More "rogue" territory! 24 Counties and 5 Municipalities!
If you think we are missing anyone, please let us know.
Cibola County has taken a stand for our Second-Amendment rights! 24 Counties!
Another one! With the addition of Lea County, we are now up to 23!
Do you live in "rogue" territory? In addition to the 22 counties shown below: Bosque Farms, Estancia, Cimarron, Espanola and Springer have declared themselves to be 2A "Sanctuary" Cities!
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| Above, the McKinley County Board of Commissioners yesterday. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Unanimous decision made during a special meetingTo read more, go here.
The crowd filled the third floor meeting room of the McKinley County Courthouse on Wednesday to capacity, pouring out into the lobby and first floor rotunda.
People had gathered to hear a reading of and voice either their support or opposition to a resolution presented to the Board of Commissioners that would preserve the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution and declare McKinley County as a Second Amendment Sanctuary County.
A Second Amendment Sanctuary County has adopted resolutions to not enforce certain gun control measures that are seen as violating the Second Amendment. San Juan, Eddy, Curry, Quay, Socorro and Union counties are among the New Mexico counties that have adopted these sanctuary resolutions.
McKinley County Sheriff Ron Silversmith presented the resolution to the board Feb. 27.
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| Above, Hotel Asia Center of Japan in Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The estimated number of foreign guests at hotels and other types of accommodations in the country hit a record 88.59 million in 2018, the Japan Tourism Agency said Thursday.
The figure surpassed 80 million for the first time as the government steps up efforts to draw foreign visitors for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The pace of increase, however, slowed to 11.2 percent from 14.8 percent the previous year, according to the data.
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| Above, Rep. Xochitl Torres Small. |
Every Sheriff in Congressional District 2, but one, has opposed criminalizing private firearm sales. Nearly every county commission in the district has passed a resolution opposing criminalizing private firearm sales as well. Despite the overwhelming opposition from her district, Congresswoman Xochitl Torres Small voted today for the same gun control her district is fighting against in Santa Fe. This is a betrayal of the values of the district, and exposes her true character as a puppet of Nancy Pelosi.Unfortunately, she won the election with slick campaign ads paid for by outside liberal groups.
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| Above, citizens outside of the Commissioners chambers. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, the McKinley County Board of Commissioners. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Two-thirds of New Mexico Counties have declared themselves to be a "Sanctuary" for the Second-Amendment!
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| Above, interested persons in the Commissioners chambers. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
But if the Democrats passing these new gun control laws want to be upset about [Second Amendment Sanctuary Counties and Cities], they’re going to have to explain why it’s okay for states and cities to defy federal immigration laws for sanctuary cities and states. If you’re going to pick and choose which laws you will or won’t respect, don’t act surprised when someone else does the same thing.
Because Soros grew to prominence on the U.S. political scene when he spent more than $25 million trying to defeat President Bush in the 2004 election, most members of the media think of him as just another liberal billionaire — Tom Steyer or Michael Bloomberg with a different accent. But his views are genuinely shocking to middle America when they hear them.
Soros was flatly opposed to the War on Terror after 9/11 and declared the U.S. response to al Qaeda to be morally equivalent to the terrorist attacks: “We abhor terrorists, because they kill innocent people for political goals. But by waging war on terror we are doing the same thing.”
In 2006, Soros said that “the main obstacle to a stable and just world is the United States.” Not Iran, not Russia, not China, not Islamist terrorist groups, not transnational crime . . . the United States.
In 2010, he declared that China has “a better functioning government than the United States.”
He has generously donated to groups that call on governments the world over to sever or downgrade their diplomatic relations with Israel and calls for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. He’s made several comments that some interpreted as blaming Jews for anti-Semitism, such as, “I don’t think that you can ever overcome anti-Semitism if you behave as a tribe . . . the only way you can overcome it is if you give up the tribalness.”
He wrote in 2007, “I do believe that attitudes toward Israel are influenced by Israel’s policies, and attitudes toward the Jewish community are influenced by the pro-Israel lobby’s success in suppressing divergent views.”
Soros is not a fan of national borders or border enforcement. When criticizing Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban in 2017, Soros said, “[Orban’s] plan treats the protection of national borders as the objective and the refugees as an obstacle. Our plan treats the protection of refugees as the objective and national borders as the obstacle.” In many interviews, Soros has decried nationalism and national identity as a menace.With outsider contributors like Soros and Bloomberg, no wonder Grisham was able to buy so much ad time to air attack smear ads against Steve Pearce last year.
