Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Donald Trump announced his candidacy seeking the Republican nod for the 2024 presidential race Tuesday. Some local reactions: The Chairman of the Curry County Republican party is Marcus Smith: “I think that this is a time in which there have been a lot of candidates from a lot of different walks of life in a lot of different races and it’s going to be interesting to see who is going to run against him for the Republican nomination.” Kent McManigal of Farwell writes a weekly column for The News from his perspective as a Liber...
After the election, I saw a few bitter Republicans on social media blaming the failure of Republican candidates to get elected -- the fizzled “red wave” -- on libertarians. It’s a silly complaint. Libertarian candidates don’t take votes from Republicans any more than they take votes from Democrats. Most people who vote for Libertarians aren’t going to vote for any of the other candidates no matter what. If I were a voter and I only had a choice between a Republican and a Dem...
Why would anyone bother confronting politicians? Do they really believe politicians matter in their daily life? You protect your rights by exercising them -- by putting them into practice -- not by begging others to respect them. I’m not going to a politician’s office to try to convince them of anything. Not to beg them to stop violating my rights nor to ask them to violate someone else on my behalf. You won’t find me at a protest, a political rally, or in a voting booth for t...
Politicians are always promising to do things politicians can’t do. Either they believe they are magic, or they want you to believe they are. Sometimes they promise things they can’t legally do -- things that violate the Constitution -- and other times they promise to do things that aren’t possible within the laws of physics in our universe. Do they believe you are gullible enough to fall for it? Probably. Often they promise to violate economic reality, which is nearly as im...
It might surprise you to learn this, but I don’t like change. Well, that’s not completely accurate: I don’t like pointless change. I have tolerated uncomfortable situations simply to avoid the pain of going through a change I couldn’t see as improving anything. However, if something is broken and I can see a solution, I want to change it. This is why I try to save people from their addiction to political government and all its various manifestations, such as police, taxatio...
Isn’t it better to not create a problem in the first place than to try to fix it after it happens? I appreciate those organizing a trash pick-up day, and those who took time out of their week to participate. I appreciate the people who don’t toss their trash around in the first place. and those who regularly pick up litter whenever they see it, even more. If there is a pre-existing problem, make sure any solution you try isn’t going to have the unintended consequence of makin...
Being political leads to unfortunate outcomes. Politics never makes people act smart. I don’t think federal agents -- FBI or anyone else -- have any business digging for things over which to prosecute Hunter Biden. I don’t find federal agents credible. When someone is targeted for political reasons, whether Donald Trump or Hunter Biden, it makes those targeting them look unintelligent and corrupt. Maybe because they are unintelligent and corrupt -- as bad as their target, or...
It’s easy to focus on our problems; on what’s going wrong. It’s harder to notice what’s not going wrong right now. It’s good to find a balance between the two. I’m thankful we didn’t have a devastating hurricane blow through this area last week. I’m also glad we aren’t in the middle of a violent war, trying to defend our homes from the military of an invading government from a neighboring country. Not everyone in the world can say the same. Shouldn’t we be grateful for the pr...
Politics divides. If you distrust your neighbor because of political differences, it’s not your neighbor -- or you -- who’s at fault. It’s politics. Some would have you believe we are at war with each other, but your neighbors aren’t the enemy, even if they follow the enemy. Or if you do. Don’t let politics make you hate each other -- that would be a tragedy. I’ve heard people claim “everything is political.” This is not a healthy way of looking at life -- it’s not even a...
It seems it should be obvious to everyone by now: those who seek positions of political power can’t even run their own lives; they certainly shouldn’t be allowed to run yours. No one is less qualified to do so. Just look at the news. Locally, nationally, and internationally -- those with political power are drawn to criminal behavior like Junebugs to porch lights. They are not better than you. They are not smarter or wiser, more moral, or more expert. They aren’t entit...
According to a recent poll, a majority of New Mexico voters approve of stiffer anti-gun legislation. This is why the U.S. Constitution exists, and why America was established as a republic, not a democracy: to protect individual rights from majority opinion. It places human rights beyond the reach of politics. You don’t get to vote on liberty. Whether or not this works in practice could be the subject for another conversation. Invariably, the anti-gun faction claims that ...
Do you only care about some things because you’ve been manipulated into caring? There are many things you can’t change about the world. Caring too much about those is going to make your life worse. You could lose your mind obsessing over things you can’t control, even if they are important. Should anyone care that the president gave a more dark and divisive speech than usual? Will caring about it accomplish anything? Are there other things you’re being told to care about, but...
