I.D.

Yesterday I had to stop at the Walgreen's liquor store and get some good dry Sherry wine for my green chile Gypsy Stew recipe.  I needed to prove I wasn't under 21 at the age of 69 with my drivers license.  The day before I had to show my drivers license to the TSA gropers to prove I  wouldn't be a danger to the flying public.  Just about every time I make a purchase with a check or debit card I have to show a picture I.D.  I am used to it and it isn't that big a deal.  I don't think a picture I.D. to vote is such a violation of my rights nor would it suppress the vote.  A tempest in a Tea Pot.  A silly culture war that is meaningless.  So I kind of go against the grain of my favorite democratic candidate, Maggie Tolouse Oliver who is running for Secretary of State.  However, I certainly support her efforts to get voter registration legal up to and including election day.  It shows she is a reformer and thinker.

At the same time the mantra of her opponent Diana Duran is sickening. She keeps saying voter fraud is rampant when any sane person would realize it is really non existent.  She wants to suppress the vote.  And, she is carrying the message for the far right that democrats are evil and steal elections.  When in fact the GOP is the one who has gerrymandered the congressional districts to deny true democratic elections for the House of Representatives.  And the GOP has loaded the Supreme Court to give corporations unfettered control of our elections by allowing huge amounts of money to be invested in their right wing candidates.  What does Duran have to say about that?

I wonder how long the sleeping American citizen will put up with corporate control of their lives.  Sooner or later they will wake up and go looking for some guillotines.  I wonder if the one per centers ever think of that.

The Not Great Debate

I didn't attend the lunch time back and forth between Governor Martinez and Democrat challenger Gary King yesterday.  Speaking in front of the National Industrial and Office Park group, neither of them, according to friends who were there, got around to talking about the dismal condition of the construction industry in New Mexico.  They are in deep trouble and one would think one of these candidates could expound on possible public works projects that might help.

Yes, there were lamentations by the candidates on economic meltdowns in New Mexico.  The governor said things are really picking up and Gary King said things are not.  But that hardly gets down into the weeds of how to really fix things.

This campaign will be over in a matter of weeks and it may well go down in history for failing to give the public any solutions to our current and growing crisis.  And the public for its part doesn't seem to give a damn.

Homeward Bound.

Glad to be heading home after days on the road. Then up to Fort Collins to help out our daughter who is having twins.  She is a trooper!  

Grandsons

Bobbi, Finn and Simon.  Syracuse, NY. 

Dinosaur

 I am ending my 22 years as a councilmember with the wilderness Society. They erected a dinosaur in my honor across the street at the National Geographic building.  Bahahahaha!

Last Meeting

I am off to Washington DC for my last meeting as a member of the Governing Council of the Wilderness Society.  I have been on that Council for twenty two years and it is time to move over and let the younger generation take up the never-ending job of protecting America's public lands.

Those who would ravish our national landscapes for a few bucks never tire of attempting to legislate ways to steal that land from its citizen owners.  Every seven or eight years the so called sagebrush rebellion types come up with a new angle and a new name to try again.  Now they are cloaked in the group called the  American Legislative Exchange Council who are trying to insist those public lands really belong to the states.  Pure Bullshit!

The Wilderness Act is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.  It was passed back in 1964 at a time when republicans could still vote for protecting our environment.  They used to do so on a regular basis, but no more as the fossil fuel boys and rightwing business community has found that hurts profits and the once conservation minded GOP find it hurts political donations.

I will remain on some other environmental boards for a few more years.  I do enjoy the meetings and think these organizations can still be effective.  Send them money when you can.

Bipolar?

One would think the registered voters in the Journal poll might be a little bipolar.  They are throwing incredible support to our rightwing Governor, but at the same time they overwhelmingly support raising the minimum wage.  What  gives?  She doesn't want to raise the minimum wage.

The result could be parsed in so many different ways.  People who don't support King do support a higher minimum wage. It actually comes down to just a couple of things in my mind.  One is that the Governor's opponent Gary King is incredibly ineffectual and made more so by being buried by negative TV ads,  and secondly that most people want something approaching a livable  paycheck for everyone.

This poll should give some real legs to a legislative effort to raise the minimum wage statewide and it will actually force the Governor's hand in signing such legislation.  I think it could happen.

In the  meantime other niggling little things are happening.  Gary King's epic and tragic meltdown in the Governor's race continues to the bitter end.  Three campaign managers have now come and gone and none of them have broken into Gary's bubble.

The Bernalillo County Commission wanted people to speak on some non-binding ballot questions at the last second, and have only ended up delaying the voting process for everyone with law suits.  The Supreme Court ordered the county not to mail absentee ballots until they hear the case.  This whole thing turned into a circus.

