Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Say What?

Legitimate financial institutions no longer exist in our country, our world. In my opinion they have been replaced by continuing criminal enterprises -- imposters, who want us to believe they are financial institutions.

Friday, May 17, 2013

New Mexico Has Banned Pre-Statehood History from High School Text Books Since 1992

 
In 1992 New Mexico's Board of Education changed its educational standards from what had previously been entitled: "Educational Standards for New Mexico Schools" to "Standards for Excellence.

The new Content Standard for social studies, grades 9-12 thereafter was changed from the way it had read in 1976 and 1982:

"Social Studies. All programs should emphasize the value of cultural diversity and recognize the intrinsic worth of each culture in itself"
to:

"Content Standard 1: Students are able to identify important people and events in order to analyze significant patterns, relationships, themes, ideas, beliefs and turning points in New Mexico [since statehood], United States, and world history in order to understand the complexity of the human experience. Students will:

"9-12 Benchmark 1-A. New Mexico: analyze how people and events of New Mexico have influenced United States and world history since statehood."
 
The significance of this change was that textbooks used in grades 9-12 after 1992 could no longer address pre-statehood history: No longer could the thousands of years of New Mexico's Indian history nor the hundreds of years of Spanish and Mexican history be included in textbooks used by grades 9 thru 12.

Ironically, the standards for grades 5-8 were not limited in 1992 as they were for grades 9-12. Upon inquiry I was advised that once students in grade 7 had studied pre-statehood history there was no longer a need to teach the subject in high school. My question regarding this response is: then why teach post-statehood history again in high school as it had also been taught in the seventh grade?
I must qualify what I have said about the 1992 limitations New Mexico placed upon grades 9-12 in regard to the textbook presently used for those grades. The authors of A History of New Mexico Since Statehood, the book currently used in grades 9-12, (which was published by UNM Press) namely, Richard Melzer, Robert Torrez and Sandra K. Mathews are to be commended for their efforts in stretching the limits of the regulation as far as they did.
At the very least, their Introduction and chapters allow inquisitive students to realize that New Mexico's history began centuries before January 6, 1912.
Mike Scarborough
trespasseronourownland.blogspot.com
 

Friday, April 12, 2013

My Review of Chicano Manifesto, Authored by Armando Rendon


As the movement toward immigration reform has finally, once again, come to the forefront of important political issues I recalled having read Chicano Manifesto, the comprehensive history of the Chicano movement in the 1970s as studied and lived by its author, Armando Rendon.  Upon rereading it I am even more convinced than I was when I first read it decades ago that there is no better reference material available for politicians, professors, teachers, students and supporters of immigration and the Chicano movement than Chicano Manifesto.

Seldom in historical research are we able to find available for comparison with current events such an excellent, decade’s old, microscopic analysis as author Rendon’s Chicano Manifesto.

It is indeed unfortunate that as we compare the excellent road map provided by Rendon in Chicano Manifesto over forty years ago with that which has occurred in the decades since that the movement has time and time again been met with numerous obstructions and unfortunate detours along the route he suggested— yet heartening that finally there isa brightening light at the end of the very lengthy tunnel.

I suggest that unless one reads Chicano Manifesto and compares it to the current interest in immigration reform it is not possible to fully comprehend how far along Rendon’s Chicano Manifesto road map the movement has come.

Thank you, Armando, for having taken the time and effort to write and publish Chicano Manifesto.

Thursday, February 28, 2013

BLM's Management of Mineral Acreage is Grossly Inequitable

Below is a listing of BLM managed subsurface and surface acreage in the various states.

This is a very important document as it shows the federal government's disparate approach to control of subsurface mineral rights across the country. For example, Texas, with 168 million acres has only 4.5 million acres of federally controlled subsurface mineral rights, Oklahoma, with 44 million acres has only 2.3 million acres of federally controlled subsurface mineral rights, while New Mexico, with 77 million acres, has 36 million acres of federally controlled subsurface mineral rights.

The result of this is that Texas and Oklahoma own, either publicly or privately, the vast majority of the oil and gas production royalties and therefore receive vastly more money than does New Mexico.

Only be setting up a Task Force is it possible for New Mexico to challenge the federal government to release New Mexico's mineral rights or, at a minimum, to return more of the 55% of the royalties the federal goverment keeps from our school sections.

This document also reflects not only the desperate treatment of the western states but as well the manner in which the federal government treats the "eastern states" compared to the western states: Only 40 million acres of the 699 million acres of mineral rights acreage across the country are within the "eastern states."

While our Legislature is scrambling to find a way to increase the amount of money available for education, a possible solution what would not require an amendment to our constitution or an increase in taxes is right before our eyes, we need to request an increase in the percent of royalties we receive from the school sections while, at the same time, demanding additional school sections.

Of course, without a vehicle to drive this request, we may go another 100 years without increasing the money we need for education by other than tax increases or withdrawing additional money from our permanent fund.

We need a Task Force to study this issue, along with many other issues. How, other than by establishing a Task Force, can we realistically confront this gross inequity?



MINERAL AND SURFACE ACREAGE
MANAGED  BY THE BLM 

State
Total State Acreage
Federal Minerals a
Federal Surface Landsb
BLM-Managed Public Lands d
Alaska
365.48
237.0
237.0
73.0
Arizona
72.69
35.8
33.0
12.2
California
100.21
47.5
45.0
15.3
Colorado
66.49
29.0
24.1
8.3
Eastern States
h
40.0
40.0
0.1
Hawaii
4.11
0.6
0.6
0.0
Idaho
52.93
36.5
33.1
11.6
Kansas
52.51
0.8
0.7
0.0
Montana
93.27
37.8
26.1
8. 0
Nebraska
49.03
0.7
0.7
0.1
Nevada
70.26
58.7
58.4
47.8
New Mexico
77.77
36.0
26.5
13.4
North Dakota
44.45
5.6
1.1
0.1
Oklahoma
44.09
2.3
1.7
0.1
Oregon
61.60
33.9
32.4
16.1
South Dakota
48.88
3.7
2.1
0.2
Texas
168.22
4.5
4.5
0.1
Utah
52.70
35.2
34.0
22.8
Washington
42.69
12.5
12.2
0.4
Wyoming
62.34
41.6
30.0
18.3
Total
1,529.72
699.7
643.2
247.9