Wednesday, July 26, 2006
SWOP homepageTime To Close NM Business Tax Loophole?
karlos says: time to lose the question mark... NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICE
A statewide news service for New Mexico
Phone: 888-471-1722 Fax: 303-253-8905 E-mail: nmns@publicnewsservice.org
Sound files are available at: www.newsservice.org
July 27, 2006
Time To Close NM Business Tax Loophole?
Deming, NM - Local businesses big and small in New Mexico say it's time to level the playing field and close a loophole that allows multi-state corporations avoid paying tax on money they make in New Mexico. An interim legislative committee is looking at the issue today (Thursday) in Deming. Comments from economist Gerry Bradley with New Mexico Voices for Children.
Suggested Script: Out-of-state companies making money in New Mexico have a sweet deal - they can avoid paying taxes on profits made in New Mexico with a simple accounting change. And that's something many local businesses - big and small - want to change. Economist Gerry Bradley agrees it's time for a new state law...
"We need a level playing field for New Mexico corporations, as it stands now, multi-state corporations are at an advantage."
Bradley says the new law would also mean about 50 million dollars more for the state. A legislative committee is meeting today (Thursday) in Deming to hear about the tax. Arizona, California already require multi-state corporations to pay taxes - called combined reporting. Those against the idea say it could hurt the campaign to attract new, out-of-state companies to New Mexico.
Bradley says the law was changed in neighboring states because of complaints from local businesses...
"Corporations that were sick and tired of the advantage that out of state firms had."
Editor's Note: The State Legislature Revenue Stabilization and Tax Policy Committee meeting is today and Friday, Public Schools Administration Board Room, 400 Cody Rd., Deming. Gerry Bradley and local business owners are scheduled to speak today, 10:55 a.m.
(end)
NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICE
Un servicio de noticias para todo el estado de Nuevo Mexico
Teléfono: 888-471-1722 Fax: 303-253-8905 E-mail: nmns@publicnewsservice.org
Los audio archivos se encuentran en: www.newsservice.org
Julio 27, 2006
Es hora de acabar con la evasión de impuestos piden los negocios de NM
Deming, NM - Los pequeños y grandes negocios locales dicen que es hora de ponerse en igualdad de circunstancias y terminar con lo que están haciendo muchas de las corporaciones de otros Estados evadiendo pagar impuestos sobre el dinero que generan en New Mexico. Un comité legislativo interino está viendo el asunto hoy (jueves) en Deming. Comentarios del economista Gerry Bradley con las voces de los niños de New Mexico.
Guión Sugerido: Las compañías de otros Estados que están generando dinero en New Mexico tienen un contrato atractivo- por ahora evitan pagar impuestos por las ganancias que generan en New Mexico con un simple cambio en la contabilidad. Y ése es algo que muchos negocios grandes y pequeños del Estado desean cambiar. El economista Gerry Bradley está de acuerdo que es hora de optar por una nueva ley para el Estado...
"Necesitamos igualdad de circunstancias para las corporaciones de New Mexico, por ahora las corporaciones de muchos Estados nos llevan ventaja."
Bradley dice que la nueva ley también significaría generar 50 millones de dólares más para el Estado. Un comité legislativo se reúne hoy (jueves) en Deming para escuchar el asunto sobre los impuestos. Arizona, California requieren que las corporaciones de muchos Estados les paguen impuestos - llamado informe combinado. Aquellos en contra de la idea dicen que podría dañar la campaña para atraer nuevas compañías de otros Estados a trabajar en New Mexico.
****
Bradley dice que cambiaron la ley en los Estados circunvecinos debido a las quejas que tuvieron los negocios locales...
Las corporaciones que estaban hartas y cansadas de lo mucho que se aprovecharon los negocios de otros Estados." (final)
Nota de la editora: La reunión del State Legislature Revenue Stabilization y el Tax Policy Committee es hoy y el viernes, en el Public Schools Administration Board Room, 400 Cody Rd., Deming. Gerry Bradley y los negocios locales están programados para hablar hoy sobre el tema a las 10:55 a.m.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
SWOP homepagePajarito Mesa Press Coverage a Sign of Good Things to Come
The residents of Pajarito Mesa have been organizing for basic services for over a decade. After being ripped off by developers and given the run around by dozens of agencies, governments and lawyers, their vision to bring water to their children should happen sooner rather than later, as the Trib Editorializes (below).As SWOP director Robby Rodriguez has long pointed out, they are a model for conservation, community planning and "do-it-yourself" organizing. After tens of thousands of volunteer hours, the formation of a quasi-governmental agency to represent the community, the purchase of a road grader to build and maintain roads, a mountain of ingenuity, thousands of meetings and many other small, yet meaningful achievements, the community deserves every victory they'll win in the coming months.
After a week of articles and interviews, The Trib has paved the way for a bandwagon for all to board.
The Journal should follow.
Editorial: Time to bring basics to Pajarito residents
Albuquerque Tribune - Albuquerque,NM,USA
Pajarito Mesa resident Sandra Montes, who works for the Southwest Organizing Project, which is an advocate for the community, says these taxpaying residents are doing the best they can for themselves, but they need government help to guide and achieve basic community development.
"What we're asking for isn't a sidewalk or a light outside our house," she said. "We're asking for basic stuff."
County and state officials should be doing more - all they can - to reward the spirit of people living in this little village on the high desert mesa, where hope and a sense of community have taken hold, are thriving and deserve to bloom...
Pajarito Mesa residents are $500,000 closer to a community well
Albuquerque Tribune - Albuquerque,NM,USA
Families on Pajarito Mesa achieve much with littlePAJARITO MESA - Before she can make herself a cup of morning tea or stir up Kool-Aid for her six kids, Andrea Casas drives 11 miles down from her mesa community to find her life's key ingredient: water.
