Santa Fe Reporter, January 3, 2024

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JANUARY 3-9, 2024 | Volume 51, Issue 1

NEWS OPINION 5 NEWS 7 DAYS, CLAYTOONZ AND THIS MODERN WORLD 6

Experienced, local professionals

NUCLEAR OPTION 8 A resolution to oppose pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory heads back to the drawing board COVER STORY 10 PROJECT CENSORED Corporate abuse and environmental harm dominate Top 10 as our economics and our species’ survival are deeply at odds

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THE CALENDAR 18 It’s that weird time of the year where everyone is feeling kind of slowed down, but there are plenty of events out there if you know where to look

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3 QUESTIONS 22 With Santa Fe High School Orchestra Director Gabe Tafoya

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THE FORK, DEC. 20:

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NOT A FAN What Dr. Field Goods did to Santa Fe Bar & Grill is an absolute travesty. The carpet alone would make me lose my appetite.

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ONLINE, DEC. 19:

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READ IT ON SFREPORTER.COM NEW YEAR, NEW COUNCIL

SFR stopped by the inauguration ceremony for the 2024 City Council.

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A resolution to oppose pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory heads back to the drawing board

COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Nuclear Option

NEWS

B Y E VA N C H A N D L E R e v a n @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

A

city councilor who promised to take a stand against increased plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory will withdraw her proposed resolution for redrafting.

Following petitions at several recent City Council meetings, last month District 4 Councilor Jamie Cassutt and District 1 Councilor Renee Villarreal introduced a resolution calling on the federal government to halt preparations for pit production; prioritize cleanup of legacy nuclear waste; and decrease spending for nuclear weapons.

With Villarreal no longer on the council, Cassutt remained as the sole sponsor. But facing pushback from LANL backers and a lack of buy-in from Mayor Alan Webber, she says she will stall the proposal before its first scheduled committee hearing this week.

Instead, Cassutt tells SFR she plans to embark on a new round of meetings. Villarreal, who did not run for re-election, had a greater role in the original language and had more experience with the topic, Cassutt says. In addition, Cassutt says she heard from several constituents who worried the proposed resolution did not adequately acknowledge positive economic impacts of LANL. “I want to make sure that I have a strong understanding of what those issues are, 8

Workers with EM Los Alamos Field Office cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT Los Alamos use a new processing line to process and repackage drums of low-level nuclear waste for disposal offsite at Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Technical Area 54.

what the history is…what has been remediated, what hasn’t,” Cassutt says. “Obviously, the economic development impact of LANL for our community and for Northern New Mexico is huge. I think what’s really important for me is that I am not of the mindset of ‘LANL is this awful, terrible, evil organization.’ They do a lot of wonderful work. They have a lot of employees that are wonderful members of our community, and so for me just really…having a better picture of it all is important for me before I’m able to carry legislation.”

Cassutt says she plans to formally announce the withdrawal at the Jan. 3 Quality of Life Committee meeting.

The City Council has adopted two former resolutions objecting to pit production—one in 2006 and another in 2008. In addition, nine other nonbinding resolutions related to LANL waste, nuclear weapons and other related issues are on the books.

However, Webber tells SFR he would not vote for the resolution as currently drafted.

Cassutt’s proposal on the topic, Webber says, lacks key components such as calls for nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament conversations, as well as discussion of compensation for downwinders.

“I would like to see it get more work. I’d like to have more dialogue and more points added that I think make it a more complete

JANUARY JANUARY3-9, 3-9,2024 2024 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

comment,” Webber says. “If we’re going to offer our insights and opinions and values with regard to nuclear weapons and the impact of LANL and the federal government in our community, we really have to look at it in a comprehensive way.”

Webber says he will talk with groups in favor of the resolution and hopes to meet soon with officials at LANL. “We are in a very dangerous time in the world…so there’s a lot of questions about what’s going on in the world with our safety and our security, and LANL is an important player in that conversation,” he says. “There are something like more than 3,000 people, I believe, [who] live in Santa Fe who work at LANL in some capacity. Not all of it has to do with nuclear weapons, much of it doesn’t, and I would not want them to believe that in any way they’re not welcomed in Santa Fe or not appreciated in Santa Fe as members of our community. So I think we need to respect that factor.”

Los Alamos Study Group Executive Director Greg Mello tells SFR his organization will continue to advocate for the City Council to declare a position against increased weapons production at the lab.

He describes the federal government’s plans as a way to continue “an arms race” between the United States and Russia

SFREPORTER.COM/NEWS

and China—one in which the US seeks to increase pit production in order to have the capacity to take on both countries at the same time in nuclear war. An October 2023 report from the Congressional Commission of the Strategic Posture of the United States outlines the “nuclear force modernization” strategy.

Mello says he’s disappointed the Santa Fe City Council won’t vote on a resolution soon, adding the facility is currently not in the right condition to produce pits safely, which poses increased risk to the environment and surrounding communities.

“The problem with Los Alamos is that the facility is old. It’s small, it has maybe a dozen existing missions that compete for space. The facility is not expected to last forever, and it can’t make enough pits to support the US stockpile,” Mello says. “Los Alamos has failed at this before, in part because people didn’t want it here. And we were able to convince people in Washington that it wasn’t a good idea, and we are working on getting the word out about this.”

For its part, LANL says regardless of whether Santa Fe passes a resolution, its goals remain the same.

“We value our growing presence in Santa Fe and because more than 3,500 of our employees and their families live in the city and county, they clearly value this community as well,” lab spokesman Steven Horak tells SFR via an email statement. “As we have said in the past, the laboratory will not be doing high hazard work outside of Los Alamos. It is our goal to continue to execute our mission requirements as outlined by both the administration and Congress. We will continue to prioritize the safety of our workforce and the public.”

Villarreal tells SFR she hopes the council will still adopt a resolution tackling legacy waste from the Manhattan Project era that remains in contaminated soil.

In June 2016, the Department of Energy and the New Mexico Environment Department entered into a consent order to deal with the cleanup of the hazardous waste. The DOE released a timeline later that year that predicted the project’s completion by 2040. The Government Office of Accountability issued a report last year reporting the department’s contractor has missed deadlines and failed to take a “comprehensive approach” to the cleanup.

“I think if the governing body is paying attention,” Villarreal says, “we would be concerned about what’s happening in our neighboring community at LANL.” District 1 Councilor Alma Castro, who now fills the seat Villarreal formerly occupied, tells SFR she plans to work with Cassutt to revise the proposal.

First Friday Friday, December 1, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Georgia O’Keeffe Museum | 217 Johnson Street Happy Birthday, New Mexico!

Celebrate early with a special performance from Mariachi Differencia at the Museum.

Admission is free from 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM. 505-946-1000 | gokm.org Maria Chabot. Georgia O’Keeffe Hitching a Ride to Abiquiu with Maurice Grosser, 1944. Gelatin silver print. Maria Chabot Archive.

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. Gift of Maria Chabot. © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum. [RC.2001.2.140e]

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Corporate abuse and environmental harm dominate Top 10 as our economics and our species’ survival are deeply at odds B Y PA U L R O S E N B E R G Random Length News

“

W

e have made the planet inhospitable to human life.” That’s what the lead researcher in Project Censored’s number one story this year said. He wasn’t talking about the climate catastrophe. He was talking about so-called “forever chemicals,” per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), linked to prostate, kidney and testicular cancer and additional health risks. Plus, the study he led found unsafe levels in rainwater worldwide.

Even though this story received some corporate media attention—in USA Today and the Discovery Channel—the starkly shocking bottom line clearly didn’t come through to the general public. Have you heard it before? Has it been the subject of any conversation you’ve had? No? Well, that, my friend, is the very essence of what Project Censored’s signature “top ten” list is all about: exposing the suppression (active or passive) of vitally important information from the public, which renders the public unable to act in the way that a healthy democratic public is supposed to. They’ve been doing it since Carl Jensen began it with a single college class in 1976, inspired in part by the way the Watergate story got this same sort of treatment until well after the election cycle it was part of.

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But there’s a second story intertwined with the “forever chemicals” pervasive presence: the revelation that companies responsible for them have known about their dangers for decades, but kept those dangers hidden—just like fossil fuel companies and climate catastrophe. The intersection of environmental/public health and corporate criminality is typical of how certain long-standing patterns of censored news weave together across the years, even decades, and how the spotlight Project Censored shines on them helps to make sense of much more than the individual stories it highlights, as vitally important as they are in themselves.

In the introduction to the larger 25-story list in their annual book, The State of the Free Press, Andy Lee Roth and Steve Macek describe these patterns. But in addition, they say, it’s important to see the “list as the latest installment in an ongoing effort to identify systemic gaps in so-called ‘mainstream’ (i.e., corporate) news coverage.” They go on to say, “Examining public issues that independent journalists and outlets have reported but which fall outside the scope of corporate news coverage makes it possible to document in specific detail how corporate news media leave the public in the dark by marginalizing or blockading crucial issues, limiting political debate, and promoting corporate views and interests.”

On the one hand, all that is as true as it’s ever been. But on the other hand, the two-story themes in the number one story—environmental harm and corporate abuse—so dominate the top ten story list that they send another message as well, a message about the fundamental mismatch between our needs as a species living on a finite planet and a rapacious economic system conceived in ignorance of that fact. The climate catastrophe is just the most extreme symptom of this mismatch—but it’s far from the only one. Corporate abuse figures into every story in the list—though sometimes deep in the background, as with their decades-long efforts to destroy unions in story number six. Environmental harms “only” show up in seven of the 10 stories.

writes, “researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, published a study in the Annals of Global Health using internal industry documents to show that the companies responsible for ‘forever chemicals’ have known for decades that these substances pose significant threats to human health and the environment.”

There’s been limited corporate media coverage that rainwater isn’t safe to drink—specifically from USA Today, the Discovery Channel and Medical News Today. But the general public clearly hasn’t heard the news. However, there’s been more coverage of the series of lawsuits developing in response to PFAS. But the big-picture story surrounding them remains shockingly missing.

“Forever chemicals” in rainwater a global threat to human health

Rainwater is “no longer safe to drink anywhere on Earth,” Morgan McFall-Johnsen reported in Insider in August 2022, summing up the results of a global study of so-called “forever chemicals,” polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Researchers from Stockholm University and the Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics at ETH Zurich concluded that “in many areas inhabited by humans,” PFAS contamination levels in rainwater, surface water and soil “often greatly exceed” the strictest international guidelines for acceptable levels of perfluoroalkyl acids.

They’re called “forever chemicals” because they take so long to break down, “allowing them to build up in people, animals, and environments,” Insider reported.

Project Censored notes, “Prior research has linked these chemicals to prostate, kidney, and testicular cancer and additional health risks, including developmental delays in children, decreased fertility in women and men, reduced vaccine efficacy, and high cholesterol.”

“PFAS were now ‘so persistent’ and ubiquitous that they will never disappear from the planet,” Lead researcher Ian Cousins told Agence France-Presse. “We have made the planet inhospitable to human life by irreversibly contaminating it now so that nothing is clean anymore. And to the point that it’s not clean enough to be safe,” he said, adding that “We have crossed a planetary boundary,” a paradigm for evaluating Earth’s capacity to absorb harmful impacts of human activity.

The “good news” is that PFAS levels aren’t increasing in the environment.

“What’s changed is the guidelines,” he said. “They’ve gone down millions of times since the early 2000s, because we’ve learned more about the toxicity of these substances.”

All the more reason the second strand of this story is important: “The same month,” Project Censored

Hiring of former CIA employees and exIsraeli agents “blurs line” between Big Tech and Big Brother

“Google—one of the largest and most influential organizations in the modern world—is filled with ex-CIA agents,” Alan MacLeod reported for MintPress News in July 2022. “An inordinate number of these recruits work in highly politically sensitive fields, wielding considerable control over how its products work and what the world sees on its screens and in its search results.”

“Chief amongst these is the trust and safety department, whose staff, in the words of the Google trust and safety vice president Kristie Canegallo, ‘[d]ecide what content is allowed on our platform’—in other words, setting the rules of the internet, determining what billions see and what they do not see.”

And more broadly, “a former CIA employee is working in almost every department at Google,” Project Censored noted.

“The problem with former CIA agents becoming the arbiters of what is true and what is false and what should be promoted and what should be deleted is that they cut their teeth at a notorious organization whose job

A May 2022 review found no major newspaper coverage of Big Tech companies hiring former US or Israeli intelligence officers as employees.

it was to inject lies and false information into the public discourse to further the goals of the national security state,” MacLeod wrote, citing the 1983 testimony of former CIA task force head John Stockwell, author of In Search of Enemies, in which he described the dissemination of propaganda as a “major function” of the agency.

