Much was covered last week, including examining plans for more nuclear waste in NM, mining in the Santa Fe forest, and how Democratic Party leadership is shilling for the insurance, pharma and health plan industries. Shameless. Introducing these posts was Wednesdays, New Normal post, a MUST READ for anyone who missed it. Lots of events this week included within.

Lot’s to do this week, beginning with the panel discussion of the WIPP and Holtec’s plans for bringing more nuclear waste to NM, but there is something for everyone next week, including a critical vote for those served (or disserved) by the Jemez Coop.  But before you dive in, I want to encourage those who missed any of the posts this week, to be sure to take advantage of the links to those stories republished below. In particular, the post on the New Normal took weeks to research and write. It traces the slippery path we have travelled the last 40-50 years, a path that eroded our democracy, our government and our future. What was interesting, was that the strategies identified in that New Normal post then played out in the days that followed in relation to two contemporary issues facing NM and the Nation. It was not intended, but those three posts could be viewed almost as a unified chapter explaining how the last 40 years of the 20th century have sown the seeds for the thorny challenges we face now.  I’d strongly encourage reviewing them and the comments that followed, as several of our readers are making a habit of adding really provocative commentary, often with links to important supplementary information.  So, read on!

Coming Events & Opportunities 

Saturday June 22, 8am-6pm at Santa Fe Art Institute 1600 St. Michael’s, Santa Fe. Chainbreaker Collective Assembly.   We’ve been supporting Chainbreaker’s efforts to expand affordable housing in Santa Fe more of an ethical and moral responsibility than a practical housing issue. Working with local and national partners for months, they’ve been preparing a plan for the use of the midtown project or Santa Fe University of Art & Design, as an opportunity to implement a vision that emerges from the surrounding community and responds to the extraordinary need for low and very low-income housing in a development that forges an authentic, sustainable community.   As part of this critical, equitable community engagement, the people most affected by the decisions are given a voice in the process for determining how the mid-town project will be developed and what it will include as part of that development. Chainbreaker and allied partners will be discussing:  Affordability, Quality, Sustainability and Health, Accessibility, Fairness and Equity, Stability, Permanence, and Protection from Displacement, and Community Control. Please join us for a lively and fruitful day. Housing is a right, not a commodity. Have your voice counted in the decisions being made regarding Santa Fe’s greatest community asset in a People’s Plan for the Heart of Santa Fe.  As always, food will be provided. (Please let us know about your dietary restrictions, in the registration link.) Bilingual Program (Translation Equipment Provided)  In order to provide childcare please provide number of children in your care, their names and ages in the registration link.  Register by clicking here.

Saturday, June 22, 4pm-6pm at the James Little Theatre 1060 Cerrillos Rd. Santa Fe, Inaugural Ripple Feminist Forum. Surfing the Waves: The Women’s Movement Past and Future.  Ripple will dive deep into the issues surrounding what is commonly framed as the first, second, and third waves of feminism. We will discuss the lost historical narrative of women of color’s integral role in building the women’s movement, to better understand where we’ve come from. We’ll also look at what worked, and how those ‘waves’ shaped the intersectional grassroots organizing led by millennial women in the current iteration of the movement. We will open it up to audience participation and discussion on how we can work together to build an inclusive and strong feminist movement.  Click here for more information and bios of the speakers for this event.

Sunday June 23, 1:30-3:30pm and Thursday, June 27, 5:30-7:30pm at Wise Fool Studios, 1131 Siler Rd, Suite B, Santa Fe, NM. Painting Parties for Teresa Leger de Fernandez.  Wise Fool was a big part of the Wall of Love and of making signs for the Bernie campaign. Ignite your personal inspiration and do it. Signs will be used during Fiesta, at rallies and marches and at other events throughout Santa Fe. With eight candidates, this is a race that can be won by a very narrow plurality with the difference between going home and going to Congress being five or ten votes. Let’s Do This!

Tuesday, July 2, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Retake Our Democracy, Input & Strategy Session at the Center for Progress Justice, 1420 Cerrillos, in Santa Fe.  Get involved. We’ll be charting specific roles for folks who want to do research, who want to participate in Climate Action, for those who want to help us do outreach and organize in the eight Senate Districts where their Senators voted to continue criminalizing abortion in NM.  We’ll also hone our plan for engaging legislators during the Interim Hearings. Join us. Please RSVP by writing to me at paul@retakeourdemocracy.org.