Rio Arriba County stands with their Sheriff against the attacks on our rights! 21 Counties!
Harding County passed their resolution earlier today! This takes us to 20 counties standing up for the rights of their residents!
Sierra County makes it 19 Counties who have declared themselves to be a "Sanctuary" for the Second-Amendment!
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| Above, The Watchman at Zion National Park. Watchman Campground is nearby behind the trees. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Not all campgrounds are created equal. Here’s our definitive guide to the best of the best in America’s national parks.
Even at America’s national parks, where the bar is raised for everything from hiking to views, disappointing campgrounds are more common than one might expect. So what makes a good campground? For some of us, it’s flushing-toilets and RV hookups, while others seek solitude no matter how primitive the facilities. Whatever your preferences, all campers can agree on two things: a good campground should be spacious (no one wants to hear their neighbor snoring) and, of course, scenic. Here are our 25 favorite campgrounds in America’s most spectacular national parks.To read more, go here.
Otero County has voted to become a "Sanctuary County" for the Second-Amendment! This makes it 17 Counties and 3 municipalities who are 2A Sanctuaries, and Curry County who opposes the currently proposed anti-gun legislation.
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| Above, the Colorado River continues to carve the Grand Canyon. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
On Feb. 26, 1919, 37 years after the first bill to establish the Grand Canyon as a national park was introduced, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Grand Canyon National Park Act, bringing the landmark under the protection of the National Park Service, preserving it for future generations.
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| Above, the South Rim's Grand Canyon Village. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, the sink cover/cutting board. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Cooking is not always easy in a small RV kitchen when there is very little counter space to work with. These are some of the simple ways you can get more counter space as needed.
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| Above, the Airbus A380 I flew to Japan in 2015. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
The other week Airbus SE announced the demise of its 380 aircraft, after 13 years in service. Launched with about $4 billion in government developmental aid in 2000, the program was from the start a vanity project, intended to show Americans that Europe could build a commercial aircraft that would be bigger, faster, and better than the Boeing 747, which has been in service for 50 years.
Indeed, the 380 was the largest airplane in the world, a double decker with 550 seats. So large in fact that airports could not accommodate it without modifying their runways and gates. So large that it became harder and harder to fill as passengers decided they’d rather take direct flights to smaller regional airports rather than having to transfer to a connecting flight at one of the major hubs.
And it was so impractically designed that the deficiency of passengers on a flight could not be compensated for by taking on more cargo, as is the case with the 747. This lack of foresight also means that these behemoths cannot be repurposed. They must be sold for scrap.
TUCUMCARI — Back when this Eastern New Mexico town was founded as a tent city in 1901, it was unofficially known as “Ragtown.” Another nickname — “Six Shooter Siding” — later emerged, reportedly because of the large number of gunfights that took place there.
“Six Shooter Siding” would be used by a saloon on Old Route 66. Today, like many old commercial establishments in Tucumcari, Six Shooter Siding is boarded up. And it’s been at least a century or so since the town was renowned for gun violence.
Still, firearms and the right to bear them are important to people in the community.
“It’s a tradition, a way of life,” Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer said in an interview last week.
With that as the backdrop, it wasn’t very surprising earlier this month when the Quay County Commission voted unanimously for a resolution, requested by Shafer, affirming the right of the sheriff “to not enforce any unconstitutional firearms law against any citizen.”
The nonbinding resolution — spurred by controversial gun-control legislation making its way through the Legislature — says the commission “will not authorize or appropriate government funds, resources, employees, agencies, contractors, buildings, detention centers or offices for the purposes of enforcing law that unconstitutionally infringes on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.”
The “Second Amendment sanctuary county” concept, fanned by some sheriffs and spreading to New Mexico county commissions like prairie fire, was borrowed from activists who for several years have convinced some local governments to declare themselves “sanctuary cities” for undocumented immigrants — meaning local law enforcement won’t help federal officers arrest those whose only crime is being in the country illegally.
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| Above, the Desert View Watchtower at the eastern part of the South Rim. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Over the last century the geologic wonder of the Grand Canyon has inspired poets, painters, archaeologists and biologists. This week — on Tuesday, Feb. 26 — the Grand Canyon celebrates its 100 years as a National Park. But long before it became a national park, the Grand Canyon was a place many Native Americans called home.
