4-14 Sierra County Spaceport vote, April 22

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- A do-or-die juncture for Spaceport America occurs on April 22, when voters in Sierra County decide whether they want to become part of the team sponsoring New Mexico's entry into space.
Part of the deal creating the spaceport effort was that two of the three counties surrounding the spaceport would create a taxing district by voting to levy a quarter percent on gross receipts, commonly called a sales tax. It amounts to 25 cents on $100 spent.
Dona Ana County approved the tax last spring, with Las Cruces going for it in a big way and voters in the southern part of the county making it a close election. Otero County has not set a date for a vote.
So far, Truth or Consequences, in Sierra County, has been a very enthusiastic supporter of the spaceport. Signs at each end of town proclaim it as the gateway to space.
But the vote is expected to be close. Testimony to a recent county commission meeting indicated many people are solidly behind the spaceport. They just don't want to be part of paying for it.
The spaceport is a big investment. The state already has fronted most of the money. But it wants some local buy-in. That tax would also be levied on new industries attracted by the spaceport.
Those industries are most likely to locate in the counties being asked to tax themselves. Spaceport backers predict $1 billion in economic growth and 2,250 new jobs in the region within the first five years of operation.
It also is a risk. There is big interest at this time in commercial space travel and research. But the industry still is in its infancy, with many questions still to be answered.
What happens if Sierra County voters reject the tax? The marketing plan for selling the tax suggests that will be the end of the spaceport. But it seems likely there is a fallback position.
Even though ground has not been broken, much has already happened. Virgin Galactic has been signed on as the anchor tenant and a design has been completed.
New Mexico can be considered the frontrunner in the spaceport race. Most other possible entries are using existing airport facilities. That gives them a head start but they have limiting factors that a new "purpose-built" facility won't have.
In addition to that advantage, New Mexico has altitude, which makes the atmosphere easier to escape. We have the strongest governmental support.
We have wide open spaces and neighboring White Sands Missile Range as a partner for support and telemetry. And we have a partnership with Sir Richard Branson's space tourist company that appears stable and has a proven space vehicle.
But there is competition anxious to overtake us. Branson wants multiple sites for Virgin Galactic. He would like to have launch facilities near population centers with plenty of rich adventurers wanting a ride in space.
The Europeans are planning a spaceport, possibly in Sweden or Scotland. Dubai plans a spaceport and has zero money worries. Spaceport Singapore is being promoted. Japan and China are both getting into space.
In the United States, Mojave, in California already has a spaceport license, as do several other hopefuls attached to existing government space or air bases. Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Texas and Florida are busy.
Branson isn't the only billionaire with dreams of space. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, is building a spacecraft and launch facility near Van Horn, in West Texas. The company is called Blue Origin.
Google is sponsoring the next X Prize competition with $30 million for the first company to soft land a vehicle on the moon and rove the lunar surface transmitting data back to Earth.
Elon Musk, founder of Pay Pal and numerous other companies, has founded Space X to help humanity become a spacefaring nation. Videogame developer John Carmack has started Armadillo Aerospace to develop suborbital and orbital vehicles.
It may be a crapshoot, but we're already in the game and have some advantages. It's no time to quit.
MON, 4-14-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

4-11 Is Carville Really Upset about Richardson's Obama Endorsement?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- James Carville just won't give up insisting that Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama was such a high level betrayal that he deserves to be compared with Judas. What bigger betrayer was there than Judas?
So was Richardson's endorsement of someone other than the wife of the guy who appointed him to two cabinet posts the height of political treachery?
I can tell you this. You can bet the ranch that it isn't written anywhere that a political appointee owes everlasting favors to the person who appointed him. That would be a violation of some of our oldest federal laws.
And maybe that is why Bill Clinton isn't saying much about Richardson's endorsement. But I also haven't heard him telling Carville to back off. It may be that Carville, who managed Clinton's first presidential campaign in 1992, is repaying a favor.
Of course, there also is the matter of unwritten laws. Richardson didn't hesitate to inform his political appointees that he expected them to go to Iowa and New Hampshire to campaign for his presidential bid.
Carville insists the Clintons didn't put him up to hounding Richardson incessitantly. So maybe he is just enjoying more face time in the news than he has had since 1992. Carville says he expected the coverage his remark received.
Three top Clinton fundraisers, according to Carville, had called Richardson and received assurances he would endorse Clinton. Maybe Richardson did it, but maybe the people heard what they wanted to hear -- and what they were hoping report back to the Clinton campaign.
Richardson has negotiated with some of the world's slipperiest foreign leaders and knows how to let people believe what they want to believe.
We do know that Richardson was receiving many calls from Clinton surrogates urging an endorsement of their candidate. He compared the Clinton campaign for his endorsement to carpet bombing.
It seems unlikely Richardson gave three of his callers different stories from the rest -- or different stories than he gave the Clintons personally.
Richardson told a New York Times reporter before his Obama endorsement that he didn't mind being pestered by all the Clinton surrogates.
But he must not be wanting to talk about his decision anymore. He reportedly isn't returning calls to Bill Clinton and probably not to surrogates either. And he has quit agreeing to interviews on the subject.
Carville sounds downright incensed about Richardson's Obama endorsement. But I doubt he really is. As probably the most outlandish voice on the left, he is married to Mary Matalin, one of the more outlandish voices on the right.
Carville and Matalin apparently have a very happy marriage and two lovely girls. If they truly believe the words that come out of their mouths, mayhem would have broken out long ago.
I would love to hear their nighttime conversations after the girls are in bed. My bet is they laugh at the rest of the world. As this column has often maintained, politics is just a game.
Richardson's endorsement of Obama likely will mean little, if anything. That happens to be the official position of the Clinton campaign, by the way. But Carville is having fun making Richardson squirm.
How long will Richardson be in the Clinton doghouse? Probably forever. The Clinton's keep score. Richardson and Carville will never be friends either, but then they never really have been.
Richardson keeps score too. And Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez is in Richardson's doghouse. The two never have been close. They're too much alike.
Chavez got out of the governor's race in 2002 as soon as Richardson made his intentions known. And he got out of the U.S. Senate race when Richardson threw his support to Tom Udall.
But Richardson received reports that a Chavez backer was in Iowa campaigning for Clinton. Chavez said it was not at his direction, but Richardson's vetoes indicate he feels otherwise.
FRI, 4-11-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

4-9 Let's Assess Nuclear New Mexico

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Political campaigns and the Legislature have kept me from the subject of a nuclear New Mexico for the past eight months. That is much longer than it should have been.
First, I want to apologize for a remark I made 20 years ago when the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad was beginning to designate routes for transporting nuclear waste to the WIPP site.
One of those routes was from Los Alamos National Laboratory, down St. Francis Drive, through Santa Fe. There was great hysteria. I pointed out that the route passed just about a block from my home and office and I saw no reason to be afraid.
I noted that the transportation process had been studied and explained in a very public manner with the utmost safety in mind.
I also ventured that enriched plutonium had secretly been carted up the hill to Los Alamos for the past 45 years, apparently without WIPP's safety precautions and nothing bad enough happened for the public to ever give a thought to what was passing through town.
Those two claims I still believe to be correct. But then I said that, as far as I knew, the entire nuclear process, from mining uranium, through research, development, production, testing, transportation, storage and disposal had been conducted in New Mexico without anyone being harmed.
How wrong I was. I was working with the information I had at the time. Sounds like a senator we've been hearing about recently. Now we know of many deaths and unimaginable suffering among Navajo uranium miners.
We are slowly becoming aware of death and illness from the Trinity test fallout. And a five-year examination of records at the Los Alamos lab indicates the exposure of workers and the community was much higher than ever acknowledged by the lab.
All this makes the prospect of uranium mining in northwestern New Mexico and uranium enrichment and reprocessing facilities in southeastern New Mexico worth a very hard look.
Neutron Energy, Inc. is seeking approval from the state for an application to drill 44 uranium exploration holes 20 miles northeast of Grants. The state Mining and Mineral Division is seeking public comment on the exploration permit. It will hold a public hearing sometime this spring.
The new mine would be located on private land just outside Navajo Reservation boundaries. In 2005, the Navajo Nation imposed a ban on further uranium mining and processing. It will lose out on millions of dollars in fees and royalties but tribal elders say the lives of their people are much more important.
Hundreds of gaping mine sites dot the country after mining companies walked away from cleanup responsibilities as the Cold War ended. Tribal elders say they want the mess cleaned up and their people cured before they consider allowing mining again.
From 1945 to 1962 our government conducted a series of above-ground nuclear tests, which disgorged radioactive fallout over New Mexico, Nevada and neighboring states. In 1990 U.S. senators from Nevada and Utah secured creation of a fund to compensate downwinders exposed to radiation.
New Mexicans were not included. Experts on nuclear fallout say they should have been. In 2000, downwinders in some Arizona counties were added? Last year, legislation was introduced to add downwinders in Idaho and Montana.
What happened to New Mexicans, the original downwinders and also downwind from the Nevada tests? Have our members of Congress been asleep at the switch?
And then there is the five-year review of the Los Alamos National Lab files, now in its fourth year. The multi-million search and retrieval project is examining millions of records.
An interim report, released last August includes previously unreleased data on those exposed to the Trinity test, lab workers and those living in the community.
The final report is expected to produce a bounty of knowledge to guide us in our future decisions.
WED, 4-09-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

