UPDATE AND A TEE SHIRT FOR THE TIMES

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This terrific Tee is available at:

The Bear Mountain Coffee House & Gallery (Hwy 60),

 and CWB Gallery (Main St), 
both in Magdalena, NM,

along with Carol Pittman from Datil, NM.
 We're working on net/mail sales details.

Patience.

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More coming....an update on the state of the water grab

 (waiting for court....waiting....) and other notes

of interest to those fighting the foreigners:

the Modena Organization,

and their perky, smirky little Project Director,

Michel Jichlinski, the only guy that anyone

 from these parts ever dealt with who was a Con Man

of such grand proportions, involved in the theft

 of millions and millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars. 

He is, you might say, a "NEW MEXICO TRUE"

  Eurotrash "celebrity."
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Jichlinski made a pitch on behalf of
the "water grab" this past March 26 to the
Interstate Stream Commission.  We're told there were
 lots of questions from the commissioners, and
not many real answers from our foreign friend.
Snake oil salesman.
********************  
Someone from the area recently sent
Representative Don Tripp,
(Socorro, Catron, and Valencia Counties)
 a short letter, raising concerns about the
"water grab by foreign investors"
and asking to hear Don's position.
We got to see the correspondence.
Don's reply is below.
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We should note: Don has been active in the issue
for some time, and showed up for both our
Coalition Fundraiser held at The Golden Spur Saloon
in Magdalena, as well as our "Prayer Vigil for Rain
& Blessing of the Waters" held at Montosa Ranch
last June.  He doesn't seek the spotlight though,
and unless you go to meetings and events,
or subscribe to news feeds from legislators,
you're probably uncertain of what's what.
That's cool.  But Don is very cool.
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"....New Mexico has the Western characteristic
of too little water, which is one of the standard Western
gripes.  Another is that it is economically a colony,
a producer of raw materials, much of the profits from which,
including a considerable part of the profits of the cattle industry,
are siphoned off to the East and West Coasts.
The ultimate development of the state is to an alarming
degree dependent upon the decisions of people to whom
it is not home, is not essential, but merely an
investment to be held only so long
as it yields a good return."
.
Oliver La Farge, 1952
Anthropologist, Pulitzer Prize-winning Author
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A LETTER TO THE LEGISLATURE

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(This letter is being sent, personalized, via email,
 to each member of the New Mexico Legislature, with a link.
The last batch of these went out Saturday 2/23.
I'm a slow typist.)
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An Open Letter to the Members of
THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATURE - 2013
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 Honorable Ladies and Gentlemen of the Legislature,
 I ask for just a moment here.
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The small deluge of water-related bills before you now,
such as SB 440, HB 19, HB 181, and apparently more,
need to be looked at carefully.  All of them pose grave
risks for New Mexico's water future - all of them are
shortsighted - all of them have implications that no one
seems aware of.  Some of this seems like an effort to
win some political points on a hot-button issue during
a draught, some of it seems far more devious.
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This water legislation poses serious problems for an issue
 that calls for wisdom and insight - not quick decisions
made in the middle of a draught. 
 PLEASE don't let water be comidified -
 turned into money - at this point.
  (Well, it already is to some degree,
 but don't let it get any worse.)
Let there be a close look at what's possible,
with some realistic objectives. 
Let there be some common sense, as well as a
 recognition that water belongs, by law, to New Mexicans. 
Foreign-owned corporations cannot be allowed to get their
 hands on the water,
and SELL IT BACK TO US!
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  Here in  west-central New Mexico, we are facing the nightmare
 of having foreign investors propose to take 54,000
acre feet of water per year from beneath the
San Augustin Plains, for up to 300 years they say,
and sell it back to New Mexicans, for God only knows
what kind of prices.  They refuse to show a business plan;
they refuse, actually, to be seen.
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  The most recent Project Director
 for the Augustin Plains Ranch LLC,
the current mouthpiece for these foreigners,
 is Michel Jichlinsky, the target of a federal investigation
 for what went on when he was President and CEO
 at the Louis Berger Group, a big-time federal contractor,
when they allegedly stole millions and millions of
 taxpayers' dollars, by overbilling and fraud
of every type imaginable, for years and years.
(See the post on my site listed on the right column
up above titled "WHO'S MICHEL JICHLINSKY?
  A THIEF?")
He's not American.  His loyalties aren't here.
He writes letters to the editors of papers in the area,
but hasn't shown his face at any meeting.
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Someone needs to come forward, and become a
hero, a saint.  Someone needs to introduce legislation
that would make it totally impossible for foreign-owned
corporations to get their hands on our water.
This has to be done - if not, this craziness will
be popping up from under every aquifer in the state.
It's UN-AMERICAN.  Period.
It's also unethical, immoral, and just plain wrong.
It's OUR water, not theirs!  By LAW!
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If someone would come forth on this issue, I can assure
you they will get overwhelming support from across
the state - and one heck of a lot of media attention.
It's a possibility, an opening, for someone to
get the spotlight, legitimately, on something
that really, really matters.
It's a chance to stand up for New Mexican and
genuine AMERICAN interests, if someone
 is up for it.
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And it actually IS
 a real chance to be a hero, a saint (don't laugh -
that's pretty much the way some people would see it).
I think....no, I KNOW, the vast majority of
 New Mexicans could agree on this one point:
 we simply can't let foreign interests get our WATER!
And I'm not overplaying the issue - in the slightest -
 water is life!
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Thank you for your time.
God Bless you all.
.
Matt Middleton
Magdalena, New Mexico
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BE LOVING BUT FIRM

