Ilhabela

We spent the day in Ilhabela, one of the larger islands off the coast of Brazil.  It is a getaway for residents of Sao Palo and its flora and fauna are highly protected.

I have noticed in Brazil that the churches here are not near as opulent as in Europe and other places.  Perhaps taking care of other things was more important than spending most of the national wealth on God. 

The churches are quite understated and charming.  Somewhat like New Mexico.   Ilahbela was founded just 8 years before Albuquerque.

We visited water falls and watched local ski over wet rocks and then do flips into pools of jungle water.

Metal

Shipping Containers.  Let me tell you about shipping containers.  After five cruises around the world we have decided there is one or two shipping containers for every living soul on this planet.  There seems to be hundreds of acres of them stored in every port, and outside every port.  Half the existing smelted steel in the world must be made up of steel shipping containers.  If their use becomes obsolete then we can shut down every iron ore mine in the world and just throw all the containers into the furnace.

They could also be converted for housing.  They could be used for many things.  But mostly they sit around waiting their turn to get on a ship.  Which might take decades after seeing all of them stacked up around the world.

Our sail away from Paranagua last night was breathtaking as you can see from the photo.

Morretes

We spent today in Paranagua, Morrettes, and Antonino in coastal Brazil.  

This is real jungle around here and we lucked out by having very moderate weather.  The locals were all happy about it.

The towns and buildings all look as if they are just succumbing to mold and mildew.  It is extremely humid here.

We had another incredible lunch of local foods.  Beef with masa mixed at your table.  Fish, shrimp, mussels, sundried tomatoes, bananas fried, fresh bananas and candied banana for desert.  MMM.

We saw Brazilians young and old.

The South Atlantic

This is a Sea Day on the Veendam.  It is about as calm as I have ever seen the open ocean.  We are about forty miles off the coast of  Brazil as we head for Paranagua to the north.  

I have been reading, doing crosswords, did close to three miles around the deck, ate, and relaxed.   Bobbi took a cooking class and worked out in the gym.  A nice day.  

Stewart Udall was a guy that should be imitated by a lot of conservationists today.  He always found a way to get things done and our country is better for it.

I read today that he passed away.  A giant has left.  This is a picture of Stewart and me at the National Press Club in 1992 trying to convince folks that the 1872 Mining Law was a bad thing.  It has outlived Stewart.  How sad.

Punta Del Este

We had a really pleasant day in Punta del Este, Uruguay.  I think this may be the main playground for the obscenely rich in the world, and I can see why they come here.  The soft beaches are beautiful along the River Platte and the Atlantic side of the peninsula has hard rock beaches.

Then a real treat was a visit to the Ralli Museum, which is one of four worldwide, that highlights the work of living South American Artists.  It is run by a private foundation.

You will also see a picture of Sherpa Bobbi here.  That bag she carries everywhere is a regular Pandora’s box.  Anything a human possibly could need is stowed in that bag somewhere.  Water, first aid, food stuffs, cameras, batteries and virus killing handi wipes.  Bobbi told someone yesterday she was nothing more that a Sherpa.  That will stick.

We now head off for a day at sea before reaching Paranagua, Brazil

Buenos Aires Day Two

We spent our second day in Buenos Aires bumming around with Rachel Sanderoff.  She took us down a secluded alleyway near the Congresso to her apartment.  This place really does resemble Paris.

This city has a motherlode of street trees.  I think that is one thing that makes the city so attractive.  Some trees are bigger than others.  They hide some of those buildings that are kind of ugly. 

We leave Argentina this evening for another stop in Uruguay.  Punta del Este should be an interesting place.  

We actually got to watch the Lobo Game on the ships cable system last night.  Actually, we fell asleep before it was over because we had been partying a little.

Tango Night

Rachel Sanderoff showed us the town last night.  We started a famous bar "AFederal" and then went to a steak  house for Argentinian beef, or several pounds of serious cow as Rachel calls it.  Then off to a non touristy tango joint.  We had a great time.

La Boca

I think the taxi drivers here are really unemployed nuclear physicists.  They manage to get their cabs in between the molecules of the cars and busses next to them.  Or they are all failed kamikaze pilots.  That ride from the pier was exciting.

We made our first stop at La Boca today. 