4-7 Bill's Beard Attracts National Attention

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Gov. Bill Richardson's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama garnered him a great amount of air time and the separate issue of his beard got almost as much comment.
As mentioned here in previous columns, public officials with beards don't happen very often. Beards were very popular in the last half of the 19th century. Benjamin Harrison, in 1893, was the last president to wear one, although Teddy Roosevelt and Howard Taft sported bushy moustaches in the early 1900s.
But facial hair is now out, unless one lives in Santa Fe or Taos. So it was a big deal when Richardson showed up on stage with Obama, in front of 12,000 screaming fans and every news outlet in the nation covering the event.
Reactions varied and every news person had an opinion. He looks better. He looks thinner. He looks more Hispanic. He's playing the race card. He's like Al Gore, wanting to feel like a man after losing something.
He looks like Rutherford B. Hayes. He looks like Rod Steiger in Dr. Zhivago. He looks like Wolfman Jack. He looks like a Klingon. He looks like a James Bond villain. Take it off. Richardson's favorite was Diane Sawyer's comparison of him to Justin Timberlake. Wolf Blitzer, understandably, also liked it.
Actually, he doesn't look like any of those people. The commentators were just trying to come up with a famous personality they could think of who wears a beard.
Richardson says he's going to ditch the beard in another month or so, mainly because his wife, Barbara, still dislikes it. Obviously, if he wants to get back on the national scene, the beard will need to go, although he no longer is the only governor with a beard.
Newly sworn-in Gov. David Paterson of New York wears a beard. He was a very popular lieutenant governor and if he can get past his one embarrassing self-revelation a day, maybe he will help re-popularize beards.
In a previous column about Richardson's and Sen. Pete Domenici's beards, I mentioned that Richardson has no gray in his beard. My wife chuckled about that and reminded me that as his beard was growing out it was many colors, including large patches of gray.
Richardson's all-black beard, along with a deep tan from his recent Caribbean vacation, has indeed made him look more ethnic. As he stood onstage with Sen. Obama at the big announcement rally, the senator looked pale in comparison.
Richardson can be expected to be speaking quite a bit of Spanish for the rest of the presidential campaign as the Obama camp struggles to attract more Hispanic voters. At the Obama
At the announcement rally, the crowd started chanting "Yes, we can" toward the end of Richardson's speech but Richardson switched it to "Si, se puede." The crowd quickly picked it up.
The Obama campaign has had difficulty attracting Hispanics. Blacks and Hispanics are very important to the Democratic Party. They are the nation's two largest minority groups and the most loyal of the party's voting blocks.
Following the rally, one blogger characterized Richardson's Spanish as weak and his accent as bad. The blog suggested that he probably couldn't really speak Spanish.
Maybe Richardson will get the opportunity to speak enough Spanish to make believers of those who think he really isn't an adequate representative of Hispanics.
New York politicians have taken quite a beating recently. Six months ago, it appeared both Republican Rudy Giuliani and Democrat Hillary Clinton would be their party's nominees for president.
New York City Mayor Arthur Bloomberg was a possible independent candidate. And Gov. Eliot Spitzer was pegged as a future presidential candidate. Of those, Clinton is the only New Yorker with a breath of life left.
And this just in. Florida Gov. "Charming" Charlie Crist now has a beard too. Crist has been prominently mentioned as a John McCain running mate. Do we have a trend here?
MON, 4-07-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

4-4 From Billy's Bones to Bolivar's Bones

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez wants to dig up the bones of South American hero Simon Bolivar. Does that sound familiar, or what?
Chavez isn't trying to prove he is related to Bolivar. He wants to prove his theory that Bolivar did not die of tuberculosis in 1830 but was murdered by corrupt oligarchs, possibly aided by the United States.
The president's popularity in Venezuela is fading so he is wrapping himself in the mantle of the ancient hero. He has convened a high commission charged with exhuming Bolivar's remains which lie in a tomb in downtown Caracas.
Chavez considers it to be of great historical and cultural value to run scientific tests to clarify important doubts about the death of the liberator of six countries in northern South America.
His big problem is very similar to that of the people who wanted to dig the bones of New Mexico outlaw Billy the Kid. He's at odds with historians who agree that Bolivar died in bed, fevered, sick and broken.
He was attended by a qualified doctor who wrote bulletins and performed an autopsy. Diaries of those who were with him in his final days say he died of natural causes.
The effort to exhume Bolivar not only is reminiscent of the recent effort to dig up Billy the Kid but also to the 1991 exhumation of former President Zachary Taylor.
Some historians were sure Taylor died of acute arsenic poisoning rather than gastroenteritis. Descendants agreed to an exhumation. Findings revealed he hadn't died of arsenic poisoning.
But the non-believers weren't convinced and charged that the autopsy was botched. Thus, nothing was solved by the exhumation.
Chavez, however, is intent on the exhumation effort being front and center in his campaign to convince Venezuelans, and those in neighboring countries, that he is the embodiment of the great liberator.
He already has renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and calls his transformation of Venezuela a Bolivarian Revolution. And Chavez is trying to shoehorn Bolivar to fit his own socialist ideology.
But that's where it all breaks down. Bolivar was a revolutionary but he wasn't a socialist and he didn't want to build a classless society. He was a member of the privileged upper class and wanted to keep it that way.
He admired the Americans for gaining their independence and doing so well with their country afterward but he knew South American countries couldn't be as democratic because of the large uneducated lower class.
Bolivar's idea was to have a permanent president and keep most of the control of government with the oligarchy that Chavez says conspired to murder him.
The only part of Bolivar's principles that Chavez likes is the permanent president idea. He tried late last year to extend his term but was badly rebuffed, sending his popularity on a downhill slope.
Venezuela faces many problems which Chavez should be addressing. Inflation is the highest in Latin America. There are tremendous food and commodity shortages and crime is rampant.
But instead, he has distracted himself fighting with the United States and his neighbor, Columbian President Alvaro Uribe, while juggling insignificant bits and pieces of policy. And now he's venturing into Antarctica, sending a scientific exploration team.
So Bolivar's bones are going to be Chavez's savior. If he can somehow show that Bolivar was murdered, he hopes he can convince his people that he is fighting Bolivar's fight and is worthy of the same veneration as El Libertador.
When a politician is in trouble, his or her first option is distraction, usually by invoking patriotism. Chavez is doing it and we're seeing it in our current presidential race.
I've only mentioned Billy's bones in passing but there is new information to pass on to you on that subject.
WED, 4-04-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