Jemez Coop Election this Week and Some Big Issues at Stake:  We have over three hundred supporters who are impacted by the Jemez Coop.  This is a chance to democratize the Coop. See below for where and when to vote.  But the issues are clear.  The current Coop Board:  Lacks transparency, holds closed meetings, maintains little or no records, is rife with corruption & financial abuse, holds life-long tenure, and maintains a confusing, complicated voting process

June 21-216. Jemez Coop Elections: Stop the corruption and mismanagement!  Board leaders siphon $70,000/yr just to attend meetings. We’re locked into an expensive, 40 year contract where 40% of our power comes from coal and we can only develop a maximum of 5% local renewable. Those stranded fossil fuel assets are leading to a ballooning debt that will keep our electric rates high!  Your opportunity to vote for:  Open Meeting Acts compliance; Recorded minutes and public participation; $10,000 stipend limit; 2 term limits (8 yrs max); Mail-in voting; Greater investment in low cost renewable energy; Lower water usage; Reduced carbon emissions; and Local jobs & business development!   VOTE FOR CHANGE:  Last election was decided by just ONE VOTE. Your vote can be the deciding factor for change! Polls are open from 7am to 7pm
DISTRICT 4  June 21, FRI Jemez Main Office, Hernandez
DISTRICT 5 June 24, MON Española Valley High School
DISTRICT 6  June 26, WED Old Pojoaque High School

Three Momentous Posts From Last Week Expose What’s Behind the Corporate Curtain & How The Corporatocracy Thwarts Our Thirst for Medicare for All and Environmental Protection from Mining & Nuclear Waste

I want to underscore what I stated at the beginning of today’s post: the In Search of a New Normal and the post on what the Democratic Party is doing to undermine efforts to achieve Medicare for All are very important. If you missed them, please take a look. If you agree that they were worth your time, send them to one or two others. More people need to be connecting the dots.

In Search of a New Normal that Is Actually Normal. One Thing For Certain, Today is NOT Normal

For 40 years the corporatocracy has been subtly unraveling democratic processes until today, we are dangerously close to the end of even our current sad form of democracy. The media, the courts, and monopolies are tightening their grip. Far from defending us from this assault, the Democratic Party, especially at a national level, has been a partner in this effort. This is not remotely normal, but it is all connected and threatens to snuff out any and all chance for resistance. In Wednesday’s post, we connect some dots. Click here to read the full post.

Health Insurance Industries Join Media & Democratic Party Leadership to Spread Lies About Medicare for All

We are told that the American people do not want to give up their insurers and do not favor Medicare for All. Except polls show they do support Medicare for All by wide margins. We are told that Medicare for All would bankrupt us, except that economic research and the experience of other countries prove this to be false as well. The powers that be blow smoke and use mirror and Trump isn’t the only political figure to use misinformation to advance corporate goals. Click here to read the full post. Click here.  With the Normal post above and this one, you will find two very important posts.

Mining in Santa Fe National Forest and Uranium Waste in Carlsbad:  Does Anyone Have “Standing” to Oppose These Plans?  What You Need to Know

Two current cases pending in NM bring to question: Who has standing in determining the use of resources, land and water in our state and what criteria is “valid” in opposing efforts that compromise the integrity of a community, forest or state?  The question fits well within the context of the last two blogs about our current political and economic systems and how we decide anything. Click here to review this post packed full of info on two important issues.

A Sunday Triple Feature: The End of Kings; The End of Senator Clemente Sanchez (and his 7 Senate DINO pals) and a Retake Podcast

This past week, the blog focused on how the unseen hands of the 1% have grown to control almost everything. Sunday we offered two short videos that offer hope for action, one focused more generally about taking on “the kings” and the second brings this message home to NM as Steve Cabiedes opines on Sen. Clemente Sanchez in a very witty 20 minute video and a bonus link to the podcast. Click here if you missed this yesterday. I particularly want to call out Steve Cabiedes’ video as it really points to what we need to do in countering eight Senate Democrats in the primary in June.

In solidarity,

Paul & Roxanne

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