More than 27,000 New Mexicans work for state government, according to the state’s sunshine portal. Those state employees are required to give a portion of their paychecks to a pension fund run by the Public Employees Retirement Association. When an employee retires, the pension is repaid.

In 1991, at the suggestion of his wife Peaches, Eddie Gilbert moved to Santa Fe. A man once labeled as the boy-wonder of Wall Street, Gilbert had served two separate prison terms for financial crimes. But he found a less lawless life here, having established the BGK Group, which became the largest holder of commercial real estate in New Mexico. The twice-befallen financier reinvented himself in Santa Fe—the capital city of a state an 1876 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial called “the tag end of all that is objectionable in an imperfect civilization.”

Can the electromagnetic fields associated with cell phones cause physical pain and memory problems? Or is Arthur Firstenberg’s claim that cell phones have caused him nausea, vertigo, diarrhea, insomnia and a host of other ailments merely the baseless complaint of a hypochondriac?

“Your note below says toiletries only. Is this one of those clothing optional, naked babe weekends?” So wrote Patrick Rogers—Albuquerque power lawyer, lobbyist and member of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government—in an email to the private account of Ryan Cangiolosi, deputy chief of staff for Gov. Susana Martinez, and the professional account of Stuart Feltman, president of Coca-Cola in Santa Fe, on Aug. 30, 2011.

On April 2, Gov. Susana Martinez received a $2,500 contribution from a little-known company called Double V Production, LLC. Based in Hobbs, the company was registered with New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission by Scotty Holloman, an attorney in the dusty, southern oil city that borders Texas. Though it’s properly registered with the state, Hobbs city and Lea County officials maintain they have no record of Double V Production’s existence.

Dave Heft knows how critical health insurance is. He is, after all, enrolling in Santa Fe Community College’s nursing program. That’s why he’s at Molina Medical Clinic, a local fee-for-service provider where 43 percent of patients pay with cash. Nursing students must obtain vaccinations so they can enter clinical settings, and he’s patiently sitting in the waiting room, contemplating his future as a nurse with health insurance. But that’s a long way off, and Heft has gone without it for the past year. As with many New Mexicans, health insurance is a luxury his $13-per-hour waiter position won’t support.

Reactions around New Mexico to the June 29 US Supreme Court decision upholding most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) followed predictable partisan lines.

A 10-year-old girl walks into her home, where her young Hispanic parents greet her. The conversation soon turns to voting. “¿Papá, tú votas?” she asks. (Dad, do you vote?) “¡Sí! Pero sólo para las personas buenas!” he replies. (Yes! But only for the right people!)

Former Gov. Bill Richardson could be the Obama administration’s commerce secretary. But he’s not, because of his involvement in a alleged pay-for-play scheme with a Beverly Hills, Calif. brokerage firm called CDR Financial Products, Inc. In December, executives of that firm pleaded guilty to conspiring with the nation’s biggest banks to rig bids on financial products of municipal bonds.

When government officials conduct their business through private emails, we can only speculate as to what they’re saying. Here’s a satirical, fictional, imaginative and humorous collection of that communication.