Democracy for New Mexico

Pack ABQ Civic Plaza 1/22 for NARAL Pro Choice Rally

The threat to our civil, reproductive, and human rights is very real. With a Supreme Court vacancy looming and President Bush's inauguration approaching, we need you to stand with us to protect our courts and our values.     "Protect the Courts - Protect Our Values!" * Reproductive Rights * Civil Rights * Human Rights * Rally on Civic Plaza for the 32nd Anniversary of Roe v. Wade When:  Saturday, January 22, 2:00 - 5:00 pm Where:  Civic Plaza, between 3rd & 4th at Tijeras, Albuquerque, NM Candlelight Procession Immediately Following the Rally (Please meet at Civic Plaza by 4:30 pm for the procession) What is the purpose of this rally? The rally will give everyone who is concerned with this administration's divisive and deceptive tactics regarding our judiciary a chance to stand up and be counted.  We can't take our constitutional rights for granted - Bush has already put hundreds of ideological judges on the federal courts, and over the next four years he may get to nominate several Supreme Court Justices.  Come to the rally and get information on what is being done here in New Mexico to safeguard civil and reproductive rights and how you can take action!  What is being planned for the rally? Lt. Governor Diane Denish has been invited, and Rep. Mimi Stewart, along with others, is scheduled to speak.  We will have musical entertainment and a slide show of the March for Women's Lives in D.C.  There will be biscochitos and hot chocolate to keep everyone fed and warm!  Sign making and kid-friendly activities will also be on hand, so families are welcome!  The rally will conclude with a candlelight procession to commemorate the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision. What is the cost? Free and open to the public! We encourage you to come to Civic Plaza on Saturday, January 22 and forward this message to your friends and family to get them involved as well! For more information, please contact 505.243.4443 or e-mail Rally@prochoicenm.org. For Choice, The NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico Staff and The Albuquerque Choice Action Team

Click for rally flyer.

Reminder: I Am Blue Event Set for 1/20

ANTIDOTE
AND
INOCULATION
TO THE
INAUGURATION
I AM BLUE, One of 57 Million Mobilization Event

DO SOMETHING (while U can)
THE AMERICAN WAY!

NETWORK, ENERGIZE,
SOCIALIZE, FORMULATE,
ORGANIZE

WHERE: La Posada Hotel (downtown ABQ, 2nd & Copper)
WHEN: JANUARY 20TH
TIME: 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Some of the people who will be there - You....... and ACLU, Democracy for New Mexico, Democratic Party, New Mexico Democratic Friends, Equality for New Mexico, New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, Peace and Justice Center, Veterans for Peace, Planned Parenthood, NM Trial Lawyers, and many more!

For more info contact – Kathy 239-7493; katsbluevent@earthlink.net

Cost: Free entrance. I am putting up my own money for this, and I do not have $40,000,000.00 to spend, so donations are greatly appreciated!

Click for an .

Lastest News From the DPBC

The lasted e-news from the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County had several important items, included below. If you know any registered Democrat that would like to be added to the e-news, please send their name, e-mail address and County to dpbc@att.net.

********************
2005 legislative session will be from January 18 – March 17, 2005.  Last day for the Governor to pocket veto legislation is April 8
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THIRD THURSDAY MEETING, JANUARY 20, 6 PM, LAW SCHOOL, ROOM 2401
The Third Thursday meeting, January 20, will be held at the Law School, Room 2401, 6 PM.  The agenda will include a presentation by Resolutions Chair Mel O'Reilly on political discourse in the party as reflected in resolutions developed at the ward/precinct level for consideration by the State Central Committee and state conventions.  Discussed will be procedures (ward/precinct --> county --> state), range of issues, development of a platform when needed, proper submission format and placement in meeting and convention agendas to allow serious consideration.  Other issues of party organization such as active participation of elected officials at all levels and fund raising to sustain our activities will be discussed and suggestions solicited.
********************

MEETINGS CALENDAR
Most likely schedule (check with state and county HQs for possible changes - locations to be announced) - DPNM: 830-3650, DPBC: 256-1855 & 1856:

Bernalillo County wards & precincts, Thurs. March 3
Bernalillo County Central Committee, Sat. March 12
State Central Committee, Saturday, April 23

********************

PRECINCT ACTIVATION MEETING, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 11 AM, IBEW HALL
All Democrats are urged to attend: IBEW hall, 4921 Alexander Blvd., NE, Saturday, February 5, 11 AM (north of Renaissance Blvd. opposite Costco and Home Depot).  Bring a sack lunch - the meeting could run a few hours.  Call Terri Holland for information: 830-3650 x11.