4-2 Richardson Already Repaid Clinton Favors

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- If Gov. Bill Richardson had received as much media coverage for his presidential bid as he has for his Obama endorsement, he would have been in the top tier of candidates.
It has been fascinating to see how an endorsement that was judged not to mean anything has meant so much to so many people. Bill Richardson has received much more than his predicted one day of publicity for endorsing Barack Obama.
Not all that notice has been good, but if any publicity is good publicity, Richardson is doing very well indeed. All the network and news television channels treated the endorsement as a bombshell since it was assumed by most that if Richardson endorsed anyone, it would be Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Clinton loyalist James Carville brought Richardson days of exposure with his over-the-top comments about Richardson being a Judas for selling out the loyalty he owed to the Clintons.
Carville had to duck questions from several news analysts about whether he felt all previous Clinton appointees owed Hillary an endorsement and whether Carville had similarly blasted old friends such as Ted Kennedy for endorsing Obama.
The eventual answer was that Richardson is the only person from whom Carville expected such loyalty. Why would that have been? Was Richardson the highest-ranking Clinton appointee to endorse Obama?
Actually, Federico Pena, the U.S. Energy secretary before Richardson, has endorsed Obama. Henry Cisneros, who served as Clinton's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, endorsed Richardson.
Bill Clinton's Super Bowl visit to Richardson often came up in discussions. But that was a result of Clinton pestering Richardson for a face-to-face visit and that's the occasion Richardson chose.
Richardson says he came close to a Hillary endorsement at the time. It is probably best he didn't choose that occasion because it would have trivialized his endorsement.
So something appears to have made Richardson's endorsement more special than most. Maybe it was a combination of more than one factor.
How much loyalty did Richardson owe the Clintons? Quite a bit, but there were many times when Richardson paid that back.
He already had made a name for himself by the time Clinton became president and the word in New Mexico was that Clinton would appoint Richardson as secretary of the Interior when he first took office.
Gov. Bruce King told me he got a call from Clinton saying he was going to appoint Richardson to the post and then received a second call two hours later saying he had appointed Bruce Babbitt.
Those close to Richardson were devastated and set about trying to find out what had changed Clinton's mind. Their report to me was that environmental groups decided that Richardson didn't have a perfect enough congressional voting record.
Nevertheless, Richardson remained a loyal Clinton ally during his next two terms in Congress. As Democrat chief deputy whip he provided crucial help to Clinton in passing the North American Free Trade Agreement and the budget balancing legislation.
Following highly publicized diplomatic rescue missions, Richardson became a logical choice for United Nations ambassador in Clinton's second term.
Richardson loved the position and loved New York City. Only months into the job, Clinton asked him to interview Monica Lewinsky for a position in his New York office, thereby involving Richardson in that whole mess.
When the top spot at Energy came open, Clinton managed to persuade a reluctant Richardson to take it over. Richardson knew it was a problem-plagued department but said he'd do his best. Some bad breaks there took him off a short list for vice presidential running mate with Al Gore, which he otherwise might have had.
It appears to me that Richardson had every right to feel any loyalty considerations to the Clintons had already been fully paid back.
WED, 4-02-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

From Billy's Bones to Bolivar's Bones

Thanks, Dave.  Here's how it will look, except it will be delayed until after 4/2 because presidential politics keeps intruding.

Congratulations!! Lucky Winner

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)

REF No:UKNL-L/200-26937
BATCH No:2005MJL-01
TICKET No:20511465463-7644
SERIAL No:S/N-00168
LUCKY No: 887-13-865-37-10-83

FINAL NOTIFICATION

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of
�1,000,000.00 (British Pounds) held on the 21st of March 2008 in London

Uk.The selection process was carried out through random selection in
our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over
250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were selected.

The BRITISH UK. Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board.To
begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduaciary
claims department for more infomation as regards procedures to claim
your prize.

please contact our claims agent;

Mr. Gary White

Email:british.claimsagent044@yahoo.com.tr

Provide him with the information below:

1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:

Sincerely,
Mrs. Rose Wood
for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
NOTE: You are to contact your officer immediately with the official
EMAIL ADDRESS:british.claimsagent044@yahoo.com.tr

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property
Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts

Congratulations!! Lucky Winner

UK NATIONAL LOTTERY HEADQUARTERS:
P O Box 1010 Liverpool, L70 1NL UNITED KINGDOM
(Customer Services)

REF No:UKNL-L/200-26937
BATCH No:2005MJL-01
TICKET No:20511465463-7644
SERIAL No:S/N-00168
LUCKY No: 887-13-865-37-10-83

FINAL NOTIFICATION

This is to inform you that you have been selected for a cash prize of
�1,000,000.00 (British Pounds) held on the 21st of March 2008 in London

Uk.The selection process was carried out through random selection in
our computerized email selection system(ess) from a database of over
250,000 email addresses drawn from which you were selected.

The BRITISH UK. Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board.To
begin the processing of your prize you are to contact our fiduaciary
claims department for more infomation as regards procedures to claim
your prize.

please contact our claims agent;

Mr. Gary White

Email:british.claimsagent044@yahoo.com.tr

Provide him with the information below:

1.Full Name:
2.Full Address:
3.Marital Status:
4.Occupation:
5.Age:
6.Sex:
7.Nationality:
8.Country Of Residence:
9.Telephone Number:

Sincerely,
Mrs. Rose Wood
for UK NATIONAL LOTTERY.
NOTE: You are to contact your officer immediately with the official
EMAIL ADDRESS:british.claimsagent044@yahoo.com.tr

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Find the home of your dreams with eircom net property
Sign up for email alerts now http://www.eircom.net/propertyalerts

3-31 Be Careful What You Believe Tomorrow

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist

SANTA FE -- WARNING: tomorrow is April Fools' Day. Don't be fooled. This message is brought to you as a public service because every April 1 well-intentioned jokes sometimes backfire.
Even this column is not immune to pulling your leg sometimes as an April Fools' prank. Fifteen years ago, when the state and nation first started talking about universal health care, the subject was a very hot potato. Ask Hillary Clinton.
New Mexico had a version, called New Mexicare, which caused an explosion of public sentiment. I wrote a column about how it had accidentally passed the Legislature and unintentionally been signed by Gov. Bruce King.
Although most newspapers included some acknowledgement of April Fool in their headlines, I received cards and letters from readers who either were mislead or didn't think it was a bit funny.
And such is the problem with April Fools' attempts at humor. High school student newspapers love April Fools' editions but youthful exuberance often takes them too far.
A food column in the Santa Fe New Mexican a decade ago clearly indicated in the last paragraph that it was a hoax. But some readers didn't finish the column before going out into the village to spread all manner of misinformation about Santa Fe restaurants.
In Las Cruces, 12 years ago, city editor Charles Brunt, now with the Albuquerque Journal, became aggravated with a local radio station that essentially read the Sun-News to its listeners every morning without any credit given to its source. The announcers made it appear they were digging up the stories.
So on April Fools' Day, the Sun-News printed a special edition delivered solely to the radio station with a completely bogus story that could have been easily checked out and found to be untrue. It worked, and Brunt caught some flack for his prank from straight-laced journalists.
This was a rare instance of a radio station being on the short end of an April Fools' joke. Usually they are the perpetrators. Talk radio, especially, with lots of time to fill, concocts elaborate schemes designed to take in as many of the public as possible.
Albuquerque has seen plenty of these pranks, with T.J. Trout often being chief prankster. One hoax, involving a new bridge over the Rio Grande, a very sore subject in Albuquerque, brought hundreds of angry calls, mostly to public officials.
KUNM got into the April Fools' spirit with a bogus program about a woman who was producing tofu products shaped like human body parts. She got into a heated argument with a man charging she was promoting cannibalism.
Then they ran a segment asserting that the Navajo Supreme Court had ruled that all land in the United States would be given back to the Native Americans. You can imagine what that produced.
Occasionally even the big boys get bit by April Fools' jokes. A few years ago the Los Angeles Times ran a story based on an April Fools' news release from the Wyoming governor's office that somehow had made it onto the Internet and looked legitimate.
So remember to be wary when you get up tomorrow and in your morning fog believe everything you see in the paper, hear on the radio or are told by your six-year-old son.
By next year, I may have strayed from the straight and narrow and want to make merry again. If I start telling you about political miracles produced by that lovable Swede Loof Lirpa, remember to try spelling unusual names backwards. That's one of the more common tricks.
My most enjoyable April Fools' column was three years ago, long after Gov. Bill Richardson had begun denying that he wanted to run for president. My April Fools' column that year reported that Richardson's statements had turned out to be absolutely true
I said Richardson had announced that he truly meant that being governor of New Mexico was his dream job. I didn't fool anyone.
MON, 3-31-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

