Category: Happening In The Desert

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How Is AMREP Corporation Doing?

seekingalpha.com has a article about AMREP titled “Amrep’s Rio Rancho Dream May Turn Out To Be A Desert Mirage“. Everyone who lives in Rio Rancho should know about AMREP (especially if they live in one of their shitty houses). Overall the article indicates that the company’s media business is on the decline and it’s not well understood how much it’s real estate is worth.

It is currently a company that engages mainly in the business of subscription fulfillment services, newsstand distribution services and product packaging and fulfillment services as well as a bit of staffing businesses. We will call these businesses collectively as Media services and they make up pretty much all of the company’s business activities on a regular basis. The second aspect of the stock’s value is its large ownership of land in the city of Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

In the 1960s, AXR purchased the massive plot of land in Rio Rancho and it was mass marketed to people all over the world as a retirement home or an investment property. The 1960s ads marketed them as wonderful investments at a mere $10/month attracted investors worldwide and particularly from New York. AXR then sold thousands of plots to different investors without considering the future development possibilities of Rio Rancho. Thus, Rio Rancho is now left with the legacy of this antiquated platting method where any meaningful area for development has already been developed and most of the land left has been divided in ownership due to AXR’s own past plot sales.

Be sure to check out their website, which is as shitty as their houses.

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Thoughts About GT Advanced Technologies

In November of 2013 azcentral.com reported “Apple to buy vacant Mesa building, bring 2,000 jobs to Valley“

The deal, which was announced by GT in a regulatory filing Monday afternoon, is seen as a coup for Arizona, drawing excitement and praise from Gov. Jan Brewer, Mesa Mayor Scott Smith and a variety of economic-development officials.

Not even a year later the whole thing has fallen apart with GT Advanced Technologies filing for bankruptcy and laying off 727 people from the plant. I can’t help think about those people and how excited they must have been when the plant first opened and how shitty they feel today. I wonder if Tim Cook and the other managers at Apple are also thinking about these people loosing their jobs.

GT called it’s contract with Apple “oppressive and burdensome”. It makes me think that Apple is used to making whatever demands they want of Chinese companies and the Chinese companies get as much slave labor as needed to get done what ever Apple requests. GT was unable to respond like a Chinese company.. This could be bad for American manufacturing. Apple should be making their parts in America, but will they even try to work with another American company? Will another American company want to work with Apple? Will anyone learn anything from this?

I interviewed to work at GT in February of this year. I was not offered a job because I was unable pick up and move to Arizona immediately. I suspect I would have been offered a job as I think I was well qualified. I guess I could say that I was lucky I didn’t get laid off twice in one year. I don’t feel lucky, I just feel bad about the whole situation and everyone that is loosing their job.

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More Non News On The Village At Rio Rancho

Village at Rio Rancho

I’m still waiting for The Village at Rio Rancho to open. According to the Albuquerque Journal “Unser corridor attracting more business, development“, the area is growing with business. But its not clear what is going on with The Village.

The Village at Rio Rancho, proposed for 65 acres across the street from Rust, remains preliminary, according to Geisel.

“We are excited that the developer is starting to make plans for the next steps in the project,” he added.

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Report From The River Of Lights At The Albuquerque Botanical Gardens

I went to the “River of Lights” at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens for this first time this year on opening day, Nov 30th 2013. My Mom was in town otherwise I would not have gone.

I still get confused between the Botanical Gardens/Aquarium and the Zoo. I drove to the Zoo (aka BioPark) thinking thats where the event was held and instead found the park and ride to the Botanical Gardens. I then drove to the Botanical Gardens, saw the crazy traffic getting into the park and drove back to the park and ride at the zoo. We then rode a school bus from the zoo to the event.

Body fluid clean up kit by Greg Smith, on Flickr
Body fluid clean up kit by Greg Smith, on Flickr

We arrived at the Botanical Garends near opening and there was a long line to get in but it moved fast.

Long but fast moving line to get into the River of Lights by Greg Smith, on Flickr
Long but fast moving line to get into the River of Lights by Greg Smith, on Flickr

Even with all the displays being (I assume) LED rope lights, I have to wonder how much power the displays consume.

Extension cords to power the lighting displays. by Greg Smith, on Flickr
Extension cords to power the lighting displays. by Greg Smith, on Flickr

In the center of the park there were some carolers singing in a covered area surrounded a large open area. It was dark and leaves covering the ground everywhere. There was some sort of short metal garden barrier near the carolers that my Mom and I tripped over. I informed an “official” with the park that someone is going to trip and break their leg on it.

Carolers singing in the center of the park by Greg Smith, on Flickr
Carolers singing in the center of the park by Greg Smith, on Flickr

Overall there were lots of people, there were lots of we made light display, it was cold. There were expensive alcoholic beverages to be had. My mom compared it favorably to the Phoenix Zoo ZooLights although she thought Albuquerque’s attempt was smaller and more expensive.

