Troops In Afghanistan To Occupy Wall Street: Quit Your Bitchin’

Linked Up

I've really got to give credit to Century Link. The transformation of their vehicles from "Quest" to "Century Link" took place overnight. It's certainly not a burning issue of our time, but I thought it was an interesting phenomenon nonetheless. Never did I see a Quest truck plying the roads at the same time as a Century Link vehicle. It was if they went into a phonebooth--remember those--a la Superman and overnight the transformation was complete.

On the other hand. . .

A few miscreants probably get so fed up stopping at the red lights they eventually end up running them. On a trip down 2nd St. from Montano and then up Alameda to Ellison/McMahon I had to stop at virtually every light. MAYBE one light was green during the trip, and at least twice I had a green for about 50 feet to the next light which turned red as I approached. What is up with the traffic control/flow department?! The same thing happens going East on Paseo Del Norte and South on Tramway. I'm sure this is yet another multi-million dollar department that seems to be woefully challenged.

On Its Head

One of my guiding philosophies is to turn things on their head, so I probably should have done the same in considering the Red Light Camera issue (see below). Today I witnessed two people that were fully stopped at red lights make their own determination that it was safe to proceed. You see, the lights were a bit long for their taste and they had gotten somewhat tired of waiting. So, they hit the gas and hightailed it through the intersection. Good show, guys! My mistake in the earlier blog post was not insisting on MORE red light cameras and vans in the city. It shouldn't be a question or a vote on whether to retain the existing cameras or squelch them. What we should be debating is . . . where to put the new ones.

Bosque School: "We Train The Shock Troops Of The Next Generation"

The Bosque School kids were at it again over the weekend, once again protesting against the construction of a Walmart adjacent to the school. It certainly looks like the parents are getting a lot of bang for the $18,000 a year they're forking over. It's clear that Bosque School has a radical agenda, as embodied in their "environmental studies program", and it looks like the kids have been indoctrinated well. Good show, Bosque Prep! We'll look for your grads at the next Occupy Wall Street or Unoccupy Albuquerque protests.

Post Mortem On The Red Light Cameras

At the end of the Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa there was a group of Afrikaners who wanted to continue the war against the British until the bitter end. They were consequently known as the “Bitter Enders.” As regards Albuquerque’s red light cameras and camera program, put me down as a bitter ender. I’ll continue to insist that the cameras were a positive for public safety, reduced accidents and deaths, and changed the driving habits of Duke City residents for the better. Furthermore, it would be a mistake to view the vote to remove the cameras as a big victory, or even a mild one. In fact, some who voted to get rid of the cameras were already phoning Bob Clark’s program on 770 KKOB last week; they didn’t realize that the speed vans around school zones were slated for removal along with the cameras.

The 53-47% vote to rid the city of the red light cameras was far from convincing. Bob Clark and Jim Villanucci, the morning and afternoon drivetime hosts on the city’s 50,000 watt blowtorch, had both railed against the program for years. That’s A LOT of free advertising, say $100,000+ worth. Consequently, those who opposed the cameras were highly motivated. They’d received a tremendous amount of positive reinforcement for their position for YEARS and naturally these two local heavyweights are capable of instilling and reinforcing opinion. Still, even after this onslaught, the vote was fairly tight, and, importantly, many who voted to get rid of the program did so because they objected to the revenue from the program going out of state (Arizona) and not redounding to the benefit of the City and local economy, NOT because they objected to the red light cameras. Calls to Villanucci echoing this point of view were legion before the vote. Had the money been going to Albuquerque, the camera program would probably have been approved by the voters.

We’ll go on the record here that red light running will naturally increase once the cameras are inactive. Longer yellow lights, better line of sight, yada yada. . . those who believe themselves above the traffic laws will believe themselves to have won a victory, and unfortunately here in Albuquerque a significant portion of the population cares not a wit for traffic laws and/or safety. I recall reading an article in the Albuquerque Journal which reported that 17,000 cars ran the red light at one Albuquerque intersection in just one month after it was widely known that the intersection was no longer monitored by camera. This was up dramatically from the prior months when the camera was operational. Caller after caller to Villanucci’s show, and importantly a lot of younger people, said the cameras HAD changed their driving habits for the better; they were no longer the cowboys they once were, i.e. they weren’t the danger they previously posed. This is/was reason enough to continue the program.

I myself have had many close calls but have never received a citation. I probably should have stopped on a few occasions, but even when I pushed the envelope I was not ticketed as I did not enter the intersection on the red. The fact is that THE ONLY WAY TO GET A TICKET FOR GOING THROUGH A RED LIGHT UNDER THE CAMERA PROGRAM IS TO CONSCIOUSLY AND PREMEDITATEDLY RUN THE LIGHT.

