Getting Carded:
On Dec. 10, New Mexico’s Democratic US Sen. Tom Udall’s office announced that New Mexicans don’t have to worry about bringing their passports on their holiday flights.
"For the foreseeable future, the law isn't going to be enforced," Udall tells SFR. That's true for all 36 states currently out of compliance with the Real ID Act, a law requiring uniformly "secure" ID cards that was originally slated to go into effect in May 2005.
Udall says there's no set date for an end to the ID reprieve.
"The most important thing is we don't disrupt business and individual travel here at the end of the year, when we're in an economic crisis," Udall says, noting the act is likely to change.
"There's such a large coalition of states that are pushing for [reform]," Udall says. "Many people want to see changes to Real ID."
Sharp-Dressed Man:
At the Dec. 12 Sky City Casino Blackjack Challenge for Charity, SFR columnist and Web Editor Zane Fischer showed up in an outfit he describes as “special”: white jeans (really?), plaid shirt, striped tie and “this ridiculous jacket I found at Ross Dress for Less.”
Evidently, Fischer’s sartorial choices worked out: He finished second and won $4,000 for The Food Depot.
It was a lucky break. At the end of the second round, Fischer knew he was in trouble, so he threw all his money into the pot and—this part’s crazy—“hit through like five cards and finally nailed the 21.”
The last hand, he went all in again and landed a blackjack.
"It was kind of the play of the day," Fischer says. "If it weren't for that blind luck, I wouldn't have made it to the finals."
LOL:
Santa Fe City Councilor Miguel Chavez began tweeting this week, joining fellow mayoral candidates Mayor David Coss and Asenath Kepler, who already have Twitter profiles and satirical impersonators [News, Dec. 2: “Mudslinging 2.0”]. Here’s what Chavez has to say about social networking.
SFR:
Do you have an impersonator yet?
MC:
Impersonator? I haven’t recruited anyone. You mean like a double, or what?
SFR:
[long-winded explanation]
MC:
Oh, I do remember what you’re talking about. No, that hasn’t happened to me.
SFR:
What do you like and dislike about online campaigning?
MC:
A lot of my campaigns in the past have been really grassroots…this is somewhat new. You have to have the webpage and be able to also spend some time with the Facebook. I don’t know about the Twitter. We’re not going to do both. We’re just going to do the webpage. And Facebook.
SFR:
Wait, you’re not going to do Twitter?
MC:
Not much. We’re going to spend more time on Facebook