Lights all over the River of Lights by Greg Smith, on Flickr
Lights all over the River of Lights by Greg Smith, on Flickr
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More New Mexico Anal Probing In The News

This time it took place in El Paso, which technically no longer is part of New Mexico. It is the same situation as before. Law enforcement will stop at nothing to find those drugs. From KOB “NM woman comes forward with illegal probing claims“.

It may be hard to believe that this could happen to yet another New Mexican. KOB’s 4 On Your Side team found a woman who claims she was violated by federal agents and doctors.
Laura Schaur Ives, Legal Director for the New Mexico Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, is representing the woman.
Schaur Ives said the woman doesn’t wish to be identified because she considers herself to be a victim of sexual assault. Schaur Ives said the woman crossed the border at a Port of Entry from Juarez, Mexico into El Paso.
A dog alerted to the woman, and Schaur Ives said federal agents stripped searched her at the facility, asked her to undress, to spread her genitalia and to cough. Female agents also allegedly pressed their fingers into her vagina looking for drugs.
The woman claims they didn’t discover anything during the on-site strip search, so they took her to University Medical Center of El Paso.
“First, medical staff observed her making a bowl movement and no drugs were found at that point,” Schaur Ives said. “They then took an X-ray, but it did not reveal any contraband. They then did a cavity search and they probed her vagina and her anus, they described in the medical records as bi-manual–two handed. Finally, they did a cat scan. Again, they found nothing.”

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New Mexico Police Anal Probe In The News

Deming police are showing how important it is to find those drugs. From KOB “4 On Your Side investigates traffic stop nightmare“

While there, Eckert was subjected to repeated and humiliating forced medical procedures. A review of Eckert’s medical records, which he released to KOB, and details in the lawsuit show the following happened:
1. Eckert’s abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.
2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.
4. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
5. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
6. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.
7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.
8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert’s anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.
Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.
“If the officers in Hidalgo County and the City of Deming are seeking warrants for anal cavity searches based on how they’re standing and the warrant allows doctors at the Gila Hospital of Horrors to go in and do enemas and colonoscopies without consent, then anyone can be seized and that’s why the public needs to know about this,” Kennedy said.

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The Wright Amendment

Former Mayor of Albuquerque Jim Baca on his blog Only In New Mexico posts “Somebody Do Something“.

Mayor Berry and Governor Martinez. There is a new giant economic time bomb ticking for the Duke City and it will go off in one year. Next October a federal law known as the Wright amendment will sunset. This is the law that required Southwest Airlines to land their aircraft in bordering states before continuing on to any other destination. This amendment was a deal worked out decades ago to make sure that the new Dallas-Fort Worth Airport would be able to pay off their bonds by trying to force airlines to use its facilities. The amendment said any airline that flew out of the old Dallas Love field had to land in a neighboring state. Southwest stayed at Love Field. So Albuquerque became a major stop for all Southwest flights. Ever wonder why there were so many flights from here to Las Vegas? Because all flights out of Dallas Love had to stop here first.

More on the Wright Amendment from Wikipedia.

The Wright Amendment of 1979 is a federal law governing traffic at Dallas Love Field, an airport in Dallas, Texas, USA, with some provisions also applying to other airfields in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex including Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, Fort Worth Alliance Airport and Addison Airport. It originally limited most non-stop flights to destinations within Texas and neighboring states. Additional states were added to the permissible area in 1997 and 2005. In 2006, the amendment was repealed but left some restrictions intact until October 16, 2014 but with an added restriction on the number of gates allowed.

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The Albuquerque McDonalds Hot Coffee Lawsuit Revisited

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The New York Times Video “Scalded by Coffee, Then News Media” looks at how the facts were misrepresented in the 1994 “Liebeck v. McDonald’s Restaurants” lawsuit.

In 1992, Stella Liebeck spilled scalding McDonald’s coffee in her lap and later sued the company, attracting a flood of negative attention. It turns out there was more to the story.

The McDonalds restaurant is still at 5001 Gibson Boulevard S.E, Albuquerque, NM.

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Anthony Bourdain In New Mexico

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Anthony Bourdain will be airing an episode of Part’s Unknown in New Mexico on Sunday September 29th at 7pm Mountian Time.

“Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown” takes a close look at the mash-up of cultures that comprise this uniquely American state. Tony and crew sample New Mexico’s food — a combination of Spanish, Mediterranean, Mexican, Pueblo and even chuck-wagon influences. New Mexico is also a land of drugs, guns, monster vehicles, and possibly extraterrestrials. It may also be the perfect place to investigate the underside of the Western cowboy ideal.

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Relive the Levi Chavez Murder Case On NBC's Dateline

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IF you want to relive the Levi Chavez murder trial or, like me ignored it when it was going on you can watch NBC’s Dateline program ‘The Officer’s Wife‘.

A police officer’s wife is found shot to death in bed. Authorities wonder if the 26-year-old took her own life or if someone else is to blame. Josh Mankiewicz reports.

What did I learn from this show? Tera Chavez’s family didn’t believe Tera could commit suicide. Levi’s family didn’t believe Levi could commit murder. You can’t believe people emotionally tied to the situation.

Also Levi Chavez is a dirtbag. I’m not convinced either way that he murdered his wife.