Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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The White House wants additional power to snoop on private e-mail and social- network communications in the interest of national security. These are thorny issues, not easily resolved. Our advice is to go slowly. Once government intervenes, even for the best of motives, that authority rarely is rescinded. There also promises to be unintended consequences and perhaps more damage than benefit if the federal government plows ahead without regard to tradeoffs and costs. The New York Times recently reported that “law e...
What came over U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio? The House minority leader suggested a compromise with Democrats on taxes. Within a matter of seconds, it seemed, the knives were out. His own party ripped him, and the White House fell back on that tired political clich... Full story
W hat’s more dangerous? Forest fires or lawsuits by radical environmental groups? Ponder recent Colorado fires that destroyed hundreds of homes. Visualize the couple huddled with their kids and the family dog, thankful they left the forest in time. They hope everyone else found their way to safety before fire began gobbling up homes. The family prays for the men and women fighting the fire. They ponder life without the irreplaceable photos and heirlooms that occupy their home. They fear for friends and neighbors who remain u...
What came over U.S. Rep. John Boehner of Ohio? The House minority leader suggested a compromise with Democrats on taxes. Within a matter of seconds, it seemed, the knives were out. His own party ripped him, and the White House fell back on that tired political clich...
W ith George W. Bush in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress, many Democrats invoked the Constitution when they criticized the administration’s anti-terrorism policies. With Barack Obama in the White House and Democrats controlling Congress, many Republicans invoked the Constitution when they criticized the overhaul of health care. In both cases, the criticism had validity. The famed American patriots who signed the Constitution 223 years ago this month generally viewed the power of government as something t... Full story
With George W. Bush in the White House and Republicans controlling Congress, many Democrats invoked the Constitution when they criticized the administration’s anti-terrorism policies. With Barack Obama in the White House and Democrats controlling Congress, many Republicans invoked the Constitution when they criticized the overhaul of health care. In both cases, the criticism had validity. The famed American patriots who signed the Constitution 223 years ago this month generally viewed the power of government as something t...
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News outlets are reporting heavily about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which hit the Mississippi coast on Aug. 29, 2005. Heavy rain from the huge storm overwhelmed the levees surrounding New Orleans, causing flooding that destroyed much of the city. Five years later, much of the damage still exists, and thousands of people are still waiting for help that was promised them. Many of the anniversary stories reflect the struggles many still endure. Katrina, followed soon after by another large hurricane, Rita, was a...
Is wind power a viable alternative to low-cost fossil fuels? Consider this: relying on windmills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions not only is expensive and ironically harmful to the environment, it won’t accomplish its main goal. “A slew of recent studies show that wind-generated energy likely won’t result in any reduction in carbon emissions — or that they’ll be so small as to be almost meaningless,” Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, writes in a recent Wall Street Journal column. Private-s...
Glenn Beck has a dream. Beck envisions a country that will forever embrace the principles of integrity, truth and honor established by the men and women who founded the United States. He dreams of honoring great Americans who fought to uphold those principles — including Martin Luther King, Jr. Love or hate Beck, his dream is righteous. King used his “I Have a Dream” speech to exalt the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence and to proclaim the rights of individuals over the oppression imposed upon the...
ERROR... Full story
A federal judge on Monday put a halt on President Barack Obama’s 2009 announcement that research could begin on new stem cells. At this stage in the debate, the ruling was the right thing to do. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled that a lawsuit challenging Obama’s decision can proceed, and its implementation should be delayed until the case is resolved. At issue are fertilized eggs that were only a few days old before they were frozen. These zygotes have started to multiply, but only have about 100 cells. They hav... Full story
A lot of recent data show how Mexico is doing as a country; some figures are surprisingly good; others, however, suggest the country’s progress could come more slowly than we might hope. Mexico’s government reported last week that some 28,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since the government began its crackdown on cartels in December 2006. Some of the deaths have resulted from firefights between cartel members and members of the military; others are attributed to fighting between gangs. Border res...
There’s no question the dictatorship running North Korea is one of the more dangerous — and nuttier — in the world. It’s headed by the Kim dynasty, something that wasn’t supposed to happen under the “classless” ideology of communism. In recent days current dictator Kim Jong Ill has been acting up, as he does periodically. The navies of the United States and democratic South Korea have recently been holding exercises in the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean peninsula. Kim blustered he would get “physical...