Some days, Casas must fill up her containers using a friend's hose and drive back home before her husband - and her one working vehicle - leave for the day.
Other days, she gets to keep the truck and repeats the trip in the afternoon, a 325-gallon tub and her children, all under 10, in tow.
"It can make for long days with all the things I have to get done, the water and the kids," says Casas, a 32-year-old from Cuba, N.M.
"I try to bring in as much water at night as I can so I don't have to do it in the morning."
... "I just don't see it taking this long just to get us safe, clean water," said Montes, who works for the Southwest Organizing Project, a statewide grass-roots group that's helping those who live on the mesa ...
By Kate Nash
Albuquerque Tribune
July 19, 2006
PAJARITO MESA - The 418 families who live perched above Albuquerque don't have much.Thirsty for Justice: Pajarito Mesa
In some senses, this mesa is a do-it-yourself kind of place, where the residents have built their own city. With no county services, many have fashioned their own systems using gigantic barrels and car batteries that give them some semblance of running water and electricity.
Some 130 residents formed their own Mutual Domestic Water Association in hopes of getting a well.
National Housing Institute
By Erin Sabra Fuchs
Some 200 miles from the Mexican border, residents of New Mexico’s 23-year-old Pajarito Mesa community pay taxes but lack essential services like roads, electricity and emergency services. Perhaps the most pressing need for the 1,080 residents is one that many people take for granted – water.
In 1997, the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), based in Albuquerque, began organizing in Pajarito Mesa, 10 miles south of the city in Bernalillo County. SWOP exists to empower the powerless, so organizing this community seemed like a natural fit. Robby Rodriguez, SWOP’s director, says elected officials’ attitude about the disenfranchised community members could be summed up as, “Why should we care?” Read More:
Water
New Mexico
Local Politics
Albuquerque
Environment
Economics
Health
Energy
Saturday, July 22, 2006
SWOP homepageABQ Tribune: Time to bring basics to Pajarito residents
Editorial: Time to bring basics to Pajarito residents
Albuquerque Tribune
July 22, 2006
URL: http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/op_editorials/article/0,2565,ALBQ_19867_4861194,00.html
Pajarito Mesa is the flip side of "If you build it, they will come."
For more than a decade here in the sage and cactus above Southwest Albuquerque, hundreds have come, even though "it" was not built.
Since 2001 alone, the pioneering population has grown by nearly 100 families, despite the lack of basic infrastructure, government services and community resources - such as paved streets, running water and grid-powered electricity, which most of us take for granted.
It is a community of 418 families - most living in trailers, some with only 600 square feet of space - drawn by the open land, grand vistas, affordability and a free, if challenging, lifestyle.
It's a struggle, as Tribune reporter Kate Nash detailed in an article on Wednesday's front page ("Water on the way"), which focused on Pajarito Mesa residents' expectation that this could be the year when a community water well becomes a reality.
The community has received a $500,000 state grant for the well, but details about its construction, how long it will take to build and its distribution system are unclear. Likewise are Bernalillo County's responsibilities to provide basic services, including community planning, zoning, road construction, garbage service, and police and fire protection.
This isn't some high-powered West Mesa gated community or East Mountain cluster of ranchettes. These families are poor and relatively powerless.
Bernalillo County Planning and Zoning Director Sandy Fish says the county doesn't have enough staff to serve all the demands for such services. Yet, she admits, the county has not followed the recommendations of its own $100,000 study in 2001 to give Pajarito Mesa residents five years to meet zoning regulations.
"That's something we never followed up on," Fish confessed. That raises the legitimate question of how much in water lines or paved roads the $100,000 spent on the study might have bought instead.
Pajarito Mesa resident Sandra Montes, who works for the SouthWest Organizing Project, which is an advocate for the community, says these taxpaying residents are doing the best they can for themselves, but they need government help to guide and achieve basic community development.
"What we're asking for isn't a sidewalk or a light outside our house," she said. "We're asking for basic stuff." And it's not as if they've been whining about it.
Despite the daily grind, which includes frequent trips down the road to haul water and buy food for lack of refrigeration, Pajarito Mesa residents are amazingly upbeat. Some residents have organized a church, which provides a free lunch once a week. Others have been innovative in using car batteries to briefly power appliances or DVD players and TV sets. Still others managed to acquire a road grader to maintain the community's gravel streets.
But getting running water or even mail service are things they cannot do alone.
County and state officials should be doing more - all they can - to reward the spirit of people living in this little village on the high desert mesa, where hope and a sense of community have taken hold, are thriving and deserve to bloom.
Copyright 2006, The Albuquerque Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
Albuquerque Tribune
July 22, 2006
URL: http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/op_editorials/article/0,2565,ALBQ_19867_4861194,00.html
Pajarito Mesa is the flip side of "If you build it, they will come."
For more than a decade here in the sage and cactus above Southwest Albuquerque, hundreds have come, even though "it" was not built.
Since 2001 alone, the pioneering population has grown by nearly 100 families, despite the lack of basic infrastructure, government services and community resources - such as paved streets, running water and grid-powered electricity, which most of us take for granted.
It is a community of 418 families - most living in trailers, some with only 600 square feet of space - drawn by the open land, grand vistas, affordability and a free, if challenging, lifestyle.
It's a struggle, as Tribune reporter Kate Nash detailed in an article on Wednesday's front page ("Water on the way"), which focused on Pajarito Mesa residents' expectation that this could be the year when a community water well becomes a reality.
