Santa Fe Plaza "Live" Web Cam

Live Web Cam

October 25, 2005 View from Shiprock Trading Company, corner of Old Santa Fe Trail and Palace Avenue. New view every ten seconds. The Plaza Cam stops streaming live images of the historic Santa Fe Plaza each evening at 7:00 pm Mountain time due to darkness but will begin streaming each morning at 6 am. After 7 pm the Plaza Cam will display the last image uploaded that evening.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/info/34167.html

Storm blankets New Mexico

7:31 pm: Storm blankets New Mexico; closes roads; Governor declares disaster

By The Associated Press December 30, 2006 The latest storm to hit New Mexico shut down roads throughout the state, canceled numerous airline flights, prompted police to discourage travel and forced state officials to activate New Mexico's Emergency Operations Center. [Use the comment link at the end of the story to report your own snow totals and stories.] By 10 p.m. Friday, Albuquerque's airport reported 10.5 inches _ a record. The National Weather Service said it was the most snow to fall during a single calendar day ever, beating the previous record of 10 inches on Dec. 15, 1959. The snowfall also was the largest amount recorded at the Albuquerque airport in a single month, even through December isn't quite over and snow continued to fall Saturday. Snowfall for the month totaled 14.8 inches by Friday night; the prior record was 14.7 inches in December 1959. The storm _ which the National Weather Service labeled as "dangerous winter weather" _ dumped up to 2 feet of snow on the Albuquerque metro area and more than a foot in Santa Fe County from Friday into Saturday. Gov. Bill Richardson on Saturday declared a state of disaster due to the heavy snow, and said the Emergency Operations Center was continuing to monitor damages and coordinate state, local and volunteer agencies. New Mexico has suffered widespread damage, and the emergency disaster declaration will make money available for counties to recover some costs, Richardson said. State police warned people not to travel, but said those who did venture out should have the latest weather information and road closure bulletins to avoid being stranded, and should let someone know where they were going and what route they planned to take. Roads throughout the state were snow-packed and icy with intermittent closures. The state Department of Transportation said driving conditions were difficult throughout most of New Mexico. Interstate 25 was closed from Santa Fe into Colorado on Saturday, with blizzard conditions and zero visibility reported at Raton Pass in the afternoon. I-25 was open between Santa Fe and Albuquerque, but was snowpacked and icy. Interstate 40 east of Albuquerque to the Texas border was closed most of Saturday, but reopened late in the afternoon. However, police said the road remained icy. Snow-packed highways stranded many motorists, including drivers of countless tractor-trailer rigs. Shelters were set up at schools and churches, including Moriarty High School and the Clayton Baptist Church. Department of Transportation crews were sanding major highways. Department spokesman S.U. Mahesh said more than 1,100 plows and sand trucks were working around the state, and had been for two days. "The problem is we can't keep up," Mahesh said. "We keep clearing out and it keeps building back up." The storm closed city government offices in Rio Rancho and state, county and city government offices and businesses in Santa Fe on Friday, sending thousands of people home early. Employees of many businesses in Albuquerque and Santa Fe didn't make it in to work Friday and Saturday. Lisa Harris, owner of Video Library, a Santa Fe video store, said people leaving work early turned out to be good for her business. "It's amazing how many people are in here getting movies," she said. "We've been busy all day. ... The more snow there is, the more people should stay home, the more they come and get movies. So, I'm wearing a big smile today." The heavy, wet snow sent tree limbs sagging onto power lines or downed the lines themselves. Late Saturday afternoon, Public Service Company of New Mexico crews were still trying to restore electricity to 4,100 customers in Albuquerque, Belen and Sandoval County. PNM spokesman Jeff Buell said crews were gaining on the outages, but expected more to occur as temperatures dropped at sundown. Crews were remaining on the job overnight, he said. Some airlines canceled flights in and out of Albuquerque. Daniel Jiron, a spokesman for the Albuquerque International Sunport, advised travelers to call ahead to see if their flight was delayed or canceled. Some snow totals, as of noon Saturday, included 3 inches at Gallup, 4 inches at Laguna Pueblo, 10.5 inches at White Rock, 10.5 to 14 inches at Rio Rancho, 14.5 inches at Santa Fe, 20 to 27 inches at Las Vegas and 12 to 20 inches in Albuquerque, including 15.6 at the airport. Winter storm warnings remained in effect through Saturday night for much of northern and central New Mexico and a blizzard warning was in effect through Saturday night for the northeast plains, with strong winds and drifting snow dropping visibilities to near zero. The weather service said conditions should start improving Sunday, with clearing skies and decreasing winds statewide, leading into a mostly clear but cool New Year's Day. Improving conditions could be short-lived as another northern Pacific disturbance is headed toward New Mexico. The weather service said that suggests another blast of winter by midweek.

