Letters:
Editor’s response: Best of Burque is determined entirely by votes from our readers. Sometimes a category’s votes are too thin and spread out to yield a conclusive First, Second and Third Place winner. When we don’t have three clear winners to report, we have to pull the category from the results issue. … On a more personal note, my vote for best stripper in Albuquerque goes to Savannahh.
Letters: Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Grrrrrrowl! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Bark! Grrrrrrowl! Bark! Bark! Bark!
[Letters, “Somewhere a Big Dog Barked Again,” April 1-7] … The damn things never shut up. And their owners never shut them up. No one’s going to tell them there’s something wrong with their adorable little poochie’s behavior. No one’s going to tell them they shouldn’t leave their dogs outside all day, barking at every leaf that falls in their yard. Little Snuggles is guarding the house! And no one’s going to tell them not to leave the window thoughtfully cracked open when Wolfie’s inside, so that he can bark away at every bicyclist and trash bag that rolls down the street. It gives Wolfie something to do!The “thoughtful” dog owners—the one’s who don’t respond to your complaints by simply slamming their door in your face—like to point out that of course it barks, it’s a dog! This alone suggests that, like driving a car, owning a dog is something people shouldn’t be doing until they’ve learned how to handle them. It’s no more in the nature of a dog to bark incessantly as it is to crap on the kitchen floor or bite the postman in the knee. It’s the nature of a dog to do what pleases its owner—provided it knows what that is. Living in a city that has truly gone to the dogs has given me a whole new appreciation for Miss Almira Gulch, Dorothy’s arch enemy in The Wizard of Oz. She may well have been a mean and sourpussed old cat lover, but Miss Gulch was right to see Dorothy’s little dog Toto as a menace—and to sic the law on it. Unfortunately we seem to have no such effective law here. No one’s going to be sent around by the city to cite some dog owner for failing to control his mutt’s obnoxious barking, regardless of its effect on the neighborhood’s quality of life. Albuquerque needs some noise ordinances with real bite. It’s time to civilize this city’s dogs. And their little owners, too.
Letters: State Budget Cuts Affect Everyone State Budget Cuts Affect Everyone
This is an angry rant, and I will not sugarcoat it. The state’s budget cuts put everyone at a gross inconvenience. Take my experiences as a case in point. I had to go to the MVD office in Cottonwood Mall to get a new I.D. card. After waiting for an obscenely long period of time (even for the MVD), the manager announced that the computer system that handles the cameras and the signature pad had crashed—the system would have to be rebooted and it would take about 15 minutes. Thirty minutes later, the system still wasn’t back up and running. Another 15 minutes passed, and finally a new number flashed on the screen above the photo booth—only 20 people ahead of me. Patiently I wait, and finally my number appears on the screen—progress! I sit in the chair, and smile for my picture.I stand up after my picture to sign my name on the electronic pad, and this is when I notice that the second computer in the photo booth was shut off, with a large piece of paper taped on the screen that read DO NOT SHUT THIS COMPUTER DOWN—what? I sign my name on the pad and the man across the counter said something went wrong, and that he would have to reboot the computer. While the computer was rebooting, I chatted him up a bit and he told me he does I.T. for the office, and that their computer system is junk. This is, of course, because the system is obsolete and the state won’t buy new computers. The reboot is complete, and he asks me to sign my name again. I sign, and the same problem happens. He gets the manager, who tries again—no dice. The manager tells me, once again, that they will need to shut down the system and that there would be another 15 minute delay, which I took to mean 45 minutes like the first time. Thoroughly frustrated, I said a few choice words to the guy, and then apologized knowing that none of this was in any way his fault. I left, knowing that three hours of my day had been utterly wasted. I decided to try my luck at the Downtown MVD office. When I got there, a sign on the door said the office was closed as the result of a mandatory furlough day—another product of the budget cuts. I understand times are tough and that every entity, from individuals to businesses to governments, needs to exercise unprecedented levels of frugality. There is, however, a huge difference between cutting costs and cutting corners. In this respect, the State of New Mexico is cutting corners by neglecting one of the most vital systems in our daily lives. This provides a gross disservice to the citizens of New Mexico. You’d think being a branch of the Department of Taxation and Revenue, the structure of the MVD wouldn’t be quite so rickety.