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I'm just taking one of the mini-posters in the post below
 and "personalizing" it to the "Big Cheese"
 in this group of foreign folks trying

to get their hands on the water.
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(Editor's Note:
The definition of "big cheese" needs to be
clarified here.  Here's an edited explanation,
for brevity sake, from  World Wide Words,
an online dictionary:
The big cheese is the most influential or important person
 in a group.  Big cheese is the only positive slang sense of cheese
 that seems ever to have existed. This was first recorded in
 London in the nineteenth century, in forms like he’s the cheese,
 it’s quite the cheese, just the cheese, or simply the cheese, with
 the sense of a thing that was “good, first-rate in quality,
 genuine, pleasant or advantageous” as John Camden Hotten
 defined it in his Slang Dictionary in 1859.)
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I've gotten so many international hits on
this blog, in such a short time, starting with
a rash of hits out of Germany,
 but now,
with regular pageviews from not just Germany,
but Malaysia, Russia,  South Korea, Indonesia -
it makes you certain you're dealing with
a real global "organization."
They come in in the dead of night, or
whenever, and will hang out for an hour -
 more.... on the site.  I can see the stats.  Fascinating.
It's a certain level of digital transparency.
I bet they like the graphics!
(Well, I hope they do.)

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No one from these countries would be even

 slightly interested in this mess, unless they

were connected to this obscenity, someway,

 somehow, albeit long distance.  

Family? Mob? 

 Probably.  But not like you're thinking. 

 Allright.  Good.  I'm glad that's clear. (?)

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Bruno Modena: Listen to me here....

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STOP THE WATER GRAB!

“Water, like religion and ideology,

has the power to move millions of people.

 Since the very birth of human civilization,

 people have moved to settle close to it.

 People move when there is too little of it.

 People move when there is too much of it.

 People journey down it.

 People write, sing and dance about it.

 People fight over it.

And all people, everywhere and every day,

 need it.” 

     Mikhail Gorbachev

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TAKE A MINI-POSTER!

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These are all 8.5 x 11 standard format

jpeg's at 600 dpi.  They'll print up nice
 however you do them, but on glossy,
 quality paper or card stock, they
 look extremely sharp!
You have a chance here to help spread an
important message - to get folks talking,
and maybe asking questions -
and that's a good start.
If nothing else, please Facebook, or whatever
flips your skirt, as they say, and help
do something here.  Thanks!

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CASE HEADED TO COURT OF APPEALS

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The WATER GRAB is headed to the

New Mexico Court of Appeals.  Three justices
 hear Appelate cases - three of those folks above.

Who you get is probably luck of the draw.

The case could easily take a year before it

actually goes to court - assuming the court doesn't
 refuse to hear it - which happens,

according to the New Mexico Environmental

Law Center, who represents the Good Guys.

Lots and lots of paperwork goes on now.
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This is the same application,
with vague or non-existent answers
about a number of things, such as
what the water specifically is to be used for,
and where it's going to be utilized,
(a seven county region is mentioned). 

This app has been floated through
the decision process twice so far,
turned down, and now we have Round 3.

