Diane Denish 5-29-23 on

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Govs. Bruce King and Bill Richardson saw humanity in everyone

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

Following the death of Gov. Bill Richardson, the PBS channel KNME invited me along with others to recall experiences with Richardson and how he “got things done.” One of the guests was Steve Terrell, now a retired capitol reporter.

We discussed some of the governor’s character traits; Terrell depicted Richardson as having had a “lot of Bruce King in him.” The panel chuckled, recognizing that Bill might not enjoy that comparison as much as we did.

I thought a lot about that as I listened to President Clinton eulogize Richardson at the funeral. Many New Mexicans may not remember that President Clinton also eulogized Gov. Bruce King when he died.

In November 2009 Clinton attended a memorial in the Moriarty High gym for his friend and one-time fellow governor, Bruce King. It was filled with personal anecdotes about their friendship. He looked out at the crowd – exclaiming Gov. King would be “tickled” to be having the service in the local gym and to see it filled with the diversity of New Mexico.

Just a few weeks ago he returned to eulogize his friend Bill Richardson. He again noted the diversity of those attending. He regaled the crowd with stories, including Bill’s efforts to free American hostages unlawfully detained. While Bill was still a congressman from New Mexico’s northern district he freed two hostages being held in Iraq. This attracted Clinton to him and soon he tapped Richardson to be U.N. Ambassador.

Clinton described Bill’s energy as infectious. With good humor, he recalled why “the bad guys liked Bill.” Because Bill knew that if you “scratched long enough and hard enough on anybody, there is almost always a real person down there.”

Clinton formed a friendship with Bill that was different, yet similar, to the one he had with Bruce King. While Bruce was more a senior advisor, Richardson was more of an equal. He made it clear they had some successes but was careful not to dismiss the fact that they had serious arguments. In one of the most poignant moments of the eulogy, Clinton recounted what he called “big fights.” One, he said, required him to go to Bill and apologize. In the other, which many assumed was Bill’s endorsement of Obama and not Hillary in 2008, he said. Bill finally gathered the courage to ask for his forgiveness. It doesn’t really matter what the subject was, what mattered is that they had the kind of friendship where forgiveness could happen.

How does this make Richardson and King alike? Both governors had an innate ability to recognize people, even their opponents or enemies, as real people. Clinton recalled of King that he was nice to everyone, never jealous of other governors who were camera hogs. When asked why, he said it was a genetic defect: “I missed out on the resentment gene.”

Of Gov. Richardson he said what many others also said, that he would talk to anyone, even those who had disparaged him, were enemies, or didn’t agree with him. He got the “keep scratching” gene.

Govs. Richardson and King came from different worlds. One was a New Mexican by passionate adoption, one was a New Mexican by birth. One was a rancher who attended Moriarty schools. One was a prep school grad and international negotiator. One was eulogized in a school gym, the other in a majestic cathedral. But their common ground was their ability to engage and befriend people.

Both of them drew praise for their lives and work from their shared friend, President Clinton, before hundreds of New Mexicans from every corner of the state – all faiths, all ethnicities, all backgrounds. That’s something they both would have loved.

Keep focus on guns, gun violence and crimes using gunsBy Diane DenishCorner to Corner I started the week wishing lawmakers and elected leaders were as concerned about kids killing kids and families being fearful as they were about Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s proposed 30-day ban on guns in public places.

There has been a flurry of press conferences, lawsuits, statements by various politicians in office, and by aspiring politicians.

There is a weak effort to impeach the governor, sponsored by two state representatives who proudly wear AR-15 lapel pins during legislative sessions. One of them, John Block, displays a life size picture of the former president as Rambo with the same weapon – in his legislative office.

Most criticisms and demands for impeachment and a special session were bereft of any empathy for the victims and families whose lives are being destroyed by the proliferation of guns – especially among teens.

Let’s be clear: The governor declared a public health emergency and a 30-day ban on firearms in public places in Bernalillo County and on state property.

She did not ban ownership of guns.

The public health order may have been precipitous and invited legal challenges. But it reflected the frustration of many and a sense of badly needed urgency.

