Recycling in New Mexico

in California, I got real used to recycling virtually everything, as I wrote in WMail Issue #28 – golly, three years ago:
"Waste Not, Want Not" [Oct 2002]

but things are different in New Mexico, including recycling being tough or non-existant

— magazines are taken to the library in B-town

— newspapers and heavy cardboard and waste paper get hauled to L-town, whenever I take the 12-mile drive up there for shopping, etc

— there is NO deposit on soda cans in NM, but a commercial operation in a semi-trailer on Highway 314 pays something for aluminum, which gives the homeless and-or indigent a means of earning some cash by picking up roadside litter

— waste plastic & plastic bottles and tin cans and other metals are taken along on trips to Albuquerque (a 30-mile drive); the drop-off is just off the I-25 Freeway at a school parking lot, in a giant bin, the sign says open M-F 8-5

— I've heard that there is some place in Albuquerque that pays for plastic soda bottles, but haven't found it; nor have I found anywhere to take worn-out clothing, like Gospel Army or Goodwill, where really bad items are sold by them as rag-scrap and re-enter the system

— I have no yard waste; the front lawn is brown stubble since August, and a Landmark friend brought me a 'burn barrel' for the tumbleweeds in the back yard, the removal of which is good exercise

the trash pickup here is $45 a month, by the Waste Management monopoly, and I have not signed up with them: I take my little plastic bag – mostly teabags and coffee filters – and drop it in the trash at the gas station every week or ten days

P.S. – saw a sign on the road to B-town for what appears to be a local tradition: drop off your dead Xmas trees for recycle in a dirt lot next to a local auto dealer, and B-town will have them taken away, turned into chips or something; the pile was already as big as a bus

Rites of Passage

both my parents hated their middle names; so they made a pact and when I was born I was given no middle name, and they followed suit with my three later siblings

shortly after I turned twelve, while on a trip 'up home' to the East Bay area (from L.A.), they took me to the county courthouse and got my chosen middle name added to my birth certificate, above a caret-mark

I chose my father's name; brother Tom chose Carl, after his grandfather, brother Richard chose Mom's maiden surname; Melissa was always called 'Melissa Jane', but nowadays she uses 'Melissa Ann'

I always thought this was very cool, a great surprise gift from my parents, and the only 'coming of age' rite in our family


I heard a parallel tale, years ago, possibly out of Readers Digest (one of those little human interest paragraphs)

a father somewhere in the Midwest saved the doctor's bill when each child was born, and it was understood that each kid would repay their father from their first earnings, and then have the receipt for their own birth

it was a ritual for giving them possession of their own life, for providing each of them the 'deed' of their personal sovereignty

not many of us have such 'proof of ownership' paperwork

Your Tax Dollars At Work

here's a link to detailed info on the BILLIONS of dollars unaccounted for in the early days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq
http://www.amconmag.com/2005/2005_10_24/cover.html

the corruption continues...

Murrow Quotation

          We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty, We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another.
          We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men – not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend just causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.

          — Edward R. Murrow, on "See It Now" [CBS News, 6 April 1954]

Got Physicians Formula Oil?

many years ago, I discovered a marvelous clear oil that was sold at SavOn & Thrifty Drugs that just made chafed or burned or itchy dry skin get all kinds of better; I used it myself on occasion, and when my father was being treated for cancer, his arms got all messed up - blotchy and dry and bruised - so I loaned him my bottle of Physicians Formula Oil and his arms were better the next day; he was much relieved by the improvement; the same improvement showed when my mother used the Oil on a patch of shingles

when my bottle of Physicians Formula Oil later ran out, I went looking for another, but could find nobody who even knew about the Oil; apparently the Physicians Formula company is now producing only makeup and skin toner (with ginseng & collagen!) and the original, wonderful product is no longer available anywhere

but perhaps the magic of the internet can locate a source elsewhere: I have in mind something like the websites that sell Nehi® sodas or nostalgic candy from Fifties matinees or places in Vermont that sell real maple syrup (from trees)

and if no such source now exists, maybe somebody can arm-wrestle the formula/process for manufacturing the Oil from the mean old corporation, and set up a boutique lab up in the mountains somewhere, and set up a website ...

Warning for Republicans

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”
— Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25)

Mother Jones Tidbit

the average salary for top U.S. CEOs in 1980 was 42 times that of the average worker

in 1991, CEOs were making 140 times the salary of the average worker

in 2004, the U.S. CEO salary average was $11.8 million, which is 431 times the worker average

in November 2005, General Motors announced 30,000 jobs will be cut, without mentioning that automobile industry CEOs were paid a median income of $4.2 million in 2004, which figure is up 72% from 2003

