Five Questions with New Mexico Authors – David E. Stuart
This week we ask archaeologist and author David E. Stuart some questions about his groundbreaking book Anasazi America: Seventeen Centuries on the Road from Center Place, which has given many people interested in New Mexico and in Pueblo culture a way to think about the past and about its applications to the future...
Albuquerque’s Homeless Murders and Our Ordinary Passing Violence
Two men who had been beaten to death with cinderblocks were found this weekend on Albuquerque’s Westside. These men were homeless, and police have only recently identified them because they were beaten beyond recognition. Three teenage boys--ages 18, 16, and 15--have been arrested and charged with two counts of murder. These acts are horrifying, disgusting, and stomach-turning. At the same time, I wonder if I have anything in common with these boys...
Parties and partisanship
We have elections that are mostly controlled by two major parties and the partisans of each who function to organize policy arguments in our representative democracy.
This process has its critics. Complaints surface here and there in the New Mexico commentariat. Ideas for improvement – suggestions like open primaries – are championed.
But some of the arguments around the issues of voting and parties and elections and partisanship need to be chopped down or trimmed back before we can get on with a more reasoned discussion of any changes...
Doug Dunston’s Mind: “Practical Creativity”
In numerous postings, the New Mexico Mercury has commented on the great number of brilliant and creative Albuquerque residents, capable of turning our city’s uniqueness into prosperous livability—if only our urban structures and political machinations allowed us to make real use of such talent. Doug Dunston, who is Professor of Music at New Mexico Tech but lives in Albuquerque, is one such extraordinary mind...
Mayor Attends Mental Health Training
Burque Mayor Bichard Merry recently attended a mental health training here in town. Puffing up his chest in immense pride, Mayor Merry bragged that our city is on the national forefront in addressing the gap in urban mental health services by simply killing the mentally ill.
Saying that offing the mentally ill was both entertaining and a huge cost savings, Republican Mayor Merry urged other cities to take the same step Burqueville has taken to reduce the public health budget by having the police conduct target practice on our most unstable citizens, especially those with PTSD...
Emerging Voices: Sarena Whitten
Curator’s note by Stevie Olson: This week, the Mercury is excited to run its first video documentary in Emerging Voices. For her senior project, Sarena Whitten took to the streets of Albuquerque to learn more about the city’s homeless population. In Invisible People - Stories From the Streets, Sarena pieces together powerful interviews from people explaining how they became homeless, what it is like to be homeless, and how the police treat them...
The most important book of the 20th century
Well, we could argue over a couple of other non-fiction books, but Silent Spring is somewhere at the top.
The sedge is wither’d from the lake,
And no birds sing.
John Keats’ couplet starts this book of revelation by Rachel Carson, published in 1962; my 1994 edition has an introduction written by Vice President Al Gore. The VP says it’s a humbling experience to write about this book, because the book is undeniable proof that the power of an idea can be far greater than the power of politicians...
Moments of Truth
In her last MMA fight on March 29, Natalie Roy from Santa Fe floored her opponent at one minute and forty seconds of Round One. On Saturday night, June 14, it took her only 32 seconds to defeat Brittany Horton. It was a moment of truth for Brittany, however, because she agreed to take the fight on very short notice when Natalie’s original opponent had to drop out. Knowing that she didn’t have a chance and not having had a fight for three years, it took great courage to step into the cage against Natalie...
Five Questions with New Mexico Authors – David L. Caffey
This week we ask author David L. Caffey some questions about his detailed, fast moving and fascinating book called Chasing the Santa Fe Ring: Power and Privilege in Territorial New Mexico, from UNM Press, 2014...
Weekly Poem: Midwest Ranchera
Thursdays, the devil danced at the Black Saddle, cloven
hooves tracking dust for later evidence. He drove a black
Mercury with suicide doors and flames flickering the fins.
Sometimes he slid from the door with his tail forking long
and taut to the floor. Hot-tongued, he would say, Do you
want to touch it? And who didn’t want to touch that tail?...