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The Modena Organization is "buying time"
 it looks like - dragging the mess onward,
 which ends up costing everyone,
 and is probably part of a strategy
to wear down the opposition,
 and keep the issue in a "holding pattern." 
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Perhaps they figure that either eventually
 they'll somehow, some way, get approval,
 or, maybe interest someone in 
buying them out.  Who?  What?
Big-dollar environmentalists and a Texas
 ranch operator working together? 
Don't laugh....in Maine the Modena Boys
proposed a nightmare development in a
pristine coastal area,
and it ended up being a timber company
along with some fat-wallet Sierra Club-types
that saved the day.
And they bought off Modena and his "investors,"
 and the problem disappeared.
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  The Italianos got paid what has been called an
 "exorbitant" amount of cash;
and if this whole story is actually as bizarre
 and Soprano-like as it sounds,
 I have no doubt there's a lot of intrigue here.
It seems like a whole new form of EXTORTION.
There's more about the  story of these
Italianos and their "investors" -
 and their scheme in Maine -
 further below on the
TELL THE GUMBA NO AGUA post:
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http://stopthewatergrab.blogspot.com/2013/01/tell-gumba-no-aqua.html.
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 It seems like anything's possible.  Beware.
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COOL WATER
by Bob Nolan
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All day I face the barren waste
 without the taste of water,
Cool water.
Old Dan and I with throats burned dry

and souls that cry for water,
Cool, clear, water.
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The night are cool and I'm a fool

 each stars a pool of water,
Cool water.
But with the dawn I'll wake and yawn
 and carry on to water,
Cool, clear, water.
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(Chorus)
Keep a movin' Dan, don't you listen to him Dan,
 he's a devil not a man
and he spreads the burnin' sand with water.
Dan can't you see that big green tree
where the waters runnin' free
and it's waiting there for me and you.
Cool, clear, water.
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The shadows sway and seem to say
tonight we pray for water,
Cool water.
And way up there He'll hear our prayer
 and show us where there's water,
Cool, clear, water.
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Dan's feet are sore he's yearning for
 just one thing more than water,
Cool water.
Like me, I guess, he'd like to rest
where there's no quest for water,
Cool, clear, water.
Cool, clear, water.
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STOP THE WATER GRAB!
"When the well's run dry,
then we know the worth of water."
Benjamin Franklin
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THE BIG, BIG PICTURE

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WHO OWNS THE EARTH'S WATER?

by

Paul Donahue

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Water promises to be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th century:
  the precious commodity that determines the wealth of nations. Fortune magazine, May 2000
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Imagine for a moment what life will be like in the corporate-controlled world of the future. A handful of huge, powerful corporations will be responsible for all the societal services now handled by local, state and national governments - schools, police, prisons, military, mail, elections, social security, and so on. Even more importantly, corporations will control those things essential to human survival, namely food and water. If they can figure out a way to commodify the air we breathe, they surely will attempt to exert their control over the planet’s oxygen, as well. Services once provided by government agencies, accountable to voters, will be provided by corporations, accountable only to stockholders. With our governments in the sway of the corporations, our minimal democracy having eroded even further, and ultimate authority ceded to corporate- run international trade organizations, we will have lost the power to control the things
 most important to our survival.
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Is this some remote and unlikely futuristic scenario? I wish it was, but a corporate-owned and controlled planet is closer than you might think - much closer - and unless we wake up soon and start taking back the reins, it will become a reality. One of the most important struggles being waged around the world against corporate control is over who owns our water. Water is essential to all life on the planet, from microbes to humans. If ever there was a natural resource that should remain part of the commons, this is it..
On a world scale, freshwater is scarce and becoming scarcer, with demand growing greater each year as the human population of our planet continues to swell. The rate of global water consumption is currently doubling every 20 years. With more than one billion human inhabitants of the Earth already lacking access to safe drinking water, and that number growing daily, the scenario for the future is already very frightening. The World Health Organization predicts that 48 nations will face severe water shortages by 2025, and the World Bank has predicted that by the year 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will
run short of fresh drinking water.
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As fresh drinking water becomes more and more scarce, the world can expect violent conflicts over water to become more commonplace, destabilizing entire regions of the world. Hotspots where water reserves are dwindling include the Middle East, northern China, Mexico, California and almost two dozen countries in Africa. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a ready example of a water war already in progress, but the situation in the Middle East and around the globe will undoubtedly grow worse in the years ahead. If you think the current oil wars are bad, wait until the

 water wars really kick in.
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Making a bad situation even worse, much worse, we have entered the brave new world of water privatization, where huge, predatory, multinational corporations are gradually gaining control over our once publicly-owned water supplies. With growing scarcity, the market value of water will undoubtedly rise. It is with good reason that Fortune magazine has dubbed water the oil of the 21st century. According to Fortune, the annual profits of the water industry now amount to about 40 percent of those of the oil sector,

 and are close to $1 trillion.