{mostly based on Mother Jones November 2005 issue}

Dearth of Capitalism

Ayn Rand stated in 1967 that no actual capitalist economy has ever been instituted, and my essay "Paleo-Capitalism" – WMail ezine Issue #40 – redefined capitalism as 'the creation of jobs, products and services'

non-capitalism is evident wherever there is exploitation of natural resources, downsizing, reduction of employee power and benefits, economic slavery & indentured servitude, closing of factories and-or off-shoring of jobs

the only major Paleo-Capitalist in America today is Warren E. Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. finds companies, invests in them, reorganizes them for productivity, treats their employees with respect, and makes a ton of money

if Mr. Buffett cared, I would give him an award

those in the also-ran or short-listed category include:

Bill Gates: lucky man, and hard-working, and a sincere philanthropist, but still in the thrall of his stockholders

Ted Turner: a classic entrepreneur, but lately a guilt-ridden member of the Oligarchy {Ted: not your fault what Time-Warner does with your former enterprises}

Robert Redford: low-key filmmaker and environmentalist; he is honorable but silent on most important issues

The Waltons: Sam Walton may have been a good guy, but his descendents/heirs are prime examples of the damage being done in the name of [pseudo-] capitalism these days

George Soros: made a literal 'killing' in the financial markets, now tries to implant democracy & human rights in poor countries whose gross national product is in many cases less than his annual interest income

I say: "The people of the U.S.A. have the unalienable right to take back responsibility for control and management of the American economic system."

Frontier Justice

living in a small town can be real different; don't know the facts of this matter, but this is some recent hearsay 'from the street'

across the river in B-town, the cops are lackadaisical and seldom seen; the citizens believe that the Police Dept. is under orders NOT to be aggressive, to let speeders go unchallenged, to just lie low until an actual emergency call comes in, at which time dispatch then wakes up one of the two patrol cars...

the blame is laid on the female City Manager, 'Ms. G', who runs things from her corner office overlooking Main Street

the idea is that non-aggressive police reduces paper work, and thus reduces the crime statistics turned in to the F.B.I. by the city (required of all jurisdictions in the U.S.); this is intended to record false crime rates, so the real estate-developer faction can advertise 'low crime in B-town'

sounds like Republican anti-Reason tactics to me, since the reality of crime in B-town is known to all residents, who are well-informed via the local 'grapevine' as to events committed outside the fake statistics, such as the un-documented & thus unsolved annual paint-ball assault on Main Street office buildings last week

solutions abound, but the ones I like best are a recall election of the City Manager and-or an investigation of the falsified reports that were sent to the F.B.I.

Evolution is Science

The proponents of 'intelligent design' and its forebear, creationism, brook no compromise with their demands to corrupt science with their anti-Reason beliefs. Respond to them by suggesting that fairness to both 'sides' of the issue requires equal time for Darwinian evolution being taught in the churches.

Priorities

Materialism vs. Art
the self-storage industry in America grew to $14 billion dollars in revenue in 2004, compared to the entire motion picture industry which had domestic box office revenues of a mere $9.5 billion – one-third less!

Materialism vs. the Planet
"Americans spend $8 billion on Christmas decorations [each year], almost four times what they give to protect animals and the environment." — Mother Jones Magazine (Dec 2005)

Cure for Genital Herpes?

back in 1995, I broke my left ankle; the damage included restriction of some blood vessels among the bones, such that my foot was swollen for several months; finally, the doctor gave me a prescription that eliminated that problem, with the enexpected side effect of stopping breakouts of the blisters from the genital herpes that had I acquired many years before

I have had NO blisters in the ten years since that treatment; a couple times when I was really stressed there was a little itching, but NO blisters or anything close; I am clear that this is not a true 'cure', but the absence of breakouts is a very, very good thing

I still carry the virus, no doubt, and 'shedding' is still a social/sexual restriction, but I figured early on that this accidental benefit might be of use to Mankind, specifically the 20% of the population who carry the herpes simplex virus (known or unknown)

so I contacted the Herpes Society and was referred to a doctor in Los Angeles County and talked to him on the phone; he pooh-poohed my report, and explained his position, coming from being a medical professional; one, one incident means nothing; two, the medicine involved is a steroid, and steroids often have the effect of making the disease worse (he said); he told me to forget my idea

so I let that go, but kept thinking about getting this info out to fellow herpes 'sufferers'; when I finally got onto the internet, I researched the steroid medicine – I have kept the package – on various websites & search engines, hoping to alert a manufacturer to the idea that a little research & development might evolve into a product designed for use by 20% of the population, or at least some portion of them, and they could make a ton of money

turns out that this steroid medicine was already a generic drug, manufactured by the chemical name, so I had no idea who to contact and attempt to enroll

so this info is now being made public by me with the intention that someone, some 'insider' in the drug industry or medical field, take this ball and run with it, for the improvement of a lot of people's lives (and maybe make some bucks, that is okay)

any medical professional who wants further details can contact me using the email link on my Profile; I DO want to know your bona fides, as I believe that steroids are often misused and do not want some internet-savvy drug dealer to open up a new illegal market that could risk lives, etc

such a product could relieve a lot of stress & anxiety among a major segment of the population, and anybody who is willing to risk a little R&D could benefit themselves and Mankind at the same time