“I had propagandists all over the world,” Stockwell wrote, adding: “We pumped dozens of stories about Cuban atrocities, Cuban rapists [to the media]…We ran [faked] photographs that made almost every newspaper in the country…We didn’t know of one single atrocity committed by the Cubans. It was pure, raw, false propaganda to create an illusion of communists eating babies for breakfast.”

“None of this means that all or even any of the individuals are moles—or even anything but model employees today,” MacLeod noted later. But the sheer number of them “certainly causes concern.”

Reinforcing that concern is big tech’s history. “As journalist Nafeez Ahmed’s investigation found, the CIA and the NSA were bankrolling Stanford Ph.D. student Sergey Brin’s research—work that would later produce Google,” MacLeod wrote. “Not only that but, in Ahmed’s words, ‘senior U.S. intelligence representatives, including a CIA official, oversaw the evolution of Google in this pre-launch phase, all the way until the company was ready to be officially founded.’”

This fits neatly within the larger framework of Silicon Valley’s origin as a supplier of defense department technology.

“A May 2022 review found no major newspaper coverage of Big Tech companies hiring former US or Israeli intelligence officers as employees,” Project Censored noted. “The most prominent US newspapers have not covered Google, Meta, Microsoft, and other Big Tech companies hiring former US and Israeli intelligence officers.” Individual cases may make the news. But the overall systemic pattern remains a story censored by mainstream silence.

Toxic chemicals continue to go unregulated in the United States

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of chemical industry influence and acquiescence by the Environmental Protection Agency over a period of decades, according to reporters Neil Bedi, Sharon Lerner and Kathleen McGrory. A headline example: asbestos, one of the most widely-recognized toxic substances, is still legal in the US, more than 30 years after the EPA tried to have it banned.

“Through interviews with environmental experts and analysis of a half century’s worth of legislation, lawsuits, EPA documents, oral histories, chemical databases, and regulatory records, ProPublica uncovered the longstanding institutional failure to protect Americans from toxic chemicals,” Project Censored reported. ProPublica identified five main reasons for failure: • The Chemical Industry Helped Write the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). A top EPA official “joked the law was ‘written by industry’ and should have been named after the DuPont executive who went over the text line by line,” ProPublica reported. The law “allowed more than 60,000 chemicals to stay on the market without a review of their health risks” and required the EPA to always choose the “least burdensome” regulations.“

“The EPA would then have about three years to assess the chemicals and another two years to finalize regulations on them.” But six years later, the agency is behind on all such rules. So far, it has only proposed one ban, on asbestos, and the agency told ProPublica it would still be almost a year before that is finalized.

“Meanwhile, the EU has authored a new plan to regulate chemicals even faster by targeting large groups of dangerous substances,” which “would lead to bans of another 5,000 chemicals by 2030.”

• The EPA Employs Industry-Friendly Scientists as Regulators. “The EPA has a long history of hiring scientists and top officials from the companies they are supposed to regulate, allowing industry to sway the agency’s science from the inside,” ProPublica wrote.

“A handful of corporate outlets have reported on the EPA’s slowness to regulate certain toxic chemicals,” Project Censored noted, citing stories in the Washington Post and the New York Times. “However, none have highlighted the systemic failures wrought by the EPA and the chemical industry.”

• Following Early Failures, the EPA Lost Its Resolve.

In 1989, after 10 years of work, the EPA was banning asbestos. But companies that used asbestos sued and won in 1991. However, “the judge did provide a road map for future bans, which would require the agency to do an analysis of other regulatory options” but rather than follow through, the EPA simply gave up.

• Chemicals Are Considered Innocent Until Proven Guilty. For decades, the U.S. and EU used a “riskbased” approach to regulation, requiring the government to prove a chemical poses unreasonable health risks before restricting it—which can take years. In 2007, the EU switched to a “hazard-based” approach, putting the burden on companies when there’s evidence of significant harm.

• The EPA Mostly Regulates Chemicals One by One. In 2016, a new law amended the TSCA to cut the “least burdensome” language, and created a schedule “where a small list of high-priority chemicals would be reviewed every few years; in 2016, the first 10 were selected, including asbestos,” ProPublica reported.

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Stalkerware could be used to incriminate people violating abortion bans

Stalkerware—consisting of up to 200 surveillance apps and services that provide secret access to people’s phones for a monthly fee—“could become a significant

legal threat to people seeking abortions, according to a pair of articles published in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion,” Project Censored reports.

“Abortion medication is safe. But now that Roe is overturned, your data isn’t,” Rae Hodge wrote for the tech news site CNET just two days after the Dobbs decision. “Already, the digital trails of abortion seekers can become criminal evidence against them in some states where abortion[s] were previously prosecuted.

And the legal dangers may extend to abortion seekers in even more states.” The next month, writing for Slate, University of Virginia law professor Danielle Keats Citron warned that “surveillance accomplished by individual privacy invaders will be a gold mine for prosecutors targeting both medical workers and pregnant people seeking abortions.”

Invaders only need a few minutes to access phones and passwords. “Once installed, cyberstalking apps silently record and upload phones’ activities to their servers,” Citron explained. “They enable privacy invaders to see our photos, videos, texts, calls, voice mails, searches, social media activities, locations—nothing is out of reach. From anywhere, individuals can activate a phone’s mic to listen to conversations within 15 feet of the phone,” even “conversations that pregnant people have with their health care providers—nurses, doctors, and insurance company employees,” she warned. As a result, Hodge cautioned, “Those who aid abortion seekers could be charged as accomplices in some cases,” under some state laws.

In addition, Hodge explained, “third-party data brokers sell sensitive geolocation data—culled through a vast web of personal tracking tech found in apps, browsers, and devices—to law enforcement without oversight.”

And “abortion bounty hunter” provisions adopted by states like Texas and Oklahoma, add a financial incentive. “Given the inexpensive cost of readily available stores of personal data and how easily they can be de-anonymized, savvy informants could use the information to identify abortion seekers and turn a profit,” she noted.

“Until federal regulations and legislation establish a set of digital privacy laws, abortion seekers are caught in the position of having to create their own patchwork of digital defenses, from often complicated and expen-

Project Censored sive privacy tools,” Hodge warned. While the bipartisan American Data Privacy and Protection Act is still “slowly inching through Congress” it “is widely thought toothless,” she wrote.

The Joe Biden administration has proposed a new rule protecting “certain health data from being used to prosecute both clinicians and patients,” STAT reported in May 2023, but the current draft only applies “in states where abortion is legal.”

“Corporate news outlets have paid some attention to the use of digital data in abortion-related prosecutions,” Project Censored reports. While there have been stories about post-Roe digital privacy, “none have focused specifically on how stalkerware could potentially be used in criminal investigations of suspected abortions.”

Certified rainforest carbon offsets mostly “worthless”

“The forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading certifier and used by Disney, Shell, Gucci, and other big corporations are largely worthless and could make global heating worse, according to a new investigation,” The Guardian reported on Jan. 23, as part of joint nine month reporting project with SourceMaterial, and Die Zeit. “The analysis raises questions over the credits bought by a number of internationally renowned companies—some of them have labeled their products ‘carbon neutral’, or have told their consumers they can fly, buy new clothes or eat certain foods without making the climate crisis worse.”

“About 90% of rainforest carbon offsets certified by Verra, the world’s largest offset certifier, do not reflect real reductions in emissions,” Project Censored summed up. While “Verra claimed to have certified 94.9 million credits” the actual benefits “amounted to a much more modest 5.5 million credits.” This was based on an analysis of “the only three scientific studies to use robust, scientifically sound methods to assess the impact of carbon offsets on deforestation,” Project Censored explained.

“The journalists also consulted with indigenous communities, industry insiders, and scientists.”

“The studies used different methods and time periods, looked at different ranges of projects, and the researchers said no modeling approach is ever perfect,” The Guardian wrote. “However, the data showed broad agreement on the lack of effectiveness of the projects compared with the Verra-approved predictions.”

The investigation of 29 Verra rainforest offset projects revealed 21 had no climate benefit, seven had significantly less climate benefit than claimed (by margins of 52 to 98% less benefit than claimed), while one project

yielded 80% more climate benefit than claimed. Another study conducted by a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge found that in 32 of the 40 forest offset projects investigated, the claims concerning forest protection and emission reductions were overstated by an average of 400%.

“Rainforest protection credits are the most common type on the market at the moment. And it’s exploding, so these findings really matter,” said Barbara Haya, director of the Berkeley Carbon Trading Project, who has researched carbon credits for 20 years. “But these problems are not just limited to this credit type. These problems exist with nearly every kind of credit,” she told The Guardian. “We need an alternative process. The offset market is broken.”

Union victories are being driven by workers of color

Unions won more than 70% of their certification elections in 2022, according to reporting by NPR and The Conversation, and workers of color were largely responsible for union growth, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute reported by Payday Report and The New Republic.

“The entire increase in unionization in 2022 was among workers of color—workers of color saw an increase of 231,000, while white workers saw a decrease of 31,000,” EPI wrote in a February 2023 press release.

EPI also noted that “Survey data show that nearly half of nonunion workers (48%) would vote to unionize their workplace if they could. That means that more than 60 million workers wanted to join a union, but couldn’t.

The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act provide crucial reforms that would strengthen workers’ rights to form a union and engage in collective bargaining.” It passed the House in 2020 and 2021 but died in the Senate, where it needed 60 votes to pass because of the filibuster.

Gallup reports 71 % of Americans now support unions, “a level of support not seen since 1965,” Project Censored noted. “Dismantling existing barriers to union organizing and collective bargaining is crucial to generating a more prosperous, equitable economy,” EPI concluded.

More than a quarter of 2022 union elections, 354, were held at Starbucks, Marick Masters explained in his January 2023 article for The Conversation. “Workers at Starbucks prevailed in four out of every five elections.

Workers at Chipotle, Trader Joe’s, and Apple unionized for the first time, while workers at Microsoft and Wells

Fargo also had wins,” Project Censored reported.

Union activity spikes during times of social unrest, Masters reported. Unionization rose from 7.6 to 19.2% from 1934 to 1939, during the Great Depression, and from 20 to 27% between 1941 and 1945, during World War II. “Masters described the current wave of union activity as driven by record levels of economic inequality and continued mobilization of workers in ‘essential industries,’ such as healthcare, food, and public safety, who were thrust into harm’s way during the global pandemic,” Project Censored noted.

“Unionization and labor struggles are direct mechanisms to better accomplish racial and social equality; the ability for people to afford to live happy and dignified lives is inherently tied to their ability to enjoy fundamental social and civil rights within those lives, too,” Prem Thakker noted at the New Republic.

Despite these gains, “the power of organized labor is nowhere close to what it once was,” Project Censored wrote. “As Masters pointed out, more than a third of workers were unionized in the 1950s, whereas only a tenth were in 2021. Before the 1980s, there were typically more than five thousand union elections in any given year, and as recently as 1980, there were two hundred major work stoppages [over 1,000 workers],” compared to just 20 in 2022, which was still 25% above the average over the past 16 years.

Corporate media reported hundreds of articles on union organizing at Starbucks and Amazon and among graduate students, “Yet corporate coverage of current labor organizing often fails to address the outsized role played by workers of color in union growth.” Nor has it placed recent union successes in the historical context of prolonged decline, largely due to private employers’ heavy-handed efforts to undermine organizing campaigns and labor laws that strongly favor employers.

Fossil fuel investors sue governments to block climate regulations

“Litigation terrorism.” That’s what Nobel Prizewinning economist Joseph Stiglitz called the practice of fossil fuel companies and investors suing governments in secretive private tribunals to thwart climate change policies. Litigants claim climate change laws undermine their profits, and thus they must be compensated under what’s known as “investor-state dispute settlement” CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

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[ISDS] legal actions, Rishika Pardikar reported for The Lever in June 2022, following a paper in Science by lead author Kyla Tienhaara the month before. It found that “Global action on climate change could generate upward of $340 billion in legal claims from oil and gas investors,” which, “is more than the total level of public climate finance globally in 2020 ($321 billion).”

A good portion threatens the global south. “The five countries with the greatest potential losses from ISDS are Mozambique ($7–31 billion), Guyana ($5–21 billion), Venezuela ($3–21 billion), Russia ($2–16 billion), and the United Kingdom ($3–14 billion),” Tienhaara reported. What’s more, “If countries decide to also cancel oil and gas projects that are currently under development, this could introduce substantial additional financial losses from ISDS claims.”

“Such [litigation] moves could have a chilling effect on countries’ ability to take climate action because of the fear and uncertainty they cause,” Pardikar noted.

