Why I Wasn't a "Lifer," Page 1...

Downtown Burque, early 1960's. 2nd and Central.
I'm pretty sher that I spent the night before I shipped out to Lackland for Basic, in September, 1964, at the expense of the USAF, at the Kings Hotel, on Central. It's (was) on the north side of the street, under the green sign, bracketed by bars. I was 18, and so the bars might as well have been on the moon. 
I don't think I slept much. There was an AF van at the curb in the morning which took me and a handful of others to the airport--the airfield, to be more precise, because they took us to Kirtland, and a military flight. A C-54, mebbe?
My first really vivid recollection of military life is of the short, squat (as it turned out, remarkably fit for his girth) Tech Sergeant assigned to my Basic "flight" (training company) yanking the sun glasses off my face and smashing them beneath the heel of his immaculately, gleamingly spit-shined combat boot and smilingly telling me I wouldn't be need in them for a while. 
Day One, Strike One.

THEY ARE OUT THERE!!!!!

Farewell, ol' Smoker-bear

From the NM DOG Facebook Page:

It is with a sad heart that we tell you, our sweet boy NOBEL (aka Smoky & Mr. Smokes) has crossed over The Rainbow Bridge 🐾🌈
Though we are very sad...more than that, we are grateful. Grateful that after having "lived" 10 loooong years at the end of his chain, he was able to know LoVe in a home, as part of a family for the past 2 & 1/2 years. When NOBEL first came to us, I didnt think we would have 3 mos to him but he showed us all what he was made of!!
After months in our care, NOBEL regained the majority of his mobility, he started to eat regularly & show interest in the world & the people around him. When his treasured FoReVeR Foster Dad adopted his little sister NMDOG TASHA...we really started to see a huge difference.
TASHA taught NOBEL how "to Dog" since he had never been given that opportunity at the end of his chain & she filled a hole in his heart that was created when we lost his lifelong chainmate LADONNA. It warms my heart to know they are now reunited.
We are so grateful to NOBEL'S Dad, NMDOG Volunteers that played a part in his journey, to our friends at The Doggie Den for going above & beyond in his care & to each of you that supports our work.... Without you, stories like his would not be possible, thank you ...
NOBEL peacefully passed in his home with the assistance of the good Doctor, surrounded by his favorite people & more LoVe than he could have ever imagined. Please wrap your arms around his family as we will all miss him dearly.
Our giant Koala Bear aka SMOKEY....you will live on in our hearts for FoReVeR

Recently we posted his NMDOG FoReVeR Foster Happy Tail which you can view at this link
NOBELS full rescue story can be viewed at this link 

Steeling Myself...

It is with incredible sadness that I/we recognize the time is coming when I/we shall have to bid adieu to my shaggy, woolly pal and send him on ahead to the Bridge..
He was seen by the Vet, yesterday and the diagnosis is that his hind legs are failing, having lost a LOT of muscle mass. It's something that happens with older/senior pups. We all know how to know when it IS time. That time is coming; though it is not yet here yet, it is not far...
Angela Stell, the driving force behind NMDOG, and Dawn Rivas, who were SMOKY's rescuers, and I, are all in agreement that we will not allow him to become immobile - which would break his spirit & his heart, he deserves better than that.
This is Angela's commentary:

"When we first rescued NOBS.....honestly, I didn't think he would last 3 mos. But because of the incredible care he received w/Dawn - followed by the amazing home he's had w/ Woody....he gave us 2.5 years ❤ That, is miracle, enough, in itself. Not only did he give us 2.5 years...but I am certain they were the best of his whole life & that alone is worth everything in the world.

"I wish things were different but we all knew this time would eventually come....& well, now its here 😞I will be making arrangements tomorrow to have a home euthanasia vet on stand by & Dawn & I will be (alternating) visiting him every other day so we are all on the same page with where he is at. 

"Right now it's all about monitoring NOBEL & wrapping our arms around Woody....I know this fuzzy Koala boy stole his heart. 

"I wish I had better news, but I dont. I hope you all find comfort in knowing you've played a very important role in his life & his coming back from the brink of death.  

"NOBEL did NOT die at the end of that stupid chain & he knew real LOVE, what it means to have family & place to call home. I love you all, I am grateful to each of you for all you have given of yourselves to ensure NOBEL had the best of the best. 