The community has received a $500,000 state grant for the well, but details about its construction, how long it will take to build and its distribution system are unclear. Likewise are Bernalillo County's responsibilities to provide basic services, including community planning, zoning, road construction, garbage service, and police and fire protection.
This isn't some high-powered West Mesa gated community or East Mountain cluster of ranchettes. These families are poor and relatively powerless.
Bernalillo County Planning and Zoning Director Sandy Fish says the county doesn't have enough staff to serve all the demands for such services. Yet, she admits, the county has not followed the recommendations of its own $100,000 study in 2001 to give Pajarito Mesa residents five years to meet zoning regulations.
"That's something we never followed up on," Fish confessed. That raises the legitimate question of how much in water lines or paved roads the $100,000 spent on the study might have bought instead.
Pajarito Mesa resident Sandra Montes, who works for the SouthWest Organizing Project, which is an advocate for the community, says these taxpaying residents are doing the best they can for themselves, but they need government help to guide and achieve basic community development.
"What we're asking for isn't a sidewalk or a light outside our house," she said. "We're asking for basic stuff." And it's not as if they've been whining about it.
Despite the daily grind, which includes frequent trips down the road to haul water and buy food for lack of refrigeration, Pajarito Mesa residents are amazingly upbeat. Some residents have organized a church, which provides a free lunch once a week. Others have been innovative in using car batteries to briefly power appliances or DVD players and TV sets. Still others managed to acquire a road grader to maintain the community's gravel streets.
But getting running water or even mail service are things they cannot do alone.
County and state officials should be doing more - all they can - to reward the spirit of people living in this little village on the high desert mesa, where hope and a sense of community have taken hold, are thriving and deserve to bloom.
Copyright 2006, The Albuquerque Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
Friday, July 21, 2006
SWOP homepageTomorrow on KUNM: Teacher Strike in Oaxaca, Mexico
From an Email:Colleagues/Colegas:
Susan Loubet of KUNM's "Women's Issues" program has asked to interview me tomorrow, Saturday, July 22, at 12 noon. The topic is the massive strike of 70,000 teachers in Oaxaca and the brutal police action against the teachers' encampment that occurred last month on June 14. I was with the teachers that evening and early morning in the encampment and was swept up with them in the police action. A massive popular resistance movement has developed in Oaxaca, including a "shadow government of the people", due to rage at the armed repression of the teachers.
There has been almost no coverage of these continuing events in the mainstream U.S. press. In our conversation tomorrow, Susan has asked that I talk about the strike itself, the armed police repression and its connections to the
Mexican presidential election, the silence of the U.S. media, and what U.S. teachers might learn from our Oaxacan colleagues about the role of teachers as political actors for social change.
I welcome you to listen in.
Lois M. Meyer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Language, Literacy & Sociocultural Studies
Hokona 267
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131
Tel: 505/277-7244
Thursday, July 20, 2006
SWOP homepageThirsty for Justice: Pajarito Mesa
Excerpt from the National Housing Institute's online news source:
Thirsty for Justice
By Erin Sabra Fuchs
Some 200 miles from the Mexican border, residents of New Mexico’s 23-year-old Pajarito Mesa community pay taxes but lack essential services like roads, electricity and emergency services. Perhaps the most pressing need for the 1,080 residents is one that many people take for granted – water.
In 1997, the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP), based in Albuquerque, began organizing in Pajarito Mesa, 10 miles south of the city in Bernalillo County. SWOP exists to empower the powerless, so organizing this community seemed like a natural fit. Robby Rodriguez, SWOP’s director, says elected officials’ attitude about the disenfranchised community members could be summed up as, “Why should we care?” Read More:
07/20/06-Black Commentator-Bush's Crazy Plan to Occupy Cuba
Bush’s Crazy Plan to Occupy Cuba
by Glen Ford
by Glen Ford
The Black Commentator
July 20, 2006
Issue 192
http://www.blackcommentator.com/192/192_radio_bc_occupy_cuba.html
Believe it or not, the Bush regime has developed a plan to occupy and rule Cuba, before or after Fidel Castro leaves office. It is an Alice In Wonderland scheme, a dreamscape of the corporate mind overlaid with fantasies of armchair reactionary warriors and bitter Miami exiles.
The plan was concocted by something called the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba – a “free” Cuba meaning one that is overrun and occupied by the United States. The U.S. did that once before, in 1898, interrupting a revolution against Spanish rule with an invasion of U.S. troops. The Americans did not leave before imposing a treaty on Cuba that gave the United States permanent control of Guantanamo Bay. “Gitmo,” as it’s called in military parlance, now epitomizes torture and state lawlessness – America’s heritage in Cuba.
When the U.S. military left most of Cuba, its gangsters moved in, creating a criminal’s paradise – another American gift to the Cuban people. Lots of Cubans were involved in the colonization of Cuba by Myer Lansky and other American criminals. They live in Miami now. During the U.S. military occupation and later corporate and criminal penetration of the island, American Jim Crow practices flourished. Southern whites flooded Cuba, bringing with them their peculiar American outlook on race. Segregation, American-style, became Cuban practice. When Fidel Castro’s revolution triumphed, half of Cuba’s white population left, unwilling to face the prospect of a government that would include substantial numbers of black and brown people. They wound up in Miami, which consequently earned the distinction of having the most racist and reactionary Latino population in the United States.
These dregs of the previous Cuban society are key to the Bush regime’s plan for a new Cuba, following a U.S. invasion. The exiles are to be the point men for privatization of Cuba’s economy. In a proposal that would be laughable if it were not so profoundly evil, the Bush regime plans to revamp Cuba’s health care system, which is the envy of the developing world, an exporter of tens of thousands of doctors and tons of medicine. Imagine – the United States, which has no health care system worthy of name, has the gall to propose a revamp of Cuban health care.
