Monthly Archives: August 2007

alBAHquerque

Oh, Joy! More billboards, not fewer

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ABQjournal Metro: City Adding Bus Shelters, By Lloyd Jojola, Journal Staff Writer

Albuquerque will get new bus shelters as part of an agreement with Lamar Transit Advertising.

“We’ve really had a great need for shelters, and funding has always been problematic,” Mayor Martin Chávez said at a Thursday news conference.

The City Council earlier this month approved a bus advertising contract with Lamar. As part of the deal, Lamar will build new bus shelters.

“In return,” Chávez said, “they get to put advertisements on them…”

Of the 2,814 bus stops in the city, 155 have shelters, according to the Transit Department.

About 100 new shelters will be built over the year. They will be lighted at night, using energy collected from the sun. [mjh: making this a *green* thumb in your eye!]

At the very least, the lighting on these eyesores should be restricted to times the buses run, not 24 hours a day. mjh

NADA

Repressed Republicans

Mr. Craig’s Secret – washingtonpost.com

Idaho voters could have a say in whether Mr. Craig continues in office, since his term is up next year. He has not yet announced whether he will run for reelection. But some in the Republican Party can’t seem to push him under a bus fast enough. Maybe that’s because the affair is another nightmare of hypocrisy come true: Once again, the party that embraces a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and blocks laws that would stop discrimination against homosexuals finds itself with a loyal foot soldier who votes one way and allegedly acts another. Mr. Craig voted for the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. He voted for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in 2004. Last year, he supported an Idaho constitutional amendment that prohibits gay marriage and civil unions. Mr. Craig is yet another willing accomplice in the machinery of intolerance that has stunted the lives of many gay men and lesbians. Maybe even his own.

loco, Uncategorized

Tonguex-tried

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ABQjournal Opinion: Letters to the Editor
Let’s Pronounce ‘Tiguex’ Right

THE SAD passing of my longtime friend Millie Santillanes has brought to mind another sadness, which I would like to see rectified at long last.

In conjunction with Millie’s many civic accomplishments, it has been mentioned that she was connected to Tiguex Park. In stating that, once again news anchors and reporters are afforded the chance to perpetuate an incorrect pronunciation of the park’s name in calling it “Tee-gway!”

To do so dishonors not only Millie, but also the late historian Eleanor Sewell, who named it to celebrate the original people and settlement on the site, and it is offensive the many modern day descendants of that ancient civilization. …

People— including media people— living here should honor the true founders and first settlers of this place. They were the Tiguex (Tee-wesh), that was the name of their settlement here and “Tee-wesh” is the only pronunciation. …

RICK HUFF
Albuquerque

http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/letters/588943opinion08-25-07.htm

New Mexico is fraught with pronunciation landmines like Madrid and Thoreau (in case you thought it was limited to anglo mangling of Spanish.) I’ve always avoided talking about “that park near the Albuquerque Museum” because it looks like a French word, and French spelling and pronunciation have no connection in my mind. Still, I like the modern sound of “to go.” mjh

PS: I’ve also heard “Jemez” as “Jemesh.”

Tiguex pueblo – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tiguex, also referred to as Coofor or Alcanfor, was the pueblo commandeered by the army of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado for the winters of 1540-41 and 1541-42 on the west bank of the Rio Grande, north of present-day Albuquerque, N.M. The ruins of that pueblo are now known as Santiago, located on the boundary between housing developments of Bernalillo and Rio Rancho, N.M. About 300 yards to the west is the site of the only proven Coronado campsite, discovered in a road-widening project in 1986.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiguex_pueblo

Letters-to-the-Editor

No Voter Left Behind

As we try to fix the madness that could result in primaries at the Winter Solstice, I think past voting should be a factor. For example, in which states is the highest percentage of eligible voters registered? Of registered voters, which states had the highest percentage participation in the previous presidential election? Aren’t those states full of good citizens? Let’s reward participation (and punish lack of it): If you want a voice in the primaries *next* time, then vote *this* time.

I would further propose 5 sets of primaries with 10 states in each.

Finally, let’s experiment in the primaries with instant runoffs (you vote for your first, second and third choice) and a “none of the above” option (abstaining, if you prefer). I’d love to see the totals for “none of the above” in any election. mjh

A race to the start | Dallas Morning News by Carl P. Leubsdorf

“This might be the last gasp of the current system,” says veteran Democratic activist Mark Siegel. “The question is: What are the parties going to do about it?”

To do something, they’d have to start by spring. Republicans set their rules four years ahead, so next September’s Republican National Convention would have to approve any 2012 changes. The Democrats can wait, but, ultimately, both parties have to agree.

In the first sign that something might actually happen, a top Republican rules expert said this week that GOP officials hope to push approval next year of the so-called Delaware plan. It divides the states into four groups by size and schedules primaries and caucuses at one-month intervals, starting in early March with the smallest ones and ending with the 12 biggest, including Texas.

It is designed to keep the nomination fight open until the big states vote, making more states meaningful players and taking away the advantage the best-known, most heavily funded candidates now have. Lesser-known hopefuls would be able to become contenders with strong showings in smaller, less-expensive states.

And it would prevent one of the current system’s biggest dangers, that someone could win a nomination without sufficient scrutiny.

Tom Sansonetti, who headed the GOP’s rules committee when a similar effort was blocked in 2000 by Bush strategist Karl Rove, said he expects the rules panel to discuss the Delaware plan at January’s Republican National Committee meeting.

photos

Random Flickr Photos

Someone created a tool that generates a random set of flickr photos that changes daily. I look at my random set each day — perhaps you’ll enjoy it, too. mjh

www.flickr.com

mjhinton's random set photoset mjhinton’s random set photoset

random set – a photoset on Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mjhinton/sets/72157601322709182/

Dump Duhbya

Blind to Protest, Dissent or Disagreement: You are with Duhbya or you are against him

White House Manual Details How to Deal With Protesters – By Peter Baker, Washington Post Staff Writer

Not that they’re worried or anything. But the White House evidently leaves little to chance when it comes to protests within eyesight of the president. As in, it doesn’t want any.

A White House manual that came to light recently gives presidential advance staffers extensive instructions in the art of “deterring potential protestors” from President Bush’s public appearances around the country.

Among other things, any event must be open only to those with tickets tightly controlled by organizers. Those entering must be screened in case they are hiding secret signs. Any anti-Bush demonstrators who manage to get in anyway should be shouted down by “rally squads” stationed in strategic locations. And if that does not work, they should be thrown out.

But that does not mean the White House is against dissent — just so long as the president does not see it. In fact, the manual outlines a specific system for those who disagree with the president to voice their views. It directs the White House advance staff to ask local police “to designate a protest area where demonstrators can be placed, preferably not in the view of the event site or motorcade route.” [mjh: ALL of America is a “Free Speech Zone.”]

Not bragging, but I may have gotten closer to Bush with a protest sign than anyone else in America. I stepped out into the street with my hastily made sign and thrust it towards his car that passed within 10 feet. Granted, the sign was small. Read the whole excellent adventure: mjh’s blog — Send Bush to Mars!. mjh

Patriot Act is UnAmerican