A Taste of the Establishment at the New Mexico Democratic Pre-Primary Convention

Angie Rhoten,  August 17, 2015: Today at the New Mexico Pre-Primary convention I got a little taste of the establishment and how hard they want to keep control and how little they trust their constituency.

First, they canceled the straw poll at the last minute. It was canceled by one person and no explanation was given beyond, "I didn't think it was a good idea." I can only assume it was because Bernie supporters outnumbered Hillary's about 3 to 1 and it would have been an embarrassment to the establishment to show how far ahead Bernie is this early in the primary season.

Second, right when Bernie people were gathered for our caucus and trying to discuss the gameplan for the day, they started up a very loud mariachi band, making it very hard to hear what was being said. This may seem petty to bring up, but I thought it was a petty thing for them to do.

Third, I approached both Michelle Lujan Grisham and Ben R. Lujan about their superdelegate votes. Michelle basically told me that she would vote whichever way she wanted that she thought was best for the party. I specifically asked if she would vote for Bernie at the National convention in Philly if he wins the NM primary and she said, "I have to do not only what I think is best for New Mexico, but for the entire country." So, I guess she's in the Howard Dean camp.

Ben was more democratic. He told me he would respect the process and if Bernie wins New Mexico he will vote with the will of the people at the National Convention in July.

Lastly, the New Mexico Democratic Party put a platform forward that was best described as weak tea. All of the resolutions that delegates had worked so hard on and voted on were removed or watered down in the final democratic platform for our state. They actually argued they needed to keep it vague to appease more voters. They left us with nothing concrete to go out and sell to voters when we canvass. Most of the Bernie people decided to reject the platform and it was put to a vote. The establishment lost by THREE VOTES! This was a moment where every vote truly counted and rejecting their disappointing platform sent a big message to the establishment democrats in New Mexico and in Washington....we will no longer be apathetic and silent! We will maintain a presence in this process! We will vote and continue to make our voices and our will heard! We are the revolution! ‪#‎WeAreBernie‬

Angie Rhoten and James Parks Jr @ Pre-Primary

‪#‎feeltheBern‬ ‪#‎NM4BERNIE‬ ‪#‎Bernie2016‬

(Thank you James and Steve for having my back today!)

New Mexico needs to Force Green Energy, Abandon Cap-n-Trade

I want to bring up the issue of declining fossil fuels revenue going into the state's coffers. Our state of New Mexico needs to view that as an opportunity. An opportunity to massively expand green energy production in our state. I want to encourage our state to promote vigorously the abandonment of fossil fuels from our energy mix. To seek federal dollars for new Mexico so that our state can construct massive solar and wind energy production facilities to replace obsolete, and dangerous fossil fuels fired electrical generation facilities. Also monies are needed to clean up the old fossil fuels powered generation stations sites. Monies are needed for the retraining of fossil fuels industry workers so that they may switch to cleaner energy jobs of the 21st Century.

I don't like the idea of "cap-and-trade". I do not believe it is effective. I like the idea of energy source forced switching way better. It is sort of like the CAFE standards for motor vehicles. It goes something like this. Note: when I say fossil fuels in this, just assume I mean nuclear too.

Mandate that 50% electrical power production/generation be turned over to green energy by 2025. That means the installation of green energy production equipment to replace shut down fossil fuels powered equipment.

If an electrical generation station is not able to meet the standard by the deadline date of 2025, they must reduce the amount of electricity they produce with fossil fuels by an amount that would bring them into the 50% green energy production requirement.

Mandate that 100% electrical power production/generation be turned over to green energy by 2035. That means the total replacement of fossil fuels with green energy, and the final abandonment of the use of fossil fuels for the production of electricity in the state of New Mexico by that date.

If an electrical generation station is not able to meet the standard by the deadline date of 2035, they must reduce the amount of electricity they produce with fossil fuels by an amount that would bring them into the 100% green energy production requirement. That would mean they would have to shut down their remaining fossil fuels powered facilities regardless of the amount of electrical generating capacity remaining after the shutdown.

I would like to see federal dollars go into such a scheme to help the power production facilities make the switch, and for retraining of ex-fossil fuels workers. This timeline is accelerated to bring about this crucial change in our state's energy production methods much sooner than advocated by the DPNM.

