John Block

ABQ passes grim homicide milestone

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

In Democrat Mayor Tim Keller’s crime-ridden Albuquerque, Keller’s Police Chief Harold Medina confirmed to KOB 4 that Sunday’s homicide near Kathryn and Palomas NE was the city’s 100th this year — a grim milestone for the city. 

With over three months until the end of the year, Albuquerque is on track to surpass last year’s historic high of 117 killings within city limits, making 2022 likely the deadliest year on record in Democrat-run Albuquerque.

KOB’s Giuli Frendak wrote that Medina “doesn’t see the rate slowing down, and we could surpass last year’s number.” 

The tragic news of Sunday’s homicide came after Calvary Church security guard, 61-year-old Daniel Bourne, was killed Friday by 35-year-old suspected murderer Marc Ward. 

KOAT 13 reported, “A spokesperson with APD says Bourne noticed a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot, and notified his supervisor around 9 pm Friday. Bourne then took photos of the vehicle and sent them to the supervisor. Later, the supervisor went to the church to check on Bourne, when he found him in a nearby arroyo.” 

Ward was taken into custody after officers found the victim on the 4000 block of Osuna Rd. NE. He has three previous charges of domestic violence, two charges of aggravated battery, and charges of criminal sexual contact with a minor — specifically a minor under the age of 13. With New Mexico’s lax laws, dangerous criminals like Ward remain on the street and out of jail.

ABQ passes grim homicide milestone Read More »

NM utilities forced to buy out-of-state power, beg customers to ration usage

16 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

New Mexico’s Green New Deal (Energy Transition Act) is continuing to harm New Mexico by creating a vast power shortage. Utilities are buckling for a full-blown power catastrophe next summer as they are forced to “transition” to solar and other “renewable” energy sources. 

During a special Public Regulation Commission meeting Thursday, Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) said it is being forced to PNM executives said the utility will fill “quite a hole” next summer due to “green” replacements taking longer to materialize as the San Juan Generating Station is set to close next week.

According to PNM spokesman Ray Sandoval, PNM “generally has a 2,000-megawatt system with about 500 megawatts provided by the San Juan Generating Station.” 

With the closure of the San Juan Generating Station, it has purged countless jobs, with only around 80 employees able to retire. “For the rest of the employees, though, they’re going to have to go find some other form of employment,” said plant manager Omni Warner. 

The AP reports, “El Paso Electric, a utility that serves customers in southern New Mexico, also is expecting a capacity gap next summer. Like PNM, El Paso Electric will have to buy power from other producers to ensure adequate capacity when customers crank up their air conditioners during the hottest of days.”

The report continues, “PNM officials said they have revamped their plans for alerting customers when it looks like demand will outpace capacity and rolling outages might ensue. The media blitz will include automated calls, television and radio commercials along with social media posts that urge customers to cut back on their use. A special website would go live for tracking outages.”

As for the other effects of New Mexico’s Green New Deal, other than brownouts and lost jobs, electric utilities, including XCEL Energy, are asking to raise rates on their customers because of the Energy Transition Act, passing off large costs back to the consumers.

Eco-leftist company Avangrid continues its attempts to buy out PNM, but its previous attempts have failed at the Public Regulation Commission. However, the takeover remains “very much alive,” especially if far-left Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gets a second term. Via constitutional amendment, voters gave the governor sole authority to appoint members of the PRC. Lujan Grisham has big campaign donations from the out-of-country company, among other connections. 

As we previously reported:

It is unclear why anyone lobbied the governor by financing the trip or how much New Mexicans paid for her non-publicized private trip abroad. However, the New Mexico taxpayers paid for her security while she was in Spain.

It is also unclear if there were any joiners on the trip other than her staff and security agents. Could the Governor’s close friend and former business partner New Mexico Rep. Debbie Armstrong have joined the trip as well? 

The documents obtained through the IPRA show receipts from Madrid and Gran Canaria, the pay stub to Lt. Gov Morales, showing he was acting in Luajn Grusham’s stead, as well as the Governor’s calendar showing she was gone throughIn 2015, PNM opened a wind farm in Cibola County, which appears to be the wind farm Gov. Lujan Grisham shot her 2018 “Turbine” ad, where she touted her “green energy” proposals while running for governor. AVANGRID has a wind farm called “El Cabo” in Torrence County.