Santa Fe

http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=16965

Santa Fe, New Mexico, sits nestled in the foothills of the southern end of the Rocky Mountains at 7,000 feet above sea level. Here, the chain of mountains is called the Sangre de Cristo Range—the Blood of Christ— a name given by the early Spanish colonists because in the setting sun, the stone of the mountains turns deep red. In this image, the Sangre de Cristo Range appears in the background (top portion). The image is shown from a western viewpoint, as though you were standing on a ridge on the west of town looking toward the east. The most densely developed area of the city is located just above center, and it appears lavender, as does Interstate 25, which runs toward the bottom right edge.

The city is located in a valley below the mountains in the drainage basin of the upper Rio Grande, one of the most important waterways in the area. Rivers and stream run down the western slopes of the mountain and flow into the “Big River,” which would be at your back as you overlooked Santa Fe from this perspective. The mountains around the city induce snowfall in winter, making this an unusual ski destination in the midst of the desert. Snowmelt is a critical component of the water supply for the city, as well as for downstream communities on the Rio Grande.

The city was founded as a capital by Spanish explorers in the early 17th century, but has been run at times by the local Pueblo tribes, Spain, Mexico, and even, briefly, the Confederate States of America. The city’s name means “the City of Holy Faith,” reflecting its role as a center for attempts to convert the local population to Catholicism under Spanish rule. It now is the political center of power for the state of New Mexico, and a cultural and artistic nexus that draws people from all over the world.

This visualization shows the city as seen by the Landsat 7 satellite’s Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument. Data shown here use shortwave-infrared, near-infrared, and green wavelengths (ETM+ bands 7, 4, and 2), which have been pan sharpened to enhance the resolution and color balanced to simulate a natural-color appearance. The data were obtained from a collection of cloud-free scenes over all of North America collected by Landsat 7 in 2000 and stitched together by EarthSat Corporation for NASA. The subsection of the mosaic around Santa Fe was draped over a digital terrain model with realistic terrain (i.e., the differences in elevation among land surface features has not been exaggerated).

Quick snaps from my driveway

Here are some Photos from my carport of the snows progress since I returned from dreamland.
These were taken about 4:30 PM on Saturn Day, December 31 2006.
This storm has been insane, shutting down alot of activity, Airports, Roads and all the fun that these things enable.
I will take more and post them soon.

Bioregional Animism

Animism * Shamanism * Deep * Ecology * Bioregionalism. Bioregional animism is the rediscovery of our collective origins and the rebirth of our past for a permaculture. It has been said that animism was our first religion and that it will be the last. This project is focused on assisting others who are committed to living as one with their bioregions and creating a spiritual and cultural expression of the land and sky that we are but an expression of.

http://bioregionalanimism.blogspot.com/

The goal of this project is to allow the land to express itself through us again. To reincarnate the old traditions and lost tribes, to see that new traditions are being born as new expressions of the land & skies consciousness, to commune with the land and sky and celebrate our oneness with it.
To help support a diverse system of developing ecological and spiritual cosmologies much like indigenous minds have always done, through the act of communion!
The dream is to establish a body of work that can be shared with others to promote bioregional animist communities around the world, and to establish a network of sustainable earth communities based off the
bioregional animist principles of acknowledging that we are one with our environment, that we are surrounded by other than human persons which we are related to, that we must live in a respectful way with these other than human persons, and last but not least that we can establish respectful relationships through communication with our other than human relations.
The main thesis of Bioregional animism will soon be spelled out more clearly and an open invitation of animists world round to share their perspectives in the hope of establishing a healthy and diverse perspective.

Please share your thoughts on Bioregional Animism. Share your experiences with communing with the land and sky, and the other than human persons that are our relations.

