So, after an ongoing fight of ten years+, one of the New Mexico delegation "steps up" as they say....good for Senator Marty!....Tommy Udall's probably daydreaming about how much money he could make helping the foreigners....just because he's a liberal and this is really an environmental and basic justice issue doesn't mean that he'll help the cause necessarily....rich liberals are just as bad as the flip side of the coin, rich conservatives....when these people smell more cash at the trough there's no bets on who's in your corner.... Here's the good Senator's op-ed piece from last Thursday's Socorro Defensor Chieftain. . http://www.dchieftain.com/opinion/columns/water-grab-on-the-plains-of-san-agustin/article_d329e5c8-32a6-11e8-b246-fbbb7f7947fc.html
Above is a modern replica of the Ark of the Covenant.
For those of you not familiar with the Ark, or have
forgotten your Bible stories from when you were a kid,
here's a defiition and some details from Wikipedia.
(An Ark from Italy has a connection to our principal investor
on the Water Grab, Mr. Bruno Modena from Milan, Italy. Read on, this gets fascinating.)
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"The Ark of the Covenant (Hebrew: אָרוֹן הַבְּרִית ʾĀrôn Habbərît, modern pron. Aron Habrit), also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in the Book of Exodus as containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. According to some traditional interpretations of the Book of Exodus, Book of Numbers, and the Letter to the Hebrews the Ark also contained Aaron's rod, a jar of manna and the first Torah scroll as written by Moses; however, the first of the Books of Kings says that at the time of King Solomon, the Ark contained only the two Tablets of the Law. According to the Book of Exodus, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accordance with the instructions given to Moses on Mount Sinai. God was said to have communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover." .
"The biblical account relates that during the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, the Ark was carried by the priests some 2,000 cubits in advance of the people and their army, or host.When the Ark was borne by priests into the bed of the Jordan, water in the river separated, opening a pathway for the entire host to pass through (Josh. 3:15-16; 4:7-18). The city of Jericho was taken with no more than a shout after the Ark of the Covenant was paraded for seven days around its wall by seven priests sounding seven trumpets of rams' horns. (Josh. 6:4-20)."
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Every synagogue (Jewish house of prayer) has some form of Holy Ark. Some are simple, others extremely elaborate. They don't look like the original Ark, but they serve a purpose not unlike the original, only modified, one might say. In time things become symbolic, ritualized, formalized, petrified, and in some cases outright garish, and strange.
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In the early 1970's, an Ark that had once been in a synagogue
in a small Italian town arrived in Israel.
The Jewish population of the town in Italy had dispersed,
the synagogue had been torn down, and the Ark and some other relics were stashed in a warehouse.
Bruno Modena took possession of the Ark and donated it to the
Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv.
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It got an amazing amount of attention -
years were spent in the restoration. A special building, designed
by a well known architect in Israel, was constructed to display it.
Here's the link to a page from the Eretz Israel Museum website
You'll note the two tablets with the commandments on them
at the top - black with gold lettering. So, here we have a religious relic from Europe, built in the 18th century, with a lot of valuable ($$$$$$$$) elements. It almost sounds like a Catholic deal of some sort. They love expensive, outlandish relics of the Church's past, things they can somehow get their name attached to. Give BIG and receive salvation. A number of horribly misguided rich Catholics have bought into that lie. I'd bet though that when Bruno comes for visits to Israel he's treated like royalty. Well, that was part of the reason for doing it, right Bruno? As well as eternal reward? Your TICKET? (Photos above and further below: Israel Eretz Museum)
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What's fascinating here is the irony of having someone who
must be something of a hero for finding, and then GIVING, the
piece to the museum, and then who so openly violates the
Tenth Commandment, the one about COVETING WHAT
DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU. Your neighbor has
something you desire, in this case it's water.
It's not yours, but you want it.
You're guilty of violating the 10th Commandment.
You flaunt your desire right in God's sight,
and what? Figure somehow you'll be forgiven because
of your generosity? .
Many Biblical and Torah scholars would disagree with you. Some insist it doesn't work that way. Some insist that the active plotting and scheming, by trying in SOME way, ANY way, to GET WHAT YOU DESIRE, WHAT YOU COVET, WHAT BELONGS TO YOUR NEIGHBOR, IS ACTIVE DISOBEDIENCE TO THE COMMANDMENT. And that you'll pay the price. Period. (Check with your local Torah scholar.) .