I would like to add that during the last pre-primary convention there was a gentleman expressing concern over shutting down nuclear plants. He said the wind doesn't blow all the time, and the sun only shines half the time. He misspoke when he said there is no way to store the solar energy for use during times that the sun's not shining. He expressed concern that there will be times when the lights will go off, if we abandon nuclear.

I disagree on a couple points. The most obvious one is the electricity storage issue he spoke of. Our civilization does indeed have the technology to store electrical power, and we are getting better at it all the time. It may be a fact that there might be some electrical generation capacity shortage while we bring our state to 100% green energy production, but I say that is part of the cost.

We will have to tolerate some times of brownouts and even blackouts during the transition. (Roasted marshmallows by an outdoors fire under the stars? Family togetherness. grin emoticon ) I would encourage all New Mexicans to look at any future brownouts or blackouts as temporary in nature, and ushering in a new era, and a better life for all of us. Think of the brownout in your neighborhood as keeping a person on life support at the hospital alive, and feel good about yourself. We can promote the transitional problems we face in terms of doing honorable things for the greater good of the community, and nothing would be further from the truth of the matter. We will face problems with the transition, but the possible problems we might face due to switching power production methods pale in comparison to the problems we will face if we do nothing, or if we delay the effort.

We should all keep in mind that by the year 2045 our whole state could be transformed into a green electricity generating powerhouse of the Southwest with a net export of energy to the surrounding states.

All of this scheme would mean more jobs, a cleaner environment, raising state revenues as we abandon fossil fuels for green energy, and a higher standard of living for all of our people.

Dump the idea of cap-and-trade. Promote a scheme of Forced Power Production Capacity Switching. This should be on a worldwide basis too! Cap-n-trade is no good here, and there. It is an inadequate compromise between fossil fuels, manufacturing and government who rely on the revenues from it. This is further proven with the UN timeline on this issue, which is not near aggressive enough.

Bernie Sanders-v-Hillary Clinton the Import/Export Bank

When Clinton and Bernie Sanders were debating (3/6/2016) the issue of the Import Export Bank (IEB) came up. Along with it the fact that Boeing and other big companies are the ones who mostly benefit from that money. Bernie Sanders is against the IEB, Hillary Clinton against it. Here is how I see things as they speak.

Clinton takes money from Big Corporations, Sanders does not. Clinton mentioned that there are two big aircraft manufacturers in the world, Boeing and Airbus. I know something of the aircraft industry. I worked in it for 35 years. I moved to Seattle in the early 1990's with the intent of getting a job with Boeing. When I got there I was broke, and sleeping in my car in the winter. I was determined and young, so that didn't matter to much to me. I was willing to do what it took.

All the while I was struggling to use my "rugged individualism" to pull myself up by the bootstraps, Boeing was laying production workers off. Even though I didn't get the job I wanted, I managed to get work for a private individual supervising the rebuild of his aircraft he crashed. Then one night I was sitting in the livingroom watching the evening news.

They had a story about a new production facility in China. They were producing body panels for Boeing aircraft. They had video of inside the plant showing Chinese workers manufacturing these items. I thought, "Son of a bitch! Those jobs should be being done by Americans. Americans like me!" That news story urked me. It still makes me angry when I think of it. It makes me angry when I think of Mrs Clinton's words, "Two big aircraft manufacturers in the world." If we keep up the stupid, there will be three.

Every time we allow Boeing to open a manufacturing plant in China, of to contract a factory to produce aircraft parts for American Designed aircraft, we teach them our methods and techniques. We are not only giving away our jobs, we are teaching them how to design and manufacture wide body aircraft. That means Boeing, Airbus and China makes three. Get the picture?

This gives me further cause to throw 100% of my support behind Bernie Sanders. I can see how the IEB helped me to move to Seattle to get a job at Boeing for nothing. How many of my fellow aircraft industry workers suffered job loss because of it?

Indiana Politics and its People, IMHO

I was in Muncie, Indiana during the 2014 midterms, and was horrified. Every single night there was news reports of another murder in Indy. Heroin addiction was going rampant, and hepatitis C was rearing its ugly head big time because of it. The persons in government were ignorant to even the basic facts. Let me give an example.