3-28 Why Did Richardson Endorse Obama?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Why did Gov. Bill Richardson endorse Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. Hillary Clinton?
Richardson says he doesn't really know but he's trying to figure it out. There's something special about the guy, he says. He's an extraordinary American. He will be a historic and great president, a once-in-a-lifetime leader.
Obviously Richardson sees something in the guy. It is something intangible, a feeling that many are getting, including many in the media who have been accused of subconsciously favoring Obama, even while trying to make it appear that Clinton is closer to winning than she is and still has a chance.
Of course, we know the media love a horserace because it keeps people interested. But the numbers indicate Clinton would have to start taking superdelegates away from Obama and it's going in the opposite direction now.
Clinton's only road to victory now is for Obama to stumble so badly that superdelegates decide as a group that they will have to throw the election to Clinton even though Obama has won the popular vote and the pledged delegates.
That could happen and that is precisely the reason superdelegates were created by both parties -- to nominate the more electable candidate.
But Democrats were left with a very bad taste in their mouths in 2000 when their candidate, Al Gore, lost the presidency despite winning the popular vote.
The numbers likely played a part in Richardson's decision to go with Obama. If the situation were reversed, he could have been expected to go with Clinton. It would have been a less painful decision, considering his close ties to the Clintons.
Since Richardson's decision to back Obama, he has often expressed his admiration for Hillary Clinton. It was interesting that his positive comments about her even brought cheers from the Obama crowd in Portland when Richardson officially announced his endorsement.
Richardson's feelings of a need for party unity also were a likely reason for his endorsement of Obama, who has called for bringing people together. The two are a good fit on that issue.
Gov. Richardson's success in dealing with foreign enemies is actually almost crucial to Obama's commitment to sit down with our enemies. It is not a position that is popular with war supporters.
Talking heads from the right insist that dealing with one's enemies is a sign of weakness and is impossible because they don't want the same things we do. Being able to hold Richardson out as evidence of success in dealing with our enemies on a small scale can be of great assistance to Obama's message.
Richardson says that in one of his calls from Obama, when he was seeking the governor's endorsement, Obama said, "Come on, Bill, we'll make history, man." Richardson hasn't explained exactly what Obama meant, and maybe he isn't sure.
But they are a history-making pair. Both are children of the world, with an American parent and a foreign-born parent. Both were raised abroad in their early years. Both grew up "between worlds," as Richardson termed it in his book by that name.
It seems like too ethnic a ticket, although Blacks and Hispanics are the Democratic Party's two most dependable bases. Both have a White American parent although that isn't either man's defining characteristic.
That probably makes secretary of state or some sort of personal ambassador or policy advisor to the president more likely for Richardson.
Somehow Richardson and Obama do seem to make a good team. They had a good rapport during the debates. In his endorsement speech, Richardson again told the story of Obama whispering him the topic of a question he didn't hear, instead of "throwing him under the bus."
There's no telling what this pairing will mean. It may be that Richardson will make some campaign appearances for Obama and that will be it. There just hasn't been much talk about its significance because few ever thought much about the possibility of it happening.
FRI, 3-28-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

3-26 Richardson Re-energized

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- We saw a re-energized Bill Richardson take the stage to endorse Barack Obama at Memorial Coliseum in Portland on Good Friday.
The atmosphere was electric and the crowd was the biggest, by far, that Richardson had addressed during the campaign. Somehow the two seemed to click as they greeted each other and bantered while the crowd cheered.
Richardson spoke with more fire and more concentration than he did at any time during his year-long campaign. He looked rested and ready to go, which is probably what he will be doing for the senator.
A New York Times article, by Mark Leibovich, a month ago said Richardson is now getting seven hours of sleep a night as opposed to the four he was getting during the campaign. As often noted here and elsewhere during the campaign, that lack of sleep showed in Richardson's performance.
When the Times interview was conducted, the reporter felt Richardson had not bounced back at all yet, observing "the accumulated wear of the last year has taken residence in his eyes."
By March 21, however, Richardson's eyes were sparkling. He was back on the campaign trail that he loves so well. Maybe a reported week in the Caribbean didn't hurt either. And most importantly, Richardson was improving his chances for a plum position in case Obama becomes our next president.
Richardson told that New York Times reporter that he thinks about being someone's running mate or secretary of state but he's not pining for it. "If it doesn't happen," he said, " I've had a great life. I'm at peace with myself."
Well, yeah, sure, he could probably handle it, but he surely perked up when his chances suddenly improved.
Maybe his chances always were pretty good with whichever candidate he endorsed, although the general feeling was that Richardson would have a better chance with Hillary Clinton since she is the one who had teased him publicly about choosing him as a running mate.
But Richardson said he received frequent calls from both candidates seeking an endorsement and, in addition, received many calls every day from heavyweights calling on behalf of Clinton.
Obama's calls were very precise, Richardson told Leibovich. He rarely pestered him with surrogates. Obama's approach was more like a surgical bomb, Richardson said. The Clinton's were more like a carpet bomb.
Former President Bill Clinton kept insisting on a face-to-face meeting with Richardson, who was in the middle of a legislative session at the time. Finally Richardson agreed if Clinton would come to New Mexico to watch the Super Bowl with him. Clinton revised his schedule and came.
It wasn't the first time the two had watched a game on television. It happened often at the White House. They both are very fond of smoking cigars, sipping wine and eating great quantities of hot wings, barbecued ribs and shrimp.
Expectations were that Clinton would get an endorsement for Hillary out of the get-together. Richardson says he came close.
The final decision was painful for Richardson. He owes much of his political stature to the former president who appointed him to two cabinet positions during his second term.
It is seldom mentioned that Clinton also was going to appoint Richardson as Interior secretary during his first term but changed his mind at the very last minute and appointed former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt.
Richardson's endorsement of Obama may help some with Hispanic voters and with superdelegates. But the possibility of having Richardson on his team to answer those 3 a.m. phone calls about foreign crises is probably what the former U.N. ambassador adds most..
And the timing was perfect for Obama after a week of news clips about his former pastor. The Richardson endorsement and the State Department passport mess managed to push that out of the way.
WED, 3-26-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

3-24 Why Not Hold All Elections At the Same Time?

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Do conventions, filing days, elections and caucuses have you a little confused? They're coming hard and fast and even the pros have difficulty keeping up.
Wouldn't it be nice if all elections, from water board to president, could be held at the same time? We could have a national primary election for all partisan offices, followed by a general election for all offices, partisan and non partisan.
That would produce some very long ballots but with mail balloting and online balloting, it might become a possibility. And think of the turnout if people only had to vote twice every two years instead of practically every month.
Recently I received an e-mail from a national political consultant who has been in the business since the early 1970s. He told of attending a Santa Fe County Democratic convention earlier this month that bore little resemblance to what even he had anticipated.
At present we are in the middle of a 10-day period that includes state party preprimary nominating conventions, a filing day for local and district elected officials, and a supplemental filing day for congressional candidates.
Also in March, we have had county party nominating conventions and most municipalities have had elections. So far, we're only talking about political events in March. The process began in January and ends next November. March is the busiest month but every month has some action.
There are different election procedures for nearly every type of public office. School board elections are in February. Most city elections are in March, although some are in October. Community college elections are at a separate time. Special elections and bond elections can be at anytime.
The presidential nominating procedure is separate from the process for all other offices and, as we know so well, every state has a different procedure.
And lest you think state party conventions are over, delegates to the Democratic and Republican national conventions still must be selected. Democrats will do that in April. Republicans will meet in June.
And we all realize that last February Democrats selected the number of delegates for each candidate they will send. Republicans will do it during the June 3 primary elections.
Besides the presidential nominating procedures, there are two other classes of partisan offices, each with a different election timetable. Candidates for federal and statewide offices had to file in February.
They recently went through a preprimary nominating convention to determine ballot placement for those receiving 20 percent or more of the delegate vote. Those candidates not receiving 20 percent have the choice of gathering additional nominating petition signatures and submitting them on March 25.
Candidates for county offices and district offices didn't have to file until March 18 and don't have to go through a preprimary nominating convention. Candidates from all three classes will run in the June 3 preprimary election, except the Democratic presidential candidates, who already have been selected by a February party caucus.
So is everything clear now? Of course not. It isn't even clear to the experts. I certainly don't understand it all but I catch state and national experts in mistakes fairly often.
If you ever get a fancy to run for office, let's hope you have either been recruited by someone who can guide you through the system or you can find someone to help. Because even figuring out where to start the process can be difficult.
The secretary of state's Web site at www.sos.state.nm.us is probably the best place to start. It has all the laws, forms and calendars to help you get started.
If you are a New Mexican just wanting to understand how the system all fits together, heaven help you. I am not aware of any such publication.
MON, 3-24-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

