LOCAL RANCH LOCKS HORNS WITH THE DEVIL

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From Cambridge Dictionaries online

English definition of "lock horns" - 

to begin to argue or fight 

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Ranch family takes water fight to

 NM Supreme Court

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By Susan Montoya Bryan / Associated Press

September 23

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A ranching family is asking the state Supreme Court to weigh in on a fight over a $600 million proposal that calls for piping billions of gallons of water from rural western New Mexico to more populated areas of the drought-stricken state.
Attorneys for Ray and Carol Pittman filed a motion Monday asking the court to order the state’s top water official to reject the latest application by Augustin Plains Ranch to pump and pipe water to supplement dwindling supplies in the Rio Grande Valley.
The commercial venture’s previous application was rejected two years ago. It was one of the most contested filings in the history of the state engineer’s office, and critics also have raised concerns about the latest application.
The court filing argues the application seeks to appropriate about 17.6 billion gallons of water a year but fails to indicate how or where the water will be used.
“By keeping the intended use vague, the ranch hopes to speculate in future water markets and ultimately sell to whoever the highest bidders may be in seven counties,” said Bruce Frederick, an attorney with the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, which is representing the Pittmans.
Frederick said that under state law, the state engineer has a duty to dismiss applications that fail to state a purpose for the water or an end user.
The state engineer’s office is reviewing the latest application but has yet to make any decision.
Officials with Augustin Plains Ranch said the court filing is an attempt by opponents and special interests to block what would be a public process if the state engineer grants a hearing on the application.
“Their desire to use the court to circumvent the state engineer before that office has had a chance to do its job puts the cart before the horse and wastes time and money,” said Whitney Waite, a spokeswoman for the ranch.
She said the latest application is more specific than the last one and includes information about the feasibility of the project, technical details and demand for drinking water.

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And here's a more detailed account from the

New Mexico Environmental Law Center:

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Residents ask state Supreme Court to rule in Augustin Plains water grab case

Santa Fe, NM — Today, a retired couple from western New Mexico asked the state Supreme Court to order the State Engineer to dismiss a massive speculative water appropriation application from Augustin Plains Ranch, LLC (“APR”).
In their petition for a writ of mandamus, filed by attorney Bruce Frederick of the non-profit New Mexico Environmental Law Center, Ray and Carol Pittman state that a second application filed by APR this summer is “identical in all material respects” to the application that APR filed in 2007. The 2007 application was denied by State Engineer Scott Verhines and a District Court after five years of litigation. Just like the 2007 application, the 2014 application seeks to appropriate 54,000 acre-feet of water per year (afy), but fails to indicate exactly how or where the water will be used, as required by the state Constitution. “By keeping the intended use vague,” said Frederick, “the Ranch hopes to speculate in future water markets and ultimately sell to whoever the highest bidders may be in seven counties.”
Under state law, the State Engineer has a non-discretionary duty to dismiss applications that that fail to specify any particular purpose or place of use of water or end user. Courts use writs of mandamus to compel recalcitrant government agencies to perform clear duties required of them by law. In this case, the Pittmans petitioned the state Supreme Court to “order the State Engineer to promptly reject [APR’s] 2014 application.” “The State Engineer must reject the 2014 application for the same legal reasons that he denied the 2007 application,” said Frederick.

The Pittman’s efforts come in response to legal maneuvering undertaken by APR and the State Engineer this summer. The Pittmans along with 80 neighbors eventually persuaded the State Engineer and a District Court to deny APR’s 2007 application because it was ‘vague, over broad, lacked specificity, and the effects of granting it cannot reasonably be evaluated.’[1] APR then appealed to the Court of Appeals, where the case was fully briefed.

Read it all here:

http://nmenvirolaw.org/site/more/residents_ask_state_supreme_court_to_rule_in_augustin_plains_water_grab_cas

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INTERVIEWS, IMAGES and EXHIBITS ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact:
Bruce Frederick
Staff Attorney
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
505-989-9022, ext. 21
  bfrederick@nmelc.or
  nmelc.org

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And here's Channel 13's piece from September 24 -

 http://krqe.com/2014/09/24/ranch-family-takes-water-fight-to-nm-supreme-court/

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September 29

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The battle between the forces of light and those of darkness

is a subject/theme that's been explored by artists of all types -
 painters, musicians, writers, and now even television and film creators -

 for as long as man's mortal mind has been aware of

spiritual realties that exist here on earth.

The battle is ancient, real, and ever-changing.
And of course, the most well known soldier
in the war against the forces of darkness,
at least as far as Judeo/Christian mortals are concerned,
is Saint Michael the Archangel.