American Forces Radio

rabid reactionary talk radio host Sean Vanity is losing markets to Air America radio, such as in Boulder-Denver, Colorado

'Mister Oxycontin' Limp Rushbaugh is all atwitter these days, falsely accusing liberals of attempting to cancel his A.F.R. airtime [false] and chooses to defend himself by saying that he appears only one hour a day on A.F.R.

this is true, he airs 8pm-9pm daily, but this is a non-sequitur: the problem being corrected is that right-wing talk radio broadcasts bald-faced lies to the troops around the world 64 HOURS A WEEK on A.F.R., with NO rebuttal from the left

and the Congressional twits and Taliban bureaucrats in charge reject highly popular 'lefties' like Al Franken based on false 'rules' and spurious, ad hoc criteria

Economic Tsunami

selections from an article by Richard Wolf in USA TODAY on Nov 14th
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-11-14-fiscal-hurricane-cover_x.htm

"We face a demographic tsunami" that "will never recede," [the comptroller general of the United States] David Walker tells a group of reporters. He runs through a long list of fiscal challenges...

To hear Walker, the nation's top auditor, tell it, the United States can be likened to Rome before the fall of the empire. Its financial condition is "worse than advertised," he says. It has a "broken business model." It faces deficits in its budget, its balance of payments, its savings — and its leadership.

Without major spending cuts, tax increases or both, the national debt will grow more than $3 trillion through 2010, to $11.2 trillion — nearly $38,000 for every man, woman and child. The interest alone would cost $561 billion in 2010, the same as the Pentagon [budget].

Inaction could have these consequences, experts say:
Higher interest rates.
Lower wages.
Shrinking pensions.
Slower economic growth.
A lesser standard of living.
Higher taxes in the future for today's younger generation.
Less savings.
More consumption.
Plunging stock and bond prices.
Recession.

my comment: would you settle for 3 out of ten? 5 out of ten? why?
'staying the course' with Dubya will deliver TEN out of ten as above

Revolution 101

"All that we have to do is make the people in our lives feel special; all that requires is to tell them the truth." — G.E. Nordell

Office of Special Counsel

Reuters and C.N.N. reported yesterday that 'TraitorGate', 'TreasonGate', 'PlameGate' Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has begun posting documents on a new public website of the Department of Justice Office of Special Counsel: http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/.

for a timeline of TraitorGate / TreasonGate, see
WMail issue #53: "I Want My Country Back", with the latest updates at http://www.working-minds.com/TreasonGate.htm

TV Advertising

interesting idea today on Randi Rhodes's show on Air America Radio: the reason that the heavy TV advertising is for goods that you cannot afford or ever will is that Corporate America isn't buying the exposure {airtime} but that they are buying the broadcast content — the big money ad-buys for luxury goods are just something that can be withdrawn if the networks/stations disobey the Oligarchy by actually including real news stories ...

The New Okies

saw several pickup trucks along I-40 on Friday that look like a swarm of 'New Okies' heading for California; each of them was a small pickup truck with what looked like all their worldly possessions in the camper shell on back; what made them seem similar was the blankets showing thru the back window of the camper shell, as if they were sleeping out at rest stops; the license plates were from Wisconsin to Indiana to Florida

Upcoming Anti-Bush Demonstrations

World Can't Wait: Drive out the Bush Regime
are setting up demonstrations against Dubya on November 2nd

International Commission of Inquiry
On Crimes Against Humanity
Committed by the Bush Administration
are meeting in New York City tomorrow Friday Oct 21 & Saturday Oct 22 with keynote speeches by Howard Zinn, Marcus Raskin & Michael Ratner

Head In The Sand Dept.

don't believe Global Warming is real? watch what happens with Hurricane Wilma, currently building power offshore, which is described as 'bigger than Katrina'

for accurate info on the Global warming problem, see the Union of Concerned Scientists website at http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/

side note: for the first time ever, we are running out of alphabet for names of hurricanes, and there are 6 weeks left until the end of the hurricane season, roughly Nov 30th; so the policy is to use Greek letters further on, as in Hurricane Alpha & Beta & Gamma & Delta...

"Living A Created Life" courses

found out last night that Landmark Education's "Living a Created Life" one-night event -- being delivered around the world thru December -- is being piloted as a ten-session seminar, with New York City being the first pilot and Albuquerque, NM the 2nd pilot, starting Dec 13th -- I will be there

Day One

the blog is now begun, from atop the mesa; weather is clear & mostly sunny, outside temp is 65°; Karl Rove testified Friday last, haven't heard about the fallout, which will be all over Air America Radio tomorrow

had a thought yesterday that the way to set up this Second American Revolution may be to follow the historical events pre-1776, and also to define the enemy as the Tories; while the Working Minds philosophy points to the Oligarchy – rule by the owners – and the Culture-Structure that carries out whatever the Oligarchy decrees, this 'Tories' can also be a useful term: Tories are for the aristocracy and against labor, they require taxation without representation – so many historical harmonies to the bad guys of today ...