Democracy for New Mexico

Donate to Child's Play and Get Games to Sick Kids at UNM Hospital

From Avelino Maestas of local blog Live From Silver City:
Child's Play uses wishlists at Amazon.com to get toys, books and games to sick kids in children's hospitals. One of their partners is UNM Children's Hospital. So, I'm trying to get the word out about this charity, because it might make for a better holiday season for a lot of children in the state. I know there are a lot of charities helping people during the Christmas season, but this one is Web based, and it appeals to me as a blogger. Click here for more information.

Today in Local News

On the radar screen today:

Rep. Ben Lujan (D-Nambe) won the secret vote to retain his role as NM House Speaker over challenger, Rep. Ken Martinez (D-Grants), at yesterday's closed door caucus of House Dems. Martinez will keep his Majority Leader post. Both candidates for Speaker had claimed they would have enough votes to win, and the margin between them was reportedly tight. Sheryl Williams Stapleton (D-ABQ) was re-elected as whip and Rep. John Heaton (D-Carlsbad) will again serve as caucus chair.

In a 5-4 vote, the Albuquerque City Council rejected the adoption of interim design rules for big box stores, a measure introduced by City Council President Debbie O'Malley. However, her permanent rules for big box development will be sent to the Environmental Planning Commission. Their recommendations to the Council on the proposal will be due in about four months. The decision is a loss for the folks trying to stop the "super" Wal-Mart at Osuna and Vista del Norte, but offers some hope for future improvements in the ugly big boxes springing up all over town. Voting to reject the temporary rules were Sally Mayer, Ken Sanchez, Brad Winter, Craig Loy and Don Harris. Ike Benton, Michael Cadigan and Martin Heinrich voted for approval.

The Council also approved special tax increment development districts for Mesa Del Sol. However, they delayed until January 10th any decision on the percentage of future district tax revenues the developer will be allowed borrow against to pay for infrastructure. For the financing plan to work for developer Forest City Covington, they'll have to get the city to sign off on all the details, then get the approval of Bernalillo County and the legislature. See my earlier post for more on this issue.

Albuquerque's Mayor Chavez announced a $10 million, two year plan to landscape 100 acres of land around the Big I. Five thousand dollars will come from the city's coffers and an equal amount from the state. Chavez bragged that the addition of thousands of trees, shrubs, cactuses and grasses would transform Albuquerque. "It's got a lot of 'wow' factor in it," he said. Wow, wow, wow. The new plantings, to be bid in phases, will eventually enhance the area along I-25 and I-40 from Menaul to Indian School and Edith to Universtiy.

Our current U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, a Republican who lost the Attorney General race in 1998 to Patricia Madrid, announced he'll be leaving his post two years early. It's rumored the FBI and other DC bigwigs are displeased with his handling of the state treasurer scandal and, perhaps, the brewing case related to possible corruption in the construction of the Metro and District courthouses in Albuquerque. Hey, maybe Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff can offer him a job at the sprawling agency that provides refuge for hordes of pompously incompetent operatives like Brownie.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley visited the campsite of about 50 tribal members who are protesting the construction of the coal-fired Desert Rock Power Plant on Navajo land in the Four Corners. See our earlier post for background on this issue.

Merry Christmas from All the George Bushes

(Click on image for larger version.)

Memories (nightmares!) are made of this. Watch out, your head might explode while pondering the ironies of this particular family sending out a card that touts "a world at peace" and UNICEF. Pay special attention to Dubya with a cigarette in hand and no belt in his loops. Can you see the seeds of the presidential and human failure he will become? A spoiled, stubborn, clueless, shallow, wise-ass rich boy if I've ever seen one. Back when this card was mailed, I can't believe anyone on the planet believed George W. would become the Leader of the Free World or The Decider. Hat tip to .

Tough Call on Mesa Del Sol Financing

UPDATE: Click for later post on how the City Council voted on this issue.
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Tonight the Albuquerque City Council will be discussing Ike Benton's proposal to help fund infrastructure development at Mesa Del Sol by creating a special tax increment development district and funding mechanism. Within the district, developer Forest City Covington would pay back bond proceeds it receives up front for infrastructure with a percentage of the taxes generated by the development for the next 25 years. While that sounds good to many in terms of kick-starting the much-praised Mesa Del Sol planned community, others aren't so sure.

Among those advocating against the proposal is the nonprofit group , which works against sprawl development and for smart growth and sustainable community development. The group's President, Ken Balizer, and Executive Director, Gabriel Nims, wrote a guest column at the Albuquerque Journal explaining their reasoning and claiming that the proposal doesn't meet he criteria required by Albuquerque's Planned Growth Strategy.

This Albuquerque Tribune article lays out some of the issues at play. I can't seem to choose sides on this one as my understanding of finance and taxation is rather simplistic. Anyone out there understand this in more depth? What do you think?

