to my students today about the history of Housing Reform in America, from the disastrous Housing Act of 1949 that kicked off the inner-city neighborhood decimating period of Urban Renewal to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 that provided Community Development Block Grants and eventually Urban Development Action Grants to fund much-needed intiatives for housing and economic development in our poorest neighborhoods.

We talked about how conservative administrations undercut these programs and left neighborhoods to once again fend for themselves in the unfair playing field of capitalism that stacks the cards against them.

We talked about how once you decide as a society

1. What housing conditions every person is entitled to as a basic human condition,
2. What the role of government should be in providing that for each citizen, and
   
3. What the right level of public investment should be to procure decent housing for each person,
   

then you have to figure out what the right method for dispersing public investment should be, whether:

1. Direct investment in infrastructure or public housing,
2. Indirect investment in businesses and/or capital markets,
3. Direct subsidies to put money/food into the hands of those who need it,
4. Indirect subsidies to/from local governments so that they can decide how to distribute it, or
   
5. Indirect subsides to non-profit and community organizations who can provide to residents.
   

What I didn't tell them was the most recent setback, reported today by Bitch Ph.D.:

The House of Representatives is/was supposed to vote today on H.R. 1461, the Housing Finance Reform Act. It supports creation of affordable housing. Good, right? Well, there's a little provision that's been tacked on by the Republican Study Committee to disqualify non-profits from applying for money if they've engaged in any voter participation activities in the previous year--including non-partisan registering of voters. In other words, this provision ties funding low-income housing to suppressing low-income voting. According to today's House minutes, it looks like a final vote on the bill has been postponed; do contact your Representative to ask them to pass the bill without the RSC provision attached.

Maybe it's just as well. I'm trying to get them to consider Planning as a viable career, not just a gynormous waste of time, energy, and talent in the interest of an impossible cause -- helping communities help themselves by empowering them to understand their own agency and considerable assets while simultaneously leveling the playing field whenever possible so that it's not all so incredibly fucking unfair.

Once again, the conservatives are way ahead of us. The fight goes on.

Dems Outmaneuvered Yet Again?

Mikaela:
I hope everyone's following the gathering storm over the implication of Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby in the outting of CIA operative Valerie Plame in retribution for her husband's outspoken contradiction of the Administration's lies leading up to the invasion of Iraq.

I won't go into it, but if you want more details, the New York Times and Washington Post have been covering the unfolding conspiracy (there! I said it!) quite well.

Now that it appears Rove and/or Libby will be indicted by the Grand Jury, newspapers are falling all over themselves to report how the Republicans, and more specifically, the White House, will "spin" this political disaster. What's the strategy? Who says what? Who agrees, and who has different ideas? (See LA Times, Washington Post, New York Times)

What bothers me is that in exactly NONE of these stories -- not in the New York Times, not in the Washington Post, and not in the LA Times -- does the reporter interview any Democrats. Why isn't the coverage balanced? And if the argument is that the stories themselves don't have to be balanced, then I would argue that at least the newspaper COVERAGE should be, so where are the separate stories asking Democrats about THEIR strategies to exploit this little political windfall to good gain for the country (although I'd settle for what they'll do to strengthen Democrats' standings in upcoming elections)?

Are they not covering it because -- and here's the big fear -- the Dems have NO IDEA what to do with this scandal? Are they going to roll over yet again and pass on this historic moment when they have leverage to insist on accountability from this secretive and manipulative administration because, well, why kick a guy when he's down? COME ON.

Democrats should understand that this is not just a partisan attack moment. This is a significant instance of the abuse of secret intelligence that put CIA operations at risk that protect the safety of this country.

Not only that, but this scandal is a precedent of the administration's top advisors conspiring together to MISLEAD the public about its reasons for invading another country, killing people -- women and children included -- privatizing its resources, and forcing an ill-fitting democracy made in our image and propped up by our military presence, which justifies our continued occupation for as long as we deem necessary.

We talk about Democrats needing to learn how to frame issues to speak of their values and prove to Americans what they stand for. Take this moment to prove that we don't give a rats ass about Rove and Libby as politicians; what we care about is their role in lying to the American people, the Grand Jury, and to the very bosses they supposedly are accountable to (if in fact Bush and Cheney didn't know of their activities, which I grant is highly unlikely)!