"Thank you for that ❤ Group hug....& some tears.

None of us thought he could/would last this long. I have to share the life-changing  "props" with my glorious tri-paw TASHA who gave him a doggy-reason to carry on. The change in his demeanor when she arrived a year ago was breath-TAKING.
And TASHA will be staying here, as I adopted her back at the beginning of summer.
All my thanks to all those friends, here and on F-book, who have followed, and admired (and loved) him from afar.

Why the "Left" Always Seems to Lose...

The American "Left" is a chimera; it's an "idea" more than it is a "movement": An "agenda" without a "constituency." And it is unlikely to be transformed anytime soon.  That's because the "Left" is (too) fragmented to effectively resist the concerted might of the Right, consisting as it does of a fragile and fractious amalgam of the counter-hegemonic interests, many with contradictory aspirations and expectations; and all of which are conditioned to struggle over the scraps thrown from the plutocRats' table. 

So, unfortunately, this will likely continue to be the case until they can plainly announce themselves as the ANTI-WHITE-SUPREMACY party, and have that single principle around which to organize.
This has been the secret of the Right's recent successes. The GOPhux have a single, simple set of organizing principles: 1) Keep The Nigras ("Undesirables") Down; 2) Preserve White Supremacism, and 3) Privatization. 

They have the additional advantage of being the Party of the PlutocRats and CorpoRats, and thereby imbued with the superior social status, enabling them to pull shit for which, if they tried it, the DIMs would be laughed into the Potomac. For instance, try to suppress your laughter at the idea of the Dims shutting down the Government, for ANY reason. Imagine the Dims, even with a majority, refusing to hear a GOPresidential SCROTUS nomination.
"White Power" will likely persist in the USofA long past the end of the White demographic bulge, because it is, I believe, extremely unlikely that People-of-Color will have the political power to wrest the financial hegemony away from the White establishment which will, in any case, bend every effort to turn the DIM fragments against one another--which works just about every time..

Academic Freedom Fail!

It SHOULD be true, all of it.
 I wish it were true, any of it.
 And it may be true, somewhere.
 I do not think it is the usual case, though.
 Whole "Universities," nevermind colleges, are being privatized wholesale. Entire departments have been effectively bought by corporate interests. The Koch brothers, for instance, own and control vast swaths of George Mason University and that VA school that gave us GOPhux Rep. Brat, Randolph-Mason College, among others.
So-called STEM ("Science, Technology, Engineering & Math") training has replaced whatever spirit of "free inquiry" there used to have been. Schools are freely discussing dropping and/or severely curtailing their "liberal arts" curricula.
 It's been almost 20 years since I was in a classroom and so it all may have changed, in the interim; but I would have to say that the preponderance of undergrads I taught were mostly interested in 1) NOT having their comfortable mis/preconceptions disturbed 2) on their way to a comfortable billet in the middle class. 
"Those student loans won't pay themselves back." 
 There just seems to be an air of greater desperation, now, as the opportunities shrink and the costs grow.

The "See Ya!" Agenda

The Congress is our only "hope,
But the (GOPhascist) Congress won't act.
Why would it? Why would ANYONE expect them to do so? EVERYTHING is going their way!
Lord Dampnut gives them cover while they enact every CorpoRat wet-dream of the past 85 years; or should I say, "while they repeal or reverse every social advance since the 1890s..."
They can DO ANYTHING, and they are!
It's the "See Ya"agenda:

>Health care? See ya.
>Industrial regulation? See ya.
>Climate change mitigation efforts? See ya.
>Renewable fuels/solar-wind power? See ya.
>Financial regulation? See ya.
>Reproductive choice? See ya.
>Worker Safety regulation? See ya.
>Immigration reform? See ya.
>Minority civil rights? See ya.
>Freedom of speech? See ya.
>Consumer protection? See ya.
>Black/brown lives matter? See ya.
>Public schools? See ya.
>Social safety net? See ya.
>Freedom FROM religion? See ya.
>Infrastructure maintenance? See ya.
>Passenger rail? See ya.
>Actual conservation? See ya.
>Worker safety? See ya.
>Unsafe product regulation? See ya...

And that's just off the top of my head, the low-hanging fruit, as it were.
Please feel free to add your own favorite to the list.
They're ALL 'dead letters'...