Disqus - Friends of WilliamHMee

Re: New rule under fire from N.M. Cattle Growers Association - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 12:04:46 -0000

By taking this action Cowan admits that cattle trash streams, lakes and wilderness areas. Otherwise why would she be trying to stop basic protection of water used by everyone? Its time to get cattle out of wilderness areas. They never belonged there and with the drought we need every clean drop of water we can get. Further, the number of people who benefit from cattle on public lands is tiny. A group of old men represented by Mrs. Cowan in her tiresome, pro pollution chatter year after year after year. Let's move on Mrs. Cowan!

Re: Tragedy averted on the Hill, but fire has lessons - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:30:53 -0000

The New Mexican has been publishing weak editorials like this for 20 years. The facts are wrong. About 250 houses burned in Los Alamos in 2000, not 300. Also this fire did not stop short of Los Alamos because of Forest Service thinning! Quite the contrary. It stopped because Cerro Grande had burned up all the fuels near town. The FS never did more than a small amount of thinning and none since 2000. Also this fire would have hit Los Alamos hard had not NPS and FS fire people cut it off on June 27. AND, had Cerro Grand not happened in 2000, this fire would have hit Los Alamos directly with much more heat and wind than Cerro Grande which was tracking north. Las Conchas would have burned down many more houses in LA than CG did but since the Cerro G fire already happened, this one ran out of fuel.

The barrels of rad waste at LA are at TA54 which is in an area of very sparse fuels very close to White Rock. Fire does not carry that far east of LA (look at fire behavior in Bandelier this last week for proof). People need to worry about the mixed waste at LANL for other reasons, but not because of forest fire. Those barrels sit there because they are a mix of toxic and rad waste with nowhere to go.

The real issue raised by Las Conchas is climate change. This is a global warming fire but we can't talk about that because the oil companies and their pawns (Gov. Martinez, Steve Pierce) won't let us. This sort of mega fire and mega drought is a direct cause of human pollution and we'll have to get used to this. Is Santa Fe ready?

Re: Experts speak on fighting fire with fire - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:38:08 -0000

Fire suppression is not the only source of the distorted forest structure we have now. Cattle and sheep grazing on public lands have caused extreme damage to forests and grasslands that have caused forests to get too thick and prevented cool fires from cleaning these forests. Also logging removes fire resistant trees, spreads slash and stimulates small tree growth. Ending grazing would go a long way towards restoring forest resilience and protecting communities.

Re: Wilderness Warriors

Thomas Ribe — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:14:50 -0000

Hopefully we can get an omnibus public lands bill this summer that will include wilderness and the Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico. People could write their senators and ask them to support an omnibus bill and fight any filibusters.

Senator Cockburn of Oklahoma is demanding that public lands bill be "revenue neutral" which means senators must cut money elsewhere to fund new wilderness or national parks.

Re: Santa Fe Institute co-founder dies at 92 - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 20:36:14 -0000

Dr. Cowan was a giant of a man. He accomplished more in his life than many of us would in 5 lifetimes. Thank you George, my former neighbor for your generosity.

Re: Police report progress against trailhead bandits - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:34:02 -0000

Obviously people shouldn't leave anything valuable in a car when hiking. Leave it at home or put it in your pack.

Re: Another coyote attack on dog reported - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:00:37 -0000

The last thing we want to do is have the federal Wildlife Services in Santa Fe County! They will spread poison, shoot everything that moves, and they will INCREASE the coyote population by killing coyotes. This is an extremely backward organization that should abolished. The more you kill coyotes, the more they reproduce. The best way to deal with this is by dealing with that specific animal, not by going after coyotes in general. 99% are innocent and don't bother dogs. Let's not get hysterical here. Being outdoors is always risky for people and dogs.

Re: Duran joins effort asking feds to help stop voter fraud - The Santa Fe New Mexican

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 13:11:07 -0000

Notice to Hispanics: Republicans don't want you to vote. If you speak Spanish, the GOP doesn't want you in the voting booth. Period

There is no voter fraud. It is a fiction created by desperate Republicans to keep Hispanics and Blacks out of the voting booth. It is shameful that the GOP has become such a white party that it cannot appeal to minority voters. Thus the voter fraud sham to suppress minority votes. This is a national effort being run by Romney and the far right.

Imagine the phone calls from Karl Rove and his employees to Ms. Duran. Did money change hands? Why would she turn on her own people like this? Has she no dignity?