“New Zealand, for example, recently said that it could not join the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, an international consortium of governments working to phase out fossil fuels, because doing so ‘would have run afoul of investor-state settlements,’” Lois Parshley reported for Grist in January 2023.

Project Censored also cited Lea Di Salvatore’s December 2021 report that fossil fuel “investors succeeded in 72% of all cases,” winning an average over $600 million, “almost five times the amount awarded in non-fossil fuel cases.” In addition, secrecy is the rule. “54% of the concluded fossil fuel cases are confidential—while their existence is known, no case-related documents, such as awards or decisions, have been made public.”

Although the tribunals may sound like courts, they aren’t. “Because ISDS systems are written into thousands of different treaties, each with different wording, there’s also no system of precedence,” Parshley wrote.

Conflicts of interest “are viewed as commonplace in international investment arbitration and considered an inherent part of the system,” the Law Review article Parshley references said. What’s more, “Just because arbitrators decide something in one case doesn’t mean that logic has to be applied to another. Proceedings can be kept confidential, and there is no way to appeal a tribunal’s decision,” Parshley noted.

Tienhaara’s paper ended with a section “An Abolitionist Approach,” where she warned, “Reformist approaches would be time-consuming and likely ineffectual, based on the experience of previous efforts.”

Abolitionist examples include “Terminating all bilateral investment treaties” in order to “prevent existing leaseholders from accessing ISDS,” as South Africa and others have done “without any resulting reductions in foreign investment.” Negotiating the “removal of ISDS clauses from trade agreements, as the United States did with Canada in the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement,” is also possible. “Another option is for states to withdraw consent to ISDS in cases involving fossil fuel investments, emulating the approach taken by Singapore and others to remove the threat of ISDS claims from the tobacco industry.”

But abolitionists face two problems: “sunset clauses” that extend treaty protections “for 10 to 20 years for 14

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investments commenced prior to termination,” though they can be nullified, and resistance “from states with powerful fossil fuel lobbies.”

While the Independent also reported on ISDS lawsuits “it only briefly touched on the concern that these lawsuits could prevent climate action,” Project Censored noted. “Beyond this handful of reports, the topic has received little coverage from major news outlets.”

Proximity to oil and gas extraction sites linked to maternal health risks and childhood leukemia

“Two epidemiological studies, from 2021 and 2022, provide new evidence that living near oil and gas extraction sites is hazardous to human health,” Project Censored reports, “especially for pregnant mothers and children, as reported by Nick Cunningham for DeSmog and Tom Perkins for The Guardian.”

Based on 1996–2009 data for more than 2.8 million pregnant women in Texas, researchers from Oregon State University found that “for those pregnant women within one kilometer of drilling there’s about a 5% increase in odds of gestational hypertension, and 26% increase odds of eclampsia,” researcher Mary Willis told DeSmog. “So, it’s this really close range where we are seeing a potential impact right on women’s health.”

Eclampsia is a rare but serious condition where high blood pressure results in seizures during pregnancy.

“Notably, the data in the OSU study predate the widespread development of ‘fracking,’ or hydraulic fracturing, the process of extracting gas and oil from shale beds by injecting fluids at high pressure,” Project Censored pointed out.

The second study, from Yale, did study fracking. It found that “Young children living near fracking wells at birth [less than two kilometers (approximately 1.2 miles)] are up to three times more likely to later develop leukemia,” according to an August 2022 Guardian story. “Hundreds of chemicals linked to cancer and other health issues may be used in the [fracking] process, including heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, benzene and radioactive material,” they explained. The study, based

on 2009-2017 data from Pennsylvania, compared 405 children aged 2 to 7 diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia with an additional 2,080 children, matched on birth year, who didn’t have leukemia.

The findings aligned with others, as DeSmog discussed. “One consistent takeaway from so many health studies related to fracking is that proximity is key,” they reported. “The allowable setback in Pennsylvania, where our study was conducted, is 500 feet,” Yale researcher Cassandra Clark told them. “Our findings … in conjunction with evidence from numerous other studies, suggest that existing setback distances are insufficiently protective of children’s health.”

State and local governments have tried to create health buffer zones, but “The oil industry has consistently fought hard to block setback distance requirements,” DeSmog reported. For example, “In 2018, the oil industry spent upwards of $40 million to defeat a Colorado ballot measure that would have imposed 2,500-foot setback requirements for drillers.” Regulations are so weak that “In Texas, drilling sites can be as close as 45 meters from residences,” Willis told them.

“Last year, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced new proposed rules that would require 3,200foot setbacks on new oil and gas drilling, which would be the strongest in the nation and aligns with the distance where Willis’s studies find the most serious risks for pregnancies,” DeSmog reported. “But those rules would not affect existing wells.”

No major US newspapers appear to have covered either the OSU or the Yale study at the time of Project Censored’s publication, although “Smithsonian magazine, The Hill, and WHYY, an NPR affiliate serving the Philadelphia region, covered the fracking study.”

Deadly decade for environmental activists

At least 1,733 environmental activists were murdered between 2012 and 2021—nearly one every two days—according to the Global Witness study, Decade of Defiance, “killed by hitmen, organized crime groups and their own governments,” Patrick Greenfield reported for The Guardian, “with Brazil, Colombia, the Philippines, Mexico and Honduras the deadliest countries,” with half the attacks taking place in the first three countries, each reporting around 300 killings.

Project Censored “This has been going on for decades,” scientist, activist, and author Vandana Shiva wrote in a foreword to the report.

“The report shows Brazil has been the deadliest country for environmental defenders with 342 lethal attacks reported since 2012 with over 85% of killings within the Brazilian Amazon,” Stuti Mishra reported for the Independent. “Mexico and Honduras witnessed over 100 killings while Guatemala and India saw 80 and 79 respectively, remaining one of the most dangerous countries. The report also reports 12 mass killings, including three in India and four in Mexico.”

“The killing of environmental activists has been concentrated in the Global South,” and “Indigenous land defenders are disproportionately impacted,” Project Censored warned. “The Guardian reported that 39% of those killed were from Indigenous communities, despite that group constituting only 5% of the global population.”

“This is about land inequality, in that defenders are fighting for their land, and in this increasing race to get more land to acquire and exploit resources, the victims are indigenous communities, local communities, whose voices are being suppressed,” the BBC summed up.

“Threats to environmental activists are not limited to killing,” Project Censored noted. “Environmental activists also face beatings, arbitrary arrests and detention, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) brought by companies, sexual violence, and surveillance. A separate April 2022 report from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, as reported by Grist, documented more than 3,800 attacks on human rights defenders—including not only killings and death threats but also beatings, arbitrary arrests and detention, and lawsuits—between January 2015 and March 2021.”

But, “campaigners are hopeful that progress is being made,” the BBC reported, citing the sentencing of a former energy executive to 22 years in prison in Honduras for the murder of world-renowned activist Berta Cáceres in 2016, as well as promising international agreements.

The Escazú agreement, the first environmental and human rights treaty for Latin America and the Caribbean “commits countries to prevent and investigate attacks on environmental defenders,” and went into force in 2021. Mexico has ratified it, but “others including Brazil

and Colombia have not” so far, the BBC said. There are also plans by the European Union to pass laws making companies responsible for human rights abuses in their supply chains.

“These are game-changing decisions that could make a real positive impact for environmental defenders,” Shruti Suresh told the BBC. “We should be optimistic. But it is going to be a difficult and challenging road ahead.”

Corporate profits hit record high as top 0.1% earnings and Wall Street bonuses skyrocket

“Corporate profits in the U.S. surged to an all-time record of $2 trillion in the second quarter of 2022 as companies continued jacking up prices, pushing inflation to a 40-year high to the detriment of workers and consumers,” Jake Johnson reported for Common Dreams in August 2022. “Astronomical corporate profits confirm what corporate executives have been telling us on earning calls over and over again: They’re making a lot of money by charging people more, and they don’t plan on bringing prices down anytime soon,” the Groundwork Collaborative’s chief economist, Rakeen Mabud, said.

This followed Johnson’s reporting in March that the average bonus for Wall Street employees rose an astounding 1,743 percent between 1985 and 2021, accord-

ing to an analysis by Inequality.org of New York State Comptroller data. Then, in December 2022, he reported that “earnings inequality in the United States has risen dramatically over the past four decades and continues to accelerate, with the top 0.1% seeing wage growth of 465% between 1979 and 2021 while the bottom 90% experienced just 29% growth during that same period,” according to research by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). As a result, the average incomes of the top 0.1% rose from 20 times that of the bottom 90% in 1979 to more than 90 times as much in 2021.

“The fossil fuel industry has enjoyed especially lavish profits,” Project Censored notes, citing Jessica Corbett’s July 2022 reporting for Common Dreams that the eight largest oil companies’ profits spiked a whopping 235 percent from the second quarter of 2021 to the second quarter of 2022, for a combined $52 billion profit, according to an analysis by Accountable.US. “Make no mistake; these profits mark a large transfer of wealth from working- and middle-class people to wealthy oil executives and shareholders,” Jordan Schreiber of Accountable.US told Corbett.”While many consumers were feeling the heavy burden of a life necessity suddenly doubling in price, oil executives were keeping prices high to maximize their profits.”

“ExxonMobil profited $17.85 billion; Chevron, $11.62 billion; and Shell, $11.47 billion,” Project Censored notes.

“Notably, in 2021-2022, the oil and gas industry spent more than $200 million lobbying Congress to oppose climate action.”

Coverage of all this was scant. “The establishment media have reported intermittently on record corporate profits, but this coverage has tended to downplay corporate use of inflation as a pretext for hiking prices,” Project Censored sums up, citing examples from Bloomberg, ABC News and New York Times where the role of greedflation was debated. “The Times quoted experts from EPI and Groundwork Collaborative but refused to draw any firm conclusions,” they note.

In addition, “The EPI study on the accelerating incomes of the ultrarich was virtually ignored” while the massive Wall Street bonuses got some coverage, they report: “Reuters ran a story on it, as did the New York Post. CNN Business noted that ‘high bonuses are also good news for Gotham’s tax coffers.’”

It’s your move.

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Performance Santa Fe presents

THE AUNTIES:

Women of the White Shell Water Place A Contemporary Indigenous Storytelling Series Wednesday, January 24 I 7:30 pm Lensic Performing Arts Center Featuring Native American culture bearers Deborah Taffa, Nora Naranjo Morse, and Laura Tohe

illustration: keiko fitzgerald (of tlingit/cree/ojibwe & japanese descent) photo: matthew yake

ALASH ENSEMBLE Friday, January 19 I 7:30 pm St. Francis Auditorium / NMMA

SEASON EXPERIENCE THE EXTRAORDINARY PerformanceSantaFe.org | 505 984 8759

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OOOOH, WITCHY WOMEN We’re on the cusp of a threshold here, people, and it’s wise to stay receptive. That’s exactly the kind of language that might bum out a nay-sayer who isn’t yet ready to embrace their place in the natural universe now; for others, it’s a siren call to a collective consciousness. There, there be witches. At the upcoming Witchy Wednesday event at Midtown boutique hotel and café The Mystic, a veritable coven of knowledgeable, powerful witches descend with the intent to help.

Whether that’s psychic readings from Nina Wilson, palmistry from Eve Ostara or herbal matchmaking with Fauna Gold remains up to guests. Find tarot as well with Stephanie Alia, who uses two custom-designed decks she conceived personally and had illustrated by Barcelona-based artist Daniella Efe. “It can go several different ways,” Alia explains of her readings. “I think of the cards like energies, a path, a potential cheat sheet.”

Open your mind to that, and know that pricing for each service varies. (ADV) Witchy Wednesday: 7 pm Wednesday, Jan. 3. Free (but pay for services, duh). The Mystic, 2810 Cerrillos Road (505) 471-7663

COURTESY WWW.STRATAGALLERYSANTAFE.COM

ART OPENING FRI/5 SELF ON THE SHELF Navigating the concepts of identity and self have grown more complex over time, and that’s actually a good thing. People needn’t be one thing anymore; they needn’t be anything we don’t wish. They do, however, need to self-examine. In a way, that concept underpins Strata Gallery’s ongoing Selfhood exhibit juried by artist Rosemary Meza-DesPlas, a sprawling 30-artist affair that digs into visual representations of self, self-discovery, self-definition and self-direction.

Experience multiple mediums and concepts, ranging from gender politics, personal progression and perspectives and, perhaps above all, a sense of fluidity.

Yes, the show has been open for a minute, but Strata hosts the official reception this week. Check it out.

