Ned Cantwell My friend Barney from New Jersey feigns interest in New Mexico as an excuse to telephone. In reality, he’s either making fun of me or promoting his own agenda. He’s been doing it for years. “You still writing that two-bit column?” he asked. I said yes, and, furthermore, Barney well knows I am […]
Finding niche in workforce challenging
September 4, 2005
By Clyde Davis: CNJ columnist I recall, as a child, riding back from my grandparents’ homes late at night. We would pass by small river towns in western Pennsylvania, with blast furnaces of the steel mills sending up glowing red, blue or yellow sparks against the dark sky. Piles of coal and slag dotted the […]
Ebony helped create a different world
August 17, 2005
By Leonard Pitts: CNJ columnist “Why is there an Ebony? If some white guy started a magazine called Ivory, you blacks would riot in protest.” Give me a dollar for every white guy who ever asked me that and I’d be too rich to write columns for a living. The point of the question, of […]
How can a good and powerful God allow suffering?
August 4, 2005
By Curtis Shelburne: CNJ columnist That has always been a good and powerful question, and one asked most often and most poignantly in the midst of shock, pain, and perplexity. The question is a good question, one which defies easy and glib answers. The answer of the Christian faith is not easy, and it is […]
Looking back at 2004’s best silliness
December 29, 2004
By Ned Cantwell Looking back at the old year and forward to the new one…. New Mexico puts the finishing touches on 2004, still one of only two states allowing cockfighting. Its sensible new rules to protect convenience store workers are under appeal. And its laws favor strip mall payday loan bandits who screw the […]
Interpretation of Constitution too broad
November 20, 2004
I love my country. I served in the Army, Air Force and reserves for 32 years. I love the freedoms we inherited by the foresight of our founding fathers, but today these rights are being totally abused. Our Constitution was written at a time when our founding fathers had no concept of the advance technology […]
It’s OK to pay for education; vote yes for bond
October 16, 2004
Freedom Newspapers James A. Garfield, the 20th U.S. president, summarized our feelings about education: It is next in importance to freedom and justice, he said. Without education, neither freedom nor justice can be permanently maintained. We seldom endorse tax hikes, but we hope New Mexico voters will OK, on Nov. 2, the semiannual General Obligation […]
Reality is reality; you can accept it or not
August 25, 2004
Leonard Pitts Jr. Save your pity for McGreevey family James McGreevey is not a hero. That’s the first thing we need to get straight. To the contrary, press reports on the embattled New Jersey governor detail an administration so steeped in corruption that one feels a distinct need to wash one’s hands after reading them. […]
Kerry attempting to look tougher than Republicans
August 2, 2004
Freedom Editorial Perhaps the most striking thing about the Democratic convention was the effort to convince Americans that the Democrats would be tougher than the Republicans on the issues of war, peace and national security. While surveys show about 90 percent of the delegates to the convention opposed the war in Iraq, from the speakers’ […]
Teen’s good behavior surprises mom
July 1, 2004
By Helena Rodriguez What kind of teenager have I created? That’s what I asked myself the other day when my daughter did something unexpected. She copied me. You know, it’s the old “Do as I say, but don’t do as I do!” adage. So what hideous act did I catch my 13-year-old daughter doing? She […]
Readers: Covered arena not part of deal
March 29, 2004
Project: Reader Reaction A recent Project: Reader Reaction question asked about Curry County’s latest plan to build a special events center by refurbishing the rodeo arena at the county fairgrounds. Some responses: “It’s the same old story — politicians promise one thing and deliver something else. At this point, I would just like to see […]
‘Terror alert’ may end up useful to U.S. enemies
February 9, 2004
Freedom Newspapers To be sure, it’s not easy to suggest a better system — especially since we’re reasonably sure the country would be better off without a Department of Homeland Security and with better coordinated intelligence. But there’s little question the color-coding system designed to alert the public to intensified danger of terrorist activity has […]
Rep’s legacy a right-slanted newsletter
August 27, 2003
You won’t catch George Buffett and me sitting around a campfire singing “whiskey for my men, beer for my horses.” We’re never going to be close. George is John Wayne right. I’m a middle-of-the-roader, although critics might suggest I am pinko left. When I called him last week, I was prepared to dislike George. He […]
Q&A with Buddy Vaughan
July 26, 2003
Buddy Vaughan, 40, has been president of the Curry County Fair Board since January 2001. Question: How long have you been working with the Curry County Fair? Answer: I joined the fair board in 1998, and I’ve been working with the fair since then. When Charlie Vannatta was running for Curry County Sheriff, he had […]
