Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Morning Fix: Walk the line

A reminder to us all to watch our intake: The holiday Superblitz starts today. And the Bureau of Indian Affairs is using BATmobiles to help combat drunk driving in more remote locations.
"Officer Richard Oort of the Albuquerque Police Department is caught in the middle of this primal battle when he rescues a mysterious teenage girl from a trio of inhuman hunters." Oooh. I'm hooked already!
Rio Rancho has a zoo? Who knew? Congrats to them, regardless!
The Journal website is awful for a reason.
The Gov is considering a sin tax on sodas, and New Mexico Indy posits that it could raise $153 million new revenue.
The number of reporters covering the Roundhouse is shrinking, and it's a problem.

Comment by once banned twice shy on November 20, 2009 at 3:39pm: Hmmm...can either Lee or Granjero explain to me how taking a taxi home after having some drinks at the bar is not taking responsibility for one's own actions? Don't forget--you can be hauled to jail for having less than .08 alcohol concentration in your blood. Hell, you can be hauled to jail for having .00 alcohol concentration! So...please to be explaining how, if you decide you'd like to have some drinks at the bar and then NOT drive, but take a taxi is sloughing off responsibility? All I suggest is that a subsidized taxi service would make it much easier--and likely that people WOULD not drive. Now, the prohibitive price of taxis makes it impossible for all but the wealthy to make that choice.

As for sin taxes, well, they have always been with us. We pay tax on booze, too, don't forget that. I don't know that it is an attempt to control someone's behavior--it is a way for government to make money off of non-essential items. But, for all those who hate taxes and any sort of government control, I can suggest you move to Somalia. ZERO government involvement and ZERO taxes. It's a libertarian's paradise!

Comment by hettie on November 20, 2009 at 5:53pm: what if, instead of subsidized taxis (or in addition to) there was public transportation that ran into the wee hours of the morning and served the whole city? it doesn't have to arrive/depart as often as during the daytime hours, but it'd do more than serve people trying to get home from the bar. I often wonder what people do who work swing, overnight or early morning shifts. a lot of those jobs are lower paying and the fact that we don't have adequate bus service means folks have to have a car to get to and from work, which has got to eat into people's income in a pretty big way if they're working wage jobs. if bus service is increased, it serves these working people as well as those who are out stimulating the economy by imbibing.

also, the english teacher in me wants to point out that there is a difference between their, they're and there.

Comment by Granjero on November 20, 2009 at 6:18pm: OBTS: I don't know about you, but I don't have money to waste going to bars. If I did,I'd be sure I had alternative means of getting home before I got there. Whether that's cash in my sock for a cab ride or a bus ride. That's called personal responsibility. Having someone else (like me) pay for your own entertainment is not being responsible. If you can afford to get drunk, you can afford to pay your own way home.

And for those who get all tingley in there nether regions at the idea of government control and wash in the love juice of taxes, feel free to move to China....

hettie: I like that idea much better. Though the poet in me would like to point out that words and grammar are subjective especially when on an internet forum.

Comment by Lee on November 24, 2009 at 8:37am: OBTS:
I never said taking a cab home after a few drinks was not taking responsibility for your own actions, I said, that expecting someone else to pay for that cab or subsidize the ride is ludicrous. If you are adult enough to go drinking, surely you are adult enough to save money to pay for your own cab ride home...if not.. then maybe going out drinking is not for you.

This is absurd people... I'm all for the state stepping in to help out where people are not able to help themselves, to feed themselves, to get health care, to get themselves or their kids and education etc... .. but are you really telling me you think the state should help you go out and have a few beers too many ?