Is it my imagination, or do many people run from responsibility as fast as they can? If you cause harm to a person’s life, liberty, or property you need to take responsibility. Don’t wait for someone else to hold you accountable. Step up and accept it. If it was an accident, it can’t be a real crime, no matter how bad it was or what government says. You still owe restitution, but government has no stake in the matter. It’s between you and the one you harmed. Punishm...
Do you believe you need to be governed? I mean you, as an individual. If you didn’t feel like government was watching over your shoulder all the time, would you steal, kidnap, or murder? I’m betting you wouldn’t. Neither would I. If you’re saying you would commit crimes if not for government, I’m guessing you commit crimes anyway. By “crimes” I’m not talking about the counterfeit “crimes” that are only called crimes because government made up an arbitrary rule that says so....
Have you realized yet that the U.S. federal government is waging a one-sided war against you? The IRS plans to hire around 87,000 new armed IRS employees -- the exact number is disputed; what they are being hired to do is not. The job posting, before they edited it, said new hires must be willing to use deadly force -- against you. Think about it: they will only be hired if willing to use deadly force against their bosses. They are being hired to “Sheriff of Nottingham” you...
An American basketball player was recently arrested and imprisoned in Russia for possession of cannabis. Some people are outraged over this; others claim she deserved to be arrested because she broke Russian law -- a “law” without any ethical basis; a fake law that goes against natural law, as does most legislation. The Russian government imprisoning an American for marijuana possession isn’t more wrong than the U.S. government encouraging local governments in America to do...
People see me say I don’t want government doing something and often jump to the conclusion I don’t want that thing done at all. Sometimes they are right, as in the case of legislation enforcement. More often they are wrong, as in the case of environmental protection, security, or justice. Government is more likely to make a mess of it. I love the natural environment, which is why I oppose letting government control it or set rules concerning it. I’ve seen what happens when...
It feels like the future is being pulled in two directions at once. Things are getting better, while things also feel like they are getting worse. Both are probably true. I’m not so naive as to believe this is something new. Looking back at history I see how every era of the past had opposing forces pulling in different directions, fighting to shape the future. Two steps forward and one step back, as one or the other got the upper hand for a time. I do believe the long-term t...
No one really understands anyone else, so it’s no surprise that non-libertarians don’t understand libertarians. When I first started writing on the topic of libertarianism, I ran across a blog post written by a self-proclaimed “progressive” who explained why all libertarians were racists and should be hated and mocked. I commented, pointing out a host of reasons this wasn’t true. He seemed to imagine everyone he didn’t like could be clumped under the term “libertarian.” Most o...
Everyone has blind spots. Especially when it comes to politics. In fact, I’d say politics is made up of blind spots knitted together with wishful thinking, expressed through legislation designed to violate people you don’t like. Conservatives generally love the Constitution. They have a blind spot when it comes to unconstitutionally controlling people’s movement. They obsess over “immigration” and are willing to toss the Constitution aside for this issue. It’s almost a un...
If you are worried about the next few years, I can relate. Supply chain problems, inflation, the ongoing drought, and the possibility of political violence seem like they are closing in on us. An effective way to defeat the worry is to take charge of your life. Be responsible for your own well-being. Don’t wait to be rescued. You’ll always feel worse about things you think you can’t control. So, take control and do what you can, and you’ll put your energy to better use tha...
To those of you who are mad at the Supreme Court over two of its most recent rulings, let me agree with you. To a point. I also agree -- to a point -- with those who celebrate those rulings. I don’t consider the Supreme Court to be credible, and haven’t for years. Not since I recovered from the brainwashing I endured as an inmate in “public” schools. The Supreme Court stole for themselves the power to be the final say on what the Constitution means back in 1803 -- this po...
Do you ever get to the point where you feel like sitting back and watching the show while people suffer the consequences of their bad choices? I do, and I remember the biblical story about Jonah having the same impulse. It’s human nature. There’s one show I won’t be watching, though. I can’t think of a worse waste of time than watching the Jan. 6th Congressional clown show. Congresscritters are wallowing in their self-importance while the disasters they’ve unleashed on us are...
Everyone has their own unique personal preferences. This is probably a good thing since it makes life interesting and keeps us from all fighting over the exact same stuff. Think how boring it would be if everyone preferred identical things. Variety is the spice of life. As long as everyone remembers their preferences are only preferences, not a matter of one being right and the other being wrong, there’s no problem. It’s only when people try to impose their preferences on eve...
Politicians speak most passionately about things they understand the least, like guns. This is especially dangerous when they talk about what they believe your rights are. President Biden has recently shown he doesn’t understand rights-- he confuses them with privileges and he’s plotting to violate our rights because he doesn’t like them. This is criminal behavior from him and should be treated as such. Recent events caused emotions to run high, which leads to foolish threa...
