Despite what you've heard, not all restraints on what you can do are a violation of your "freedom." Sometimes your rights end where someone else's begin.

So we're in the worst economic downturn since the great depression. Businesses and governmental bodies alike are struggling to make ends meet. So what does Socorro City Council and Mayor Bhasker figure they ought to do during such trying times?

A local resident has filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's office regarding possible violations of New Mexico's Open Meetings Act by Tech's board of regents.

Previously, the Pencil Warrior asked the question, "what is an economy for?" - this week, he ponders the question "who is an economy for?"

The benefits of the booms of recent decades never “trickled down” to the middle and lower classes because they were not designed to. The growing gap between the very rich and everyone else was a signal that a different kind of economy was now in place, but the big picture was ignored by self-serving Wall Street interests and a complicit news “industry.” Nowhere was the most fundamental question asked: “What is an economy for?”

Whether from a desire to preserve ill-gotten riches, avoid prosecution, or simply to save face, the perpetrators of the hog-wild deregulation that’s wrecked the world economy have designated a new scapegoat, designed to hoodwink us into thinking it was all the fault of “the liberals” for thinking regular citizens deserve a fair shake in securing housing loans.

We don't need no stinkin' Starbucks!

This moment in history is remarkable in that nearly everyone on the planet understands, on one level or another, that familiar systems have broken down and fundamental change is underway. It will now be more crucial than ever that we tune out the propaganda urging us to maintain the status quo.

On December 9th from 8:30 to 2:00, HELP New Mexico Inc., a non-profit community agency, has grants available for small community and faith-based organizations. To assist applicants interested in applying for grants, HELP New Mexico is providing a free class on Microsoft Word and Powerpoint software at New Mexico Tech.

Under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State's "exchange visitor program," students are invited to travel from their home countries to study here in the U.S. Approximately nine families are needed in New Mexico, to host foreign exchange students for this school year.