Out And About

We were up in Santa Fe yesterday to meet with a friend who's been involved with IAIA (Institute of American Indian Arts) from the beginning (and who has so much to teach us youngsters!) and to attend an evening dress rehearsal for "When the Stars Trembled in Rio Puerco" (we are partial funders for the production.)

Meanwhile in Albuquerque, things to do with the several murderous rampages of the APD and the various Justice Department investigations thereof seem to have come some kind of a head.

There was a well-attended candlelight vigil at the spot where James Boyd was gunned down in the Sandia Foothills, despite the hysterics of the local media and fire department because of the winds and the dry conditions which might have been a valid concern if people were setting fires rather than carrying protected-flame candles at a vigil for a man who was cruelly gunned down by a seriously out of control death squad whose kill-instinct was on hyper-drive. After such a long stand off, they simply had to act, right? Right?

Of course the shooting by US Marshals in the South Valley the previous morning (or was it yesterday morning, one loses track) was one of those "split second" things that you hear about all the time, no standoff, merely a matter of a refusal to immediately surrender -- to apparently unbadged agents who didn't identify themselves, but who merely pointed weapons and demanded instant compliance, and when it wasn't immediately forthcoming, started firing, striking the suspect in the head. He wasn't killed, though, so there's that.

The mayor came out at a press conference yesterday at which he announced some reforms of the APD (long overdue) and requested that the DoJ be forthcoming regarding its years-in-the-making report on APD's behavior and culture. He's apparently been informed through backchannels that the APD will be assigned a federal reform/compliance monitor, and he wants to know -- now -- just what will be required by the Feds and at what cost.

[Trouble doing links today, will try to fill in later...]