ADIEU Gene Franchini, Nostro Caro Geno!

ADIEU

NOSTRO CARO GENO!
by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

As great as all those post-mortem accolades in the mainstream media are; No one can fully appreciate Gene Franchini unless one knows where Gene Franchini came from and why it was so important that he fulfill the American Dream and become a role model and an inspiration to the community.
In the old days, when a death would occur in the Colonia Italiana di Albuquerque, families would gather to console each other and in doing so they would relive the person’s life, but then they were the first generation and “life” for them started when they arrived in the United States. Anything before that was said to belong to another era, in a different compartment, between which there was a door that closed. “Una porta che si chiude, e si apre mai Piu,” and is opened no more.
The first Italian immigrants to New Mexico were few, so back then everybody knew everybody else’s story, Gene was “second generation” more numerous. There was no door between them and their values. Everything they were, needed, or wanted was here. Still they lived in two worlds, the old world values of their family and the Italian Community, (La Colonia) and that in which they were building for themselves in their own country, completely aware that they were the role models and inspiration that would make all the difference. As Gene himself once put it; “All of us, meaning all second generation Italians in New Mexico, had some very big shoes to fill. Our parents had been the first generation anywhere to rise from poor immigrants to be the leading ethnic class in all sectors of New Mexican Society.”
The Franchini Saga of Hard Work and Courage begins with Ettore Franchini’s arrival in New York, from Pistoia, Italy, in l899, at the age of nineteen. The year was l899. He could not speak a word of English but somehow he made the officials in New York understand that he had an Aunt living in Albuquerque. They gave him a basket of food and put him on the train. His food ran out before he got to Kansas City and he found a grocery store close to the station and with more sign language got himself something more but that did not last either. He was famished when he arrived in town on May 4, l899.
The first thing he saw as he got off the train was a policeman of whom he inquired; “Bachechi?” To La Colonia, these words are equivalent to “The Eagle has landed a few short steps for Ettore, a giant step for the Franchini Clan.”
The cop pointed across the street to Oreste Bachechi’s office, where the aunt Oreste sought was employed. The rest is history, The Real History of Albuquerque and it only tells a bit about one Italian family. We have tried to honor Gene Franchini by honoring what he honored most, his family and his community. We are certain that the entire Franchini Saga, from rags to riches will be covered by the mainstream media and we have to put this on-line before Gene’s death is recognized and sent to that place where eternal heroes dwell.
We also want to thank readers such as Emily Sei, for making it clear to us that the future of the Wopajo War Cry depends on the history of the Italian People here in New Mexico, therefore we have decided to specialize only on that subject. ////fglyl

SURVIVING THE 1930's-ITALIANS IN NEW MEXICO - #3

Antonio Domenici ran the Montezuma Grocery with his brother Cherubino. This picture was taken in front of his home at 407 North Fourth Street.

LA COLONIA SURVIVING THE 1930's - ITALIANS IN NEW MEXICO - #3

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

STRETCH IT OUT, MAKE IT LAST, MAKE IT DO OR DO WITHOUT.

Bedsheets wear out when you use them enough. The women in Old Town during the 1930's did not have electric washing machines. They heated their wash water in pots, on a wood burning stove, in the winter, and outside in a galvanized tub and scrubbed everything on galvanized washboards. Whites faded, and very fast colors were boiled and scrubbed, inspected for wear and patched. Socks were darned and dingy colors bleached out and readied. If the sheets were still serviceable, the holes would be repaired or reboiled and rebleached for further use, often as curtains or dish towels. Lye was an indispensable household item. Sometimes bedsheets would be repaired and folded, both halves sewn together for reuse.

Flour came in cloth bags. Most people bought large quantities: twenty five, fifty and hundred pounds sacks, depending on how large a family they had to feed, and white flour tortillas were the fare three times a day. Corn tortillas were also used but not as regularly as wheat, sopaipillas were served at special meals. Besides that, flour was also used to thicken gravies, sauces took starch, chicken, cutlets, pork chops, each made better eating if breaded with white flour. The cloth bags in which the flour came was probably more sought after than the flour itself. With a little boiling, bleaching, and dying, those bags became beautiful dresses and blouses for little girls, shirts, a hanky, slips, and panties. Cloth, not gold, was the big thing to most Old Town women. Most women could sew. The luckiest had pedal operated machines, but most sewed by hand.

A man's suit could become clothing for his children, and the same went for women's clothing and when they had served their time, the same thing might end up as part of a patchwork quilt or a throw rug.

Homemade laundry soap, and homegrown almost everything, even the dyes that they used made the need for money not as pressing but a hell of a lot more work for the women of Old Town in the 1930's. Little did they realize it was just basic training for what was ahead and that some day those who survived would look back on those days with nostalgia.

FDR's WPA Projects did a lot of good, despite the fact that the managers of those funds used the bulk of the money to feather their own nests first and then saw to it that those who could do them more good, socially, politically and financially got what they wanted, but, when those funds finally got down the common people. Any job was better than none in a money hungry world that, at last, found a way to make Old Towners need money. As I said before, we were as self-relying for most of our necessities and financial needs were kept at a bare minimum.

Now, you tell me if what they came up with does not rate, at least an E for effort on the confidence game of politics. There were just over a hundred thousand people in all of New Mexico, the CCC camps did a lot of good planting trees, and dressing up the landscape, there were jobs there for many people and most of them trying to make the transition from farming to business or something that would enable them to fit into their changing world.

There were no roads in the entire state, the WPA built several large dams, in fact most of the dams you see now in New Mexico are WPA projects, and Highway 66 from one end of the state to the other was a WPA project, there were many jobs there, but most of these jobs were being filled by people who were brought in to do the work. New Mexico was high on FDR's priority list. but New Mexicans were joining the armed services and the National guard in order to help their families make ends meet. Someone noticed this and made a fuss about it.

The next thing Old Towners knew, "Singing Teachers" were making the rounds weekly to teach grade school students songs that were already part of their folklore. And the Plaza in Old Town was having a very imposing and out of place stone wall built around the plaza in Old Town. It did not last long, and for the short time that it stood, it cost more to maintain than anything else. Other than being used as an emergency makeshift rest room by migrants who could not make it to a real rest room, it was cleaned up and maintained once a year at Fiesta time. Other than that it was avoided even by church goers who would walk around it rather than cut through even on cold days. Even the stone mason who built the wall hated it, but could not talk his supervisors into doing what the Old Town Plaza has now.

The project that really took the cake, was the WPA Outhouse Brigade. Old Towners didn't live beyond their means and their means were not very demanding to begin with. They made conscious efforts to minimize them more all the while they also made a show of their better materialism to put up a prosperous front. This tempted the controllers to reason that if they could not control the intake they would control the output. The WPA brought in the Outhouse Brigade. Everybody had to have a New State of the Art outhouse, built by "El Diablo a Pi‚. " They made it sound so official that some still think it was a felony not to comply. The city was expanding and Old Town would be incorporated making "City Water " and indoor plumbing mandatory, the new outhouses did no more than tear down the old outhouse and replace it with a prefabricated one of their own, over the existing hole, but, at last, someone had pulled something on Old Town. The word for outhouse used in old town was "Comun" pronounced "Ko MOON" from Commode." The Outhouse Brigade was called "Los Communistas." (The Communists.)

The 1930's were lucky years in a lot of ways for Old Towners. Mainly because of the Italian influence in the town. Italians had been the real leaders in the community, and why not? They don't make a big hoopla about themselves or their accomplishments, no matter where they end up. The segment of Italians who chose New Mexico as their new home left indelible footprints in the sands, not just of this state, but in states surrounding New Mexico and as far as Washington, D. C.. Not just lately, but historically. If walls could talk, they'd do it and be fluent in Wopajo. (all languages) ////fglyl

King's Rest Tourist Park, 1816 North Fourth Street




Maisel's Indian Trading Post, 117 South First Street



Mac Marr Stores, 620 West Central Avenue



Simon Deschler Blacksmith, 307 North Third Street



The Exchange (second hand goods), 118-120 West Gold Avenue

Surviving the 1930's in Albuquerque-Italians #2

Surviving the 1930's - ITALIANS IN NEW MEXICO - #2

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Ma l'anima nel cor si fa pi£ buona.

Come il frutto maturo. Umile e ardita,

sa piegasi e resist; ferita, non geme;

asai comprende, asai perdona.
Dileguan le tue brevi ultime aurore,

o Giovinezza; taacciono le rive,

poi che il tonante vortice dispare.
Odo altro suono, vedo altro baglore.

Vedo in occi fraterni ardere vive lagrime,

odo fraterni petti ansare.
Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863Ä - 1938)

There are still a lot of Old Towners alive today that remember playing hopscotch, skipping rope, (single and double), making their own scooters with pieces of discarded lumber and two halves of one roller skate, guns out of two pieces of wood and a close pin, strip of rubber cut from old inner tubes. From a garage, we could accumulate some sheets, blankets, window curtains or drapes and anything we could find that would accommodate an audience's rear end would make a theater. Admission was one or two wooden matches. Adults and children alike came to enjoy Old Town's "Summer Playhouse Productions."

There are still Old Towners who wake up to the sound of church bells, whether they ring or not, and say their morning prayers. They still cross themselves (their hearts) when they pass a Catholic church, and bow their heads reverently when they mention the name "Jesus." They still kneel in the isle before taking a seat or a pew. The men still do not enter a church without wearing a jacket, if not also a fresh shirt and a tie. The women wear dresses, not mini skirts, cover their heads, and kneel to receive communion.

Church bells no longer ring at noon and at six, if they do they are not heard in the din of traffic and the sound of "progress." If they do, and if they are heard by Old Towners who were around in the 1930's, either they cross themselves or consciously prevent themselves from doing so, such is the power of religious programming.

