Every year our readers take a needed break, but our blog forges on and many of you may have missed important posts. So today, we look back on the week and and look forward to what’s coming.

Saturday, Jan 11, Noon:
Anti-war Protest at the Roundhouse & March to the Plaza

We marched on Saturday; we will march again next Saturday. We need everyone who cares about the future of our country to join us in the streets this Saturday. Please reach out to your friends and meet at the Roundhouse at noon Saturday, and march to the Plaza in an entirely legal act of resistance. We are in an unimaginably perilous situation. How much more do we take from this maniac?

Tomorrow’s blog will lay out exactly how we got in this mess, what is at stake, and how much our political leaders and media are failing us by falling for and even promoting Trump’s false narrative. Look for the post tomorrow morning and share it with friends. It will serve as motivation to show up on Saturday.

On Saturday at 8:30 on KSFR, I will be interviewing Ken Mayers, long-time peace advocate and mainstay at Cerrillos and St. Francis where the VFP has been holding weekly Friday noon vigils for decades. We will be discussing the Iran crisis, the march on Saturday, and his history of peace advocacy, including his arrest in Ireland for protesting US refueling in Ireland when conveying weapons to the middle east. A real local hero.

Other Actions & Events

Quite a few events and actions are listed in the Actions & Events page, including ACLU legislative training today in Española and then throughout January in venues across the state. You will also find info on Extinction Rebellion meetings in Santa Fe, Retake community meetings in TorC (tonight), in Las Cruces (Jan. 15) and in Silver City (Jan. 16), Retake’s Roundhouse Launch meeting on the 21st, a Lyla June Johnston volunteer training, plus the 75th anniversary of Trinity Test, with speakers in the Roundhouse on Jan. 31. Details on all these events can be found on the Actions & Events page.

LANL Public Comment. University of New Mexico’s Los Alamos campus, 4000 University Drive, Building 6, Room 631, Los Alamos. There is also a critical meeting at Los Alamos on Thursday evening at 7m to initiate public comment on the 2016 Consent Order that has governed the relationship between LANL and regulators. Advocates would argue that the 2016 Consent Order, crafted under the Martinez administration, gutted firm deadlines and clear criteria for requirements, for what was described by the Martinez administration as a more collaborative effort between regulators and LANL. But advocates would argue it has been a disaster. For a Santa Fe New Mexican article that outlines the issues, click here. Look for speaking points on this issue in the Thursday post.

A Look Back At What You’ve Missed

Many of you clearly unplugged while away, as most of the posts published over the holidays had low readership. But the content of these posts was often compelling and worth your review. So below you will find brief summaries and links to posts you may have missed. Welcome back and let’s work for a Peaceful New Year!

The Truth About Health Coverage and the “Choice” Option

Saturday, December 28. The insurance industry has more money than God and they spend it publishing misinformation about any effort to provide real healthcare at an affordable cost. The “choice” option has been driven down our throats and it is skillful rhetoric — who among us does not want to have “choice,” to select for ourselves. Except, as this post makes abundantly clear, the choices offered by the insurance industry are false choices. Your “choice” is to select from a limited number of plans, all presented in obscure, misleading language. And, buried in the bowels of the plan summaries, are disclosures that sharply constrain your real coverage. Then you get sick and find out just how limited those choices are.

Click here to get the truth in a most important post.

Wake Up Now! Rise Up Together!

A Stirring Guest Post on the State of the Earth &
What We Must Do

Monday, December 30. The post was given over to Roshi Joan Halifax, reprinted from Common Dreams. It is a powerful speech she gave on the state of our earth and our leadership’s lethargy in seeing this crisis as the crisis that it is. This is a powerful piece, worthy of your time.

And while recommendations for year-end donations are a bit late now, TEWA, New Energy Economy, Earth Care and Santa Fe Dreamers can use your help. If you ran out of time or cash in December, maybe you can spare something now. It’s an excellent way to focus your mind on 2020 and what we must do.

Click here to read what you may have missed.

2020 Beckons: A Decade of Transformation

Tuesday, December 31. This post was light on words but with four powerful videos from Valarie Kaur, Greta Thunberg, Royce Mann (don’t miss this one, oh my), Naomi Klein & Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, we offer up plenty of inspiration to welcome the new year. Plus a brief vision of 2020: the Roundhouse session, the NM June primary, the Dem. Party Presidential primary, the November general election. On NYE, we offered a vision of what could be & how we achieve it. Time for a leap of faith.

Click here to view the video and to read what 2020 could bring, if we force the transformation.

LANL’s Vast Expansion of Nuclear Weapons & Cold War Dysfunction

And what you can do about it…

Thursday, January 2. Thank God for the Los Alamos Study Group. LANL is an immensely complex institution, or at least they do their damnedest to make it seem complex, beyond our understanding, even good for us. It is not that complex and it is not good for us. The US spends 50% of its discretionary spending on weapons and troops, all so the US can have its way in the world. This post is a guest post from Los Alamos Study Group, a primer for a meeting last Friday, but it is also a primer for what is to come, what is at stake, and what we must do about it.

Click here to read the full post. This issue is not going to go away, so it is important to understand what is at stake.

Sen. Martinez Being Challenged & Australia’s Lesson For NM, Plus…

Saturday, January 4. The post includes information about Leo Jaramillo, who has announced his plans to challenge NM State Senator Richard Martinez, one of the eight NM Senate Democrats who voted no on HB 51, the Abortion Decriminalization bill. Jaramillo is strongly pro-choice. But the bulk of this post focuses on Australia, engulfed in flames, flames that are going to worsen over the next few days due to searing heat and 110+ degree temps. As the post makes clear, the climate catastrophe that is coming has arrived and it is time we begin to change everything about how we vote, how we advocate, and how we live. This is a terribly important post that may have been overlooked because ….another crisis….our demented president calculated that he just might win re-election running as a war hero. This is a very scary situation.

Click here to read the full post.

In solidarity,
Paul and Roxanne

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