NM utilities forced to buy out-of-state power, beg customers to ration usage Read More »

Ex-LANL scientists advanced Chinese military efforts: Report

4 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to a new report by Strider Technologies, at least 154 Chinese ex-Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) scientists over the last two decades have helped advance Chinese military technology, creating a greater threat to the United States from within.

LANL is the U.S. Department of Energy’s premier research institution, with a mission “to solve national security challenges through simultaneous excellence.”

The report details how many of the scientists were “lured” back to China “to help make advances in such technologies as deep-earth-penetrating warheads, hypersonic missiles, quiet submarines and drones,” according to NBC News. 

“The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is employing a “Talent Superpower Strategy” (人才强国战略) designed to incentivize academics, researchers, and scientists to go abroad, deepen their expertise, and then work to advance China’s strategic interests. What began in the 1980s as policy to encourage young talent to go overseas and enhance their skill set has since evolved to include initiatives and programs that ultimately seek to exploit their efforts in vital technology sectors for China’s gain, whether they return to China or stay overseas,” the report details.

Many of the scientists were paid as much as $1 million for participating in the Chinese government-run “talent programs” that have long been identified as a source of concern to national security. 

The threat to national security is a chief concern in the report, which notes that close interactions between China’s People’s Liberation Army (PRC) universities and “the Ministry of State Security suggests that some postdoctoral researchers and visiting scholars are vetted by China’s security services before going abroad.19 While they do not have access to the most sensitive research at Los Alamos, they still pose risks of technology transfer and economic espionage. The Department of Energy (DOE) has acknowledged instances where researchers elsewhere have passed dual-use and export-controlled research to the PRC via visiting students and scholars.”

One shocking revelation from the report is that the PRC’s success, “along with support for China’s talent programs from Chinese Communist Party (CCP) General Secretary Xi Jinping and other top CCP leaders, suggest that similar recruitment efforts may be widespread among U.S. government-funded laboratories, academic research institutions, and major centers of innovation. Moreover, the Los Alamos case shows how China’s rapid advances in certain crucial military technologies are being aided by individuals who participated in sensitive U.S. government-funded research.”

With China becoming an increasingly hostile threat to the United States as Taiwan becomes part of the global spotlight, the gaping leaks in national security from LANL and other institutions appear to be significantly aiding Chinese military efforts.

EXCLUSIVE: Details from Gov. Lujan Grisham’s ‘private meeting’ with communist Chinese official

Ex-LANL scientists advanced Chinese military efforts: Report Read More »

MLG deported illegal aliens to leftist ‘sanctuaries’ before it was cool

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

During President Donald Trump’s time in the White House, far-left Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) did what Republican governors are now being attacked for — busing illegal aliens to “sanctuary cities” that protect criminal aliens.

According to the Associated Press, “When migrants overwhelmed cities and shelters in New Mexico in 2019, Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham moved several dozen of them by bus from border communities to Denver, where Christian congregations volunteered to provide shelter and aid. Fast forward to 2022 and there is little, if any, talk of transporting migrants away from the border by Lujan Grisham — or Republican nominee for governor Mark Ronchetti.”

In 2019, The Washington Post reported, “A busload of 55 migrants who had been arrested by U.S. border authorities and were then released into the United States left Las Cruces, N.M., on Sunday afternoon bound for Denver, where it arrived at about 2 a.m. Monday and left people in the care of three churches, according to the office of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D), which paid $4,000 for the bus to help ease the burden on cities in the southern part of the state.”

Lujan Grisham said at the time that the Trump administration leaves “states like ours in really precarious positions, and we’re showing folks we can lead and problem-solve. We figured out a way to get 55 folks out of Las Cruces and to Denver. We’re going to continue to do everything like that that we can in the short term.”

Under Joe Biden, there were over two million illegal border crossings just in 2022 alone (2,150,639 to be exact), according to a report from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol released this week.

This comes while Lujan Grisham’s campaign attacks GOP governors for doing what she did just a few short years ago. 

“Gov. DeSantis is using this opportunity to distract Americans from the fact that his far-right colleagues are trying to pass a national abortion ban, a position he supports,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Maddy Hayden said in a statement Tuesday.