Last week’s indictment of a Texas justice of the peace is just the latest in a long history of that state’s justices who either don’t know or don’t care about the laws they are sworn to enforce. A Hidalgo County grand jury indicted Mary Alice Palacios on three counts of official oppression for sending three teenagers to jail after they failed to pay court costs on other matters. The American Civil Liberties Union also has filed a civil suit against the justice over the detentions. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct...
There’s no question that the dictatorship running North Korea is one of the more dangerous — and nuttier — in the world. It’s headed by the Kim dynasty, something that wasn’t supposed to happen under the “classless” ideology of communism. In recent days current dictator Kim Jong Ill has been acting up, as he does periodically. The navies of the United States and democratic South Korea have recently been holding exercises in the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean peninsula. Kim blustered he would get “physical...
During the debates on federalized health care, there was no shortage of people projecting the negative consequences of such a policy. Those consequences are beginning to be realized. Two of the country’s largest insurance providers, UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield, already have stopped issuing new coverage for children and other plans. The Associated Press reports that those cutbacks have started in Florida. Oklahoma’s insurance commissioner told AP that other companies were cutting coverage in that state as wel...
An ancient Roman proverb asks, “Who watches the watchman?” We might update that to: “Who spies on the spies?” That is, who makes sure they’re doing the right thing and not abusing their budgets, authority and powers? The question arises after a recent three-part series in The Washington Post, “Top Secret America.” Some of what it found: “Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United St... Full story
It’s nothing short of civil war, according to Al Kreiger. The Yuma, Ariz., mayor told a forum on immigration last week that the issue of immigration enforcement authority has torn this country in two. Kreiger noted that such wars occur when state and federal governments are at odds. “We basically have an undeclared civil war today,” he said. We’ll let others assess just how civil it actually is. What is clear, however, is that passions, and blood pressures, are high over this issue, and it has spread beyond our own boundar...
We mostly can’t complain about the summer heat so far, but that will change because temperatures are certain to nudge close to triple digits several times over the next eight weeks or so. When the weather makes us miserable, we ask area pet owners to remember our dogs and cats are also miserable. According to Dr. Lila Miller, vice president of veterinary outreach for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: “Even the healthiest pets can suffer from dehydration, heat stroke and sunburn if overexposed to t...
Last month the Afghan war became America’s longest, surpassing the previous record of eight years and seven months set by the Vietnam War. In his Dec. 1, 2009, speech to the nation announcing the surge of troops into Afghanistan, President Obama promised, “But taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011.” Now, the administration is backing away...
When the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow, solar and wind energy producers don’t produce, making them highly unreliable. When government subsidies come to their inevitable end, such alternative energy sources no longer are economically viable. Even if so-called renewable energy sources created legions of high-paying domestic jobs, which they don’t, it’s imprudent to bank on a green-job Utopia to save the economy. Even more so in a worldwide recession. Politicians promise to rejuvenate America’s economy with countl... Full story
In the spirit of the holiday, we pursue the answer to a simple question: Could our forefathers possibly have envisioned the America that exists in 2010, where independence is thwarted at virtually every turn? Could they have foreseen the long lines at airports brought on by security checks? Or the invasive full-body scanners that detail imagery best shared inside one’s bedroom? Could they have anticipated random roadblocks hunting for people who choose not to use seat belts or dare have a drink at some point in the day? C...
Our position on the situation between Israel and the Palestinians long has been that the United States should leave the matter to the two parties. If that happened, then Israelis and Palestinians would have to deal with one another without the meddling of Washington, possibly bringing about an agreement. We also long have opposed sanctions because they are much more likely to hurt the common people rather than the country’s leaders. They establish a “common enemy” that redirects internal criticism off the leaders and onto...
Politics often involves a tug-of-war between perception and fact. One of the most obvious cases involves the insinuation that “illegals” are swarming across our southern border and putting the entire nation at risk. Of course, “illegals” could be harmless immigrants just looking for a way to feed their families, or sophisticated gangsters armed to the teeth and ready to kidnap and torture any innocent American citizen. The ambiguity of the term, and the uncertainty it causes, only adds to the fear of the uninformed —...
