Christie Chisholm

The possible sale of Westland Development may have far-reaching implications

It's not every day that someone sets about selling a city; or, at least, a potential city. It's also not every day that someone tries to sell a birthright. Yet, on the cusp of our very own metropolis, such a proposition is underway.

The City Council's special meeting on Aug. 22 adjourned in less than two hours so that councilors could attend the Rosary for slain APD officer Michael R. King.

Of all the lies the Bush administration has propagated, perhaps the most dangerous is the falsehood that we have no choice in Iraq right now; we simply have to stay the course. Our national honor, our security, our historic mission—they all demand it of us.

Jessica Cassyle Carr

Proposal to staunch sale of alcohol at all-ages shows smells like a put-on

On the surface, it sounds like a reasonable plan. Mayor Martin Chavez wants to protect the children of Albuquerque from the "bad element" Downtown, so he asked the state Alcohol and Gaming Division to ban alcohol sales at all-age live music events hosted at bars like the Launchpad and Sunshine Theater and 18-and-over theme parties at the Colosseum nightclub.

Dateline: Thailand—Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra is furious over news that one of his Cabinet ministers has had penis enlargement surgery. The allegations came from a woman who is being sued by a plastic surgery clinic for defamation after she claimed it gave her a face-disfiguring silicon injection. The woman, named Rawiwan Sitharat, claims that a prominent member of Shinawatra's Cabinet had received a penis enlargement injection at the same clinic and urged him to come forward as a witness for her defense. Sitharat held a press conference on the steps of Government House last Tuesday and said to the unnamed politician, “The problem with my face is bigger than the problem with your penis.” According to The Nation newspaper, Shinawatra demanded to know who had the manhood-enhancing procedure at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. “This has affected the reputation of the Cabinet, because the news went around the world. I don't want the people to think the Cabinet members are obsessed with this kind of thing,” the newspaper quoted Shinawatra as telling his ministers. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Agriculture Minister Sudarat Keyuraphan said no one had owned up to the enlargement.

Letters