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International “free” trade agreements have given a tremendous boost to water privatization. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), established by and for large multinational corporations, promote deregulation and privatization of goods and services, including water. As a result of these trade agreements, it is now difficult for a nation to control exports of its water beyond its borders, or to prevent foreign corporations from establishing water operations inside the country. As an example, under NAFTA’s rules, Canada may be forced to allow the bulk export of water to the United States. Already, a California company is suing the Canadian government for $10.5 billion because the province of British Columbia banned the commercial export of bulk water.
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The international water cartel also receives a tremendous amount of help from international lending institutions, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Working hand-in-hand with the water giants, these lending institutions are both actively pushing water privatization, forcing developing countries to abandon their public water systems and contract with the corporations to provide water to their citizens. The World Bank has recently changed its policy from pressuring countries to privatize their water systems, to making water sector loans contingent on privatization. With the water systems in many developing countries in desperate need of repair, the countries have little choice but to accept the terms dictated.
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The challenge ahead of us is formidable. The corporations involved in water privatization are extremely powerful, with strong allies in government. In the words of Maude Barlow, author of Blue Gold, The Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water, “It’s important to remember that it’s a very small, incestuous circle - these water companies, the World Water Council, the World Bank,
 the World Trade Organization, the IMF.
There’s a lot of money to be made from the commodification of water, and these people know
 that whoever controls water is going to be
 both very rich and very powerful.”
The momentum for privatization is considerable.
If we are to protect our public water resources and prevent
 the nightmare scenario of for-profit corporations meting out costly water to a thirsty world,
 the time to act is now.

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STOP THE WATER GRAB!

Public water activists argue that,

 because water is a necessity of life,

 no individual or corporation should have

the right to possess ownership and place

a value on the resource.

 In short, water is for life, not for profit.

Advocate and author Vandana Shiva

resolutely states, “Water is a commons because

 it is the basis of all life. Water rights are

 natural rights and thus usufructuary rights,

  meaning that water can be used,

 but not owned.”

Ashley Powdar

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PSALM 29 - A SAN AUGUSTIN PLAINS PRAYER

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A PSALM OF DAVID
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Below is a sung Hebraic (Jewish) version of the Psalm.
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Give to the LORD, you sons of God,

give to the LORD glory and might;

Give to the LORD the glory due his name.

Bow down before the LORD’s holy splendor!

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The voice of the LORD is over the waters;

the God of glory thunders,

the LORD, over the mighty waters.

The voice of the LORD is power;

the voice of the LORD is splendor.

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The voice of the LORD cracks the cedars;

the LORD splinters the cedars of Lebanon,

Makes Lebanon leap like a calf,

and Sirion like a young bull.
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The voice of the LORD strikes with fiery flame;

the voice of the LORD shakes the desert;

the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh.

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The voice of the LORD makes the deer dance

and strips the forests bare.

All in his Temple say, “Glory!”

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The LORD sits enthroned above the flood!

The LORD reigns as king forever!

May the LORD give might to his people;

may the LORD bless his people with peace!
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Translation from the United Conference of Catholic Bishops website

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Above: A summer thunderstorm on the

Plains of San Augustin at the VLA,

the Very Large Array, the world's largest

 radio astronomy facility, operated by the NRAO,

 the National Radio Astronomy Observatory,

with funding through the National Science Foundation.

The NRAO is one of the many "PROTESTANTS,"

no, not like those nice Methodist or Lutheran folks who

live down the road, but in this case, it's legalese - lawyer talk -

 for the GOOD GUYS, 

in the legal battle against the WATER GRAB

 by the foreigners.

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STOP THE WATER GRAB!
"Be praised, My Lord, through Sister Water;
she is very useful, and humble, and precious, and pure."
From the Canticle of the Sun
Saint Francis of Assisi
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