D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
September 2010
Sustainability or Stalinism?
I'm surprised there were no letters about your article "Net Positive" in the July issue, an informative interview of Silver City's new director of our "Office of Sustainability for Silver City and Grant County." Nick Susillo, the new director, will be in charge of spending a DOE grant of $466,000 to make us more energy efficient. This will involve an energy audit of public buildings, which should be done anyway, and paying the cost of weatherizing some 350 homes, regardless of the income of the homeowners and without before-and-after energy accounting.
There are some other questionable projects being considered, such as a solar-paneled parking garage at the Visitors' Center, where tourists can charge up their $100,000 Teslas and be impressed with Silver City's "progressiveness."
Since 2008, Silver City has been a member of ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, originally called the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. This is an NGO with 600 communities nationwide as members, including Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Alamogordo.
"Sustainability" is an idea starting to receive a great deal of attention. DOT and HUD recently announced $75 million in grants for two projects with the same goal: "To create more sustainable communities." A cynic might say the real goal is to create a more sustainable special-interest group.
To that end, the Senate Banking Committee recently passed the "Livable Communities Act" to implement President Obama's vision of a "Partnership for Sustainable Communities," an urban-development plan to be carried out by the EPA, HUD and DOT. Funding starts at $750 million next year. The goal of this "sustainable community" legislation is positively Orwellian. We are to pack ourselves into high-rises, ride bicycles, grow food on the roof and "take a more collaborative and holistic approach to better respond to the needs of communities."
If you ask why should any community be "sustainable," you are obviously not aware that the world is coming to an end because of global warming caused by using fossil fuels, which are the basis of our unfairly high standard of living. Therefore, we must drastically reduce our use of oil and coal, which will greatly increase the cost of growing and transporting food, which is why Nick Sussillo, on "The Morning Show," said he'd like to see more gardens around town.
Of course, our utility bills will "skyrocket," as President Obama promised, which we will soon see, big time, here in New Mexico thanks to "renewable energy" laws. This will please sellers of solar panels.
Meanwhile, who's going to force us to man the hoes, peddle the bikes and do all the things necessary to turn Silver City into a commune? To achieve even 20% "sustainability" will require Stalinist levels of coercion, something the crusaders may desire, but it isn't going to happen.
None of this makes any economic sense, and if it did there wouldn't be any need for all this government foolishness. Of course, "economic sense" has no place in a crusade to Save The World.
Peter Burrows
Silver City
Creepy-Crawlies
I'd like to add a commentary on "Ouch!" (August). I am more than familiar with centipedes and millipedes. Before I caulked my ceiling, I had two as unwelcome bed guests — and was shocked wide awake by a painful sensation on my ankle one night. I threw a 2 x 4 at the beast, and it merely shook its head — so I got my shears and picked it up and took it outside and snipped it to death. Shudder.
Tarantulas also visit my porous home on rare occasions. I gently scoop them on paper and carefully put them outside — they are fragile and break easily, so if you don't want to kill them, don't toss them. Walking at night I've had one accidentally skip across my foot and we both went aaarrgh! and jumped away from one another. They really won't harm you if you don't try to pick them up. I've heard they make nice pets, but I'm not willing to go that far.
The rattler, I found, can lose its rattles so you can't hear it warn you. I leave them alone unless they are in my front yard, at which time they are told to say their prayers while I get out the six-shooter. This little old lady can jump sideways a respectable distance when almost stepping on one sunning in an arroyo!
I am all too familiar with the assassin bug, squash beetle, cone nose or "Mexican kissing bug," as they are known. They like squash; they also like blood. They sneak into your bed at night (they are drawn to the light in your house, they can fly, and they can get in quickly). They are called "kissing bugs" because whatever they inject deadens any pain, and you can't feel it. They can suck enough blood to swell up almost the size of a marble, and they are around from May through October (another shudder). The worst thing about this critter is that in South America it can carry a disease called chaga, and with so many people from South America coming to the US, chaga is also a real possibility. Their normal nesting place is with mice, squash or woody areas. Yuk.
Maya nolastname
Via email
Carnival Knowledge
I really enjoyed Jeff Berg's piece, "Carnie Folk" (August). Jeff revealed the rollercoaster life of a carnie — a lifestyle of joy and melancholy that goes from slow to fast, fun to scary. Dawn, a carnie, confides to the author, "Journalists make carnivals look bad." She needn't have worried: Jeff's exposˇ offers a kind, sympathetic, behind-the-scenes look at the life of hard-working carnies. There are no freaks on this ride.
Paul Hoylen Jr.
Deming
Tarred and Feathered
I opened the August issue of Desert Exposure this morning and was pleased to read the two editorials. Thanks for citing actual law-enforcement statistics regarding violence on the border and in Arizona. I have heard, repeatedly, the most ridiculous horror stories, with no legitimate sources available to back them up. The rhetoric and fear about Mexican nationals, illegal or not, that is circulating these days brings up the shadows of Germany in the 1930s, and we all know how that turned out.
The first editorial, about the lack of difference between Teague and Pearce, was good, but you missed a great opportunity. I would have loved, inserted after "Not that Pearce has lifted a finger in his Congressional career to help America wean itself from our addiction to oil," one more line, and it would say, "Hey, Americans, we are adults, and therefore no longer need help to wean ourselves from anything."