The governor reflected the fears of every mother, father, grandparent, and everyone watching kids being killed. She articulated the grief felt by the community when an 11-year-old was killed leaving a baseball game with his family. As a mom she felt the agony of the parents finding a five-year-old dead in her bed after a drive by shooting.

A series of gun deaths in Albuquerque generated the order, but gun violence is everywhere in New Mexico. Recently a teen boy shot a 14-year-old girl inside a home in Questa using his father’s gun.

A Searchlight NM report focused on Farmington, where recent gun deaths gained national attention. In May of this year a teen boy went on a random killing spree with an automatic weapon killing three women and injuring six others.

Here are the facts:

In 2021 a state Department of Health and UNM report said 415 New Mexicans die each year, and 64% of those deaths are suicides and 30% are homicides.

New Mexico has the highest rate of gun deaths among Latinos. Suicide rates in New Mexico are highest among young Native Americans.

New Mexico has the 7th highest rate of gun violence in the U.S.

A 2022 poll shows 57% of kids fear guns in schools.

So, what can be done besides grandstanding and bickering among elected leaders and lawsuits filed by the NRA and partisan groups?

1. Pass a bill requiring a 14-day waiting period to purchase a gun. Eleven states have passed bills with bipartisan support. The data show waiting periods can reduce suicides by as much as 17% and reduce homicides by varying degrees.

2. Raise the age limit from 18 to 21 to buy an assault weapon.

3. Dedicate more funding for prevention efforts. Currently New Mexico provides a minimal $300,000 for such efforts. Put $10 million in the budget for prevention efforts to do things that work. Engage young people in the gun safety discussion, provide schools with credible curriculum on the effects of gun violence, produce gun safety PSAs, fund The Gun Shop program.

4. Get serious about rebuilding mental health services. New Mexico has struggled with mental health services for young people and drug rehab programs since Susana Martinez was governor, with false claims of fraud destroying what New Mexico spent years building.

5. Keep your eye on the ball. It’s about guns, gun violence, and crimes with guns.

In declaring the emergency, the governor brought a sense of urgency, frustration, and humanity to the discussion. Let’s not lose it.

Richardson worked hard to improve women’s lives

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

As we say goodbye to former Gov. Bill Richardson, there will be a lot written. Since his death last week almost everyone I see has a Richardson story to tell.

And there have been some wonderful obituaries written about his service in Congress and New Mexico. Some underscore the great work he did as U.N. ambassador, U. S. Energy Secretary, and most recently as a negotiator for Americans detained abroad.

There is no doubt he touched many lives.

One of the missing ingredients in most obituaries is a look at the work he did to support women who worked with him and the legislation he passed to improve women’s lives.

I have known Bill Richardson for almost 40 years – before he was a congressman or governor. During that time, he supported me in diverse ways. In the early ‘90s he contracted with my voter contact firm to do work for his re-election, telling me he wanted to support my small New Mexico business. He nominated me for two national small-business boards. He supported me when I ran for Democratic Party chairwoman in 1999.

The most important thing he did came after we were elected in 2002. Traditionally, the lieutenant governor is shoved to the sidelines after an election. Bill Richardson brought me into the spotlight. Early on, he agreed that I should have my own agenda, much of which I spoke about during the campaign: Early childhood services, access to capital for women-owned business, and working to provide affordable insurance for more New Mexicans.

In the transition he helped me secure a budget to have the resources and staff to do the work. This helped establish the role of lieutenant governor as an office that was engaged, responsive and not just procedural in nature.

In visiting with other women in the administration I heard comparable stories. We began our administration with 10 women cabinet secretaries and grew that number in the second term. We had the first woman secretary of the Department of Transportation, Rhonda Faught. When the Public Education Department was established, the governor chose a seasoned teacher and school administrator, Veronica Garcia. Joanna Prukop, a Republican and longtime Game and Fish employee, was secretary of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources.

At the same time, he supported policy changes that impacted women in every corner of New Mexico:

· Establishing voluntary four-year-old pre-K in 2007 was a game changer for women in the work force and their children.