See what you can learn about yourself. (ADV) Selfhood Reception: 5-7 pm Friday, Jan. 5. Free Strata Gallery, 125 Lincoln Ave., (505) 780-5403

TERRENCE CLIFFORD

MUSIC SAT/6 BATTLE OF THE JAMZ Though music seems more powerful as a tool for bringing people together rather than a force around which to build a competition, it’s hard to argue with the lineup for the first qualifying night of the Santa Fe Brewing 2024 Songwriting Contest. For said event, nine musicians including Lucy Barna, Bricey, Christina Gomez, Jon Yelvertion and more duke it out across two original songs each for a panel of judges. The audience votes for their faves, too, and the winner advances to the next round. The event is free, but attendees pay for ballots (up to three per person.) Is it weird? Kind of, yeah, but these are talented people performing, so who knows—you might get swept up into the flow of things. (ADV) Santa Fe Brewing 2024 Songwriter Contest Qualifier Night 1: 6 pm Saturday, Jan. 6. Ballots $7-$12. The Bridge @Santa Fe Brewing Co., 37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182

S FR EPO RTER .CO M /A RTS / S FR PI CKS COURTESY PIXABAY.COM

COURTESY STEPAHINIE ALIA

EVENT WED/3

EVENT TUE/9

Something Queer This Way Comes Something Queer at the Library event educates and elucidates queer issues in US and beyond—plus, it’s a book club Most young New Mexicans spend their years fantasizing about getting out of the state—and some plan to come back while others fastidiously try to avoid it for fear they’ll stay forever. In the case of local librarian and academic Samuel Buelow, a native of Los Alamos who now calls Santa Fe home, what had been a plan for a brief return turned long-term when he landed a job at the Southside branch of the Santa Fe Public Library.

“My PhD is in cultural anthropology, but I was burned out with that and needed something that would keep me in one place,” he tells SFR. “A position opened up at the library and it turned out to be the dream job I didn’t even realize I was dreaming about.”

Buelow has been with the library since last summer and has already kicked off a series of queer-focused events and gatherings under the banner of a discussion group and book club. Thus far, he says, the group has dug into Carolina De Robertis’ The Gods of Tango and Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt—plus the film Carol based on that book; at the forthcoming Something Queer at the Library, Buelow will delve into time he spent in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan before and during graduate school at Indiana University.

“Central Asia was of interest to me for both personal and professional reasons,” he explains. “A lot of it centered around identity aspects for me—I’m mixed East Asian and Central European and sort of blended in in a way that was really comfortable—and I just knew it was someplace I wanted to spend more time.”

During that time, Buelow worked with LGBTQ+ NGOs on a more personal level to learn the stories and situations of queer folks in both countries. In many cases, queer marginalization is practically universal, according to Buelow, and he’ll present tales of violence and state-sponsored oppression, but also of hope and good work.

“We’ve got a really good core group, too,” he says of those who have attended the events on the second Tuesday of each month. “The positive feedback we’ve received is immense…overwhelmingly positive.”

One needn’t register to attend; simply show up. (Alex De Vore) SOMETHING QUEER AT THE LIBRARY 6-7:30 pm Tuesday, Jan. 9. Free Santa Fe Public Library (Southside) 6588 Jaguar Drive, (505) 955-2820

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COURTESY LEWALLEN GALLERIES

THE CALENDAR

“Vessel I” from Brent Kee Young’s Matrix Series is just one of many glass works in LewAllen Galleries’ ongoing Glassen Wonders exhibit—the largest in the space’s history.

WED/3 DANCE

Want to see your event listed here?

We’d love to hear from you. Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com.

Make sure you include all the pertinent details such as location, time, price and so forth.

It helps us out greatly.

Submission doesn’t guarantee inclusion.

18

POMEGRANATE SEEDS YOUTH MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Pomegranate Studio 535 Cerrillos Road, (505) 501-2142 An after-school program hosted twice per week for young women aged 13-18, founded by dancer Myra Krien. There’s still plenty of time to join this program now that we’re in 2024.

Limited to 25 students.

5-7 pm

EVENTS KIDS SING ALONG: RAILYARD PARK Railyard Park Cerrillos Road and Guadalupe St., (505) 982-3373 Teachers Sarah-Jane and B lead classes through a variety of engaging music games and singalongs for toddlers and babies.

You’re guaranteed to make a crooner of ‘em yet.

10:30-11:15 am

JANUARY JANUARY 3-9, 3-9, 2024 2024 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

ANIMAL MEET & GREET Santa Fe Children’s Museum 1050 Old Pecos Trail., (505) 989-8359 Meet museum pets Cornelius the corn snake, Bisquick the tortoise and Fafnir the lizard.

12:30-1 pm ECSTATIC DANCE Paradiso 903 Early St., (505) 577-5248 Boloomurian and Raven Shea come together to ring in 2024 dance style. These sessions take place all over the country, too, so you’ll be part of something.

7 pm FUN WITH FIREFIGHTERS Santa Fe Children’s Museum 1050 Old Pecos Trail., (505) 989-8359 Join the Santa Fe Fire Department for story time and a tour of the truck.

1-2 pm WITCHY WEDNESDAY The Mystic Santa Fe 2810 Cerrillos Road, (505) 471-7663 Numerous witchy Santa Feans offer up their tarot/psychic/ palmistry/herbology skills. (See SFR Picks, page 17) 7 pm

BOOKS/LECTURES ILLUSIONS OF EMPIRE: THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION IN THE US-MEXICO BORDERLANDS New Mexico History Museum Online Texas A&M University’s William “Billy” Kiser speaks about those vying for power at the border between the United States and Mexico during and following the Civil War. Register at bit.ly/3GDRv8C. Noon-1 pm

MUSIC KIPP BENTLEY Cowgirl 319 S Guadalupe St., (505) 982-2565 Santa Fe singer-songwriter Bentley performs original songs during happy hour.

4-6 pm LILI ST ANNE El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-1931 The songwriter project of Elizabeth Blanco, with art-folk melodies of love and loss.

8-10 pm

RHYME CRAFT AT THE MINE SHAFT The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 A recurring hip-hop show and dance party hosted by O.G. Willikers & DJ 808. You never know who’ll show up.

7 pm

WORKSHOP

ALL THINGS YARN! Santa Fe Public Library- La Farge 1730 Llano St., (505) 955-4862 A fiber-arts social gathering for adults. Supplies and help will be available. Bring your own project or begin a new one.

5:30-7:30 pm YOUTH CHESS CLUB Santa Fe Public Library- Main 145 Washington Ave., (505) 955-6781 School-aged children refine their critical thinking skills through chess, being introduced to new techniques, strategies and tricks.

For youth of all ages who know the basic elements of chess and can play without aid.

5:45-7:45 pm

THU/4 DANCE POMEGRANATE SEEDS YOUTH MENTORSHIP PROGRAM Pomegranate Studio 535 Cerrillos Road, (505) 501-2142 An after-school program hosted twice per week for young women aged 13-18, founded by dancer Myra Krien. There’s still plenty of time to join this program now that we’re in 2024.

Limited to 25 students.

5-7 pm

EVENTS ADULTI-VERSE Meow Wolf 1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369 Less whining, more wine-ing.

Adults 21 and over can browse The House of Eternal Return's mind-bending exhibit to enjoy a not-so-hyper-space without kids inside. Event takes place monthly.

6-10 pm

THE CALENDAR

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PAJAMA STORY TIME AT THE LIBRARY Santa Fe Public Library- Southside 6599 Jaguar Drive, (505) 955-2820 A cozy evening story time that includes a snack and a craft at the Southside Library, for parents and preschool children.

6:30-7:30 pm GEEKS WHO DRINK Social Kitchen & Bar 725 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-5952 Challenging trivia with prizes.

7-9 pm

FOOD SUSHI POP UP WITH BRENT JUNG Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 393-5135 Chef Jung brings fresh sushi to New Mexico and rolls it to order.

5 pm

MUSIC DAVID GEIST EXPERIENCE Osteria D'Assisi 58 S Federal Place, (505) 986-5858 Tony Award winner and pianist/ vocalist Geist performs the best of Broadway, pop and originals!

7-10 pm, $5 HALF BROKE HORSES-TWO STEPPIN' AT TINYS Tiny's Restaurant & Lounge 1005 S St. Francis Drive, (505) 983-9817 Two-steppin' to all your favorite country and rock covers.

7-10 pm MIKE MONTIEL BAND Boxcar 133 W Water St., (505) 988-7222 Start your weekend early every Thursday. Catch the Mike Montiel Band in the Boxcar Café.

7-10 pm WORLDS CLYDE The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 Rock ’n’ roll.

7 pm SONGWRITER'S CIRCLE Queen Bee Music Association 1596 Pacheco St., (505) 278-0012 Song circles are an opportunity to get inspired, workshop your songs and gather feedback from peers.

6:30-8 pm

WORKSHOP ANIMAL WATERCOLORS Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Online (505) 946-1000 Explore various watercolor techniques and animal physiology through shape, color, and line; inspired by Georgia O’Keeffe’s style. Registration required. Suitable for ages 12 and up.

4:30-6:30 pm, $10-30

THURSDAY EVENING BEGINNERS AND INTERMEDIATE WHEEL Paseo Pottery 1273 Calle de Comercio, (505) 988-7687 For beginning through intermediate students to learn all aspects of pottery from greenware to finished glazed pieces.

5:30-8 pm, $70-$430 BASIC SPANISH: CONVERSATION AND CONCEPTS Santa Fe Public Library (La Farge) 1730 Llano St., (505) 955-4862 Activities and drills to let participants practice their Spanish.

Register at tinyurl.com/ JanBasicSpanish.

5:30-7:30 pm

FRI/5 ART OPENINGS B. BROWN: A HANDFUL OF EARTH, A HANDFUL OF SKY (OPENING) Hecho a Mano 129 W Palace Ave., (505) 455-6882 Clay vessels in earthen hues with recurring shapes/patterns.

5-7 pm GLASSEN WONDERS (OPENING) LewAllen Galleries 1613 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 988-3250 An exhibition of more than 60 world-class contemporary glass art pieces by 23 internationally recognized glass artists.

5-7 pm SELFHOOD (RECEPTION) Strata Gallery 125 Lincoln Ave., Suite 105, (505) 780-5403 Artists investigate the multiplicitous nature of selfhood: gender, sexual orientation, race, class, age, ethnicity and so forth. (See SFR Picks, page 17) 5-7 pm

EVENTS FINE ART FRIDAY Santa Fe Children’s Museum 1050 Old Pecos Trail, (505) 989-8359 A weekly exploration into the arts with special guests and hands-on activities for children.

This program partners with the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum.

2-4 pm

FILM KNIGHTRIDERS No Name Cinema 2013 Pinon St. View criminally under-seen non-horror masterpiece Knightriders by director George A. Romero (maybe you’ve heard of Night of the Living Dead?).

The viewing is free (along with the popcorn), but the cinema suggests a $5-$15 donation as courtesy.

7:30 pm

MUSIC ATALAYA STRING QUARTET First Presbyterian Church 208 Grant Ave., (505) 982-8544 Celebrate the work of Shostakovich and Haydn in a lively performance.

5:30 pm LORI OTTINO AND JOE WEST The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 Get your evening started with the sounds of Americana from legends Ottino and West.

5 pm ONE MORE SILVER DOLLAR The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 The music of the Allman Brothers and other Southernfried delights.

8-11 pm TERRY DIERS Boxcar 133 W Water St., (505) 988-7222 Diers brings the blues, rock and funk to Boxcar all the freaking time, so people probably like his tunes there.

6-8 pm STANLIE KEE & STEP IN TRIO Second Street Brewery (Rufina) Taproom 2920 Rufina St., (505) 954-1068 Diné guitarist Kee heads a blistering trio of seasoned electric blues musicians. They’ll be all like, “Bow-wah-wow-wowwang!”

8-9 pm FIORENTINO & KOTT: MONTHLY ELEMENTAL CONCERTS San Miguel Mission 401 Old Santa Fe Trail, (505) 983-3974 Fiorentino and Kott have embarked on a world premier concert series exploring one periodic table element at each concert. This time, it’s flerovium. We’ve never heard of that element, but it’s got a cool name.

6:30 pm

WORKSHOP FIRST FRIDAY: DRAWING IN THE GALLERIES New Mexico Museum of Art 107 W Palace Ave., (505) 476-5063 Staff leads a series of introductory drawing exercises.

Participants are invited to bring their own drawing supplies (pencils only please) but materials will also be made available.

5-7 pm 2024 JOURNAL CRAFTING Santa Fe Public Library- La Farge 1730 Llano St., (505) 955-4862 Adult participants can receive a journal to customize. Journaling tips and prompts will be covered!

