New Mexico

New Mexico, work for peace and well-being, not nuclear weapons

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2022

New Mexico, work for peace and well-being, not nuclear weapons

Archbishop John C. Wester

I used to be shocked to learn in a current article Los Alamos Nationwide Lab would recover from a $1 billion bump in its proposed finances and the Division of Vitality’s fiscal 2023 spending within the Land of Enchantment will exceed New Mexico’s whole state finances by almost a billion {dollars} – $9.4 billion vs. $8.5 billion. Out of that, over 70% can be for packages that search to indefinitely protect current nuclear weapons and construct new plutonium “pit” bomb cores for new-design nuclear weapons. Additional, a lot of the remaining cash helps these nuclear weapons packages, equivalent to $450 million for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the dump for future radioactive wastes from expanded pit manufacturing.

My Archdiocese is called Santa Fe for the “Holy Religion” of St. Francis, patron saint of the surroundings and tireless promoter of peace. Pope Francis took his papal identify from that revered saint and has explicitly known as for the abolition of nuclear weapons. But mockingly, two of the nation’s three nuclear weapons labs – Los Alamos and Sandia – are positioned inside the Archdiocese. That’s the reason 40% of the DOE’s nationwide nuclear weapons finances of $16.5 billion can be spent in New Mexico alone, double that of another state. As well as, New Mexico has the biggest repository of nuclear warheads in the US, with as much as 2,500 warheads held in reserve on the Kirtland AFB simply south of the Albuquerque Sunport.

The New Mexico congressional delegation has at all times traditionally supported the nuclear weapons trade within the identify of jobs, jobs, jobs. This must be critically examined and questioned, each morally and virtually. Why is it that New Mexico persistently ranks close to the underside of all 50 states in key socio-economic indicators? Does the nuclear weapons trade actually profit New Mexicans as an entire? The info point out no.

For instance, through the almost 80 years the nuclear weapons trade has been within the Land of Enchantment, Census Bureau knowledge present that New Mexico slipped in per capita revenue from thirty seventh in 1959 to forty ninth in 2019. Final yr U.S. Information and World Report gave New Mexico a best-state-to-live-in rating of third from the underside and useless final in schooling. In accordance with the N.M. Human Companies Division, we’ve the very best proportion of seniors residing in poverty and the second-highest fee of general poverty, suicide and meals insecurity amongst youngsters. The Land of Enchantment was not too long ago ranked forty ninth amongst all states in general youngster well-being. Not coincidentally, New Mexico’s inhabitants is 63% individuals of coloration who disproportionately bear the unfavourable impacts of poverty.

Let’s attempt to think about what $9.4 billion may do for New Mexicans in a single yr: Rent a whole lot of latest lecturers, assist shield us in opposition to rising wildfire threats, safe treasured water assets, present medical look after the poor and clear up contamination from previous nuclear weapons manufacturing. As a substitute, it’ll nuclear weapons endlessly, even because the probabilities of potential nuclear warfare are rising and we have already got international overkill many instances over.

The Vatican itself has advanced from conditionally accepting nuclear weapons as essential for “deterrence” to now declaring even their possession as immoral. It’s because nuclear weapons indiscriminately kill everyone, and the nuclear powers have made zero progress towards the disarmament they promised to pursue within the 1970 NonProliferation Treaty. The truth is, they’re going backward with Russia’s present nuclear saber-rattling and the U.S.’ $1.7 trillion nuclear weapons “modernization” program. However in fact, neither nation ever had simply “deterrence.” As a substitute, they spent monumental sums on nuclear warfighting capabilities, which is why we’ve 1000’s of nuclear weapons as an alternative of simply the few hundred wanted for under deterrence.

Given right this moment’s elevated risks, I quote President Reagan, “A nuclear warfare can’t be received and must not ever be fought. The one worth in our two nations possessing nuclear weapons is to ensure they may by no means be used. However then, would it not not be higher to get rid of them solely?” Protection Secretary Robert McNamara mentioned of the Cuban Missile Disaster, “Rationality is not going to save us. … It was luck that prevented nuclear warfare.”

Let’s not rely on our luck holding out – let’s abolish nuclear weapons as each President Reagan and Pope Francis have directed us towards. In flip, New Mexicans ought to direct their congressional representatives to guide us towards that promised land whereas encouraging life-affirming jobs as an alternative.

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New Mexico

Northern New Mexico Toy Drive aims to serve around 8k children

Published

4 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Northern New Mexico Toy Drive aims to serve around 8k children

The toy drive is now underway. Here is how you can help.

SANTA FE, N.M. — The City of Santa Fe launched its Northern New Mexico Toy Drive last week with the goal of serving around 8,000 children.