As for speeding tickets under the camera program, avoiding such tickets isn’t rocket science. All one needs to do is OBEY THE LAW. And, the truth is one doesn’t really need to obey the law, for we all know that the cameras are set to only ticket when one goes 11 miles above the speed limit, say 46 mph in a 35 mph zone. So, one can speed to the tune of 5-10 miles and still be untouched.

The sad fact of the matter is abolishing the red light cameras rewards those who will break the law. Their chances of getting caught speeding or red-light-running, and thus endangering the law abiding, are miniscule each time now. The cameras were able to identify those individuals in a second; a traffic stop will take 10-15 minutes. The miscreants are laughing all the way to the next signal now and we could be only a couple of months away from tragedy. Should a high profile red-light-running accident occur the voters may prove quite changeable; a vote taken afterwards would turn the cameras back on. Those that overturned our representative democracy, championed the program’s dismantlement, demonized a private company, Redflex, and applauded the vote to abolish the cameras may find the winds of fame equally fickle.

Counter-movement to Unoccupy ABQ holding teach-ins at UNM

Anti-Marxist/Pro-Freedom Conference at UNM, Nov. 8, 11 AM - 1:30 PM

Dear Members and Friends of Conservative Republicans,

You doubtless know that "Occupy Albuquerque" has been outdoors at UNM for weeks. Perhaps you don't know that they had programs in the SUB all last week. This included two and a half hours in the SUB Atrium each day. (Please see attached flier.) As examples there were: Inst. Mark Rudd, "The Organizing Tradition-Methods and Strategies" and Dr. Bruce Trigg, "Beyond Corporate Health Care-the Single Payer Alternative."

It's our University too. Our voices must be heard. The SUB Atrium has been reserved for Tuesday, November 8, from 11 AM to 1:30 PM. The program is "Conservatism and the U.S. Constitution: Antidote to Tyranny." Anyone -- whose beliefs fall within the conservative, libertarian, Constitutional spectrum -- is invited to participate. The "Occupy" people had wide ranging topics. We shall do the same -- whether your interest is taxes, economics, right-to-life, the Second Amendment, education, energy, regulations, bureaucracy, foreign policy, national defense or other. Please submit a topic and talk duration within the next two days.

Yep, Obama and Chris Christie. . . Occupy Wall Street is the same as the Tea Party. . .

Raise Cain!

We're with Herman Cain as regards the "Occupy Wall Street," "Occupy Albuquerque", protesters, et al. Marxists of this ilk, usually occupying slots or aspiring to take positions at the local university, and promoting class warfare were the progenitors of mass murder and slaughter throughout the last century, see the Bolsheviks, the Khmer Rouge, and the Castro Brothers as just a few examples. They start out attacking the bankers, the rich, the Jews, the Chinese merchants, the Indian shopkeepers, and then move on until all are caught in their deadly web. They're not to be taken lightly and not to be coddled, much less supported, as our Castroite President would have us do.

And, shame on Jim Villanucci yet again. What a fool. He took the audio of one demonstrator with seemingly libertarian leanings and extrapolated that he spoke for many at the Wall Street protest when clearly this individual represented an outlier opinion. So, Herman, Raise Cain! You're doing great work!

Occupy Wall Street Organized From Day One by SEIU/ACORN Front “Working Families Party”…

Balloon Fiesta

Every year it happens: It's beautiful the week before the Balloon Fiesta and, then, the week of the Fiesta at least half of the days and events are rained out. As I type, the last three days have been canceled. And I don't write in retrospect; I'd told people before this week that such would happen. It's thorougly and unerringly predictable.

Now, I'm just a layman with regard to ballooning and ballooning weather, but is it possible to move the event up a week? Are the early October dates etched in stone? Cooler weather, we're told, is preferable, hence the Fall showtime, but there have been balloons in the air all summer, and would one week and 5 degrees put such a dent in the event?

It's not fair to the many people who travel here from all over the country, and the world, and often have only a day or two window to be in the city to dampen their hopes each year. Nor is it fair to the many vendors that surround the Fiesta, especially in these tough economic times. It's time to rethink the dates of the Fiesta, for the good of all concerned.

Let's Face It: The University Elites Will Fight At Every Turn, BUT The Days of Sending Your Kid Away to College for 4-5 Years Are Over!

UNM Conservative Republican Meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 27, 11:15 AM or 12:30 PM

CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS MEMBERSHIP MEETING(S)

Tuesday, Sept. 27 in the SUB, Amigo Room

PIZZA AND SOFT DRINKS PROVIDED

There will be two meetings in tandem, from 11:15 AM to 12:15 PM, and from 12:30 to 1:30 PM.

Please come to either or both.

In the fall prior to the 2010 election we sponsored three campus forums where ten candidates appeared, including now Lt. Governor John Sanchez. We tabled regularly with help from the Albuquerque Tea Party. No less will be done in fall 2012.

We are now planning activities for fall 2011 through spring 2012. Our intent is to bring the message of conservatism and the U.S. Constitution to campus. Please help us determine the best means to do this by attending at least one meeting this Tuesday.