I always forget something

I forgot my camera cord connection to my Nikon so I can't send any pictures until later. The ones I have posted so far are from Bobbi's little camera. We are going to the big shopping center so I can buy one and then I will fully update this site. Amazing sights here. One thing about a city like this...you are never more than 2 feet from 10 other people except in cabs and your hotel room. It is easy to understand why they fear this bird flu threat.

The Same Issues

Bangkok is like any city I have visited in recent times from the standpoint of looking at the front page of morning paper. The big news here, other than South American protests against bush, is the state of the regions transportation problems. Sprawl and pollution stories cover the front page of the Bangkok Post. I can read the same types of stories in the Albuquerque Journal, Denver Post, Arizona Republic, Salt Lake City Tribune or Los Angeles Times. The big issue here in Bangkok is about extending subway and skytrain service across the main river.

So, why can't we make that global breakthrough on mass transportation? I wish I knew!

Bangkok and Noelle

We arrived in Bangkok right on time and whisked through customs in record time. Of course, after we agreed Noelle would not be there to meet us, she showed up with flowers. She and a friend were there to greet others too. It is now Saturday morning here as I write this. In Albuquerque it is Friday evening around 6:30. We are 14 hours ahead of you.

We are staying at the Peninsula Hotel. It is right on the Chao Phraya River. We are on the 32nd floor of this highly rated yet inexpensive hotel. We are waiting for Noelle to show up and will start exploring. 92% humidity, but not to hot.







This is Bobbi playing that game Soduku. Got to try that. Maybe it will keep my brain from fossilizing. Apparently, it is really a game of logic so I am probably screwed. She played this on the airplane a lot. I just watched movies I had already seen and started to get into the newest Neil Gaiman novel.

INCHEON

We made it to Incheon and leave for Bangkok in an hour. This is a big airport, which is good because we have a twelve hour layover here on the way back.

Holy Cow Batman

We are three hours out over the Pacific and this new Boeing 777 has internet service on it. Can't hardly believe it. We are in the super duper business class section that is more like a lounge than a cabin. The head steward came up to us after takeoff, bowed to us and thanked us for flying on Korean Airlines. We couldn't even get the Delta Flight attendant out of Salt Lake to give us some water, except after asking.

Big steak for lunch! Good wine. Now a movie and then some melatonin to sleep for four hours. God, then dinner. oh, and little bottles of mineral water to spray in our face....how nice. It feels great.

Outta Here

Okay, we are outta here and winging our way to Bangkok. Look for blogs from South East Asia. 25 hours in a jet....talk about dehydration!

Sleepless in Seattle

We made it to Seattle on time. If we were to match ourselves to Bangkok right now it would be 12:15 in the morning Friday. We will sleep for a bit on the way out over the Pacific. We board in about two hours for Inchon, Korea. Gee, it is raining in Seattle!

Midnight Marty

Today on two different occasions, and after I thought of it myself, people put a tag on Mayor Chavez. He will now be known as "midnight Marty" for sneaking onto the Montano bridge and repainting the stripes. He did much the same thing when he cut down the gigantic Cottonwood tree for construction of the bridge. Sneaky Mayor, but what the hell, the journal put another picture of him and his dog in the paper this morning.

The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths, and to secret proceedings.

John F. Kennedy

Intelligent Design

Now this is funny. Read it here.

This was sent by my good friend Geoff from Argentina. A 25 year old Physics major said he had a vision of the creator being a "Flying Spaghetti Monster" and now wants this theory taught as part of the Kansas School Board's intelligent design curriculum. Apparently though, there is some debate on whether this is spaghetti or linguine. (This will be another lawyers buffet, as long as there is no pasta involved.)

As Bobbi and I prepare to leave for Thailand tomorrow we will think hard on that question. Buddhism looks more interesting every day.

Sunshine On Bernalillo County Government

I have always been astounded at the news media's lack of coverage of Bernalillo County Government. So, it was refreshing to see the story in the Albuquerque Journal today about the County chucking out citizen members of its Internal Audit Committee because they didn't like what they were proposing for next year's audit targets. Apparently, the county administrators were also a little upset that they came under criticism for feathering their own nest with additional perks.

I have to say that when I was Mayor I was astonished at the resources the media put into city government coverage while virtually ignoring a growing and sprawling county government. The County Commission, much like the Board of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, works completely under the radar. I think the reason for that is there is no chief elected official to beat up on. It is easier to harass a Mayor than five county commissioners. They and their appointed manager work with very little sunshine on them from the media. That should stop immediately and the mainstream media outlets should assign a beat reporter to Bernalillo county government. There are great stories to be had there.