The smell of hypocrisy from Lujan Grisham can’t be overstated, especially since her campaign is now criticizing governors like DeSantis and Greg Abbott (R-TX) when she is the original “deporter” of illegal aliens from her state.

MLG deported illegal aliens to leftist ‘sanctuaries’ before it was cool Read More »

Free speech org. lauds UNM’s response to Antifa’s attack on Tomi Lahren event

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Following Antifa radicals’ attack on Tomi Lahren that forced her Turning Point USA event at the University of New Mexico to be tormented following a violent leftist mob breaching the building, UNM released a response.

“We are deeply disappointed in the actions of those individuals who intentionally chose to disrupt a scheduled speaker and infringed upon the rights of the speaker and those who attended the event to listen and engage, vandalized University property and unlawfully pulled a fire alarm,” the university said in a statement reported by Breitbart News. 

UNM noted that the extent of the damage included “A hole” that was “found in the drywall of one of the Student Union Building walls.”

“The University of New Mexico is committed to the principles of free speech and values its role as a public square for debate, a marketplace of ideas, and a place to test and challenge competing viewpoints and opinions. In this context, allowing speakers invited by a student organization on campus in no way implies an endorsement of the content of their speeches or their opinions. And those who disagree with the ideas expressed are encouraged to respectfully voice their perspectives,” UNM wrote.

The university continued, “Additionally, several UNM departments will be meeting to discuss improving the environment in which a speaker’s right to conduct their scheduled programming is ensured along with the public’s right to free speech, especially when our facilities are in use for multiple events at the same time.”

Following this statement, the First Amendment-focused group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) wrote, “FIRE commends UNM for getting it right — unlike many universities in the past,” adding: 

UNM took action — calling in more security, barricading the door, and ensuring Lahren finished her speech — before escorting Lahren out for safety reasons. The institution also made clear that it will not tolerate students who infringe on others’ expressive rights regardless of any legitimate complaints regarding the speaker or host organization. 

In keeping with the First Amendment, UNM must make sure to limit any sanctions it may impose to those who disrupted the event, and not punish non-disruptive and non-violent protesters who remained outside expressing their own First Amendment rights. So long as it does so, UNM’s actions here should serve as a model to other institutions that will face the substantial disruption of events in the future.

Free speech org. lauds UNM’s response to Antifa’s attack on Tomi Lahren event Read More »

Lawyer responds after Dems launch ‘egregious’ attacks against pro-life group

13 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Monday, following a rhetoric-filled press release from the Democrat Party of New Mexico (DPNM) attacking the pro-life group, Abortion Free New Mexico, the group’s founders, Bud and Tara Shaver, had their attorney write a letter to DPNM demanding a retraction.

The press release labeled the Shavers as “fanatical extremists” with “ties to domestic terrorism,” among other accusations to belittle the pro-life group, which had a fundraiser with Republican nominee for Congress in the Third Congressional District, Michelle Garcia Holmes.

DPNM also accused the group of sending out “ illegal mailers to Albuquerque voters” and promoting “doctored imagery on a large truck,” among other untruths. 

Democrat Party of New Mexico Chairwoman Jessica Velasquez claimed, “The New Mexican Republican Party has an open door policy for fanatical extremists, like Bud and Tara Shaver. Michelle Garcia Holmes consistently aligns herself with the most dangerous MAGA zealots in Republican Party and if elected, she promises to ban all abortions nationwide, without exception for rape or incest.” 

Abortion Free New Mexico wrote in a press release of its own, “Never in our pro-life missionary journey have we ever condoned violence of any kind, in fact, we are working to end the ultimate violent act that leads to the exploitation of women through abortion.”

“The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) are the extremists because they support abortion through all nine months of pregnancy, even when babies could survive outside the womb. According to a recent poll released by the Associated Press, 80% of Americans oppose late term abortions. The fact that New Mexico is the late term abortion capital, is a hard truth that New Mexicans must grasp when considering who to cast their vote for this November,” wrote the group.

The Shavers’ attorney, Angelo Artus, wrote in a statement, “By publishing false statements of fact either knowing them to be false or in reckless disregard for whether they are true or false, you have exposed yourself and New Mexico Democrats.org to potential legal action. On behalf of the Shavers, I demand that you and New Mexico Democrats.org print and publish an immediate retraction of these falsehoods.”

