At Laguna Burger

 

13th St.

Water and Power

I made this picture of Elephant Butte about twenty years ago from the beach of the Caballo Reservoir.  The prominent light band at the base of the butte signals what was then considered a low water year.

The Albuquerque Journal recently featured two images comparing reservoir water levels over a slightly longer time span. At present, Caballo is at less than 1.5% of its capacity.

 A hundred miles to the south near the Texas border a huge data center called Project Jupiter is under construction.  It will require massive amounts of water and electrical. power.  

Given the trajectory of climate change it seems extraordinary that a go-ahead should be given for this development.  Yet, that is what happened when Doña Ana County gave a rubber-stamp approval to begin construction of the facility.

New Mexicans are bombarded with slick daily TV ads from Project Jupiter minimizing the environmental impacts and touting the jobs potential.  It is an all-or-nothing proposition with the implication that there is no other way to put together such an undertaking.  Of course,  that is not true.

Given the time an effort, the smart fellows behind the Artificial Intelligence boom could quite likely devise ways to produce needed hardware and processes without fatally compromising the State's essential natural resources.   It is not technical limitations that stand in the way of such a strategy.  It is basically just the unwillingness of the technofeudalists to postpone maximum profits.

Protests and regulatory initiatives are gaining some ground against Project Jupiter, but the outcome of those efforts is far from certain.  What is clear is that an overhaul of State regulations  regarding such projects is urgently needed.

Every year the State surrenders millions in tax exemptions  to industrial developers.  One. useful step away from that path might be to make those kind of contributions in support of innovative strategies to  develop industrial projects which actually help avoid catastrophic environmental degradation.

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UPDATE:

 The Friday edition of the PBS Newshour touched on the issue of data centers.  David Brooks said he thought it unfair to single out the ill effects of new data center. construction when there are so many other possible targets such as golf courses that use a lot of water.  That seemed misguided to me.  Should we just add one more big problem since there are so many already?  Is the only option to substitute one bad actor for another?

The other problem I had with the comments by. Brooks was that they ignore the specifics that each locality faces in assessing the possible damages of installing a new water and power guzzling megafactory.  In New Mexico, for instance, the problem is not just a real crisis of water depletion.  It turns out that the data center currently under construction in the southern part of the State will generate more air pollution than the State's three largest cities combined.

AND:

Western Environmental Law Center 

Join us to explore the environmental and legal challenges these projects present, and why thoughtful planning, strong environmental safeguards, and meaningful public participation are essential to ensuring that technological progress doesn’t come at the expense of the places we all call home.



When: Monday, August 31

11:00am-12:00pm Pacific Time (12:00pm-1:00pm Mountain Time) 

Where: Zoom

 

A Colorful Neighbor

This shop is just a block from us.  Should you be in need of knickknacks, trinkets or tchotchkes this is the place to go.  I seldom find anything I really need there, but it is fun to browse because of the endless variety of decorative items.

Saturday

 Back to our new local favorite for dinner.

 We each had a Carnitas Taco.  I added a Mexican Lager

 Over to the Harwood Gallery at 7th and Mountain for the current exhibition.

 One of the first things I looked at was this fine little linocut print by Li Ming Chu.

I liked all of the prints, but the Yerba Mansa sings to me from the Bosque.

San Felipe St.

Dem Bones

 In a morning visit. to. the. New Mexico Museum of Natural History much of our time was taken with a viewing of the spectacular Animal Armor exhibit.

 

A portion is devoted to showing how humans have adopted Nature's design strategy.

The animated Bisti Beast in the main hall is the prime attraction for young visitors.

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Catching Up

 I have finally gotten around to  reading The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson.  The book was published in 2010  I don't know what preoccupation preempted my attention back then to produce such an oversight.  What finally woke me up was stumbling on an interview of Wilkerson on the New Mexico PBS program,  Report from Santa Fe, first aired in 2013.

Lorene Mills interviews Isabel Wilkerson

 Wilkerson, before producing the book, had a long and much acclaimed. career in journalism which included a Pulitzer -- the first given to an African-American woman.  She conducted a thousand interviews in the fifteen years of researching and writing The Warmth of Other Sons.  In it she recounts the decades-long story of the migration of African Americans from the Jim Crow Southern states to the North and West of the U.S.

 I found Wilkerson's speaking ability in the PBS program to be totally captivating.  I don't recall listening to anyone before who was so articulate.  Her eloquence in speaking about her experience in producing the book made me immediately resolve to find a copy.  A quick search turned up a copy on AbeBooks for just $7.50, shipping included.

