Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
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Sometimes the weight of the world is overwhelming. We see so many ugly things going on around us, whether on television, print, social media or just the messy things people say or do. The good in the world is often drowned out by the noise of bad behavior. It can be soul-crushing, especially as we try to continue on our path while dodging the arrows slung our way. When I find myself in that space, I always think of my dad. He had a no-nonsense way of being in the world. When I’d talk about nonsensical things that people would do, he’d alw...
Ask any parent about the time their kids spend on mobile devices, and you’ll likely hear the same refrain: It’s too much. Excessive use of smartphones and social media is linked to rising rates of teenage depression and self-harm, while also damaging students’ academic performance and exacerbating achievement gaps. At this point, the question isn’t whether phones should be banned from classrooms, but why more schools haven’t done so already. Evidence about the negative effects of mobile devices on learning is overwhelming. Large-sca...
Well, well, well … look at what’s transpired in Trump World over the past few days. Two of Donald Trump’s most ardent defenders have decided to switch teams and testify against the former president. Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro have agreed to take last-minute plea deals, turn state’s evidence, and testify against their former boss. Chesebro has agreed to testify in future cases if called to do so. What a difference a few days before an upcoming trial can seem to make. After an unsuccessful attempt to keep Trump in the White House in an a...
“The more we learn about the 2020 election the more ILLEGITIMATE it becomes. America deserves to know whether we have a FAKE president in the oval office.” How could Republicans in the House struggle for three weeks and then unanimously elect a man who said this kind of irresponsible stuff to be their new speaker? How could the hapless House Republicans – Oh, wait a minute. My mistake. There’s a typo in that first sentence. It should be “the 2016 election,” not the 2020 election. Oh, and another thing. It wasn’t the new Republican Ho...
Many people have put up decorations, told creepy stories, watched spooky movies and selected costumes during this Halloween season. Although not particularly Halloween-related, while going to church recently, one of our 3-year-old granddaughters sang the “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” nursery rhyme song. You’ve probably heard it, “The itsy bitsy spider crawled up the water spout. Down came the rain, and washed the spider out. Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain, and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again.” Often, children repeat songs ove...
Portales judge failed to stand up for justice Editor’s note: Portales District Judge Donna Mowrer on Sept. 7 declined to hear arguments in private citizens’ efforts to force a referendum on bills passed this year by the state Legislature. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver has said the bills are not subject to referendum. Mowrer told petitioners she was declining to exercise jurisdiction since petitioners had also asked the state’s Supreme Court to exercise jurisdiction. I sat in the courtroom of Judge Mowrer in Portales, expec...
The nation and much of the world is reeling from the horrific and unsettling events that have occurred between Israel and Hamas. There’s also a war still going on in Ukraine, and looming overhead is the possibility the federal government may shut down in about a month. Amid it all, the House Republican majority is making a mockery of effective governance. As I’m writing this column, two weeks out from the removal of Kevin McCarthy, Republicans have yet to elect speaker to succeed him. Clown show doesn’t even seem the perfect term to descr...
The world is going to hell and taking America’s wealth, military power and geopolitical influence with it. Thanks to the terrorists of Hamas, we’re slowly being pulled deeper into a war in Israel that could set the whole Middle East on fire. And remember the bloody war in Ukraine? It’s been blasted off the front page, but after 20 months it’s still an ongoing slaughter, despite more than $100 billion from U.S. taxpayers to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia. It would be fair to argue that if Donald Trump or any random Republican had been...
Do humans have an inherent right to self-defense, including the use of violence? What about Christ’s consistent ethic of non-violent resistance toward evil? The Bible mostly assumes that people have the right to defend themselves. There are places, though, where this right becomes plain and is dealt with openly. At the beginning of the Bible, God pronounces a death-penalty on murderers. Since humans are made in his image, to commit murder is to strike out at God and is rewarded with death. It would seem logical that, if human life is worth t...
I remember the first time I met Jerry Seidenwurm. He told me the saddest baseball story I think I’ve ever heard. Jerry was maybe 10 years old, growing up a Giants fan in New York in the mid-1950s. His dad was drinking buddies with Giants Owner Horace Stoneham. When Jerry learned that his dad knew Stoneham, he made it his mission to speak with the team boss so he could ask him about a dream held by every baseball-obsessed young man: Could he be a batboy for the Giants? Stoneham sized him up and asked if he were serious, because a batboy had a l...
More than a century ago in 1900, Black intellectual extraordinaire W.E.B. Du Bois stated the problem of the 20th century would be the problem of the color line. He was right on target. This prophetic message remains relevant today in the 21st century. If the past several years have taught us anything, it is as a country we’re in a perpetual state of crisis when it comes to the racial situation plaguing our nation. A Pew Research Center poll conducted in August asked more than 5,000 adults their views on the state of race relations in A...
It turns out that some of our smartest college kids aren’t just stupid about things like microaggressions and gender pronouns. The reaction on many campuses to the slaughter of innocent Israelis by Hamas terrorists showed that many students are just as a stupid about Israel and the rest of the world. It was shocking – and sad – to see American college students marching around, openly rooting for Palestine and celebrating Hamas’ “victory” over Israel. It proved how deeply and dangerously our country’s higher education system has been poisoned by...