There was a bill to legalize medicinal marijuana in the state legislature. Also there was a bill to make the anti heroin OD drug Naloxone more available. At one of the hearings a question was asked by one of the elderly gentleman official, "Will Naloxone stop an overdose of marijuana." When I heard him say that, my jaw dropped.

What am I supposed to think as a citizen when I see stuff like that going on in the halls of government? I think that is something repeated over and again all across America. I think no wonder people think global warming is a hoax, and we can get little done to reverse it. I think our government officials do not do any study on the scientific facts, neither do they study any gathered data. I think they govern using decisions based merely on personal opinion, and regardless of if that opinion conforms to reality or not.

A large portion of the population also go by the same philosophy. More often than not, the average citizen bases their decisions merely on personal opinion, and regardless of if that opinion conforms to reality or not, just like the politician. Where else could have the politicians faulty mental processes originate? The citizens from whence the politicians come.

People told me flat out that voting was a waste of time. There was zero confidence in the government. Yet the same people with zero confidence, and zero voting were the same ones who idolized people like Rush Limbaugh, and the far right wing of the Republican party. The same people who would never vote because it is a "waste of time" value every single repressive item on the radical Christian Right's agenda.

All of the non-voters I met there think global warming is a hoax, abortion should be illegal in all cases, Obama is a Muslim, are birthers, believe the minimum wage should not be raised, believe that the Constitution allows for the mixing of religion and state, believes the Earth is 6000 years old, evolution is a myth, the Big Bang theory is concocted from the depth of Hell, on, and on, and on, and on!

It even gets better! All the while that insanity is running rampant all over the state of Indiana, the governor and his cronies hand education over to private interests. Private interests that keep getting in trouble for one thing or the other. No wonder people believe in all that non-sense. I've read that the teachers in the charter schools suck.

Let us not forget the private prison system. Let's play connect the dots. Marijuana is illegal. Get busted, and go to prison. Go to prison, and go to a private prison. Private prison has contract to get payed for each prisoner. Private prison pays lobbyists to go to state legislature and chew on government official's ear. Lobbyist tells officials they should keep marijuana illegal because they need to keep them beds at the prison filled, and marijuana users are mostly passive making them less expensive to house. Private prison contributes to government official's campaign. government official votes no on the legalization of marijuana.

Can you tell that I think Indiana's government is corrupt from top to bottom? Can you tell that I think the people of Indiana are part of the reason things are the way they are in Indiana?

I hope people of Indiana will wake up soon. People of reason would surely welcome that.

Now More Reason Than Ever to Start Off-World Expansion

Check it out. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Shut down manufacturing capacity rotting away. Shut down because some guys wanted a few more dollars, and were willing to move away to another country and pay poor wages to do it. I think this can be salvaged in a couple ways.

Abandoned Nut & Bolt Factory

Like Bernie Sanders advocates, bring those jobs back home for our people. Another way is to repurpose the idle facilities, but in a proper manner.

In WWII our nation retrofitted a lot of factories that produced refrigerators and autos into factories that produced warplanes and tanks. Factories that were producing sewing machines started producing guns. They didn't f*** around about getting the retrofitting done either. The big money guy's empire was threatened by both the Nazi threat and the Japanese Empire. If they didn't do something, they would lose it all.

We've got something similar in nature going on right now. Our civilization has problems that are becoming a threat to the Human species survival. Human activity has had a serious negative impact on our environment. Over population has stretched the capacity of the planet to maintain the numbers. Poverty and hunger has reached epic proportions. Greed and inequality has had a free hand with civilization and humanity.

So just like the threat the great industrialists faced with the Axis powers in WWII, another threat has arisen that is every bit as deadly as the other defeated one, if not more so.
That new threat is massive human migrations caused by environmental disasters, wars, famine and other things. Wars caused by the ever increasing use of an ever increasing population, of limited energy and food resources on a finite planet. Cities in ruin from war and insurrection. Human death on a massive scale as the competition becomes ever more desperate. Our species had better get their act together now, or it's curtains for us.

Just like in WWII, we need to take all of these abandoned factories and repurpose them, and fast. Repurpose them and retrofit them to make and to build the 21st Century infrastructure. Take all the closed schools and open them back up again too. Then teach our people the skills they will need to make this conversion of our society a reality. A conversion that would cause Humans to become a multi-planet species. Really there is no other option that will solve the eminent threats our advanced civilization faces. To solve these threats, we have no other choice but to use advanced methods.