As I said, the Bush regime’s commission on Cuba is consumed by fantasy, but when a superpower fantasizes, things gets serious. The commission urges that funds be directed to Afro-Cubans, who it believes are disaffected from the Cuban government. I have been to Cuba, twice. In the cities of Santiago and Guantanamo, the cradles of the 1878 revolution, the 1898 revolution, and the revolution that triumphed on New Years Day, 1959, the populations are Black, the governments are Black, and the communist party is entirely Black. But the Bush men, in their wild fantasies, would bring back the racist Miami exiles to establish a new regime in Cuba, and somehow imagine that Black Cubans would be their allies. These people are crazy. For Radio BC, I’m Glen Ford.
BC Paid Subscribers can visit the Radio BC Master page to listen to any of our audio commentaries voiced by BC Co-Publisher and Executive Editor, Glen Ford. We publish the text of the radio commentary each week along with the audio program.
San Antonio - Se Unen Contra Contaminacion Causada por Bases Militares
Se unen contra contaminación causada por bases militares
Por Adriana Ledón
La Prensa
Julio 16 de 2006
Año XVIII • Número 2
http://www.laprensa.com/ftp/a-pages071606.pdf
Dentro de la comunidad de San Antonio existe una gran cantidad de gente que está enferma de cáncer y enfrenando la realidad de este problema, por lo que el comité de la Unión de Trabajadores del Suroeste, decidieron organizar una marcha para protestar en contra de la contaminación ocasionada por las bases militares alrededor del mundo.
Las comunidades enclavadas en sectores aledaños a bases militares, durante años han corrido el riesgo de sufrir algún tipo de contaminación, debido a la presencia de algunas sustancias tóxicas que se manejan en las bases militares, por ejemplo en Kelly USA.
Genaro Rendón, Co-director de la Unión de Trabajadores del Suroeste, mencionó que durante décadas han luchado contra este gran problema que ataca a la sociedad en todo el mundo y declaró que es tiempo de actuar porque la gente sigue sufriendo.
“Lamentablemente la mayor parte de estas personas son pobres y no tienen el suficiente poder como para defenderse o ser escuchados”, agregó.
“Lo que queremos lograr es reunir a todos los representantes a nivel mundial, ya que todas estas comunidades han sido afectadas por las operaciones militares de Estados Unidos. Nosotros hicimos una campaña en la que se colocaron cruces moradas en las casas donde tuvieran a un familiar enfermo o que haya muerto a causa del cáncer, y vimos que más del 50% de las casas en los alrededores de Kelly USA tienen colocadas las cruces moradas”, añadió Rendón.
Líderes de diferentes países se unieron el pasado 13 de julio para compartir estrategias dirigidas a combatir este problema, discutir el impacto que representa haber vivido cerca de instalaciones militares estadounidenses, y dar inicio a un programa de limpieza ambiental y de salud en el mundo.
Ismael Guadalupe, miembro del Comité pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques en Puerto Rico, mencionó que las muertes de gente causada por la contaminación proveniente de bases militares, no se contabilizan como parte de las muertes de guerra. “La comunidad de Vieques es la número uno en Puerto Rico en cuando a contaminación ambiental y el cáncer, problemas respiratorios, problemas de la piel y otras. Sabemos que el 85% de las familias de Vieques tienen algún miembro que ha sido contaminando”.
Finalmente, Rendón convocó a la comunidad a que participe en esta causa, marchando este sábado 15 de julio al lado de los líderes de las diferentes organizaciones en pro de la defensa de la salud y el ambiente.
La marcha iniciará en la escuela Dwight Middle School en 2454 W. Southcross a las 10:45 a.m., hasta llegar a la entrada principal de Kelly USA, donde harán un mitin.
Por Adriana Ledón
La Prensa
Julio 16 de 2006
Año XVIII • Número 2
http://www.laprensa.com/ftp/a-pages071606.pdf
Dentro de la comunidad de San Antonio existe una gran cantidad de gente que está enferma de cáncer y enfrenando la realidad de este problema, por lo que el comité de la Unión de Trabajadores del Suroeste, decidieron organizar una marcha para protestar en contra de la contaminación ocasionada por las bases militares alrededor del mundo.
Las comunidades enclavadas en sectores aledaños a bases militares, durante años han corrido el riesgo de sufrir algún tipo de contaminación, debido a la presencia de algunas sustancias tóxicas que se manejan en las bases militares, por ejemplo en Kelly USA.
Genaro Rendón, Co-director de la Unión de Trabajadores del Suroeste, mencionó que durante décadas han luchado contra este gran problema que ataca a la sociedad en todo el mundo y declaró que es tiempo de actuar porque la gente sigue sufriendo.
“Lamentablemente la mayor parte de estas personas son pobres y no tienen el suficiente poder como para defenderse o ser escuchados”, agregó.
“Lo que queremos lograr es reunir a todos los representantes a nivel mundial, ya que todas estas comunidades han sido afectadas por las operaciones militares de Estados Unidos. Nosotros hicimos una campaña en la que se colocaron cruces moradas en las casas donde tuvieran a un familiar enfermo o que haya muerto a causa del cáncer, y vimos que más del 50% de las casas en los alrededores de Kelly USA tienen colocadas las cruces moradas”, añadió Rendón.
Líderes de diferentes países se unieron el pasado 13 de julio para compartir estrategias dirigidas a combatir este problema, discutir el impacto que representa haber vivido cerca de instalaciones militares estadounidenses, y dar inicio a un programa de limpieza ambiental y de salud en el mundo.