New Mexicans are not aggressive or competitive by nature. Every book written and every course in American Culture mentions the fact that the Hopi, and the Navajo, had to be taught to compete in their games and races. This writer has also experienced the same behavior in Pueblos. It is less prevalent today than it was back in the 1930's. The worst thing "Mexicans" or Native Americans could be accused of was "thinking of one's self as being 'better' than anyone else," all but the Spanish Blue Bloods and many Newcomers.

One local talk show host, with an Italian last name, by the way, to emphasize the superiority of his upbringing in Ohio and those of the locals, ends his petite rampages with, "I guess they were not raised like me."

When a Navajo wanted to point out rude or unacceptable behavior he would say; "he/she acts as if he has no kin/family/or relatives. "Mexican" and Italian speakers put down in New Mexico are either; "Que mal educado! or just plain, "Mal Educato!"

Still, it's a long way from the 1930's when one didn't race to be better, or win prizes, or play games to win but just for the sheer joy of being part of your group at fun time.

As the business district grew, more and more new people came to New Mexico and set up shop, homesteaded. Others simply squatted on private land and on land grants that that was already set aside as legal town sites ear marked to be developed into townships became choice targets. Determining who was, and who was not, a rightful heir to a land grand became the most lucrative practice of law in New Mexico, and it lasted for decades.

There were those who began their careers in law and retired wealthy years later, having only worked one case, "The Land Grant Case."

Newcomers insisted that because Spain had lost the territory, (to Mexico) Spanish grants were no longer valid and Mexico had lost the war with the United States, the land was free for the taking. Some Texans still believe everything East of the Rio Grande, (in New Mexico ) belongs to Texas, and act as if it did.

Injustices flourished on both sides. Some legal heirs lost out to squatters that somehow had managed to pay taxes on that to which they had no papers and ended up with hundreds, if not thousands of acres, and some legitimate squatters and homesteaders lost out to Eminent Domain after they had lived up to all the rules and regulations imposed on them by everyone concerned. Italians are known for their record keeping, as are the Spanish. It's a hold over from Empirical days when it meant nothing if it was not documented. Italian families everywhere keep family journals, photos, letters, diaries, newspapers clippings, birth certificates, passports, steam ship and airline tickets. The Spanish liked to wear their entire family histories like a suit of armor, a custom that is not non as common, but at one time, one could tell who was who by just the name alone. Still there are some, like Fernando C De Vaca. ////fglyl

San Ildefonso potter Maria Martinez sitting next to a row of pots.




Navajo women weaving blankets. New Mexico

Indigenous peoples. parades and processions
The First American Pageant, Central Ave, Alb., 1928.

LA COLONIA ITALIANA D'ALBUQUERQUE

Albuquerque businessmen and politicians, c. 1930

LA COLONIA ITALIANA D'ALBUQUERQUE

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

(Please Note: Indians-in this article refers to Native Americans)
To Albuquerque, the 1930's should be a very special decade. The railroad shops were going strong. New businesses were starting up and long established companies, such as Sears, Montgomery Ward, Kress, J. C. Penny were expanding and hiring workers. Bars, theaters and restaurants were opening up, and general stores were selling everything from animal feed to clothing, hardware, seed, meats, and even livestock. Oh, Yes! Right smack in the middle of the great depression...

At the top of the local business ladder, were Italian, Jewish, Greek, Armenian, and Lebanese businessmen. They hired family first and locals next. Albuquerqueans were helped to make the transition from an agricultural society to an industrial society by those immigrants who had already experienced the difference in the their old home countries. Most immigrants had come here to escape poverty and understood the plight of the people.

Bars, general stores, and wholesale liquors were the owner by Italians while prepared food businesses were mostly Greek owned. The Lebanese liked marketing almost everything you can dream up. Jewish businessmen tended to go with the new market, created by the Fred Harvey chain. Indians; Indian Lore and Indian Crafts.

It was mainly the Harvey chain that sold tourists the idea to take bus tours out to the pueblos and reservations to see Indians in their natural habitat, and consequently, gave value to Indian jewelry, blankets, even the way Indians dressed and interest in Indian art; sand paintings, their dances and their pottery.

New Mexico was also very culture friendly, because of the Archaeology school at UNM. Grade School teachers who attended UNM (University of New Mexico) made their students aware of Indian culture and their rightful place in New Mexican society long before it became popular to be Indian friendly elsewhere. Jewish merchants established trading Posts that bought and sold Indian craftsmanship and hired Indians to works in their shops and homes. They moved into Indian country to be closer to the source of their income and were so accepted by the frienmdly culture that one Jewish man became the chief of a tribe. Another became governor of New Mexico.

The Italians reigned in the business district of Albuquerque though. Their children went to UNM and became business, social and political leaders, teachers, lawyers, doctors, nurses, etc. All immigrants were welcomed with open arms by the people. The same people who became the consumers and a labor force.

Ideas were exchanged between the immigrants and the populace except for a few individuals in other immigrant groups. It was only the Italians who spoke the language of the state fluently, and could also do business in several dialects spoken by the tribes. Jewish businessmen had the Indian trades in silver and artifacts but more than that they prided themselves in mastering Native American languages.

One Lebanese man ran a grocery store in Isleta Pueblo. He married an Isleta Indian and fathered two beautiful daughters that made quite a name for themselves later in life.

All in all, you could say that Albuquerque survived the 1930's by scratching each others back. Unfortunately others, (non immigrants) did not come here to be part of the town. They came like an occupying army, to change, to take over and be in charge, and by the 1940's Albuquerque was beginning to change. They played the game of "divide and conquer." ////fglyl

Champion Grocery, operated by Alessandro and Amadeo Matteucci and located on the corner of Seventh Street and Tijeras avenue, was one of the largest Italian-owned grocery stores in Albuquerque.


Jubilee Parade. Horsemen passing down Central Ave., near Second St. as crowds look on; business enterprises visible at left; ca. 1930.



Unidentified members of Albuquerque's Italian-American community posing for a photograph on a hunting trip south of the city

Buffalo dancers, Tesuque Pueblo, New Mexico


UNM Footbal Team, Albuquerque, NM 1930

Union Bakery and Saloon, Albuquerque New Mexico,

Courtesy of Zimmerman Library, UNM

Surviving the 1930's in Old Albuquerque

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez
Chapter Four - Union Bakery

I close my eyes and visualize the Union Bakery on South First Street... I smell the sweet yeasty perfume, its freshly baked bread and taste that special mixture of vanilla, lemon, and cinnamon on the giant rolls and hear the echo of Italian voices, happily singing, joking, and planning their week-end and conversing in the most poetic language this side of heaven, Italian, as they end another work week.
Not everyone has a safe, secure place to which they can retreat when life gets as hectic as it is today. The lucky few that do will not go mad with worry over the economy, the political mess, and a million other things that are really beyond our control.
My safe place is an island in time. The l930's, right in the middle of that churning, angry ocean of despair, the Great Depression. It was the worst of times for the rest of the country, including many parts of our state, but for Old Towners, and Albuquerque, as a whole, it was a time of real hope, and they were better off than they had ever been. The city was growing. Grocery stores began popping up in almost every neighborhood, and in the business sector, General Stores, that carried every type of merchandise you can imagine, dry goods, feed, groceries meats, and poultry products, wholesale and retail.
On the 300 block of North First alone, from Tijeras to Marquette street, Franchini and sons, Dino Bonaguidi, M. Vaio and Sons, the Tartaglias, the Masaglias, and The Bachechi's had large general stores but throughout the entire town, Italian names were prominent in businesses ranging from Ferraro's cigar store, to Bachechi's Paris Shoe Store. Bars, Pool halls, Service Stations, Garages, hotels, bars repair shops, and more were all owned and managed by Italians, and staffed by their families, who advertised in Spanish to attract a Hispanic clientele, whom they served in the Spanish language.
If Albuquerque had changed it's nickname from "The Duke City " to "La Piccola Italia," in the 1930"'s no one would have objected. It was an Italian Town. The Priests were Italian, teachers were Italian, Politicians were Italian, businessmen were Italian, Nurses were Italian and Italians began to come here as patients because of the high and dry climate.

A more complete history of the Italian Community is forthcoming when we get to the series dealing with La Colonia Italiana di Albuquerque, right now, the important point we want to make is that both Albuquerque and New Mexico survived the great depression without too much permanent damage by cooperating with the immigrant populations. The Italians were not the only first generation of immigrants to New Mexico, there were others, but not as numerous and not as motivated as the Italians.

The Jewish community, who also had a dog in the fight, because of the Jewish roots in the Spanish community, for instance, and it's difficult to tell about the Greeks, Lebanese, etc., but this writer is more familiar with the Italians than any of the rest. Jewish immigrants also fared better in Albuquerque, and, like the Italians treated the Natives and the Hispanic Communities differently, partly because of the already established Spanish-Jews, and Jewish owned trading posts, and pawn shops catered to "Indians" both on and off the reservation and bought from or hired Indians as their silver smiths and to do various other jobs. One full-blooded Jew even became a tribal chief. Pawn Shops and Indians had a different kind of business going for them, Silversmiths would pawn their work to a shop, who would store it and, with the craftsman's permission sell whatever would sell at a commission. The craftsman would pay interest on the pawn but could use it for special rites and return it, secure in the fact the jewelry he left at the pawn shop would not be stolen but it was, it was insured. Costs that the average craftsman cannot afford.
The Town and the Town in Old Town grew closer and closer, now there was not only a linguistic and cultural tie to the Italian Priests but a genealogical relationship developed. Families that been assumed to be Spanish or Mexican were traced back to Italian origins. Italian priests and monks who became extra curricular MENTORS and advisors of boys who actively sought out their and companionship in hopes of some day becoming priests or monks themselves also helped them to find not only themselves., but long forgotten family roots that led them to Sicily and other Italian cities and towns. Many of these young Old Towners grew up and served in the armed forces during World War Two, and found information about Italian history after the fall of Rome, the Unification, Geribaldi, and Southern Italy, useful to both their own interests and those of the United States.
Because of its isolation New Mexico was the last of former Holy Roman Empirical bastions to fall, and since Spain owed both it's rise and fall to Catabolism, the l930's saw the last desperate struggle of Bishop Lamy's struggle to maintain Roman Catholicism in the center of everything in New Mexico. The railroad had come in, and with it Protestantism had invaded Catholic territory, New Mexicans who had existed for centuries without the need of money and luxuries now had need of both. ////fglyl



Above: Alvarado Station, Albuquerque, NM c. 1930 Below: Italian American Shopkeepers, Albuq., NM c. 1930



Above: Paris Shoe Store Interior, Albuquerque, NM c. 1930 Below: Super Service Station, Albuquerque, NM c. 1930


Historic Photos Courtesy of Zimmermann Library, UNM Albuquerque, New Mexico

Fair Doctrine

The Wopajo Says . . Fair Doctrine

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

The First Amendment Is Not A License To Abuse.

