Monday, November 25, 2024
RIP, Fred Harris
John notes that former Oklahoma Senator Fred Harris passed away.I didn't realize he had been living in Corrales since 1976. The neighbor I never knew. One of the good guys:
Harris ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976, quitting after poor showings in early contests, including a fourth-place win in New Hampshire. The more moderate Jimmy Carter went on to win the presidency.
Harris moved to New Mexico that year and became a political science professor at the University of New Mexico. He wrote and edited more than a dozen books, mostly on politics and Congress. In 1999 he broadened his writings with a mystery set in Depression-era Oklahoma.
Throughout his political career, Harris was a leading liberal voice for civil rights and anti-poverty programs to help minorities and the disadvantaged.
“Democrats everywhere will remember Fred for his unparalleled integrity and as a pioneer for instituting core progressive values of equity and opportunity for prosperity as core tenets of our party,” the Democratic Party of New Mexico said in a statement.
Along with his first wife, LaDonna, a Comanche, he also was active in Native American issues.
“I’ve always called myself a populist or progressive,” Harris said in a 1998 interview. “I’m against concentrated power. I don’t like the power of money in politics. I think we ought to have programs for the middle class and working class.”
Worst Walk Ever
Jasper and I were walking along 21st Street on a rainy evening, approaching the intersection with Broadway, right next to Creole Soul Restaurant. At the same time, the driver of a northbound car decided to turn left onto Broadway, and didn’t account for the fact that the southbound driver had the right of way.
BOOM!
I jumped back. The southbound car was coming straight for us on the sidewalk. Fortunately the car stopped about thirty feet away from us, but the crunchy plastic debris from the collision sprayed forward about twenty feet away from us. The northbound car spun around and faced nearly south.
And so we waited for the emergency vehicles. Witnesses tried to help. Air bags had gone off, filling the cars with worrisome smoke. The southbound driver complained about neck and shoulder pain. Jasper sat in the plastic debris, thinking this was the worst walk ever. A woman came over (emergency contact for the southbound driver), fussed over Jasper, and told him “this must be your worst walk ever!”
The police didn’t need my witness statement. Other witnesses had better views. Jasper and I walked on.
Precipitation Map of Recent Rains
Here is a map of rainfall over the past week (Nov. 17-23). Rainfall was very uneven, concentrated on high elevations in the Coast Range, and also around Redding and just east of Chico. Local rains were substantial - 2.68 inches at Sacramento Executive Airport - but they pale in comparison to other places. There are isolated places that got more than 20 inches of rain: 24+ inches, northwest of Santa Rosa.
They Have Their Master; So Do You
Jasper and I were walking along 21st Street and saw that the door to the Aikido Studio was open. Jasper stopped, looked in, and tried to grasp the scene. Twenty students dressed in white robes were kneeling in a perfect line as they listened raptly to their master. I tugged Jasper's leash and whispered, "Come, Jasper. They have their master; so do you."
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