Mellow El Paso vs. Shoot-’em-up Albuquerque

Posted on February 27, 2015 by Bill Diven

If Albuquerque took a chill pill, it might act more like El Paso, Texas, a metro area of similar size but only half the violent crime.

Metro Albuquerque counts four times as many murders as El Paso, a city 250 miles down the Rio Grande opposite Cíudad Juarez, Mexico, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) for 2013. Albuquerque tallies twice as many rapes and in 2013 recorded 742 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, twice the national rate.

El Paso police cordon a downtown street to investigate a pedestrian fatality. Unlike Albuquerque, jaywalking laws are enforced here. Photo © William P. Diven

In comparison to the Wild West shootout occurring almost nightly in Albuquerque, El Paso might as well be Mayberry RFD.

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Reptilian Discourse From A Horny Toad

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Bill Diven

‘Nuf said. Photo in the Doña Ana Mountains © William P. Diven.

New Year, No Fear

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Bill Diven

Another year blows by like so many snow pellets riding a ferocious east wind. In crossing the artificial dateline on Pope Gregory’s calendar, how do you tally progress versus the countervailing forces of fear and greed?

Sideways snow falling in the foothills of New Mexico’s Sandia Mountains, Dec. 30, 2014. Photo © William P. Diven.

On balance the human species survived 2014 without actually destroying the planet. That counts as a positive although one friend isn’t so sure. Would be fine with her if Homo sapiens somehow erased itself leaving earth and the animal kingdom to proceed without our interference.

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Will You Be Trekking for Justice When You’re 91 Like She Is?

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Bill Diven

Sally-Alice Thompson was young–only 63–when she walked across the United States protesting nuclear armament. Nearly 30 years later, she hit the road for Santa Fe to preserve the value of voting.

Sally-Alice Thompson on the march nearing Algodones, N.M. Photo © William P. Diven. (This photo also appeared in the Sandoval Signpost, Placitas, N.M.)

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Hang on Tight as Your Train Wiggles Through an Autumn Slide Show

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Bill Diven

Coal smoke, chill air and rampaging color. Can’t beat the high country as your train whistles and chugs above 10,000 feet and through the aspen groves on a splendid fall day.

Each aspen stand is its own little family with their DNA determining the remaining color as photosynthesis ends and the green drains away until next year. Photo © William P. Diven.

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Openness cures ills unless government blocks the sunshine

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Bill Diven

Who loses when supposed leaders don’t get the big picture? We the people, of course.

So, how to explain denying our history, ignoring the First Amendment on public lands and cloaking yet another attempt to dam the free-flowing Gila River?

Gila River Lower Box in the dam project area. Photo © William P. Diven.

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Journalists have ethics? Read all about it!

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Bill Diven

Despite what you know or think you know about news people, most journalists aspire to be fair and honest.

Whether individual integrity rises above corporate roadblocks is another matter given the uneven landscape of newsrooms and corporate ownership today. Continue reading →

Heed Robin Williams’ Advice

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Bill Diven

Robin Williams, San Francisco, 1984. Photo © William P. Diven.

As Robin Williams left the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco he encountered a TV news photographer who was carrying only his still camera. The photographer never asked celebrities to pose with him in those pre-selfie days, Continue reading →

We Beat Dick Nixon in 1972 When Nobody Else Could

Posted on August 8, 2014 by Bill Diven

Here’s a story of a forgotten 1960s youth movement, the Vietnam War and how 3,300 of my closest friends and I derailed Dick Nixon’s political machine.

1960 Nixon campaign pin. Author's collection. — 1960 Nixon campaign pin. Author’s collection. (Click to enlarge)

In it Team Nixon plans a pure victory and cheats in a failed attempt to get it. It’s also a reminder of why politics can be a great game, why votes count and why voters, especially younger ones, need to wake up and smell the excitement.

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Singers, Fans Win As Railroad Takes On Rocky Mountains

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Bill Diven

The show must go on, even if a mountain rockslide stops your train carrying a Grammy and CMA winner and the entire audience.

That’s what happened on Saturday morning nearing 9,000 feet elevation in the Colorado Rockies where the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad curves into a crumbly cut through layered rock and dirt far from the highway and any quick help.

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Foto Grande

The Big Picture in a Random World

Mellow El Paso vs. Shoot-’em-up Albuquerque

Reptilian Discourse From A Horny Toad

New Year, No Fear

Will You Be Trekking for Justice When You’re 91 Like She Is?

Hang on Tight as Your Train Wiggles Through an Autumn Slide Show

Openness cures ills unless government blocks the sunshine

Journalists have ethics? Read all about it!

Heed Robin Williams’ Advice

We Beat Dick Nixon in 1972 When Nobody Else Could

Singers, Fans Win As Railroad Takes On Rocky Mountains