No one wants to do away with Right Wing Talk Radio and censorship is out of the question. We had to have it during the Second World War, but Real Americans detest censorship and will not have it, on just a whim, as has been proven every time a language has been forbidden in the United States.


Why then, are we in such an uproar about Right Wing Talk Show? Why, for the very same reasons that we do everything else in a civilized society, of course! Breaking Wind on the radio for three consecutive hours each day is nothing of which anyone should take pride, least of all those Icons of the American Political, and religious Right.


A fart by any other name stinks just as bad. It matters not what perfume you use to hide it. One of our texts in Language School was "Language and Mind, " by Naom Chomsky. The school opened and closed two years later with one of his quotes." The meaning of those words encompassed everything that had been crammed into our brains those twenty-four months of non-stop instruction. "When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the 'Human Essence,' the distinctive qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique to man." With that in mind, consider that, by their own admission, Right Wing Radio Talk Hosts, and their listeners are the most intelligent, the reverent, and better educated human being on the face of the earth, if not so gifted with talent so great, that can only be loaned not given by THE CREATOR, HIMSELF. Why do they choose to Hiss, and Bark, and make other hate filled sounds belonging in the realm of the most vicious of the lower species?


Dropping a few four--bit adjectives into that pile of two-bit rhetoric is tantamount to spraying a very large, angry group of skunks with a cam of cheap room deodorizer and trying to pawn them off as black and white flamingoes.


We, the Wopajo, are in the trenches, in the battle to eradicate, not Right Wing Talk Radio, but what they really are: an unruly mob of anarchists disguising as "American Patriots," when nothing can be further from the truth. Patriots do not propagandize against their own government, nor against their own compatriots.


The GOP is in shambles now, not because of the party itself, but because the party was infiltrated by factions that had, have, and will never have either the party or the party's fundamental interests at heart. Each of those factions have now shattered the unity that made the GOP unique. Now those same factions are infiltrating all the other parties, like those refugee rats that desert a sinking ship but these bunch is carrying a Political Plague. There is no law that forbids them membership in any Political Organization, but there is also no law that forbids you from accepting Right Wing Philosophy.


Authoritarian governments, such as Religious Government emphasize Authority, such as The Authority of the Organization, and its hierarchy, and recognize none but their own authority, a deadly dose of Political Hemlock for any Democracy. Christs advice to his disciples to "Render unto Caesar, the things that are Caesar's, and unto God." The things that are God's is the fairest doctrine by which to abide, in a democratic government, Why do God's representatives want to change it? What else will change, by changing that one factor? The very things that religions stand against would be, not under God's infallible justice, such as abortion and homosexuality would no longer be matters between God and ............. but a matter between ...... and his, her's or their government, as if the clergy did not trust God to apply His own Fairness doctrine to the matter. //// fglyl

Surviving the 1930'3 in Old Albuquerque-Library

Surviving the 1930's in Old Albuquerque - Chapter Three - Library

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

The WOPAJO WAR CRY'S Historical Library is crammed full of pictures of Albuquerque as it was in the 1930's. These pictures show Old Town as people who remember the "Great Depression" and who lived in New Mexico remember. The rest of the "City" was not very much better. The main "Business "district included Central Avenue from about Arno or High street, to about Seventh or Eighth Street, with no more than about three or four blocks of spill over on either side of Central and the rest, for the most part was unpaved. Running water, phones, electricity, indoor plumbing, garbage pick up, and public transportation was very limited and very few people had cars. The business district, "New Town, or "Uptown,"as it was called, had all those things and more. Bars, paving, side walks, several five and dime, and department stores, cafes and a few restraints, offices, one big one-the El Fidel, and several movie houses, an opera house. The Armory doubled for so many other community activities that to list them here would take most of one column, but the octopus that was to become a city was just starting to spread it's tentacles.

We knew that progress would make life more expensive, but with progress would come jobs, people, and earning opportunities with which to rise to the challenge of new expenses. If other parts of what is now the city were wanting, Old Town was in the doldrums. Not only didn't we have the modern convinces, but there was absolutely no hope of obtaining them in the near future, progress was putting a false front, a veneer, on the more visible parts of town, those that were new comers and tourists were more apt to see and get to the rest as finances and available resources COMMANDED.

After the boom that the railroad had brought in the housing, the railroad shops, stores, bars, theaters, etc., business showed up but still, Albuquerque did not fold up during the depression. With the railroad depot close by, and being at the cross roads of Highways 66 and 85 that helped. Cross Country traffic stopped here long enough to buy food, drink, souvenirs, clothing, and many of the necessities of the road. Motels and Hotels for a night's rest, filling stations, and garages could count on some business from people who migrated from East to West and Visa Versa, but Old Town had only the Blueher Farm and the Saw Mill . The Saw Mill staggered badly, but it didn't go down. Blueher's truck farm did bite the dust, and Old Towners, lost their jobs.

Much Later Navajo Trucking moved in there, the mansion became what is now La Hacienda Restaurant, and the shops behind it. but in that was years later, in the 30's and forties, even into much of the 40's what you see now as Tiguex Park and the Museum directly east of La Hacienda, was deserted and dead. A care taker family lived in part of the property but other than that, to our knowledge, that, and the Mann Farm North of Tiguex Park were the two greatest losses Old Town suffered. The Saw Mill was not in Old Town, but it was one of the best paying jobs within walking distance of Old Towners.

The Mann Farm and Pefle's Apple Orchard, were both big businesses in Old Town, and both stopped operating but later, in the l940's, the Wopajo does not know if it was a direct victim of the depression, it's after effect, or they decided to call it quits and do something else, the Sheraton Old Town and it's parking lot now occupy the former site of the apple farm and what used to be the Mann Farm is just east of the museum famous for hosting Mayor Marty Chavez, Phallic Symbol missile for so many years. ­ Hasta Luego! ////fglyl

Entrance to Tiguex Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Surviving the 1930'3 in Old Albuquerque-Part2

"Fearlessness may be a gift, but perhaps more precious is the courage
acquired through endeavor, courage that comes from cultivating
the habit of refusing to let fear dictate one's actions."

Aung San Suu Kyi

Chapter Two - Community VS Materialism

Today we measure success by how much money we have in the bank or in stocks, how large a house, or how many houses you have, how your own house is furnished, and what kind of a job you have. If you are between ..... say, sixty-five eighty years old, and lived in Albuquerque during the 1930's, you will recall that those things were not considered. You identified yourself with your community and your community identified itself with you. You were an individual, but a cog in a greater wheel, a parish, (Campanella) that in turn was a part of a still greater works, ad infinitum.

In a crisis, the herd instinct automatically took over. Survival depended on those you knew and trusted. The choice of leadership, and dependability had been made long before the crisis came, because everyone knew everyone else and their capabilities and limitations. If you know your community, you already know whom to choose for what job in any given situation. It was easier to know who was who in the 30's, because we were a community. Since then, countless factors broke up that unity.

Only the Wopajo tribe remains true to the old traditions. Look around you. It wasn't always as you see it now. Americans were not always haunted by a sense of scarcity. Somewhere along the line, American people changed. Now they have to have more, in case they lose some, or if someone takes some away from them. Fear of losing material things created monsters that they perceived were out to rob them or to take them for everything they have. That attitude creates greed, and greed creates paranoia. Paranoia is an invitation for real con-artists to move in. The daily news is full of stories about people who have been taken for hundreds, thousands, and even millions of dollars by scam artists. Very few of the victims are lilly-white-innocents themselves. Most of them thought they were going to get more than what they were investing, or something for nothing. The victims that are really innocent are the trusting souls who thought they could trust family members or other trustees to handle their financial affairs.

It's commendable to be cautious, but Paranoia? Fear is natural, it is your survival instinct warning you that something is amiss, in you, around you, or somewhere in your immediate vicinity, but panic is your enemy. It binds your mind and makes you act irrationally. In a panic, you become your own worst enemy, like a deer caught in a spotlight, or a person about to drown.

Wopajos are never alone in a personal crisis, and act as a group, but never identify ourselves as such in a collective crisis. Fear does not control us, we control fear. . . Courage, on the other hand, is not the absence of fear but the control of fear. The Wopajos are unique in that we are not materialistic. We also believe that inch by inch "everything's a cinch." We are, after all, natives of THE LAND OF POCO A POCO. Manana is still good enough for us. So many other people work themselves to death amassing fortunes and die before they can enjoy them. If they live, it's with ulcers or some other chronic illness that robs them of a full life or they lose, or have most of what they sacrifice themselves for taken away one way or another. We pace ourselves and live within our means, ending up no better and no worst than anyone else. When we have abundance we share, and when we don't other tribal members share with us. We believe that abundance is not in what you have but in how many relationships you can claim. The abundance we share is not just material, it is companionship, ideas, and a helping hand doing something that is difficult for one person to handle. We believe humility is a virtue, and that arrogance is a defect. We try not to fail, and when we do, we understand that humans fail, societies fail and countries fail, failures are human and just as inevitable. The higher up you are in the cultural pyramid, the harder the fall when you land. No one in the tribe has failed as much as myself, and no one has fallen so far from so high and landed so hard as have I, but no one has had as many help him up onto his feet again as many times as have I.