Ismael Guadalupe, miembro del Comité pro Rescate y Desarrollo de Vieques en Puerto Rico, mencionó que las muertes de gente causada por la contaminación proveniente de bases militares, no se contabilizan como parte de las muertes de guerra. “La comunidad de Vieques es la número uno en Puerto Rico en cuando a contaminación ambiental y el cáncer, problemas respiratorios, problemas de la piel y otras. Sabemos que el 85% de las familias de Vieques tienen algún miembro que ha sido contaminando”.
Finalmente, Rendón convocó a la comunidad a que participe en esta causa, marchando este sábado 15 de julio al lado de los líderes de las diferentes organizaciones en pro de la defensa de la salud y el ambiente.
La marcha iniciará en la escuela Dwight Middle School en 2454 W. Southcross a las 10:45 a.m., hasta llegar a la entrada principal de Kelly USA, donde harán un mitin.
ABQ Trib: Families on Pajarito Mesa achieve much with little
Families on Pajarito Mesa achieve much with little
By Kate Nash
Albuquerque Tribune
July 19, 2006
PAJARITO MESA - The 418 families who live perched above Albuquerque
don't have much.
In some senses, this mesa is a do-it-yourself kind of place, where the
residents have built their own city.
With no county services, many have fashioned their own systems using
gigantic barrels and car batteries that give them some semblance of
running water and electricity.
Some 130 residents formed their own Mutual Domestic Water Association in
hopes of getting a well.
Without a road crew, residents got their own grader to smooth the
community's gravel roads.
Lacking a government garbage service, one family has paid thousands to
have a mound of tires hauled from their property.
And without doctors nearby, residents recently organized to train each
other in first aid.
Those are just a few examples of what the families here have been able
to achieve through community organizing, friendship and perseverance.
They've also got outside help, from groups like the SouthWest Organizing
Project that assist with legal issues, and a church pastor who helped
them build a simple place to worship.
"I just saw people had a tremendous need," said Larry Scott, a pastor
who helped form the Pajarito Mesa Community Church of the Nazarene.
Residents say other needs remain. Streets. Street signs. Mail service. A
strong cell phone signal. More police presence.
Things beyond that, too, said longtime resident and community organizer
Sandra Montes.
"I see other communities in places where people have money and there's
two or three homes, they build their homes, and they extend
electricity," she said.
Copyright 2006, The Albuquerque Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
By Kate Nash
Albuquerque Tribune
July 19, 2006
PAJARITO MESA - The 418 families who live perched above Albuquerque
don't have much.
In some senses, this mesa is a do-it-yourself kind of place, where the
residents have built their own city.
With no county services, many have fashioned their own systems using
gigantic barrels and car batteries that give them some semblance of
running water and electricity.
Some 130 residents formed their own Mutual Domestic Water Association in
hopes of getting a well.
Without a road crew, residents got their own grader to smooth the
community's gravel roads.
Lacking a government garbage service, one family has paid thousands to
have a mound of tires hauled from their property.
And without doctors nearby, residents recently organized to train each
other in first aid.
Those are just a few examples of what the families here have been able
to achieve through community organizing, friendship and perseverance.
They've also got outside help, from groups like the SouthWest Organizing
Project that assist with legal issues, and a church pastor who helped
them build a simple place to worship.
"I just saw people had a tremendous need," said Larry Scott, a pastor
who helped form the Pajarito Mesa Community Church of the Nazarene.
Residents say other needs remain. Streets. Street signs. Mail service. A
strong cell phone signal. More police presence.
Things beyond that, too, said longtime resident and community organizer
Sandra Montes.
"I see other communities in places where people have money and there's
two or three homes, they build their homes, and they extend
electricity," she said.
Copyright 2006, The Albuquerque Tribune. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
SWOP homepageIntel Employees Evacuated from Rio Rancho Site
According to reports from Intel's neighbors, Intel employees were evacuated and sent home for the day.
Neighbors heard the sirens go off at approx. 10:20 a.m. and experienced power surges at 11:45 a.m. Nearby residents say they heard reports Intel had a filtering system problem.
No official notification yet from Intel to the residents of Corrales, who have said they have health problems they attribute to Intel's emissions.
Intel
New Mexico
Neighbors heard the sirens go off at approx. 10:20 a.m. and experienced power surges at 11:45 a.m. Nearby residents say they heard reports Intel had a filtering system problem.
No official notification yet from Intel to the residents of Corrales, who have said they have health problems they attribute to Intel's emissions.
Intel
New Mexico
Monday, July 17, 2006
SWOP homepageInflation Drops NM Min. Wage to 51-year Low
NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICE
A statewide news service for New Mexico
Phone: 888-471-1722
Fax: 303-253-8905
E-mail: nmns@publicnewsservice.org
Sound files are available at: www.newsservice.org
July 17, 2006
Report: Inflation Drops NM Min. Wage to 51-year Low
Albuquerque, NM - Those earning the state minimum wage in New Mexico have seen buying power drop because of inflation, according to a new report (from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). The wage equals what was paid 51 years ago after adjusting for inflation, and raising the minimum is being pushed as a campaign issue.
Inflation is taking a big bite out of the paychecks of those earning the state minimum wage in New Mexico, according to a new report. Study author Isaac Shapiro with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the wage hasn't been this low in over 50 years - and the economy is supposedly booming...
"It's now reached its lowest level since 1955, after adjusting for inflation. So they aren't really benefiting from this recovery."
Legislators considered boosting the minimum this year to between six and seven dollars, fifty cents an hour - but the idea was strongly opposed by some businesses. Shapiro says raising the minimum at the state and federal level is shaping up to be a big campaign issue - it's being featured in ads starting this week. And the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce has just voted to take an official position on the issue - they oppose any increase.