More important than which party is in power (the differences are negligible as was pointed out) is for each of us to seriously work towards habits of personal and community sustainability. No government can do that for us.
Please, take care of the earth as though your life depends on it.
Elizabeth Foster
Silver City
Your editorial about Teague and Pearce simply states that an ancient tradition is still intact. Even from the early days of our young republic, the tradition was flourishing. "Bankers" were rather frequently stealing folks' money and using a local "bank panic" as a smokescreen to cover their escape across state lines to avoid justice. "Political contributions" kept the Federal government from administering interstate justice, and eventually we ended up with our current bank system that produces national bank panics but uses a trillion dollars of "Federal funding" to pick up the tab for the looting spree. The latest episode was in 2008-2009.
From at least the days of John D. Rockefeller, the oil industry has participated in the "political contributions" industry and thwarted any attempts to administer justice for crimes ranging from theft and fraud to assault, battery and murder. Since it was "a corporation" involved, this was all considered "business risk" and the guilty just accumulated the wealth without regard to justice. Over the years the "political contributions" have bought sufficient votes to assure us of a transportation system that gives the oil companies all the leverage necessary to loot the country whenever they want to. The latest episode being in 2002-2009 when we used our military as a mafia to shut down competition to facilitate price increases as high as 400% at one time.
Another example is the "healthcare" reform business in 2009-2010. We have laws that basically establish medical and drug cartels in this country. The result is a very expensive "healthcare" system with no significant difference in our health from other countries of similar economic status. After all the noise and stench had abated, we ended up with a "reform" that turns the US government into a mafia that forces folks to finance the cartels and with no real difference in the costs.
Nice to know we still value tradition.
Charles Clements
Las Cruces
Wrong Turn
As a resident of Rodeo, NM, I can't help but reply to M. John Fayhee about his article referring to car-camping in our beautiful desert and wilderness ("Car-Camping in the Combat Zone," July). As you know, the population here is spread all over the place. What would we do without the Rodeo Cafˇ and the cafˇ in Animas? Both of these cafes have excellent food and I think you would stand alone if there was a survey taken. I have never heard a word against the food at either place. The owners/operators of both cafˇs are terrific people and are well liked. Great cooks at both cafˇs. We are so fortunate to have a place to enjoy a good meal as we talk to old neighbors and meet new ones. I've had the "barbeque" you talk about and can't go along with your comments about it, nor do I think anyone else would, either.
That "Crazed Desert Rat Society" table that you mentioned is made up of residents who have knowledge of this historic area and could probably each write their own book. Across America, in small towns, you will always find "the table," and I would never walk into the Rodeo Cafˇ and even attempt to sit at that table, as these residents have earned their chair. We learn from them and truly respect them in a way that maybe you would never understand. In fact, one resident has done just that — written a book entitled The Other Rodeo, and it is filled with area history from days gone by.
I have pictured you sitting at your table "trying to eat that barbeque" and as you said, your eyes roaming around the room taking everything in. It seems strange to me that as a new person passing through town, you did not join in the conversation somewhere along the way, as I know you would have been welcomed to do so. It happens all of the time.
Something that hit me pretty hard was your opinion of our Border Patrol. You mentioned the rancher who was shot and killed, along with his beloved dog. Don't you think he would have loved to have seen a green/white Border Patrol truck or four-wheeler coming over the hill? Unfortunately, we do not have enough of them and they simply can't cover this vast area. So many are quite young and we have a deep respect for them as there are days they are alone in their duty.
How excited you were to see boot prints and think that maybe you were actually going to meet up with a real, live illegal. And there you were, all by yourself and so excited. And there I was all by myself and excited, too, a few weeks ago when I was alone in my house and someone was trying to break down the door. That excitement is called "terror." And, only one set of boot prints. Perhaps only one illegal. Perhaps NOT an illegal at all. Maybe it was best you didn't meet up with that set of boot prints.
I think it would interest all of us to know how you handled the fire you started — the one that was the size of a medium house. You had been told that if you ever wanted to see the Border Patrol, start a fire. You have got to be kidding. We have lost over 10,000 acres of wilderness due to fires and you started a fire of that size on purpose? At one time around here there were over 500 firefighters staying in tiny one-man tents and exhausted from the battle. How in the world did you put that fire out?
I am not a writer and I am in no way trying to be ignorant in my writing. I'm not even very educated. However, I know good people when I meet them and this part of the Southwest has some of the best people I've ever met, anywhere! I think by quickly moving through our cafˇs and thinking of what you would like to write, you missed out on a lot. I know you write with humor, but I failed to enjoy it in your article.
Shawnee Dale
Rodeo
Author M. John Fayhee replies: Well, at least we agree on the "beautiful desert and wilderness" part.
DE Down East
After having lived in Silver City for some time and depending on Desert Exposure for thorough information, we now rely on the online version (www.desertexposure.com) for keeping up with Southwest New Mexico.
Marjorie Lilly has done a GREAT job of keeping us informed of the goings on in Palomas. This I especially appreciate! The Pink Store was our destination MANY times. Also while there side trips for dental, drugs (legal) and eyeglasses were made. We enjoyed our trips across the border.
Thanks for publishing a informative, readable "paper"!
Bob Harlow
Camden, Maine
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