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How fitting that today (9/29) we celebrate the feast day

of Saint Michael the Archangel, the protector
and patron of the people of Socorro
and the local region -

(San Miguel, Spanish for St. Michael).

The Socorro County Commission has

come out AGAINST the WATER GRAB.

"The fearlessness and fidelity of this mighty champion roused

 the faithful Angels, who rallied to his standard, repeating with

 one accord: "Who is like unto God?" Then followed that 

tremendous battle between the good and the bad Angels which

 St. John describes in Revelation: "And there was a battle in

 Heaven: Michael and his Angels battled with the dragon, and

 the dragon fought and his Angels. And they did not prevail,

 neither was their place found any more in Heaven. And that

 great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is

 called the devil and Satan, who led astray the whole world"
Revelations 12: 7-9

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 San Miguel Mission in Socorro.
  Below, a whimsical wood carving of the saint
 from northern New Mexico.

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St. Michael the Archangel, illustrious leader of the heavenly army,

 defend us in the battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers

 of the world of darkness and the spirit of wickedness in high places.

 Come to the rescue of mankind, whom God has made in His own image

 and likeness, and purchased from Satan's tyranny at so great a price.

 Holy Church venerates you as her patron and guardian.

 The Lord has entrusted to you the task of leading the souls 

of the redeemed to heavenly blessedness. Entreat the Lord of peace to cast

 Satan down under our feet, so as to keep him from further holding man

 captive and doing harm to the Church. Carry our prayers up to God's throne,

 that the mercy of the Lord may quickly come and lay hold of the beast,

 the serpent of old, Satan and his demons, casting him in chains into

 the abyss, so that he can no longer seduce the nations.

From the English version of Roman Ritual

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PRAY FOR RAIN AGAIN! COURT DATE IN AUGUST

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 It's been a year since we held the

 "PRAYER VIGIL FOR RAIN"

the flyer information above refers to, that

we held at the Chapel of the Living Waters.

We're going to try to recreate the idea

in a new way, in a different, digital form.

Below is a painting, with our plea, of

the Hopi Indian Snake Dance, the oldest

ceremony and prayer for rain in North America.

The painting was done by E.I Couse, who

 witnessed the dance at a Hopi village in 1903.

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"....if the gods are good - and if all has been done well,
 the gods are good - rain is coming.
  As the late afternoon light wanes,
 dusk is usually hastened by the gathering of huge clouds,

streaks of rain appear over distant mesas, dude-wranglers
 marshal their charges into cars, eager to 'cross
 the wash' before floods fill it, Hopis from
 neighboring villages get themselves and

 their families loaded into cars; and then comes the long,
 swishing, sweet-smelling rain, pouring in cleansing floods
 from the roofs into the streets and over the edges of the mesa,

bringing hope and confident assurance that hearts 

were pure and the work was pleasing in

the sight of the unseen ones.

The Snake-dance always brings rain."

Erna Fergusson

Dancing Gods: Indian Ceremonials of

New Mexico and Arizona

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Jewish Tradition/Water/Rain/Prayer

"The land you are about to enter and settle is unlike the land of Egypt you have left, in which one could sow seeds and irrigate by foot, like a vegetable garden. The land you are going to settle is a land of mountains and valleys, which absorbs water as rain from heaven."
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 11: 10–12

Water plays a central role in Jewish tradition, both literally and metaphorically. The ancient Israelite agricultural system was dependent on rains coming in their proper times and in proper amounts. And throughout our liturgy, we are presented with the idea that rain is a blessing that reflects our societal balance and harmony.
Today, water continues to play a crucial role in our agricultural systems. And while we have developed advanced irrigation methods, ultimately, we are dependent on clean water and rains coming in their proper times.
During the High Holy Days we take stock not only of our own lives, but also on the state of the natural resources on which our lives depend. When we consider water, it has been quite a year indeed. We have witnessed a frightening series of droughts, forest fires, floods, ice melts, heat waves, and other extreme weather events. On top of these natural phenomena, hydro-fracking has emerged as one of the most significant environmental issues of our time.

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ABOUT THE VIDEO BELOW
"A Prayer for Rain" Jewish Farm School's first video in the Feast Forward series, includes a diverse cross-section of people reading an adaptation of T'filat HaGeshem  and the themes of the poem are connected to contemporary issues related to clean water, sustainable agriculture and climate change.

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Below is a music video of one of the most CLASSIC songs

about rainstorms ever composed.  "Cloudburst" from 

THE GRAND CANYON SUITE by Grofe.