What used to be New Mexican humor is almost dead now. The Wopajos still rely on it to break up the tension, but outside of our own little group one rarely finds anyone who understands it. At times it is pitifully misunderstood. It is a play on words where "Charley Mann" the store keeper, became emperor, "Charlemagne, and "Krushchev," beacons "Cruz Chavez."

In New Mexico, the word "chivo" meant a male goat. "Chiva," means a female goat. "Chivato," from whence comes "Vato," means a guy. Rascally boys used to be said to be chivatos. "Chivata," a shepherd's staff. The difference in the new, incoming, Spanish to this state translates "Billy, the kid," obviously meant to mean "Billy, the rascal" as "Billy, the child... " All we can say about it is, BISOGNA! to new Spanish. (it sounds close to 'Piss On Ya!):
///fgyl

“I have found no greater satisfaction than achieving success through
honest dealing and strict adherence to the view that, for you to gain,
those you deal with should gain as well.”

Alan Greenspan

Surviving the 1930's in Old Albuquerque

SAN FELIPE DE NERI CATHOLIC CHURCH , ca.1930

Chapter one - Las Campanellas

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

The sound of the bells of San Felipe di Neri church, in Old Town was the uniting factor. Anyone within their radius understood their language, and heeded their every word. Like a large, very obedient, family heeds a domineering mother. Together, we were La Campanella. Loosely translated, it means "Brotherhood Of The Bell." Martineztown had it's own Campanella, So did Barelas, as did all church parish societies. like all family units, we identified with our church, and like all family units, we worked, played, fought, feasted and intermarried. Within those family units, one could find both the good and the bad characteristics of any family, but we remained united in sickness and in health, whether richer or poorer, from our birth, to our death, and it was this unity that helped us get through the hardest part of the 1930's.
Albuquerque owes most of its survival to these Campanellas, not just in the 1930's but from its very beginning, it was the church bells that warned us of imending dangers, and the unity that developed at having to band together to confront a mutual enemy, or help each other in any crisis.
The depression was just another one of these crisis and the people were already programmed to act at the sound of their own church bells.
The bells of San Felipe didn't ring when the stock market collapsed in 1929., but those bells had created a parish unity that transcended all social and political barriers, just as sure as if the crash had been a fire, or an earthquake.
In the 1930's New Mexico was still relatively isolated from the rest of the United States, which is why we were the last to let go of the rules set up by the Holy Roman Empire., and Spanish knighthood, commonly known today as chivalry, but is really no more than common civility.
In a crisis, a gentleman protects the old, the sick, the weak, and helpless animals. " In Old Albuquerque, the animals came first. Even today, New Mexicans reason that animals are more apt to panic, most humans do not.
Feed for our domestic animals was mostly home grown, adobes were made right on the premises, using your own clay and straw to make them. Meats? we had our live stock, plus goats and cows for milk. Telephones and electric lights not a problem, we didn't have either, so we didn't know what they were.
Everything at the store was dirt cheap, but no one had any money. Movies were as little as five and ten cents, and as much as a quarter, but only an occasional treat to us, and only very special movies. dances,sandlotbaseball , kick the can, red rover, jacks, hopscotch, blind man's bluff, hide and seek, treasure hunts, board games were just a few of the games that kept the young ones entertained, visiting each other and family get together at Baptismals, Confirmations, First Holy Communions, Weddings and Birthday parties at each other's homes were festivals, tons of food, all home grown and prepared by the women of the families.
Anyone who remembers Church Fiestas, Las Maromas, (Medicine shows without the snake oil spiel.) will agree that the things that mattered most were not how much money you had in the bank, how big a house or how many houses you owned, but the relationships that you had in the Las Campanellas that mattered.
So much has changed since then, family members don't even know each other unless one is in a political position to important enough to be importuned, then everybody is related. ///fgyl

Cafe, 1930.



Franciscan Barber Shop, 105 North Sixth Street, 1930



Frank Tomei Tailor Shop, 118 North Second Street, 1930



Panhandle Refining Company, 1802 North Fourth Street, 1930



Paris Shoe Store, 121 West Central Avenue, 1930



Piggly Wiggly Grocery, 1101 North Fourth Street, 1930



Sugar Bowl Cafe, 1930



Zamora's Saddlery, 109-111 West Copper Avenue, 1930

Today's Political Picture 2-Old Albuquerque

Old Town Plaza, Albuquerque, New Mexico - circa 1920's

(Courtesy of Zimmerman Library)

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; is populated by forgivers. THE REALM OF THE DAMNED By those who refuse To forgive, themselves.

Today's Political Picture 2 Con't - OLD ALBUQUERQUE

Old Town was surrounded by small farms, open fields and networks of acequias rich with vegetation and wild life. It was possible to walk along the banks and spot such things as asparagus, of La Acequia Madre, (Mother Ditch) and find aspargus, beets and radishes, growing wild at the base of tall willow hedges that served as property boundaries and crop separators.
It was not uncommon to find turtles, minnows, cat fish and sucker fish, even an occasional trout in the tributary waters. Giant bull frogs and, of course toads.
The most common animals were chickens and dogs as part of every household, rabbits, hogs, goats, cows, horses, cats, of course, are necessities in farming communities where adobe bricks are the greater part of the architecture but some people still maintained non poisonous snakes that did a more through job of riding houses of unwanted varmints .. while remaining out of sight.
Bird life was plentiful too, hawks, and eagles were not uncommon, Spotted owls, bats and other varieties of insect eating birds from common sparrows and swallows, robins etc .. Some people kept unusual or semi exotic birds such as canaries, guinea hens, some peacocks, and parrots.
Wild pheasants, and roadrunners. were also abundant., so were grasshoppers, homed toads, lizards and butterflies.
Albuquerque was self sufficient in the food and housing departments since most farms were owned outright by families. The farm that were in trouble were commercial truck farms such as the Blucher farm, or garden. It was the largest farm in Old Town and the employer of more people.
As the depression worsened, Old Towners reverted to the most ancient methods of making ends meet, the barter system.
Many people were employed at the saw mill, the railroad shops and in the new businesses that had sprung up in New Town, but that included people from a!most everywhere in New Mexico, plus many Old Towners, but many farming families felt more secure doing the work that had done for generations. and, many did have other jobs, they never really left the farm. The chores still went on when they came home.
Produce, livestock, arts, crafts, were exchanged for dry goods or services, be it chopping a truckload of wood, drilling for water, helping to build or plaster a house, relocating an out-house repairing and mending saddles, harnesses, or helping out at a mantanza.
Matanzas were community affairs, since there was no refrigeration, meat had to be disposed quickly, and most of those hogs weighed five-hundred pounds or more.
The squeals of the pig that was to be slaughtered was an invitation for everyone within hearing distance to show with their dish pans of assorted kitchenware, plus knives, whetstones and bell­like shavers to dress the kill, returning home with a load of pork for the family table.
Most pork was quickly consumed, although everyone knew of methods to preserver the meat, most people did not trust it, Carne Adovada and home-made sausage were the only two exceptions. Even so, the chile marinated of highly spiced, seasoned and salted pork, even in winter when the cold weather kept things longer. Most people did not own an ice box, and electricity was still some twenty years away. Perishable food was kept in a screened box like affair with wooden slats for shelves, To get to the food one had to either go outside or, if the cooler was built onto the outside of the kitchen window one simply reached out to get what one needed.
Beef, goat, and mutton could be made into jerky, smoked, or pickled, by the way, so could pig's feet, but only the Italians dared to do the same to pork. This writer's father did well for himself selling squabs, aged steaks, italian sausage and prociuto to the Harvey House Restaurant. Matanzas were planned according to the seasons. Hogs were usually slaughtered in the winter time, other livestock, in the spring or summer. Chickens, and rabbits had no season, wild fowl, deer and there was some fishing, but not enough to say that Old Towners were avid fishermen. summer kill could be preserved to eat in winter. Every part of the animal was utilized, especially the organs, skin and bones .the economy did not affect New Mexico. as much as the droughts that hit the state about the same time that Oklahoma disowned its people. Stay tuned. ///fgyl

Albuquerque Street car 1920's-Courtesy of Zimmerman Library




Albuquerque, Old Town, Kids riding Burro circa. 1890's
Courtesy of Zimmerman Library




Albert Congregation 1899-Courtesy of Zimmerman Library
The erecting of a church was a commuvent, Jewish or not.

Los Griegos, Albuquerque before the depression era. circa 1899.
Courtesy of Zimmerman Library

Today's Political Picture

The Plaza, Old Town, Albuquerque, New Mexico

II diavofo no e diavola per essere diavolo, e diavolo perche e vecchio.