Our nation bailed out banks that people said were too big to fail. Our people loaned trillions of dollars to Wall Street because of their criminal actions. They say it all came to $16 trillion to keep our economy from completely imploding and falling into ruin. Taking us all with it, I might add.

Well, how do you feel now? It's been 8 years since the bubble burst and the big fix was applied. Are things better for you? Do you feel more secure? Do you think things are better for our nation and the world now than they were 8 years ago, when our people invested $16 trillion in the salvation of our economy? I sure as hell don't. I don't feel like things have gotten any better for the average Jane and John Doe in Anytown USA! I think they have got worse, and will get worse unless action is taken.

If our nation can muster the will to give our $16 trillion to banks and Wall Street CEO's, and if those same banks and CEO's have the guts to gamble on a real big payday, we can do the things that will boost our civilization to the next level, and carry all of our people to prosperity beyond our wildest dreams. The things of which I speak is the colonization of Mars, and the moon. The industrialization of space by the building of orbital solar arrays around the Earth, the moon and Mars. The building of orbital industrial assets around Earth, Mars and the moon to harvest and process asteroidal metals, water and other materials into products used by the people on Earth and the new Mars and moon colonies. The construction of orbital human habitat suitable for apartments and recreation for the off-world workers, and tourists, and even people who wanted to live there just because.

Our civilization would have to institute a massive drive to get people educated to the level they would become proficient at these new tasks and objectives. All across the board, and in every profession, skills would have to be honed within our people to a razor edge. In science, math and engineering and all other pertinent support fields, our people would have to excel. That means putting the proper resources into educating all of them.

We would have to use the unused factories and turn them over to the production of the equipment needed to get this new expansionist push going and to keep it going. Just like in WWII, when our people caused auto factories to start producing warplanes, now our abandoned factories would be turned over to producing spaceship parts, and the other things needed for an expanding civilization.

All the banks and CEO's who cooperated would be richly rewarded too. All the many millions of people newly educated, and employed by this new off-world expansion will be needing checking and saving accounts. They will be buying cars, houses and many other products their properly paid jobs allow them to enjoy.

Really, and I'm speaking directly to Mr. CEO, right now you're fighting over peanuts. Wouldn't you like to be standing (or floating) in your very own Corporate office on a giant orbital platform, that you are the top dog of, which is responsible for the supply of some cool product used by people on Earth, and Mars. Maybe it is even manufactured in zero-G because that's the only way to do it. Go ahead and play it safe. Stay in your puny Earth bound office. Stay the leader of last century ideas, and get left behind.

They haven't the guts to take on a real challenge! It's either that or they like things the way they are because at least they have things good right now. Playing it safe is good for now, short sighted fools. Spain didn't become the richest nation on the planet back in the old times by playing it safe. They had the guts to take a chance, and it paid off big.

That $16 trillion used to give the banks and Wall Street another chance is enough money to fund 91 Apollo programs from start to finish, and at the same time. For the money we spent on the Apollo program, and this excludes the equipment from the Mercury and Gemini program, we got all this.

15 Saturn V rockets, 
16 Command/Service Modules, 
12 Lunar Modules 
Program Support Management Costs; 
Construction Expenses for Facilities and their upgrading
Costs for Flight Operations.

Okay now, if you take all that equipment and multiply it by 91 ($16 trillion worth of Apollos), what do you get? It seems to be a thing of reason to assume that for that kind of money, we could harvest one of them trillion dollar platinum asteroids. In fact, I would wager that is enough money to get Human expansion really going full steam. So what's holding us back?

I have an idea the thing holding us back is a bunch of greedy, play it safe individuals. They like it that our economy is based on scarcity instead of the unlimited abundance our planetary neighborhood can provide. It benefits them (and few others) that platinum and other precious metals are very expensive and rare when they don't have to be because there is an unlimited supply just beyond our planet. It is easier to maintain archaic systems that are working now, but are getting ever more dangerous to use, than to take a chance and invest on something that is sustainable. All of this allows for the existence of class divisions based on wealth. That causes the persons who have the most wealth to believe they are in some way intrinsically better than a person with less wealth. That kind of an idea is an invention of the Human mind, and is a dangerous idea.