· Securing a slight change to the Small Business Investment Corporation Act allowed for more access to capital for small businesses. At the time, women-owned businesses were one of the fastest growing segments of the state’s economy.

· Groundbreaking healthcare legislation was passed creating premium assistance programs for pregnant women who didn’t qualify for Medicaid and couldn’t afford health insurance. Data consistently show it provides for healthier mothers and babies.

We became a model state for gender-sensitive policies for women in incarceration, allowing for rehabilitation. At the same time, he established a statewide system addressing how children are cared for when parents are arrested, impacting many single women.

Gov. Richardson was a believer in fairness and equity, and it showed in his work for and with women. Every woman I spoke with from his campaign, Congressional team, governor’s office, and his U.N. team agreed. He hired women, paid them fairly, listened to our views, gave us what we needed to be successful, trusted us to do our jobs and had our backs. And he expanded our horizons.

I am grateful to have served with Gov. Richardson. If not for him, the successful work of improving the lives of women and children in New Mexico might never have happened.

We all depend on the post office

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

Not long ago, as I left the post office, I found myself humming a 1935 tune: “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter.” I was there to purchase a roll of “forever” stamps, see what’s new with the specialty stamps, and mail a package.

I am an unapologetic fan of what I call “snail mail,” mail delivered by the post office. And I still love to write letters. Six days a week, I anticipate seeing what has come through my mail slot. Sometimes it’s catalogs and junk mail.

The first of the month is utility, credit card and other bills. And monthly or bi-monthly, New Mexico Magazine, The Atlantic, or AARP magazine. The best days are when there is a personal letter, sometimes unexpected, from a friend or family member.

The post office was founded by the Second Continental Congress in 1775, and Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster general. Seventeen years later, the Post Office Department was created, and local postmasters began to be appointed, creating jobs in communities. Two major changes to the USPO designation have occurred over time. In 1872 it became a cabinet level position, and almost a century later the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 transformed it into an independent agency. Today it has a governing board of 11 members, including the Postmaster General.

It is one of the few government agencies codified in the Constitution and employs more than 600,000 people in strong middle-class jobs with benefits. The postal service, arguably a beloved agency and institution, is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the country, 161 million of them -- residences, businesses, and post office boxes.

In New Mexico we have post offices or substations in every incorporated community, some unincorporated communities, and in Native communities. That number was hard to pin down but is likely nearing 150.

Occasionally, proposals to privatize the post office emerge. In 2018 there was a proposal by the Trump administration to institute a series of reforms designed to leverage it for sale to the private sector.

The plan received a lukewarm reception. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan voiced the bipartisan concern that the reforms would harm those who depend on the USPO for delivery of prescriptions, business documents, and federal checks – most notably in rural and underserved areas.

Privatizing postal services is one of the rare issues in Congress with strong bipartisan agreement: Don’t do it. Each time a privatization proposal surfaces, every member of Congress starts hearing from their constituents, especially those in rural areas.

The USPO has a distinct mission, including “to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people.”

In New Mexico’s villages and towns, it does just that – binds communities together. In the smallest places, where farmers, ranchers and rural dwellers pick up mail at a P.O. Box, folks know “when the mail comes in.” The post office becomes a gathering place. In more urban areas neighbors greet one another as they wait. Many of us are on first-name basis with our neighborhood postman/woman.

In 2022, after years of wrangling, Congress passed an overwhelmingly bipartisan (79-19 in the Senate) financial reform bill that would insure long-term financial security, six-day delivery, and standards for delivery times.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said this: “Our country is pretty divided right now, let’s be honest. But one enduring reality is that we have a post office that ties us all together, and everybody depends on that post office.”

Next time you go to the post office, think about that, and maybe hum along with me.

President brings relentless optimism to New Mexico

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

Last week, President Biden returned to New Mexico for the third time since becoming president. I was thrilled to support the president and attend a private event soon after his arrival in Albuquerque. As is usually the case, there was a wait for the president to arrive. The welcome downpour didn’t dampen our enthusiasm. Folks were looking forward to giving him a warm welcome unlike the recent “welcome” editorial in the Albuquerque Journal.

