With a background of turning around distressed hotels, Larry Whitten this past July bought the 'Paragon Hotel,' a "run-down, Southwestern adobe-style hotel" in Taos, NM with the intent of ressurecting it [now called the 'Whitten Inn']. "The tough-talking former Marine immediately laid down some new rules for the staff. Among them, he forbade the Hispanic workers...from speaking Spanish in his presence (he thought they'd be talking about him), and ordered some to Anglicize their names. No more Martin (Mahr-TEEN). It was plain-old Martin. No more Marcos. Now it would be Mark." This "liberal enclave of 5,000 residents...where Spanish language, culture and traditions have a long and revered history" didn't take well to his management approach. Local protests ensued [video | 09:35]. [more inside]
posted by ericb on Oct 26, 2009 - 108 comments

Off The Grid: Life On The Mesa. A new documentary explores life in 15 square miles of northern New Mexico. With no cops, no official authority, and barely any understanding of who even owns the land, a special environment has arisen. Hippies, rednecks, and other assorted loners exist in either the last outpost of true American freedom or "the largest outdoor insane asylum" - and then they are tested by self-proclaimed revolutionaries with their own idea of how to run things. Check out the official MySpace page for the trailer and some clips.
posted by Sticherbeast on Jun 2, 2007 - 54 comments

Stateline windfarm in Oregon/Washington is the largest windfarm in the world (300 MW). Denmark's Nysted windfarm is the world's largest off-shore windfarm (165 MW). Ireland plans to build a 520 MW off-shore windfarm, while the London Array would produce a massive 1000 MW and be a major feaure in the English Channel. Norway announced a 1,400 MW windfarm in 2005. The world's largest single wind turbine (5 MW).. the worlds largest solar farm (300 MW) planned for New Mexico would cover over 3,000 acres.
posted by stbalbach on Apr 30, 2006 - 141 comments

What is going on in Dulce, New Mexico? The federal government is apparently working in tangent with several species of extraterrestrials in a gigantic underground base the size of Manhattan. This came to light with the release of the Dulce Papers, a set of documents explaining the whole conspiracy. An alleged former guard at the base has also spoken out against it and revealed more information. Of course, a lot of this relates back to the shadow government and Jesus having been genetically engineered by the Greys, but really, what doesn't these days. Want to take a relaxing holiday to Dulce Base? Well, you'll probably be shot, but there's always this nice video footage.
posted by borkingchikapa on Mar 1, 2005 - 27 comments

Wait... there's a NEW Mexico??! Old but funny.
posted by Pretty_Generic on Nov 23, 2004 - 48 comments

Marine Corps Dogs and Police K-9 Dogs are suiting up in kevlar vests. And in Sante Fe, New Mexico dogs may soon be wearing mandatory dog seat belts.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy on Mar 27, 2004 - 15 comments

Poppin' Fresh from the newly launched QueerMeta community weblog: We'Wha: The Zuni Man-Woman. How could a six-foot tall Indian man be mistaken for a "maiden" and a "princess"? This was no Pocahontas! Even more intriguing is the relationship between Stevenson and We'wha. According to one gossip, "she" regularly entered the ladies rooms and boudoirs of Washington. How could Stevenson not know that her intelligent Zuni informant was really, in the words of one gossip, a "bold, bad man"? More about the 'berdaches' of the Zuni [ 1, 2, 3]. Google cache of last (Geocities) link here.
posted by taz on Mar 10, 2004 - 8 comments

Four Corners - A Literary Excursion Across America "There is no experience that compares to being on all fours in four states at once while waving ones behind toward a blinking camera. Even Columbus would have appreciated this." Good reading here.
posted by WolfDaddy on Jan 30, 2004 - 1 comment

This is the 58th Anniversary of the Atomic Age. The successful Trinity nuclear test was made July 16, 1945, in which a six-kilogram sphere of plutonium, compressed to supercriticality by explosive lenses, exploded over the New Mexico desert with a force equal to approximately 20,000 tons of TNT. The Stafford Memo (original in PDF), dated 58 years ago today, is the declassified official report. Outside the use of the weapon in warfare, the risks to humans were uncertain.
posted by Mo Nickels on Jul 21, 2003 - 11 comments

The Albuquerque Bosque is on fire. Bosque is spanish for woods that grow along a river bank and these woods are within feet of homes of Albuquerque, New Mexico residents. The bosque is along the Rio Grande river that runs through the state's largest city and includes a nature center and towering cottonwood trees that are over 100's of years old. Yesterday and tonight over 1000 acres are going up like a match. The Rio Grande bosque is a state treasure (with a national wild refuge ). We now have seven fires in New Mexico. Albuquerque is losing a natural treasure tonight... very sad to hear this may be arson.
posted by jabo on Jun 25, 2003 - 13 comments