Some people would declare you are possibly damning yourself
to an inevitable and disastrous surprise on your death. God, many say, is no respecter of PERSONS. The titles, the wealth, the acclaim, the ego...all mean nothing. If you're a gambling man Bruno....well, maybe you're betting that the scales the angel holds will tip in your favor. Maybe you know more about the Divine Courts than we all do. Maybe you've hedged your bets with gifts. Elaborate ones. I hate to tell you this, but I don't think it'll fly. .
"If the desire for something is based on need, then fulfillment brings contentment. If the goal, however, is simply to have more than everyone else, then we are doomed to disappointment and to ever-greater dissatisfaction. There’s always somebody who has something we don’t — which is enough to stir up within us envy to prevent us from being content with what is ours. That’s why coveting consumes its practitioner. In the most profound sense, those who covet fail to acknowledge the powerful truth that there is enough in this world to satisfy everyone’s need but there’s never enough to satisfy people’s greed." . "The deepest depth of vulgarism is that of setting up money as the Ark of the Covenant." . Thomas Carlyle Scottish Historian and Essayist 1795-1881 .
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The Ark of the Covenant has symbolism all over it -
literally and figuratively. Here are some interesting notes
from the JewishVirtualLibrary.org:
. "The Ark was used in the desert and in Israel proper
for a number of spiritual and pragmatic purposes. Practically, God used
the Ark as an indicator of when he wanted the nation to travel,
and when to stop. In the traveling
formation in the desert, the Ark was carried 2000 cubits ahead of the nation (Num. R. 2:9). According to one midrash,
it would clear the path for the
nation by burning snakes, scorpions,
and thorns with two jets of flame that shot from its underside; another midrash
says that rather than being carried by its bearers, the Ark in fact
carried its bearers inches above the
ground. When the
Israelites went to war in the desert and during the conquering of
Canaan, the Ark accompanied them; whether
its presence was symbolic, to provide motivation for the Jews, or whether it actually aided them
in fighting, is debated by commentators."
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(Above - A downburst out on the Plains, right about where the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC is, on April 9 of this year. Technically it's called a WET MICROBURST by weather guy types, smaller than 2.5 miles across, with a downpour and HEAVY winds.) .
(Continued from the JewishVirtualLibrary.org) "Spiritually, the Ark was the manifestation of God's physical presence on earth (the shekhina). The relationship between the Ark and the shekhina
is reinforced by the recurring motif of clouds. God's presence is frequently seen in
the guise of a cloud in the Bible (Ex. 24:16),
and the Ark is constantly accompanied by
clouds: When God spoke from between the
Cherubs, there was a glowing cloud visible
there (Ex. 40:35); when the Jews traveled,
they were led by the Ark and a pillar of clouds
(Num. 10:34); at night, the pillar of clouds was
replaced by a pillar of fire, another common
descriptor of God's appearance (Ex. 24:17)"
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Today many people, including some writers and historians, refer to Apocalyptic predictions that involve the Ark in the world and times we live in now. And of course, it's found it's way into contemporary culture via Hollywood. The "finding" of the real Ark remains a subject of endless conjecture. .
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. Below are illustrations and a song that concern an ancient story that was passed through the Nazerite brotherhood, a religious group that John the Baptist had belonged to. The story is related in the New Testament, but actually probably predates the time of Christ. Some scholars—e.g., G. B. Caird, Joachim Jeremias, Marshall, Hugo Gressmann, suggest the basic storyline of The Rich Man and Lazarus was derived from Jewish stories that had developed from an Egyptian folk tale about Si-Osiris. .
"We have in fact one of the cases where the background to the teaching is more probably found in non-biblical sources."
I. Howard Marshall, The New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Gospel of Luke.
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Our friend Jerry Hoogerwerf, from Socorro, New Mexico, landed the other day to take us up for some aerial reconnaissance and photography.
Jerry's a terrific pilot, and believes in what we're doing.
It was a FREEBIE. Thanks a lot Jerry!
Thank God for our friends.
Off we go!