3-21 Big Surprises at Party Conventions

By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- With four of New Mexico's five congressional seats wide open this year, there is no doubt this will be the most exciting election season ever.
Exciting was the word for the preprimary nominating conventions held by both major parties last weekend. With almost no public polling yet, guesses as to who the Democrats and Republicans would put on their ballots were all over the place.
Democrats always have a bigger turnout to conventions than Republicans. But with three of the four federal offices currently being held by Republicans, many expected GOP candidates for those positions would generate a heavy turnout. Democrats, however, outnumbered Republicans about 4-to-1.
The GOP U.S. Senate race turned out about as originally predicted. But those predictions were revised when Rep. Steve Pearce predicted a huge victory and his opponent, Rep. Heather Wilson, agreed.
So when Pearce won by nine points, his solid victory appeared more like a disappointment. Nevertheless Pearce termed it a huge upset and Wilson called it a victory.
What does this mean for the June 3 primary? Most predictions are that the nine-point margin will narrow. Experience tells us party conventions tend to attract the true believers -- Republicans who are more conservative and Democrats who are more liberal.
In ratings of their congressional voting records, Pearce scores in the 90 percent range among conservative groups and near zero among liberal groups. Wilson scores near 50 percent among both groups.
A moderate voting record is what Wilson needed to win her Albuquerque House district. So she wasn't expected to do well at the convention. She'll do better in the June primary but will have to run to the right of her congressional voting record in order to win.
In the 1st Congressional district, the surprise was Michelle Lujan Grisham's solid 28 percent performance compared to three-time Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who polled only 11 percent of the delegates.
Vigil-Giron explained that away by noting she got in the race only five weeks earlier and already had gathered the necessary additional signatures since she wasn't expecting to garner the required 20 percent of convention delegates.
It was no surprise that Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White took 85 percent of the vote on the GOP side. The surprise was that Sen. Joe Carraro decided the following Tuesday to stay in the race rather than file for reelection to his current state Senate seat.
Both races are still wide open in the 2nd Congressional District. On the Democratic side, young Bill McCamley surprised by taking almost 50 percent of the vote in a four-man race despite being outspent by Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague, who has Lt. Gov. Diane Denish out campaigning for him.
Aubrey Dunn, Jr. took the GOP side despite criticism for not being Republican enough. Earl Green and Ed Tinsley, who have run for the seat before, took second and third..
Just missing out on the 20 percent threshold was Hobbs Mayor Monty Newman who says he is still very much in the race. It may end up a five-candidate primary with Greg Sowards loaning his campaign big money to stay in the race.
In that six-way race in the 3rd Congressional District, unknown but well-financed Don-Wiviott surprised with 30 percent of the vote against favorite Ben Ray Lujan's 40 percent. Wiviott wasn't even expecting to get on the ballot at the convention so filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the Legislature's action last year eliminating the extra-petition route for getting on the ballot.
His suit was dropped when the 2008 Legislature repealed its new law. The other four candidates in the race may all file extra petitions to bring the race back up to six people.
No candidate using the extra-petition route has ever gone on to win a primary election but that hasn't kept them from trying. About all the nominating conventions did this year was determine the order of candidates on the ballot.
FRI, 3-21-08

JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com

 

There will be no column for Wed, 3/19. Back to you for Fri, 3/21.

---

Windows Live Hotmail is giving away Zunes. Enter for your chance to win. Enter Now!

MON, 3-17-08


SANTA FE - something strange is happening in the current presidential primary and it appears the Barack Obama campaign is largely responsible. According to an Associated Press article, voter turnouts for primaries and caucuses in most states are bigger than they have been in 40 years.
New Mexico hasn't been the only state to experience serious ballot shortages and not enough poll workers. In some states with electronic voter databases, computers crashed from overload. California counted ballots for longer than New Mexico, but once again, we took center stage because our election was too close to call until the last ballots were counted.
It is now coming to light that some big states that voted weeks ago are still counting ballots that could change the Democratic delegate count. It won't change who won he state, as it did in New Mexico, but the difference of one or two national convention delegates has become significant.
Much of the record turnout appeared to be due to the presence of the first woman and first black candidate with a chance of actually winning. The turnout for Hillary Clinton wasn't unexpected. She was the presumptive winner before the season started.
The big surprise came from the huge Obama turnouts for primary elections, and especially caucuses. He has done something to get large numbers of voters to the polls who never have voted before.
Most pundits have attributed that turnout to Obama's message of hope that has resonated with a public grown tired of negativity. And to some extent, they must be correct.
But there's an even bigger reason. Obama was a community organizer in Chicago, the cradle of modern community organizing. It has long been known that the principles of community organizing can be applied to political organizing.
Those applications began to be perfected by Chicago theoretician Saul Alinsky in the 1960s. Obama has now taken those applications farther than anyone else and added his own touches to make his political organizing the most successful ever.
Reports indicate that a recent Hillary Clinton campaign expense filing revealed spending of $5 million a month on a handful of top consultants. Obama is raising and spending more than Clinton, so it may be that he is spending a somewhat equal amount on thousands of organizers throughout the country.
These organizers are motivating people who never have participated in the political process, getting them to the polls, training them in the unique caucus procedures of each state and creating a multitude of volunteers such as no campaign has ever seen. And they are helping him raise big money.
If this sounds easy, it isn't. I was involved with advising college students, back in the late '60s, on organizing to secure the 18-year-old vote. A significant part of that movement began in New Mexico, then spread to the national level.
The dream was that the organizing techniques used to achieve the constitutional amendment could then be used to turn out the young vote and seriously affect national politics. It produced some believers. Hollywood movies were made about the under-30 generation taking over the world.
But it didn't happen. Young voters have continued to have the lowest turnout. Obama now appears to have mobilized that group, and others with low turnout, like no one else ever has.
If anyone could be in the position to do it, Obama fits the bill. He is highly intelligent and very firmly grounded in the aspects of organizing. He has tweaked the old Alinsky model to use hope, instead of despair, as his message.
He has accomplished that with a promise of change. All candidates, even back when Democratic and Republican fields were full, added change to their platforms.
In case this sounds as though I've become an Obama supporter. I haven't. Perhaps it's a generational thing or that I've heard messages of hope and change too many times. I relate best to John McCain, my elder by a year, but I haven't made up my mind. There still is plenty of time.

---

Enter the Zune-A-Day Giveaway for your chance to win — day after day after day Enter Now!