****
Shapiro says it's always a tough business issue because it looks like a big jump in pay. He says tying future increases to inflation would be better for companies...
"Sort of a herky-jerky adjustments in the wage level, which I think make less sense from the perspective of businesses than gradual steady wage adjustments." (end)
Editor's Note: The full report is at www.cbpp.org. Isaac Shapiro is at 202-408-1080.
Julio 17, 2006
Informe: La inflación tumba el salario mínimo en NM el más bajo en 51 años
Albuquerque, NM - Para aquellos que ganaban el salario mínimo estatal en New Mexico, les ha bajado su poder adquisitivo debido a la inflación, según un nuevo informe (del Centro de presupuesto y políticas prioritarias). Hoy en día el salario mínimo es el mismo que se pagaba hace 51 años después del ajuste acorde a la inflación, y el aumento al salario mínimo se está proponiendo como un objetivo de campaña. Comentarios de Isaac Shapiro del Centro de presupuesto y políticas prioritarias (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities )- un grupo de investigación sin fines lucrativos, independiente.
La inflación se ha comido una gran parte de los cheques de aquellos que ganaban el salario mínimo estatal en New Mexico, según un nuevo informe. El autor Isaac Shapiro hizo un estudio para el Centro de presupuesto y políticas prioritarias (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,) dice que el salario hasta ahora no ha caído tan bajo en más de 50 años...
"Ahora ha alcanzado el nivel más bajo desde 1955, luego de ajustarlo de acuerdo a la inflación. Realmente nadie se está beneficiando de esta recuperación."
Los legisladores consideraron aumentar el salario mínimo este año entre seis y siete dólares con cincuenta centavos, la hora - pero se opusieron fuertemente a la idea algunos negocios. Shapiro dice que aumentando el salario mínimo a un nivel estatal y federal es un proyecto importante de campaña - esto empezará a publicarse al comienzo de esta semana. Y la Cámara de comercio del condado de Clovis/Curry acaba de votar para tomar una posición oficial respecto a este asunto - se oponen a cualquier aumento.
****
"Algo así como hacer ajustes en base a un crecimiento irregular a un nivel salarial, creo que esto tiene menos sentido desde la perspectiva empresarial, que los ajustes al salario que sean constantes y graduales."
Nota de la editora: El informe completo está en www.cbpp.org. Isaac Shapiro TEL. 202-408-1080
New Mexico
Minimum Wage
A statewide news service for New Mexico
Phone: 888-471-1722
Fax: 303-253-8905
E-mail: nmns@publicnewsservice.org
Sound files are available at: www.newsservice.org
July 17, 2006
Report: Inflation Drops NM Min. Wage to 51-year Low
Albuquerque, NM - Those earning the state minimum wage in New Mexico have seen buying power drop because of inflation, according to a new report (from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities). The wage equals what was paid 51 years ago after adjusting for inflation, and raising the minimum is being pushed as a campaign issue.
Inflation is taking a big bite out of the paychecks of those earning the state minimum wage in New Mexico, according to a new report. Study author Isaac Shapiro with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the wage hasn't been this low in over 50 years - and the economy is supposedly booming...
"It's now reached its lowest level since 1955, after adjusting for inflation. So they aren't really benefiting from this recovery."
Legislators considered boosting the minimum this year to between six and seven dollars, fifty cents an hour - but the idea was strongly opposed by some businesses. Shapiro says raising the minimum at the state and federal level is shaping up to be a big campaign issue - it's being featured in ads starting this week. And the Clovis/Curry County Chamber of Commerce has just voted to take an official position on the issue - they oppose any increase.
****
Shapiro says it's always a tough business issue because it looks like a big jump in pay. He says tying future increases to inflation would be better for companies...
"Sort of a herky-jerky adjustments in the wage level, which I think make less sense from the perspective of businesses than gradual steady wage adjustments." (end)
Editor's Note: The full report is at www.cbpp.org. Isaac Shapiro is at 202-408-1080.
Julio 17, 2006
Informe: La inflación tumba el salario mínimo en NM el más bajo en 51 años
Albuquerque, NM - Para aquellos que ganaban el salario mínimo estatal en New Mexico, les ha bajado su poder adquisitivo debido a la inflación, según un nuevo informe (del Centro de presupuesto y políticas prioritarias). Hoy en día el salario mínimo es el mismo que se pagaba hace 51 años después del ajuste acorde a la inflación, y el aumento al salario mínimo se está proponiendo como un objetivo de campaña. Comentarios de Isaac Shapiro del Centro de presupuesto y políticas prioritarias (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities )- un grupo de investigación sin fines lucrativos, independiente.
La inflación se ha comido una gran parte de los cheques de aquellos que ganaban el salario mínimo estatal en New Mexico, según un nuevo informe. El autor Isaac Shapiro hizo un estudio para el Centro de presupuesto y políticas prioritarias (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,) dice que el salario hasta ahora no ha caído tan bajo en más de 50 años...
"Ahora ha alcanzado el nivel más bajo desde 1955, luego de ajustarlo de acuerdo a la inflación. Realmente nadie se está beneficiando de esta recuperación."
Los legisladores consideraron aumentar el salario mínimo este año entre seis y siete dólares con cincuenta centavos, la hora - pero se opusieron fuertemente a la idea algunos negocios. Shapiro dice que aumentando el salario mínimo a un nivel estatal y federal es un proyecto importante de campaña - esto empezará a publicarse al comienzo de esta semana. Y la Cámara de comercio del condado de Clovis/Curry acaba de votar para tomar una posición oficial respecto a este asunto - se oponen a cualquier aumento.
