Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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When something is important to you, you want to share it. If other people don’t understand it, you want to explain it to them. You usually want others to like and understand it as much as you do, whether it’s a skill, a hobby, a religion, knowledge, or an idea. It’s why — besides the remote possibility of making money — people write books and make movies. It’s why I write these weekly columns and blog daily. It’s also why I try to help people around me when they ask for my he...
Politics has a strange effect on people. I’m stunned at how many people can’t let go of Donald Trump. They cling to him like a life raft in an ocean of uncertainty. I’m not talking about Trump’s supporters, but about those who hate him passionately. Those who suffer from what is known as “Trump Derangement Syndrome.” Most Trump supporters have moved on. They accept the reality he’d be too old for the presidency in four years. He’d be 78 by then, and no one that age should...
John Brennan, an ex-CIA director from Obama’s administration, claims the federal government is targeting “religious extremists,” conservatives, and libertarians for extra scrutiny. All these people are said to be potential domestic terrorists. He recently stated on MSNBC, “(M)embers of the Biden team ... are now moving in laser-like fashion, to try to uncover as much as they can about what looks very similar to insurgency movements that we’ve seen overseas, where they germ...
No matter how you feel about them, U.S. presidents are both too powerful and figureheads without any real power. It seems contradictory, but it’s true. A president has the power to sign unconstitutional legislation and impose unconstitutional executive orders — such as Trump’s ban on bump stocks — but unless he does what those with the real power want him to do, he loses the power to do anything. This defeats the point of gaining the office. So presidents usually play the gam...
Are you prepared enough? No, you aren’t. Neither am I. It’s a trick question. There is no such thing as being prepared enough. Recent events in Washington, D.C. — the “District of Criminals” — should have motivated you to be ready for whatever happens next. Politics is a virus more dangerous than COVID-19 ever was. I don’t agree with or support any of the sides in the Jan. 6 Expedition to Congress. All sides seem to be in a cult — they only fight over which Dear Leader des...
Have you ever run into someone who believes the Earth is flat? I was shocked to discover such people exist. Many of them also believe the moon is a hologram, gravity doesn’t exist, and space isn’t real. It’s a bewildering experience listening to them try to make their case while fending off evidence to the contrary. To them, everything is faked. They believe it empowers government somehow to lie about the shape of the Earth. They’ve never been able to explain to me how thi...
Was the year 2020 not to your liking? Do you want 2021 to be better? Then make it better. It’s mostly up to you. There will be things beyond your control, but you can choose how you feel about them and how you react to them. You can be stampeded over a cliff by those who gain power from your fear and compliance, or you can be responsible for yourself. You can act on the science promoted by political hysterics, or on the science that shows there’s no need to panic and zero rea...
As soon as a COVID-19 vaccine was announced, the debate began over who should get it first. To me, the answer was obvious: Give it to the politicians first. They want to be called “leaders;” let them lead for once. This win/win solution should make everyone happy. People who love government are generally going to be the people most likely to trust the vaccine. They probably believe politicians are valuable. They’d believe using the vaccine on the politicians first would be sa...
A couple of weeks ago, I was in Lubbock for a while. Before heading home I stopped by a Lubbock Walmart so I could grab a few items without being herded like a cow through a chute. As it happens, I missed a fatal shooting there by moments. I was almost surely still in the parking lot when the tragic crime occurred. Crimes — real crimes against life, liberty, and property — infuriate me. There is simply no excuse. There is also no excuse for enabling such crimes with ign...
Like it or not, everyone has the responsibility to make their own decisions. If they decide to wear a mask because they believe it will keep them (or others) safe, they are free to do so. They are violating their responsibility when they threaten to use government violence to force others to wear a mask. People have the responsibility to run their business without intentionally causing harm. Customers have the responsibility to choose which businesses to use. Anyone who...
If there is one message I’d most like to share with you during these times — and for this Thanksgiving — it’s that your rights don’t depend on the opinions of politicians. Whatever mandates are issued, whatever legislation is imposed, your natural human rights remain completely unchanged. Having a right simply means no one can have a right to stop you. Did you have the right to earn money last year? You still do. Did you have the right to run your business last year? You...
One thing that has been demonstrated beyond any doubt by both the pandemic and the recent presidential election is that government has too much power over our lives. If government didn’t have the power to force you to close your business because a new cold virus showed up, and punish you if you ignored its demands, the American economy would still be strong. Much tragedy could have been avoided. The pandemic would have most likely run its course and be only a memory by now. I...
I was wrong. I was sure Donald Trump would win easily, in spite of years of political and personal attacks from his various opponents. I knew there was “Anyone but Trump” sentiment out there, but I just couldn’t imagine anyone but a few people on the fringe would actually vote for Joe Biden. The last time I was this surprised at people taking a candidate seriously was when I discovered that people were actually considering Bill Clinton a credible choice back in 1992. Some...