3-14 Military Museum Controversy

FRI, 3-14-08


SANTA FE - some legislative issues never really surface until after the governor vetoes them. Such was the case with a bill to create a veterans military museum in Dona Ana County.
The measure passed with only three dissenting votes in the 112-member legislature. Without a little bit of conflict, such legislation seldom gets much attention in the press. But when Gov. Bill Richardson vetoed the museum, that is a story.
The sponsor, Sen. Lee Rawson of Dona Ana County, said Richardson's veto is not the big issue; it is his lack of honor. Those are strong words, even for politics. There is the presumed charge that Richardson is not an honorable person and also an underlying military connotation to heighten the support of veterans.
But evidently not all New Mexico veterans supported the Dona Ana County museum. The governor's office says veterans across the state expressed concern that Rawson's bill designated a specific location when other communities also would like to be considered.
Over 30 communities across the state currently have military monuments. Some have been pushing actively for a military museum. Richardson says he told Rawson he would need to consult with those communities. Instead, a Richardson statement says, 'Rawson rammed this bill through without any consultation."
The governor says he will convene a task force to fully consider the most appropriate location for a state veterans museum. That task force, he says, will include veterans from across the state, including Dona Ana County. Richardson says he strongly supports building a museum to "honor" New Mexico's veterans and rich military history.
There are many good locations around New Mexico for a military museum. On July 4, 2005, a veterans' memorial monument was dedicated in Santa Fe to honor all New Mexico veterans and the five military branches in which they served. The memorial is located just north of the Bataan Memorial Building.
A Bataan military museum is located in the old armory where New Mexico National Guardsmen were gathered in the summer of 1941 following their activation. Needless to say, Santa Fe veterans have held hope for a state military museum. Rio Rancho veterans also have been angling for a New Mexico Military Museum of History.
Veterans in southern New Mexico point out that only two of the state's eight museums are located south of Albuquerque, making the south a prime candidate for the next museum.
Las Cruces would be an excellent location and Richardson says it will be strongly considered. Rep. Jeff Steinborn of Las Cruces says locals will "pull out all the stops" to demonstrate it is clearly the best location.
Folks in Lincoln County are promoting Fort Stanton as the most logical site for a military museum. The buildings from the fort have been preserved all these years and the state already owns them. The fort has ties to World War II, Indian wars, buffalo soldier history, the Bosque Redondo, the Lincoln County War and two military cemeteries on site. Also, colorful Gen. Black Jack Pershing was stationed there.
Museums are costly projects. The state has to reject frequent offers for the donation of private museums because the cost of operation is high. But New Mexico should have a military museum because of its abundant military history. New Mexico militias date back to 1598.
In 1841 and 1862 we successfully defended ourselves against invasion by Texas troops. Our Rough Riders served with distinction in the Spanish-American War and our National Guard held off the Japanese in the Philippines long enough for the United States to mobilize for World War II.
Longtime readers of this column know of its advocacy of a movie similar to that of Texas, glorifying our history. The Texas IMAX film concentrates mostly on its glorious defeat by Gen. Santa Anna at the Alamo. New Mexico has two glorious defeats of the Texans it should be bragging about, but never does.

---

Enter the Zune-A-Day Giveaway for your chance to win — day after day after day Enter Now!

FROM MAJOR ERIC MILLER IN IRAQ.

Hello,

I am. Eric miller and I am a British soldier attached to UN peace keeping force in Iraq. I am the commanding officer of the First Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment.

As you may know, everyday there are several cases of insurgent attacks and suicide bombs going on here. We have managed to move funds belonging to some demised persons who were attacked and killed through these attacks.

The total amount is US$15 Million dollars in cash. We want to move this money to you, so that you can help keep our share for us until when we shall come over to meet you. My partner and I will take 70%, . while you take 30%. No strings attached! Just help us move it out of Iraq which is a war zone right now. We plan on using Diplomatic courier and shipping the money out in two largemetallic Boxes, using diplomatic immunity.If you are interested, I will send you the full details. My job is to find a good partner that we can trust and is ready to assist us. Can we trust you? When you receive this letter, kindly send me an e-mail signifying your interest including your most confidential telephone/fax numbers and other contact details for quick communication.

This business is risk free. The boxes can be shipped out in 48hrs.Please If you are Interested in assisting, kindly reply through this PRIVATE and CONFIDENTIAL Email for further documentations and briefing, (emericmillereric@gmail.com).

PLEASE, TREAT THIS PROPOSAL AS TOP SECRET.

Respectfully,

MAJOR. ERIC H MILLER

Another Texas Land Grab

WED, 3-12-08

SANTA FE - The Togas have always tried to get along with their conquerors. Originally they were the Isleta Pueblo, south of present-day Albuquerque. They cooperated with the Spanish colonization in 1598, when other pueblos fought to retain their land.
During the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, they sided with the Spanish, fleeing down the Rio Grande with them to establish Ysleta Pueblo del Sur, southeast of present-day El Paso, Texas.
After the Spanish retook present-day New Mexico, some of the Isletas reestablished their pueblo and others stayed at Ysleta del Sur. The name Tigua refers to their Tiwa language, which they share with four other pueblos.
When Texas gained its independence from Mexico, the Togas became loyal Texans. Texas returned their loyalty, in 1871, by stripping the pueblo of the land it had been granted by the Spanish government and reaffirmed by the Mexican and U.S. governments. The city of Ysleta, Texas, now occupies the 23,000 acres formerly owned by the pueblo.
That wasn't the end of the Togas' shabby treatment by Texas. When the federal government approved casinos on Indian land, Texas entered into an agreement with the pueblo to allow the creation of Speaking Rock Casino
A few years later, Jack Abramoff, now in federal prison for corruption, prevailed on the state to revoke the agreement and close the casino. Subsequently, the Togas paid Abramoff millions to get their casino reopened. But the new deal fell through, with Abramoff collecting millions more from competing interests.
A little over a year ago, the Togas asked the U.S. Interior Department to conduct a study of whether Texas had violated federal law when it took the pueblo's land. The resulting 172-page report concluded that Texas stole the land.
The Interior Department has now entered into an agreement with the Togas stipulating its responsibility to help the pueblo develop its land and water rights claims "and to take actions consistent with those rights."
Both parties have agreed to keep the specifics confidential. Those specifics could include a suit by the federal government against which Texas cannot claim sovereign immunity.
The Texas governor's office has let its feelings be known, stating "Texas faces serious challenges on a number of issues and real problems that need to be addressed. This isn't one of them."
It may not be quite that easy to blow off the federal government. The Togas have many serious problems that need addressed, and without land or water rights, they don't have many solutions.
Certainly New Mexico never has taken land from any of its 19 pueblos. We also are well aware of Texas' penchant for grabbing land. Twice, in the 1800s, we repelled Texas invasions designed to take our entire state.
The Texans finally had to settle for taking over 600,000 acres along our eastern border as part of its agreement with Congress to allow us to become a state.
Congress originally established the New Mexico-Texas boundary at the 103rd meridian. In 1859, an incompetent surveyor mapped a line that varied from 1.5 to 3.7 miles west of where it should have been, according to Roswell historian Elvis Fleming.
Texas was able to reject a more accurate survey of the border through its clout in Congress. The acreage was important to the Texas Legislature because it was selling land along the New Mexico border, at the time, to finance a magnificent capitol building. New Mexico land ended up paying for a chunk of that building.
The New Mexico Legislature has tried many times to regain the lost land. In 1912, as soon as we became a state, the Legislature appropriated money to prosecute such suits as were necessary to get our land back. Subsequent legislatures appropriated additional amounts through 1931.
But New Mexico had agreed to give up the land in order to get the permission of Texas for statehood, as required by Congress. We protested that we had to surrender the land under duress but we couldn't get a court to agree.
May the Togas fare better.

---

Enter the Zune-A-Day Giveaway for your chance to win — day after day after day Enter Now!

