Letters: Balloon Fiesta Reflection

Balloon Fiesta Reflection

Alibi
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This morning on my way to work, I drove under a rainbow-colored balloon emblazoned with the letters “WWJD.” It made me wonder, what would Jesus do, were he here in our fair town today? I like to imagine that he would ride around in a low-floating hot-air balloon, bobbing at 30 feet or so in the air so that people could gather below him to hear his sermons, in which he would excoriate us for our collective abandonment of the poor, the sick, the homeless and the stateless. He would tell us not to buy so much, and maybe to stay home from Black Friday this year, so that no one gets trampled in His name. Then, he would toss those $5 McDonalds coupons to all the homeless and they would dance as they caught the falling paper. His balloon would land at Nahalat Shalom, because you KNOW that’s the synagogue he’d go to, and he would officiate a lesbian wedding. He’d hop in the chase truck later and meet up with Don Schrader to take a walk down Central, shaking hands with the junkies and prostitutes, miraculously multiplying the bus passes, as the beautiful Albuquerque sunset bathed their smiling faces in its pink glow.

Letters: In Response To “Until The End Of The World” By Ty Bannerman In Response To “Until The End Of The World” By Ty Bannerman

There isn’t going to be an overnight economic or infrastructural collapse, or some sort of Muslim invasion that we need to fight off with incendiary shotguns, bazookas or poorly translated Arabic. These doomsday SHTF scenarios are ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have basic necessities ready around your home. Four or five gallons of drinkable water, several days worth of canned food, extra blankets, batteries, candles and a basic first aid kit are good things to have around the house, especially during winter. As seen during the February 2011 cold snap, most New Mexican homes are not prepared for prolonged sub-zero temperatures.

Letters: Open Letter On Proposed Waste Transfer Station At Comanche And Edith Open Letter On Proposed Waste Transfer Station At Comanche And Edith

Chairman Nicholls,

I strongly object to a zoning change and to the proposed Edith Waste Transfer Station, to be located in the middle of Albuquerque, at Comanche and Edith. My three main concerns (among many) are:

1) The traffic on I-25: The entrance from Comanche to go south on I-25 is already difficult at rush hour and during heavy traffic days. Two lanes (which diverge to I-40) have to be crossed in order to go south. This is already dangerous and difficult. There is no plan to remodel the Big I interchange, even with the projected traffic increase of 173%, predominately trucks.

2) The potential risk of having just one big transfer station for the entire city, in the event of a natural disaster, technological malfunction, labor strike, etc.: Why not make several smaller transfer stations, which can back each other up in the event of the unexpected. WHY put one giant garbage transfer station in the middle of the city?

3) OUTDATED! There is no consideration of any new technology to manage and convert urban waste into energy. Albuquerque does not even have a compacter to reduce what’s put into the landfill! We can and should do better than this, with taxpayer money.

Letters should be sent with the writer’s name, address and daytime phone number via email to letters@alibi.com. They can also be faxed to (505) 256-9651. Letters may be edited for length and clarity, and may be published in any medium; we regret that owing to the volume of correspondence we cannot reply to every letter. Word count limit for letters is 300 words.

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