We have the technology to start all this off-world expansion in a big way. It is as if our technology has reached a plateau that allows it. As we go, our technology will further increase because of the everyday experiences of many millions of people who will work in and migrate to our new off-world territories. Our economy would expand, and so to would the equality that education, opportunity, hope and the lessening of competition for scarce resources helps to foster.

Back when our nation started the push to put Human footprints on the moon we didn't know how to do it. We didn't have the technology to do it. We did have the drive, the guts and the determination to beat a perceived foe, which was the USSR at the time. Now it is all the things I've mentioned here, and a lot of other things too. Things are quite different now.

We have all this cool high technology now. We can use it to enslave Humanity, or to set Humanity free. I know we can do this. I know we must make a massive effort to expand Humanity's presence beyond Earth, or we may as well accept our doom confined to the cradle a failed Civilization. One of the ones that didn't make it.

Justice and Liberty for All Regardless of Wealth

Did you know that some people pay money to get on the ballot? It rubs me the wrong way when a person pays to run for a government office. Person citizens, not corporation, should never have artificial barriers like money stand in the way of their participation in the political process. Even a flat broke homeless person should be able to run for office, regardless if they have any chance to win.

"Justice and liberty for all." should mean the liberty to participate in all political processes without class barriers. There was a time when only property owners were allowed to vote. Then more sections of the human population of this nation became included. Women and Black people and voting rights were front and center. Our people fought to include everyone.

1963 Civil Rights March

There is in my humble opinion one more group that has not been included. It is the ranks of the poor and homeless. Oh yeah, people of any stripe have a de facto right to vote. Anyone can become informed about the political process and insert themselves into it. Like I have been doing.

Everyone except for the poor and homeless can participate freely. I have a steady income of Social Security coming in, so I have the luxury of many hours to study all this complex system we have. I have time to go to rallies and conventions, but what if I didn't have that income? I remember last time I was homeless. All of my time was devoted to survival. Maslow's pyramid anyone? You've got to take care of those basic needs before you can devote any attention to other things, like politics. Between getting food, finding safe shelter on cold winters nights, trying to keep clean, looking for a job and keeping from being robbed of what little you have, one has precious little time for politics.

So just by the very fact that poor people and homeless people have no money, they are excluded from the political process, or are restricted to only voting, and nothing more. Even if they are mindful enough to vote, most have more pressing matters to deal with, basic survival.

No wonder a part of our corrupt political machine works to keep people poor. The corrupt ones get to have a huge portion of our citizenry, that can not defend themselves, to attack in political demagoguery. Some people use the condition of the poor as a perpetual problem to rally people against, but only do it for political gain. The poor are nothing but pawns in our civilization.

When people cry about civil rights, include the vast ranks of the poor. Do things that empower them, not disinfranchise them. They are our people, and have every bit as much a right to participate in every part of our political system as the next fellow.

Super Tuesday Message from a Democratic Delegate

To all persons who support Hillary Clinton, this is for you. Please reconsider for whom you cast that vital vote on this Super Tuesday.

I know all of the people who support Hillary are really trying to do the right thing for this nation. I know they are loyal citizens, and they are all my fellows. We are all Democrats, and most importantly, Americans.

Still I ask you Supporters of Hillary to hesitate and think hard about that vote. Think of the past, and of the future. Think of deeds done and things said. Then vote for the person who really is fighting for you, and selflessly.

I'm on my knees here. It is not shameful for me to beg you Hillary supporters to switch, and vote Bernie Sanders. There is no shame in me begging you to switch because so much is at stake for you and me. For all of us. Things are so critical this time around that pride has to take a back seat to Human survival. So I swallow my pride and implore you to reconsider. Please vote for Bernie Sanders and help bring this Political Revolution to force. We must take the government for Human survival's sake, and Human equality's sake.

When you step into that voting booth today, you better think hard about what you are doing. Shall we have 4 more years of gridlock as the GOP relentlessly attack a Hillary Presidency, or will we dissolve the current system of unequal treatment of our men and women citizens of the United States? Will we finally crush the Oligarchy and bring our nation into the 21st Century, or shall we continue business as usual as we slip further into barbarity? The choice is ours.

Let's defeat the Republican Party ruiners of the environment, and destroyers of equal rights at every turn. Vote for Bernie Sanders.#FeeltheBern #SuperTuesdayWillBern

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