The lightning-quick second special session of the State Legislature, Nov. 10, to allocate state funds to fund SNAP in the event of longer Federal delays led me down a path of interesting research this week – about the history of public welfare in New Mexico and who uses SNAP in our state. There is some […]
Guest Commentary
This content is created and submitted by the listed author.
Posted inColumnists
On the pursuit of happiness
It’s affordability, stupid. The issue that propelled Republicans into the White House, the Senate and the House in the 2024 election effectively stiff-armed the GOP at the polls a year later. Voters sent a message to Republicans on Nov. 4: We voted for you last year to fix the economy. You did not understand the […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
Letter to the editor: Leadership, infrastructure and the future of Edgewood
Letter to the EditorJohn Abrams, former mayor of Edgewood “plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” (“the more things change, the more they stay the same”) Wrote Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr in 1849, and so it is in Edgewood in 2025. After the election signs are taken away and the rush of campaigns and elections […]
Posted inOpinion
On providing for the general welfare
By Wednesday, Nov. 5, the Federal government shutdown will have broken the record for the longest in history if not resolved. Before that, two key deadlines occur. On Nov. 1, healthcare insurance premiums for 44 million Americans will increase an average of 30% as enhanced tax credits for Affordable Care Act premiums expire, and 42 […]
Posted inOpinion
On the content of one’s character
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” In the six decades since it was delivered, this famous sentence from Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” […]
Posted inOpinion
On civil discourse
For some years now the decline of civil discourse in American society has been lamented by reasonable people. Political dialogue has only a few modes: gaslighting, personal attack, partisan huckstering and populist ooze. Honest discussion, with back-and-forth conversation and polite disagreement, has all but disappeared. This has resulted in the loss of self-restraint and basic […]
Posted inOpinion
On peace and projecting power to maintain it
Nobel Prizes are being awarded this week and one element of the award process that should be obvious to the world is that these prizes are not bestowed in a vacuum. Thousands of candidates are nominated for these honors and various interests, and often the nominees themselves openly lobby each selection committee for the ultimate […]
Reader-supported
Letter to the Editor: Vote Uballez to keep Darren White out of the run-off
This letter was submitted to City Desk ABQ by Sandra Ortsman, Albuquerque. She is a community planner and community member who cares deeply about immigrants rights, mom and small business owner who has lived in and loved Albuquerque since 2002. Have an opinion? Of course you do! Send it to pat@citydesk.org If there is anyone […]
Posted inOpinion
On absolute power
A paraphrased and misquoted aphorism commonly bandied about in recent days goes along the lines of “absolute power absolutely corrupts.” It’s a powerful trope, and the phrase warrants original credit and context. John Dahlberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, a Catholic, wrote a letter to Anglican Bishop of London Mandell Creighton in 1870, challenging Papal infallibility and […]
Posted inOpinion
My summer of AI
Among all the disruptors of 2025, artificial intelligence looms large. Even New Mexico, often on the fringes of major upheavals, if not completely ignored by them, is getting in on the action. Most recently in the news has been the selection of a site in Santa Teresa for Project Jupiter, a $165 billion data center […]