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

Social media gets a lot of well-deserved criticism. It’s presented as a service, but with the vast majority of social media platforms, you and your information are the products being sold. Even...

A badge doesn’t grant extra rights. When the law acts as though it does by treating people differently based on whether or not they wear a badge, the law undermines its appearance of legitimacy. No...

I have leaned libertarian most of my life. I didn’t know what that word meant until I went to work for Freedom Communications in 2001 and they sent me to “freedom school.” That’s when I found...

When most people use the word “government” they are talking about the collective more accurately called “the state.” Not in the sense of the 50 familiar shapes making up maps of the United...

Have you seen there are people who are blaming their health problems on the results of the most recent presidential election? Not just their mental health and happiness, as with the widespread...

I don’t want to be cynical, but the emergence of a market in politically convenient accusations of sexual misconduct, made at just the right moment, is making me cynical. It’s as though people...

Instead of worrying about who someone is, it seems smarter to focus on what they do. Anything other than their actions is none of your business and can’t harm you, and not many of their actions are...

Every time there’s an open spot on the Supreme Court, a political free-for-all erupts to fill it. Those who believe they have a claim on your life, liberty, and property take the nomination of a Sup...

If you build a house in certain neighborhoods in Hawaii, you run the risk of having your house swallowed by lava. Along most coasts, hurricanes and tsunamis are looming dangers. In mountains,...

Over the next few years you’re going to be tested. Socialism — the politics of envy, parasitism, and entitlement — is growing in popularity again. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have...

When you imagine solving some problem, what kind of solution do you envision: permanent or political? Win-win or win-lose? How would you rather fix things? Permanently and where everyone wins, or...

Last week, some of the biggest social media corporations colluded to silence a voice they didn’t like. No matter how you feel about Alex Jones and his Infowars media brand, this wasn’t good for...

Why all the uproar over 3D printed guns? It has always been fairly easy to make guns at home. Having the computer code available online won’t change anything. People enjoy weeping, wailing, and...

Some American workers are cheering President Trump’s new tariffs. They know not what they cheer. Tariffs are as bad for you and me — economically — as taxing corporations. It’s a great plan...

The political left, and much of the political right, keeps putting me in an uncomfortable position where I almost feel the need to defend President Trump. Almost. It’s not a position I enjoy. I see...

It’s more important to do the right thing than to obey laws, and it’s wrong to obey laws that violate life, liberty, or property. Even if you agree with them or believe they are necessary. When...

Gun rights, like all natural human rights, are a foundation of a functional society. And every right comes with an equally important responsibility. You must handle and use your gun so that you...

What does Independence Day mean to you? To me, Independence Day has morphed into the most tragic of holidays. Its original meaning has been completely lost; turned on its head. The way it is most comm...

One of the latest excuses for more government interference in your life is the “opioid crisis.” Yes, people abuse drugs, including opioids. This is nothing new; they have done so for centuries....

Recently, I read a rant describing libertarianism in unlibertarian ways. This is normal. I’ve never seen a criticism of libertarianism that hit the mark. The point is usually that libertarians are...

Who would be desperate enough to eat a cake baked by someone who doesn’t want to bake it? Would you want a wedding cake someone was forced to bake — at gunpoint? Even if the gun is hidden at...

Politics might be an amusing hobby, but it is a horrible basis for a society. One should never confuse government with society. Society grows naturally from the voluntary interactions of people,...

There is one thing government could do that I will support. One thing I believe it needs to spend more time doing. It’s the one thing government can do best, the one thing government can do that...

Droughts are a serious problem. They cause wildfires, dirt storms, crop failure, and they deplete the aquifer. Droughts are harmful and dangerous. Someone should do something! Why aren’t droughts...

President Trump has decided to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran Nuclear Agreement, and his critics are enjoying their opportunity to show concern. You can d...