The story of the great migration, covering decades is a complicated one which the author makes into an enjoyable read partly by focusing on the lives of three individuals who found very different paths out of the South.  

For me, the book has got me to remembering my own developing awareness of Black History.  In fact, I recall when I was in school being skeptical about the idea that there was a need for such a categorization of History, even though I had seen a lot of evidence supporting such a need during the course of the civil rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s.

Travel and life experiences eventually showed me the way to a more critical view of how History is constructed and told (and often distorted), but even these many years later Wilkerson's book is filling in a lot of important facts and ideas for me about this country's record of dealing with civil rights and human rights.

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Nina Simone: Mississippi Goddam 

Morning Coffee

 Coffee at Santa Cecilia on Romero Street.  I nearly always find an open table in the tiny indoor space, but there is also a spacious back patio.

On The Road Again

 We visited the Albuquerque Museum on Wednesday and saw there was a new Visiting Artist installation in the Main Lobby by Eric J. García entitled Since 1776 .

 

An Albuquerque native, García is an Assistant Professor of Painting & Drawing at the University of New Mexico.  He is well known for his massive murals of political cartoons.  This one features U.S. Democracy in peril, with Liberty's right hand chained to the foundation myths and the torch-holding left encircled by razor wire. 

 We enjoyed a brief chat with the Curator of Digital Collections, Jill Hartke, who had set up a table with samples from the photo collection featuring celebrities who have visited the city over the years.  A handout gave a good description of the Collection's holdings which encompasses 200,000 items, along with an account of the sophisticated gear and procedures used to preserve the photos and slides at optimal low temperatures.  The handout also included a link for the Albuquerque Emuseum which I had not seen before.

We did a quick walk-through of the big Route 66 Centennial exhibition.  I'm feeling more charitable toward it than on my first visit.  A lot of effort was made to collect and display the historic items. 

For Margaret the show again called up a torrent of fond memories of a cross-country trip with her parents and two older brothers from Boston to the West Coast.  She turned five on the road. and was ecstatic when she found that her parents had secreted her birthday presents in the car.

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THIRD THURSDAY

August 20, 5:00-8:30 p.m.

Free night at the Museum: 

 

Mural Celebration

6:30pm

Lobby

Celebrate the completion of the Museum's newest lobby installation titled, Since 1776... by Eric J. García. Join the artist for a brief talk about the inspiration behind the work, his creative process, and the symbolism woven throughout the mural. 

 

 

Shrooms

 Several of Albuquerque's Branch Libraries have art walls on which local artists are able to display their work. The New Mexico Film Photographers group members have exhibited in a couple. The Los Griegos Branch has particularly nice light.

I happened to be in the Griegos library on the morning when this unique 12-foot-wide fabric tapestry was installed. The subject and the medium seemed particularly well matched.

 I would need a much bigger house to accommodate that 12-foot piece, but off to the right of the tapestry was a charming little assemblage with a dried mushroom in a shadow box frame which I do have a space for.

Free Reads

 I look forward at the beginning of. each month to the new issue of The New York Review of Books.  I access the publication online through our local library's Overdrive collection of books and magazines.  A fortuitous benefit of that accessibility is that I can make use of my old color-screen Kindle Fire tablet which Amazon has crippled to prohibit direct downloads.  The library poses no such restriction, and I can even use it to borrow books with an easy work-around.

To borrow books using the old Kindle I first access the library site on my computer which allows me to borrow a book without restriction.  With the Safari browser on my Kindle Fire I then go to my library account page, select "Loans" and choose the available option to read the book online. 

I read The New Yorker the same way each week, but these days seldom find articles of interest to me.  The Review, however, always has at least a couple book reviews that are  beautifully written.  

The first article this month by Michael Greenberg, Whose Party, succinctly explores the dilemma of the Democratic Party establishment in coming to grips with the explosive growth of its progressive wing, populated mostly by adherents of the Democratic Socialists of America.  The take-down of long-time insider James Carville's scowling complaint about progressives is beautiful.

Further on in the same issue Alma Guillermoprieto brilliantly reviews several books about the life and career of everyone's favorite Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo, in Fridas for Everyone.

Frida - Self Portrait

Mañana De Nuevo

Yesterday for lunch.  Today for dinner.  This new place is too convenient at just two blocks from the house.

 Today was two Carnitas Tacos (slow cooked pork shoulder, guacamole, pineapple, cilantro),  plus a can of Modelo Negra.