New Mexico republicans are puppets on the strings of the Koch Brothers and their buddy Mittens Romney. These folks just want to protect their wealth and deregulate Wall Street. Heather Wilson, Steve Pierce, Susana (Tejana) Martinez are tools of the multinational corporations and the ultra rich. They couldn't care less about normal people.

Re: The New Mexico Gubernatorial Race

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 19:39:56 -0000

Martinez gets lots of money from the Koch brothers who require her to deregulate the oil industry in return for the bucks. She does this and our water supplies are being massively polluted as a result. Karl Rove has given huge amounts of money to her and requires her to stop regulations in return as well.

Re: Vote - Santa Fe - Best Destination for Outdoor Enthusiasts Nominee: 2015 10Best Readers' Choice Travel Awards

Thomas Ribe — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 12:39:25 -0000

Santa Fe has excellent high country with alpine lakes. We also have beautiful mid elevation desert full of beauty and wildlife. The Valles Caldera National Preserve is now managed by the National Park Service and a visit there is unforgettable. You can gear up at REI in Santa Fe or take a tour with Great Southwest Adventures. And Santa Fe has amazing places to eat and sleep and you can enjoy New Mexico wines and Colorado beers.

Re: Hammonds have history of brushes with law | The Register-Guard

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 12:31:14 -0000

The information George put in his article is accurate and a matter of the public record. I admire George for compiling information on the criminal activities of the Hammonds so the public can understand why other armed criminals came to their defense at Malheur. We have a problem in this country with people who don't respect the rule of law and are ignorant of the process of democracy.

If the far right wants to change the law, they can go through the same process everyone else uses. It actually works. They have their guy in Greg Walden and his breathless dislike of government on all levels. They should meet with him and press their case. Ted Cruz and Mike Lee in Utah would be happy to help them. American democracy is available to conservatives every day of the week.

I'm always interested that conservatives feel it is okay for other conservatives to break the law and threaten people with guns. If liberals or black people do that sort of thing, conservatives demand swift justice. Everyone must comply with the law and use the courts, even self rightous right wingers. Respect the law. Its the conservative thing to do.

Re: City Signs On to Watershed Grant: Santa Fe and state to share costs to prevent wildfire

Thomas Ribe — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 10:49:34 -0000

This is good news. The sooner this work proceeds the better. The reality is that we need to treat a hundred thousand acres above Santa Fe with prescribed fire in order to restore the health of the trees and wildlife and to protect our community from floods and burning homes. There will be smoke, but less than if we had a major blowup like Las Conchas.

Jan Boyer and Arther Firstenberg, an anti radio, anti cell phone activist, were invited to a meeting of scientists to tour fire zones near Bandelier last year. They arrived then refused to participate citing radio waves from an antenea that were making Arthur sick. Had they attended, they could have learned about the reality of fire in Southwest mountains. Their views are not supported by serious science.

Re: Rolly: Forget Mayberry — Some rural Utah cops more like bullies with a badge

Thomas Ribe — Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:10:42 -0000

The far right is enamored with the office of sheriff these days. They think the sheriff is the ultimate authority because they are elected. Sheriff offices are stretched thin due to budget cuts and most sheriffs have no idea about federal law related to public lands. But this nonsense sells well with the rural right.

The constitution has a clause in it called the "Supremacy Clause" which gives the federal government the ultimate authority over state and county and city governments. This is set in cement. The far right doesn't like this and the Bundys ignore it. Utah is wasting vast sums of public money fighting against the US Constitution in their effort to privatize public lands.

Re: Dabakis: Protect Bears Ears, Obama, because Utah leaders won’t

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 10:15:15 -0000

This is exactly right. Peabody Coal just went bankrupt. China is abandoning coal. But the right wing in Utah hasn't heard about these things. They still think that a few blue collar jobs destroying Utah's landscape will make for a happy economy with lots of republican voters. This was the vision in 1950 and conservatives can't let go of the past. Utah's republican governor and US Senators probably get plenty of money from the Koch brothers who are John Birch Society. They oppose anything public, anything community (public libraries, public schools, public lands). They bribe politicians with millions in campaign "contributions." Senator Lee has lots of their money in his bank account and the Koch boys expect results when then invest in a pliable politician who has weak ethics. Its all so obvious. Let's throw the governor out of office first chance we get.

Re: New Mexico program hiring young adults for restoration crew

Thomas Ribe — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 10:57:33 -0000

These jobs will help train youth about real conservation work on our public lands. The kids will get involved in work that really restores the landscape after decades of overgrazing by sheep and cattle when the land was private. These jobs could lead to careers and advanced education. This is why we wanted the National Park Service to operate the Valles Caldera National Preserve, so that we can have a new generation understanding the landscape on a deep level and people can relate to the land through understanding and respect. I'm grateful to everyone who helped make these jobs possible.