2-4 pm

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TUMBLEROOT POTTERY PUB WHERE COCKTAILS MEET CLAY. HOURS & LOCATION OPEN DAILY • 11AM TO 9PM 135 W. PALACE AVE. STE 100 SANTA FE, NM 87501

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THE CALENDAR SCIENCE AFTER SCHOOL Santa Fe Public Library- Southside 6599 Jaguar Drive, (505) 955-2820 Participate in hands-on STEM experiments. This program is for school-aged children.

3:30 pm-4:30 pm MAKE SEAMSTERS MEETUP Make Santa Fe 2879 All Trades Road., (505) 819-3502 In this free meetup, seamsters share their love for sewing, exchange ideas and work on projects.

5-8 pm

SAT/6 ART OPENINGS HEIDI A. VOGEL & GREG COHEN: JANUARY ARTIST RECEPTION Vista Grande Public Library 14 Avenida Torreon, (505) 466-7323 Nature- and animal-focused oil and acrylic paintings to peruse while you’re also perusing books. It’s like a perusal jambaroo over there.

1-3 pm

BOOKS/LECTURES

MUSIC & BEER FREE LIVE SHOWS

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Second Street Brewery STANLIE KEE & STEP IN TRIO 8 PM @ Rufina Taproom WED 1/10 - Wednesday Night Folks - Hello Darlin’ 6-9 PM @ Rufina Taproom FRI 1/12 - LUKE MCMURRAY NUTTING & THE MUSTERED // TROY KRUSZ // 8 PM @ Rufina Taproom SUN 1/14 - Sunday Swing - HALF PINT & THE GROWLERS 1-4 PM @ Rufina Taproom FRI 1/5 -

www.secondstreetbrewery.com 20

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THE REST OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT STORY Santa Fe Public Library (Southside) 6599 Jaguar Drive, (505) 955-2820 Ruth and Bob Howes present the often overlooked role that women played in the creation of the atomic bomb. In your face, Christopher Nolan!

1 pm

EVENTS EL MERCADO DE EL MUSEO El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe 555 Camino de la Familia, (505) 992-0591 An arts and culture market featuring art, jewelry, herbal remedies, textiles, beads, tapestries, books, furniture and more. Maybe you forgot to give a Christmas gift and need to make up for that?

9 am-4 pm CAREGIVER & TOT CREATIVE MOVEMENT Santa Fe Public Library (Main Branch) 145 Washington Ave., (505) 955-6781 This gentle introductory class for children and their caregivers utilizes a curriculum based on child development theories.

10-11 am

MUSIC BOB MAUS Inn & Spa at Loretto 211 Old Santa Fe Trail, (505) 988-5531 Piano and voice takes on blues and soul classics. We’ve heard tell that Maus does a mean Van Morrison.

6-9 pm

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THE MET: LIVE IN HD | NABUCCO Lensic Performing Arts Center 211 W San Francisco St., (505) 988-1234 Ancient Babylon comes to life in a classic Met staging of biblical proportions. George Gagnidze debuts as king Nabucco alongside Liudmyla Monastyrska as Abigaille.

11 am, $15-$28 SANTA FE BREWING SONGWRITER CONTEST 2024 The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing Co. 37 Fire Place, (505) 557-6182 In this year’s contest, songwriters perform original songs for a panel of judges—which includes the audience. (See SFR Picks, page 17).

6 pm HONDO COYOTE DUO The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 Americana.

2 pm RUDY BOY EXPERIENCE The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 Blues, bruh, which you’d know if you paid attention to the ol’ Mine Shaft.

8 pm

WORKSHOP ANIMAL WATERCOLORS Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Online (505) 946-1000 Explore various watercolor techniques and animal physiology through shape, color and line; inspired by O’Keeffe’s style.

Space is limited; registration required via contact@gokm.org.

Suitable for ages 12 and up.

4:30-6:30 pm, $10-30 CALLA LILY WATERCOLORS Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Online (505) 946-1000 Though alphabetically second, this workshop is earlier in the day than the Animal Watercolors, but the deal is the same: Space limited, registration required via contact@gokm. org. For ages 12 and up.

Noon-2:30 pm, $10-30

SUN/7 EVENTS GEEKS WHO DRINK Boxcar 133 W Water St., (505) 988-7222 It's free to play and there are prizes—including bar bucks for the next time you sucker a team of nerds to quiz with you.

7:30 pm WAYWARD COMEDY MONTHLY IMPROV NIGHT Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery 2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 393-5135 A night of quick sketches and improv acting.

5-7 pm

Want to see your event listed here?

We’d love to hear from you Send notices via email to calendar@sfreporter.com.

Make sure you include all the pertinent details such as location, time, price and so forth. It helps us out greatly.

Submission doesn’t guarantee inclusion.

MUSIC SLIM BELLY BLUES The Mine Shaft Tavern 2846 Hwy. 14, Madrid, (505) 473-0743 Bluuuuuuuuuuues, baby.

2 pm BUMPIN' Club Legato 125 E Palace Ave., (505) 988-9232 Jazz meets rock.

6-9 pm OLD-TIME JAM Nuckolls Brewing Co. 1611 Alcaldesa St., Come jam your favorite oldtime fiddle tunes. Led by Eric Carlson, but we’ve also seen Todd Lovato from Todd and the Fox over there, so...

4-6 pm THE WELLSPRINGS El Rey Court 1862 Cerrillos Road, (505) 982-1931 Alex Bergan and Megan Mattix bring forth stories of love's triumphs and tribulations as a married couple with early country and folk influence.

7-9 pm

THEATER KINGDOM: DRAG KING BRUNCH The Mystic Santa Fe 2810 Cerrillos Road, (505) 471-7663 New Mexico Drag Kings partners with the Midtown restaurant/boutique hotel for a new series of drag brunch events. We hear this has almost sold out, just so you know.

11 am, $10-$120

WORKSHOP COSMIC CARTOMANCY CLASS: "THE DARK MOTH" Cake’s Cafe 227 Galisteo St., (505) 303-4880 Learn compelling cartomancy methods. If you didn’t know, cartomancy is kind of like tarot, but utilizes playing cards instead.

2-4 pm

FAMILY ART MAKING New Mexico Museum of Art 107 W Palace Ave., (505) 476-5063 The New Mexico Museum of Art invites families to join a fun art-making session.

10 am-Noon INTRODUCTION TO ZEN MEDITATION Mountain Cloud Zen Center 7241 Old Santa Fe Trail, (505) 303-0036 A free weekly introduction to zen meditation. Everyone is welcome to come for community tea at 9:30 before class.

10-11:15 am MIMOSAS AND A MASTERPIECE! "SNOWY SANTA FE" WITH LAURA & MICKEY Artful Soul 227 Don Gaspar Ave., (505) 398-9448 A three-hour painting party taught by professional artists Mickey Bond and Laura Tarnoff.

Limited to 12 participants.

1-4:30 pm, $81

THE CALENDAR

COURTESY NUART GALLERY

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MON/8 BOOKS/LECTURES IAIA EVENING READING SERIES: CARRIBEAN FRAGOZA, BRIAN EVENSON AND JANET SARBANES FROM CALARTS Institute of American Indian Arts 83 Avan Nu Po Road, (505) 424-2300 The Institute of American Indian Arts program presents three authors from CalArts.

6:30-7:30 pm

WORKSHOP ARTFUL SOUL OPEN STUDIO Artful Soul: Creative Experiences 227 Don Gaspar Ave., (505) 919-8888 Artists of all experience levels get together and make art.

Limited to 12 participants.

5-9 pm, $5 DRAWING ATMOSPHERIC LANDSCAPES WITH GRADUATED TONAL SHADING Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Online (505) 946-1000 Participants can create atmospheric landscapes with spatial depth. Space limited, registration required through contact@ gokm.org. For ages 12 and up.

3-5:30 pm, $10-30

TUE/9 BOOKS/LECTURES IAIA EVENING READING SERIES: KELLI JO FORD, JENNIFER FOERSTER AND DG OKPIK Institute of American Indian Arts 83 Avan Nu Po Road, (505) 424-2300 Acclaimed poets? Big time!

6:30-7:30 pm

Painter Juan Kelly examines the noble horse through new works in his Equinations show at Nuart Gallery, through Jan. 7. Horses are great swimmers, actually.

MUSIC SANTA FE GUITAR ENSEMBLE Santa Fe Public Library- La Farge 1730 Llano St., (505) 955-4862 The Guitar Ensemble welcomes you to share your love of music!

10 am-Noon SLAUGHTER BEACH, DOG AND SUN JUNE Meow Wolf 1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369 Rock and indie-rock.

7 pm, $27

EVENTS YOGA & MEDITATION Santa Fe Public Library- Main 145 Washington Ave., (505) 955-6781 Bring a yoga mat and props.

11:15 am-Noon

WAGS & WORDS Santa Fe Public Library- Main 145 Washington Ave., (505) 955-6781 School-aged children can spend their evening curled up and sharing stories with a well-trained pup who loves to listen from the Santa Fe Animal Shelter’s Pet Outreach Program.

6-7 pm SOMETHING QUEER AT THE LIBRARY Santa Fe Public Library- Southside 6599 Jaguar Drive, (505) 955-2820 Southside librarian and anthropologist Samuel Buelow drops stories from his time working with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups in both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. (See SFR Picks, page 17) 6-7:30 pm

WORKSHOP DROP-IN WATERCOLOR FOR ADULTS Santa Fe Public Library- Southside 6599 Jaguar Drive, (505) 955-2820 Explore watercolor in this selfled painting workshop.

2-3:30 pm

ONGOING ART OPENINGS A SLICE OF PIE Pie Projects 924B Shoofly St., (505) 372-7681 Prints made with natural dyes and abstract acrylic paintings.

Artists include Catherine Eaton Skinner, Dana Hart-Stone, Brian McParlton and Danila Rumold.

AN INNOCENT LOVE: ANIMAL SCULPTURE ARTISTS OF NEW MEXICO Canyon Road Contemporary Art 622 Canyon Road, (505) 983-0433 The cutest little animal sculptures you ever did see by artists Kari Rives and Fran Nicholson. The dog sculptures alone will melt your heart.

ANDRÉ RAMOS-WOODARD: BLACK SNAFU Foto Forum Santa Fe 1714 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 470-2582 Ramos-Woodard depicts realities of his Black experience while exposing and subverting tropes of anti-Blackness embedded in American pop culture, from Disney and beyond and with a dash of humor that stings in just the right ways. Foto Forum? Y’all are nailing it, we see you!

ARON WIESENFELD: PAST LIVES Evoke Contemporary 550 S. Guadalupe St., (505) 995-9902 Tenderly painted portraits of children living their beautiful little lives by the sea. Of course, there’s a soupcon of darkness with which to contend, and a healthy dash of mystery.

BILLIE ZANGEWA: FIELD OF DREAMS SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 989-1199 South African artist Zangewa creates intricate collages composed of hand-stitched raw silk fragments. In these works, Zangewa introduces beveled, antiqued mirrors designed to echo the organic shapes of the silk portrait. We saw them, they’re stunning.

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JANUARY 3-9, 2024

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Group Music Classes Begin January 8

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EN BE UEMUSIC

ASSOCIATION

queenbeemusicassociation.org

With Santa Fe High Orchestra Director Gabe Tafoya MO CHARNOT

Come Together

The New Mexico Music Educators Association is slated to host its 80th Annual All State Honors Concert at the University of New Mexico’s Popejoy Hall later this month (3:30 pm Thursday, Jan. 11. Free; 9 am Saturday, Jan. 13. $7$14. Popejoy Hall, 203 Cornell Drive, Albuquerque, (505) 277-8010), at which it celebrates the talents of hand-picked New Mexico music students from across the state.

This year, Santa Fe High School’s 18-member chamber orchestra was named one of five Honor Ensembles and will perform six pieces at the concert, inlcuding works by Franz Shubert, Yukiko Nishimura, Ayla Asherov, Joshua Reznicow and Gustav Holst, plus a mariachi tune by Quirino Mendoza y Cortés arranged by the school’s orchestra director Gabe Tafoya.

Tafoya, who has led the orchestra for nine years, has a background primarily in guitar, piano and violin (which he puts to use when playing with Mariachi Azteca), and describes Santa Fe High’s selection for the concert as “an incredible honor.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Mo Charnot) How does it feel for your orchestra to be recognized for their work by a statewide organization?

It’s an incredible honor for public school kids to get to perform at Popejoy Hall, because that’s a legitimate, professional venue that even some professional musicians don’t get the opportunity to play at.