****
"Algo así como hacer ajustes en base a un crecimiento irregular a un nivel salarial, creo que esto tiene menos sentido desde la perspectiva empresarial, que los ajustes al salario que sean constantes y graduales."
Nota de la editora: El informe completo está en www.cbpp.org. Isaac Shapiro TEL. 202-408-1080
New Mexico
Minimum Wage
More On Intel Layoffs
from our good friend Fred Marsh...
Yesterday's Oregonian:
Intel
technology
AMD
New Mexico
Oregon
India
Yesterday's Oregonian:
"Intel says it's not done reorganizing, and nearly all industry watchers agree more job cuts are on the way. Estimates run as high as 15,000, but others expect the number to be much smaller.I think many former Enron employees would recognize the way top managers are protected, no matter how much damage they do.
"Although Intel wouldn't provide the job titles of any workers being laid off, there are apparently no top-level executives among them. That frustrated laid-off workers I spoke with on Friday. They complained that the people whose leadership put Intel in a tough spot dodged the ax, which fell instead on the rank and file."
Intel
technology
AMD
New Mexico
Oregon
India
Friday, July 14, 2006
SWOP homepagePolls Say Latinos United by Values, Rights and Voting
karlos says: ...a few polls showing Latino unity, values. My favorite quote from the articles below: "The question is: Are there leaders and organizations that can take these perceptions and turn them into action?"Latinos forge political unity from immigrant rights ralliesLatinos
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, July 14, 2006
Pro-immigrant marches this spring and the nation's ongoing immigration policy debate have unified and politically energized Latinos, according to a national survey conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C.
For the first time since the center began polling the attitudes of the country's Latinos in 2002, a majority said they feel that Latinos of different national origins are working together to achieve common political goals. Of the 2,000 people polled this year, 58 percent said so, compared to 43 percent four years ago.
"All the polls previously showed a lack of unity, so the fact that the marches united people is very important," said Gabriel Escobar, the center's associate director for publications. "The national debate on immigration talks a lot about immigrants, and it's possible that Latinos in general identify with immigrants."
Two-thirds of Latinos surveyed felt the immigrant rights marches -- which drew an estimated 3 million people, mostly Latinos, into the streets of cities across the nation -- signal the beginning of an enduring new social movement. Three out of four said the debate in Washington over immigration policy would impel many more Latinos to vote.
"The survey shows very clearly that Latino public opinion was affected by these events in the spring, and one effect is this greater sense of political mobilization and political unity," said the center's director, Roberto Suro. "The question is: Are there leaders and organizations that can take these perceptions and turn them into action?" More...
Commentary: Health care a moral issue for Latino votersBy Timm Herdt
The 2004 presidential election spawned the widespread use of the term "values voter." It was the phrase of choice for much of the instant analysis of the re-election of President Bush, and in that context, "values" was used as shorthand for the highly charged social issues of same-sex marriage and abortion.
July 10, 2006Conventional wisdom held that these issues put Bush over the top, in large part because they helped him to capture up to 40 percent of Latinos, who voted their socially conservative, mostly Roman Catholic values.
Now comes a new national survey of Latino voters that shows, heading into the 2006 midterm elections, Latinos will again be driven by concern about values. Only this time, the poll suggests, that will be good news for Democrats.
The reason is that Latino voters define "values" somewhat more broadly than most political analysts. For them, values start with family and their family members' well-being.
Topping their list of concerns is health care. It is an issue, said pollster Celinda Lake, that registered Latino voters consider to be "a core family value."
The survey of 800 registered Latino voters in states, including California, with the highest density of Latinos showed a striking level of concern over access to quality, affordable health care. More...
Polls
Elections
Values
Politics
Healthcare
Immigration Rights
Immigration
Rio Rancho Will Feel Intel Layoffs
The following article from NM Biz Weekly reports Intel's Rio Rancho plant will be affected by company-wide layoffs. The article also mentions clawbacks, which SWOP pushed for during the last round of tax breaks Intel squeezed out of Sandoval County. Today's Journal's article can be seen here.
Layoffs
technology
AMD
New Mexico
Rio Rancho's major employer, Intel Corp., will see layoffs at its facility after all.Intel
That was the official word Thursday afternoon from the computer chip manufacturer that employs about 5,600 in the community northwest of Albuquerque, just hours after the Sunnyvale, Calif.-headquartered company announced it would be downsizing its managerial ranks worldwide by about 1,000 positions.
While it is still unclear exactly how many workers will be affected in Rio Rancho, Intel's spokeswoman there, Liz Shipley, said "it will have an impact on the New Mexico site."
The average salary at the local plant is about $50,000 per year, one of the highest in the region.
In June, the company announced it was embarking on a comprehensive efficiency review to slash $1 billion in costs, after its revenues fell from $2.15 billion in the first quarter of 2005 to $1.34 billion for Q1 2006, a 38 percent decline year-to-year, according to company financial statements. Some analysts had predicted the cuts could result in layoffs or downsizing at the company.
Intel corporate spokesman Chuck Mulloy has maintained all along that cuts in operating costs do not equal a smaller workforce or company. Mulloy said Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) has shifted from manufacturing 200 mm chips to the 300 mm chips, which cost less to produce and don't require as much manpower.
The 300 mm chip also is cutting-edge technology that Intel's most direct competitor, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) has, until now, dominated.
Computer manufacturer Dell Inc. (Nasdaq:DELL) recently signed a deal with AMD (NYSE:AMD) to use its chips in its high-end line of servers. Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company. The Austin, Texas-based firm's revenue for the past four quarters totaled $56.7 billion.
The last time Intel's Rio Rancho facility laid off workers was in the 1980s, when the company switched from making memory chips to microprocessor chips.