Today's Political Picture

Today's Political Picture is reminiscent of the death scene in Zorba, The Greek.
In the movie Zorba's wife is dying, her friends and neighbors drop in to take her meager belongings on the pretext of "visiting" her, while Zorba attempts to comfort her in her final seconds of life.
Our economy may not be dying, but it is seriously ill, yet everybody and his or her special interest is trying to capitalize on the bailouts. Including New Mexico.
For instance: If Albuquerque is in financial striates, it's because Mayor Marty and the Municipal Mafia fell for The Texan's BS. Time and time again they went out and did things on Bush's promise, complaining about unfounded demands from upstairs but digging us deeper in the hole on the promise that the check was in the mail. "No Child Left behind" promised so much. Where is it? How about the money for all the cameras, and a host of too many other things to list here but are well known to all of you. It would seem that anyone smart enough to win political campaigns would be smart enough to see through a scam after falling for it as many times as this gang has, but all Bush had to do was to promise and they believed it and spent it before they got it to live beyond their means, all the while they were telling the people that there was a war going on and that they should tighten up their belts.
The people did that, but they went on spending like a bunch of power-drunk republicans. Surely we can do without things, such trolleys until we dig ourselves out of this financial mess, or do you anticipate a more complete melt-down of Wall-Street and want to ride in style when we all go to the poor-house?
The exploitation of government, religion, and race for monetary, political, or social personal benefit is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, like the old time filling stations, the field became too overcrowded for small timers to keep up with the competition.
More and more only the fittest of the fit survive, and fittest are playing for Billions, while small-fry are selling their souls for a few hundred thousand and even less in many cases. The financial crisis is much worst than what the public is being told, and it's going to stay that way for a lot longer than any of the other financial messes to which greed always leads.
Omnipotent Kaffe Klutch Klique KaLLers to Konservative radio Koncure that the bank regulator fell asleep at the wheel, and didn't enforce the regulations. WHAT REGULATIONS!
During the Great Depression of 1929, FDR enacted a series of laws called "The Depression Laws, " to insure that it would never happen again. Ronald Regan, in his wisdom, tossed all those laws out, doing away with our safety nets. Today the very same entities that inspired Regan to trash them and cheered him on when he did are lamenting what we, who went though it once knew was inevitable if banks were not subject to "regul atuib," Many depression busters were utilized to stave the wolf from our doors in the 1930's, most of those methods have been outlawed , privatized, politicized, or otherwise rendered ineffective since then, and some fell due to legitimate progress. Let's go back and review some of these things and you decide if doing away with them was justified or not.
First of ail, you have to picture Albuquerque as it was then., not as it is now. New Mexico had just become a full-fledged status in 1912, but already, the joy and enthusiasm that went with the new status had already suffered it's first major disappointment when the bottom fell out of the market in 1929.
Old Town had been the center of social, commercial, and political; activities, not to mention the religious aspects of the community until the railroad came, after that Old Town had been abandoned and, except for the church, Charley Mann's general store, the post office and one little cafe, a home for unwed mothers it remained a neglected ghost town that was not long in deteriorating. The proper name for Old Town then was Old Albuquerque, and it's limits were from what is now Mountain Road, to about what is now Central Avenue, and from where the roads now split to form Old Town Road and Mountain Road, to the East side of what you now know as Rio Grande Blvd. What had been the Territorial Fair became The Society Hall, a dance hall that drew people from everywhere within what you now know as Albuquerque but then identified themselves as independent villages, Atrisco, Barelas, Armijo, Los Tomases, Duranes, Los Griegos, Corrales, Alameda, Martineztown, etc.
Going North from the Society Hall there were two houses and then Old Town School, then residences still referred to as El Rancho de Albuquerque" although, as the families often grew and married, those ranchos had been divided and sub­divided so much that what had originally started as land grant that had to touch the mountains on one end and the other had shrunk down with barely enough room to accommodate a house and, perhaps a small garden. The villages mentioned above also started as grants hence the names, (to be continued.) II/ fglyl

De Propaganda Fides

De Propaganda Fides

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Propaganda is a Latin word. Originally it was used by horticulturists to describe a method of propagating plants. The Catholic church adopted it to describe the method by which to propagate the Catholic faith. The method could create an attitude toward any individual, organization, or ideal by influencing opinion... It can be religious, cultural, or political, and it is used in all the means of communication, as well as the arts. It plays a large role in internal, as well as external relations, The Voice of America, and The U. S. Information, for instance. Propaganda can be a very effective both as a tool or a weapon, in the hands of experts but a loose cannon in the hands of non professionals. All you have to do is tune in any call in show to see what I mean. It's all Negative or Positive propaganda. Positive propaganda praises a sponsor's product or service and negative propaganda condemns, demonizes, insults, slanders, and all but cuddles an opposing political party, religion and anyone associated with the ideal, belief, or proposition. Positive propaganda is handled by a professional propagandist, while Negative propaganda is left up to the caller, that is because the radio station must not get too deeply involved in the negatism or it may be held liable. The talk Master can control the conversation by allowing station sanctioned negativism and cutting short opposing callers. Incidentally, never assume that call in radio is about the caller's freedom of speech, it all about the station's freedom of speech. Talk-shows do not represent one view-point or another because of their profound belief and commitment to "the cause." Most of the stations are part of a greater corporation that depends on a Special Interest of some sort for most of it's funding.; Their corporate offices are lobbied by deep pocket bag-men just as aggressively as they lobby politicians, and should you be under the spell of talk-shows and think that these lobbyists are committed to the ideal of better their services broadcasting, better government or better unity of any sort, guess again. They are mercenaries, their loyalty is for hire to the highest bidder. Talk radio has the means by which to reach thousands of listeners, and for a price they will deliver the client's message. If it is an honest message it is Positive Propaganda, if it is not, it is Negative Propaganda. Sales Propaganda has to be phones, or the FTC would come down hard on the station. In other cases the intent of the perbetrator is taken into account. Not in sales propaganda, ignorance is no defense when it comes to defrauding in sales propaganda, the intent to defraud does not have to be there to obtain a conviction. In other cases, the perpetrator's familiarity with the product is taken into account, but not in sales propaganda. None of this is true about Political Propaganda. Physical contact is about the only thing that is forbidden in political propaganda. That is why candidates, radio talk-show hosts, and callers can get away with what they say. Not because Talk Masters, Networks, or individual radio stations protect the callers freedom of speech . The Constitution does that. What talk-radio does for your freedom of speech is to make you jump through a dozen hoops before you are allowed to practice it on certain shows and if you get passed the screamers and on the air, the host can still hang up on or give you the bums rush so that you cannot fully express yourself then spend the next half hour criticizing what they think you were going to say. I won't paint all talk-masters with the same wide brush. There are some that air both sides of an argument, but most let it happen only if the criticism is what they would say themselves. Once again I ran out of space before I got to my main point.
///fgyl

MIND CONTROL 5

MIND CONTROL 5

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

The youngest of those Grade and Junior High School teachers of the war and Pre and pre-World War Two years is over ninety now. The children that they taught are in the neighborhood of eighty. To these people FDR, Winston Churchill, Ike Eisenhower, George Patton, Douglas McArthur, The Desert Fox, Tokyo Rose, Axis Sally, Etc., were as real as Barrack Obama, The Bush Clan, Rush Limbaugh, etc., are to you. When you consider that most of the people you know because of Radio Talk Show fame, or participation in National Politics, and high Profiles in industry bunch up around the age of sixty, and know only what they've been told, or what is written about the super leaders of The Greatest Generation, it's no wonder that they think today's average citizen is confused, baffled and bewildered, not to mention scared to death. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, being scared is God or Nature's way of warning you that something is amiss. It puts all your survival instincts (plural) in a fight or flight mode, chemically. It's a burst of energy that is made to last oniy minutes or seconds, and can burn you out just as sure as you can burn a motor if you don't monitor temperature, fuel speed and the length of time you race it. Being constantly in a state of danger can take its toll on the toughest nervous system God or Nature could dream up. That's why it's called stress. There are many ways to relieve stress and most of them are discussed far too often for me to have to repeat them here,. Sure, it helps to pray, meditate, do Yoga, Tai Chi and other exercises .. But what can you do about the source of that stress?
Remember the prayer that asks "The Lord" for enough courage to change the thing one can change, patience, or courage to accept the things one cannot change, AND THE WISDOM TO KNOW WHICH IS WHICH?
Jay Leno, on NBC, airs a segment that calls it as it is that he airs every now and then, as you know, sometimes that "It" can be books or an assortment of products that he renames to bring on the laughter. We are not comedians , the game we play is the most serious game there is.
It's a game where various forces are vying for our bodies, minds and souls, and if we don't know what those forces are, and how they operate. How will we ever know if, "The Lord" answered our prayers or not? Lets call stress what it really is: It's FEAR, Fear of the Unknown. What really happens after death? Will I be saved or not? How forgiving is The Almighty? How about Heaven and Hell? Am ! doing what is really right? Am I wrong to even ques­tion: WHAT IS REALLY WRONG AND REALLY RIGHT?
IF SO, those books should all agree, but each claims to have the corner on THE TRUTH. The secret is: Believe! But keep well within the sphere of like believers unless you are prepared to venture into increasingly more hostile territories. For some odd reason, others resent intrusions into the last vestige of God given human individualism, the inner man, their minds and souls, just as you would if someone else messed with your's it has been said that there is no convert like a new convert And it's true. A new convert has abandoned one faith and joined another,. that means that the old faith must be set aside and the new faith learned from scratch .. Most of the time, the convert has changed because he or she has been afraid to be dammed for eternity if conversion is refused. A true convert has sought out the answers he or she wants and made the commitment on his or her own.
The same goes for politics, many come but few are chosen. Many join but few are trusted. Fear of losing wealth, power or status and lust for the same has turned party politics into a treacherous, unfriendly beast. Very few party leaders have the welfare of the country at heart. The very few that can be trusted have bribing lobbyists, bribed colleagues, bribed party leaders with whom to contend besides self serving political organizations made up of constituents who are influential in the community,
Lust, fear and greed are easy ways to control populations, every corrupt ruler and dictator since the dawn of civilizations has known that, and used those means to gain and retain wealth. power, and status. When the United States was formed, hope for a better way of life became the magnet for downtrodden people the world over to come here and help form a nation that was not like the nation that was not like the one they left behind, now their descendants are set on forgetting the dream of their forbearers being trashed have become even more intolerant than their own individual countries of origination were.
Medicine, education, social services, (the military is politicized), and postal systems, the penal system and communication systems have all been either wholly or partly privatized both Federal and local governments caler more to big business than they do the common, everyday citizen. In many cases Government, the establisher and institutionalizer of those services is said to be an interloper, Our money is controlled by foreign banks and our natural resources are owned by foreign coun­tries. We are having to borrow from our most formidable enemies to pay, just the in­terest on our national debt. All to keep the same people in power administration after administration, regardless of what party was in power.
It was all done with smoke and mirrors by playing both ends against the middle and promising each the biggest portion of the spoils .and making you think that Government was a third party off to one side, waiting to jump you and take every­thing you have. Did you even once suspect that YOU are the government You only elect them to administer, not to lord all over you.
Callers to Right Wing Radio shows do not want government in their lives. What they cannot understand is that without government there is no one to regulate the affairs of a civilized society, we had a tiny taste of what it would be if someone had not stopped the bankers and giant corporations from doing more than what they did to the economy, on top of getting us into almost eight trillion dollars fighting an unjustified, and unnecessary and senseless war in Iraq. No. Government did not do it. A corporation owned administration did, and I'm out of space again. ///fglyl