This work is part of the bioregionalism movement, the new animism ( as described by Graham Harvey and indigenous people around the world) movement, the reclaiming movement, the DYI movement, the new shamanism movement, and many, many, many, movements to just live and be in harmony with our natural surroundings. Because bioregional animism is focused on personal and communal relationships with the land and sky and the other then human persons that inhabit land and sky, the bioregional animist tribe does not attempt to find one way for every one, it does not attempt to adopt or culturally appropriate any existing cultures, but instead asks that we do as our ancestors have done, begin anew, go directly to the source or culture and animism and shamanism, and find our own way. The project asks that wee become native again and put down roots in the psychic soil of the place that we live. The project asks that we stop out sourcing our traditions and adapting practices from out side of our own bioregion and find the spirit of shamanism and animism in our back yard. The project asks that we think globally and act locally when it comes to our spiritual practice and life ways.

http://tribes.tribe.net/bioregionalanimism

New Mexico Politics Considered National Bellwether

http://www.mothermedia.org/

http://progressiveconvergence.com/

New Mexico Politics Considered National Bellwether

This political season could prove fruitful for New Mexicans, America and the world. New Mexico's first Congressional District race between Heather Wilson and Patricia Madrid is considered a national bellwether race, and Madrid is leading by eight points in the polls. International Press services like the Czech daily Dnes, are running front page stories saying that the Republicans are going to lose. Although important documentaries like American Blackout reveal that the Republican electoral machine is perfectly willing to sabotage the electoral process through voting machine manipulation or minority disenfranchisement, eight points is hard to fake without getting busted. Keep an eye on elected and appointed electoral officials before, on and after November 7th.

No doubt about it, Heather Wilson has got to go. Patricia Madrid represents the peace-loving people of New Mexico while her opponent legitimises immoral wars, both foreign and domestic. Wilson, struggling against deserved eight-point deficits in polls, is desperately searching for anything to keep her balloon afloat. Witness her website where supporters throw around allegations about child predators and hot air, as if that was some kind of a national issues platform. They also appear to forget that Wilson was on the Congressional page oversight committee that failed to "oversee" Republican Rep. Mark Foley's own sexual predations.

Wilson has not updated her news section since September 1st, which I understand since all the news since then has been bad for Republicans. The Foley sex scandal made the headlines, but the unconstitutional suspension of habeas corpus and legalization of torture in the Military Commissions Act of 2006 - which Wilson supported - is even worse. Furthermore, a recent article by the San Francisco Chronicle states that her "campaign appearances are tightly controlled and often closed to the press." What does she have to hide? Perhaps it's those campaign contributions from disgraced House Leader Tom Delay and Rep. Mark Foley, as well as contributions from war profiteers Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

The Chronicle article also notes importantly that the "New Mexico race is seen as a referendum on the makeup of the House," making it all the more important to support Madrid or get out and vote if you live in Congressional District 1 this year. A Democratic majority in Congress could begin to reverse the damage done to our nation and world by the Bush Administration, although the citizenry will have to drive that process themselves on a non-partisan basis.

In New Mexico's third district, Mother Media endorses Tom Udall for Congress. Udall is expected to win in a landslide, and we thank God for that, however we dispute the Congressman's recent public assertions that the chief challenge we face internationally is militant Islamic fundamentalism. Homegrown fundamentalism both religious and nationalistic is the real root cause of our foreign policy problems and collapsing international reputation. Congressman Udall should make every effort humanly possible to oppose militant American foreign policy and police state tactics at home. We salute his recent vote against the abominable Military Commissions Act of 2006. Senator Bingaman also voted against this "law" and we endorse his candidacy with the same request that we made of Udall: confront and disempower homegrown militant fundamentalism before all else.

David Bacon's Green Party candidacy for Public Regulation Commission (PRC) District 4 also deserves our full support. Bacon has developed a strong understanding of the problems facing New Mexico's consumers and the difficulties involved in properly overseeing the increasingly corporate public utilities of New Mexico. Voters must recognize just how important this issue is in New Mexico, especially given the problems we face with mercury pollution from coal-fired electric plants and the unfair obstacles to clean, renewable electric generation and heat that have been set up by the PRC and its corporate intimidators. Bacon, along with allies like Santa Fe non-profit Local Energy, will bring some much needed pressure to bear on the apparently compromised Democratic Party - PRC machine. The PRC must fulfill its responsibility to the people and the Democratic party representation on the PRC appears to lack the needed aggressive oversight capability.

