The Eastern New Mexico News - Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Sometimes it’s hard to remember to be thankful for life’s little blessings. Recently I was reminded to be grateful I don’t live in California. My electricity went out for a little while a few...

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, and all the rest of you, too! Welcome to the Big Top. Yes, that’s right: the Impeachment Circus, with its dancing elephants and prancing d...

You may find it hard to believe, but my first car was an electric car. Nothing so fancy as a Tesla, though. It was a 1975 Sebring-Vanguard Citicar. That's us in the photograph, in the spring of 1980,...

Libertarians have a saying, often represented by the acronym TANSTAAFL: “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” This is a rule of reality as inflexible as any other law of physics, but...

It’s as predictable as the equinox: school starts in the fall and bullying catches society’s attention anew. It’s not as though bullying stops over the summer break, but then it is usually...

We all have our own likes and dislikes. This means everyone likes some things other people dislike; sometimes the likes and dislikes are passionate and the disagreements get rather heated. There’s...

I admit it: I’ve always been a bit of a space geek. Or, would that be “space nerd?” Whatever the term, I love space flight, and am especially excited to see it beginning to escape the stagnant,...

The better you understand something, the easier it is to notice when you’re being lied to. Plus, the less likely it is you’ll be fooled by the lies. When I’m watching a movie and I see someone...

Usually, the more I learn about something the more I appreciate it. There have been many times when a friend has introduced me to something I knew next to nothing about; something they were...

In the wake of the recent mass shootings and the hype surrounding them, people are asking “why?” Simpletons parrot the popular answer: “guns.” Sensible people know there’s no single reason....

Once again we approach that saddest time of the year: when the majority of parents send their kids back to school; back into the local government concentration day-camps. If you’re someone who...

There are many things I don’t know. There are things I think I know but I get wrong. There are also things people may believe I’m wrong about, but I’m not — a topic for another day. When...

President Trump makes people crazy. Or maybe he magnifies the crazy already present in people. It’s like a superpower. His supporters seem desperate to defend and support just about anything he does...

If your idea of a good time is to vandalize someone’s home, I have no sympathy for you no matter what consequences result. Last year a relative’s home near Clovis was burglarized and cleaned out....

There are few things I enjoy more than helping people. In the past few months, I’ve opened a car for a neighbor who locked her keys inside. Twice. I gave a military-style can opener I was carrying...

America was born in an act of secession. Those future Americans told an overbearing central government — the world’s most powerful empire and military at the time — it was no longer welcome. It...

One way you can tell laws are not legitimate, ethically or morally, is in the way they vary from place to place. Those of us who live near an arbitrary political line — a state line or a national...

I love watching the market work. I don’t call it “the free market” because if it’s not free it’s not a market. Under government rules and regulations what survives is a pale shadow of a...

It amazes me how often people create worse problems while trying to solve problems. Most problems can be solved; some probably can’t. Don’t give up trying to solve the hard problems, though. You n...

There’s a sense of personal accomplishment, of self-worth, when you make something with your own hands through your own efforts. Even if you seek guidance from someone with experience, you’ve...

A few years ago, I was hiking down a trail in Colorado. Exploring trails — and off trails — is probably my favorite activity. After a few hours, I decided I needed to turn around and head back....

Preferences are a personal thing. Some people prefer dogs while others prefer cats, and some like both species equally. None of these choices is wrong, even if one choice might make more sense or be...

Would you rather live in a world where it’s normal for people to try to convince each other of something, or a world where it’s acceptable to just give an order and shoot anyone who doesn’t imme...

It’s fascinating how easily people accept something they would otherwise know is wrong when someone they view as an authority figure tells them it’s right. Voltaire observed, in 1765, “Those who...