The annual pilgrimage to the Sanctuario de Chimayo and Tome Hill. Here in New Mexico, this week Catholic pilgrims walk to Chimayo and Tome Hill. The Penitente, a long-excommunicated Catholic cult began by a wayward Jesuit in the late 1600's, hold their mock-crucifixion rituals this week as well, but the secret society doesn't encourage visitors. Are there more pilgrimages that happen Easter Week?
posted by answergrape on Apr 18, 2003 - 7 comments

So, we all know the Patriot Act allows for the monitoring of library and computer usage. Big deal, right? I mean how many people can they watch and what are the odds?

Maybe not as good (or bad, depending on your view) as you might think,"A St. John’s College Library visit by a former public defender was abruptly interrupted February 13 when city police officers arrested him about 9 p.m. at the computer terminal he was using, handcuffed him, and brought him to the Santa Fe, New Mexico, police station for questioning by Secret Service agents from Albuquerque."
posted by cedar on Feb 26, 2003 - 45 comments

When you take a good storyteller with keys to much of campus, a desire to get into everyplace else, and a need to bring about change through "constructive vandalism" and then wait for the statute of limitations to pass, you wind up with the published stories of Stealth Force Beta. Those folks who never had fun in college didn't get isolated in the middle of the desert with a bunch of nerds.
posted by ewagoner on Nov 26, 2002 - 6 comments

New Mexico's voters decided against an amendment that would remove language in the state constitution prohibiting Asian immigrants from owning land [scroll down]. Florida is the only other state now with such a clause. Surprising that they would keep such laws around...
Tangentially, do all Asians really look the same? And would a high score be a good or bad thing?
posted by casarkos on Nov 7, 2002 - 17 comments

A Visual Journey: Photographs by Lisa Law 1965-1971 Lisa Law's photographs provide glimpses into the folk and rock music scenes, California's blossoming counterculture, and the family-centered and spiritual world of commune life in New Mexico. They are moments that she lived, witnessed, and recorded on the frontier of cultural change.
posted by konolia on Sep 25, 2002 - 3 comments

During my long and mis-spent youth, I often spent time traveling the long dusty spaces between southern New Mexico and west Texas. There's a wide patch in the road called Orogrande, New Mexico, a virtual ghost town. I've always wondered why there'd even be a town in the middle of the desert and nowhere. Now I know why. Forgive the numerous pop-ups (and occassional ad for boobies) won't you? This is a tremendous resource for those interested.
posted by WolfDaddy on Jul 16, 2002 - 17 comments

West Wing is Fictional??? Just in case our friends in New Mexico are concerned, what happens on the West Wing this week cannot happen in New Mexico. "New Mexico has no tunnels" a press release, approved by state governor Gary Johnson, states. Whew...a load off my mind. Is this an example of government being very pro-active, or just plain insulting to the people of NM?
posted by JaxJaggywires on Apr 3, 2002 - 14 comments

New Mexico has the coolest flag. The North American Vexillological Association surveyed its members and the public to identify the best and the worst state and provincial flags. The New Mexico state flag came out on top. Georgia's brought up the rear. [Link via Alex Beam's column in the Boston Globe.]
posted by idiolect on Jun 21, 2001 - 48 comments

Presidential candidates may have to play a hand of poker to determine the winner of New Mexico. I am not making this up.
posted by Succa on Nov 14, 2000 - 21 comments

Gore takes Oregon. ...but may lose New Mexico. God, I'm going insane.
posted by bkdelong on Nov 10, 2000 - 5 comments

Wherefore art thou, NM? "Amid the intense legal and public relations battle for Florida and its 25 electoral votes, Al Gore may have lost a state: New Mexico."
posted by bilco on Nov 10, 2000 - 9 comments

Oldest liveing organism found in salt cave in New Mexico. 250 million and counting. What gets me is this quote: ``If something can survive 250 million years, what's the difference .. another 250 or longer,'' wonder if digital data can be stored in bacterium.
posted by stbalbach on Oct 20, 2000 - 7 comments

I am not now, nor have I ever been... a resident of Los Alamos, NM. If you know someone who is, you might want to check out this web site, where the New Mexico Internet Professionals Association demonstrates that they did *so* learn something by watching the hams all those years...
posted by baylink on May 13, 2000 - 0 comments

Array is back and covering the fires in Los Alamos, NM, with pictures and links to sites where people who want to can help.
posted by davewiner on May 11, 2000 - 3 comments