Democracy for New Mexico

Call for a Robust Public Option with the Health Action Hamsters

A couple of superstar rodents plug a robust public health insurance option in this spot sponsored by Health Action New Mexico. If you're not singing along by the end of the video, I'll eat the cowgirl hat I stole from one of the hamsters. Seriously.

Now that you're in the mood, check out the short video interview below with Health Action New Mexico's Executive Director, Barbara Webber, and then take action! We're moving into the final round of negotiations on the health reform bill in the U.S. Senate so we need to contact our members of Congress and Dem leaders -- including President Obama -- AGAIN to make sure they do the right thing and include a robust public option in the bill -- no triggers!

Get contact info for your members of Congress by entering your zip code here. Send a message to the President here.

Checking In

Mama moose and baby, Roosevelt National Forest CO

Moose, Roosevelt National Forest CO

Cache La Poudre River, Northern CO

Northern Colorado back road with clouds

Near Poudre Pass

Grand Lake CO South of Rocky Mt. Nat. Pk.

We're still on break but we'll be back soon.

Click on images for larger versions. Photos by M.E. Broderick.

Enough of the GOP Mob

DNC web ad. Pass it on. Enough is enough.

Photo of the Day: Climate Change Activism

Click image for larger version

Powerful way to make a point. Today three Greenpeace climbers hung a banner on the face of Mount Rushmore to issue a challenge to President Obama. "America honors leaders, not politicians: Stop Global Warming.” At least 11 arrests have been made in order to stop global warming. The action is part of a global day of action staged by Greenpeace to urge world leaders, who are currently attending a G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy, to take the actions necessary to avert runaway climate change. Visit the Greenpeace website for more info, photos and a video.

Photos: Albuquerque Pridefest 2009

Here's a photo slideshow from yesterday's Albuquerque Pridefest parade and the gathering at the State Fairgrounds. If you'd like to watch the slideshow in a larger format, go here. You can also visit the photo album that contains all these photos at our Flickr account.

This set is from the dedication of the Albuquerque Pride memorial at Morningside Park last Thursday. Here are the links to the larger version of the slideshow and the Flickr album. Albuquerque is only the second U.S. city to have a memorial honoring its GLBT citizens, the other one being New York, which has a memorial to the 1969 Stonewall uprising there that is considered a touchstone of the modern-day fight for equal rights by the GLBT community.

Also see our previous post with videos taken from the Dem Party of Bernalillo County parade float, and photos and videos from events posted at Peter St. Cyr's site, What's the Word. Jim M. at Duke City Fix has another wonderful set.

ABQ Artist and Founder of 'One Million Bones' Selected as Prestigious TEDGlobal Fellow

Bravo, well done, how exciting and what an honor for the woman behind some incredibly meaningful and moving art projects. Last week, organizers of the TED Conference introduced the first group of TED Fellows to participate in its new international conference, TEDGlobal. One Million Bones is proud to announce that its founder and director, local Albuquerque artist Naomi Natale (above), is among those honored, according to a statement released today. Natale is one of only twenty-five individuals from around the world who have been selected to participate in the TED community this year by attending TEDGlobal 2009, which will be held in Oxford, UK, on July 21-24.

In addition to participating as full members of the TEDGlobal Conference audience, each TED Fellow will participate in a two-day pre-conference where they will receive world-class communication training, deliver a short TEDTalk, and collaborate with their peers, among other benefits. Their TEDTalk may be selected for posting on TED.com, where it has the potential to be viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

“I am honored to be selected as a TEDGlobal Fellow and look forward to sharing my new project, One Million Bones, with the TED community,” said the 27 year old Natale. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to interact with some of the most innovative and forward thinking people from around the globe.”

Natale was selected for her innovative work in socially focused large-scale art installations, having founded and directed The Cradle Project, which opened to rave reviews and large crowds in downtown Albuquerque last June (see my post). Designed to promote awareness of the estimated 48 million children who have been orphaned by disease and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, this fundraising art installation also raised over $100,000 to help feed, shelter, and educate these orphans.