Re: Bishop, Stewart launch action group for states to take over federal lands

Thomas Ribe — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 13:52:40 -0000

Notice that Bishop says they will "explore the historical and legal context". If they had done this a long time ago they would understand that the federal lands never belonged to the states and that various parts of the US Constitution give the federal government the absolute right to own lands for national purposes. A huge majority of the American people support public ownership of federal public lands. Bishop and Stewart are extremists.

Re: Public lands support diverse rural economics

Thomas Ribe — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 09:13:42 -0000

Megan is absolutely correct that federal public lands, owned by all of us, are great economic resources for non extractive uses. The other side of the coin is that managing large land areas costs money and the states cannot afford to manage the tens of millions of acres of public lands that the US Forest Service and BLM manage for us. We in the west are very fortunate to have the federal agencies to do this work. Fire management alone is a huge expense that is not optional. If people are unhappy with federal conservation management, they should engage with the agencies and help improve management. The door is open. The federal agencies work for the public and are paid by the public.

Re: Public Lands Initiative is too little, too late

Thomas Ribe — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 10:50:10 -0000

Bishop is an extremist. His bill is loaded with "transfer" language that would give lands belonging to all Americans to the oil industry via a Utah fire sale. The right answer for this amazing area is a national monument managed by the tribes and the National Park Service, America's finest conservation agency.

Re: Backers of state control of federal land set for new push

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 29 Dec 2016 23:16:37 -0000

Sportsmen, including Don Trump's son, strongly oppose efforts by the states to control lands now owned by all of the American people. Most likely these lands would be sold off and no trespassing signs would go up if the state got control. Utah has sold most of its state lands to corporations. We hunters would be arrested for hunting on lands that we now own with all Americans. Also thousands of people that work for federal land agencies would be put out of work. The state doesn't have the money to hire them and can't afford to manage millions of acres of land. This is a right wing fantasy.

Re: Anniversary Of Oregon Refuge Occupation Approaches

Thomas Ribe — Mon, 16 Jan 2017 16:41:45 -0000

I wonder if the militia far right is planning some kind of event at the Refuge. If so I hope the USFWS has plenty of law enforcement and contingencies to protect the public's refuge.

Re: Trump Administration Imposes Freeze On EPA Grants and Contracts

Thomas Ribe — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 11:14:11 -0000

The Koch brothers are in charge of environmental policy in the Don Trump administration. They are directing things from behind the scenes with their organizations and making appointments. Their goal is to end environmental regulation and sell off all federal lands to corporations. Theirs is a long term campaign to disrupt American democracy and whittle the government down to bare bones. It is succeeding famously.

Re: Another Public Land Transfer Bill Filed At 11th Hour

Thomas Ribe — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 13:08:46 -0000

The public needs to understand that the American Lands Council is funded by the Koch brothers and is part of their national effort to privatize the public lands throughout the West. They have other groups they fund as well like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) which writes bills like the one Miller sponsored. The Koch brothers don't care that these bills are unpopular, they press ahead anyway. For more information go to Publiclandwatch.org.

Re: Public Outcry Defeats Lands Privatization Bill

Thomas Ribe — Fri, 10 Feb 2017 20:53:03 -0000

Transfer of federal public lands to the states and counties is extremely unpopular in the West. The Koch brothers are pushing this against the will of almost all westerners. I applaud Oregon Wild for helping keep a lid on this in Oregon. For news on this topic use this website and: www.publiclandwatch.org.

Re: Herbert says a smaller Bears Ears National Monument would be a good compromise

Thomas Ribe — Tue, 14 Feb 2017 09:38:21 -0000

New Mexico would welcome the Outdoor Retailers. We have mountains and rivers, large convention facilities and we have a diverse population. Our state government is dominated by democrats who support public lands. Its clear that the retailers will move their convention because of the far right politicians in Utah and either Colorado or New Mexico would be a great place to relocate.

Re: Are Our “Protected Lands” Really Safe?

Thomas Ribe — Wed, 22 Feb 2017 21:05:08 -0000

We make a mistake when we refer to oil and gas as "energy". Energy includes solar and wind and geothermal. The right likes to think energy is just oil and coal. Trump's energy policies are grounded in 20 year old news, when in fact wind and solar are growing fast without tax breaks or government help. Natural gas and wind will soon be far greater energy sources than old fashioned polluting oil. Trump's energy ideas are obsolete and out of date, as are most of his "ideas."