When the revolution in higher education finally arrives, how will we know? I have a simple metric: When universities change how they measure faculty work time. Using this yardstick, the U.S. system remains far from a fundamental transformation. It is no accident that former college president Brian Rosenberg titled his new book, "‘Whatever It Is, I’m Against It’: Resistance to Change in Higher Education." Some background: Faculty at Tier 1 research universities (which includes my own employer, George Mason University) typically bargain for w...
Oct. 3 will go down in American history as the first time a speaker of the House was expelled from Congress by his own peers. Kevin McCarthy, a man consumed of blind personal ambition and self-interest, was shown the exit door by his congressional colleagues. Eight Republicans – Andy Biggs, Ken Buck, Tim Burchett, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Nancy Mace and Matt Rosendale – joined all Democrats (who were unanimous) in voting out McCarthy. The American public witnessed Republican members of the House of Representatives engage in an int...
OK, my fellow Republicans, you got rid of Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Eight of you joined with every Democrat in the House of Representatives – the only part of the federal government we control – to vote McCarthy out, 216-210. In the process you threw the House into chaos, killed any hope of passing important bills anytime soon and made yourselves the laughing stock of the political world. OK, so you made history. Now what’s your plan? And where is it? What? You have no plan? You don’t even know who you’ll replace McCarthy with yet? Many Repu...
Besides specific holidays, October is designated as the month of remembrance for many things. Likely, we all have special memories in October; some glad, some sad. For me, the month includes several special events – starting my first job after college, quitting smoking before my first child’s birth, my first date with Lisa, going to the Balloon Fiesta, and the births of Lisa’s mother and daughter (on the same day of the month) and my first granddaughter. Some memories should be kept; others are best forgotten. For example, because love keeps...
Is libertarian political philosophy compatible with Christian faith? There are evangelical leaders who would say it is not. These tend to be cheerleaders for one party in our current system. I’m jaded enough to believe the real danger they see is that a Libertarian Party candidate might siphon votes from their favorite lesser-of-two-evils. In fact, I’m convinced that libertarian economic philosophy is the only one advocated in the Bible. It rises directly from its pages. Outrageous, you say? Here are three ways the Bible may be pushing you in...
I had a Charlie (Broz) moment this past week; a few of them actually. I am a mad scientist baker. I see new photos and I take them as personal challenges. Most times, that works out just fine. Not the same with cooking. A few days ago, I decided to try a new Mediterranean chicken dish. It was sort of a jacked-up cacciatore thing with some fancy spices. The photo was beautiful. I thought this was something I could make without setting the oven on fire. I mostly followed the recipe and was rather surprised it came out so well. Without skipping a...
Sweats and a hoodie on the U.S. Senate floor? Well, why not? Why not, I mean, a dress code for the U.S. Senate appropriate to the present habits and pastimes of the, ahem, world’s greatest deliberative body? We know, I assume, how the Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Charles Schumer, put the matter the other day. He instructed the sergeant-at-arms to cease enforcing an unwritten rule prescribing business dress on the Senate floor — suits, neckties and all that stuff. And dresses or pantsuits for women members. “Senators are able to choose...
Those of us who work in academia understand that academic freedom represents the cornerstone of successful colleges and universities. It epitomizes the right of freedom to teach, discuss, engage in research and freely publish your findings. It also means the ability to dictate one’s own teaching and scholarship agenda, the security of academic positions and shared governance to ensure independence. Despite such facts, the mission of academic freedom is under severe attack from varied quarters, resulting in ominous and potentially dangerous t...
From the first dumb question to the abrupt ending that caught everyone by surprise, the GOP presidential primary debate produced by the Fox Business channel was a total disaster. I know. I was there Wednesday night – in Row 5 of the Air Force One pavilion in the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif. At the beginning of the debate it was a special treat to see and hear the praise that the Fox people bestowed on my father, his historic accomplishments and his strong and personable brand of conservatism. But from then on it was all downhill...
My wife approves my church attire. Recently, having picked out everything but a shirt, I asked what shirt to wear, to which she replied, “Cream.” As we loaded to go to church, she said my shirt was white instead of cream. I held something white against it and it certainly looked white. Shortly after we turned east into the sun, I noticed that the shirt was clearly cream-colored. So, I exclaimed, “Hey, when light is shed on any subject, the truth comes out!” Light is critical for many things. Light was the second act of creation after the ear...
This has been a pretty good month for interaction with readers … A sampling: Ron Mask read a report in the Quay County Sun that New Mexico State’s interim president has decided this “is not a good time” for a merger with Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari. This pleases Mask, who prefers Mesalands link up with Eastern New Mexico University in Portales. “NMSU's decision is heaven sent,” he wrote in an email. “ENMU is a much more logical partner for Mesalands Community College students who wish to further their education at a four-year sch...
Get your popcorn ready, because a gut-wrenching level of drama has gripped the House of Representatives. To quote Democratic minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, “The Republican party is currently in a civil war.” Speaker Kevin McCarthy slid over to a lectern and called for an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. After rabidly weaponizing the term “corruption,” he turned around and walked away, assuming he had performed another crucial task required of him, regardless of how absurd this effort was in his attempt to retain his tenuous...
The idea of a “universal basic income” has been around a long time. Most supporters are broadly on the left of the political spectrum, but many conservative thought leaders, including Charles Murray as well as Reagan officials like James Baker and George Schultz, have also been willing to consider the idea. The idea behind UBI is simple: replace welfare payments to the poor with cash payments to empower the poor to manage their government benefits. Welfare programs have a bunch of hoops and phase-outs that can often disincentivize going fro...