New Mexico has 38,000 persons living with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia and many of them face the challenges of living in rural and isolated communities without healthcare support or services. The fact that this happens every day underscores the growing public health crisis of Alzheimer’s disease in our state.Did you know that Alzheimer disease is the most expensive disease in America at $259 billion annually and that it is the sixth leading cause of death with no cure, treatment or prevention?I was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease 5 years ago at age 53. I am a volunteer advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association, N.M. Chapter because I believe that the impact of this disease affects us all in New Mexico and in the nation. The time to do something is now. Many voices are needed let our lawmakers know that Alzheimer’s is a priority. Your voice added to mine can make a difference. Ask your Congresswomen Michelle Lujan Grisham to make these issues a priority.—Increased funding to the National Institutes of Health for Alzheimer’s research. The amount requested in fiscal year 2019 is an additional $425 million.—Support of the BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (S. 2076/H.R. 4256), which would create an Alzheimer’s public health infrastructure across the country to implement effective Alzheimer’s interventions focused on public health issues such as increasing early detection and diagnosis, reducing risk and preventing avoidable hospitalizations.
Letters: Hatin’ Haaland Hatin’ Haaland
This was a bad week for Ole New Mexico to endorse Deb Haaland in the NM CD-1 Congressional race. It was, after all, the same week that Nicole Bagg, a former 2016 National Delegate from Las Cruces, held an ABQ press conference to denounce Haaland’s malicious malfeasance against Bagg (back in 2016), when Deb was still the DPNM State Chair (and Nicole was still a hopeful Democrat).Importantly, Ms. Bagg believes that Deb behaved so irresponsibly in her role as State Chair that Nicole’s faith in the Democratic Party, and in any kind of concerted political action, was permanently snuffed out. Without going too deeply into the Haaland-Bagg case, let it be said that, as chair, Haaland facilitated an extra two years of emotional and sexual predation by now former Doña Ana County Commissioner John Vasquez. In a very real sense, Haaland, who was relatively healthy physically, was more irresponsible in allowing the alcoholic Vasquez to act out against numerous Democratic women, than was Vasquez himself. Especially because Commissioner Vasquez was also notorious for being social friends with racists and people with antisocial qualities.However, when it comes to enablers, no one matches DPNM Executive Chair Joe Kabourek, in his obsequious gatekeeping for the Debster. Joe is he who allows Deb Haaland to pose as a tough, decisive leader, rather than the empty-headed bowl of Jell-O she is in real life.So, both Joe and his Oliver Hardy sidekick, Treasurer Robert Lara, ran interference for Deb when Nicole Bagg first complained of being accosted by Vasquez. Then, when Nicole actually bumped into Haaland in Oct. 2016, during the Silver City SCC meeting, Deb turned tail and refused to even speak to the abused lady from Las Cruces. This behavior is par for this incompetent pseudo-leader.In truth, Haaland, Kabourek and Robert Lara are not just bumbling bureaucrats, who were clueless about the raging manchild Vasquez. Realistically, the unholy trio conspired, for personal and career reasons, to cover up the commissioner’s legitimately criminal behavior against numerous vulnerable professional women in the Democratic Party of New Mexico.Regrettably, Nicole Bagg, at great cost to her personal life, has been the only one with the courage to call out these poor excuses for party leadership. So, we can only applaud when Ms. Bagg called on Thursday for Executive Director Kabourek to resign and for Deb Haaland to drop out of the race for CD-1 Congressperson. If Nicole were truly vindictive, she would file malfeasance suits against these three and an assault charge against John Vasquez.But, if she has decided to abstain from more punitive action, the rest of us as Democrats, and as citizens desiring justice, must take up her call for Kabourek’s termination. More importantly, we must demand that Deb Haaland stop disgracing the Democratic Party, and drop out of the Congressional race.Ya basta! Enough!
Letters: Berry’s Folly Berry’s Folly
The City Council and the mayor bamboozled us again, but this time in a big way. They voted for the ART project thinking that Hillary was going to win. Thus ensuring more federal funding for their little “project” and knowing full-well Albuquerque did not have sufficient money to complete it. Well. The Democrat-run city government has declared us a bleeding heart “sanctuary city.” Do you really thing the feds are going to go along with Burque begging for money on the street corner now? When are people going to wise up? Why is there only one state—Mississippi—more poor than New Mexico?You can go down the list of cities and states that liberal Democrats have destroyed! I have been a victim of four burglaries, three armed robberies, two automobile accidents where the driver at fault had no license and no insurance!That money could have gone a long way to fight crime—and the crappy condition of the dangerous Downtown district.
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