I think it’s really exciting that other teachers and students from around the state get to hear what we’re doing. Santa Fe doesn’t always get recognized for having strong music education programs, and I think it’s a great opportunity for us to show what we’re doing.

This is, to my knowledge, the first time any music group from Santa Fe

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Public Schools has been chosen for [the honors concert] and [it] has been going on for a very long time.

It’s kind of crazy too, because I’m still fairly early in my career; this is only my ninth year teaching. The Santa Fe High orchestra program, before I took over, was kind of unstable and had seen a lot of different directors and enrollment was really low. When I took over the program we had about 30 students in the entire program, and now we’re up to about 70.

What improvements within Santa Fe High’s orchestra program are you’re most proud?

The level of musicianship has gone up so much. The music literature is graded: grades 1, 2, 3, 4…Grade 5 is the highest that a high school orchestra is going to go; anything above that is just professional-level repertoire.

When I took over the program, my top group was playing Grade 2 repertoire (primarily for junior highlevel students), and now we’re playing around grades 4.5 and 5. We’re finally competitive with other high school orchestras around here. We’re playing repertoire at the same difficulty level as New Mexico School for the Arts, St. Michael’s and La Cueva in Albuquerque.

Granted, they’re bigger programs, but that we’re able to play repertoire at the same level is something I’m super proud of, because when I took over the program we didn’t have that many really strong players who could handle that level of literature.

More stability in the middle schools has been super helpful. I think we’ve had the most retention in teachers in the middle school programs that feed into Santa Fe High these past few years, and it’s made a huge difference. When I first took over, I would maybe pick up four or five new freshmen every year...now, I’m picking up 15 to 20 new freshmen every year, and a lot of them are sticking with it.

How did you decide on the repertoire for the students’ All State Honors Concert performance?

Usually, when we plan a school concert, we’re doing two or three pieces, because we’ve learned them in only two months, which is a short amount of time. But I had to prepare 30 minutes of music, which is a lot for high school kids who don’t have this kind of experience, so I had to choose about six or seven pieces. I was like, ‘Let’s try to balance moods and stuff I think the kids would like to play.’ I threw a mariachi tune in there that I arranged myself, because I’m a professional mariachi, so I just had to do it.

breathe YOGA

MOVEMENT

MINDFULNESS

Intro to Yoga with Sara Easterson-Bond Meditation 101 with Cyndi Lee Yin, Unwindings & Flow Classes with Melissa Spamer

Breathe Move Chant Class with Linda Spackman

Join Us In Studio or Online 7 Days a Week! breathesantafe.com connect@breathesantafe.com

Nominations Ballot Live February 1 - March 15 ce.

Santa Fe's Choi oice.

The Locals' Ch

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CATEGORIES

PHOTO CONTEST 2024

FACES: Expressive, engaged people and animals. Please get permission from subjects when applicable.

PLACES: Outdoors and the built environment. Enough with the churches and the statues already.

What else do you see?

MOVEMENT: Candid shots of action. Machines, dancers, atoms?

ODD: Weird, genre defying, not Photoshopped but funky. This is the wild card category.

ENTER BY FEB. 1! SFREPORTER.COM/CONTESTS

2023 SFR PHOTO CONTEST MOVEMENT: ST PLACE

1

Spiral Conchas Lake, Summer 2022

by NATE REININGA

Entry fees are $5 per photo. There is no limit to the number of entries each photographer may make. Photos must be submitted electronically at 300 DPI. 24

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JESS T. DUGAN: I WANT YOU TO KNOW MY STORY CONTAINER 1226 Flagman Way, (505)995-0012 Dugan’s photographs portray love and human emotion, exploring identity through photography, video and writing. The portraits alone would be worth a visit, but the show as a whole is a testament to queer joy and resilience.

JOSÉ SIERRA: CHOLLA GALÁCTICA Gerald Peters Contemporary 1011 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 954-5700 Colorful twisted vessels resembling dramatic landscapes by Albuquerque-based artist Sierra.

JUDITH RODERICK: THE CRANE Wild Hearts Gallery 221 B Hwy. 165, Placitas, (505) 867-2450 A tribute to the crane featuring silk art watercolors and more.

ILLUMINATION: THE SACRED ASPECT OF LIGHT ELECTR∆ Gallery 825 Early St. Ste. D, (505) 231-0354 Photography, painting and sculpture by New Mexico and California artists working directly with light as medium and subject. Does that mean lightsabers?! Naw, probably not.

MILKA LOLO AND FRAN DE ANDA: BESTIARY Keep Contemporary 142 Lincoln Ave., (505) 557-9574 These artists present works that take the concept of Bestiary as their axis.

MILTON’S BAR No Man’s Land Gallery 4870 Agua Fria, (307) 399-5665 Four artists had 24 hours to come up with materials and respond to this year’s prompt, “The year 2050.”

N. DASH: AND WATER SITE Santa Fe 1606 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 989-1199 Find yourself somewhere between painting and sculpture, water and land with these ecologically driven paintings.

PARADISE COUNTRY MART POP-UP Bishop’s Lodge 1297 Bishops Lodge Road, (888) 741-0480 A holiday pop-up shop.

PATRICK MCGRATH MUÑIZ: RETABLOS Evoke Contemporary 550 S. Guadalupe St., (505) 995-9902 Muñiz pays homage to the tarot and its archetypal imagery.

SALT PILLARS form & concept 435 S Guadalupe St., (505) 216-1256 Televisions, motel rooms, light boxes and a makeshift photography studio become vessels for grief, anger, intimacy and growth.

THIS FRAGILE EARTH Monroe Gallery of Photography 112 Don Gaspar Ave., (505) 992-0800 Photography of landscapes alongside devastation from natural disasters.

TIA X CHATTER: THE B/W SHOW Center for Contemporary Arts 1050 Old Pecos Trail, (505) 982-1338 Curator Sarah Greenwood presents black and white works from a collection of artists including Tony Abeyta, Rosemarie Castoro, Torkwase Dyson, EricPaul Riege, David Simpson, Tony Smith and Judy Tuwaletstiwa.

WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE ME: YOUTH PUSH-PIN EXHIBIT Poeh Cultural Center 78 Cities Of Gold Road, (505) 455-5041 A youth push-pin exhibit that showcases the creativity and perspective of young artists. You can even make your own art on site at this unique event.

WILLIAM FREJ: BLURRED BOUNDARIES Peyton Wright Gallery 237 E Palace Ave., (505) 989-9888 A photo exhibition for Photographer William Frej’s new book, Blurred Boundaries: Perspectives on Rock Art of the Greater Southwest.

MUSEUMS PHOTO BY ADDISON DOTY

CABINET OF CURIOSITIES Gerald Peters Gallery 1005 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 954-5700 A diverse group show with everything from sculpture to tin-type prints and mixed media images that prompt the viewer to reflect on the small wonders of the world. Director Evan Feldman has been killing it over there.

CAROL MOTHNER: LITTLE TREASURES LewAllen Galleries 1613 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 988-3250 Everything from meticulously painted birds’ nests and delicate etchings of young women to botanical oil paintings. OK, that’s not EVERYTHING, but it’s still a lot and still cool.

DANNY LYON: PRINTS AND PHOTOGRAPHS 1963-2023 Obscura Gallery 1405 Paseo de Peralta, (505) 577-6708 Works from the seminal documentary photographer’s 60-year career of exploring people, places and land.

DARRELL WILKS: DEATH IN A CORNFIELD 5. Gallery 2351 Fox Road, Ste. 700, (505) 257-8417 Colorful and hip collages by New York artist Wilks take over one of Santa Fe’s finest DIY spaces.

GABE LEONARD: SHADOWS OF THE WEST-A CINEMATIC EXHIBITION Chuck Jones Studio Gallery 126 W Water St., (505) 983-5999 Delve into the inspirations behind Gabe Leonard’s mesmerizing Western Film Noir artworks, gaining insights into the meticulous craftsmanship that defines each of his evocative pieces.

JEREMY DEPEREZ: GLYPHS Best Western 4328 Airport Road, (713) 530-7066 Block printing and mixed-media works examining the relationship between art and debris found upon circumstance. Yet another exciting DIY space from locals who just want art to be accessible to all.

THE CALENDAR

NEW MEXICO HISTORY MUSEUM 113 Lincoln Ave., (505) 476-5200 The Santos of New Mexico.

Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People’s Campaign. Miguel Trujillo and the Pursuit of Native Voting Rights.

EnchantOrama! New Mexico Magazine Celebrates 100.

10 am-5 pm, Sat-Thurs, 10 am-7 pm, Fri; $7-$12, NM residents free 5-7 pm first Fri of the month MUSEUM OF SPANISH COLONIAL ART 750 Camino Lejo, (505) 982-2226 What Lies Behind the Vision of Chimayo Weavers.

1 -4 pm, Wed-Fri, $10, children free NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART 107 W Palace Ave., (505) 476-5063 Selections from the 20th Century Collection. The Nature of Glass. To Ghhúunayúkata / To Keep Them Warm: The Alaska Native Parka, Make, Unmake, and Make Again.

Museum of International Folk Art Ceremonial seal gut parka Out West: Gay and Lesbian Artists (St. Lawrence Island Yupik), early 20th century. Seal gut, auklet of the Southwest. crests, seal fur, cormorant feathers, cotton thread, red ocher. Gift 10 am-5 pm, Sat-Thurs, 10 am-7 of Lloyd E. Cotsen, Neutrogena Corp. pm, Fri; $7-$12, NM residents free 5-7 pm every Fri May-Oct. GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM MUSEUM OF INDIAN ARTS POEH CULTURAL CENTER 217 Johnson St., AND CULTURE 78 Cities of Gold Road, (505) 946-1000 710 Camino Lejo, (505) 455-5041 Making a Life. Radical (505) 476-1269 Di Wae Powa. Seeing Red: an Abstraction. Selections from the Indigenous Film Exhibit. Youth Push Down Home. Here, Now and Collection. Rooted in Place.

Pin Exhibit.

Always. Horizons: Weaving 10 am-5 pm, Thurs-Mon, $20 10 am-5 pm, Mon-Fri, $7-$10 Between the Lines with Diné (under 18 free) Textiles.

VLADEM CONTEMPORARY IAIA MUSEUM OF 10 am-5 pm, $7-$12, NM residents 404 Montezuma Ave., CONTEMPORARY free first Sun of the month (505) 476-5602 NATIVE ARTS MUSEUM OF INTERNATIONAL Shadow and Light 108 Cathedral Place, 10 am-5 pm, Sat-Thurs, 10 am-7 FOLK ART (505) 983-8900 pm, Fri; $7-$12, NM residents free 706 Camino Lejo, The Stories We Carry. The Art of 5-7 pm every Fri May-Oct. (505) 476-1204 Jean LaMarr. 2023 Between the Lines. Yokai: WHEELWRIGHT MUSEUM OF 10 am-4 pm, Wed-Sat, Mon Ghosts & Demons of Japan.

THE AMERICAN INDIAN 11 am-4 pm, Sun, $5-$10 Ghhúunayúkata / To Keep 704 Camino Lejo, (505) 982-4636 MUSEUM OF ENCAUSTIC ART Them Warm: The Alaska Native Always in Relation. California 18 County Road 55A, Parka. La Cartonería Mexicana Stars. From Converse to Native (505) 424-6487 / The Mexican Art of Paper and Canvas. Native Artists Make Permanent collection. Global Paste. Protection: Adaptation Toys. ‘All Together. Making our Warming is REAL. and Resistance.

Way. Every Day. Medicine.’ by 11 am-5 pm, Fri-Sun, $10 10 am-5 pm, $3-$12, NM residents Eliza Naranjo Morse. .

(18 and under free) free first Sun of the month 10 am-4 pm, Tues-Sat, $10, free first Sunday of the month

Please check with spaces directly for hours of operation.

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w a t s y e B

o u y r t d r a a y t s ! ot MORN

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SFR’s Morning Word Senior Correspondent JULIA GOLDBERG brings you the most important stories from all over New Mexico in her weekday news roundup.

Sign up to get a FREE email update:

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S FR EPO RTER .CO M / ARTS

Buy Your Tickets Now

M .CO LD OR UW SY AH AT I M SY TE UR CO

OM .C 7S D9 OL SY

2791 Agua Fría St., (505) 303-3808 Wednesday, April 3; $25

@Kiva Auditorium

The Colorado-based indie-folk singer-songwriter returns to New Mexico on his epic rise to superstardom. Hyperbolic?

Maybe, but the last couple times homeboy has come through, shows have sold out so fast that I kept seeing people online all like, “If only I’d known sooner!” You’re reading this in January, which gives you two months. Another from the Lensic360 folks.