One of the major sacred places of Hopi Tribal origins

and religious beliefs is the Grand Canyon,

known to the Hopi as Öngtuvqa, including the area of the

confluence. It is believed to be a place where many Hopi

ancestors lived and their spirits still dwell there including

many cultural resources that support its

revered status for Hopi people.

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From the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer 

For Rain.
O God, heavenly Father, who by thy Son Jesus Christ
hast promised to all those who seek thy kingdom and its
righteousness all things necessary to sustain their life: Send
us, we entreat thee, in this time of need, such moderate rain
and showers, that we may receive the fruits of the earth, to
our comfort and to thy honor; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.

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LITANY FOR ALL CREATION IN A

TIME OF DROUGHT AND FIRE

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God of all creation, of rain and fire, of ponderosa and pinon,
we your people lift our prayer to You. 
Lord, hear our prayer. 

For rain in this thirsty land, and for hope in this hard time. 

Lord, hear our prayer.

For the people who are dealing with a water shortage and its effects - both financial and personal - from Magdalena to the Plains, from the Rio Grande Valley to Elephant Butte Reservoir.
 Lord, hear our prayer.

For firefighters on the front lines, for pilots and crews, and all who are working across the State of New Mexico at this time to contain fires - for their safety and stamina. 
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the animals and birds that have lost habitat or lack water sources, for the plants and trees, rivers and lakes, and all creation that is suffering because of drought and fire, and often because of human greed or human carelessness. 
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the farmers and ranchers, and others of our rural communities whose lives and livelihoods are threatened by fire, drought, or water theft. 
Lord, hear our prayer. 
 
 For the just and wise use of the water You have given us, to be gracious stewards 
of Your creation and good neighbors with all people. 
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the wisdom to conserve resources, and the grace to share them, with common sense and a dedication to protect what is a sacred trust - to understand that we are not so much owners as we are custodians of land, and to know that water is life. 
Lord, hear our prayer.

For the local, state, and federal authorities and leaders - to have Your courage, O Lord, and Your vision, to make hard decisions for the common good, and the will to stand up to financial and political powers that would rob the state's citizens of what is theirs. 
Lord, hear our prayer.

For a peaceful resolution to the difficulties that people face on the San Augustin Plains aquifer water project, and a fair, just, and timely answer from the New Mexico Court of Appeals. 
Lord, hear our prayer. 
Gracious God, You who hear the prayer of every heart, hear now the prayers we lift up to you now.

(A moment of silent prayer.)

Hear all of our prayers O God, spoken and unspoken.

Remind us that You are the One who listens and Who hears.

Grant us the wisdom to love one another, and this God-given earth, as You do.

We pray in Your name, and offer the prayer that Christ taught us:

Our Father, Who are in heaven, holy be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

 Amen

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 The litany above was written by Rev. Talitha Arnold of Santa Fe, NM. 
Permission is allowed to reproduce and adapt
for worship services or church education.
  Publishing rights are reserved.

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ORAL ARGUMENTS BEFORE APPEALS COURT SCHEDULED

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August 21 at 10 am is the tentative court date
 for oral arguments to be heard in the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC case.
The location is the Albuquerque Court of Appeals Pamela B. Minzner
Law Center, 2211 Tucker, NE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

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"It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power,

 is the most ferocious enemy justice can have."

James Baldwin

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THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP SCAM

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From the book BLUE GOLD

by Maude Barlow & Tony Clarke

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PRIVATIZATION SCHEMES

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As one of the cardinal features of the Washington Consensus,

the private takeover of public institutions and enterprises has become the

prime instrument for the commodification of water.  Public services like

the delivery of water, traditionally by municipal governments in

most countries, are taken over by corporations,

often foreign owned, in the interests of making a profit. 
Through this privatization process,

water is turned into a commodity, priced, put on the market, and sold,

usually on the basis of ability to pay.

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Water privatization generally occurs in one of three forms.  First,

there is the complete sell-off by governments of public water delivery and

 treatment systems to corporations, as has happened in the United Kingdom.

Second, there is the model developed in France, whereby water corporations are

granted concessions or leases by governments to take over delivery of

the service and carry the cost of operating and maintaining the system,

while collecting all the revenues for the water service and keeping the 

surplus as a profit.  Third, there is a more restrictive model, in which

a corporation is contracted by the government to manage water services

for an administrative fee, but is not able to take over the collection of revenues,

let alone reap profits from surpluses.  While all three forms contain the

seeds of privatization, the most common one is the second model,

often referred to as "public-private partnerships." 

