It’s often insinuated in the supposedly pro-Israel media (where three of the most circulated pictures from the recent conflagration included a misrepresentation recycled from the Syria conflict, one of a maimed Israeli child that was miscaptioned and one of a Gaza child killed by Hamas friendly fire published alongside articles blaming Israel) that U.S. adventures in the Mideast are initiated at Israel’s behest. If the U.S. goes to war to spare its oil-sheikdom protectorates from the machinations of an energy-independent Iran and to deny an ascendant Tehran influence over operating costs to Texas-based petroleum concerns, it will be civilians of Tel Aviv on the frontlines of a war paying for the price at the U.S. pump. If Israel goes to war to stave off the Iranian regime, it will be Israel sacrificing its young men for non-Israeli interests.As for the Israel-lobby Svengali: It’s as much a myth as that old wives’ tale where rabbis dictated policy to Roman officials. AIPAC spends about $3 million yearly subsidizing congressional campaigns. U.S. defense and oil industry subsidization of those campaigns exceed that by an order of magnitude. Yet George H.W. Bush (a former lobbyist and envoy for Kuwaiti and Saudi regimes who own shares of “pro-Israel” media conglomerates), when faced with objection to aspects of his Israel policy, declared with a straight face that “I’m just one lonely little guy [up against] powerful political forces.”Powerful, indeed. Of $3 billion in U.S. aid Israelis receive annually, they’re required to spend 80 percent stateside. Three major results: 1) Israeli companies lose their own military as a client to create U.S. jobs, 2) the U.S. gets first dibs on those companies’ innovations, and 3) the IDF becomes a captive market. Because U.S. aid to Israel is tied by diplomatic arrangements to tens of billions in U.S. aid to Mideast polities that are either antipathetic to Israel or have no potential adversaries whom they could mean to harm using U.S. ordinance other than internal dissidents and Israel, the cost to Israeli taxpayers of maintaining a qualitative edge over these US “allies” is almost $2 for every $1 provided to Israel by U.S. taxpayers.
Letters: Preserve The Pit Rule Preserve The Pit Rule
I urge the N.M. Oil Conservation Commission to preserve the so-called Pit Rule as is. As the sister of someone who owns land in New Mexico, I have seen firsthand the importance of keeping our water free from contamination and how the Pit Rule has assured this. Before it was put into place, there were hundreds of cases of groundwater contamination. Since it was implemented, there have been none at the sites covered by the rule. With water so scarce, we need to make sure we protect this essential resource. Having grown up in Las Cruces, I hope Gov. Susana Martinez understands the effect contamination has on farms and New Mexico as a whole.
Letters: Set Up For Failure Set Up For Failure
I’d like to respond to Veronica Perez [Letters: “Sober Solutions,” Nov. 22-28] and others who have written in about Carolyn Carlson’s article [“Close to Home,” Nov. 15-21] on the proposed substance abuse clinic in the International District. People struggling with addiction and seeking help don’t bring anything particularly terrible into a neighborhood. The issue is what’s already there when they arrive. As a resident, I appreciate the Albuquerque police working hard to reign in the high rate of drug activity in this neighborhood, but that doesn’t change the fact I see them busting someone daily. If an addict has the intention of making life changes that involve ending drug use, and we bring them into a neighborhood with a high rate of drug sales, that ease of access to use will be a major hindrance to treatment success. Why set people up for failure like that? Bottom line: Moving ASAP into the International District makes as much sense to me as holding AA meetings behind Caravan East or opening a Curves next to Panadería Parralense.
Letters: Kitsch Or Self-Indulgence? Kitsch Or Self-Indulgence?
[Re: “Parody or Pabulum,” Dec. 6-12] I was willing to give this band a chance on pure kitsch value alone. Then I remembered kitsch requires a healthy dose of self-aware satire rather than Brokencyde’s self-indulgent myopia.Couldn’t bring myself to watch the third video, but the first two show a distinct fuzzy bear theme. In order to somehow justify Brokencyde’s existence, I am now theorizing that they are espousing bestiality, given that no woman in her right mind, even drunk as a skunk, could possibly be attracted to them.Furry animals beware!
Letters: Apd Justice Apd Justice
NYPD just shot more people accidentally (nine!) in one shooting than APD has on purpose all year this year or last year (six last year, six so far this year)!In 2010, APD shot 14 people. Since APD’s 10-year average is eight shootings per year—a 75 percent increase, nearly double the normal rate—it indicated there was a problem.The problem could be with APD, the community it serves or both. Some wanted the problem identified and fixed, some wanted heads on a pike. Some thought APD could fix the problem, some thought only the DOJ could do that. …APD and the community it serves wanted fewer shootings, and there have been fewer shootings. In 2011, there were six shootings, less than half as many as 2010—a decrease of 57 percent from the previous year and a decrease of 25 percent from the 10-year average. So far in 2012, there have been six shootings, another large decrease from 2010 and the average.If a pattern or practice of police misconduct was responsible for the spike in shootings in 2010, what was responsible for the significant drop two years in a row?APD isn’t perfect—no department is—but they are definitely moving in the right direction. Fewer shootings is a good start, but they still need help in other areas. They have a way to go, and they may need more outside help getting there.The people who wanted justice, the problem identified and fixed, seem to have already gotten what they wanted. The people who wanted revenge are still waiting for heads to roll. I’m sure the latter will eventually get what they want. The DOJ did not come to town to congratulate APD on doing their job for them.
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