MIND CONTROL - Part 4

MIND CONTROL 4

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

The wisest words franklin D. Roosevelt spoke in his three terms of office were only eight, but those eight words still sustain the faith, hope, and courage of true Americans in their country and in their form of government.
I think it was Oscar Wilde who said, "A coward dies a thousand times, A brave man dies but once." At least I hope he said it, At the time. The way remember it, he was a homosexual serving time in prison with a bunch of murderers who had killed their women, when he asked each why he had done it, the answer was always, "Because I loved her." This inspired him to write; "yet each man kills the thing he loves, by each let this be heard, some do it with a bitter look, some with a flattering word, the bravest use a sword,."
Courage, on the other hand, is not the absence of fear but the control thereof. Fear is an emotion that cannot be erased or amputated. Fear must be controlled.
We just had a tremendous example of all that in the emergency landing of a passenger plane in the Hudson River.
Only insane people are not afraid in the face of danger. The pilot and crew must have been scared, but they had been trained to control their fear automatically call upon that training to remain cool, calm and collected. because they did, the passengers remained the same, all but one, who panicked and opened an escape hatch and almost sank the plane
TRW leadership then 9s, control your own fear so that it will not infect those around you. The one person who could not control his was subdued to keep his panic from spreading. , There was a time when, we thought that leadership rested fully on the person in charge, as late as the Korean war, it was thought that if the leader of a group was incapacitated, that the group would not be able to function and would fall apart, and perhaps it was true to a certain extent, bit groups, such as the French Resistance, Communist cells, and Korean Guerillas, to name a few, trained every member of the group to lead, should the person in charge be killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. it works in better if the roll of leader is not exploited for personal power, fame, or glory. and by the same token, for the fame" honor and glory of a special group. All this is accomplished with discipline.
Leadership can be summed up under one single definition. "The member of any group that can get the most team-work out of the most members of that group." He or she or it, usually accomplishes that task by using Mind Control.
Teams all have a purpose for existing. That purpose is part of a greater group's goal. A team leader, must convince his team that the goal is worthwhile and, at times, convince them to do things that they would prefer not to do, and like it. for the good of the cause. or greater goal.
Who is your leader? You can only have one you know. How does he or she accomplish the task? With Fear, Charisma, by trickery; or with honesty, Charm, of Intelligence?
On the other hand does he or she lead by subterfuge, undermining the credibility, authority, and efforts of the opposition?
What kind of a team player are YOU?? Sheep and cattle are driven from behind. Their leaders are cowboys and shepherds, leading from behind ..
You, dear reader, are the exception, marching to your own drum- beat. You are the captains of your souls and masters of your destinies. Dream on.... If you follow the rules, the rule makers are your leaders, and if you don't you land in jail.. or stoking the eternal fires in the here-after. We just can't win for losing.

MIND CONTROL - Part 3 (continued)

MIND CONTROL 3 (continued)

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Career soldiers fraternize and co-habituate with the locals wherever they are called to serve.
They cultivate friendships that teach them the language, culture and customs of the people. Most importantly, seemingly inconsequential regional differences;
It was via these friends that Gl's in Korea first learned about" Charly's Electronic Brain Washing. " Bravado boosting jokes about Chinese Laundries changed to jokes about Charly's New and Improved Dry Cleaning business .
Things got more serious as more stories of returning POW's were passed around. What was getting into these guy's heads? They were said to act more like Charly than Charly did when they came back.
Repatriated POW's were isolated and whisked away back home to be de­briefed and for the brass to find out more about what was happening behind enemy lines.
Rumors about these Ex- POW'S filtered out via the GI Grape Vine, Some of these rumors were that returning POW's were emaciated, and allowed to eat whatever they pleased, as much as they pleased, at whatever hour they wanted to eat on board the troopships taking them home.
One intriguing rumor that was later written up in a widely read magazine was about a POW returning home by plane suddenly changed personalities in mid flight. It seems that the GI had grown up in a very abusive family and had unconsciously created a second personality that protected him when things got too unbearable.
He had been laken prisoner early in the Korean conflict and had spend several years there. Apparently, the care­taker personality had emerged when he was first taken, and it was not until some three years later that, on board that plane that the caretaker personality returned to the subconscious and the normal personality took over once morel, COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF . WHAT HAD OCCURRED DURING THOSE THREE YEARS.!
When replacements who had undergone anti brain washing training, or at least said that they had been trained to avoid Mind Control, finally began showing up , they were taken with a large dose of salt. Most of what they claimed to know were just revised methods of avoiding falling for visual and auditory enemy propaganda.
According to bits and pieces of credible rumors this so called Electronic Brain Washing could peneotrate through steel helmets, plastic liners, hair and scull and find your brain, however small it was, changing your personality by replacing your emotions and substituting your character with their version of how you should think. It worked whether you listened, or not whether you listened to radio, they looked or not.
Reason told the Gi's one thing and imagination told them something else. When those two are pitted against each other, imagination will win every time. , and the imagination of soldiers in combat zones quietly grew from mosquito-size to the enormity comparable to the fear now felt for the coming year 2012. the end of the Mayan Calendar, and as invisible but effective, as a Mind Control weapon. Fear, distrust and divisiveness now appeared .. (to be continued.)

MIND CONTROL - Part 2 (continued)

MIND CONTROL 2 (continued)

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Most writers on the subject of Mind Control begin with stories about returning prisoners of war in the Korean conflict. It's true, as far as Public Attention is concerned but, as I have said before, as long as people have been around, certain.people have controlled tribes; clans, and religions. Hitler made it a science by federalizing all that was known about human behavior and the cream of German scholars and scientists of the mind and used it to propagandize more than just Germany alone, even here, in the United States, supremacist groups bought Hitler's baloney, but, at least in Germany, and the countries that he conquered, Hitler controlled all the mediums of communication. What can justify Nazi voluntary collaboration by non German, non political, and otherwise disinterested citizens in the Free World ?
In Russia, things have always been different, their way of life demanded· more a closer identity with the mental, the supernatural, psychic, etc .. As Communism spread, so did knowledge of how the mind works, After the war, scientists were taken by the victors, the United States , being a more material country placed more emphasis on obtaining scientists who specialized cialized in rockets, bombs, and nuclear physics, not the behavior scientists, although many of the propaganda tactics taken from the Germans became part of tactics used in selling and political advertising the US generally poo pooed anything that smacked the least bit like parapsychology, or spiritualism.
The first time I ran into the title words "Brain Washing," was in a book by Kenneth Goff. who was a dues paying member of the Communist Party from May 2, 1936 to October 10,1936. In 1939, Mr. Goff voluntariiy appeared before the House Hearings on unAmerican Activities Committee, in Washington, DC. His testimony is Vol. 9 of the Congressional Record for that year. Here you will find Mr. Goff's first name, Kenneth, and the alias he used, John Keats, as well as a reference to "'Brain Washing," So it's no wonder that the Pentagon started useing the word when it became obvious that we were in for psychological warfare in Korea, when the fighting started.
What else could it be but Psychological warefare when, after a battle we went back to retrieve our dead, expecting to find their bodies abused and/or mutilated and found them cleaned up and lying as in state, with their hands crossed over their chests and notes appologizing for having to kill us for the sake of.. This could have been anyone of the reasons that that they were given as to why we had to be stopped.!
Later, Allied Prisoners of War, when repatriated, demonstrated such behavior that I am surprise more were not tried for treason. As it was only those who chose to stay in North Korea and adopted the enemy's way of life were considered traitor's.
The effects on South Korean and Allied relationships South of the 38th, were devastating., to say the least without opening up old wounds and salting them all over again. There are still people living who experienced both sides of the divisiveness between South Korean and Allied troops, not to mention the cruelt against Korean civilians, their culture, and their history.
Little did they care that their behavior kept the grist-mills of propaganda well fed and verified what was propaganda wanted South Koreans to believe. During hostilities, there is no telling when a soldier is going to need civilians to hide him out, and to help him return to his own line. It helps to cultivate friendships before those needs arise. A professional fraternizes. (to be continued)

MIND CONTROL - Part 1

MIND CONTROL

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Mind control has always been with us, from the dawn of time Shaman. Witch Doctors, and Religious Leaders have used the power of suggestion to influence the actions of groups, starting from Clans and tribes, and ending up with entire countries, Fuller made a science of mind control by unifying all the behavior sciences under the Nazi government. The difference between all these is that the former used mind control not really knowing why it worked, and Hitler made it a point to gather all that was known about the mind and used Germany's best mind scholars to direct his nega­tive mind control over the Germans. A lot of our advertising is a direct descendant of methods that were taken straight out of Hitler's psychological conquests, not only of Germany, and the countries that Hitler overran but like minds in countries 1 such as the United States, England, etc., and not just during the war, we still have Neo Nazis, VVhite Supremacy, and the good old KKK. They all march the same drum-beat that Hitler played so hypnotically. Shaman, and witch doctors thought it was Magic The religious attrib­uted it to God, or the Holy Spirit. Scholars knew that it was conditioning, and control by established prestige suggestion. When Marketing discovered it, they used it for selling cigarettes, shoes, appliances, cars, etc. and Politicks to sell their own brand of idealism, and philosophies. The older you are, the more you can see that Mind Control, as used by the So­viets, and assorted dictators all over the world, are still trying to prove Hitler was right. Mind Control was the most efficient way to control the masses. Until relatively late, the United States stood almost the lone bastion for using mind control for the better­ment of man, and not for political manipulation, torture and slavery, either physical or psychological. World War Two ended in 1945. Germany, England, Russia, Japan, and all the formally intellectual leaders were too busy trying to cope With the rebuilding of their societies to do much more than utilize what was already known about the mind and utilizing the known to inspire the losing populations to cope with defeat and occupation and rebuild their for­mer greatness. The most potent method of controlling is with fear. The Atomic Bomb had not only ended the war but it had also scared the hell out of the rest of the word, but there was a fight between two of the victors, The Soviet Union and the others. The (The Allies) The Soviets were Com­munists, so was China, and when Japan lost the war, they lost Korea. China, the most populated country on the face of the earth needed to expand, not through war but through politics. The United States had the bomb, and was the only industrial country left standing, all the rest had been bombed out of business. Communism had the advantage in that conti­nent, and in several other way, Culturally; Geographically;. Racially; Historically; Religiously; Population wise and more. A scarce partial decade after the big war, hostilities broke out in Korea when the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. It was then that a New Word came into use in the Military. "Brain Washing." It was not long before it became too obvious that it was going to be a fight for the hearts, mind and souls American and their Allied soldiers started reporting the psychological effects of countless bugles insane shouting that spearheaded each enemy attack. (To be continued.)

IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS!

IT WAS WRITTEN IN THE STARS!

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

We may be a bit premature in congratu­lating Diane Denish on her up-coming eleva­tion to the governorship, but New Mexico has been waiting since before we became a state for her to come along. Few people are conscious of the fact that New Mexico's DNA is composed of the social organizations of indigenous tribes, Pioneer Spanish and Mexican mestizos. All of which are matriarchal in nature. Life in New Mexico demanded that it be so, mainly because Male longevity was short. (To say the least) So ingrained In the culture is the necessity that it may rightfully be termed an acquired instinct. New Mexicans have tolerated but not fully accepted the European beliefs that women are all but the givers and protectors of life; organizers and maintainers of order; and Male domination. Despite negative propaganda to the contrary! Although we are thrilled beyond words to see one of our own, and a very ca­pable woman at that, about to take the helm of our state government, we realize that she is taking over at the worst possible time. It will lake everything she has and all the back­ing her constituents can muster to dig our­selves out of the hole in which, thanks to the GOP, via this Bush administration, we now find ourselves. When things get tough New Mexicans thrive, because we are united. We've learned that in times like these one must make do with what one has or to do without until times get better. People who are forced to live by there wits can be very crea­tive. It lakes tremendous courage to as­sume the role of leadership of any govern­ment today, be that government federal. state. county, city of township, or territorial. In New Mexico democrat leaders have the added burden of representing the established populace vs. incoming incursions from other states. Our entire way of life a sovereign state of the American Union is under fire. it is a challenge to all New Mexicans as full American citizens, We can't and we won't stand by and allow our governor to answer that challenge single handed. Her perception of our state is our per­ception of our state; Her values are our val­ues; Her integrity is our integrity. Not to stand shoulder to shoulder with our des­tined leader is to stand in league against ourselves. To side in with the malcontents who flap their gums on Suppository call-in Radio shows, such as The Hour of Rage on one of the local muck-raking stations and criticize New Mexico; it's laws; it's educa­tional system; it's political system; it's cul­tural diversity; it's religious and racial make up; and try to change it to what it is not, .is to assume more power than any human-being can safely handle, it has proven to be self­destructive time and time again. Eventually they who tried gave up and went away. allow­ing the state to mature and develop on Its own pace and on it's own terms, accepting what is good for it and rejecting what is not. in that regard, New Mexico is Master Of It's Own Destiny, and Captain Of It's Own Fate. The economic woes of the rest of the coun­try can be laid right at the feet of the auto industry, the banks and the insurance corpo­rations who overfed their money makers, like cows bloated with water to increase their weight at the market, now we all have to pay for it. We won't live to see the end of this fiasco., but we'll bet our bottom dollar that when it ends, a new GOP and another G. W. Bush or Herbert Hoover will come along to screw it up all over again.

OFFICIAL RECESSION

OFFICIAL RECESSION

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

Today is the first day of December, 2008. I like to work to the sound of music, usually soft Jazz or soft Classical Public Service Ra­dio fills both orders for me, with it's uninterrupted ses­sions of both. I had planned to start the month with a more joyful Christmas sea­son time of writing by losing myself in the music as I wrote. No such luck though, my ecstasy was interrupted by the news-flash that the country is." officially" in a recession. Apparently since December of last year. It's about time somebody in Washington noticed what the rest of us have known for years before December of. 2007. Why are we there? As far as Wall Street and the Conservative News Media is concerned it's all because poor people were given credit, unions demanded too much in wages for their members, and too many illegal immigrants overloading our welfare rolls. As far as they are concerned, it has nothing to do with G.W. Bush's stupidity for allowing the GOP to change the status of our Government to a Wartime economy with his insane ambition to be the leader, not of a Democracy, but of an empire. That alone puts him on an even footing with the Mus­lim leaders, who still believe in fighting wars and govern­ing with tactics that went out in the fourteenth and fif­teenth century. How empires exist in the world today? The last to go were the Chinese and Japanese empires, but one has to look no further than New Mexico History to know how empires operate and what the inevitable out­come is when, as in the case of the Spanish, Portuguese, British, and French empires affected us as each fell to in­dividual continental Ameri­can countries, although the Spanish were defeated in the 1840's we are still undoing the negative aspects of the culture they left behind. The last incident or public note was the Fernando C De Vaca, the now ex- Country Chair of NM GOP. So adverse to our state culture are new resi­dents that they shun even the reading of its past. If they did read, they would find out that The Spanish funded the conquest of the state with private money, every single one of those initial expeditions was financed with pri­vate money, as was the conquest of the other countries in the American Continent. The empires involved did not lift a hand to retrieve areas that feli to aboriginal uprisings. Empires were quick to claim the wealth and natural resources of the conquered lands, reaping where they did not sew, yet each went broke and could not defend their conquests. History was repeated in Afghanistan here of late. The Soviet Union went broke and had to withdraw. Today the Soviet Union is no more. Let's just hope that the GOPI via the present Bush administration has not led us too far into the same financial disaster and that the CEO's of the United States Wealthiest institutions have not exploited our financial wealth beyond redemption. Is there any hope that the new administration will be able to make as much as a dent on the damaged economy in the first four years in office? Perhaps, but not with out our help. If we want to get this country out of the debtor's prison in which the GOP, through this Bush administration placed it, we must do it from the outside, by not getting involved in the credit game ourselves, or we'll end up in the adjoining cell. Banks and big business can count on unse­cured bail-outs. not us. If we get in trouble it takes everything we own to get us out. Before you buy, ask yourself if you realty need it and if so save Up to get it.

OUR CULTURAL VALUES

OUR CULTURAL VALUES by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

It will come as a surprise to the mayor and the city of Albuquerque's Health Department, but New Mexico, including this city and county are united by a culture that is over four hundred years old. Mayor Martin Chavez because he has publicly vowed, on the radio, and over the microphones of KKOB AM, that he would change the culture of New Mexico .. To underscore that statement he added that if anyone doubted that he could not do it, to just wait and he would show them. or words to that effect. The Health Department would do well not to even try to politicize the state's traditionaI dishes, such as Posole, tamales, biscochitos and postre during the most sacred and/or most festive days of the year, especially when they attempt to demand that these things be purchased at stores in cans and at the pastry counters. Either the mayor and his Health Department never learned or they have been so driven to undo state culture that they forgot. Whatever the case may be, it's time that someone reminded them that every society has a system of values, a se of interreated values in which a great deal of sentiment is invested. Common sense should tell them that the word, Value, means something of importance to an individual or a group. Ideals; beliefs; things; and people. As political leaders, of any given society they occupy the posts of that that society's Pilots, and societies are piloted by their values. Further, that these things can be important to the society in both a negative or a positive way. i.e. what the society likes and what it doesn't like. No society on the face of the earth is concerned exclusively with the attainment of material ends. Prestige; status; pride; family honor; love of country,; state; county; religious beliefs; and what is commonly known as honor can and often are values so great that entire societies will sacrifice; comfort; well being, and even life itself. i.e. Before the second world war Japanese Immigration into the United States was halted and caused thousands of Japanese citizens to commit suicide, many by jumping into volcanoes, not because they wanted to immigrate themselves but because Japan and its emperor had been insulted. Murder suicide, mass murders, and even individual suicides in the United States are due more to any of these reasons than we care to admit. if you think that these self edifying roach hunters give a tinker's dam about anything but their own perceived importance, you have another guess coming. When guests visit a real New Mexican home during the winter holiday season, they know that they will find a pot of posole; biscochitos; bread pudding,' and tamales, hot coffee or chocolate. even in the most humble houses. Now, come with me to an all-out, no holds barred, gala get together hosted by the mayor after his State of The City speech, for his most loyal subjects, a very special group of Straw Bosses, responsible for assessing the mayor's chances if he seeks an additional term in office and after that their job will be to convince you to vote for him in the primaries and again in the general elections. indeed, a group from which much will be demanded and should be amply rewarded for hav­ing answered the mayor's call. A thin slice of German chocolate cake, and no more. No coffee, no chocolate no ice cream or milk. not even a glass of water with which to wash it down. Economic conditions being what they are and food shortages getting worst and more expensive every day, I look for more New Mexicans to revive the social customs of the past among our own, law or no law.

PRIMA VERA

by: f. g. lopriato y lopez

PRIMA VERA

(With apologies to Sara Teasedale.)

They come to tell the demo's faults to me,

and then one-by-one. The poor,

blind fools refuse to see,

that it's sunset for the GOP.