According to the city, that is how many children are in-need. Now through Dec. 15, you can drop off donations at several locations (see below).

The toy drive will benefit more than 40 organizations and monetary donations will go toward buying gifts locally.

Organizers are also hosting an ugly sweater fundraiser Dec. 6 at the Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos. Tickets are $25 and all proceeds will go toward the toy drive.

The Northern New Mexico Toy Drive started 15 years ago with less than 100 children and quickly ballooned into what it is today.

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New Mexico

Washington’s 19 help New Mexico down Texas Southern 99-68

Published

12 hours ago

November 25, 2024

Press Room

Washington’s 19 help New Mexico down Texas Southern 99-68

Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Tru Washington scored 19 points as New Mexico beat Texas Southern 99-68 on Sunday night.

Washington added 10 rebounds and four steals for the Lobos (5-1). Mustapha Amzil scored 18 points, shooting 6 for 15 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 4 of 6 from the free-throw line. Filip Borovicanin finished 5 of 6 from the field to finish with 11 points.

Kavion McClain led the way for the Tigers (0-5) with 15 points and six assists. Jaylen Wysinger added 12 points for Texas Southern. Zaire Hayes finished with 10 points.

New Mexico took the lead with 1:13 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Washington led their team in scoring with eight points in the first half to help put them up 38-31 at the break. New Mexico extended its lead to 77-48 during the second half, fueled by an 11-0 scoring run. Borovicanin scored a team-high 11 points in the second half as their team closed out the win.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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New Mexico

A New Mexico city has reached a $20 million settlement in the death of a grandmother fatally shot in her car by an officer | CNN

Published

20 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

A New Mexico city has reached a million settlement in the death of a grandmother fatally shot in her car by an officer | CNN

CNN
—

The city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, has reached a $20 million settlement with the family of a grandmother fatally shot by a police officer last year, according to The Associated Press and local media.

Felipe Hernandez, then working for the Las Cruces Police Department, fatally shot Teresa Gomez, 45, in her car in October 2023. Her family filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city, the police chief, and three members of the police force.

The settlement is the city’s largest agreement in a civil lawsuit, according to CNN affiliate KFOX14. The parties reached a settlement on November 7, according to a court filing. CNN has reached out to the city and an attorney representing the Gomez family for comment.

“This settlement should be understood as a statement of the City’s profound feeling of loss for the death of Gomez and of the City’s condolences to her family,” the city of Las Cruces said in a news release sent Friday, according to AP.

Hernandez, who was fired from the police department months after the shooting, faces a second-degree murder charge, court records show. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin June 2. CNN has reached out to Hernandez’s attorney for comment.

Gomez was sitting in her car when Hernandez accused her and her passenger of trespassing, footage from the officer’s body-worn camera shows. He then shouted commands laced with the F-word at her and threatened to arrest her, “tase” her and make her life “a living hell” if she didn’t comply with his plan to investigate, the footage shows.

After Hernandez approached Gomez on a bicycle as she sat in her car, Gomez told him she had been visiting someone at the address and said she was looking for her misplaced keys, the body-camera footage shows. Gomez and the officer discussed why she and the passenger were parked outside a public housing complex – a place Hernandez said the passenger was not supposed to be. Gomez said multiple times she was unaware of any visitor rules, the video shows.

After Hernandez repeatedly asked Gomez to leave her car, Gomez stood outside it for a while, answering some of the officer’s questions, the video shows. Her passenger was never asked to get out or questioned in a similar way.

The grandmother eventually found her car keys and, with the officer’s permission, sat back in the driver’s seat, according to the video and the lawsuit.

Half a minute later, she engaged the engine and, with her car door still open, shifted into reverse, pulled back, then put the car into drive, the video shows.

Hernandez shouted “stop!” three times, then fired his gun several times, the video shows.

The lawsuit alleges Gomez presented “no threat of any physical injury to Hernandez or anyone else” and Hernandez “left her to bleed out in her car as he turned away from her gasping body to retrieve his bicycle and flashlight.”

The suit claims Las Cruces “has adopted a de facto policy of indifference to the escalation of encounters between its officers and the public” and it “it allows officers to use deadly force in situations in which there is no threat of great bodily harm or death posed by the subject receiving deadly force.”

The complaint also alleges city employees disproportionately use excessive force against people of color – like Gomez, who was Hispanic.

Gomez’s sister, Angela Lozano-Gutierrez, previously told CNN the video of her mother’s encounter with Hernandez was “shocking.”

“We may never get the apology we need,” Lozano-Gutierrez said. “We’re just trying to cling to each other, and we just keep telling ourselves: She would want us to continue to live to be happy.”

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