With the election now behind us, you need to find a way to live with the neighbors who supported a different candidate than you did. The neighbor who had a sign in the yard supporting the other candidate; go make up with them. Even if their sign is still there. Don’t act as though you’re doing them a favor — it’s as much to your benefit as it is to theirs. Don’t be a sore loser or a sore winner; be a neighbor. Forget politics for awhile. I know it’s difficult, in this time w...
What do you expect to happen after Donald Trump’s election victory? I expect outrage, shock, and denial from the national mainstream media and others who pretended Joe Biden was a credible candidate. I expect more accusations of Russian interference in the election as an excuse to consider the result illegitimate. Until “None of the above — leave the office vacant” is on the ballot, no election looks legitimate to me. I expect violence from those who will use the electio...
The continuing hysteria over COVID-19 reminds me of the website warning of the dangers of Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO). The website correctly points out that DHMO is found in all our food, sometimes as an additive; we’ve all been exposed. It’s found in many dangerous compounds and in cancerous tumors. It kills thousands yearly. This is all completely true. In fact, Nazis used DHMO in their concentration camps and the Soviets used it in their gulags. Petitions calling for a ban...
Do you ever feel like you’re stuck in an infinite presidential time loop? Every four years I watch it repeat, but no one else seems to notice. Like the movie Groundhog Day, where the protagonist relives the same exact day with only his own behavior and choices changing, I see the repeating patterns in every presidential election. Opposition party loyalists with a special dislike of the current president — whoever it may be — are certain the president will declare himse...
Of all the political ideas I’m puzzled by — which is all of them — the ideas of White Supremacy and White Nationalism are among the most bizarre. To imagine you’re better than others because of your race rather than for your achievements is foolish. For that matter, anyone who feels they are owed something beyond the respect for life, liberty, and property every human is entitled to is mistaken. To use government and its legislation to force your superiority on others is to a...
Few people understand the difference between tolerating a behavior and endorsing or approving of it. There are things I don’t approve of but don’t have the right to stop others from doing. I may tolerate these behaviors for my own peace of mind while doing what I can to protect myself; including self-defense when necessary. Even if I try to stop others from doing things I believe are harmful, my effect on the world is vanishingly tiny. It’s probably wasted effort. I have...
Stocking up on food and supplies before the worst part of the forced shutdowns could turn out to have been good practice for what may be coming after the presidential election. Especially considering the new vacancy on the Supreme Court. This development is just another piece in the colorful puzzle called 2020, and will probably make uncivil unrest more likely than before. This vacancy shouldn’t come as a great shock to anyone. The shoe has been waiting to drop for years. P...
I wish people were more consistent. Many people in this country say they are for smaller, or “limited” government. Most change their minds as soon as they think of something they want government to give them or do for them. If it takes bigger, more powerful, and intrusive government to get what they want, they’re happy to sacrifice you on this altar. Big government is suddenly their friend. They are against reckless government spending until they’re hoping to get a check....
Last week I was reminded how intensely I dislike bureaucracy. People who impose bureaucracy on the rest of us are as useful to society as plague-spreading fleas. You might believe bureaucracy has a place and is beneficial, but you’d be mistaking government for society; its opposite. I have no tolerance for bureaucracy or authoritarianism. My preference doesn’t threaten anyone; yet those who thrive on bureaucracy and authoritarianism can’t leave the rest of us alone. We must be...
If you go looking for trouble, you’ll probably find it. If you’ve seen any national news recently you’ve watched it happen. Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, intentionally went to Kenosha, Wisconsin, a place he knew was experiencing trouble, just to participate. He found trouble. So did the people who went there to riot and chose to attack the wrong person. Some people believe Rittenhouse ended up committing murders. Others — such as myself — believe it is clear he acted in self-defe...
Quick, name something you really and truly believe even though you know it’s wrong. You can’t, can you? If you knew your belief was wrong, you’d change it. It’s the same for every person on Earth, no matter how different their beliefs are from yours. No matter how certain you are that they are wrong, they are just as certain your different beliefs are wrong. If they believed they were wrong they’d change their minds — even if they wouldn’t admit in public they did so. No one b...
There’s a lot of irresponsibility and selfishness in the world around us. We can choose to not be part of it. People who litter or dump their trash are childishly irresponsible. People who leave shopping carts in parking spaces instead of making the small effort to put them in their corrals are showing self-centered irresponsibility and a lack of respect for others. Another example of parking lot irresponsibility is the people who park on the yellow-striped zones. This is a v...
