Democracy for New Mexico

Please Listen, and VOTE

I learned that friend and political colleague Meredith Hughes is a finalist in a talk radio contest. I'm sure many of you remember Meredith and her husband Tom from their involvement in the Howard Dean campaign (Foodies for Dean!). Meredith is a finalist in the AM 1350 Progressive Talk radio contest to pick the next progressive talk radio star. Go vote:

Hey, friends---I have entered a local contest via 1350 AM in ABQ to be the next Progressive Talk Show Host nationally (maybe)........go to this site. Please listen to the auditions of all the finalists and then vote for the one you like the best. By the way, I am contestant number 3 (no frills with a food slant).

Watch "The Lost Year in Iraq" Online

If you missed PBS' Frontline this week, you missed a compelling and penetrating analysis of the early decisions that set us on a course to disaster in Iraq. Luckily, you can now watch the entire show online. The one-hour program, entitled "The Lost Year in Iraq," has been broken into seven video segments. The website provides pertinent documents, a timeline, additional information about the issues examined and extended interviews with the key players featured in the piece. Definitely must-see. A jarring reminder of what exactly we are working so hard to counteract and replace. and why it is so vital to stop the right-wing Bush horrors here and now. On November 7th.

Sneak Preview: Moyers on Saving the Internet

Be sure to tune into the next installment of the top-notch new Moyers On America series that will be aired on PBS stations this week. On KNME Albuquerque/Santa Fe, you can see it on Wednesday, October 18 at 9:00 PM. (See below for additional dates and times.) This time Bill Moyers focuses on The Net at Risk and delves into the threats to our freedom of access to the internet that are being pushed strongly by big telecom and cable interests. Click to see a video preview of the show plus much, much more about the program and the issues it considers.

Perhaps most dangerous is the heavily financed (and fact-challenged) effort by big telecoms and cable to get rid of so-called "net neutrality" and replace it with a tiered system where big players who can afford high fees can get better connectivity. Net neutrality has provided a level playing field for all users and content providers from the inception of the internet, not just deep pocket powerhouses. That could change if the massive telecom bill that's already passed the House gains approval in the Senate without amendments to restore our net neutrality protections. Already the FCC has ruled against net neutrality. This may be our last chance to preserve our freedoms on the net and avoid the concentrations of power and access that have become endemic on TV and in other media.

This is the real deal, folks. If we don't win this, you won't recognize what the big media and communications conglomerates will do to the net. If we can judge their future behavior by their past, we can expect big players to have the advantage of lightning fast connections for visitors while bloggers, innovators, start-ups, musicians, artists and political commentators that aren't connected with the megacorps will be hard to access. To learn more, visit SaveTheInternet.com and FreePress.net

Contact Your Senator AGAIN
Fortunately, the damaging telecom bill has failed so far to be heard in the Senate. However, there will undoubtedly be another push to get the bill to the Senate floor after the election, so it's vital that we continue to urge our Senators to stop it unless it's amended to solidly protect net neutrality. New Mexico's Senator Jeff Bingaman has so far refused to publicly support net neutrality and pledge to vote nay on any telecom bill that doesn't preserve it. You can contact him here: Sen. Jeff Bingaman

KNME - Channel 5 (Albuquerque/Santa Fe)
Moyers on America
The Net at Risk: The Internet's future, including the role of big business.

• Wednesday, October 18, 9:00 PM
• Thursday, October 19, 2:00 AM
• Friday, October 20, 9:30 PM
• Saturday, October 21, 3:30 AM

Here's a listing of the scheduled rebroadcasts of the previous Moyers in America show:

KNME - Channel 5 (Albuquerque/Santa Fe)
Moyers on America: Is God Green?
The evangelical community's embrace of environmentalism.
Wednesday, October 11, 9:00 PM
Thursday, October 12, 3:00 AM
Friday, October 13, 9:00 PM
Saturday, October 14, 3:00 AM

Tonight on 'Espejos de Aztlan' Plus November Panel: Disappearance of 700 Women on Mexican Border

From Espejos de Aztlan:
Check out KUNM 89.9FM tonight, Monday, October 16th, at 8:00 PM for "Espejos de Aztlan," a weekly radio program highlighting the courage, strength and beauty of the Chicano/Latino community in New Mexico.  Cecilia Chavez will be interviewed about her work to fight the injustices surrounding the investigation of the tragic disappearance and murder of over 700 women in the border region of Mexico and the United States over the past 10 years.

Panel Discussion:
On Saturday, November 4th, from 4-7:00 PM at the St. Francis Xavier Parish Hall (801 Arno SE), the Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center will be hosting a panel discusson entitled "Justicia para Nuestras Hijas." The panel presentation will feature members of the Mexican non-profit organization ‘Justicia para Nuestras Hijas’: the sisters of three disappeared/assassinated women; their lawyer, from the human rights organization ‘Centro de Derechos Humanos de Mujeres, AC’; and a representative of ‘Amigos de las Mujeres de Juárez, a non-profit from Las Cruces, NM. Also at the panel will be Diana Washington Valdez, journalist from El Paso, TX who has investigated the murders for a number of years and authored Cosecha de Mujeres (2005) and Harvest of Women: Safari in Mexico (2006). 

Espejos de Aztlan has been on-air since 1979 and is part of the Raices Collective which conducts programming on news, culture and music from a Latino perspective on KUNM 89.9. For more information or to submit input about our shows, please visit the "Espejos de Aztlan" link at https://kunm.org/culture/.

Radio Debate and New Radio Ad for NM Land Commissioner Candidate Jim Baca

Jim Baca at a DFA-DFNM Meetup earlier this year

Democratic challenger Jim Baca will debate with Republican incumbent Land Commissioner Pat Lyons live on radio KKOB-77AM's Jim Villanuci show on Monday, October 16, from 4-5:30 PM. You can also listen to a live stream at the KKOB website at that time.