Marvin Moss, First Vice Chair
DPBC
marvmoss@msn.com

Key NM Election Evidence Destroyed

From Help America Recount
January 17, 2005

A civil lawsuit, filed on behalf of eight New Mexico residents Friday claims that the certified results of the 2004 New Mexico general election demonstrate that voting machines used in the election malfunctioned seriously enough to affect the outcome of election races, including the race for President. 

The lawsuit was filed Friday in the state Second Judicial District Court in Albuquerque by attorneys David Garcia of Santa Fe, John Boyd of Albuquerque and Lowell Finley of Help America Recount. All three attorneys are also representing Libertarian Party presidential candidate Michael Badnarik and Green party presidential candidate David Cobb in a separate recount request, which is still being litigated in the New Mexico Court of Appeals. 

Election officials are statutorily prohibited from clearing voting machines while a recount request or other election contest is pending.  On January 12, Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron authorized county Election Directors to erase the voting machines used in November.

Patricia Rosas Lopategui, a plaintiff in the civil suit, said, “The government of New Mexico keeps blocking us from finding out what happened to our votes.  First they put up roadblocks to stall the recount request and now they want to destroy evidence vital to a voting rights suit filed by New Mexico voters."

“Why they want to use these same voting machines after so many problems have been shown with them is beyond me,” said Aurora Sanchez of Santa Fe, also a plaintiff in the suit filed Friday.

The voters' suit requested a Temporary Restraining Order to secure voting machines and software in order to determine exactly how and why some machines failed to accurately record and count votes. On Saturday, the court denied the motion for a temporary restraining order. Counties have already begun clearing the voting machines.

Attorney Lowell Finley noted, “Monday is the day the nation honors Martin Luther King. Jr., who fought for voting rights for all Americans.  Forty-five years after his death, New Mexicans are still battling for the rights Dr. King championed.”

Contact:
recount@newmexico.com:
Mitch Buszek, 505-204-0833
Sonja Ellison, 505-271-0271
Holly Jacobson, 206-769-7185

https://www.helpamericarecount.org/ 

Thoughts on Martin Luther King Day

A different view of MLK. Excerpts from The King we've lost -- On Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, and what we've lost as his historical memory fades on Working for Change:

"King is not a legend because he believed in diversity trainings and civic ceremonies, or because he had a nice dream. He is remembered because he took serious risks and, as the Quakers say, spoke truth to power."

"What little history TV will give us in the next week is at least as much about forgetting as about remembering, as much about self-congratulatory patriotism that King was American as self-examination that American racism made him necessary and that our government, at every level, sought to destroy him. We hear "I have a dream"; we don't hear his powerful indictments of poverty, the Vietnam War, and the military-industrial complex. We see Bull Connor in Birmingham; we don't see arrests for fighting segregated housing in Chicago, or the generations of beatings and busts before he won the Nobel Peace Prize. We don't hear about the mainstream American contempt at the time for King, even after that Peace Prize, nor his reputation among conservatives as a Commie dupe."

"If the King of 1955 or 1965 were alive today, he would be accused of treason for his pacifism, as he was reviled for "Communism" then; instead of the FBI trying to bring him down, he, and most of his associates, would be prosecutable under new anti-terrorism statutes. And the moral outrage of Americans that made his work so effective? We don't do that any more. We can torture thousands of mostly innocent Iraqis and Afghans, in plain sight, and nobody is held accountable. It'd take a whole lot more than police dogs to make the news today."

"Instead, for white America, King's soft-focus image often reinforces white supremacism. (See? We're not so bad. We honor him now. Why don't those black people just get over it, anyway? We did.)"

Click for the MLK Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University, which contains text and audio of many of King's important statements, as well as a wealth of information about the Reverend King's life, words and deeds. There's a whole lot more than the "I Have a Dream Speech."