For context, the editorial consisted of a 1,000-word litany of complaints with specific reference to immigration, delay of FEMA payments after the Northern New Mexico fires, and clean energy initiatives. The editorial concluded with an outrageous suggestion that Biden pardon the twice-impeached, three-times-indicted former president.

Rather than a litany of complaints, many less than fact-based, the welcome should have included some thanks for President Biden’s many successes, including funding under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and its many benefits to New Mexico.

The editorial might have included a simple thanks for the $1.55 billion dedicated to clean energy, which has so far created 170,600 new jobs nationally, including in New Mexico. Or perhaps thanks for helping to reduce methane leaks to improve the health of New Mexicans and reduce global warming.

The editorial complained about red tape, but no thanks for the FEMA payments recently made -- $14 million – and the $50 million more in process, all of which were reported in their own paper on the day of the editorial.

Perhaps the editorial could have acknowledged the president’s continued effort to address immigration even though hamstrung by Republicans who have blocked reform in every administration including George W. Bush’s. Meanwhile the humanitarian crisis at the border becomes more dire.

And there was no mention or thanks for the CHIPS and Science Act, which the president promoted, passed and signed. This act directly benefits the semiconductor industry by restoring crucial American manufacturing and creating new jobs. This act will help grow and retain New Mexico’s semiconductor industry in which thousands are employed.

So much for the way in which the “Welcome Back to NM, Mr. President” could have truly been a welcome.

In contrast, I wanted to share another perspective of how the president brought hope and optimism to New Mexico.

In his remarks, the president acknowledged his old friend, former U.S. Sen. Fred Harris, who was in the crowd. He told a story of his first days in the Senate when his wife and daughter were killed in a tragic car accident. He contemplated leaving the Senate to care for his sons. Harris was one of a handful of senators who rallied around to support him during a time of immense grief and sadness.

Randi McGinn, the host, thanked the president for appointing New Mexican Deb Haaland as Secretary of Interior. Later in his remarks he took pride in the work they had done together protecting millions of acres.

Don Schreiber, a rancher from northwest New Mexico observed, “I was struck by his relentless optimism and his pointing to the IRA and the critical way it helps New Mexico with plugging and cleaning up of orphaned and abandoned wells.”

Many others wanted to know Sen. Harris’s thoughts. Someone asked Harris if the president was still the “same old Joe.” His response was “Better. More experienced, more confident, more optimistic.” When I asked Harris directly, he replied. “Inside and outside, he made me feel he knows what he is doing and that he firmly believes things are going to turn out all right.”

Harris wasn’t the only one who left feeling hopeful. Thanks, Mr. President, for bringing your relentless optimism to New Mexico – again!

Moms for Liberty use harassment, intimidation to push agenda

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

When a local or national advocacy group uses words like “freedom,” “patriot,” or “liberty” in their title, it raises my suspicions. The title may be catchy but usually disguises the true intent of the organization. This is especially true in the case of Moms for Liberty.

Moms for Liberty was founded in Florida in 2021 and began campaigning against COVID-19 protections in schools, including masks and vaccine mandates. All three of the original co-founders are Republicans (although they claim to be non-partisan) and one of them, Bridget Ziegler, is the wife of the Florida Republican Party Chair Christian Ziegler.

From the beginning, Moms for Liberty has been strongly associated with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his efforts to restrict school curricula, ban books and his “Don’t say gay!” campaign. Ziegler’s husband boasts that M4L (as they are known) will be a powerful help to DeSantis in his presidential run.

One of the founders, Tina Descovich, conceived of the organization in 2020 after she was defeated, fairly, in the Brevard County school board primary by a woman named Jennifer Jenkins. Jenkins had a different view of how to protect children during COVID-19. She also supported teacher raises, in contrast to Descovich. After defeat, Descovich and her supporters used the organization to show up at school board meetings, disrupt discussion, and belittle Jenkins.

Since then, they have broadened their efforts to include opposition to curricula about civil rights, race, and a broad effort to ban books and even defund public libraries.