Artus also argued that the mailers accused of being “illegal” were “a constitutionally protected” act of free speech, while the claim of “doctored” imagery was shot down by explaining the true and undoctored images were “the very real consequences of abortion.” 

The Shavers added, “We love and value pregnant women from all walks of life and desire to protect them and their pre-born children. We will never waver from proclaiming the truth about the atrocity of abortion and will always stand up for the, ‘least of these’ among us. Our prayers go out to those who support abortion and we hope that those especially in Democrat Party of New Mexico would come to conversion and see how beautiful the gift of life truly is.” 

Lawyer responds after Dems launch ‘egregious’ attacks against pro-life group Read More »

‘Ranching Uncanceled’ shares ranchers’ stories battling government overreach

3 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

A new series done by Ben Luna of Lexit called features the stories of ranchers fighting the government from being “canceled” by overreach aiming at snagging the land that they’ve been ranching on for generations. 

The series called “Ranching Uncanceled” showcases stories of ranchers, such as that of Mike and Kelly Goss, owners of the Sacramento Grazing Allotment (SGA) in the Lincoln National Forest. The Goss family is successor to cattle operations that have existed in the Sacramento Mountains since the 1880s.

They have been battling the government for years against attacks on their grazing rights, including severe limits to the number of cattle and other drastic measures. Their story is featured in the first episode of the project.

The filmmakers note that people in the city have seen the tangible effects of attacks on the people during the pandemic lockdowns, “but ranchers have been experiencing this tyranny for decades. What you will hear is heartbreaking, but what this documentary should cause is a fire within every American’s heart to stand for Liberty.”

“SGA is not only New Mexico’s largest allotment owner, but they are Otero County’s local food supply. With Food Factories going up in flames due to a coordinated effort to control free citizens, SGA would be the Otero County and neighboring counties emergency food supply,” the filmmakers write.

The second episode of the project titled “Patterns of Overreach” will feature the pattern of overreach in ranching that people in the city have only begun experiencing recently.

Members of the community and ranchers hurt by the government’s overreach recently held a rally and protest against the National Forest Service’s overreach and mandates that hurt not only ranchers but economies across the country that are harmed by the attacks from big government.

Watch the first episode here:

To learn more and to support the Gosses, check out their fundraising efforts here.

Otero County takes action after feds limit cattle grazing in Lincoln Nat’l Forest

‘Ranching Uncanceled’ shares ranchers’ stories battling government overreach Read More »

Lame duck Speaker Egolf demands NM vote Dem in doom and gloom op-ed

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Opinion, Politics / By

In an op-ed published in The Hill Saturday, far-left lame duck New Mexico House Speaker Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe), who is retiring after his current term, and Michigan House minority leader Donna Lasinski (D) teamed up to demand voters support pro-abortion candidates or else. 

Egolf touted New Mexico’s 2021 abortion up-to-birth law that stripped all protections for mothers, babies, and medical professionals while legalizing full-term abortion in the state. 

He wrote, “We cannot overstate the importance of this victory,” adding, “this is only possible because, in 2021, our Democratic legislative majority and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) repealed an abortion ban that had been on the books since 1969, ensuring it would not become enforceable again if Roe fell.”

He called pro-life laws that save babies a “nightmare scenario.”

The two pro-abortion Democrats claim that “a majority of Americans want abortion to remain safe and legal,” but lie because a recent Albuquerque Journal poll shows that most New Mexicans (59 percent) believe in restrictions on abortion.

14 recent national polls continue to confirm that most Americans back abortion restrictions, with most of these polls being conducted by academic and left-leaning pollsters.

Despite this, Egolf and Lasinski claim, “But a vocal and well-funded right-wing minority has poured dark money into state legislative races for far too many years, creating gerrymandered legislative majorities to try and inoculate Republicans from public opinion. We must keep fighting back.”

The rhetoric falls flat because Democrats are the recipients of millions in dark money from the likes of George Soros, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Michael Bloomberg, funding dark money groups such as pro-abortion Planned Parenthood, EMILY’s List, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and others that attack pro-lifers. 

Another laughable claim is that “gerrymandered legislative majorities” are supposedly “inoculating” the GOP from public opinion, but rather in states like New Mexico, Egolf’s Democrat majority gerrymandered the latest legislative maps to promote extreme Democrat supermajorities in both chambers and in all three of the state’s congressional districts. Dark money groups were even caught giving $50 bribes to those who would testify in the “Citizens Redistricting Committee” to support the partisan maps. 