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Editor's Note: we had some corporate water nightmare stories here, but are re-posting them later in a new post/presentation. This post had gotten too long - the Ark story is what brings people who "search" for "whatever" and find this particular place. This post has had a BIG number of hits, second only to "THE RIO GRANDE" post, and the hits are mostly from Europe, with big additions from Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Israel.... These guys are international operators, and so there's lots of curiousity about what happens when corporate pigs go up against a religious offense. It doesn't happen often.
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It's an apocalyptic story, from what I'm told. However, there's plenty of time and space for the corporate water theft/control stories later - they are becoming legion. These guys are just another drop in the bucket.
"fridge magnets" identical to image above will be available at the dance.
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We'll begin with Governor Martinez,
and move on to other "powers-that-be"
as time goes by. These people have a moral
and legal obligation to serve the best interests
of New Mexicans - not foreign investors!
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STOP THE WATER GRAB! "The primeval element of "water" is not only the embodiment of everything that flows, or is capable of change and alive, but since the dawn of time, it has had a divine aura." From the BRITA.net website
expecting it - IF some bureaucrat in Santa Fe is stupid enough to let the foreigners try to move ahead any further with this scheme. .
No one wants violence, but it doesn't seem very realistic to think that people are just going to throw up their hands and walk away if the foreigners getbureaucratic approval on their someday-to-come new application to the State Water Engineer's Office or any other route they might take on their present application, like the New Mexico Supreme Court. . Is this all an ethical question, a moral issue? You can bet the farm it is. Could this War, this Water War, be called, from a Catholic outlook, a"Just War?" I took 16 years of Religion, Theology, and Philosophy in Catholic schools and universities. The anwer, from what little I know, is an absolute, unequivocal YES. . I wonder if Bruno, Vittorio, and their "investors" are prepared for any of this?
Ya' think they watched any of those "Spaghetti Westerns?" .
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"Fight for the Water Hole"
Frederic Remington (1861-1909)
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"President Teddy Roosevelt championed Remington
because his art celebrated American individualism,
self-reliance, and stamina - qualities that Roosevelt...
valued highly and considered endangered.
It is no accident that Remington's Fight for the Water Hole(1903), a painting that celebrated the heroism and bravery
of a last stand fight for survival, appeared as a frontispiece
in the fourth volume (1904 edition) of Roosevelt's
sweeping saga, Winning of the West (1889-1896)."
From The Modern West - American Landscapes 1890-1950
by Emily Ballew Neff
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THE WATER GRAB! "A
man from the west will fight over three things: water,
women and gold, and usually in that order." Senator Barry Goldwater, Arizona (1909-1998) .
facing a Western Water War out on the San Augustin Plains.
The story deserves far more attention, immediately.
These "Developers" - a guy named Bruno Modena from
Milan, Italy and his buddies, say they'll invest $500 million in the project, which will ship water out of the aquifer
to where the money is. They claim that because they have the capital, and expertise," in these matters, we'll simply have to strike a deal. This is our best bet.
. No one, absolutely NO ONE IN ITALY deals with
that kind of cash without either being mafia, or giving
the gumbas their cut on the action, be it the Italian Mafia, or the Jewish Mafia, or....?
Talk to the guys at the Vatican Bank, who found
this out the hard way many years ago.
Mr. Modena is incredibly secretive - a bad sign.
Reporters can't find out squat about him, his holding
companies, his dogs - nada, nothing - a few addresses which
are basically his lawyers' addresses, and the fact that he tried to put up some nightmare concept of a country club, golf course, and subdivision in Maine's Schoodic Peninsula - a pristine region. So far it's a failure. New Englanders, particularly folks in Maine, don't put up with such craziness. . [UPDATE - JANUARY 13 - I finally pinned down the truth - the Modena Duet and their "investors" gave up on the project, and sold the land to a group of conservation buyers, ostensibly led by Lyme Timber Company, who put forth some modest ideas about cutting and recreational use. The locals, and Maine environmentalists, are happy as clams. The conservationists and concerned locals had been nothing but trouble for this outfit - from the get go. The Modena outfit had other problems besides the serious opposition they faced. They were deadbeats on their bills - two outfits quit. Both eventually got some money, but one contractor had to get a lien filed on their property before they settled up. Taxes on the property were behind, thousands of bucks, but that eventually got fixed. Very bad press - if it leaks out, which of course it did. Millionaires that won't pay their bills? What? Tony Soprano's now moved into the neighborhood? .