Although Mother Media certainly endorses Al Kissling over Steve Pearce for New Mexico's 2nd congressional district, things look difficult for Democrats in "Little Texas." Although we're hopeful that Gary King wins the race for Attorney General, we would have liked to see him challenge Steve Pearce again down South.

Most of all, Mother Media endorses the growing sense among New Mexicans and Americans that it is time to get back into politics as a nation. We have squandered our heritage on recreational activities of all types, but now the party is over. If we want to retain our national reputation and the integrity that created it, we must get back in the driver's seat, or risk fatal consequences with the Bush Administration and its "globalist" supporters at the helm.

turtle eye land

SaveTheInternet.com Coalition

SaveTheInternet.com Coalition

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: CONTACTS:

Thursday, August 17, 2006 Albuquerque – Gary F. Maricle, 505-217-2105 (or 505-307-2947)

Albuquerque – Robb Greathouse, 505-255-2652
Santa Fe – Leland Lehrman 505-982-3609

Santa Fe – Ellie Garrett 505.310.1606

*** Press Event: Thursday, August 17, Noon ***

Small Businesses & Thousands of New Mexico Residents Ask Sen. Bingaman To Defend Internet Freedom

Thursday: Local members of diverse SaveTheInternet.com Coalition will deliver over 6,500 petition signatures to Bingaman’s Albuquerque & Santa Fe Offices

ALBUQUERQUE – This Thursday at 12:00pm at Senator Jeff Bingaman’s Albuquerque and Santa Fe offices, local members of the diverse SavetheInternet.com coalition will urge the senator to defend Internet freedom for small businesses and local families during an important upcoming Senate vote.

Big telephone and cable companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast are spending millions lobbying Congress to eliminate Net Neutrality. This rule, in place since the Internet was created, prevents Internet service providers from deciding which websites open quickly on people’s computers based on which sites pay them the most. The House already voted to eliminate Net Neutrality. Sen. Bingaman could be the deciding vote in the Senate.

Over 750 diverse groups have come together as the SavetheInternet.com Coalition – including New Mexico small businesses, leading consumer groups, MoveOn, the Christian Coalition, Gun Owners of America, Craig from Craigslist, musicians REM and Moby, Free Press, and others. This coalition collected over 1 million petition signatures online, including over 6,500 in New Mexico. Local residents will deliver the petitions to Bingaman’s offices Thursday at noon.

“Small businesses like mine depends on a neutral Internet, where the website of a small entrepreneur can be viewed just as easily as the site of a big corporation,” said Gary Maricle, a MoveOn member who owns a chili shop in Albuquerque and owns 20 chili-related e-commerce websites including www.NMchili.com. “A neutral Internet allows businesses to compete on merit, not based on which company can afford to pay gatekeepers like AT&T to have their site open more quickly than their competitors. We need Senator Bingaman to declare his support for Net Neutrality so that small businesses and everyday families have an equal right to communicate online as giant corporations.”

Telephone and cable companies have already made clear what they would do if Net Neutrality is eliminated. On December 1, 2005, the Washington Post reported: “William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.”

(Link: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1902). Small businesses would also be pitted against big corporations.

MoveOn and Christian Coalition wrote this joint op-ed on the issue: http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1884)

EVENT DETAILS:

WHO: Local small businesses, consumers, MoveOn, Free Press, and other SavetheInternet.com Coalition members

WHAT: Petition delivery to Sen. Bingaman – over 6,500 New Mexico residents supporting Net Neutrality

WHERE: Sen. Bingaman’s offices. In Albuquerque: 625 Silver Avenue, SW In Santa Fe: 119 East Marcy

WHEN: 12pm this Thursday, August 17, 2006

GREAT VISUALS: Boxes of petitions, local residents speaking and delivering petitions to senator’s office

# # #

Blooming Claret's Cup

From a walk about one month ago.

Fire in Jemez

Shot from Baking Co. parking lot.

Rio Grande Santa Fe Watershed

New Mexico Watershed Maps - 8 digit HUCs