It is kind of a tourist trap, but it is also an awful lot of fun.  If  you are into color and art then this is the place to visit.  It was originally painted with left over paints from the ship maintenance in the ports.

After walking around La Boca for a couple of hours we headed down to Plaza Maya.  One thing I have noticed in South  America is that they take their cell phones so seriously that they allow towers to  be constructed anywhere.  

This city of ten million is very cosmopolitan.  Lots of hustle and bustle and business being conducted.  A rat race maybe?  But a very neat city so far.

Buenos Aires

We just pulled into port in Buenos Aires and will leave the ship soon.  We have two full days here so we can see the sights.  My friend Brian's daughter lives here so we will meet with her tonight to "eat some serious cow" and then go to a Tango Show.

I see in the Albuquerque Journal this a.m. that City Finances are causing some angst.  I also see that Marty Chavez misappropriated road maintenance funds from the tax I passed while I was Mayor.  I always knew he would be tempted to do that and tried to get someone to audit it.  This is a serious thing but I will bet there will be no consequences.

We will get back to the ship late and if we are lucky we can watch the Lobo game.

Montevideo

We spent St. Patrick’s day in Montevideo just walking around the old area of town which is just a few hundred feet from where we docked.  We did not see any green beer, but we saw green chile in a market.  Last night on the Veendam at dinner they had green chile corn chowder and it tasted like the real deal.

The reason for spending time in this city can be summed up in one word.  Architecture!  One of Bobbi’s degrees is in Architecture so I had a personal guide.  There is every kind you can think of in this old city.  Venetian, Art Deco(my favorite), modern boring 50’s stuff, and what I think is the ugliest building I have ever seen which was made uglier by putting a cell phone tower on top of it. 

Most of the buildings are lovely though.  I have to say that the people here are great too.  They would stop to help you get to your destination if you were looking at your map.  There were tourist aides on every corner too.

We had perfect weather….about 72 and sunny!

At Sea Redux

Very high winds last night and big waves.  Like a roller coaster.  I am lucky it doesn't affect me.  Today we have another day at sea.  I will  hit the gym.  Then do three miles around the promenade deck.  Tomorrow we will tour Montevideo on foot.  It looks like a great place. 

Note to the Albuquerque Journal.  I put up with  your slow quirky website at home.  At sea it is a real pain as you wait....wait.....wait for the webpages to load.  I know times are hard but the internet is the way of the future and you should fix your webstie to perform like others.  How else can we keep our love hate relationship going on the high seas.

At Sea

walk around the ship.....eat....do three cross words.....walk around....read....eat.....drink....get a facial.....eat.

Santos

Let me tell you about coffee.  It made a whole country prosperous.  Santos, Brazil is partially responsible for that.  Using slaves as workers they built a coffee empire based out of this vibrant city of half a million.  Just 60 miles from Sao Paolo it has preserved some of its colonial past.  These pictures are of the area around the coffee auction house.  The sunset is from Paraty as we sailed last night.  So, we will leave Santos late Sunday night and we have two days at sea.  We need them, especially after experiencing a Brasilian traffic jam.  3 blocks in one hour.  But still a great day.

Santos Brazil

Santos Brazil today.  I was up early to watch us enter this beautiful port.  I will post pictures this evening.  I read the Journal online today and see that the political party conventions are over.  Now everyone must understand that they are meaningless and it is time to go to regular every day voters.  Any candidate who did not get the 20% delegate vote should get additional signatures and stay in the race.

Paraty

Bobbi wrote the blog today.

Paraty is a proposed UNESCO World Heritage site well known for its cobblestone streets.    The architecture in the historic area has very little alteration.  Paraty was abandoned twice in its history.  Originally it served the gold trade route until a nearby road to Rio was built and then as a coffee route until the railroad was built.  Paraty (pronounced pa rah CHEE) was not accessible by road until about 1970.  Thus the great architecture.  As we arrived the cobblestone (very large stones) streets were beginning to flood with the high tide.  They were designed to wash the streets of waste.  The colors were so vibrant in this town where the  Free Masons had a great deal of influence.  After walking around for about 2 ½ hours we stopped for some Cachaca tasting.   It is a strong liquor derived from sugar cane.  Then to restaurante Arapoador, we were the only ones in the restaurant for the most AMAZING meal of local shrimp and fish.  A fantastic day.  