Jenkins is a speech pathologist with the school district, and her husband is a teacher. After one year on the board, Jenkins wrote an op-ed describing the harassment to which she had been subjected. She was called a Nazi and a pedophile. Her family endured protests and vandalism outside of their home. Protestors yelled at her five-year-old daughter, “Be careful, your Mommy hurts kids.” All of this in the name of “protecting kids.”

Moms for Liberty has grown rapidly over three years. The growth has come at a pace that requires large monetary resources. In contradiction to their claims of being supported by $50 memberships and T-shirt sales, Media Matters research shows they are supported by conservative political committees and high-profile Republicans. In 2021 they had 195 chapters in 37 states and in July this year they had 285 chapters in 45 states, including one in Albuquerque. Because they are organized as a 501(c)(4) they have no obligation to report their donors.

While growing as an organization, their tactics of harassment, like those Jenkins endured, escalated. Aggressive intimidation and threats expanded to teachers, parents, school officials. The New Hampshire chapter offered a bounty to members of the public who “caught” teachers introducing lessons they believed violated the new law restricting discussions of race. In 2022, Arkansas police began investigating the local chapter leader who was caught on tape saying she fantasized about school librarians being “plowed down with a freaking gun.”

Conservative Moms have a history of activism. White mothers’ organizations sought to preserve the Jim Crow order. Segregationist moms fought desegregation of schools. And, like Moms for Liberty, these mothers fought to eliminate textbooks and curricula that focused on white violence or white supremacy.

The definition of liberty is this: the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views.

These Moms are not about liberty. Like parent groups before them, they want to put restrictions on what kids read and what teachers can teach to impose their views. They hope to hijack schools and libraries to erase and revise the past and ignore cultural changes. History is not on their side.

Sen. Gay Kernan has done her part for New Mexico

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

It’s the time in the election cycle when legislators decide if they are going to run again. The 2024 June primary season is 11 months away, which, to the average voter, may seem like a lifetime. But to legislators and other candidates, it’s a time of decision making. The gathering of petition signatures begins in early October and incumbent legislators will need to raise money prior to the “prohibited fundraising period” before the next legislative session.

Several members of the state Senate have already announced their departure. Democrat Jerry Ortiz y Pino and Republicans Cliff Pyrtle and Mark Moores are calling it quits. There will likely be others. The most recent announcement came from Sen. Gay Kernan, R-Hobbs, who is resigning effective August 1, making way for a replacement to be appointed.

After 20 years, Kernan has done her part. The long drive of five hours or more, come rain or shine, from Hobbs to Santa Fe is a long one.

Her resignation was more a disappointment for me than a surprise. I have known Sen. Kernan most of my life. Her family moved to our hometown of Hobbs when she was just six years old. At one point we lived in the same neighborhood, and for one year we were both students at Hobbs High School before she graduated.

The best of Gay never went away. Gay Gottshall, aka Sen. Kernan, was selected by her classmates as Best Personality. She was a member of the cheerleading squad and an officer on student council. And she was a delegate to Girls State, where she was elected to the Youth Senate. Although Kernan professes that she had never really entertained the idea of running for the New Mexico Senate, in 2002 her local community saw her as a natural to succeed Sen. Shirley Bailey, who resigned her seat to move to Texas.

Kernan was appointed by Gov. Gary Johnson, and her first legislative session was in 2003, the year I was sworn in as lieutenant governor. We shared excitement as we took office for the first time. I had a front row seat watching Kernan as a member of the Senate. She was a good listener. I always had the sense she knew what she didn’t know. (Not every legislator is so humble.) She was confident in her own area of expertise – education, specifically early education.

When I was out of office, I observed her as one of the sharper minds on the Senate Education Committee, Senate Finance Committee, and, last year, on the Tax, Business and Transportation Committee. She asked smart questions, never grandstanding or wasting time.

In 2005, when working with Gov. Bill Richardson, I led the effort to pass the New Mexico Pre-K Act. Sen. Kernan was a behind-the-scenes, invaluable source of information, sharing her experience as an elementary school teacher and early reading coordinator. She understood how quality early education helps kids succeed. Although she was unsuccessful in persuading other Republicans to vote for the act, she made a gutsy move, separated from her caucus, and cast a yes vote.