New Mexico gave up many freedoms to become part of the United States, one of those freedoms was Women's Suffrage . My mother, who was born in 1907, was only five years old when, at last the American government reinstated a woman's right to vote, conduct business, own property, to be legally represented in court. During her life time, Mom was a staunch advocate of everyone's rights especially the rights of women, which she always sought to expand farther. On her death­bed in 1987, she expressed two regrets, one was that she could not cast one last vote before she left us, and two: that she had not lived long enough to see a woman on the adobe throne in Santa Fe. This coming Thursday will be Thanksgiving Day, I know that if Mom were here, she would be lighting a candle and placing it in the center of the dinner table, as a symbol of her gratitude for the good things that have happened. This year, she would add one more thing for which to be thankful, as she led the family in that yearly silent prayer at the dinner table. Her life-long dream of having a woman governor of New Mexico is very close to coming true, and no one is more worthy of that honor than our present Lieutenant Governor. That honor does not come without more pitfalls than any other governor in my memory. This time there is all with which Clyde Tingley was forced to contend, plus a multiple growth of population, and all its problems. Techno vultures will be using every means at their disposal to sabotage her every effort. It will be up to us, her constituents, to counter their efforts at making her reign be perceived as a failure in any way. How to best accomplish that will be the subject of my meditation at the thanksgiving table this year. Oh, yes! There will also be a candle burning and a picture of Mom at that table. There is a tough road ahead, for both the political leadership who have to take over the mess that the GOP left, as well as for the average American citizenry. It will take all the gumption we can muster to dig ourselves out of this hole, but we can and we will do it. There are no golden parachutes for the common peo­ple, we either do it on our own or it is left undone. Pull in your horns and gird your loins, hang on as if you are riding the biggest mechanical bull at maximum velocity. Start by not living beyond your immediate means. Sacrifice that night out with the boys, or girls, at the movies, bars or restaurants, what you save in tips alone will be worth the effort. So how will that help the economy? Your's or the businesses which you would normally patronize? I'm ceriain that the people who got the bail­outs and golden parachutes will help them, but who's go­ing to help you out of the hole? There is safety in unity. The instinct of the herd is to protect the herd, that's why opportunists do so much to divide us socially politically, financially, racialiy, ethnically, and in any way they can. Until they need your voice, your vote, or your presence, then they want things bi this and bi that, only to leave you holding the bag when the battle is over. The Wopajos do not trust, or confide in anyone or any­thing easily, bit when we do, we do it with all our hearts, with all our soul, and all our being UNCONDITIONALLY. The way we have trusted and will continue to trust our soon to be Governor .....

UNA PALOMA BLANCA

UNA PALOMA BLANCA

by: f. g. loprlato y lopez

The prospects for quickly climbing out of the economic crisis in which we find ourselves are not very promising, but we can and we will do it. All we need is leadership that understands New Mexico and New Mexicans... Diane Denish, slated to be our first woman governer, and first to choose her own second in command, is off to an excellent start, by surrounding herself with people who do not think that New Mexico is a newly conquered foreign country and do not act as if they are an occupying force. History, indeed repeats itself. Scholars of authentic New Mexico's past will hate the similarities between the state's populace today and the populace of our state in the 1900's in relation to today's incur­sions from other states and the role played by the Ital­ian community in forming a bridge between the American and the New Mexican cultures, and the New New Mexicans, such as, soon to be, Governor Denish, and her expressed desire to have more of the same in dignified positions of trust, and respect in state government The Land Of Enchantment's beautiful sand ­dunes are now covered over with a thick growth of imported Political Climbing Ivy that has been too long neurished with the bovine droppings from Texas, and (now) other states, whether it fits or not. It is about time that a New Mexican Woman restore New Mexico's true decor. Do you, dear reader, know that, in the Navajo culture a girl could not get married until she had demonstrated to the women of the tribe, her abilities to make use of every part of a sheep, seasoned with everything that can be found in the desert within walking distance of her hogan ? (including the wood used for cooking.) That chapter in the history of our state, apparently, capitulated to the modernization of education. Think of that next time you see a young Navajo girl approach a sheep, as if she has never seen one before and is afraid te do so. I have. Just as I have seen modern Navajo girls go to special schools to learn the art of weaving, intrigued with the knowledge of where the yarn that they are using came from and the processes that the yarn underwent to get to that point and it isn't even a rug with the traditional designs yet. Of course the world is not going to end because a few Navajo girls have left the way of the Dine. Those same girls can and will teach you some tricks you can use in the use of computers, nursing, business, and a host of other things. This is only to illustrate that knowledge is accumulative. Education places you in the present, knowledge is awareness what you are because of your heritage. When you approach "book learning" you bring all you are; your entire potential, not just what you would like to be or what you think you are but the potential to become whatever it is that you are going to attempt to be. Your culture and heritage mold your potential, and awareness of this is knowledge. To leave your past behind and forget about it is to disown part of yourself. If you then attempt to live a complete life as an incomplete human being is possible but not very likely, certainly a lot more difficult. You can't easily do it as an individual, and neither can New Mexico do it without involving all that New Mexice has been and is at this present time in history. In other words, it is up to us to mold the New Mexico of the future... Is it going to remain stunted by handicaps because outside influences devaluing your worth to appear indispensable. The Navajos are not the only New Mexicans who have played a significant part in the making of this state. Other tribes and other Pueblos have helped as have the Spanish, the Mexicans, and the Anglos, not to mention Jews, Arabs, Orientals, Blacks, Greeks, Italians, and more. It is only lately that I have need to inform the younger set, as well as new comers, and to remind people... such as Fernando C De Vaca, former County Chairman of the GOP, that if it had been left to anyone of these single groups, New Mexice would not have progressed AND regressed as dynamically as it has the Civil War era. No ethnic group, anywhere, is completely free of it's trouble makers and muck rakers, and you can be sure that because of these few misfits, an entire group can and have been condemned, because igno­rance thrives in an atmosphere of suspicion. The mind is the most wonderful thing in creation. It controls everything, your breathing, temperature, voluntary and involuntary systems and all that is you. From your first heart-beat to your last sigh. But as wonderful as it is, the mind is, it's subconscious part is incapable of reasoning, discerning and judgment. Further more, it is amenable to suggestion, and always accepts the dominant of two suggestions. Suggestion 1 subconsciously accepted authority figure suggests that a person, place, thing condition or state exists. It becomes real, whether it really exists or not. We've all seen hypnotized people, and see fanaticism of every type in our daily lives. All these methods will be discussed in future editions of The Wopajo, stay tuned.

ASI ES NUEVO MEJICO, LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!

HOLISTIC MEDICINE IS HERE!

MIND - BODY AND SPIRIT

by F.G. Lopriato y lopez Albuquerque, New Mexico

The genuinely interested in Health and The Healing hail UNM's bold escalation of the eternal war against illnesses under one official canopy, "The Center For Life," due to open in July. Leading the three pronged attack is the most qualified general medical community of New Mexico and beyond. Take it from those who know her, no one is more worthy of that trust. Efforts to integrate all different facets of medicine are not new, and heaven knows that the only reason we don't have it now is because of infighting within the profession it­self, and the all out frontal assaults by other special interest, groups. as well as opposing religious and cultural philosophies. It goes without saying, that the center will have enough opposition from people who will see it as a threat to their own financial security, those opposed to blood transfusions, vaccines, transplants, stem cell research etc., without having half informed and totally ignorant comments from would--be experts. Therefore, we will publish only what is presented by that center in the way it is presented, if and when we do comment on the center's activities, otherwise, we will write only about Holistic Medicine itself, and subjects which may and may not be related to the center's activities.

One of the most intriguing films I have ever seen was once shown at a seminar I was attending in Califomia, A group of doctors had filmed it in a foreign country, one of those doctors was the principle speaker at the seminar. He vouched for its authenticity. The movie showed a woman smiling as she underwent an operation. The open cavity dearly visible and the surgeon's hands, and Hawaiian shirt bloody from reaching into that cavity and showing the woman's viscera to the observing witnesses, The doc­tor who was speaking at our seminar and a half dozen or so of his colleges, all from Stanford Medical SCHOOL. The surgeon on the screen wiped his hands, closed the wound, then ran one hand over the closure and the woman got up and, still smiling, stood and allowed the wit­nesses to examine the closure, the camera zoomed in to show that there was not a sign of a scar. The doctor who was addressing our group tumed off the projector and called for the lights to be tuned on, ending his talk with this question; "Would you believe that what you have just seen was done without the benefit of anesthesia?" This happened in the late 1950's before it was generally known that a few dentists practiced hypnosis in some of their work. Before that, I met one of the Korean K. P.'s who worked in our compound in the village one day. He told me that he was going to the local doctor and I asked him if I could tag along. I had never seen a Korean doctor work. The K. P. was also seeing the GI doctor in the compound, but he did not think that American Medicine was doing him any good. That was the first time I saw acupuncture done in real life, somehow I knew that it existed, but for some reason I thought that it had to do with ancient medical practices but it was no longer used, like blood letting or the use of leeches or maggots. Back at work in the compound next day, the doctor asked how my day off had been, and I told him how l had met the KP on his way to the local doctor and how I had seen acupun­ture done. The interest that my boss, the doctor, had initially shown in my off duty activities vanished and was replaced by rage He pulled the KP's record jacket and ordered me to tell him that he no longer wanted to see him in the dispensary. Anyone involved in the care of patients for any length of quickly finds out that there are times when a patient is in trouble, a pinched or broken oxygen hose, or a malfunc­tion of indispensable equipment, any life threatening situation that accelerates the sur­vival instinct's panic button that makes an otherwise helpless patient perform seeming miracles to save his or her life. These are the type of tales that we will be writing for the next few months, or until the election for Lt. Governor of New Mexico heats up. The objective of these stories is to make the reader aware that dealing with the sick and the dying, takes more than just a knowledge of the illness itself, but also a profound respect of the patient's thinking, and the patient's own spiritual needs. A human being is like a tight-rope walker, that reaches the most dangerous part of his balancing act when survival or certain death are a real threat and the slightest upset of that balance can mean the end for him or her.