Opinion

Stradling: The Science Of Family-enabled Society

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By GARY STRADLING
Los Alamos

In our Los Alamos Faith and Science Forum we have the opportunity to examine the interface of science and religion across a broad range of topics (come listen to our LAF&S Summer Lecture Series![i]). I find it particularly exciting to think scientifically about the practical impact of religion on society.

Our Western society is in flux, experiencing rapid change in traditional practices and values[ii] that have served human society for millennia. Many advanced industrial societies are experiencing a dramatic reduction in birth rates,[iii] with some dropping Read More

Gessing: Kids Count Report … A Wake-Up Call

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By PAUL J. GESSING
President
Rio Grande Foundation

Once again New Mexico is at the very bottom of a list. Kids Count 2023 is compiled by the Annie E. Casey Foundation with distribution and media handled by New Mexico Voices for Children.

While it is not the report Rio Grande Foundation would compile, the 16 variables considered in do highlight issues regarding the well-being of New Mexico children. Sadly, like so many similar reports, the results are not good for our state. What is unique is the positive spin being applied by Voices for Children.

As Voices for Children’s Amber Wallin recently wrote Read More

Haag: Tolerance In White Rock A Bit ‘Rocky’

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Messages painted recently on the White Rock ‘Rock’ on the corner of Rover and N.M. 4. Courtesy/Tobias Haag

By TOBIAS HAAG
White Rock

Passing by the White Rock “Rock” on the corner of Rover and N.M. 4 on my way to LA, I couldn’t help but notice the graffiti that had overtaken the positive message painted the day before. For years, the “Rock” has been a symbol of fun for celebrations, birthdays, welcome homes, and numerous other messages of joy. Since the pandemic, there has been increasing rhetoric of politization, thanks largely to competing media agencies, unstable political representatives, Read More

Gibson: Gross Receipts Tax Increase Should Be Rejected

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By ROBERT GIBSON
Los Alamos

On June 27, our County Council will consider a half-percent increase in our local gross receipt tax (GRT) rate. It should be rejected.

Governments provide essential and beneficial services and impose taxes to pay for them. A few tax rate increases are justified. Most are not, although specious arguments are always made that they are needed to provide some essential or popular service.

This proposed increase is unique in that no argument is made that it is needed. Instead, it is proposed to increase County government revenues NOW in case they drop LATER.

Our County government Read More

Couts: Agreement With Mr. Devolder On Bicycle Safety

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By SHERRILL COUTS
Los Alamos

I’d like to add a little bit to Mark Devolder’s article, which could be subtitled with a paraphrase from his text: “Why you couldn’t pay me enough to ride a bicycle in Los Alamos County.” (link)

Mr. Devolder hits many nails on the head, but I’d like to add a few more. In the spirit of his article, applying makeup with the aid of the rear-view mirror while in motion in morning rush-hour traffic is also double-plus uncool. Mr. Devolder mentions his motorcyclist friend. That’s my theme here, but the hazards are the same for bicyclists, too.

In decades past I was an avid motorcyclist, Read More

Letter To The Editor: 1989, 1999 & 2023

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By LYNN HANRAHAN
Los Alamos

I was standing outside the big art museum in Vienna on a cold, snowy December Saturday in 1989 debating where best to spend the one hour my mother-in-law had allocated to art. Cousin Greti hated modern stuff. I was too sleepy to care, and I can’t remember what we decided on.

A bus pulled up. The walls were falling in the world that year. A new world order was being born. The bus, like dozens more waiting, was from the East. An elderly man disembarked. He was dapper in an elegant hat and black wool coat. He carefully held the rail and when he made it off he got to his knees, bent Read More

Op-Ed: Drag For Kiddies?

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By ANDY FELTON
Los Alamos

I was recently made aware of the Los Alamos County Library’s Drag Story Hour, featuring plans to host “Lil Miss Hot Mess” and the reading of If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It. The event is sponsored by the Institute for Research on Male Supremacism, a so-called feminist organization that “expose[s] the danger of misogynist ideology and mobilization.”

In the spirit of exposing misogyny, we should first recall what the term means. Misogyny derives from the Greek terms Misos, meaning “hatred,” and gunē, meaning “woman.” Therefore, the functional definition would Read More

Ozment: Who benefits?

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By CAT OZMENT
Los Alamos

Who benefits from development policy that allows for increased building heights and decreased parking requirements?

Even the “intellectual and skilled human capital the lab needs” will benefit from service industry and retail staff, County employees, mechanics, teachers, health care providers, and other critical members of the fabric of our community having the option to live in the same town where they work.

Instead of worrying that some people may have to choose between their “toys” and their extra car, I am worried about those in town who right now have to choose Read More

Chandler: Let’s Push Back…

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By GEORGE CHANDLER
Los Alamos

When I came to the Lab 49 years ago, a popular aphorism posted on the walls in group offices where reports and documents were put into final form by overworked typists said, “A failure to plan on your part does not constitute a crisis on my part.” Los Alamos County might post such a sign on the Omega Bridge.

The 2016 Comprehensive Plan notes a housing shortage and anticipates population growth driven by the laboratory. The unilateral decision by NNSA to turn a scientific laboratory into a manufacturing plant has accelerated that growth to wholly unanticipated levels. Read More

Huang: ‘Better To Light A Candle Than To Condemn The Darkness’

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View from a drone of 300 community members gathered in the shape of a heart at the Rotary Club of Los Alamos fundraiser for the people of Ukraine April 16, 2022 at Overlook in White Rock. Drone photo by Cpl. Sheldon Simpson/LAPD

By ZHEN HUANG
Los Alamos

When I heard some officials at the White House press conference said, “China has at no point condemned Russia’s invasion to Ukraine”, I recalled what Anna Louise Strong said:

“Better to light a candle than to condemn the darkness”.

Strong was an American Journalist who is highly respected in China. She lived in Moscow for nearly 30 years and initiated Read More