Author Archives

Paul Gibson and his wife, Roxanne Barber came to Santa Fe in 2012. Since arriving in Santa Fe they have been involved in the development of the Academy of Sustainability Education at Santa Fe High, as volunteers with Master Gardeners, New Energy Economy, and other local efforts. Most recently they coordinated the SantaFe4Bernie campaign, an effort that took advice from Bernie and focused locally, morphing into Retake the Roundhouse. Retake the Roundhouse worked with other advocacy groups around the state to support nine important races, winning seven of them and contributing to NM being the only state legislature in the country that turned blue in the last election. They now are exiting from partisan election processes and have created Retake Our Democracy, a 501-c-4 non-profit organization that tried to make daily activism easier by providing a wide range of resources, information and tools that empower and activate supporters.

• Are You Kidding? One More Astonishing Piece on Avangrid, This Time from a Maine 7-Term Legislator

  By paulgibson51 on July 14, 2021 • ( 2 )

  

  We’ve written about this several times now, but now you can find out the Maine experience with Avangrid straight from a seven-term state legislator and chair of the Committee on Energy & Utilities. We also offer links to a few… Read More ›

• Are There Limits to Criminal Justice Reform? Plus a Recording of the Public Power Webinar

  By paulgibson51 on July 13, 2021 • ( 4 )

  

  Criminal justice reform will require a good deal of experimentation as we move from public safety models that for centuries have focused on incarceration. Today, we examine the challenges involved in applying restorative justice principles to protest and destruction of… Read More ›

• Japan Wasn’t the Only Victim of the Atomic Bomb

  By paulgibson51 on July 10, 2021 • ( 2 )

  

  Most New Mexicans know something about the downwinders. Today, Retake offers an interview with Tina Cordova, a leader of the Tularosa Downwinders. We also offer some facts you may not have known about Tularosa and the US Gov’t’s refusal to… Read More ›

• “The Strange, Sad Death of America’s Political Imagination”

  By paulgibson51 on July 8, 2021 • ( 0 )

  

  On Wednesday, we posted about the lack of political courage or imagination that prevents groundbreaking legislation like Public Power. Today, we dig into Edward Bellamy and his 1888 utopian novel that described waking up in 2000 and finding America much… Read More ›

• Tired of Being 50th In All Good Things? We Don’t Have to Be

  By paulgibson51 on July 7, 2021 • ( 2 )

  

  New Mexico is 50th in everything good. And it’s our children who suffer most. Addressing the needs of children and other underserved communities costs money.  NM is always scraping together a budget, but with insufficient resources our state is constrained… Read More ›

• Mea Culpa: Admitting I Got Something a Bit Wrong

  By paulgibson51 on July 6, 2021 • ( 7 )

  

  Last week, Retake posted about how centrist Democrats undemocratically manipulate national and state elections to the detriment of solidly progressive candidates. I got it half right and half wrong. Today, I clarify and offer another angle.