New In the Plaza Vieja

Making The Team

New Mexico's Democratic Party Central Committee conducted a four-day electronic election to finally choose Stephanie Garcia Richard as Deb Haaland's running mate; she took 53% of the vote. Pope Jr. got 46%, showing a significant - if not commanding - strength of the Democratic Socialists who backed the State Senator. 

Insider reports on the progress of the selection process were notably sparse.  Joe Monahan has not yet offered any analysis. 

Santa Fe New Mexican

The Battle for Democracy

 New Mexico Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury made a presentation this morning at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque.  It was an upbeat pep talk in support of the Democratic race for control of the House.

Stansbury talked non-stop for about half and hour, explaining what House Democrats have been doing to combat Trump's chaos.  She also provided a succinct review of similar periods of history which were even more chaotic, and which were preludes to progressive political and social advancements.

I recall not being impressed with Stansbury's speaking in the early phase of her career, but it seems to me now she is extraordinarily articulate and communicative, with an excellent command of the facts including a thorough grounding in ecological issues. 

It seems very likely Stansbury will one day be representing New Mexico in the United States Senate.

Stansbury at Wikipedia

Who Do You Like?

The recent episode of New Mexico in Focus included a segment about the selection of a candidate for lieutenant governor by the Democratic Party Central Committee.  Primary voters made a choice earlier, but their selection, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, dropped out due to health reasons.  The discussion included supporters of the two main contenders, Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard and State Senator Harold Pope Jr.

Mentioned was the fact that the leading candidates seem to have little differences in the policies they have advocated.

Not addressed was the question of why the State has to go through the expensive ritual of holding a separate primary election for Second Banana, something which only five other States require.

The Dem Gov candidate, Deb Haaland, has expressed a preference for  Stephanie Garcia Richard, and it seems pretty likely she will have her way.  Policy congruence played a part, but perhaps the addition of an Hispanic name to the ticket also trumped the appeal to the smaller Black constituency brought along by Senator Pope.

What the new Lt. Gov might actually do while in office will likely not get much attention.  The position is an historical dead-end for political aspirations.  The main objective in handling the office has been finding. ways to keep the Lieutenant Governor busy and on the sidelines. 

Coffee

Lots of choices for coffee in my neighborhood and nearby Old Town

 I like Slow Burn on Mountain Road for its nice light, good seating, quick service and good parking.

On Track

 The present and future governors of New Mexico.

2019

The Morning Ride

 On a short outing on my trike around the neighborhood.  I came across a couple roadrunners.

This one had caught a small lizard for breakfast beside the Explora children's science museum

T-rex was waiting for the Natural History Museum to open so he could perform his daily duties as an animatronic exhibit in the main hall. 

 A new restaurant has opened in the neighborhood.  Mañana Taco has had good attendance in its first week, so there seems a good chance it will prosper.  When we moved to Albuquerque the building was occupied by a so-so burger joint.  That was followed by a dispensary which lasted about a year before running afoul of the law for selling out-of-state weed.  Mañana shares the building with Pink Pony which sells soft ice cream.

Listen To The Pig

Head for the Arc !

Fight Back!

 Yanis Varoufakis in a post on his blog today does a good job of dealing with claims of consciousness for Artificial Intelligence.  His strength is an ability to apply relentless logic to any question he tackles.  As many others have pointed out recently, Varoufakis identifies the most urgent issue to be the ownership of the technology and who is or could be the biggest beneficiary.  The conclusion is that the people need to come together to take control of the political process which the billionaires are currently dominating with vast infusions of capital.

Beyond the macro-political strategies there are individual actions which people can employ in their daily lives to resist the AI behemoth which has been incorporated in so much of what we do in front of our screens.  One easy tactic is based on the fact that much of AI's power is based on routinely feeding us only what we want or are prepared to hear and "like".  The danger of that, of course, is that we become blind to what is really shaping the world around us.

A useful opening move is to use the option  in the browser of your choice to open any news links in a private window or tab.  What you then get is not a selection of items catering to your past  choices and prejudices, but a more balanced view of what is happening in the world.  

One browser with a strong focus on privacy, DuckDuckGo, has gone a step further toward individual empowerment by offering the possibility of blocking all those irritating targeted ads that pop up when you try to access a YouTube presentation.  That platform will undoubtedly strike back with threats and countermeasures.  In the meantime, though, people have the opportunity to experience the pleasure of reasserting individual control over the technology.

Saturday Morning

 I rode my trike into Old Town this morning at 9:30 AM.  The temperature was already in the 90s, so I went straight to the Black Bird for an iced latte.  When I left the coffee shop there was a group of large men in blue uniforms at the register.

 Their truck was appropriately parked in the fire lane.

Our 56th

It's A Big World