Sen. Mary Jane Garcia and animal rights supporters are stepping into the ring to ban cockfighting in New Mexico, but her opponents want a fight to the death.

It's a distinction in wording important enough to merit italics in the news release. The bills making their way through the state's House and Senate this session require commercial insurance carriers to have a package for domestic partners—if employers choose to offer it.

The Real F-Bomb—There are no "bad" words. There are ugly ones. There are vicious, rude, divisive and crass ones. There are flabby and flat ones.

You can meet truly amazing people in Albuquerque. I sat down with Dr. Kathleen O’Malley to talk about her work for peace in Iraq, Palestine and, now, Iran. Bill Richardson isn't the only New Mexican flying off to the world’s flashpoints of hate and violence. He goes with the protection of a host government under the glare of television cameras. O’Malley goes in as just another vulnerable human being, using her own resources and body to stand for peace.

Benjamin Franklin. Thomas Jefferson. Gerald Ortiz Y Pino. John Grubesic. Great names in American democracy.

Last week I attended the opening of a wonderful art show, one every Albuquerquean should find the time to visit during the next month.

Dateline: The Netherlands--Terrie Berenden, a pet shop owner in the southern Dutch town of Zelhem, has invented the world’s first beer for dogs. Berenden created the brew, made from beef extract and malt, specifically for her pet Weimaraners. “Once a year we go to Austria to hunt with our dogs, and at the end of the day we sit on the veranda and drink beer. So we thought, my dog has also earned it,” she said. A local Dutch brewery was consigned to make the nonalcoholic drink, called Kwispelbier. The beer is fit for human consumption as well, but at 1.65 euros a bottle ($2.14), it’s about four times more expensive than a Heineken.

As the owners of Jinja Bar and Bistro, we were surprised and disappointed by Jennifer Wohletz' review of our new restaurant in Albuquerque [Restaurant Review, Jan. 11-17]. Her article had all the subtlety, care and concern of a drive-by shooting. In fact, the angry, self-absorbed tone of the article said more about her than it did about our restaurant.