New Mexico Mercury

Climate Foreclosure / Climate Migration

Climate migrants may soon be a new breed: the latest wave of those forced to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. These will not be people fleeing political violence or poverty. Or not simply those two things. They won’t be leaving only their homes and the graves of their ancestors behind. These will be the hundreds of thousands—perhaps millions—forced to migrate because their homes, ancestors’ graves and every bit of familiar landscape will have disappeared, beneath the rising sea levels caused by global warming...

Anthropology on Water

Mike Agar explores local water conundrums at the annual meeting of the Society of Applied Anthropology.

Provincial Matters, 4-8-2014

V.B. Price's weekly collection of appreciations and observations.

Spring Awakening

Spring in the mountains reminds me of a woman awakening after a good night’s sleep. She yawns and stretches lasciviously. She comes slowly to awareness of the new day, the new season. She turns over and is tempted to sleep again as momentary snow storms speckle the evergreens, gentle reminders of the past winter, of sleep. She periodically dozes and awakens, as chill and warmth alternate, as clouds drift in and away, as winds torment us and then bring blessed serenity...

El Machete: WIPP Leak

WIPP Leak

Insect Allies March Forth in Spring

Spring is here and the bugs are out. There are numerous beneficial organisms in every yard and this is the main reason, plus your safety, for not using synthetic pesticides. They can be beneficial in different ways. Some are pollinators and we certainly need them. Others feed on decaying or dead plant or animal matter and they are important as well. The most important for a gardener are the predators who feed on plant pests...

Provincial Matters, 3-24-2014

V.B. Price's weekly collection of appreciations and observations.

El Machete: Sister Megan Rice

Sister Megan Rice

The Scorecard on ABQ Sprawl

The Albuquerque region has been engaged in an epic growth battle for at least the past decade. Much of the struggle occurs in the city council chambers, in the county commission public hearings, and in water and air board meetings. The combatants are large landholders, property developers and businesses (think Chamber of Commerce and NAIOP) on one side, pitted against neighborhood activists, conservationists, smart businesses, planners and good government folks on the other.

One side wants business-as-usual (BAU) where the levers of public power can be manipulated for private gain.  The other side sees a very different future...

Authority and the Art of Lying

A great dichotomy grips our social interaction. On the one hand we are taught—by our parents, in school, and through every cultural and consumerist message—that the world is divided into experts and the rest of us. Those leaders we vote into power by such dubious “democratic” process know what’s in our best interests. We are conditioned to ignore the fact that so many of them are bought and paid for by commercial or geopolitical interests.

I was motivated to write this rumination after listening to V.B. Price’s illuminating interview with Dan Hancock.  Hancock is a true expert. He knows a lot, but doesn’t pretend to have all the answers...