New Mexico Mercury

Mexico: The Politics of a State Meltdown

As a massive federal police and military deployment gains momentum in the Mexican state of Michoacan, polemics and debate shroud the first major such operation undertaken by the administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto.

At stake in the campaign is not only the reassertion of state power, but also the strategic control of the Pacific coastal port of Lazaro Cardenas, one of the key portals of the Asia/NAFTA economy, as well as the productive mountains and farmlands whose products and people travel a network of highways leading across Mexico and into the United States...

What to watch for at the Legislature

Wally Gordon breaks down what to expect in the 2014 Legislative Session that begins today with an inside perspective from former longtime Senator Dede Feldman.

Provincial Matters, 1-20-2014

V.B. Price's weekly collection of appreciations and observations.

Humphrey’s World: APD Payouts

APD Payouts

Nearly four-in-five of state voters believe there is corruption in NM politics

Common Cause New Mexico just released a December 2013 poll by Research and Polling, Inc. on money in politics in New Mexico. The numbers are overwhelming, and show that New Mexico voters believe corruption in politics is alive and well in our state.

Those who frequent the New Mexico Capitol know the old saying that gets tossed around quite a bit – “perception is reality at the Roundhouse,” and this poll shows that perception is also competing with reality across New Mexico...

Talking Water Through, Rather Than Past, Each Other

The 20th annual statewide meeting of The New Mexico Water Dialogue stressed the importance and value of communication synergy in light of the state's water sharing conundrums.

Reviewing NAFTA and the Environment

As possible, new trade agreements stir debate on the world stage, a North American citizen advisory panel is urging that a new emphasis be placed on the ecological costs of increased trade and money flows.

In a statement issued shortly before Christmas, the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC), a trinational group consisting of representatives from the three member nations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), called on the leaders of Canada, the United States and Mexico to demonstrate a “revival of political will” and undertake a “new mission” with enhanced public involvement in trade and environmental matters...

Why Did Omaree Varela Die?

The killing of 9-year-old Omaree Varela in Albuquerque has done what hundreds of other tragedies and at least three other deaths have failed to do: force the public and the state to reexamine the way CYFD handles cases involving abused children.

Dimver—Report from Blandolandia

“Dimver,” that’s all how all seven surviving long-term residents of Colorado pronounce the capital city’s name.  I was born in Dimver. I grew up in Dimver.  All those Dimver years remain a blur to me. When I am in Dimver, even now, I never know who I am, or where I am, for that matter. What’s more, I don’t care. I have that Dimver attitude.

In an odd sense the identity problems that plagued the good old Dimver Days when I was a total amnesiac kid still haunt the Queen City of the Plains.  Dimver wants to be somewhere rather than stuck out on what used to be plains and grasslands before it was a contiguous Wal-Mart and IKEA complex...

Provincial Matters, 1-13-2014

V.B. Price's weekly collection of appreciations and observations.