Baca is locked in a tight race with Lyons, whose campaign contributions have come almost entirely from big oil and gas interests to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Lyons is also getting strong support from Republicans at the national level. He's set to launch a massive TV-ad campaign filled with the kinds of personally destructive attacks peppered with disinformation that have characterized the approach of Republicans in NM this election season.

Meanwhile the Baca campaign has launched a new radio ad calling attention to several recent financially questionable boondoggles by Lyons while serving his current term. Click to listen to the ad (mp3). You can help keep it on the air by donating what you can to the Jim Baca Campaign. If we want to elect a candidate who will work for all New Mexicans rather than just for oil and gas interests, now's the time to donate a few bucks and help Jim get his message out.

In the lastest Journal poll, Baca leads Lyons 43% to 39%, with 18% undecided. The outcome of the election may well turn on convincing those 18 percent, and the Baca campaign needs your help to accomplish that. Here's Jim Baca's response to the poll results:

New Mexico voters are rejecting Lyons’ negative advertising and looking instead to the important issue of who best will provide the proper balance of protecting our environment while generating revenue from state land from oil and gas leasing and development.

It is a very tight race, and that may be a result of Lyons’ significant war chest that has been spent on advertising that is paid by contributions from the oil and gas industry.  It’s a simple fact that the oil and gas industry wants someone in office who will do their bidding, and they’re willing to pay for it.

I’m certainly not against oil and gas production in our state, but I’m also very supportive of renewable energy development, and coordinated development on state lands. We must protect our valuable hunting and fishing areas for sportsmen. We must protect valuable water supplies and wilderness areas. Development and protection can go hand-in-hand if we balance competing interests.

We just can’t give it all away to the oil and gas industry. New Mexico voters understand the need for a balanced approach, and that may be the reason why despite heavy spending by my opponent, I remain the leader in this race.

NM Secretary of State Candidates On 'In Focus' Tonight

From KNME-TV: Bring your world IN FOCUS. This week join Democrat Mary Herrera and Republican Vickie Perea as they discuss their plans for the New Mexico Secretary of State seat.

KNME-TV (PBS) Channel 5 ABQ
Friday, September 22, 2006
7:30 PM:  In Focus

Tonight: Another Chance to Hear Madrid - Wilson Debate

Tune in tonight at 6 PM on public radio KUNM, 89.9 FM for a rebroadcast of Sunday's debate at Congregation Albert between Dem challenger Patricia Madrid and Repub incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson (NM-01). You can also  Visit KUNM's website at 6 PM tonight to listen to the debate online, or hear it streamed at the Allegro website.

Considering how much Wilson tends to, shall we say, bend the truth in her debate remarks, it's helpful to have a scorecard. Check out these PDF charts that compare what Wilson says she stands for and what the record actually shows:

Wilson's Rhetoric vs. Her Record on Iraq

Wilson's Rhetoric vs. Her Record on Medicare

Wilson's Rhetoric vs. Her Record on Ethics

Wilson may talk like a moderate independent, but she walks like a Bush rubber stamp.

KUNM Tonight: Ralph Arrellanes Reports on National Latino Congreso

From Javier Benavidez:
Please tune in to KUNM 89.9 tonight, Monday, September 18th, at 8:00 PM for "Espejos de Aztlan," a weekly radio program highlighting the courage, strength and beauty of the Chicano/Latino community in New Mexico. Ralph Arrellanes, of the Hispano Round Table of New Mexico (HRTNM), will be interviewed about his representation of the HRTNM as a delegate to last weekend's National Latino Congreso in Downtown Los Angeles, an event coined as the first comprehensive gathering of Latino leaders, organizations and elected officials since 1977.

Over 2,000 delegates from throughout the country gathered at the event "to establish a long-term Latino agenda and action plan, to educate and train a wide range of Latino community leaders, elected officials and activists on critical issues, and to mobilize Latino community leaders, with a special emphasis on establishing opportunities for new and young leaders." For more information about the National Latino Congreso, please visit www.latinocongreso.org.

Espejos has been on-air since 1979 and is part of the Raices Colectiva which conducts programming on news, culture and music from a Latino perspective on KUNM 89.9.

Listen to Replay of Madrid - Wilson Debate Monday at 9 AM

I just got back into town from my vacation in Colorado so I didn't get to witness this morning's debate at Congregation Albert between Dem challenger Patricia Madrid and Repub incumbent Heather Wilson (NM-01).

Fortunately, Johnny Mango at Duke City Fix was there and provides an excellent commentary on the event, including strong praise for Madrid's debating skills, as well as recaps of the main topics covered. Read it here and be sure to check out all the terrific photos as well. Great job Johnny! And great job A.G. Madrid, who apparently scored a clear win against Bush's rubber stamp!

If you missed the event like I did, you can hear a replay on the radio tomorrow morning. As Mango writes:

You can listen to the whole debate yourself tomorrow morning (Monday) at 9:00 on KANW, 89.1FM. Judge it for yourself. I only wish it was podcast somewhere; it was an unbelievable hour and a half.

P.S. I had no internet connection during my week up in Colorado so I had 1000 emails awaiting me at one account, effectively shutting it down, and more than 200 at my other account. You might say I'll be playing catch up for a good long while. Ain't technology grand?

New Blog: Protest ABC's Distorted "Documentary" on 9/11

A new blog, Open Letter to ABC, has been established for centralized information and protest actions about ABC's upcoming "documentary" about 9/11 that has been receiving scathing commentary from all parts of the sane world. Now's the time to act, so get over there, read all about it and do what you can to stop ABC/Disney in their tracks. In an election season like this one, we can't allow BushCo free propaganda on network TV, can we?