Scrooge Is Alive and Well in Chertoff's America

Michael Chertoff, the skeletal head of Homeland Security, was recently grandstanding all over the media as he is prone to do periodically. This time he was making rather hysterical claims that hundreds of meatpacking workers recently rounded up in six states and taken to undisclosed locations by Homeland Security were involved in an organized identify theft ring. Surprise -- it turns out that criminal acts, including "stolen" identification accusations, were the basis of only 65 of the 1,282 arrests. The rest were guilty of only "run of the mill immigration violations" or they turned out to be legally documented. Read this.

For example, of the 261 workers rounded up at the Swift plant in Grand Island, Nebraska, only 15 ended up being indicted for using someone else's identity to gain employment. Officials had to admit there was no evidence of their involvement in an ID theft ring or any other organized process. Here's a recent diary on Daily Kos about similar raids in Colorado (with lots of photos).

If only Chertoff were this heavily focused on making things right in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's tragic wake. Does anyone in the Bush administration EVER tell the truth? Not when political gain is at stake. With this bunch, political hay can be made with ANY issue without setting off any alarm bells in their shrunken consciences. All the world's a political stage, even if people are dying, getting their limbs blown up or having their families destroyed right before Christmas because they had the AUDACITY to accept jobs offered to them by corporate America. You won't see anyone from Swift or the outfit that provided the workers with the fake IDs getting arrested. Just those who took the brutal, low-paying jobs so their families could eat and have a place to live.

In another really Christmasy detail, it's being reported that children of those seized are being left on their own, including at least one nursing baby. Family values in action. The way law enforcement is acting you'd think the immigrants were murderers or worse. These raids were carried out by heavily armed SWAT teams, despite the fact that civil, not criminal, warrants were used to meet legal requirements. Just another case of selective application of the law performed in a way that most harms ordinary people while letting corporate forces behind the scenes remain scot free.

Another ironic twist is that it now appears that most of those seized were bussed across state lines and eventually released without charge. Chertoff doesn't care. He got his headlines, and only the families of the workers will suffer through the holiday season. If only we could get those ghosts that haunted Ebenezer Scrooge to make late night visits to Mr. Chertoff -- and to those among us who support these sorts of un-American round-ups -- we might get somewhere in crafting a just and coherent immigration policy.

Bloomin' Cactus Time

No bird blogging today. The didn't want to pose for pictures because they're so tired from "helping" us with our Christmas decorating yesterday. Instead I wanted to show off our Christmas cactus in glorious bloom. Our cactus is several years old now and has gotten to be quite large. This year, it started blooming in early November and it's going full tilt right now. As you can see, the magenta-red blossoms are bright and they just keep on coming. The cactus seems to love being by the large den windows all year, packed in with many other plants in our mini indoor jungle. We never move it to a dark location, as some recommend. As of yesterday, the vibrantly colored flowers have to compete with the many hues provided by our now-decorated Christmas tree, which has filled our den with the wonderfully strong scent of fresh pine. Ahhhhhhh! (Click on photos for larger versions.)

Richardson: McCain is Dead Wrong; Must Get Troops Out in 2007

According to The Hotline, Gov. Bill Richardson had this to say today in New Hampshire about Iraq and McCain:

“The leading advocate for escalating the war is Senator John McCain. I have served with John in Congress and I respect him. But John McCain is wrong, dead wrong to think that we can solve Iraq’s political crisis through military escalation.”

“There are no quick or easy answers to the crisis in Iraq. Our choices are between bad options and worse ones. Some prefer military escalation. Some choose staying the course. These options are illusions. The only realistic choice we have is to stand down militarily and let the Iraqis stand up and face the political crisis which only they can resolve.”

“I’ve been to Iraq and Afghanistan. I worked in this region...we should harbor no illusions. This withdrawal will not be pretty. People will die. But fewer will die than if we stay. There are no guarantees that our departure will end the civil war, but it is sure to continue so long as we stay. The Iraqis might, or might not, resolve their political crisis. It is up to them. They distrust and fear one another, and this makes it very tough. But they share one goal – they don’t want to destroy their own country. To save it, they need to stop killing each other and start compromising. And we need to get out of the way.”

The Boston Globe has more, including:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Saturday that the administration should set a date to withdraw American troops from Iraq in 2007 and criticized Sen. John McCain's call for boosting troop levels there.

"This is not cut and run," he said. "What I'm proposing is something that I believe will work. A fixed withdrawal date. You redeploy those troops."

A withdrawal should be coupled with a political solution and a reconciliation conference with ethnic groups in Iraq, he said. He said it would allow the Pentagon to redeploy forces to Afghanistan and bolster efforts to combat international terrorism.

Bayh Out, Edwards In
In other news in the race to be the 2008 Dem presidential candidate, Evan Bayh won't run (phew). And John Edwards will soon make his announcement to run while standing in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, which I find very cool given his emphasis on poverty. The only officially declared Dem candidate is Iowa's Tom Vilsack, not exactly a charisma machine.