Her tenure was recently described by the current Majority Whip, Sen. Michael Padilla this way: “Sen. Kernan worked on a wide array of issues, but it was clear that her primary focus was always children and their well-being.”

Over the years, that “best personality” helped her work across the aisle. She was a cheerleader for kids and enjoyed respect on both sides for her leadership.

She made her mark. It won’t just be hard to fill her shoes, it will be impossible. Thank you, Sen. Kernan, from me and New Mexico’s kids.

No easy answers for parents in the age of social media

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

Almost every generation of parents says that parenting is harder than it used to be. That line of thinking is probably generated by the fact that when we become parents, although we believe we know what we are doing, we usually don’t. We have role models, good and bad, but we don’t have experience.

But for today’s generation of parents, it might be true. A recent study by the Pew Research Center in 2020 and the Surgeon General’s health advisory last month gives us a picture. The Pew study found that two thirds of U.S. parents think parenting is more difficult than 20 years ago And the most cited reason for most parents is social media and smart phones.

Just look around. It’s easy to see what is happening with children and devices. Everywhere kids have an electronic device. I’ve watched kids, some of them toddlers, on airplanes watching videos on tablets from takeoff to landing. Who hasn’t seen a gaggle of kids sitting together and everyone looking at their smart phones? My grandson gives commands to voice activated “assistants” known as Alexa or Siri, setting alarms, playing songs, and asking questions.

The Pew study found that 71% of parents are very or somewhat concerned their kids might spend too much time in front of screens. Most parents feel confident in knowing how much screen time is too much (3 hours daily is considered the limit) but continue to seek advice from doctors, teachers, and counselors.

In addition to being concerned about and managing their children’s screen time, parents are faced with trying to decipher which platforms and websites offer educational content and age-appropriate entertainment. In the same Pew study, a majority of parents said their child (or children) watch videos daily on You Tube.

Overwhelming majorities of parents (93%) say YouTube keeps kids entertained, 88% believe it helps them learn, and 75% say it exposes them to diverse cultures.

And yet, the flip side shows that a large majority of parents are concerned about their kids being exposed to inappropriate content at early ages, brutal violence, and online bullying and harassment. Parents are conflicted, if not downright confused, about parenting kids in the evolving, overwhelming world of social media.

Adding to that confusion, parents admit to having their own struggle with the use of smart phones and social media. In the Pew findings, 56% say they spend too much time on their phones. And, sadly, a majority say it gets in the way of spending quality time with their kids.

The Pew study didn’t make recommendations for stemming these concerns, but in the Surgeon General’s most recent advisory there were suggestions for parents, tech companies and policy makers.

Policy makers at all levels should make decisions centered around safety, privacy, and health concerns. Keep kids, not tech companies, at the forefront of those decisions. Require higher safety standards for kids.

Engage tech companies to put resources into research and monitoring of platforms and websites. Make them partners in raising safety standards.

Parents should learn as much as possible about the internet, privacy, and controls. Open conversations with kids about online rules and safety. Learn about their online community and get to know it as if it were their classroom.

Create family rules for social media use and be role models for them. Establish “phone free” family meals to promote conversation. Designate plug-in stations at home where kids and adults bring phones 30 minutes prior to bedtime to help promote quality sleep.

Bottom line: Parenting and social media are here to stay. We need to achieve a healthy balance, protect kids, and we will all sleep better.

Truth is out: Ice cream is good for you

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

May brought lots of good news for President Biden.

First things first: He delivered on his promise of making government work again. After months of hand wringing and foot stomping with demands from both sides, the House passed a compromise bill by a whopping 314 to 117 to raise the debt limit. The Senate passed the same bill, unamended, 63 to 36.

Who said bipartisanship was dead?

The bill gave the Republicans some of what they wanted – and the extreme right none of what they demanded. The president and Democrats made few concessions and avoided cuts to Medicare, Social Security, and retained clean-energy tax credits.

The country avoided the plunge into financial catastrophe, President Joe Biden used his experience to drive negotiations with firm patience, Speaker Kevin McCarthy kept his word and both parties bargained in good faith. Joe celebrated!