In the op-ed, the two Democrats conclude, “We cannot afford to sit this election out while Republicans undermine the will of the people by abolishing our fundamental freedoms state by state,” but when it comes to the “fundamental freedoms” of the babies in the womb, both are silent.

Petition to strip Alamogordo’s pro-life sanctuary resolution fails miserably

Lame duck Speaker Egolf demands NM vote Dem in doom and gloom op-ed Read More »

Dem attempt to boot GOP AG nominee from ballot fails

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to Dan Boyd of the Albuquerque Journal, a Democrat lawsuit to try and boot Republican attorney general nominee Jeremy Gay from the General Election ballot has failed. 

Boyd wrote, “Republican AG candidate Jeremy Gay will remain on the Nov. 8 ballot, as a state judge has ruled a Democratic-backed lawsuit challenging whether he meets #NM residency requirements was not filed in time.”

The Democrat Party of New Mexico wrote in a press release when filing the failed lawsuit, “The complaint outlines Mr. Gay’s prior residency to demonstrate that the earliest date Mr. Gay could establish residency in New Mexico was May 2019, which would be less than the five years of continuous residency required by the New Mexico Constitution to be eligible to be elected Attorney General in the General Election on November 8, 2022. Therefore, the lawsuit seeks to have Mr. Gay declared constitutionally ineligible to be elected Attorney General and compel the Secretary of State to not print his name on the General Election Ballot.”

Gay is a retired Marine who served his country in the Military, but the Democrats attacked him over a technicality.

In response to the lawsuit, GOP spokesman Mike Curtis said, “He was fulfilling his duty in the U.S. Marines, protecting our nation and our freedoms.” He added, “To try to boot someone out of a race for serving his nation is despicable. This is a disgraceful way the progressive left is trying to disenfranchise voters.”

“Jeremy and his family have called New Mexico home since 2014, and his wife was born and raised in Gallup, NM. Jeremy and his family temporarily left NM on active duty orders with the U.S Marines and returned as soon as he entered the Reserve Forces,” said Gay’s campaign manager Noelle Gemmer. “This is a disgusting attack on a veteran for his service and a desperate attempt by Raúl Torrez to deny voters options at the ballot box. It’s nothing more than another attempt to distract from Torrez’s failed record as prosecutor where he declined to prosecute over 50% of violent felony cases and dismissed 40% of the cases that made it to court.”

Gay remains on the November ballot against far-left George Soros-backed Democrat Raúl Torrez, a district attorney in the Albuquerque area.

Dem attempt to boot GOP AG nominee from ballot fails Read More »

Violent Antifa ‘terrorist’ mob storms Tomi Lahren’s UNM event

18 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Thursday, a radical Antifa mob shut down a scheduled speech from conservative Tomi Lahren in front of the University of New Mexico’s Turning Point USA chapter on campus. The mob stormed the Student Union building, forcing security to escort Lahren to safety.

The unruly extremists repeatedly screamed, “Shut it down! Shut it down!” before breaching the event.  

WATCH: 

Afterward, Lahren wrote on Twitter, “Campus terrorists showed up at my @UNM speech tonight and UNM did not care. They shoved officers and tried to bust down the door to the speech room. These colleges are unbelievable. They don’t care about the safety of conservative students or guests. Sickening.”

She added, “New Mexico police are now dispatched to my speech to deal with these violent and abhorrent protesters. Over speech you don’t like? Freakin disgusting.”

U.S. Sen Ted Cruz reacted to the mob rule at UNM, writing, “Disgraceful. Yet another university ignores & condones leftist violence and censorship.”

ANTIFA domestic terrorists took credit for the violent attack on Lahren’s event, with Post Millennial journalist Andy Ngo reporting, “#Antifa & far-left accounts are taking credit for shutting down Tomi Lauren’s campus speaking event at @UNM. The extremist movement views freedom of expression as intolerable, & uses violence or threat of violence to suppress speech.” 

A violent Antifa mob previously attempted to shut down an event in 2017 with Milo Yiannopoulos, where arrests took place of far-left rioters.

Violent Antifa ‘terrorist’ mob storms Tomi Lahren’s UNM event Read More »

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