Preparing for Vacation

Bobbi and I are getting ready to travel to Bangkok, Thailand on Thursday to visit our daughter Noelle who is attending school there for a semester. I have never been to that part of the world and we are looking forward to it. I will blog everyday from there if I can, with photos! Hmm, is Thai food fattening? Who cares?

It will be 25 hours on jets to get there but thankfully we squandered every frequent flyer mile we had to get business class seats on Korean Air. We leave at 6:00am Thursday on Delta to Salt Lake City, then to Seattle, then to Inchon Korea, then to Bangkok. I hope I don't get heat rash. Noelle says to bring baby powder.

We will just roll the dice on this bird flu thing.

Okay, Who is Scarier!

Wake Up Call

Every morning at 5:30AM sharp the radio wakes me up to the wonderful sounds of the folks at National Public Radio. I drift in and out of consciousness for 30 minutes or so before I turn towards the radio with my good ear to listen. This morning was a bummer. There was bush with his sing-song delivery talking about his Supreme Court nominee, and yes it was from my standpoint the worst possible choice because it will cause a definite meltdown in the United States Senate. It will endanger all moderation and the long cherished and effective tool for minority views, the filibuster. Both Republicans and Democrats have used this tool, but now the republicans will change Senate Rules kill the filibuster and when that happens any pretense that senators like Pete Domenici are anything but right wing politicans will disappear. Call him and let him know that today. Show up at his next public meeting and let him know. This is the time for a real fight and accountability. (The photo here is of Actor James Stewarts great portrayl of a filibustering Senator in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.)

bush's appointment of Judge Samuel Alito Jr. will endanger my daughter's right to control her own reproductive choices. It will split this country terribly.

Don't Hold Your Breath

Senator Harry Reid has called on bush and cheney to apologize for their aides alleged crimes. Don't hold your breath. These are not the kind of guys who know the meaning of the word apologize. Let's see, so far no apologies for lying about WMD's, no apologies for poorly equipping American soldiers in Iraq, no apologies for letting people experience the wonder of living on their roofs for five days in New Orleans, no apologies for ignoring 9-11 warnings, and no apologies for screwing America's underclass in favor of the tax cuts for the rich.

Bill Maher had a great comment on his HBO show the other night. He was wondering why bush and cheney did not just call in their staffs to a big conference room and ask who leaked the information on Valerie Plame to the press. Wouldn't that have saved lots of time and money? Well, I think the reason they didn't do this was because they both already knew who did it and probably gave their blessings.

bush and cheney are independent oilmen at heart. They are used to risk. They drill a well and hit it big. They drill a dry hole and they walk away to roll the dice again. Problem is, they are killing lots of people along the way, both Americans and Iraqis.

My buddy Rodger Beimer called this morning to read the latest bumper sticker art to me. It said that "bush makes Nixon look good". That is an understatement.

Watch Heather and Steve

Keep a close watch on New Mexico Congressional Representatives Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce to see if they represent their taxpayer constituency of if they take care of their rich corporate contributors. Let me explain. I spent a good deal of my government career fighting something called the 1872 Mining Law. This was passed when Ulysses Grant was President. It is a law that virtually gave away taxpayer owned resources to mining companies on public lands. In 1872 it made some sense as a way to populate the frontier west and develop its hard rock minerals. In 2005 it is an atrocity.

President Clinton banned the practice of letting miners buy their mining claims for as little as $5 an acre. Yesterday, the House of Representatives Resource Committee in Washington overturned the ban and essentially propose giving away to American and foreign national mining companies valuable public lands. Look here to see who they are!

In the New Mexico that inventory comprises some 170,231 acres including 44 mining claims with in five miles of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

If this proposal reaches the floor of the House and Pearce and Wilson vote for it they should held accountable to Americans whose pensions and health insurance are being cut in the bush drive to slash the budget. What a ripoff!

Political Junkie O.D.

It is the best of times for political junkies. How much more can we take? Look at the news today. It is like a giant candy store for people like me. This stuff really gets the endorphins gushing.

First, Robert Vigil throws in the towel. Yesterday I had my agency budget hearing at the Legislative Finance Committee. I walked into the committee room and witnessed people and press milling around. Unusual for budget hearings I thought! Oops, wrong room. It was the Vigil impeachment hearings. This was about 1:45PM. The committee was getting ready to wind up again and after some gossip with some folks who were wondering why Vigil hadn't just resigned, I left. I think they were still meeting when the resignation occurred. I don't know why Vigil waited so long to do it. I am glad he did finally resign. The only thing he really accomplished was keeping his attorney Sam Bregman in the news and indicted former State Treasurer Michael Montoya out of the news. The amount of money he allegedly got away with makes Vigil look like a minor player.