Letters: It’s Term Limits Time It’s Term Limits Time
Yes, we now all know about the ineptness of Congress, our money-driven political system, the revolving doors for former Congress members and the big corporations, and their lobbying efforts devoted to drafting self-serving legislation, rules and regulations. And we know about the Wall Street shenanigans and blasphemous bonuses —Goldman Sachs CEO and Chairman Lloyd Blankfein said that he’s “doing God’s Work.” We now are also aware that the U.S. Supreme Court has recently ruled to make it much easier for big corporations to control our politicians with an avalanche of corporate money —with this ruling, money no longer talks, it now screams. Of course, we know that money goes to craft legislation in favor of the big corporations and to buy the Congress. (U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, D-IL, stated that the finance lobby is “still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.”)Finally, it has always been manifestly evident that what’s most important to the officeholder is that he/she be re-elected and, of course it’s money that gets the job done. So, what to do?It’s now time for all of us, the voting citizenry, to take the initiative and vote term limits for each and every public officeholder. We cannot wait any longer for legislated term limits because politicians feel entitled the longer they are in office, and consequently will never vote to approve limiting their terms/entitlements.Therefore, let us propose the following: that every incumbent be voted out of office, that the new officeholder replacement be on notice that he/she will have our vote for one term only and that subsequently the new replacement will be replaced again by yet another one-termer. Moreover, this one term replacement device should be practiced by all of us voters for at least three election cycles. Maybe, by then, the system and the politician will get the message that this new version of the golden rule—he who’s got the money makes the rules—is not “ … God’s work.”
Letters: We Are Europeans? We Are Europeans?
In reference to A. Michael Martinez’ letter “Hispanos in New Mexico” [March 25-31], he states, “We do not want to be Europeans, we are Europeans.” We have in fact been intermixing with the Native American people of New Mexico for centuries. We are in fact people of color and not European.
Letters: As New Mexican As Green Chile As New Mexican As Green Chile
[Re: Letters, “The Proof Is in the Genetic Pudding,” April 8-14] Gracias Señor Romero for your informative letter which to me vindicated to a great extent the point I was trying to make in my own letter published in the Alibi a few weeks ago [ “Hispanos in New Mexico,” March 25-31]—that the Hispanos of New Mexico are indeed of Spanish stock and therefore European (as well as a mix, to a lesser degree, of other groups such as Native American, Jewish and Arabic). Your DNA information and the project is something I was already aware of and might someday participate in, and the results you gave of the samples are information that I think most Hispanos already figure to be true (my dad and other relatives have often said we have Jewish/Arabic and Native American but mostly Spanish blood—talk about an interesting and some might say volatile mix, heh?). But seriously, I appreciate that your letter was written with maturity and intelligence on this important subject. The Hispano culture/society is unique and distinct to itself and should be recognized, acknowledged and respected as such. Unfortunately some people want to force us to be Mexicans or call ourselves Mexicans for their own agendas. Well, I don’t think they will succeed very much. Hasta la vista bro!
Letters: Music Detritus Music Detritus
[Re: Blog, “Look Out Handbillers!,” April 9] This is some vague ridiculousness going on here. I’d love to see them try to hold this up in court. It would appear that venues like Burt’s or the Launchpad would get in trouble for:1) A band who decides to "throw" flyers anywhere, unaware of the ordinance, not connected with the venue and only performing there, and/or …2) A crowd leaving a show that gets flyers and decides to litter the city streets with them.Attacking the venues because the pigs are too lazy to do actual foot work when it comes to this oh-so-deplorable detritus conundrum. That was sarcasm by the way. Just idiotic.
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