Negative gearing, mining, and New Mexico
In go(l)d we trust: a look at negative gearing, what it is, and how it can finance mining projects in Sierra County.
Max Yeh
Sierra County Public-Interest Journalism Project’s board president Max Yeh is a novelist and writes widely on language, interpretation, history, and culture. He has lived in Hillsboro, New Mexico, for more than 30 years after retiring from an academic career in literature, art history and critical theory.
What you need to know, May 22, 2026: Overconsumption of water
We are depleting the Rio Grande Basin faster and faster every year, the groundwater 15 times faster than the river waters, reports the first comprehensive study of consumption in the whole Rio Grande/Bravo Basin system.
ContraAlito: Afterword
In this Afterword I lay out the racial, ethnic, religious and gender groups with which Justice Alito and his fellow Justices identify, and I show how they enact those identities with their decision in "Louisiana v. Callais." I apologize for the length.
ContraAlito IV
This is the last part of my essay on the Supreme Court's decision to forbid states to remap voting districts on the basis of race but allows states to gerrymander for political reasons. The result will be the return of hidden racism.
BLM fast-tracks ‘Green Chile’ pipeline construction review for NM data center Project Jupiter
I republish here (a bit late) an article by Danielle Prokop from Source NM, which is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Danielle Prokop reports on climate crisis on the Rio Grande, water litigation and health impacts from pollution.
ContraAlito III
This is the third part of my analysis of Supreme Court Alito's Louisiana v. Callais ruling. In it I discuss the mostly unacknowledged undertow that pulls his argument together and the way those currents come out of the Court's decades-long destruction of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Senate Bill 16
Semi-open primaries come to New Mexico. It’s historic. But what is it?
ContraAlito II
The second part of my long read of Justice Alito's decision in Louisiana v. Callais is a direct analysis of his argument with attention to his use of two ambiguous words, "discrimination" and "intention," and his construction of a history of cases that lead to his decision.
New Mexico’s bumble bees need your help!
Press Release from the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation: The New Mexico Bumble Bee Atlas Project is looking for volunteers to participate. There will be a hands-on learning session at the Percha Dam State Park on Thursday, May 14, from 9am until noon.
ContraAlito
I begin a four articles long study of the Supreme Court decision on elections in Louisiana v. Callais. The articles are difficult with a lot of information, legal concepts, and linguistic analysis. I hope you will tackle it because voting may not be voting anymore.
From the other side, May 1, 2026: Arthur Sze
From the Other Side was meant to provide views of news events at odds with the prevalent American media view. Today, I am adding another side. This is a posting on poetry, which, as the subject of this article has said, is what can’t be said in words.
More on water
Decisions about water are oddly complex, balancing private and public interests. Understanding hydrology helps resolve some of that complexity. This is an informational piece on groundwater, streams, riparian trees, and us to help make our decisions more reasonable.