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And here's the beginning of Page 5 of the LLC website:

A Public-Private Partnership.

Every year, New Mexico municipalities spend millions of dollars purchasing water rights in controversial offsets. None of these purchases deliver any actual water to the cities. Infrastructure stills needs to be built and every year, millions are spent on energy costs necessary to pump, treat and deliver the water.

The Bureau of Reclamation has spent significant funds throughout the year to increase stream flow in the Rio Grande. For example its 2012 budget includes over $6 million for the “acquisition of supplemental non-Federal water, and pumping from the low flow conveyance channel into the Rio Grande

during the irrigation season”.

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In spite of all these expenditures, the river is running dry and public officials are sounding the alarm: “The pressures on the Rio Grande now and other rivers of the state in the future are great. If we didn’t have the storage in northern New Mexico reservoirs and the San Juan-Chama project, the Rio Grande would be dry right now. That’s a pretty shocking thing . . . Where are we going to get the water?” 
 Senator Tom Udall,
 Annual Water Conference,
 Las Cruces, August 2012.
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The value of the water rights at the benchmark prices New Mexico municipalities are paying exceeds the estimated construction cost of the Augustin Plains Ranch project. Operation and Maintenance costs of the project are significantly below current costs to the municipalities since no expensive energy is required to convey the project water to the Albuquerque Metropolitan Area.

.Our proposed Public Private Partnership will supply 54,000 Acre Feet of water every year to the Middle Rio Grande, at no additional costs

 to the citizens of New Mexico.

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Here's the link to the entire page from the website:
http://sanaugustinwater.com/partnership.html
  The graphic illustration below is  how they
see the "stakeholders," though it's interesting to
note that the LLC isn't included in the graphic.
The LLC being of course the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC,
otherwise known as "the foreigners" - Bruno Modena
and his son Vittorio, from Milan, Italy, the multi-millionaire
father-son team, and unnamed as yet other investors.
The would-be water thieves.
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BusinessDictionary.com defines "stakeholder" as
"A person, group or organization that has interest or concern in an organization..
Stakeholders can affect or be affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies. Some examples of key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions, and the community from which the business draws its resources."
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If they were included in the graphic, it would
certainly be represented as a giant leech,
disguised like a big oval bladder, called "OWNERS" -
 with tentacles attached everywhere, sucking
blood, money, and water from "The People."
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  They ought to be represented in the graphic.
They'll be getting the water, and all the damn money
that will come to them as a result of their theft.
In most respects, they've got the biggest stake.
Potentially, a huge fortune rides on the outcome here.
And the people of Catron and Socorro Counties,
and the people of New Mexico in the big picture,
 have the most to lose.
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And, without wanting to sound inhospitable,
or lacking basic human charity,
 the following needs to be said:
 THESE GUYS DON'T SEEM TO GET IT.
NO ONE
WANTS THEM AS A PARTNER. 
PEOPLE WANT THEM
TO LEAVE, TO GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE.
IF THERE'S A PARTNERSHIP TO BE HAD,
IT WON'T BE WITH THE LIKES OF THESE.
IT WOULD BE BEST FOR ALL IF THEY
JUST MOVED ON.  PERIOD.
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The little that's known about these people is
either very bad, or worse.  Check the early blog posts
about their financial adventure in Maine.
It was a whole new form of extortion.
Everything else is hidden - no financial statements,
no tax returns, no nothing.
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From all appearances, (and this is just appearances),
they're international mobsters of some sort,
 very secretive, very closed. 
 They don't want anyone to know ANYTHING about them.
If they did, they'd have put up a financial profile
that was somewhat believable. 
Who they are.  Where all the damn money comes from.
 They never have put up any info - it's just
 a Santa Fe or New York lawyer's office
 as an address.
They sure as hell don't come out to western
New Mexico, announce who they are,
and invite everyone over to a Bar-B-Q.

 They're off in Norway, Germany, or maybe Italy,
or visiting Ukraine, Moldova, or Israel.
Or God Knows Where.

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[Editor's Note 10/15
Those countries, along with the U.S., compose
the Top 7 world audience for hits on the blog.
United Kingdom is coming on strong as
a new contender at #8.]

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These are international operators,
why else would all these people be interested?
This can't all be hits from kids in college 
"World Business Ethics 310" classes.
I see a family portrait in the mirror.