Political Dynasties Shouldn't Be Much of a Worry

MON, 3-10-08

SANTA FE - There has been far too much worry about political dynasties. Recently the fretting here and abroad has been about two families controlling the White House for at least 24 years if Hillary Clinton were to become president.
It appears Democrat voters have taken care of that problem, but quite frankly, a string of Bushes could be back in four years. Jeb Bush appeared to be in line to be a candidate in 2000, but then it became more advantageous for George W. to run that year. Jeb still will be available in 2012 and after that, some of the impressive next generation of Bushes will be ready.
That would be more than a sufficiency of Bushes, for sure, but it's not like Poppy ran his son's presidency. By the time Dick Cheney picked himself as the vice-presidential candidate, it became the Cheney administration.
Dad was out. He wasn't consulted on anything and had he been, his advice often would have run counter to George W's actions. When George W. won the GOP nomination as a compassionate conservative, it appeared father and son's administrations would look much the same. But it didn't work out that way.
And no one can argue that Bill Clinton's eight years between Bush father and son carried forward Bush policies. So what's the reason to start fretting quite yet?
Electing Hillary in 2008 would present a different problem. First, keeping the presidency in the same generation doesn't technically qualify as a dynasty.
The fear here was that a husband is running his wife so he can hang onto the presidency. It's likely a factor working against Hillary. Recently in Argentina, a wife did succeed her husband.
After Hillary and Bill, the Clintons don't leave those who are bothered by the threat of a Clinton dynasty much to worry about. Chelsea Clinton wasn't out front campaigning for Mom.
She was always there, standing silently, possibly to discourage any rumors that she was estranged from the family, as some other candidates have had to face. But neither was she firing up audiences as some other offspring have done.
In his excellent book, Adopted Son, the story of the relationship between George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, historian Dave Clary, of Roswell, notes that the United States was saved from the very real threat of a dynastic takeover by the fact that George Washington had no children.
John Adams, our second president, did have a son, John Quincy Adams, who did become president. But in between the two Adams were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, none of whom had sons. That and the fact that both Adams were one-termers, effectively eliminated any threat that dynasties might become a tradition.
Presidents Harrison and Roosevelt, both of whom occurred twice in our history, were related, but not closely enough to pose any dynastic threats. The Kennedys tried. They had money and large families but it didn't work out.
New Mexico is not without its dynastic fears. Most worrisome has been the King family. What a name to build a dynasty around. Bruce King was elected governor three times back in the days when state officials could not immediately succeed themselves.
King's brothers, Sam and Don also held elective office for many years. Son Gary has run for governor twice, Congress once and currently is attorney general. Nephew David (Sam's son) has been state treasurer and currently is on the Public Regulation Commission. Niece Rhonda (Don's daughter) holds the House of Representatives seat that Gary, Don and Bruce all held.
That's three Kings who currently hold public office. All three could go higher, as could Jerry (another of Sam's sons) who has held Sam's old spot on the Moriarty School Board.
That may be a fearsome number of people. But as far as I can tell, they're not bent of ruling New Mexico. They just have politics in their blood.

---

Help yourself to FREE treats served up daily at the Messenger Café. Stop by today!

2008 Online Promotion.

WINNING NOTIFICATION

We happily announce to you the Draw (#1341) of the UK
NATIONAL LOTTERY,online UK National Lottery program held on
SATURDAY 23RD FEBRUARY 2008.Youre-mail lucky numbers :03 08
20 22 34 40 38(Bonus ball) which subsequently won you the
lottery in the 1st category i.e match 6 plus bonus .

You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of
£1,532,720(One Million, Five Hundred And Thirty Two
Thousand, Seven Hundred And Twenty Pounds Sterling) in cash
credited to file XYL /26510460037/05 This is from a total
cash prize of £4,596,411(Four Million, Five Hundred And
Ninety Six Thousand,Four Hundred And Eleven Pounds
Sterling). All participants for the online version were
selected randomly from World Wide Websites through
computerdraw system and extracted from over 100,000
unions,associations, and corporate bodies that are listed
online.

This is NEW year promotional draw in which there were no
tickets sold.

To file for your claim, please contact your fudiciary agent
immediately via the email below.

Mr. James Keegan
EMAIL: mr.jameskeegan02@hotmail.co.uk
Tel: +44 702 405 7876
+44 703 190 7426
+44 703 194 0857

FULL NAMES:
COUNTRY:
TELE/FAX IF ANY:
MARITAL STATUS:
SEX:
AGE:
OCCUPATION:
TICKET NUMBER:
REF FILE NUMBER:

How you need your winning funds.?

1.Courier cheque delivery?
2.Coming to our office annex?

Cordially,
SIR GEORGE HARRIS
© UK National Lottery 2008 Online Promotion.

INTERNET User. EURO MILLION WINNER

Dear Internet User.

We are happy to inform you that your email address have emerged winner of (EUR 750,000) in Europe Lottery Award.

The online cyber draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 500,000 email addresses of individuals and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer selection from the web.

Your email address is attached to Ref No: ESE/WIN/008/02/10/MA & Batch No:EULO/1007/444/606/08;
Serial No: 6594; and PROMOTION DATE: 03rd March. 2008.

Bear in mind that prizes will strictly be remitted to winners that officially file in for their claim within the given time frame. To begin your claim, you are to forward this message to our accredited claim agent
including your full names and telephone numbers: 

EXECUTIVE PLANET S. A
Contact Person: Mr. Alfredo Perez
Tel: +34-691-920-216
Email: contactclaimdept@aim.com / coontactclaimdept@hotmail.com

Your prize award has been insured with your email address and will be transferred to you upon meeting the requirement of the gaming board  authority which includes your statutory obligations.

Best Regards,
Mrs. Patricia Douet_ (Lottery co-ordinator).
Madrid, 06th March 2008

Note: All Won Prize must Be claimed/ Cleared not later than 26th of  March. 2008. After this date, all other winnings will considered as UNCLAIMED and  returned to ministerio de Economia Y Hacienda.

Dear Lucky Winner contact Mr Charles McCoy.Via Email:( cgnl_claimsdpt4@hotmail.co.uk ) for claim

The Camelot Group UK, organizers of The National Lottery wishes to inform you that the results of the E-mail address ballot lottery
international program held on the 5th of March 2008. Your email account has been picked as a winner of a lump sum pay out of One Million Two
Hundred and Thirty Thousand Three Hundred and Ten Great Britain pounds Pounds Sterling ( £ 1.230,310 pounds sterlings ). Please contact your
Claims Agent, from the Oversea Winners Processing Department:
Mr Charles McCoy.
Via Email:cgnl_claimsdpt4@hotmail.co.uk
For More Information Tel:+44-704-573-6915.

VERIFICATION AND FUNDS RELEASE FORM
***************************************
1.FULL NAMES:_________ 2.ADDRESS:____________ 3.CITY:_____________ 4.STATE:___________ 5.POSTCODE:______________ 6.COUNTRY:
______________7.SEX:____________________8.AGE: 9.OCCUPATION:__________ 10.TELEPHONE NUMBER:________________

CHOOSE YOUR CLAIM OPTION ( 1 ) courier delivery ( 2 ) Bank Transfer
Sincerely, Mr.James Irvin. Online Coordinator,CAMELOT GROUP,operator of National Lottery.

Pluto column revision

WED, 3-05-08

SANTA FE - New Mexico's little dwarf planet just might be on its way back to full planet status. There are indications Pluto is gaining support.
Obviously, Pluto doesn't belong to New Mexico and neither does its founder Clyde Tombaugh. But the 50 years Tombaugh spent here tied him so closely to the state that one prominent reference source gives our state credit for being the location where Tombaugh made his discovery.
He actually did his work at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. In recognition of his discovery, Tombaugh received an undergraduate scholarship to the University of Kansas. He came to New Mexico in 1946 to work at what is now White Sands Missile Range and remained in the Las Cruces area the rest of his long life.
But it is Streator, Illinois, Tombaugh's birthplace, that is generating much of the enthusiasm and support for the discoverer of Pluto. Former Streator City Councilor Siobahn Elias played a major role, last May, in organizing a two-day Planet Pluto Festival featuring a combination of entertainment and education.
The entertainers included artists who have written songs, poems or essays inspired by little Pluto and its sad tale of unjust demotion. New Jersey writer Laurele Kornfeld has compiled a listing of some of those pieces, which she includes on her Web site http://laurele.livejournal.com.

