In the Albuquerque Journal this morning, there was an article discussing the new smoking bans on the University of New Mexico campus. Here's a map of the designated smoking areas with perhaps the best one-sentence summary of the issue. Initially, it is easy to sympathize with the college - in an ideal world, no one ever dies of lung… Continue

Today in my dorm room in New Orleans I watched the live feed of the senate debate on SB 12 (the domestic partnership one). Being a bit of a political junkie, I found the whole thing inherently fascinating, and was especially appreciative of the New Mexico Independent's live feed, and careful moderation of their own chat box (the entirety of which can be found… Continue

Reading an article about the internet and it's potential to forestall conflict, I stumbled across this page. Nobel literature prize winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio said in a speech in Stockholm earlier today that, if we had had the internet in WWII, maybe "Hitler's criminal plot would not have succeeded - ridicule might have prevented it from ever seeing the light of day,"… Continue

In 2004, there was a mysterious fire in the bosque, and our fire department responded to it. Also in our bosque was a device for converting vegetable oil into biodiesel. Because of the suspicious nature of the fire, our sheriff brought APD to the scene of the crime. Sheriff Darren White ordered a lockdown of the scene because of the biodiesel converter, and two things happened: one, a media circus, documented… Continue

While skimming BoingBoing today, I glanced over an image that looked very much like rural New Mexico. Here's the image:

Where was the picture taken? Afghanistan, it turns out. Here's the original post, complete with at least a half dozen pictures… Continue