The LA Times reports that a recent poll shows most Americans are not following the scandal and don't even know Rove's name.

This is a damning indictment of Democrats -- who should be out there in front of the White House whitewashers to educate the public about the danger to accountability, security, and democracy that the country's top advisors put our country in for their own political purposes. If nothing else, we need to be talking about the safeguards to ensure nothing like this can ever happen again, no matter who's in the White House or which party rules the land.

Democrats: Start Talking! Get it together! We need you now more than ever!

Rural character wins... for now

Maggie says:
Last night's County Commission meeting was an important moment for community planning and represented a big victory for rural character and neighborhood rights. By a 5-0 unanimous vote, the Commission denied John Black's proposal to build a large corporate commercial development (Home Depot, Applebees, etc.) on a parcel of agricultural land in the South Valley at Rio Bravo and Coors.

This site is already infamous, as local planning types know, from the fight over the construction of a Super Wal-Mart at the same intersection. The differences are this: whereas the new Wal-Mart, which opened its doors just months ago, sits on an island of city-owned land, the Black site is on County land. This decision really becomes a fascinating point of contrast between City and County governments. What it points out is what the anti-unification/grassroots planners have been saying all along: the County handles development and growth issues much, much better than the City does. And to the pro-unification/liberal planner types who kept telling us to prove it despite the loads of anecdotal evidence already supporting our position, I say: the County Commission did that quite nicely last night, thank you.

The biggest differences between the Wal-Mart and Black cases involve time and process. Residents had barely any time at all to organize against the Wal-Mart two years ago; the process (in classic Wal-Mart fashion) was secretive, rushed, and seemingly approved before the process even began. One of the main reasons information was so hard to come by is that because the Wal-Mart site was City land and it was surrounded by County neighborhoods, proper neighborhood notification never took place. By comparison, the County has been pushing John Black for nearly two years to work with the community to fashion a site plan the neighbors could support. The Black process has been public, extended, and open. Not, keep in mind, because John Black chose to do it that way. His process was open to the community because the County forced him to open it up. And when he still wouldn't listen to the community and did his site plan the way he wanted to anyway, it was denied. Properly so.

These cases also show the extent to which the County Commission is making decisions based on local plans and the extent to which plans don't seem to really matter to the City. When it came down to it, whether or not Commissioners liked John Black or were swayed by the possibility of a big County tax boost, the fact remained that his development did not meet the requirements of the Southwest Area Plan. Enough said. Case closed. As it should be.

Just for fun, let's imagine what might have happened if the Black development was on yet another piece of annexed-for-tax-purposes City land:

• When County planners and officials complained to the City that they were sticking the County with all the unintended costs of dense commercial development - like roads, infrastructure, public safety, and more - the City would play the tax game, denying the legitimacy of County protests by saying that the County was just jealous they wouldn't be getting the tax boost.
• Plans? What do you mean? We usually ignore those, anyway.
  
• When County residents - the ones who actually live near this site and have to live with its consequences - started organizing, City officials would just scoff at them, talking about how "reactionary" and "anti-growth" this County's rural residents are, ignoring their smart pleas to move the development to a more appropriate location that the Southwest Area Plan would support.
  
• And then, of course, the City would also add that the residents just wanted the site moved to County land so the County could get the tax benefits. Since, of course, rural residents are so concerned about county tax rolls and just fake their concern for maintaining their rural quality of life.
  

Ahhh, planning. So messy, so political, so wrong so much of the time. Yet when it's right, it feels great. This is one of those times. And however short this window of victory is - because South Valley residents know better than anyone that this fight to maintain their rural character isn't ending any time soon - today feels like victory. For a day anyway, I hope the would-be neighbors of an unwanted Home Depot woke up peacefully, went out to feed their horses and chickens quietly, and enjoyed this fine fall morning. God knows they deserve it.

For more on this decision, see the New West Network's When Neighborhood Organizing Works. I just discovered Emily Esterson's blog and like it a lot.

World Players

Mikaela says:
One of my favorite things these days is looking at the SiteMeter World Map to see who all is peeking at m-pyre.

I got a chuckle today on noting that a recent visitor from Kuwait lists the IP address as "Kuwait Ministry of Communations."

Hmmmm. Intentional? And we went to war against Iraq in its name?

