September 11, 2023

Googl Bie ???

Google going weird on me. On my android phone, the icon text has changed to "Google Bie". Both home screen and Google screen. Searching with chrome and Samsung I can't find anything relevant. This makes it even more disconcerting.

Over the weekend, Google and Gmail started showing 1 new message, but there aren't any.

Friends here have helped before, hope a few wizards can come u with something.

December 28, 2020

A need for speed

I'm struggling with slow downloads, interrupted streaming and other issues. HP laptop, 1.3 Ghz AMD processor, 4Gb Ram. Windows 10 takes up half the RAM, Firefox another quarter, leaving .5 Gb working RAM. All of our devices experience frequent disconnects from HughesNet; They say it's the devices but had me change some wifi settings.

I also have a weird partition on the hard drive. F: 263 MB free of 895 MB. Double click on it and get "The folder is empty"

Anyone have ideas? I'd like to at least stream some PBS videos.

Thanks

March 31, 2020

We don't need no stinkin' masks!

That seems to be the attitude.

Microsoft News Poll: Do you think the CDC should recommend that the general public wear face coverings in public?

Yes — 48%
Possibly — 29%

So why aren’t people wearing them?

Example: I had a physical therapy appointment yesterday at a facility run by the local hospital. All staff members wearing masks. Total of 3 patients; I was the only one masked.

Since neither of us had been into town for about 5 days, I stopped at Walmart to pick up a few essentials. I was wearing my N95 mask and had a bottle of hand sanitizer in my pocket. Employees at the door were sanitizing cart handles, but in the entire store, I only saw one employee with a mask, and only 2 other masked customers, one improvising with a bandana. And maintaining distance was difficult.

Maybe the fact that our SW corner of New Mexico has zero confirmed cases gives people a false sense of security. But why take chances? And what about the hoarders who bought up all the masks? Are they actually wearing them?

January 1, 2020

Grant County New Mexico launches new website

Official Launch of Democratic Party Website
The Grant County Democratic Party is pleased to announce the official launch of its new website, www.gcdp-nm.org. The site’s purpose is to be an online information source and meeting place for party members. It includes links to the websites of our senators, house representative, state legislators, and county commissioners. The calendar page lists upcoming party and candidate events, and the “Primary 2020” page links to candidates for the June 2 primary election. Still more pages provide opportunities to volunteer, join the party email list, register to vote, and donate to the local party. You are encouraged to contribute links to relevant events, news articles, and editorials, and to join in the discussion boards; current boards include discussions of the primary candidates and The Air Force Environmental Impact Statement on training flights over the area, as well as a general discussion board.
The site is designed to be easy to navigate and fast loading for the benefit of those who do not have a high-speed connection. Please visit the site at www.gcdp-nm.org , join in the discussions, and invite your friends.

September 22, 2019

What Exactly Is An Immigrant?

A column by Pete Riva; a couple of excerpts:

If you look at precedent (legal eagles always use precedent to prove court cases) as well as US law history, immigration has varied from wide open (give us your huddled masses), to “we can throw you out if you’re not born here,”

Is a woman and child watching from across the Rio Grande breaking the law? Not yet on US soil, no law broken even if you could say the intent is clear. If she sees a Border Patrol agent and deliberately crosses asking for protection and refuge, is she breaking the law? Up until 2017 she was not, now she is and can get separated from her child and thrown across the border with or without her child. You read that right with or without, usually without, her child. Why do we do this? Ostensibly as a deterrent. Does that work? Possibly, but it certainly works to deter the rest of the civilized world from having any respect for our pontification as being “the land of the free.” To quote one French commentator, “Land of the Free” has come to mean “free to mistreat humans and deny human rights.”

On the subject of ICE:

It may sound fair to say you are protecting innocent children from unscrupulous traffickers by taking them into custody but you discard any credibility when they are kept in filth and locked in chain-link cages.

The whole column.

September 22, 2019

A trip to Agua Prieta, Mexico

Abe Villarreal, columnist and assistant dean at WNMU writes about his student trip. A couple of excerpts:

And through the bumpy unpaved roads of main streets, between corner taco stands and panaderias (bakeries), there are people just like you and me. People that want a better life.

Isn’t it funny how that phrase seems like it only belongs to foreigners coming to the United States? Most of the people I know, red-blooded flag-waving Americans, also want a better life. Doesn’t that make us the same?