Last year, Sandoval County issued $20 billion worth of Industrial Revenue Bonds to Intel to provide it with tax relief while it was expanding its Rio Rancho facilities. A clawback attached to the bonds requires that Intel maintain its current workforce population. There's no word on whether the IRBs might be reduced or withdrawn by the county.
Layoffs
technology
AMD
New Mexico
Friday, July 07, 2006
SWOP homepageSubsidies in the News - New Mexico pays to go Hollywood
karlos says: the following is from Good Jobs First's Subsidies in the News column.
New Mexico pays to go Hollywood
The New Mexico city of Rio Rancho, site of two heavily subsidized Intel semiconductor fabrication plants, is branching out into film production--and is also using public funds to do so. Recently, the Rio Rancho city council approved more than $2 million in subsidies for Lions Gate Entertainment, which plans to build a $15 million studio in the city. Lions Gate is already filming the television series "Wildfire" in Rio Rancho.
The project will also be aided by a $7 million loan from the State Investment Council. This is not the first time Lions Gate and other studios have received help from the Council. Since 2002 the state has lent more than $140 million to film and TV production companies--interest free. So far, very little of that money is being repaid. In an investigation of the program published in May, the Albuquerque Journal found that only two of the 14 loans had been repaid and that none of the movie projects had reported making a profit, from which the state is supposed to receive a share.
also from GJF...
New York follows through on $1.2 billion subsidy for AMD chip plant
In the final hours of its session, theNew York state legislature hurriedly passed a bill that authorized a $1.2 billion subsidy package being used to induce Advanced Micro Devices to build a chip fabrication plant in Saratoga County , north of Albany U.S.
Columnist Bill Hammond of the New York Daily News wrote a satirical memo from AMD chief executive Hector Ruiz to the taxpayers of the state that said: "You, the working stiffs of New York State, are going to help us, a wealthy mega-corporation, buy a shiny new factory...I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming...It's an honor to be on the receiving end of such incredible generosity."
subsidies
hollywood
Movies
Film
AMD
Intel
New Mexico pays to go Hollywood
The New Mexico city of Rio Rancho, site of two heavily subsidized Intel semiconductor fabrication plants, is branching out into film production--and is also using public funds to do so. Recently, the Rio Rancho city council approved more than $2 million in subsidies for Lions Gate Entertainment, which plans to build a $15 million studio in the city. Lions Gate is already filming the television series "Wildfire" in Rio Rancho.
The project will also be aided by a $7 million loan from the State Investment Council. This is not the first time Lions Gate and other studios have received help from the Council. Since 2002 the state has lent more than $140 million to film and TV production companies--interest free. So far, very little of that money is being repaid. In an investigation of the program published in May, the Albuquerque Journal found that only two of the 14 loans had been repaid and that none of the movie projects had reported making a profit, from which the state is supposed to receive a share.
also from GJF...
New York follows through on $1.2 billion subsidy for AMD chip plant
In the final hours of its session, the
Columnist Bill Hammond of the New York Daily News wrote a satirical memo from AMD chief executive Hector Ruiz to the taxpayers of the state that said: "You, the working stiffs of New York State, are going to help us, a wealthy mega-corporation, buy a shiny new factory...I keep pinching myself to make sure I'm not dreaming...It's an honor to be on the receiving end of such incredible generosity."
subsidies
hollywood
Movies
Film
AMD
Intel
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
SWOP homepageCommitting Poetry in Time of War
karlos says: From Bill Nevins, a good friend of SWOP. This film (I haven't seen it) depicts a well known story about free speech, poetry and war that took place at Rio Rancho High School. It is an important story in today's cultural and political climate.
(A side note: Many folks may remember that Rio Rancho High School's primary principle funding came from Intel during a public battle with SWOP over tax breaks, community benefits and water and polution issues.)
Go here for some background.
Google Search
Special Preview Screening of the new documentary film Committing Poetry in Time of War, to be shown one time only, at The Guild Cinema in Albuquerque at Noon, Sat, July 15, 2006.
(A side note: Many folks may remember that Rio Rancho High School's primary principle funding came from Intel during a public battle with SWOP over tax breaks, community benefits and water and polution issues.)
Go here for some background.
Google Search
Special Preview Screening of the new documentary film Committing Poetry in Time of War, to be shown one time only, at The Guild Cinema in Albuquerque at Noon, Sat, July 15, 2006.
Doors will open at 11:30 am. Seating capacity at The Guild is limited, so seating will be first arrived, first seated. However, we will reserve some seats for folks who are in the film. This film is produced by Poetic Justice Institute and executive producer Eric Sirotkin and directed by stavros of Dogone Pictures. It is an independent documentary film. The film focuses on the free speech and creative expression issues brought into sharp focus in 2003 by the start of the Iraq War.
Youth and student critical thinking and creative expression were at risk at that time in New Mexico, but poetry prevailed.
This film celebrates poetry!
Please come see the film, give us your critical appreciation of it, and celebrate poetry!
Free Speech
Film
Documentary
Poetry
Iraq
War
Youth
Media
Culture
Education
schools
teachers
Intel
Sunday, July 02, 2006
SWOP homepageMexico Elections: Too Close to Call
karlos says: Both candidates for president of Mexico seemingly declared victory at the exact same time this evening after the Federal Elections Institute (IFE) of Mexico said the election was too close to call and would continue counting votes into next week if necessary.
Looks like Mexico is really getting its dose of US style elections.
Look back for updates...
mexico
Mexico Elections
Border
Immigration
Politics
Looks like Mexico is really getting its dose of US style elections.
Look back for updates...
mexico
Mexico Elections
Border
Immigration
Politics