Abrajjo, Ihla Grande

We were  up early for a tender ride from the Veendam to Ilha Grande, Brazil.  This is the third largest  Brazilian island and it has been virtually turned into a nature preserve.  It was warm and humid but very bearable on our hike to the beaches and waterfalls.  After being out for a few hours hiking away we stopped at a beach dive for the best beer I have ever had.  When we got  back to the ship some creature that crawled up (way up if you get my drift) my pant leg to take a chomp out of me.  Ouch!  It was a great stop.  There may not be many more here since there is some thought that too many people are coming to the island.  

Rio

We had an easy flight into Rio after a late flight into Atlanta.  We took a bus tour while waiting to embark on the Veendam.  This is Ipanema Beach.  It is hot here and we will leave in a few hours to start visiting historic towns all the way down to Buenos Aires.  More tomorrow!

Misc.

The City of Albuquerque's budget is as bad as I predicted it would be and Mayor Berry's administration is the one that has to deal with it.  City residents and city employees just need to pony up to this situation which is the culmination of over spending by Mayor Marty Chavez and his councils and the general meltdown in economy.  It will be the most harrowing budget year ever.

I will be gone during the Democratic pre primary convention.  Just remember that the delegate votes for the candidates mean very little to the eventual outcome of the Primary elections.  The Lt. Governor's and Land Commissioner races will be interesting to watch at the convention.  But once the delegate voting is over and counted it is meaningless and the real campaign starts.  In every pre primary nominating convention in which I was a candidate I came in last in delegate votes and then I won the primary. Those conventions are nothing more that knife fights.

We are leaving in early afternoon for Atlanta and our flight to Rio de Janeiro.  We cant wait for some warmth after that cold front roared through here last night.

Packing

I am finally around to packing for the South American Cruise.  This will be our second cruise on Holland America's Veendam.  It was refit last year and it will be interesting to see what they have done to it.  Here is hoping that Delta airlines does their part in getting us to Rio on time for departure.

I will post from the ship when I get photos worthy of it.

Students

I for one am happy to see University students protesting again.  It is about time they got off their collective butts.  They have finally figured out that they are being had by their schools raising tuitions and their banks charging usurious interest rates on those loans they need.  I wish they would protest things, like the patriot act, that affects others and not just themselves, but this is a good start.

We have heard much from the media on the problems at UNM between the administration and the faculty.  That has kind of died out while the mania over the Lobo basketball team while they ascend to being a great team.  But during all this press over the last year or so we have heard nothing from or about one group.  The Students.  Where do they fit in?  Between the arrogance of the faculty and administration I guess.  I have always said that Academe is the toughest kind of politics there is.  (My sister Carlota actually told me that years ago and she was right.)  Someone better start thinking about these students real soon or maybe we will get lucky and they will get really mad and move to the streets and cause a little havoc.

When is a Tax New? and Misc.

Everyone in the media and the right wing says we have new taxes now that the Legislature passed about $230 million in levies.  But these can't really be said to be new in the strictest sense.  The legislature cut these same taxes, along with the Governor over time since 2003.  The Governor proudly points to the fact that $1 billion in taxes were cut including the food tax.

So now we are in very difficult times and the lawmakers and Governor have done what the Congress and President have failed to do, raise taxes to help balance the budget.  They have acted responsibly overall in getting the budget in order.  Certainly the return of some food tax is a blunder and should  have had a sunset provision.  Hopefully, the Governor will veto that part of the bill and call the lawmakers back into session to find other revenue sources later in the year.

The media is on to another 'easy' story concerning politics.  They are trying to embarass democratic Congressmen and women into giving  back any money that the now disciplined Representative Rangell gave them from his PAC in years past.  What a non story.  But it is easy to do because it requires no work and takes up column inches.  I guess democratic congressman are supposed to be able to look into the future and discern if some one who donated might get in trouble.

Five days and counting now to our South American Cruise.  Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires and back with many stops in between.  We have our walking shoes broken in and packing lists sitting on the night stand.