The second piece of good news is that the May job creation numbers exceeded expectations; 339,000 jobs were created. This is up from 294,000 in April and far exceeded experts’ predictions that the number would be closer to 190,000 new jobs. A bonus was that almost half of these jobs were in the business services, health, and education fields.

This brings the total number or jobs Biden has created in 2.5 years to 13 million. Joe is smiling! But here’s the best news of all for the president, unrelated to governing, politics, or the economy. During the campaign and now in the presidency, we hear reports of Biden’s fondness for ice cream. He makes frequent stops at local ice cream establishments, to the proprietors’ and customers’ delight. Just to celebrate Biden’s inaugural in 2017, Jeni’s Ice cream created White House Chocolate Chip using all the ingredients of his favorite order of chocolate chip ice cream in a waffle cone.

So imagine his delight when the May issue of The Atlantic published an article titled “Nutrition Science’s Most Preposterous Result,”revealing there might be a health benefit to ice cream. That’s right. In 2018 a Harvard student, Andres Ardisson Korat, concluded that ice cream might be good for you.

As he did more research, Korat also learned such findings were not new. There were studies as far back as 1985 and 2005. It’s just that no one wanted to talk about it. “Elite nutritionists,” as they are called in the article, kept digging because it didn’t seem to make sense. For years we’ve been told, don’t eat too much ice cream! Too much fat, too much sugar!

Yogurt became the darling of the Harvard nutrition crowd and started to be known as the healthy dessert. Ice cream got short shrift even as one scientist suggested ice cream was similar or greater in positive effects.

But the 2005 study said that higher dairy intake (including ice cream) was associated with lower risk of diabetes. Korat’s 2018 thesis concluded that “among diabetics half a cup of ice cream a day was associated with lower risk of heart problems.” Think of that! A half a cup a day.

The Atlantic article also explores why nutritionists and scientists have been reluctant to give ice cream and dairy credit for their beneficial effects. The data in these studies have been repeatedly verified over time despite data deniers.

But who cares?

The good news is out.

Bipartisanship and good faith bargaining are still possible. People are going back to work. And the all-American dessert. ice cream, not only tastes delicious but can have positive effects.

Good news for Joe and for all Americans. Have an ice cream cone and enjoy it.

Books can help kids – and parents – connect with their feelings

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

Recently, I went to see “Are You There God? It’s me, Margaret.” It’s a movie based on a novel of the same name written by Judy Blume.

Blume, now 85, is having a bit of a public resurgence as the movie opens. She had an interview on the PBS News Hour and a lengthy article in The Atlantic Monthly, as well as appearing in other publications.

If you aren’t familiar with Blume, she has long been a trusted guide for kids as their bodies are changing. She explores the impact of divorce, religion, friendships, death and, for heaven’s sake, sex on their lives. Margaret, written in 1970, and another book by Blume, Forever, about teen sexuality and first love (in production for a series), have long been on the list of frequently challenged books, according to the American Library Association.

I didn’t read Judy Blume books, but my daughters and granddaughters read them. The movie gave me an opportunity to see what all the fuss has been about over the years. It is about a 12-year-old girl whose family moves to a new community, and she must make new friends. She is invited to join a club of four classmates, whose requirements revolve around things that happen when girls are 12 – wearing a bra (needed or not), getting their first period, kissing a boy for the first time.

Intertwined is the story of Margaret’s parents’ mixed-religion marriage – her mom is Christian, and her dad is Jewish and the impact on Margaret and the extended family. Real life problems.

When I was young, my paternal grandmother had a friend who was an author. Lenore Mattingly Weber. We called her Noni. She wrote a series of books about a young girl named Beany Malone. I read them all. Still have them. They are outdated by today’s standards, but for me, as for readers of Blume’s books over decades, they provided a window into family issues, death, boyfriends, leaving home, getting married. I learned as I wrote this column that much of what happened to fictional Beany and her family happened to grandma’s friend Noni.