Then we have the stimulating build up to Washington's version of Wheel of Fortune. Spin the wheel and see who gets indicted on the political outing of a CIA agent. The spin machine is in need of lubrication for this one because I don't think the White House line of "criminalization of politics" is going to work at all. And then this morning the meltdown of bush's Harriet Miers nomination concluded. I am so high. This is the best of times. I bet Joe Monahan is having a stroke! Now we get to watch the whole Supreme Court nomination process repeat itself. Any bets they will make that announcement as soon as tomorrow to coincide with possible indictments?

Infantile

The state Republican party is throwing a tantrum over Governor Richardson's travel plans to Virginia and New Jersey to support Democratic Governors candidates. Here is part of a story from the Albuquerque Journal this morning, " Marta Kramer, executive director of the state GOP, said in a statement that Richardson is trying to advance his own political career. "Why else would our self-professed 'moderate' governor be showing his true colors by supporting the most liberal gubernatorial candidate in Virginia history?"

Does this officially denote whining? Does this constitute an infantile tantrum? I think it really is minor league stuff and shows the weakness of the GOP in this state right now. As I recall, Governor Johnson did the same thing on both political and issue travel while Governor.

Minimum Wage Post Mortem

Brian Sanderoff of Research and Polling Inc. has come out with his analysis of the recent municipal election. He pretty much had all races and issues figured out, as usual, before election day except for the minimum wage ballot question. His pre election polling and exit polling on election day showed the issue winning. It failed and I think the reason is that people would just not want to admit they voted against something like that. So they lied to the pollers.

Also, in the city council districts where the issue got a good majority of the votes there were only about 7,500 votes cast. In the districts where it did not do well the voter turn out was about 11,500 votes. Do the math.

Once again, the well funded unscrupulous campaign by the Chamber of Commerce is what really carried the day against the minimum wage. I wonder once again if they will reach out to heal the wounds they caused in this community. There is a lot of negative feelings out there about them right now, and rightly so.

Now This is Funny

Now this is funny. Click here!

Read It and Weep

I have always thought Bill Moyers was one of the best political writers in our country. A writer with a soul. Please read this all the way to the end. It is long but worth the ride.

What's Wrong Here

This is a picture of an honor guard carrying the casket of an airman who lost his life in a training accident in World War II. His remains had been frozen in the Sierra Nevada in California since the 1940's. He gave his life for his country in what has been called "The Good War". Apparently those in charge thought it would be good to get a picture of him being sent off to Hickam Field in Hawaii for identification.

Why then is it so difficult to get pictures of our young men and women who have died in Iraq as their caskets arrive in this country? This is the kind of thing that just makes me think that our government is nothing but a gigantic spin machine run out of the White House.

Winning for Earth

The midterm elections in 2006 will be crucial in efforts to construct a sensible and visionary Energy and Environmental Policy for the United States. Right now, we are only about thirty votes away from that kind of policy in the House of Representatives. Let me explain. Right now the same thirty moderate Republicans consistently oppose their party line and vote the right way on environmental issues. The problem is that there are about the same number of not so moderate Democratic members who vote against these issues. This trade means that most environmental votes lose in the house by a margin of thirty to forty votes. So, what reasonable people should work towards in this next election is finding and supporting fifteen to twenty pro conservation candidates who can win, whether they are Republicans or Democrats. That is all we need!

Nationally, despite most peoples concern for our environment, climate change and energy policy, they don't translate their concerns into demanding their delegations vote the correct way. The reason for that is that, although they are concerned about these issues, only about a quarter of people list these as a major factor in the way they vote. Only about 10% of voters say that this is their top issue and only about 36% say these issues are in their top three reasons for voting for or against a candidate.(Duke University Poll released 9/20/2005)

The good news is that people are much more tuned in and sensitive to local environmental issues. Water quality, open space, and land use issues do get people voting correctly much of the time.

My advice now, unsolicited, to Patsy Madrid as she starts her race against Heather Wilson is to work hard at getting support from the conservationist community. She can take a lesson from Governor Bill Richardson on how he reached out to this constituency. This is a two way street however and the enviros should be on the phone today getting her lined up on the issues, both local and national, and then offering to help her campaign if they feel they can support her. I know I will raise money for her and work hard for her.

These issues should not be partisan. They are moderate issues that just about everyone can embrace as being important to America's future. Most Americans describe themselves as moderate and we need to elect moderate candidates to mirror the voters. Now we must face the reality of this. We need to raise lots of money to elect these moderates.