Voters in Las Cruces will have several candidates to choose from in the race to replace Ken Miyagishima. Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Mesilla, where Russell Hernandez will run uncontested to replace Nora Barraza.
Early voting started Tuesday in a municipal election that will result in Las Cruces electing a new mayor for the first time since 2007 and Mesilla electing a new mayor for the first time since 2009.
Voters in Las Cruces will have several candidates to choose from in the race to replace Ken Miyagishima. Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Mesilla, where Russell Hernandez will run uncontested to replace Nora Barraza. Opponents of our support for Ukraine have started lumping in the defense of their homeland with our past wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and referring to them all as “forever wars.” Let’s break that down.
The war in Afghanistan started on Oct. 7, 2001 with an invasion ordered by President George W. Bush, and ended on Aug. 26, 2021 with a withdrawal ordered by President Joe Biden. It lasted for 19 years, 10 months and 19 days, and resulted in the deaths of 2,402 American servicemen and women, including 13 during the withdrawal. I think we can cut to the chase regarding the city’s survey of those participating in its guaranteed basic income pilot program.
In 18 months, the responses will show that families who were given $500 a month by the government benefited in all kinds of positive ways, and nearby businesses also got a boost. Results are already in from similar surveys in different communities, and show pretty conclusively that people like free money. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was indicted by a grand jury in 2015 on two counts of securities fraud and one count of failing to register with the state.
He allegedly defrauded investors in a tech startup company called Server Inc. He has thus far been able to delay the start of his trial. But, those criminal charges were not the reason Paxton had 16 articles of impeachment filed against him by the Texas House of Representatives, which is controlled by Republicans. Three years of absolute power under an emergency order issued during the COVID-19 pandemic have apparently convinced Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham that democracy is overrated.
Last week the governor bypassed the state Legislature and acted unilaterally to pass a 30-day gun ban in Bernalillo County. The ban will outlaw both open and concealed carry in all public places, even by those with a state-issued concealed carry license. Bill Richardson was the most ambitious person I’ve ever met.
Our first meeting was when I was a moderator for a 2002 gubernatorial debate against Republican John Sanchez and David Bacon of the Green Party. Richardson was so unconcerned with his opposition that he instead focused on Democrats in the state Legislature, warning them not to get in the way of his big tax cut. Most of our national holidays are a celebration of people and events that seem far removed. Labor Day is for us; the American worker. Our summers are bookended by three-day weekends. Memorial Day demands that we somberly remember those who died in war. Labor Day makes no demands.
But we should be aware of its history. Along with celebrating workers, the holiday also recognizes the contributions made by labor unions in response to the robber barons of the 19th century who amassed obscene levels of wealth at the expense of workers. My last paying gig was covering the state Legislature for its 2021 session, which was conducted entirely over Zoom to protect lawmakers and staff from the COVID 19 virus. It didn’t go well.
The Roundhouse was closed to the public, and lawmakers were allowed to stay home and phone it in, via Zoom. My favorite moment was when an older legislator from a rural part of the state attempted to participate in a committee meeting from his car in the McDonalds parking lot because it was the only place he could find an Internet connection. He couldn’t figure out how to turn the camera around, so we all got to look at his dashboard as he attempted to make his points. The Communications Act of 1934 states that everyone in the United States should have access to rapid, efficient nationwide communications services, no matter where they live.
A decades-long national effort was launched to bring telephone service to the most rural parts of the country. A Universal Services Fund was created, adding a new fee to our monthly bills to finance projects that wouldn’t otherwise have enough customers to be profitable. The movie Oppenheimer draws attention to the events at Trinity Site on July 16, 1945, and in the days leading up to the detonation of the world’s first atomic bomb. And then the scene shifts.
But for those living downwind from the blast, the damage and devastation to their lives and health caused by exposure to radioactive fallout was just beginning, and would play out in the decades to come. |
Shows
All
Music ShowsClick here to find archived episodes of many of our music programs on Mixcloud.
Archives
May 2024
|