Among the speakers at the event was Dr. Alan Stern, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's associate administrator of space science and the principal investigator for NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons probe.
Stern, one of the underdog planet's biggest proponents, says the scientific tide has turned in favor of Pluto's planethood in the past year and that teachers and textbook companies shouldn't be too quick to toss Pluto out.
Kornfeld's favorite, and mine too, of those performance pieces is the song "New Horizons: A Tribute to Clyde Tombaugh and the New Horizons Mission." Written and performed by Kevin Elias and Richard Fey, it carries an upbeat message of faith and perseverance, which is what Pluto supporters need to have if the planet is ever to regain its former status.
The New Horizons mission involves a rocket on its way to Pluto for a 2015 arrival. It is an American project run by NASA. It was launched in 2006, shortly before the International Astronomical Union demoted the planet.
Pluto was the only planet discovered by an American. It may not have been coincidence that the IAU demoted the planet shortly after the launch of an American mission to Pluto. There is suspicion that the action could have been at least partially due to the low esteem in which the international scientific community currently holds the United States.
Siobhan Elias also has succeeded in getting Rep. Jerry Weller, who represents the Streator area to enter comments in the Congressional Record encouraging his colleagues to support the effort to restore Pluto's planethood. New Mexico's congressional delegation should be among the first to take up that challenge.
Obviously, the United States Congress is not going to be able to influence the IAU directly, but it can provide encouragement. Numerous scientific societies are having great problems accepting the IAU's new definition of planethood, which essentially could eliminate all planets in our solar system.
If you are interested in helping with the effort to restore Pluto to its former elite status, go to Kornfeld's Web site for information on why Pluto should still be a planet.
Very appropriately, some of Tombaugh's ashes are aboard the New Horizons rocket headed toward Pluto. Tombaugh had a deep interest in rockets as a means of exploring outer space.
Because of that interest and his ability to spot tiny objects in outer space, Tombaugh was recruited for a secret government project several decades ago to search for near-earth satellites.
The reason for the search was never revealed, but we have recently learned that our government knew the Soviets were ahead in developing a manned spy satellite in the early 1970s. It's another aspect of the practical uses of astronomy.
I'm told the Web address listed in the column does not work. The attached column revision contains the correct address.

---

Watch "Cause Effect," a show about real people making a real difference. Learn more.

Politics Is Just A Game But...

FRI, 3-07-08

SANTA FE - A few years ago I wrote a column contending that people shouldn't let politics get them down, or their blood pressure up, because it's just a game.
The column received some positive responses, including a note from PBS journalist Bill Moyers, in which he proclaimed it "should be read in every classroom, from every pulpit, and by every newspaper editor, blogger and talk show host before cranking up for war every morning. It's the best that's crossed my desk in years."
Moyers did issue a caveat, however, that "while politics is a game, it has real-life consequences for the winners and losers." He attached his latest book chronicling the tribulations he endured when Republican government officials canceled his television program because it was too liberal.
Recently, the issue arose again when Sen. Hillary Clinton emotionally made the point during her New Hampshire primary campaign that politics is vitally important because it deeply affects people's lives. Her voice quivered twice with emotion and her eyes welled up a bit. There were no tears.
She made her point well. But reactions to the incident made my point even better. Some detractors made a case that Clinton turned on the tears in order to manipulate the coffee klatch crowd. Others insinuated that her tears meant that she is a weak woman who can't handle tough situations.
Clinton supporters maintained that the emotion she showed proved her humanity and disproved claims that every move she makes is coldly calculated. They may have been correct because Clinton scored an impressive and unexpected primary victory a few days later.
But the point Clinton made to her audience was completely ignored and forgotten. I may not have remembered the substance of her comment had it not involved one of my deeply held opinions.
Both Clinton supporters and detractors spun the situation to suit their purposes. Substance was ignored but the game was on to use whatever tactics necessary to take maximum advantage of the situation and of every other occurrence.
The politics game also could be seen in decisions of Clinton's $5-million-a-month advisers. Their tactics changed on a daily basis while they searched to determine what would work. And their decisions didn't involve substance, although substance can be as changeable as tactics.
There is nothing sacred about party philosophy or a candidate's philosophy. All that matters is what works. Both parties merely talk about policy. They have platforms they don't follow. And neither do their candidates.
Some minor parties do stick with a consistent political philosophy. And they demand it of their candidates. Libertarians and Greens come to mind but they also make my point. They never win and hence they never will be major political parties.
The candidate who appears to have the most consistent message and strategy at this point is Sen. Barack Obama. Maybe voters notice and like it. Sen. John McCain's straight-talk express had it for a while but now he is struggling as he attempts to please all his constituencies.
I shouldn't ignore former Gov. Mike Huckabee. He is the most consistent of all, along with being the most likable. But his consistent message is not one that most of the nation can buy. Our founders came to this New World to worship as they pleased without the government determining their relationship with their God. In order for him to become electable, he would have to adopt as changeable a philosophy as everyone else.
And talk about changeability, how about the so-called Kamikaze Republicans - led by Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck and James Dobson - who say they'll vote for the Democratic nominee if the GOP nominates John McCain? Where's the ideological consistency there?
Anyway, it was fun for this obscure state columnist to come to the attention of someone on the national stage. One wonders how that happens. The contact from Moyers was through the Santa Fe New Mexican to me. So maybe he read it in the New Mexican.

---

Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play chicktionary!

Is Pluto Making a Comback?

WED, 3-05-08

SANTA FE - New Mexico's little dwarf planet just might be on its way back to full planet status. There are indications Pluto is gaining support.
Obviously, Pluto doesn't belong to New Mexico and neither does its founder Clyde Tombaugh. But the 50 years Tombaugh spent here tied him so closely to the state that one prominent reference source gives our state credit for being the location where Tombaugh made his discovery.
He actually did his work at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. In recognition of his discovery, Tombaugh received an undergraduate scholarship to the University of Kansas. He came to New Mexico in 1946 to work at what is now White Sands Missile Range and remained in the Las Cruces area the rest of his long life.
But it is Streator, Illinois, Tombaugh's birthplace, that is generating much of the enthusiasm and support for the discoverer of Pluto. Former Streator City Councilor Siobahn Elias played a major role, last May, in organizing a two-day Planet Pluto Festival featuring a combination of entertainment and education.
The entertainers included artists who have written songs, poems or essays inspired by little Pluto and its sad tale of unjust demotion. New Jersey writer Laurele Kornfeld has compiled a listing of some of those pieces, which she includes on her Web site www.laurele.livejournal.com.

Among the speakers at the event was Dr. Alan Stern, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's associate administrator of space science and the principal investigator for NASA's Pluto-bound New Horizons probe.
Stern, one of the underdog planet's biggest proponents, says the scientific tide has turned in favor of Pluto's planethood in the past year and that teachers and textbook companies shouldn't be too quick to toss Pluto out.
Kornfeld's favorite, and mine too, of those performance pieces is the song "New Horizons: A Tribute to Clyde Tombaugh and the New Horizons Mission." Written and performed by Kevin Elias and Richard Fey, it carries an upbeat message of faith and perseverance, which is what Pluto supporters need to have if the planet is ever to regain its former status.
The New Horizons mission involves a rocket on its way to Pluto for a 2015 arrival. It is an American project run by NASA. It was launched in 2006, shortly before the International Astronomical Union demoted the planet.
Pluto was the only planet discovered by an American. It may not have been coincidence that the IAU demoted the planet shortly after the launch of an American mission to Pluto. There is suspicion that the action could have been at least partially due to the low esteem in which the international scientific community currently holds the United States.
Siobhan Elias also has succeeded in getting Rep. Jerry Weller, who represents the Streator area to enter comments in the Congressional Record encouraging his colleagues to support the effort to restore Pluto's planethood. New Mexico's congressional delegation should be among the first to take up that challenge.
Obviously, the United States Congress is not going to be able to influence the IAU directly, but it can provide encouragement. Numerous scientific societies are having great problems accepting the IAU's new definition of planethood, which essentially could eliminate all planets in our solar system.
If you are interested in helping with the effort to restore Pluto to its former elite status, go to Kornfeld's Web site for information on why Pluto should still be a planet.
Very appropriately, some of Tombaugh's ashes are aboard the New Horizons rocket headed toward Pluto. Tombaugh had a deep interest in rockets as a means of exploring outer space.
Because of that interest and his ability to spot tiny objects in outer space, Tombaugh was recruited for a secret government project several decades ago to search for near-earth satellites.
The reason for the search was never revealed, but we have recently learned that our government knew the Soviets were ahead in developing a manned spy satellite in the early 1970s. It's another aspect of the practical uses of astronomy.

---

Don't get caught with egg on your face. Play chicktionary!