Part Deux

The Journal Poll this morning shows Senator Tom Udall with a comfortable lead over his republican opponent and war profiteer Alan Weh.  Udall, a proponent of taking corporate money out of elections, will most likely win his race.

I wonder what the critics of the Research and Polling results on the Governor's race have to say today.  Is this poll wrong too?  I am looking forward to more results coming up, especially on issue questions.  They will be dribbling out for a week or so if the pattern from past years is followed.

I am not sure the congressional races will be polled.  The only one up for grabs is down in the southern district where the oil and gas tool Steve Pearce reigns.  I hope Rocky Lara gives him a good run.  That is a tough race because Pearce wins with slightly more than 2-1 in the oil patch and that is hard to over come in Dona Ana County where Lara should shine.  But it could happen.  Harry Teague did  it in a presidential election year, but remember he was only there for one term until Pearce took back that seat.  Teague was a oil guy too.  But, Lara has put on an impressive fundraising campaign and has impressive support.

Grasping at Straws

The Research and Polling election poll results in the Albuquerque Journal this morning shows Democratic Governor Candidate Gary King in even worse shape than I thought possible.  His numbers have dropped as he has failed to get up on TV to answer Governor Martinez's onslaught of slime.  She leads him by 18 points, 54-36.

Just last night ProgressNow New Mexico dug up a month old poll showing King behind by only  5%.  This reach back into history to shore things up for King is grasping at straws.  Especially when that poll received wide spread criticism for the New York Times and CBS because it used unproven techniques.  The American Association for Public Opinion Research said the results in that poll were highly suspect.  Read about it here.

But no matter, I will have to stick with Research and Polling's results because they are always, once again always, with in the margin of error.  It is just hard to argue if you look at the accuracy over the last 25 years of that poll.  I recall everyone went apoplectic when that poll showed Mayor Berry with over sixty percent on his reelect numbers just before the election.  Everyone said that was wrong.  But Berry went on to win with 68%.

The only hope for King now is to come up with the money and do some real truth telling on TV about the economic meltdown of our state under Martinez.  Her filthy TV ads can't go unanswered.

Dog Parks

I guess I am an Ogre.

I have continually asked people to stop using our Dulcinea neighborhood park as a dog park.  It is not a dog park.  Some of them told me they didn't care and would pay fines, but they haven't had to because Animal Control refuses to take action.  This morning there were seven dogs running loose in the park.  There are signs in the park saying dogs must be on a leash and a reference to a city ordinance that requires it.

When Mayor I created the first dog park as a way of giving our canine friends a place to run free in the city.  The city council didn't want to do it, but they finally saw it made sense.  There are now thirteen fine dog parks in the city/county.  There are two within two miles of Dulcinea Park.

I guess this is a city ordinance that has become a joke.  What is next?  Allowing dumping of refuse on any city street?  I hope one of these dogs doesn't injure anyone, especially the kids who frequent the playground.  But in the meantime I am just an Ogre.  

Misc.

Albuquerque Police Chief Gordon Eden has made himself a tool of the right wing by blaming the department's problems on the police officer's union.  As a former Mayor I can attest that the union was hard to work with, but to blame them for all the APD issues is the biggest indicator of a lack of leadership on the Mayor Berry administration.  It is getting downright embarrassing.

In the meantime the Journal did a needed story this morning on how Albuquerque really isn't the leader in crime and murder amongst cities.  I have been saying that for years, but the people of this city are paranoid after watching the police blotter news every night on TV from the poorly run news departments.  I know our neighborhood list serve has become filled with missives about strange cars and people in the neighborhood.  There is a lot less crime here than the past, but people feed on the fear frenzy caused by one incident.

When I first saw that Senator Martin Heinrich had participated in a survivor type TV reality show I thought he had lost his way.  However, the more I read about it I was convinced it was not a bad idea.  It shows that two US Senators with widely divergent views might find a way to work together.  I might even watch it.

Early Golf at Cochiti

Heart Murmur

Everyone I have spoken with this morning are murmuring about Democratic Governor Candidate Gary King's attempt to figure out what is in the Governor's heart when it comes to Latinos.  Other than being a really stupid thing to even mention, it is really impossible to know what is in Susanna Martinez's heart.  So why even bring it up?

King's statement that Latinos should not vote for someone just because they are Latino is fine.  He should have left it at that.  You wonder if anyone in that campaign has any influence over what Gary is going to say at a campaign stop.  I kind of doubt it.  It appears that Gary is in a bubble and going it alone.  His campaign is turning into what most feared it would be.  Totally ineffectual.  It is too bad, because he is a decent honest guy.

And the Governor?  She continues down a path paved with right wing corporate money as our economy continues to crumble and our malaise continues to grow.  I would say she hasn't had an original idea since she took office.

