Winners and Losers

WINNERS Gov. Bill Richardson Although Gov. Bill Richardson publicly and politely disagreed with the MoveOn.

org “General Betray Us” ad, the next day he came to the group’s defense by slamming the rebuttal ad issued by Freedom Watch (the group that runs the amputee-exploiting pro-war commercials), calling it “a poor attempt at practicing the politics of division.” On Monday, Richardson further courted the Cindy Sheehan contingent, along with the progressive blogosphere, by launching a separate Web site for his Iraq-withdrawal strategy, Getourtroopsout.com , and a new YouTube video featuring bloggers from Openleft.

com and Firedoglake.com . High Mayhem/NMGLUG Oh, holy Ornette… the High Mayhem Festival rocked last weekend (Sept.

21-23). And attendees were freed from sorrowful thoughts like, “Man, I wish my mate in Liverpool could see this.” Thanks to the New Mexico Gnu Linux Users Group, the entire event was streamed live online for all the world’s experimental music nuts to experience.

SF Sheriff Greg Solano After posting photographs of himself posing next to George W Bush to prove he’s no left-leaner, conservative blogger Mario Burgos (Marioburgos.com) tipped his hat last week to Santa Fe County Sheriff Greg Solano, a Democrat. While Burgos says, “There is no chance I’m ever going to vote for Sheriff Solano,” he is pleased with Solano’s recent declaration that he will both continue blogging about law enforcement ( Sheriffgregsolano.

blogspot.com ) and, as he gears up for the Lieutenant Governor race, double-blog with a special campaign journal ( solanoltgov.blogspot.

com ). LOSERS Weekly Alibi In Googling our competitors in that big Southwest college sprawl, we discovered the Weekly Alibi is described as a monthly. Weekly, monthly—which is it?

According to Alibi Managing Editor Christie Chisholm via e-mail, “the ‘monthly’ thing is something we recently discovered and that we’re in the process of fixing (totally bizarre, though).” Microsoft On Sept. 19, Truthout.

org broke a story on the intensification of the US Senate Select Committee on Ethics’ probe of US Sen. Pete Domenici, R-NM. Anonymous senior staffers said they had collected enough evidence to open a “formal, public investigation” into Domenici, though they might not because of an “ethics truce” the parties informally agreed to in the 1990s.

Unfortunately, subscribers who use Microsoft (Hotmail, MSN WebTV) never received the update. According to urgent-action e-mails from Truthout.org later that day, Microsoft e-mail administrators were “blocking” their newsletters and notifications due to their the 6-year-old independent journalism organization’s “reputation.

” SF Sheriff Greg Solano After the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that burglars have begun targeting big ’n’ expensive homes, Sheriff Solano posted a list of “Tips to prevent burglaries” on his blog. Third on the list: “Leave lights on when you go out.” This seems like a pretty wasteful suggestion coming from a pro-“sustainable energy” candidate for lieutenant governor.

SFR e-mailed Solano, and he called back within an hour, adjusting the tip: Homeowners should first switch to energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs before leaving the lights on.