Even after you think about it for a moment, we still feel so different, and it’s because we have an obsession with focusing on our differences. They are poor; we are rich. They are foreigners; we are citizens. They speak Spanish; we speak English. They, we, they, we, the back and forth goes on forever.

Before the weekend ended, we visited a migrant center. In the courtyard, the men played basketball. Mothers breastfed. Kids chased each other. Most had smiles, and then the mood changed. We were taken inside to hear the stories of several migrants who had been traveling thousands of miles from several Latin American countries.

A younger woman began to tell us how she was in medical school when her professor accused her of spreading ill will about her country’s administration. She was forced to flee, leaving her family and a dream career. Her words were few because she could barely speak as she held back tears. She’s not sure where her journey will take her.

The whole article

On the other hand, Yvette Herrell, defeated by Xochitl Torres Small for NM-02 (but running again) releases this BS:

Going forward, the wall will serve as the foundation for future progress, enabling law enforcement officers and policy makers alike to take a more proactive approach to securing the border now that there will be fewer open areas along the border to breach.

It’s been a long, slow march in the face of constant Democratic obstructionism, but President Trump is keeping one of his most important promises to the people of New Mexico and America: He’s securing the border and keeping our communities safe.

Here's the rest, if you can stand it

July 25, 2019

Need twitter help

Can I even do this? I want a tweet to appear to followers of another twitter account.

July 4, 2019

We have forgotten the example of Lady Liberty

Column by Abe Villarreal — some excerpts:

What would we be as a country if we restricted the entry of these new Americans? What would we look like, physically and ethnically? What inventions or innovations would have we missed? What businesses and communities would be absent from our history?

But today we don’t have a desire to stand tall and hold a bright light. We are afraid of what we don’t know. We see people that don’t look like us and we turn away. We convince ourselves that they are uneducated and sickly. We tell each other that these poor people must be criminals that have nothing to add to our country.

Lady Liberty never closes her eyes. She doesn’t even squint. She looks forward eternally, never turning her back. Her light is always on. Her tablets carry the same message, reminding us that independence is a gift to all.

Abe Villarreal is a columnist for the online Grant County Beat and an assistant dean at Western New Mexico University in Silver City.

April 24, 2019

Militia Defiant in New Mexico: 'It's My God-Given Right to Be Here' NY Times article

According to this 2|New York Times story, the vigilantes harassing refugees at the border may be digging in before their Friday eviction deadline. A few excerpts:

“It’s my God-given right to be here,” said one balaclava-clad militia member who gave his name only as Viper. Chafing at the hostile reactions to the militia’s actions, he said that he was an Army veteran and that he expected his group, if pushed out, to set up camp in another location along the border.

Maybe he’s referring to the thing in the White House who thinks he’s God?

Armando Gonzalez, 52, said he drove to Sunland Park, which sits on New Mexico’s borders with Mexico and Texas, from his home in Tulsa, Okla., to lend a hand to the United Constitutional Patriots. He said he believed that the news media had distorted the group's work and the reality of life along the border.

“If you ask me this is all about politics,” said Mr. Gonzalez, adding that he was a disabled Army veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder. “The Democrats want illegal immigration because that means more votes for them.”

A bit unclear on the concept?

Judith Sierra, the owner of Tortilleria Sierra in Sunland Park, chuckled at the thought of armed men traveling to the border to chase after women and children. It’s not uncommon for migrants to pass through her property, she said, lately in large groups.
“We offer them water or tortillas,” she said, adding that the Border Patrol is never far behind.

At least someone is offering a little New Mexico hospitality.

Three Democratic members of Congress — Deb Haaland and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico and Veronica Escobar of Texas — wrote to F.B.I. Director Christopher Wray requesting an investigation of the United Constitutional Patriots.
“As a nation, we must end this xenophobic behavior.”

This madness is going to get someone hurt.

April 12, 2019

GOP commissioner sends dems to mob their own convention - follow up

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The background is in my original story, but to summarize, Billy Billings is a GOP county commissioner who sent out an email to try to get conservative Democrats to pack the county convention and vote for a county chair who would try to adopt a GOP-like platform for the Democratic party. The plan backfired big time and progressives ruled the convention.

Ty Bays ran for county commissioner as a republican, was defeated, and re-registered as a Democrat. But not soon enough to participate in the party convention. (28 day minimum) He was not allowed to vote and was required to stay in the visitors/observers area.

The above ad was NOT placed by the Democratic Party, but by an unknown individual. Nevertheless, Mr Billings has supposedly registered a complaint with the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

Wah.

Wah.

Wah.