Natale’s newest and most ambitious project, One Million Bones, is a fundraising art installation designed to represent victims of present genocides and create a visual demand for solutions to this issue. Our mission is to increase global awareness of these atrocities while raising the critical funds needed to provide humanitarian aid to the displaced and marginalized victims. One million people will each create one bone to represent one victim. Installed together, these one million bones will flood the National Mall in Washington D.C., unearthing the memory of these victims, while calling citizens to action.

“By inspiring action through art, you can change the world one person at a time,” said Natale.

You can follow Naomi Natale on FaceBook and MySpace.

About TED:
TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then, its scope has broadened to include science, business, the arts, and the global issues facing our world. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives — in 18 minutes. Attendees have called it “the ultimate brain spa” and “a four-day journey into the future.” The diverse audience — CEOs, scientists, creatives and philanthropists — is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck, Isabel Allende and Bono.

TED was first held in Monterey, California, in 1984. In 2001, Chris Anderson's Sapling Foundation acquired TED from its founder, Richard Saul Wurman. In recent years, TED has expanded to include an international conference, TEDGlobal; media initiatives, including TEDTalks and TED.com; and the TED Prize. TEDGlobal 2009, “The Substance of Things Not Seen,” will be held July 21-24, 2009, in Oxford, UK. TEDIndia will be held in Mysore, India, Nov. 1-4, 2009. TED2010, “What the World Needs Now,” will be held Feb. 9-13, 2010, in Long Beach, California, with a simulcast event in Palm Springs, California. For details on all upcoming conferences and events, visit www.TED.com.

Sunday Peonies

We planted peonies in our backyard a few years back and now they are producing beautifully and expanding. The blooms -- which appear right after our young lilac bush drops its purple flowers -- last only a short time. While they're here, they're a precious sight to behold with a scent to match. (Click on photos for larger images. Photos by M.E. Broderick.)

More Photos from Outside the Obama Town Hall in Rio Rancho

Folks complained in the comments thread of my post on the teabagger photo of the day from yesterday's town hall with President Obama that the online Journal didn't show any demonstrators outside the venue who weren't of the teabag variety. In response I decided to post a few more photos Mary Ellen took of the various demonstrators who showed up around Rio Rancho High School. It was a more diverse (and smaller) group than either the Journal or some of the TV new reports acknowledge. (Click on photos for larger versions.)

RRHS students give the Big O for Obama

And then there's the photo from yesterday sent to me by a friend that kind of sums up the teabagger thing in my mind: Impeah Now!

(Updated) Photos: Obama Town Hall at Rio Rancho NM

Update: You can now see all of Mary Ellen's photos from the townhall at our Flickr account.
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I'll be selecting and uploading photos from President Barack Obama's appearance today in Rio Rancho, New Mexico as they get processed. More to come as I update this post. All photos by M.E. Broderick. Click on images for larger versions.

President Obama

President Obama

The President

ABQ Mayor Marty Chavez, Herb and LG Diane Denish, Speaker Ben Lujan and wife, Gov. Bill Richardson

NM House Speaker Ben Lujan, Gov. Bill Richardson

Obama, Presidential seal on podium

Presidential limousine leaving Rio Rancho HS

Gov. Bill Richardson Does the Stanky Legg in Acoma NM (with Video)

Okay, I'm just back from a five-day vacation near Gila NM and I'm not (yet) in the mood to get very serious -- even though there sure was a lot of stuff that erupted while I was gone. I can and will be commenting on at least some of that over the next couple days as I regain my blogging legs. In the meantime, there's Governor Bill Richardson doing a gubernatorial version of a dance called the Stanky Legg with GRAMMY-nominated Lumbee Indian singer-songwriter Jana Mashonee at a recent party in Acoma.

I wouldn't know the Stanky Legg from a chicken leg, but I'm taking the word of someone who emailed me the link to this video today and explained that the Stanky Legg is an "insanely popular urban/hip hop dance." Enjoy.