Here are direct links to the audio and text of and "A Time to Break the Silence", MLK speaks about Viet Nam. Listen to an excerpt of King speaking about voting rights in Selma, Alabama and it will give you chills, even after all these years. Think about the voting "problems" in Ohio when you do so. King was murdered at age 39. He would have been 76 years old today.

Sunday Bird Bloggin'

(Click image to get larger version.)

Today we're featuring our three parakeets, Whitey, Ginger and Queenie. Whitey is the albino female on the far left. Ginger is the yellow lutino female and Queenie, believe it or not, is the green male with the big face.

We just went through a bout of almost breeding Whitey and Queenie, but ended the experiment when Ginger got incredibly aggressive about the nesting box we had installed. We put her in a separate cage for a day, but she was so morose that she refused to even eat. So we removed the nesting box and they returned to their original bickering but mostly friendly selves, all three together, happy, joyous and free.

We had originally named Queenie as "Fred," since he was always dancing along the perches with Ginger. Somehow, though, he has since taken on the persona of Queenie and we can't argue with that.

Yes, they ARE Howard Dean supporters as you can see from the sign behind the cage. And since they are incredibly energetic activists, it's very difficult to get them to stand still for a photo. This photo was taken on the day Dean formally announced his run for DNC Chair so they were particularly chatty and kept bopping around the cage like true Deaniacs. It shows.

Albuquerque's Counter-Inaugural Rally & March

COUNTER INAUGURATION RALLY
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
JANUARY 20

WHEN :10 am – 2 pm

WHERE: Smith Plaza, UNM Zimmerman Library

FOLLOWED BY: 2 pm to 5 pm Walk to Vigil
at Domenici Federal Courthouse, Lomas & 3rd

MORE INFO: Contact: Jan. 20 Coalition 268-9557

NARAL News

From NARAL Pro-Choice NM:

1.  Watch KOB TV Eye on New Mexico this Sunday at 10 AM (right after Meet the Press) - I will be debating the head of Right to Life Committee of NM

2.  Mark your calendar for Saturday Jan. 22, 2-5 PM for the Albuquerque Roe rally at Civic Plaza downtown. Click for rally flyer.

3.  If you haven’t bought your ticket yet for the Wednesday Jan. 26 Champion Dinner at La Fonda in Santa Fe – now is the time! Go to www.prochoicenewmexico.org

4.  Mark your calendar and take the day off on Thursday Feb. 10th for Pro-Choice Lobby Day at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe.  We train you and send you out to lobby legislators (Call 243-4443 to rsvp. Space limited.)

Giovanna H. Rossi
Executive Director
NARAL Pro-Choice New Mexico
www.prochoicenewmexico.org
Promoting and Protecting Reproductive Choice in New Mexico since 1973.

Another ABQ DeanCorps Event: Barrett House Attic This Saturday

From Nance Crow:
We need about a half-dozen DeanCorps volunteers to go to Barrett House Attic on Saturday, Janurary 15, from 10 AM  to 2 PM to help them sort donations -- primarily clothes and house wares. (If they can use us a bit longer, some might stay). At year's end they get so much stuff they can't get it all done.

Barrett House is the homeless Women and Children's shelter; the "Attic,' at 4308 Lomas NE west of Washington, supports the shelter. The Attic is in a tiny strip mall west of Washington on the south side of the street. I'll meet folks outside the store and have DeanCorps t-shirts for volunteers.

I hope volunteers might enjoy having lunch together afterward at Hurricane's, a community contributing local restaurant next to the strip mall. Parking is limited so I suggest parking on Montclaire Dr., south of Lomas and west of the stores.

Any questions, my # is below. See you there!
(505) 265-8113
NLCorvus@att.net

Editor's Note: You may recall that DeanCorps is an action arm of Democracy for America - Democracy for New Mexico. Howard Dean's governorship was marked by support for families and children and DeanCorps celebrates this crucial emphasis by offering service to our communities. DeanCorps was very active across the country during the primaries, and is now being reactivated. Last month, DeanCorps groups in 50 states donated long distance phone cards for distribution to vets in VA Hospitals. About 100,000 minutes from DFA supporters was matched 100%  by DFA, resulting in more than 200,000 donated minutes. DFNM groups donated more than 4500 minutes to the effort.

Protest ABQ Old Town Missile This Saturday

Click on the image for a larger version so you can read the poster.