Land

I am getting very frustrated with the Department of Interior's inertia on finding good state level directors for the Bureau of Land Management.  Many of the directors who were appointed by the bush administration and who willfully carried out suspect land, oil and gas transactions are still sitting pretty.  We are now 14 months into the new administration and there seems to be little movement in bringing on new people.  I am being told that there is just not enough talent within the Bureau to do so.  In the meantime some of these bush people continue to block changes that have been initiated by Secretary Ken Salazar.  If there is not talent within BLM then Salazar should start looking outside to other federal agencies that have talented and untainted employees who could do the jobs.  These are not easy jobs but they are important ones for the health of the western landscapes we love.

In the meantime New Mexico State Land Commissioner Pat Lyons suspect land swaps with wealthy ranchers are now the topic of Supreme Court deliberations.  I don't know what the outcome of the arguments by the Attorney General will be, but I can tell you Lyons has done a great disservice to the people of New Mexico by trading off some of the best hunting areas that northern New Mexicans have.  Major constitutional changes must be instituted so Land Commissioners like Lyons can't unilaterally do this kind of thing again.  Of course, the people who own the land office, the oil and gas boys, miners and ranchers, will fight this tooth and nail.  When I suggested this some time ago Lyons stood up at an oil and gas convention and said, "Baca wants to take away your land office."

Movie Star

You can bet that Governor Richardson will take that job as the movie industry's lobbyist in Washington in a heartbeat. Who wouldn't.  He can flee the state's nagging revenue mess, the Albuquerque Journal, and his sagging approval ratings all at once.

I hope he gets the job because he could continue to make New Mexico a great place for the film industry.

I have been trying to figure out if the move would help or hinder Lt. Governor Diane Denish's chances of being elected Governor.  She would certainly become a full time target for the numerous right wing GOP candidates.  When they are not fighting each other that is.  Certainly Diane would get thrust into real decision making on managing the state's fiscal problems.  If she does a proper job then she will upset some people which possibly weakens her in the eyes of some constituencies.  She would face this on July 1 as the new budget takes effect.

This will all be interesting to watch if Big Bill gets the job.

Regressive Buck Passing

Well, I just have to say the proposed tax hikes by the legislature just are horrendous.  We need tax hikes but we don't need regressive ones.  And the most regressive is the sales tax.  And the cowardly leadership pounded out a deal that absolutely screws the cities in New Mexico by making them the ones to reimpose a tax on food.  The Mayors in New Mexico should descend upon the Capital to let the legislators know how they feel.  Mayors can be a thorn in the side for these lawmakers who are seeking reelection, and they should use their offices to point out who deserves oblivion.

The legislature has always been somewhat unkind to cities in their deliberations.  I think it is because most city politicians are so busy trying to deliver services.  Filling potholes and having the fire department arrive on time are full time jobs.  The legislators just don't see it that way and it is sad.  I think the Counties fare much better in the legislature because they are more politically active in the legislative game.  Also, they are somewhat invisible and the media pays little attention to them because it is easier to beat up on a visible Mayor in some city.  How many people know who their county manager is?  It is harder to scrutinize five county commissioners than it is one Mayor.  Laziness in the media once again.

I would hate to see gridlock in the special session, but this might be the time to take a stand on tax fairness.

Bank of America Gougers Redux

I went to clean out my deposit box today at Bank of America.  As I said before the rates on the little metal container had gone up 300% in three years.  I had the box there since the 80's.  When I asked the young bank manager why this was done he said, "All the banks are doing it.  That is how the economy works."

I might ask have asked  him what other things had gone up 300% in price, but it would have been seemed as condescending as his remark to me was.  Bobbi and I need to decide if we will leave any accounts open with these guys at all.

What Goes Around Comes Around

The City of Albuquerque has a big bill to pay off as a result of a US Supreme Court refusal to hear the City's appeal of lower court rulings.  It is about a long running case involving down zoning of property near Winrock Shopping Center by the City Council in the first Chavez administration. (This was not Mayor Chavez's fault.)  But now it is Mayor Berry's headache.


When I served as Mayor I had reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit for 2.8 million dollars but the city council did not approve of the settlement and ordered the suit to continue.  They just didn't want to look bad to the public.  Pure hubris!  Now it is costing us big time.  The total bill could come to 13 million with interest.  That is something Mayor Marty Chavez could have lessened but he didn't like the lawyers for the plaintiffs so he added to the problem by not settling.

Does the city have enough in the Risk Fund to cover this?  What will most likely happen is that the cost of the lawsuit will be added to the property tax rolls to be paid for by the city tax payers.