| Every four years, Americans flock to the polls in droves to elect a new president. Last year, more than 155 million people cast their ballots, most of them just happy that the campaign was finally over, at least for a minute. Two year later, we have the mid-term elections, where we elect a new governor, and all members of both the state and U.S. House are up for re-election. Next year, voters will get to weigh in for the first time on the governor’s aggressive public health order to combat COVID-19. |
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I lack the credentials to offer a legal opinion as to how the New Mexico Supreme Court should rule in the case relating to the death of Faviola Rodriguez. But you don’t need a law degree to know what’s right.
I remember an old poster from my college days that asked, “What if they gave a war and nobody came?”
That’s kind of what happened Saturday in Washington, D.C. Capitol Police who survived the battle on Jan. 6 were prepared for a second round. But this time nobody came. When the New Mexico Legislature put additional money in the budget last year to wipe out the debts of the athletic programs at New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico, it was hoped that the schools would no longer need to put our football teams up as cannon fodder in so-called “money games.”
As I think back to the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, my primary memory is one of confusion.
I was the editor of an afternoon newspaper in Kansas, and was almost finished with the front page. I’ll be forever grateful to the publisher who convinced me to tear it up and start over. Thousands of Afghan refugees whisked to safety during the massive evacuation that concluded this week experienced their first taste of freedom here in Dona Ana County.
I don’t like plastic bags any more than members of the Las Cruces City Council, who recently passed a ban on them starting Jan. 1.
It’s not just their uncanny ability to escape confinement and sail into the nearest tree or bush, where they will flap in the breeze until somebody comes along and dislodges them. The health and ecological damages caused by plastic bags goes beyond just being an eyesore. This week, the United States joined a long list of nations that have tried and failed to rule Afghanistan.
The Soviet Union came immediately before us. Their adventures in Afghanistan left them vulnerable to the collapse of the Soviet empire that was to follow. The British, Sikhs, Persians, Mongols and Greeks all suffered the same fate, dating back to Alexander the Great and Genghis Kahn. When President Joe Biden announced a plan to send local public health workers door-to-door on a mission to increase COVID-19 vaccinations, conservative pundits warned that those foolish enough to open their doors would be forcibly vaccinated against their will.
One of the few things Republicans and Democrats seem to agree on in our divided nation is a desire to restrict speech on the Internet.
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 has become a favorite target for partisans on both sides. The provision states that owners of an Internet platform “shall not be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information” posted on their site, and are therefore protected from libel laws. |
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