Valerie Plame Wilson @ Bookworks

Today, Valerie Plame Wilson spoke and signed books at a local independent bookstore in Albuquerque. There was standing room only, and no where to park. Ms. Wilson (which is the name she has used for some time, as she's been married for many years) was there with her husband Joseph Wilson, and her two children, Trevor and Samantha. You may have heard her being interviewed on radio and television programs, e.g. Charlie Rose, and heard her speak of her disillusionment with the lack of support and protection from the CIA, in spite of their claims to be family to their employees. She spoke about the politicization of the CIA, i.e. that it seems to be under the thumb of Bush in the same way as our other public and private institutions seem to be. I wondered if the same thing would have happened to a male employee of the CIA, but hopefully we'll never know. She was clear in saying that the leak of her undercover identity was treason and should be prosecuted as such. She and her husband have several civil suits in the works, including one against Karl Rove.

I recorded her remarks today and am trying them available here,but so far I haven't been able to upload the file to the blog. I tried uploading it to YouTube, too, but I can't find it there, either. I'll try again.

There are a few photos I took of the occasion.





I also used the occasion to gather signatures on my petition to get Dennis Kucinich on the New Mexico primary ballot, and Joe Wilson signed it. Valerie demurred, saying she something like, she was in enough trouble already.

Axis Dance Company at North 4th Art Center

The Axis Dance Company is an excellent troupe of people in wheel chairs and 2 "temporarily able-bodied" dancers, and one dancer who has no feet below her knees and only rudimentary hands. The latter, Lisa Bufano, a petite, pixie-ish young woman, who sometimes wears table-leg stilts, had a bacterial infection when she was 21, leading to the amputation of both her feet and fingers.

You can see a couple of video clips of their performances at http://www.axisdance.org/performance.php.

This morning I went back to N4th and saw a short film about one of their former members, Homer, who had only one leg, and how he danced on one leg or on crutches. Sadly, he later died of cancer. Also this a.m. was a film, "Right to Risk," about disabled people rafting in the Grand Canyon. It was amazing! I wondered how bling people could appreciate the Canyon, but that was part of what the movie showed.