New In the Plaza Vieja

Making The Team

New Mexico's Democratic Party Central Committee conducted a four-day electronic election to finally choose Stephanie Garcia Richard as Deb Haaland's running mate; she took 53% of the vote. Pope Jr. got 46%, showing a significant - if not commanding - strength of the Democratic Socialists who backed the State Senator. 

Insider reports on the progress of the selection process were notably sparse.  Joe Monahan has not yet offered any analysis. 

Santa Fe New Mexican

The Battle for Democracy

 New Mexico Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury made a presentation this morning at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque.  It was an upbeat pep talk in support of the Democratic race for control of the House.

Stansbury talked non-stop for about half and hour, explaining what House Democrats have been doing to combat Trump's chaos.  She also provided a succinct review of similar periods of history which were even more chaotic, and which were preludes to progressive political and social advancements.

I recall not being impressed with Stansbury's speaking in the early phase of her career, but it seems to me now she is extraordinarily articulate and communicative, with an excellent command of the facts including a thorough grounding in ecological issues. 

It seems very likely Stansbury will one day be representing New Mexico in the United States Senate.

Stansbury at Wikipedia

Who Do You Like?

The recent episode of New Mexico in Focus included a segment about the selection of a candidate for lieutenant governor by the Democratic Party Central Committee.  Primary voters made a choice earlier, but their selection, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, dropped out due to health reasons.  The discussion included supporters of the two main contenders, Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard and State Senator Harold Pope Jr.

Mentioned was the fact that the leading candidates seem to have little differences in the policies they have advocated.

Not addressed was the question of why the State has to go through the expensive ritual of holding a separate primary election for Second Banana, something which only five other States require.

The Dem Gov candidate, Deb Haaland, has expressed a preference for  Stephanie Garcia Richard, and it seems pretty likely she will have her way.  Policy congruence played a part, but perhaps the addition of an Hispanic name to the ticket also trumped the appeal to the smaller Black constituency brought along by Senator Pope.

What the new Lt. Gov might actually do while in office will likely not get much attention.  The position is an historical dead-end for political aspirations.  The main objective in handling the office has been finding. ways to keep the Lieutenant Governor busy and on the sidelines. 

Coffee

Lots of choices for coffee in my neighborhood and nearby Old Town

 I like Slow Burn on Mountain Road for its nice light, good seating, quick service and good parking.

On Track

 The present and future governors of New Mexico.

2019

The Morning Ride

 On a short outing on my trike around the neighborhood.  I came across a couple roadrunners.

This one had caught a small lizard for breakfast beside the Explora children's science museum

T-rex was waiting for the Natural History Museum to open so he could perform his daily duties as an animatronic exhibit in the main hall. 

 A new restaurant has opened in the neighborhood.  Mañana Taco has had good attendance in its first week, so there seems a good chance it will prosper.  When we moved to Albuquerque the building was occupied by a so-so burger joint.  That was followed by a dispensary which lasted about a year before running afoul of the law for selling out-of-state weed.  Mañana shares the building with Pink Pony which sells soft ice cream.

Listen To The Pig

Head for the Arc !

Fight Back!

 Yanis Varoufakis in a post on his blog today does a good job of dealing with claims of consciousness for Artificial Intelligence.  His strength is an ability to apply relentless logic to any question he tackles.  As many others have pointed out recently, Varoufakis identifies the most urgent issue to be the ownership of the technology and who is or could be the biggest beneficiary.  The conclusion is that the people need to come together to take control of the political process which the billionaires are currently dominating with vast infusions of capital.

Beyond the macro-political strategies there are individual actions which people can employ in their daily lives to resist the AI behemoth which has been incorporated in so much of what we do in front of our screens.  One easy tactic is based on the fact that much of AI's power is based on routinely feeding us only what we want or are prepared to hear and "like".  The danger of that, of course, is that we become blind to what is really shaping the world around us.

A useful opening move is to use the option  in the browser of your choice to open any news links in a private window or tab.  What you then get is not a selection of items catering to your past  choices and prejudices, but a more balanced view of what is happening in the world.  

One browser with a strong focus on privacy, DuckDuckGo, has gone a step further toward individual empowerment by offering the possibility of blocking all those irritating targeted ads that pop up when you try to access a YouTube presentation.  That platform will undoubtedly strike back with threats and countermeasures.  In the meantime, though, people have the opportunity to experience the pleasure of reasserting individual control over the technology.

Saturday Morning

 I rode my trike into Old Town this morning at 9:30 AM.  The temperature was already in the 90s, so I went straight to the Black Bird for an iced latte.  When I left the coffee shop there was a group of large men in blue uniforms at the register.

 Their truck was appropriately parked in the fire lane.

Our 56th

It's A Big World

Corrrecting the Terminology

 Paul Krugman's substack has a useful examination of the right wing's tendency to label anything they don't like as "socialist" while ignoring the real meaning of the term.  Read: 

There Are Very Few Socialists in America

 Krugman does not take up the even more ridiculous "communist" which Trump flings at politicians like Mamdami.