. No one wanted them, basically, after all was said and done, or known, or hidden.... But they were able to leave with a pile of cash - the price paid for the land has been described by some people in the know as "exorbitant." It obviously pays to threaten people with bad projects that never should have been allowed to get to first base. It seems like a whole new form of extortion. Extortion - now that's something the Italian Mafia knows something about! Just google: italian police anti-mafia extortion Well, maybe a few lawyers and bankers will miss having espresso with the Milano boys, but who gives a rat's ass. They never presented a very clear plan of what is was they were up to. Gee, this sounds familiar.... . To find out more about what happend in Maine, see the story on the link below from The Friends of Acadia website. The Friends are a non-profit group working with the Acadia National Park, which is next door to the land that had been proposed for development by Modena and his "investors." http://www.friendsofacadia.org/news/firms_quit_12_26.shtml] . I'd bet INTERPOL has a fat file on this "Family," please e-mail if you know who I should call in the global law enforcement community. Someone HAS to know something. What kind of money will it take to loosen someone's tongue?
Why does this guy cover his tracks so completely? Who's that secretive? Why do they need to be?
What, you never watched The Sopranos? Or did you ever google "international- gangs-corporate-worldwide"? You ought to.
WAKE UP!!! .
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I'll have some bumper stickers and shirts out soon.
We're starting with a 10" bumper sticker.
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Editor's Note: A gumba is defined different ways - three of them are:
(a) Among cops, DA's, and other such folks back East
it refers to a Mafia "made" guy - "Family" as they refer to themselves. Also referred to by many folks in law enforcement as pigs, degenerates, thieves, thugs, scum, and worse, a lot worse....but it's real bad language. However, these cops are not people worried about what's politically correct. Thank God! They worry about what the gumbas are up to. (b) A gangster, from any organized crime reality, any ethnicity - a gumba could be Italian, Russian, Mongolian, Irish, Brazillian, Israeli, or even Eskimo. (c) A dark-skinned Italian from the north of Italy, which is where Milan is, and where Bruno Modena and sonny-boy Vittorio, these now-famous Rancho de Agua characters, hail from. They hang out in Germany quite possibly these days we hear, but - Quien sabe? Who knows? . The very rich have the power to go anywhere, and spin the web from long-distance, with the help of consultants and "front-men," like the shills, the so-called experts, the pro's on board,
for the Italian gumbas here. . You white boys - you, Tom Carroll, the
"mouthpiece" for this "family" that refuses to be seen, a Son of Erin gone horribly off-course, a disgrace to my race, and all of you involved in promoting this obscenity - have become gumbas. You're so dark. So worthless. So after a wad of cash. So predictable. So, so....incredibly stupid! What you're doing for this man is unethical - immoral! Are you getting paid on time? Yes? How unusual! As you've read here, some contractors for the Modena Organization have had problems getting their money due out of these "millionaires." But it's not just in Maine, it's here in New Mexico too. Deadbeats! Big money, big deal, big plans, screwing their contractors. Tony Soprano would be proud of 'em! We'll have more details about who's quit this "Organization" at Rancho de Agua up soon. . [Update 1/22/14 - We found out who two contractors were who reportedly had difficulties getting paid, but neither outfit wanted to go "on the record" about the gory details.] . Well, I hope you enjoy it now boys, because this ain't gonna last! The Modena Organization is going to get the worst of this, and will be driven off like a thief in the night, NOT PAID OFF, LIKE HAPPEND IN MAINE, if there's any justice left in the land. Gentlemen, it's all just a question of time. But what you're doing is un-American, and in a way it could be called treasonous, (see Webster's). You're in deep water here, Tom Carroll. Treason? What's the penalty on that? .
. We'll have items of interest up about the war,
where enlistment centers are, etc., etc. in time.
Please check back with us. Hang on to your hat.... .
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STOP THE WATER GRAB! "Wherever there's opportunity, the Mafia will be there." Johnny Kelly - Brooklyn, New York Rock Drummer