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL

@Meow Wolf

1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369 Saturday, March 23; $25 Nick Pruuher and Joe Pickett are the Found Footage Festival, a touring act that presents the best in video finds from thrift stores, yard sales, the internet and wherev-

TE

@Tumbleroot Brewery & Distillery

GREGORY ALAN ISAKOV

401 2nd St. NW, Albuquerque, (505) 768-4575 Wednesday, March 13; $29-$47

UR

OLD 97S

IZ

NEKO CASE

CO

OLD 97S

LD

M

Don’t act like you weren’t straightup boppin’ to Portugal. The Man’s iconic 2017 jam “Feel it Still.”

Don’t act like you didn’t bop it all summer long. But, as is the case with many bands and acts, these Alaskan musical masters actually have a whole bunch of songs.

They’ve also been coming around New Mexico for years and years, which some big bands don’t often do, so it’s for sure worth the drive to ABQ in the spirit of reciprocity.

PORTUGAL. THE MAN

YI

.CO

There’s almost certainly a broad contingent of locals who’d love to spend Valentine’s Day with the celebrated Old Testament-lovin’

BD

1352 Rufina Circle, (505) 395-6369 Wednesday, Feb. 14; $50.50-$145.50

IM

@Meow Wolf

SY

MATISYAHU

120 Central Ave. SW, Albuquerque, (505) 764-0249 Tuesday, Feb. 6; $43

TE

Don’t be shocked to see numerous events from promoters Lenfestey and Tim Franke of Lensic360 on this list—between the two of ‘em, they’ve booked some of the city’s most memorable shows of the last 20 years.

For one of their first biggies of 2024, the duo brings folky/bluesy guitar fingerpicking master Kottke to town to wow the six-string fans among you. We know “folk guitar” isn’t something some of you might think of as “big,” but it is, so deal with it. Case in point? Last we heard, tickets were running out. Kottke has a Taos show on Jan. 10, though, if you’re hard up. Visit lensic360.org for more.

@Sunshine Theater

UR

211 W San Francisco St., (505) 988-1234 Saturday, Jan. 13; $39-$49

PORTUGAL. THE MAN

MATISYAHU

CO

LEO KOTTKE

@Lensic Performing Arts Center

reggae artist/MC that came out swinging in the mid-aughts and never stopped a-rocking. Matthew Paul Miller is just one of those performers who seems to please so many disparate music fans with his intersecting spiritualism and hip-hop beats. This one will likely sell out, too.

RU

O

h, hello, new year. Thank Satan you’ve arrived. We’ve passed that arbitrary invisible line between the horrors of the previous year and the endless promise of the next. This one can still be anything we want it to be, and that includes so many shows (or events or whatever you want to call them) it can be hard to keep track.

“It’s only the tip of the iceberg, baby,” says promoter Jamie Lenfestey from nonprofit imprint Lensic360, a new venture launched by last year the Lensic Performing Arts Center. “Santa Fe is having a moment, and I think there’s definitely more happening in town; it just feels more alive and vibrant and relevant.”

Part of that, of course, is events selling out with the speed of a billion unfettered horses before we even get into the new-new in earnest. Thus, SFR figured it might help to spread the word about some things happening in the coming first few months of the year—just don’t say no one told you. And maybe cut this out and put it on your fridge or something.

It’s been 2024 for two seconds and there are already so many killer shows lined up in the area

EB

BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

A&C

er else they can find ‘em. The guys did some pretty amazing YouTube stuff during the height of the pandy, too, and even featured SFR in an episode (full disclosure? I gave ‘em $50 to do it, but it was still cool). Catch them live and laugh like mad.

NEKO CASE

@Lensic Performing Arts Center

211 W San Francisco St., (505) 988-1234 Saturday, March 30; $41-$66 Though Case doesn’t super have a home base, the singer-songwriter who transformed an early love of punk rock into some of the most gorgeous tunes you’ll ever hear certainly comes to Santa Fe often—and always sells out. Fairly warned be ye, says I. Guess who booked this one?

Yup. Lensic360.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tumbleroot has really become a badass venue for everyone from locals of all stripes to the Old 97s, that country-ish rock band you love from the mega-hit “Question,” but which has so many other jamz it’s absurd. It’s Lensic360, it will absolutely sell out if you don’t get it together soon.

Of course, this doesn’t get into the nodoubt many excellent local shows coming up, nor does it touch upon the upcoming Railyard Concert Series or the Summer Bandstand (submissions for the latter of which will open via lensic360.org soon).

You’ll find many upcoming shows have multiple dates, too, and/or go down in multiple towns. Just know that this is going to be the year you stop begging for last-minute tickets online like a little pleb.

This is the year you’re going to live.

SFREPORTER.COM •• JANUARY JANUARY 3-9, 3-9, 2024 2024 SFREPORTER.COM

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RATINGS

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

WORST MOVIE EVER

The Iron Claw Review Oppressive bleakness: the movie

BEST MOVIE EVER

1

BY ALEX DE VORE a l e x @ s f r e p o r t e r. c o m

By the time the 20th or so tragedy befalls the Von Erich family of wrestlers in The Iron Claw from director/writer Sean Durkin (The Nest), the law of diminishing returns kicks in and the whole thing starts to feel almost silly.

Make no mistake—Durkin’s A24-produced film is based on the real events surrounding one of the families with the greatest dynasties in professional wrestling history, and all these events totally happened.

It’s just that someplace between the melodramatic music flaring over yet another death and Zac Efron’s robotic performance as eldest son Kevin Von Erich, it becomes harder and harder to grasp at empathy or sympathy.

Does that sound heartless? If it does, that’s only because the movie made me that way. To hear Durkin tell it, the Von Erichs, spurred by a self-fulfilling prophetic belief in a family curse, rarely experienced even the slightest shred of happiness or, if they did, it was only in segue to the next terrible thing. In short, it’s a film about fatherly and brotherly pressures wherein Efron leads a cast of forgettable actors through the motions of life. See, way back in the 1980s, the Von Erichs were huge in the wrestling world, but Durkin posits that hard-headed patriarch Fritz (Holt McCallany) doled out so much pressure on his four kids that depression and death were always soon to follow.

WONKA

5

+ PRETTY ENOUGH; NODS TO 1971 FILM NOT GRATUITOUS

- FATPHOBIA AND ADDICTION JOKES

Paddington director Paul King continues to draw from his own particular pastel Harry Potter-esque aesthetic in Wonka, a prequel of sorts to the 1971 Gene Wilder-led Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that embraces new songs, familiar coats and way more whimsy than seems humanly possible. King pulls from at least some of Roald Dahl’s original novel for kids, merges it with musical and material nods to the ’71 film and blends it together in a silly little story about how capitalism is OK if the people doing the capitalism are kinda cute and will give you candy.

Here former video game controller mod aficionado Timothée Chalamet plays the titular young Willy Wonka, who has arrived in an unnamed city built from amalgamated European concepts after a seven-year, worldwide boat trip helped him discover all kinds of wacky things to put into candy—like yeti sweat and literal thunderstorms and bugs that, when incorporated into chocolate, make you fly briefly (you fart the bugs out later, he announces).

All Wonka wants is to build a chocolate brand to impress his dead mom (Sally Hawkins, who gets about two minutes in the film). Oh, drag, though, because a triad of mafioso confectioners named Slugworth (Aeon Flux alum Paterson Joseph), Ficklegruber (Ghosts’ Matthew Baynton) and Prodnose (Little Britain’s Matt Lucas) fear Wonka’s 28

MOVIES

6 + ERDÉLY’S EYE;

THE FEEL OF THE ‘70S AND ‘80S - HAM-FISTED PERFORMANCES ALL-AROUND; PACING ISSUES

Not even Jeremy Allen White (The Bear, Shameless) can save this film from its own heavy-handedness, particularly since it all but confirms he’s got about one acting trick up his sleeve—barely restrained pissed-offedness. Against Efron’s caveman-style wig and barely-there turns from lesser-known actors like Harris Dickinson (Triangle of Sadness) and Stanley Simons (also in bad wigs), the bigger-name actors flail; Durkin’s stilted yet endless dialogue about winning and being the best doesn’t help, nor does his insistence on underusing Baby Driver’s Lily James as Kevin’s wife and the tragically under-appreciated Maura Tierney (News Radio) as the Von Erich’s God-fearing mama who really doesn’t want to get involved with any of it.

The Iron Claw isn’t all bad, though. Foe cinematographer Mátyás Erdély shoots a beautiful film and the writing impresses in some smaller moments—the fallout from Jimmy Carter boycotting the Olympics, for

innovations, and thus enlist the chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key) to bring him down; they pay him in chocolate. Because he’s illiterate for some reason, Wonka, meanwhile, unwittingly enters into indentured servitude under hoteliers/washhouse proprietors Mrs. Scrubbit and Mr. Bleacher (a reverse Madame/Monsieur Thénadier from Les Miz), whereupon he meets a cadre of folks in a similar predicament. Wonka is especially enamored with young Noodle (Calah Lane), an orphan who— spoiler—might have a deeper story than “is orphan.”

They all help each other. Oh, also, Hugh Grant plays an Oompa-Loompa, and he majorly phones in his performance—though he’s been very public in the press about only taking the job for the money, so...

Anyway, spoiler alert? Wonka and his pals win. Duh. But it’s a mild ride full of flamingos and balloons and chocolate serving as deus ex machina and Chalamet actually comes close to one of the more nuanced performances of his career if only it didn’t seem so forced and cutesy. King fumbles in numerous ways, not least of which being the casting of comedy genius Rowan Atkinson for roughly 10 lines. The songs, too, are forgettable and bland and it’s tough to see a genuine treasure like Key play a role so quickly reduced to jokes about addiction and fatphobia.

Beyond that, it’s hard to shake the thought that, if this is indeed a prequel as Wonka’s hat and jacket would lead us to believe, homeboy’s gonna open a factory one day through which he’ll run a golden ticket contest so he can murder a bunch of kids. And yes, this movie is essentially for kids, but in a release

JANUARY JANUARY 3-9, 3-9, 2024 2024 •• SFREPORTER.COM SFREPORTER.COM

example, which led Von Erich sibling Kerry (White) to lose out on his big discus dreams; or a clever explanation of pro wrestling that diffuses concerns over its scripted nature by explaining how rising in the ranks works similarly to performance-based promotions in any business.

But events happen too quickly for an audience to properly digest them. If you’re processing one character’s death for mere moments before another faces his end, when do you have time to care? As it turns out, you never have the time. Maybe this one’s for the wrestling fans, but even those who love dramatic films might struggle to understand the point of it all.

window that includes Hayao Miyazaki’s most recent stunner, Wonka just feels like another reminder that the big-ass movie houses don’t have anything original to say just now. (ADV)

Violet Crown, Regal, PG, 116 min.

THE BOY AND THE HERON

9

+ DOESN’T TALK DOWN TO KIDS; FUN - FLUENCY IN MIYAZAKI PRACTICALLY REQUIRED

Acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro) has developed something of his own cinematic language throughout the decades of his career, and viewers who are fluent in it can most fully enjoy his newest and reportedly final film, The Boy and the Heron.

As always, the man is a master of storytelling, both with words and visuals. For those unfamiliar with his previous films, however—how they work and how they require a bit of Japanese cultural knowledge and willingness to roll with the punches—the ultimate shape of things might be confusing.

In Heron, Miyazaki culls at least partially from his own experiences to tell the story of Mahito, a young boy who moves to the countryside with his father during World War II after his mother dies in a fire. While there, Mahito crosses paths with a heron who could be more than he seems. Perhaps his mother isn’t dead, it turns out, but discovering the truth leads to a bizarre multi-versal journey

THE IRON CLAW Directed by Durkin With Efron, White, Dickinson, Simons, McCallany, James and Tierney Violet Crown, R, 132 min.

that’s as drop-dead gorgeous as it is confounding.

This fish out of water narrative has been Miyazaki’s bread and butter since the beginning, and similarly to Spirited Away, his goal here seems to be in signaling to kids that they’re capable.

Against the contrast of Disney’s long-standing “someday some dude will come and fix your problems,” themes, this concept is a delight.

The Boy and the Heron thus earns high marks for its ideas, but falters in its knack for thrusting its principal characters into new scenes with little or no explanation as to how they came to be there. If Miyazaki intended this to signify Mahito’s chaotic journey, that might work, but again, viewers who don’t know the director might not know what to make of that. No matter, though, as every last character is brilliantly weird and the magic comes in the wild ride. Throw in some of Miyazaki’s patented environmentalism—here in the form of talking birds both cute and dangerous—and you’ve got a familiar though poignant experience.

