Motley Moose – Archive

Today, a new national monument will be established in New Mexico:

On Wednesday, President Obama will create his second national monument of the year, designating the Organ Mountains in New Mexico a protected area.

The Organ Mountains, located at the southern end of New Mexico, will be the 11th and largest national monument of Obama’s presidency. The White House says that the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument will create $7.4 million in new annual economic activity in the region, a finding that first appeared in a 2013 report. That report also found the monument would double the number of outdoor recreation and tourism jobs in the region and contribute $560,000 in state and local tax revenue.

The monument encompasses a total of 496,000 acres, land which contains Native American petroglyphs in its canyons and is one of the most botanically diverse mountain ranges in New Mexico, home to about 870 vascular (i.e. plants with roots, stems, and leaves) plant species and a recorded 210 species of birds. The monument’s designation will “preserve the prehistoric, historic and scientific values of the area for the benefit of all Americans,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. Cattle ranchers who grazed the land before it was designated a monument will still be able to graze there – a rule that’s typical of new monuments – but all drilling and fracking will be prohibited. The area may have some mineral resources, yet new mining is not allowed in areas designated as national monuments.

“This is land that is home to pronghorn and deer, as well as rare plants and animals – some found nowhere else in the world, including the Organ Mountains pincushion cactus,” New Mexico Senator Tom Udall (D) said in December.

From Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument

Las Cruces has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to protect some of our area’s most beautiful and significant public lands. These lands possess unique Pre-American, New Mexican, and American history including training sites for the Apollo Space Mission, the Butterfield Stagecoach Trail, Billy the Kid’s Outlaw Rock, Geronimo’s Cave, World War II Aerial Targets, and thousands of Native American Petroglyph’s and Pictographs. Protection of these lands will preserve natural treasures like the Organ Mountains and bring jobs and economic development to our region far into the future.

More good government …

Good morning, Moosekind.

The common Moose, Alces alces, unlike other members of the deer family, is a solitary animal that doesn’t form herds. Not so its rarer but nearest relative, Alces purplius, the Motley Moose. Though sometimes solitary, the Motley Moose herds in ever shifting groups at the local watering hole to exchange news and just pass the time.

When we celebrate the Brown v Board of Education decision as an historic event-be clear it’s time to demonstrate, not just celebrate where we’ve been.

And don’t think of “the South” when you hear about segregated schools. Let’s take a look at the “apartheid schools” that are not southern.

UCLA Report Finds Changing U.S. Demographics Transform School Segregation Landscape 60 Years After Brown v Board of Education

Brown at 60 shows that the nation’s two largest regions, the South and West, now have a majority of what were called “minority” students. Whites are only the second largest group in the West. The South, always the home of most black students, now has more Latinos than blacks and is a profoundly tri-racial region.

The Brown decision in 1954 challenged the legitimacy of the entire “separate but equal” educational system of the South, and initiated strides toward racial and social equality in schools across the nation. Desegregation progress was very substantial for Southern blacks, in particular, says the report, and occurred from the mid-1960s to the late l980s.

The authors state that, contrary to many claims, the South has not gone back to the level of segregation before Brown. It has, however, lost all of the additional progress made after l967, but is still the least segregated region for black students.

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It’s Baaaaaaaaccckkkkk… Monday, that is.

After receiving a 30-day suspension for wearing a Nazi armband, a cabbie has decided to speak out about his suspension and profess his belief in national socialism.  In the interview with WCBS, Gabriel Diaz claims that Hitler’s record is distorted, that Nazism is not a racist ideology, that he is not an anti-Semite and denies the Holocaust, among other things.

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also the Weekend Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, the President discussed actions to expand opportunity for more Americans, with or without the help of Republicans in Congress, including his Administration’s efforts to cut red tape for major transportation infrastructure projects. In the coming days, the President will meet with business leaders to highlight the importance of bringing jobs back to America and will also discuss the economic benefits of making it easier for tourists to visit and spend money at attractions in the U.S., which in turn helps local businesses and grows the economy for everyone.

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Good morning, Moosekind. TGIF!