Feel Good

The County Clerk now has to jump through hoops after the County Commission put two non binding questions on the General election ballot as some sort of 'feel good' effort  to keep a couple of constituencies happy.  The questions on decriminalization of pot and a tax for mental health services will clutter up an already full ballot.

Here is an idea for the stampeded Commission.  Call Brian Sanderoff at Research and Polling and have him conduct a poll to see how people are feeling about these issues.  You will get the same results and you will do it cheaper.  And you won't screw up the ballot.

One thing to feel good about today is the firing of that NFL football player for viciously and violently knocking his fiancee unconscious.  That video should guarantee that he never play again.  But if you look at that former NFL dog fight promoter, you know that he will.  It is laughable that the NFL looks to make its players as violent as possible on the field, and then think that doesn't spill over into life off the field.  These guys think they can do no wrong.

Misc.

My sleep patterns are finally back to normal after a week at home.  I always have more problems with the sleep cycle coming back from a trip than going. And I have lost the four pounds I gained plus two more.  Back on weight watchers.

 Now that I am more alert I have noticed that my prediction of a blowout campaign for Governor by Martinez is coming true.  Her millions of dollars just can't be answered by Gary King.  He is realistically invisible.

The most important race, once again, might be for Secretary of State.  Maggie Tolouse Oliver stands a good chance of winning, but I fully suspect that the Koch brothers and others will soon fill the republicans coffers for that vote suppressing incumbent Dianna Duran.  So send some money to Maggie here.

I noticed the Mayor of Rio Rancho is going out to town hall meetings all over his jurisdiction.  I wonder if Mayor Berry is still locked in his office?  I see he is going to Nevada to learn about proper police training and procedures.  Maybe he needs a recharge from the new Tesla battery site.

And why is the highest paid public employee at UNM the basket ball coach?   Madness.

Our Cruise Video

You are welcome to watch our cruise video.  I know you would have to be awful bored and slightly brain damaged to do so.  But in case you are......  See it here.

Dinosaurs Abound

Who knew there would be two stories about huge dinosaurs in one day.  One was found in Argentina a few years back. It is called Dreadnoughtus.  It is estimated it weighed in at 65 tons.  Same as ten big bull elephants.  It ate plants.

The other huge dinosaur is Mittus Romnius.  He was found to be lacking a few years back with his simplistic ideas and solutions.  He ate dirt.  But now, he is back showing his dinosaur ideas center on ever more expenditures for the USA's military industrial complex.  He is a peculiar type of dinosaur in that he, and ones like him, are not extinct.

Ripples

The Tesla folks really had everyone running around trying to attract their new battery factory.  I had predicted that Nevada would win for a lot of reasons so it is not really surprising to me.  The logistics just favored Nevada.  But the ripples of being an also ran will continue to radiate outwards.

The fact of the matter is that our leaderless state continues to fester thanks to the Governor's office, legislative chambers and Mayor's office around the Land of Enchantment.  One never gets the feeling that there is a sense of  urgency being shown on fixing things around here.  Maybe we should change our state's moniker to the 'Land of Bewilderment'.

Things don't look to be getting any better.  Our business community is as responsible as anyone, along with the dismal abilities of our newspaper and broadcast journalists.  No one is thinking about real solutions to New Mexico's seemingly solitary slide amongst the states into economic depression.  How long can this go on?

PNM vs. The Gov

I am waiting to see what kind of nasty things the Governor's office mascots will say about the Public Service Company of NM after their comments in the Journal this morning. PNM will be seeking a massive rate hike for numerous reasons, some valid, and they think one of them is the dismal performance of New Mexico's economy.  They were pretty blunt about falling revenues from falling demand because of less commercial and industrial power use.  Then they said this wasn't happening in surrounding states.  And it isn't for sure.

It is nice to see someone in the business community finally saying the 'king has no clothes'.  And I don't mean Gary King either.  Of course, this will come to nothing because all Susanna has to do is call on right-wingers to send another 5 million to buy more feel good TV commercials.

Sadly, we are adrift and asleep here in our state.  We get the leadership in Santa Fe that we deserve.  And there is still no legislative firebrand that will take over the reins and do something innovative to save our economy.

Labor

Bobbi's Labor in her little garden shows a real harvest every week.  She gets something in return for her work in this 80 square foot patch of soil in our patio.  Those are the best damn tomatoes in the world as far as I am concerned.

As for the American worker their returns for their hard work in this corporate run America diminishes every single week.  Good jobs are now difficult to find and CEOs and Boards continue to oppose minimum wage laws.  How long can they hope to get away with the greed?  They have a lot of tunnel vision on profits.  They can't see the building resentment.  Maybe they should consider what is happening in Ferguson.  That is not just about another police shooting.  There is something more going on there.