Emotive music from longtime collaborator Joe Hisaishi seals the deal at every turn, and moments of borderline experimental animation elevate Heron into newer territory for Miyazaki’s already stacked Studio Ghibli roster. Pity, then, that he says he’s calling it quits. But then, he’s claimed he’d retire a few times before now. If this is the final send-off, though, it’s a good one. Take the kids.(ADV)

Violet Crown, PG-13, 124 min (dubbed and subbed screenings)

SFR CLASSIFIEDS

JONESIN’ CROSSWORD

“Best of 2023”—it’s quite the year.

by Matt Jones 2

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1 “Asteroid City” director Anderson 4 Calendar pages 8 Active sorts 13 “Yeah, right” laugh 14 “There oughta be ___ against that!”

15 Ibuprofen option 16 Game whose sequel was Time’s #1 best video game of 2023 18 Early parlor game (and nothing to do with drawing first blood) 19 Take an unfair share 20 His Best Supporting Actor Oscar win was part of CBC’s best pop culture moments of 2023 22 “University Challenge” airer, informally, with “the” 24 Be down 25 Monday, in France 26 “Fine with me” 28 Ice, in Germany 30 Part of a sword 31 Diane Morgan-starring British mockumentary series that landed on many U.S. “Best of 2023” lists 34 “___ the fields we go” (“Jingle Bells”) 35 Got an ___ effort 36 Word after even or odd when describing mammals with hooves 38 Actress Carrere of “Wayne’s World”

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41 Highest-placing Taylor Swift 8 Actress Hannah of “Kill Bill” song (at #19) on Rolling 9 Not-so-see-through Stone’s “100 Best Songs of 10 Major Spanish newspaper 2023” 11 Brand with a new label 46 Tonsillectomy docs 12 More rocky 48 Ending for racket or rocket 15 Hosp. heart ward 49 Former Georgian president 17 Like some cheesecakes Shevardnadze 21 Beneficiary of, as an estate 50 Consume 22 Ballpoint brand 52 Custard fruit 54 Netflix stopped mailing them 23 Ostrich kin 24 “Oh ___!” (Marcia Brady in 2023 quote, in that episode with 55 With 59-Across, Hayao the football) Miyazaki’s final film, which made many 2023 top ten lists 27 ___ Stadium (L.A. venue that hosted Super Bowl LVI) 57 ___ Khan University (Karachi 29 Candy maker Russell institution) 32 City near Buffalo, NY 58 Dirty clothes basket 33 Take advice from 59 See 55-Across 37 Lackey 63 East Coast toll-paying convenience 38 Cranky infant, perhaps 64 “Game of Thrones” actress 39 Befogged Chaplin 40 Endeavor 65 Masseur’s specialty 42 Alphabetically last U.S. state 66 Second effort capital 67 Basic training figs.

43 Former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave 68 “Lord of the Rings” beast 44 O’Hare’s airport code DOWN 45 Dictionary entries (abbr.)

1 “Huh...?!”

47 Not quite good 2 Animal that goes for a long 51 Rhyming works swim?

53 Like a specially formed 3 New Hampshire senator committee Jeanne with a rhyming 56 Many mos. surname 57 Shouts of discovery 4 “Deputy ___” (TV canine) 60 Brian with the 2022 album 5 Chicken-king connector “ForeverAndEverNoMore” 6 Oldest of the “Animaniacs” 61 Not just my siblings 62 “The Voice” network 7 “Popeye” kid whose name has an apostrophe

© COPYRIGHT 2024 JONESIN’ CROSSWORDS (EDITOR@JONESINCROSSWORDS.COM)

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W E S D A Y S D O E R S A L A W C A P L E T H E H C R A M B O A L A N W A K E H O G K E H U Y Q U A N M O P E L U N D I B E E B E I S E D G E I M E A S Y O E R C U N K O N E A R T H E F O R T O E D T I A I S I T O V E R N O W E E R E D U A R D E N T S P E A R D V D S E A T U P A G A T H E B O Y A N D H A M P E R T H E H E R O N O O N A R U B E Z P A S S N C O S O R C R E T R Y

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SFR CLASSIFIEDS

MIND BODY SPIRIT PSYCHICS

Rob Brezsny

Week of January 3rd

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The plan I will propose in this horoscope is for temporary use. I’m not recommending you stick to it for all of 2024, but just for the next 15 to 18 days. If you do, I believe it will set you up for beautiful success in the coming months. Here’s my idea: Embark on a free-form extravaganza of playing and having fun. Just for now, set aside your ambition.

Don’t worry about improving yourself and producing results. Simply enjoy a phase of suspending inhibitions, creatively messing around, having nothing to prove, and being motivated by the quest for joy.

Treasure this quote from conservationist Rachel Carson: “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure: the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring.”

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Climate change is impacting rainbows. Rising temperatures and dryer conditions mean that some parts of the world will get fewer rainbows, and other areas will get more. Canada and Siberia will benefit, while the Mediterranean will be less well-endowed with sky-borne arcs of color that come from sunlit rain. But I predict that no matter where you live, the rainbow will be a potent and regular symbol for you Bulls in 2024—more than ever before.

That means you will have increased reasons to entertain hope and more power to find beauty. On occasion, there may even be very good luck at the metaphorical rainbow’s end. If you’re an LGBTQIA2S+ Taurus, be on high alert for breakthroughs in your ability to get the appreciation you deserve.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I am pleased to inform you that a visit to hell will not be on your itinerary in 2024.

You may be invited to take a few excursions into the realm that depth psychologists call the underworld, but that’s a good thing. There you will be able to hunt for treasures that have been hidden and uncover secrets that will illuminate your epic, months-long quest for wholeness. It may sometimes be dark and shadowy down there below, but almost always dark and shadowy in ways that will lead you to healing. (I will reiterate what I implied above: The underworld is NOT hell.)

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I hope that working hard on togetherness will be a fun project for you in the coming months. To do it well, you must outgrow some habitual ways of doing friendship and intimacy. You will have to be imaginative and ingenious. Are you willing to believe that you do not yet know all there is to know about being a fantastic ally and partner? Are you ready to approach the arts of collaboration and cooperation as if enhancing your skills is the most important thing you can do? For the sake of your best selfish goals, be a GEMINI (May 21-June 20): As one of your inspirational brilliant teammate in 2024. stories for 2024, I offer this tale from singer-songwriter SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Each of us is a Tom Waits: “Once upon a time, there was a crooked complex, kaleidoscopic work of art, whether or not we tree and a straight tree. They grew next to each other. consciously approach our destiny in that spirit. Every Every day, the straight tree would look at the crooked day, we use our creative imagination to craft new tree and say, ‘You’re crooked. You’ve always been elements of the masterpiece known as the story of our crooked, and you’ll continue to be crooked. But look at life. Leos come by this fun project naturally, but you me! I’m tall, and I’m straight.’ Then one day, lumberjacks Sagittarians also have great potential to embrace it came to the forest and looked around. The manager in with glee and panache. I trust you will be especially charge said, ‘Cut all the straight trees.’ And that crooked keen on enjoying this sacred work in 2024. And right tree is still there to this day, growing strong and growing now, today and in the coming weeks, will be an strange.” (PS: Here’s more from Gemini writer Ralph excellent time to ramp up the scintillating drama.

Waldo Emerson: “Be true to your own act, and congratulate yourself if you have done something CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “I am against sex education in schools because sex is more fun when it’s strange and extravagant.”) dirty and sinful.” So said Capricorn author Florence CANCER (June 21-July 22): Japanese artist Hokusai King. I reject and rebel against that perverse (1760-1849) developed a fascination for his country’s declaration—and encourage you to disavow it, too, in iconic Mount Fuji. In his seventies, he produced a series 2024. In my astrological opinion, the coming months of woodblock prints titled Thirty-Six Views of Mount will be a favorable time to learn everything about sex Fuji. Later, he added three books of prints collectively and eros that you don’t already know. I hope you will called One Hundred Views of Mount Fuji. Some art dive deep as you gather a rich array of teachings about historians say his obsession stemmed from the legend how to enjoy the art of making love more than ever that the mountain was home to the secret of immortality. before. (Consider consulting tantric manuals like Margo The coming year will be a fine time for you Cancerians Anand’s The Art of Sexual Magic: Cultivating Sexual to celebrate and concentrate on your own Mount FujiEnergy to Transform Your Life.) like passion. Sometime soon, identify what it is, and AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Singer-songwriter Tori start making plans to commune with it intensely.

Amos says she’s sure she was burned for being a witch LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you will ever in your life go in a previous lifetime. I suspect most of us had past viral—that is, create or do something that suddenly incarnations in which we were punished simply for becomes widely known and influential—I bet it will be being our beautiful selves. I bring this up, Aquarius, in 2024. Even if you don’t produce TikTok videos seen because I think 2024 will be a favorable time to get by 10 million people, you are at least likely to become some healing from any ancient hurt like that. You will more visible in your local community or field of have a series of experiences that could help you recover endeavor. Of course, I would prefer that your fame and from the illusion that being faithful to your truth is clout spread because of the good deeds you do, not the somehow wrong. Life will conspire with you to help you weird deeds. So I urge you to cultivate high integrity reclaim more of the full audacity to be your gorgeous, and a wildly generous spirit in the coming months. Be a genuine self. role model who inspires and uplifts.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I believe 2024 will be one VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I expect 2024 to be a freeof the best years ever for your education. Your spirited, wide-ranging, big-vision type of year for you, willingness and eagerness to learn will be at a peak. dear Virgo. I predict you will feel an abundance of urges Your knack for attracting inspirational teachers will be to travel, roam, and explore. You will be more excited excellent. It’s likely you will be exceptionally curious than anxious about the prospect of leaving your comfort and open to good influences. My advice is to be alert for zone, and you will have a special fondness for getting lessons not just from obvious sources of wisdom and your mind expanded by interesting encounters. That revelation, but also from unexpected founts. Don’t be doesn’t mean you will avoid all awkwardness and too sure you know where revelations and illumination confusion. Some of that stuff will happen, though it will might come from. usually evolve into educational adventures. And the extra good news is that wandering out in nature will Homework: Make three predictions about your life in provide even more inspiration and healing than usual. 2024. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s Expanded Weekly Audio Horoscopes and Daily Text Message Horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700. © CO P Y R I G H T 2 0 24 R O B B R E Z S N Y 30

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How To Start a MEDITATION PRACTICE Did you know that meditation is the main cause for mental peace, the source of true happiness and contentment? Meditation reduces stress, improves our relationships and allows us to experience a healthier, happier life. But how do you mediate? And how do you begin to make meditation a part of your daily life and not just another thing on your “to do” list?

In this series you’ll learn what meditation really is, and how to take practical steps to begin and maintain a meditation practice.

These classes are perfect for beginners and experienced meditators alike.

January 9 - Why Meditate? How to Keep a Good Habit Going January 16 - The Importance of Mental Energy.

January 23 - Patience, Acceptance & Joy January 30 - Creating Pure Intentions Classes are taught by Gen Khyenwang, an American Buddhist Nun and Resident Teacher at Kadampa Meditation Center of New Mexico in Albuquerque. She is a close disciple of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso and has been practicing and teaching under his guidance for many years. The teachings she shares are clear, heartfelt and extremely practical for modern life. Gen Khyenwang is an inspiring example of a contemporary Buddhist practitioner and is know for her warmth and sincerity, putting these time-tested teachings into practice in daily life.

STATE OF NEW MEXICO COUNTY OF SANTA FE FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT Case No. D-101-PB-2023-00303 IN THE MATTER OF THE ESTATE OF George Harold Romero NOTICE OF HEARING BY PUBLICATION TO: All Unknown Heirs of George Harold Romero Deceased; and All Persons Claiming an Interest in the Estate of George Harold Romero, Deceased NOTICE IS GIVEN that a hearing on Petitioner Virginia Romero’s Petition for Formal Adjudication of Intestacy, Determination of Heirs and Appointment of Personal Representative of the Estate of George Harold Romero and is scheduled for February 9, 2024, beginning at 10:00 a.m., before the Honorable Matthew Justin Wilson, First Judicial District Court, Division IX, at the Honorable Steve Herrera Judicial Complex. 225 Montezuma Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Thirty Minutes have been set aside for the hearing.

Respectfully submitted, The Wirth Law Firm, PC Attorneys for the Estate of George Harold Romero 708 Paseo de Peralta Santa Fe, NM 87501 Carol@wirthlawpc.com By: /s/ Carol Romero-Wirth Carol Romero-Wirth

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