The stories of Beany Malone and her family allowed me to ask questions of my own mother. My mom was reluctant to talk about “personal things,” an inherited trait passed down from her reserved, quiet parents. It was these books about a young girl growing up and real life that opened the door to conversation for us.

Blume’s books and the subject matter in such books as Forever and Are you there God? Is it me Margaret?gave young girls the message that Blume knew what they were feeling. She received thousands of letters weekly soon after the publication of Margaret. Maybe these were from readers who couldn’t talk to their parents?

Books do that for people – Beany, Margaret, Deenie (another Judy character) all helped girls connect with their own anxieties and feelings. Sometimes they helped explain sexuality and sex. And, sometimes, they helped girls connect with their parents in a way that might not have been possible before.

So, it leads to the question: Why are Blume’s books some of the most frequently challenged books on the ALA list? Why are a few loud voices and ambitious politicians trying to ban books at all? I hope to explore that more in depth in a future column.

But as Blume said in a recent interview, “Banning books never stopped me from writing books.” I suspect that banning books won’t keep kids (or anyone) from reading books – especially those books that tell them their feelings are valid and they are not alone.

Taking a bite out of organized, retail theft

By Diane Denish

Corner to Corner

One day when my son was five, he slipped a little toy in his pocket while we visited a drug store in Farmington. When we got home, he proudly showed it to me as though it was a prize. I asked him where he got it. The drugstore. Did he pay for it? No! he said proudly. Thus began a lesson in shoplifting.

We immediately returned to the store. I “convinced” him he had to go back in, return the item, and admit he didn’t pay for it. The store manager was stern but thanked him for being honest. He told him people who took things without paying were called shoplifters and could be arrested.

While my son’s transgression was that of a little kid who wanted a toy, I must admit my own definition of shoplifting over the years was that it was of little or no significance – no one went to jail for it.

Times have changed. Today retail crime, organized and rampant, is plaguing retail businesses of all sizes locally and nationally. In a 2022 survey of 700 small businesses by Business.org, 54% reported a rise in shoplifting with 23% saying they were robbed daily. This has little to do with individual shoplifters although they are still around. It is driven by organized theft operations. It’s a New Mexico problem too.

Organized retail theft started to rapidly increase in the pandemic. Most retail stores began to scale back the number of employees as shoppers stayed home. Online shopping for everything exploded. This same opportunity for shoppers also presented an opportunity for theft rings. Individuals get recruited to go in and empty stores of beauty products, detergents, food, medicines and more. They get paid when theft operations turn around and resell the products online. Amazon, ebay and other sites give thieves a quick way to resell stolen goods. No tax ID numbers or verification required. This scourge of crime has costs for everyone. Large retailers like Walgreen’s and Wal-Mart are closing stores. When Wal-Mart determines a store is underperforming it is closed. The store is likely underperforming because it has repeated, costly retail theft that affects profitability.

For shoppers, prices go up and more basic products are under lock and key – beauty products, razors, detergent, allergy medicines. As retailers close there are limited shopping venues in neighborhoods. And frequently the safety of customers and employees is compromised if thieves have guns or commit assault.

As the problem has increased so have the coalitions working to find solutions. Retailers, lawmakers, business groups and law enforcement are working together to address the problem.

In 2022 with the support of local and state officials, the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce started the New Mexico Organized Retail Crime Association. This allows statewide and multi-state sharing of crime data. Local law enforcement stepped up arrests.

Retailers nationwide are rolling out more sophisticated sensors, parking lot security cameras, and facial recognition software to flag repeat offenders. And they successfully lobbied Congress for legislation requiring online sellers (aka Amazon) to collect tax ID numbers for high volume sellers. This year the Legislature passed HB 234, crafted by the New Mexico Chamber, legislators and law enforcement. It allows persons to be charged based on total quantities stolen by individuals during a 90-day period. This addresses chronic individual shoplifters.

It creates a new crime of aggravated shoplifting, a third degree felony, for use of a deadly weapon or committing assault at any point during the crime. And the law clearly defines a new crime of organized retail crime to address gangs or theft rings.

Times have changed, but let’s hope they can change again for the better. For shoppers, retailers, and communities.

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diane denish 5-29-23 on

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