ABQ Candlelight Vigils for Peace

Mikaela says:
We've reached a sad marker in our unjust, illegal war in Iraq, with 2,000 Americans killed and uncounted thousands of Iraqis. There will be vigils taking place here in Albuquerque and throughout the country. This is not about only recognizing the American cost of the war in people killed but taking this marker as one important opportunity to stand together in protest and solidarity with those around the world who hope for an end to war.

I have to say that I've never felt the palpable power of community as much as when protesting the start of the invasion in March 2003. There is agency in protest, in immersing yourself in the solidarity of those taking to the streets to fight for peace and an end to aggression. The media may not cover it and politicians may not care, but simply the act of taking a moment out of your everyday life to stand in community with those agonizing over the loss of life and growing injustice that we're outsourcing to the rest of the world is worth it. For itself. As an end in itself.

Passing cars, passing lives, passing people also see that there are others who feel as they do and have strength and courage -- even in such a small act of protest. It may give others the incentive to take steps in the same direction. And for those who disagree, it is a visible reminder that not all of us support this war. Not all of us are hoodwinked. Not all of us will remain silent.

I'm hoping there will be additional vigils not included on this list (please comment with more information if you hear of them), but these are events organized through MoveOn.org members:

26 Oct 06:30 PM	2000 Too Many - 2 miles away Central and Carlisle (Southeast and Northeast corners) 61 registered participant(s) (200 maximum) Albuquerque NM 87119 Hosted by Laura Johnston Description My brother is deployed to Iraq on Nov 1st... I will do everything I can to keep him from being part of this terrible list ..... Please join me, bring signs from MoveON
26 Oct 06:30 PM	NE Heights Vigil - 8 miles away NE Heights--Snow Park 25 registered participant(s) (120 maximum) Albuquerque NM 87112 Hosted by Louise Miller Description Mostly silent candlelight vigil to honor those who have been impacted by the Iraq War--~2000 US military deaths, thousands wounded, thousands of Iraqi deaths.... My intent is that this be a solemn, respectful, welcoming experience. We have permission from the City to use the space on the grass. Thanks in advance for your courage and participation.
26 Oct 06:30 PM	2000 Too Many - 10 miles away Demonstration at Montgomery and San Mateo 14 registered participant(s) (300 maximum) Albuquerque NM 87114 Hosted by Stuart Riley Description This will be a demonstration of respect. The theme of the signs displayed should be, "Bring Our Troops Home" and "How Many More". You can download signs from the MoveOn web site. If you come early, like 5 pm, you can show signs to the go home traffic. The message is, "Support Our Troops, Bring Them Home Now".
26 Oct 06:30 PM	Candlelight vigil - 11 miles away in front of soccer park, adjacent to post office 15 registered participant(s) (200 maximum) corrales NM 87048 Hosted by Kim Mellor Description I will confirm if permission is necessary from the village and will post asap if not. On the shoulder, no pavement but some distance from the traffic; candles will be provided

You can check throughout the day for vigils in your area here.

If nothing else, I hope we can all take a moment of silence to commemorate all the loss and to clear our minds to create the space for courage to take the next steps toward peace.

Plan B -- Plan Ahead!

Mikaela says:
There are amazing articles at the Duke City Fix and Bitch Ph.D. today about pharmacists refusing to fill prescriptions for Plan B, the emergency contraceptive.

Just remember that this drug is to PREVENT conception. It does NOT abort fetuses; it PREVENTS fetuses (and therefore, abortions for unwanted pregnancies).

Apparently Albuquerque has a significant percentage of pharmacists who refuse to dispense Plan B. GuestBlogger uncovers where and why and offers information about how to stock up so you don't get screwed after ... well ... getting screwed.

Bitch Ph.D. offers commentary on the hypocrisy of religious leaders in Arizona who say on the one hand they support Plan B in rape cases while supporting pharmacists who won't dispense it.

This is such an important issue for women's reproductive rights, as Plan B has the potential to reduce the pain and trauma of abortion and the lifetime consequences of unwanted children.

Let's also remember that attempts to force women to carry unwanted children does not just show a hatred and fundamental disrespect of women but also full intention of perpetuating a system of perpetual poverty for low-income and minority communities.

(For more on this, see the Rights' argument about minority women needing to "keep their legs closed" and Chapter 4 in Freakonomics, which links the lowered crime rate in America with access to abortion after Roe v. Wade.)