That's what Carletta Tilousi still calls it.
"Most Americans think Native Americans are gone but we're still here," Tilousi says. Tilousi is a Havasupai council member and grew up in the Grand Canyon.
"This is the home of Native Americans and our stories need to be told," Tilousi says. "I think Havasupai we've been ignored for a long time."
In the late 1800s the federal government sequestered the Havasupai to a side canyon. It wasn't until 1975 that the tribe was given back some of their ancestral land.To read more, go here.
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| Above, the high school and junior high school rodeo in 2018. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
We missed one from last week, but we have confirmed that the Village of Cimarron passed a resolution to declare themselves as a "Sanctuary City" for the Second-Amendment!
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| Above, seat-back screens aboard a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Word at 30,000 feet is that in-flight entertainment systems may be the next casualty of the airline industry. We know. We'll miss the rom-coms too. Blame it on the cost: Ten thousand dollars per seat-back is apparently too much to swing in an era when passengers are increasingly bringing hand-held devices and laptops on board. Travesty? We think so. Well, at least most of us do. Our editors weigh in.
Second-Amendment supporters have made incredible progress so far! Here is a quick map we put together to show our progress.
Green Counties have declared themselves as "Sanctuary Counties" for the Second-Amendment. These counties are San Juan, Sandoval, Catron, Hidalgo, Grant, Socorro, Valencia, Lincoln, Luna, Union, Quay, Roosevelt, Chaves, and Eddy.
Yellow Counties have passed a resolution opposing "universal background checks." Curry County is the only one, they have yet to declare themselves as a "Sanctuary County" for the Second-Amendment.
Green Stars are municipalities that have declared themselves to be "Sanctuary Cities" for the Second-Amendment. The two municipalities so far are Estancia and Bosque Farms.Here's the map:
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| Above, looking back after getting the meter reading. Some other critters walked through. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, the ol' homestead two days ago. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, guests enjoying a show at Tokyo DisneySea's Mediterranean Harbor. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Recommended hotels near Tokyo Disneyland
We’ve listed the following hotels in order of their online ratings as of February, 2019. All ranked above 7/10 when we checked. Prices are a guideline only and may vary according to season, demand and events in the area.
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| Above, inside a Singapore Airlines Airbus A380. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Singapore Airlines insisted Thursday that cameras on its planes' entertainment systems had been disabled after an outcry online from worried passengers who spotted the tiny lenses peering at them.
Travellers took to Twitter and other social media to raise the alarm over the cameras at the bottom of seatback screens on a number of the Singapore flag carrier's newer aircraft.
"Just found this interesting sensor looking at me from the seat back on board of Singapore Airlines. Any expert opinion of whether is a camera?" passenger Vitaly Kamluk tweeted.
His tweet was accompanied by photos of the monitor with the embedded camera.The airline confirmed that there are fixed cameras, but they had been "disabled".
The first shots may have been fired in a war against "The Duke."
A debate is now underway over whether a Southern California airport should bear the name of screen legend John Wayne, who died nearly 40 years ago at age 72. The discussion stems from the recent social-media uproar that followed the resurfacing of a 1971 Playboy interview in which Wayne made remarks that critics described as racist and homophobic.
John Wayne Airport is located in Orange County, where Wayne lived for most of his adult life. The airport, previously named Orange County Airport, has been the subject of debate in the past, but mostly over concerns that the Wayne name fails to convey the airstrip's location in Santa Ana.
The latest calls for changing the name stem from Wayne's remarks, made at age 63, that he believed in “white supremacy,” at least until "irresponsible" black people became more educated, and that Native Americans were “selfishly” trying to keep their land.
But Wayne’s defenders say it’s unfair to judge the actor on comments from nearly 50 years ago when he is no longer alive to respond to the criticism.
“Removing his name from Orange County’s airport now only validates what many Americans are coming to believe: You can’t say anything anymore, darn it, without being discovered and punished by the mob,” Madeline Fry wrote in the Washington Examiner.
Despite their political and social opinion differences, John Wayne and Roscoe Lee Browne shared a love of poetry. They sometimes quoted their favorite verses between takes.Racist?
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| Above, a view of the mesas in the distance from upper Whispering Cedars. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, looking down Whispering Cedars Road. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, Marlo's hogan. It is still not completed, mainly the interior. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
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| Above, the snow on the driveway in front of the garage. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
