Even in this digital age, I still like newspapers. I grew up with one of the best: The Washington Post. In the evening, we read the Alexandria Gazette, a decent local rag. In those days, DC had another evening paper, too: The Evening Star. My first Letter to the Editor was published in my high school’s daily newspaper.
For all the grief I give my friends at the Albuquerque Journal, I start each day with it. Granted, it has an awful ratio of news to ads (what nerds call the “signal to noise ratio”). And, too often, when I follow a story to the Web, I find the Journal has truncated it without any notice. (I know, that’s what editors do, but it still shocks me.)
We both wanted very much to like the Tribune. As with the Journal, there were people at the Trib we like. (And some I despise, like Jeffrey Granger.) But the Trib always seemed even less substantial than the Journal, hardly worth waiting for or occupying an evening with. On the other hand, the Trib had a better website than the Journal, which still doesn’t seem to “get it.”
Perhaps, Rupert Murdoch (I bet he got beat up a lot on the playground) will buy the Trib and rename it the Evening Conservative. (“Twilight of the Conservatives” has a nice ring to it.) Stranger things have happened, like Reverend Moon buying the Washington Times, another bastion of deep thinkers.
So, though I didn’t subscribe, I’ll miss the Tribune and Albuquerque will lose something important if it passes. mjh
Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Out of Sight
ABQjournal NM: Bush Manual Shows Disparities, By Jeff Jones, Journal Politics Writer, Copyright © 2007 Albuquerque Journal
One hundred seventy yards. A distance approaching the length of two football fields.
That’s how far away police kept protesters from President Bush’s motorcade in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque on Monday while a smaller group of Bush supporters waved flags within a few feet of the presidential procession.
None of the major law agencies involved in security for Bush’s $350,000 fundraising stop for Sen. Pete Domenici— including Albuquerque police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department and the Secret Service— had a clear explanation for the distance disparity. …
Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, county chairman of Bush’s 2004 re-election effort, said the Secret Service makes the final calls for security at presidential events.
Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy David Linthicum said the Secret Service, in consultation with the Sheriff’s Department, decided the small pro-Bush group could stay in its location across from the Abraham driveway.
Linthicum said the Secret Service, Albuquerque police and the Sheriff’s Department agreed on where the protesters would gather.
He said that to his knowledge, keeping the protesters out of the president’s sight didn’t factor into the decision but that he wasn’t at the
meeting at which the decision was made.
Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said he was not familiar with all the specifics from the Los Ranchos event. But he said his agency by policy doesn’t discriminate between Bush protesters and Bush backers.
“We work in concert with our local (police) partners in identifying … public viewing areas outside our secure perimeters,” Zahren said. “We make no distinction as far as purpose, message or intent of any particular group.”
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/590148nm08-30-07.htm
ABQjournal Opinion: Bush Yardstick Keeps Foes Out of Sight, Mind
Should a country founded on citizens’ right to political dissent have an official measurement for keeping protesters out of sight and out of mind while flag-waving supporters get a front-row spot?
If the treatment of critics and supporters who turned out for a visit from President Bush in Los Ranchos last week is any indication, the answer is yes. …
[P]ut the anti-war folks in the floppy hats on the dirt shoulders of Rio Grande NW, 170 yards away from the entrance to Los Ranchos’ Mayor Larry Abraham’s home where a GOP event is scheduled. Put the pro-Bush folks in the school uniforms across from the gate where everyone attending the fundraiser for Sen. Pete Domenici goes through. …
[N[one of the agencies involved in security for Monday’s event explained why, exactly, the 70 folks with the neon-pink peace signs, the “Impeach Cheney” placards and the “Good Riddance to Gonzales” signs were kept almost two football fields away from the motorcade’s route while the flag-waving kids with the “God Bless George Bush! We Pray for You!” poster were posed a few feet from the motorcade.
http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/editorials/590986opinion09-01-07.htm
Oh, Joy! More billboards, not fewer
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
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.
Tonguex-tried
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
Home, Sweet Home
Twenty years ago today, we moved into our new home. Two decades! Like every oldtimer, I shake my head in wonder at the passage of time. It’s still great to be here. mjh
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.