But, obviously, the less people know, the better,
as far as the Modenas and their organization
are concerned.
It's nice to know folks watch us though.
There's a snake in the grass.  Beware.
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But quien sabe, who knows, maybe they're in the
hospitality business.  Or maybe they are simply
trying to figure out how to launder a ton of cash,
and make a Sultan's ransom in the process.
Whatever.
These are NOT the kind of people you want
to do business with, especially WITH WATER. 
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  You should note that while there are

numerous claims about "costs" in their web

 copy, there are NO figures - NONE, NADA.

No proof, just "take our word for it."

Their Project Director is a liar and thief from
the Louis Berger Group, a federal contractor
working in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere,
that got hit with the largest war-time fine
for a federal contractor - in U.S. history.
This LLC Project Director, Michel Jichlinski,
was President and CEO of the outfit during the period 

 that the whisleblower's evidence covered. 

He's not American, he's a foreigner, 

carrying passports from....

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It was a massive fraud scheme via
 exotic accounting overbilling practices,
and where bribes to ANYONE were common,
which the company called "grease money".
 The entire company, the Louis Berger Group,
was called "a culture of fraud" by the whistleblower.
The FEDS believed him, obviously,
 after they saw the evidence.
The biggest fine ever for a war-time contractor
 - 69.3 million dollars - included both civil
and criminal penalties.
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But Jichlinski didn't go to jail,
though a few others did.
 It'd be no surprise to find out that
 he's got big connections on the Beltway.

Congressman Scumbag and he probably shoot a
few holes at Bethesda, when they're
not busy counting their money,
or working on a western water project.
As we all know, in Washington, money talks.
Sometimes a little too loudly.
"You know Congressman,
 it just requires a little bit more grease money,
and then we'll have it in the bag.
And of course we'll recognize your great efforts
on the behalf of our investment group,
who have so generously put up an offer here, 
an offer you couldn't refuse.
FORE!"
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Above: Michel Jichlinski, Project Director
of the WATER GRAB.
Below is a link to an article about the issue

from the McClatchy Washington Bureau - a

well-respected investigative newspaper/web outfit.
Below that is a link to a story about how
the Louis Berger Group went on to win
even more contracts.
  They have much more on the issue
 if you're interested.  Search it.

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/search_results?q=louis+berger+group&x=0&y=0

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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/14/103380/us-hires-firms-with-questionable.html

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Take his word?
You've GOT to be kidding!
This guy's anti-American. Period.
You ARE if you steal from us.
And this guy STOLE MILLIONS!
He's a foreign OPERATOR. 
Mob connected?  Probably.
It hardly matters.  HE'S A PIG!
A federal contractor who lined his
pockets with U.S. cash by fraud -
milking millions and millions of your taxdollars
in illegal profits, on projects in war zones
in Iraq and Afghanistan - by fraud,
 by cooking the books, as they say.
We should take him to a gathering of
New Mexico combat veterans to pitch
his plan.  Could he live through it?
When pigs fly.
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And now we continue where we left off with
 BLUE GOLD.
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Shifting from public to private systems introduces, of course,
a completely different set of commercial imperatives into water-service
delivery.  Although the water industry insists on "full cost recovery" in
taking over a concession, this usually includes profit margins.
After all, the owners and shareholders of the privatizing corporation
are driven by demands for profits and dividends, which in turn,
are generally redistributed for investment globally in other divisions
of the corporation's overall operations.  Maximizing profit is
the prime goal, not ensuring sustainability or equal access to water.
Management of water resources, therefore, is based on market dynamics
of increasing consumption and profit maximization, rather
than on a long-term sustainability of a scarce resource for
future generations.  As a result, the price that a corporation is
prepared to pay for a water concession depends on the revenue
and profit-generating stream that can be
expected from the deal.
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"In 1999, Pickens formed Mesa Water and began to

accumulate water rights to sell to thirsty cities such as El Paso,

Lubbock, or San Antonio.  But as time passed, Mesa Water focused

on the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Metroplex.  Already the state's largest

water user, DFW's population was growing quickly in the midst

of a worsening drought.

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Many of Pickens's neighbors were alarmed by his plan to

privatize the groundwater, treating it as a commodity like oil or gas,

to be sold to the highest bidder.  Some of them rallied against him

and threatened lawsuits; others joined Mesa Water, hoping to profit.

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As water supplies are stretched thin across the country,

this scenario is becoming increasingly familiar.

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For much of the nation's history, Americans have fought

over surface water - who gets to use how much of lake or river water -

but most of those disputes have been settled; today the

biggest water wars are over groundwater."

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Alex Prud'Homme

THE RIPPLE EFFECT

The Fate of Freshwater in the 21st Century

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