Saturday Music Hall: R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Aretha Franklin says sock it to me. And we say sock it to us. A little R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that is. That's what voters are asking for this time around. Take it seriously. We mean business. We want change, real change, in Iraq, in the economy, in education, in healthcare, in ethics, in energy, in how elections are conducted. We demand that you start representing the people's interests over the narrow, bottom-line interests of your big donors. Period. Or you'll be out too when election time rolls around again. Aretha provides the perfect sounds for our mood. Listen up, politicos (and try to ignore the hairdos).

I also wanted to honor Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ahmet Urtegun today, who passed away recently at age 83. He was the founder of the fabulous Atlantic Records, and signed Aretha Franklin, CSNY and many other musical luminaries. Unlike today's music conglomerate executives, Ahmet loved music, lived music, breathed music, discovered and nurtured musicians. First hooked by early jazz artists and what used to be called "race records," he was a seminal influence in recording and promoting jazz, rhythm and blues, soul and rock, bringing the music into the American mainstream. The son of a Turkish diplomat, he was mesmerized by old 78s he managed to hear in his native country. Later, he haunted the jazz and r and b music stores, clubs and theaters in Washington DC and later NYC. He helped found Atlantic on $1000.

Other artists Urtegun either discovered, signed, produced, distributed or helped popularize include:

Leadbelly
Sonny Terry
Professor Longhair
Joe Turner
Ruth Brown
The Drifters
Ray Charles
Bobby Darin
Duke Ellington
Archie Bell and the Drells
Wilson Pickett
Otis Redding
Booker T. and the MGs
Percy Sledge
Mary Wells
Dusty Springfield
Ben E. King
Sam and Dave
Roberta Flack
Sonny and Cher
The Temptations
Young Rascals
Bette Midler
Cream
Led Zeppelin
Buffalo Springfield
Crosby, Stills, Nash (and convinced them to add Neil Young)
Rolling Stones
Allman Brothers
Stevie Nicks
John Coltrane
Charles Mingus
Ornette Coleman
Erroll Garner
Dizzy Gillespie
Sarah Vaughn

34 Election Reform Organizations Urge Congress To Require Paper Ballots

From Vote Trust USA by Velvet Revolution and others:
Responding to the electronic voting machine failures that marred the 2006 elections, 34 non-partisan election reform organizations launched a new campaign urging Congress to enact legislation requiring a paper ballot for every vote cast. They expect this grassroots campaign to have broad public support and generate thousands of emails to the incoming Congress. (You can view the letter here and email it to your member of Congress.)

Many of the organizations have previously supported voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPAT), but now, like other citizens across the country, they recognize that electronic voting machines have been national mistake.

“The e-voting machines are a threat to democracy. Putting a VVPAT on them is nothing more than a band-aid. It’s like requiring a seat belt in a Ford Pinto. What good does it do when the Pinto explodes?” said Brad Friedman, who co-founded one of the organizations participating in the campaign.

The letter states: “In light of lessons learned during the 2006 primary and general elections -- with myriad contests resulting in uncertainty and thousands of voters in state after state turned away from the polls unable to cast a vote on DRE systems which failed throughout the day -- we now hold that a paper ballot, whether counted by optical-scan system or hand, is the minimum requirement for any Election Reform legislation in which voters may have confidence. Such a requirement is needed to help ensure Americans that every legally registered voter can vote, that every vote is recorded precisely as the voter intends, and that every vote is counted and, if necessary, re-counted accurately.

This year's elections have made crystal clear that electronic voting machines … caused massive disruptions, undermined the results of crucial elections, and forced thousands of voters to leave the polls without being able to exercise their franchise.”

The letter is signed by:

VoterAction.org
VotersUnite.org
VelvetRevolution.us
National Voting Rights Institute
Demos
TrueMajorityAction
Dolores Huerta Foundation
Broward Election Reform Coalition
California Election Protection Network
Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota
Coalition for Voting Integrity - Pennsylvania
Coloradoans For Voting Integrity
Commonweal Institute
Election Defense Alliance
Florida Fair Elections Coalition
Gathering To Save Our Democracy - Tennessee
Georgians for Verified Voting
Iowans for Voting Integrity
Mainstreet Moms (theMMOB.org)
N.C. Coalition for Verified Voting
Network of Citizens
New Yorkers for Verified Voting
Oregon Voter Rights Coalition
ProgressiveActionAlliance.org
Palm Beach Coalition for Election Reform
Sarasota Alliance for Fair Elections - Florida
SAVEOurVotes.org - Maryland
Texas Safe Voting
TrueVoteMD
Verifiable Voting Coalition of Virginia
Verify The Vote Indiana
Virginia Verified Voting
VoteAllegheny
VotePA
VoteRescue of Texas
Voting Integrity Alliance of Tampa Bay

Happy Hanukkah!

Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights or Festival of Rededication, began at sundown last night and continues through sunset on December 23rd. The holiday is typically celebrated by lighting candles each night of the festival in a special Hanukkah menorah (or Chanukkiyah) in a visible location. Other traditions include playing the dreidel (or sevivon) game, and eating foods fried in olive oil, such as lattkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts).

The holiday was called Hanukkah meaning "dedication" because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration under Antiochus IV. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the Miracle of the Oil. According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days - which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil.