Michael Swickard

The Occupy people all over our nation have our attention, but we will not be bullied, we will not be intimidated, and they cannot come on private property and attack New Mexico citizens without the full response of angry citizens being directed at them. If they want to change the political process, do it right: Get elected and lead us to a better world.

From Occupy Santa Fe’s statement about last week’s protest of the American Legislative Exchange Council’s dinner for legislators:

“… OSF understands the continuing corruption of our democracy is a matter of sheer survival with 146 million Americans at or below the poverty line. A noisy interruption of the ALEC $250 dinner is mild compared to the economic, social, and environmental devastation caused by corporate domination… ALEC members choked two women protesters with their own scarves while simultaneously punching them in the back, one by Representative Kintigh of Roswell. Following them to the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, an ALEC member punched a male protester in the face, and shoved another male protester to the wall in a chokehold. Four security guards from the Eldorado Hotel contained the violent ALEC legislative member.”

I was not there, nor have I spoken to any of the participants. However, I am gravely concerned about two things: First, that a peaceful group of elected New Mexico legislators on private property were subjected to a frightening, violent interaction. Second, that the Occupy Santa Fe group was able to barge into a private dinner.

If the Occupy Santa Fe protesters had remained at their protest outside the hotel, it would be a non-story. Instead they came onto private property, a hotel dining room and caused a fuss. They called causing a fuss civil disobedience, but they are wrong.

Be noisy, be in the face, be on public property. Step onto private property without permission and it is not fine. The hotel, while open to the public, is still private property. The protestors have no right to walk into any store, restaurant or hotel without permission.

The authorities and security forces were absent. That left it up to the legislators to protect themselves. There is a charge of excessive force against Rep. Dennis Kintigh for removing at least one person. He is a New Mexico certified police officer and a retired FBI agent. That he felt compelled to act speaks volumes as to the safety of the legislators in the room.

Run against incumbents

Where do we go from here? I hope Occupy Santa Fe troops are not trying to force the legislators to huddle behind protected walls. We have a great citizen Legislature. Aanyone can walk almost anywhere in the Roundhouse without hassle. Now, the dialog may have started to try to contain the “terrorist” effect of protestors.

I do have to protest this statement in the protestor press release: “…the continuing corruption of our democracy is a matter of sheer survival with 146 million Americans at or below the poverty line.” So half of all Americans are at or below the poverty line? Yet most have a house, car and cable. How is that poverty? I suspect the fragile population is closer to five percent, and yes, they do need our prayers and our help.

Also, the New Mexico Legislature has been firmly in the hands of the Democrats since before World War Two. The Occupy Santa Fe group was yelling at Republicans who rarely, if ever, have any say in what the Legislature does. If corporations have bought the New Mexico Legislature, protest the Democrats.

I would like to give some honest, helpful advice for the people in the Occupy Santa Fe movement. Stay on public property. We hear you and, dare I say it, I agree with some of your more reasonable concerns. I have raised them myself as to money and politics.

Importantly, if you really want to make a difference, go to each legislative district and put up a candidate against the incumbent so that, a year from now, all 112 members of the New Mexico Legislature could be newly elected Occupy members who will completely cleanse the political process. Do the change right.

The Occupy people all over our nation have our attention, but we will not be bullied, we will not be intimidated, and they cannot come on private property and attack New Mexico citizens without the full response of angry citizens being directed at them. If you want to change the political process, it is open to you to do so. Do it in the way that our U.S. and New Mexico constitutions allow: Get elected and lead us to a better world.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com. Editor’s note: For more on last week’s incident, click here, here, and here.

Michael Swickard

The woman looked pitiful in the interview. “I just can’t quit smoking; it’s that secret stuff companies put in them that keeps me from quitting.” She brushed back a tear. “Cigarette companies did this to me.”

The interviewer accepted her assertion. However, people in prison say, “If you can’t stand the time, don’t do the crime.” There is no avoiding the consequences of actions. This woman made a case for it being someone else’s fault she didn’t stop smoking. But she cannot avoid the results.

The woman smoked for many years because she wanted to smoke. She ignored the people around her who spoke to the dangers of smoking. All smokers know before they start that it is not healthy. They also know it is a hard habit to break. Each has reasons for why he or she started and why they continue despite the dangers. Likewise, many geezers say, “Nope, never smoked.” No one pesters them about why they did not smoke.

Each of us makes a conscious choice to smoke or not, just as each of us eats healthy or drives safely. The other day someone passed me over a double yellow line and narrowly missed an oncoming car. They may make risky maneuvers many times before they are killed. Whether it is driving, drugs or anything else, the thing about consequences is that, while they are not applied every time, sooner or later they always come to bear.

This is a long introduction to my concern that our nation cannot continue to elect people who allow our nation to act financially irresponsible. One day this cancer of spending without restraint will metastasize into a nation killing calamity. We have the example of Greece, where much of their future was expended in the past for political advantage. Now their future is bleak, at best.

During the last 50 years our nation has taken a giant leap from our collective financial senses to enjoy the short-term political advantages of irresponsible gathering of debt while ignoring the prospect that comes with the long-term debt. There is no escape from those consequences, only delay.

Individual politicians say they have to be financially irresponsible or be thrown out of office. That is true. If a candidate does not clamor for money to bring to the district they are unelectable. Current politicians only have one plan: “I will spend the resources of our nation on you, whether we have resources or not.”

The problem is us

So, my fellow Americans, we have discovered the problem and the problem is us. Now that we have the culprit firmly grasped by the collar what are we to do with ourselves? The politics of promise is where the power and money is in our society. Anyone with a frugal streak is unelectable because voters rightly understand that if one state foregoes the federal largess another state will get that benefit instead. Voters rationalize that someone will get those resources; we must elect someone to look after our short-term interests.

At the core what is being practiced in our country is a political system designed to give amazing power to a few while taking the resources of many. Because so many people benefit from the theft of resources, there are not enough protestors to the theft of our country’s future. Know this: The promises sound great but are not sustainable. One day the bill will come due. Our country will be like Greece in that riots will precede the collapse. Will there be a collapse? There has to be, no other outcome is possible.

Comingled with our financial crisis of spending significantly more than we have is the crisis of entitlement. What drives our public policy is, “I deserve this and more.” Americans say, “As long as I vote as I have voted I will always have what I have had.”

The sense of entitlement is the thing that is essential for politicians to trade the resources of a nation for their control of that nation. At the very least we need truth as to the direction we are going. We all know we cannot spend without restraint much as we know that smoking is unhealthy. There will be final consequences.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

“Complex problems have simple, easy to understand, wrong answers.” – H. L. Mencken

Public education suffered a setback 30-some years ago. Student scores started dropping. Conventional wisdom said schools were doing something wrong. Politicians quickly decided only interventions by politicians could cure this problem.

Politicians blamed bad teaching for the drop in scores. The teachers blamed the lack of parental involvement and the quality of parenting compared to the parents of yesteryear. Often the blame was placed on the whole generation of students who were not “like we were at their age. We walked 20 miles to school…”

The Education Industrial Complex contended that lack of money was the problem. So education budgets doubled and doubled again. The results continued to slide. Politicians decided there was not enough data to judge schools and teachers. The Testing Industrial Complex exerted a powerful lobby in Congress. For the last decade schools have concentrated on more testing and less teaching to decide if teachers and schools are good.

Maybe the dropping results were really due to a number of things. Concurrent to the education drop there was widespread adoption of cable TV by most households and the wholesale purchase of the Atari 2600 game consoles along with lots of arcade-style games. These two innovations were both incredible time wasters and distracters for the youth.

Schools cannot change all of the increasingly distractive elements of our society, but they can use those interventions that have been shown to work.

Three issues

We have three issues: First, despite education being free, at least one third of students do not graduate high school. Secondly, many young people entering the job market show educational deficits. Finally, there is a syndrome that may explain to the first two: students come to kindergarten with vastly different skills and abilities, and we know that those who do not get on grade level in the first year often never do get on grade level.

For more than 100 years our nation has tried to use a factory model of education in which all students learn at the same rate. Public education uses this model for reasons of tradition but not effectiveness.

The first place to change education is assessment. Currently students stop their learning activities to take assessment tests. The tests have little predictive value. We do not know how students are doing day by day and which students day by day need more or different instruction.

If we are to improve schools the assessment must be entirely inside the learning activity. This means that all answers are part of the assessment and show progress on the learning tasks. This requires individualized education and also requires the use of computers for some learning activities, since only computers can branch seamlessly. That does not cut out the teachers; rather it changes their roles.

Entering the 21st Century

One issue is that literacy and numeracy are on a continuum that intersects age and years of schooling. Literacy for kinder students may be to know their numbers, letters and colors. Those who do not have these abilities cannot start learning with the rest of the class. More so, each of the literate and numerate activities can be broken into concept areas such as “the silent e.”

Throughout the learning there are well-defined benchmarks that both indicate mastery and can be predictive of being able to work on grade level. These must be used within the learning activities so that at all times the teacher, principal and superintendent can predict when the student, each student, will be on grade level.

The timing of the interventions is the issue that will improve education if addressed. It does not do to learn that students are not on grade level once a year. By then it is too late to help. Every day this information must be in the hands of the educators clear to the top of the district.

Some school districts already are working in these areas. All school districts must step up to the 21st Century in education. These interventions have worked and will work if the politicians get out of the way and the schools adopt best practices from states and districts where they have gotten their students on grade level.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

The Centennial celebration has me thinking about “unusual” New Mexico historical characters. When talking the past, most people only remember Billy the Kid. Tourists come to see what is left of him. Not much. The tombstone tourists see in Ft. Sumner is really a monument to the local chamber of commerce since all that is under it is dirt. His grave along with the others at the federal cemetery washed away in the flood of 1915. The army moved the commingled bones to Santa Fe.

It does not hurt anything to have tourists come to New Mexico and stand before the Ft. Sumner tombstone. They bring money. But to many of us locals Billy the Kid is not interesting. The legend of Billy was fabricated in book form in the 1920s by Walter Noble Burns 40 years after Billy’s death. There is little interesting about the real Billy, who only killed several unarmed people and was not missed until the legend began.

Contrast that with real New Mexico historical characters.

‘Hi, fella’

Many outlaws made it through their wild years and then became somewhat model citizens. They became the fabric of our state in that they upheld the law and worked hard. One such person lived many years ago 20 miles south of Carrizozo. The name he went by was Baldy Russell. The name “Russell” was assumed, while the name “Baldy” was applied.

His real name was Jim Mitchell. He was wanted in Texas. In New Mexico, Baldy wasn’t bothered by lawmen. There were many men in western history known as Lefty or Slim or Baldy. These men had a history elsewhere but they were model citizens in New Mexico.

Baldy was noted for being extremely quiet. Old timers tell of the time he rode into a Bar W cow camp at dinner time. At mealtime everyone within riding distance was welcome to eat at the chuck wagon of any cow camp kitchen.

Baldy rode into camp without speaking. He nodded to men he knew but for reasons of his own he didn’t feel like talking. He got himself a plate of food and squatted down by himself. The cowboys knew that if Baldy wanted solitude, it was best to leave him alone. He was a “tough hombre” and best handled with care. That is the way it was done a hundred years ago. Maybe today someone would have walked over and made a nuisance of himself, but not then.

Baldy got himself a second cup of coffee, which he drank while rolling a Bull Durham cigarette. He handed the cup back to the cook with a nod to the men sitting there, which meant that anyone near his ranch at supper time was welcome to share dinner with him, and then he ambled over to get his horse.

On the way out of camp he saw a horse he had once owned. He walked over to the horse, patted it and to the horse spoke the only words he spoke that evening. He said, “Hi, Fella.” Now that’s the silent type.

‘…smile or pull the trigger’

Another story about Baldy involves him and Jim Gilliland, a man who, while not an outlaw, was thought by some citizens of this area to have some of the same attributes. At first they were friendly neighbors. Jim Gilliland and Baldy Russell got along fine. But then one thing led to another and they became suspicious of each other for possibly stealing the others’ cattle. Each one thought they had lost cattle.

This built up to the point where one day Jim rode up on Baldy unexpectedly and they both immediately drew their six-shooters and kept each other covered.

Neither had made up his mind that shooting was called for in this matter, but both had pulled their pistols. They stood staring at each other for a little while. Finally Baldy said, “Well, one of us either ought to smile or pull the trigger.”

He meant someone had to either shoot or admit he was just fooling when he drew his pistol. Later, Gilliland said, “I smiled because I knew Baldy didn’t know how.”

It is true that Baldy Russell wasn’t Billy the Kid, but I find him much more interesting.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

This centennial year of New Mexico statehood, we must realize our history is primarily of people who made New Mexico what it is now. William McDonald was New Mexico’s first elected governor and owner of the Bar W Ranch outside of Carrizozo. His neighbor, Bill Gallacher, provides an interesting insight into that era.

In 1977, the 65th anniversary of New Mexico statehood, I decided to interview someone who was living in the state that statehood day. I wanted to get an eyewitness view from someone in the middle of the statehood celebration. I thought of Gallacher, a 1908 graduate from the college at Las Cruces. In January 1912, Gallacher had been living for four years on his ranch 20 miles from Carrizozo as he was still in 1977. He died years later at age 98.

Gallacher was an interesting New Mexico pioneer. From living in White Oaks before the turn of the century, he lived to see the landing of the space shuttle 60 miles from his ranch. He was 35 miles downwind of the first atomic explosion at Trinity Site, July 16, 1945. He was also one of the few people who could look up in the sky in 1986 and say, “Halley’s Comet, what do you know, there it is again.”

As I drove out to his ranch on a dirt road, which was dirt in 1912, 1977 and still is dirt, I pictured the celebrations: firecrackers going off, dogs barking, and people toasting statehood at the local bar while politician gave speeches. I was sure it was one big party to celebrate New Mexico statehood.

‘Too busy just trying to stay alive’

Bill greeted me warmly at the door and we sat over coffee at the kitchen table. We started off by discussing the happenings of the day. Bill was like that, more interested in today than yesterday. After a while I told him my perception about the huge celebrations in New Mexico to mark statehood, Saturday, Jan. 6, 1912. It must have been a big celebration since the first elected governor was his neighbor William McDonald.

He thought for a moment and then leaned closer, as a school master would a student who was a slow learner, “Celebrations?” He thought back all of those years.

“Michael, on the day we became a state I got up about an hour before dawn, had a little breakfast and at first light went out to tend to sick animals, kill coyotes and do all of chores that used up the entire day so that about an hour after sunset I came back and had a little supper and went to bed. I was cold, tired and hungry. I would not have gone into town for a celebration.

“The truth is most of the working folks back then never even noticed statehood for the first 25 years or so. We were too busy just trying to stay alive, to feed ourselves and to carve out a place that would become our home to notice any politicians, or even celebrate a fine man like McDonald. Every day I got up early and worked late. I had no other energy and did not come into town for months at a time.”

He noticed my lack of comprehension so he continued, “Politicians and celebrations were a luxury most of us working people back then could not afford. For 30 years on this land I worked with all of my energy. It was not 40 hours a week, it was all day long seven days a week or we just would not have made it. Only after the ranch was on solid footing did I notice the government and in fact became part of it as a member of the Lincoln County Commission and the school board.”

Just one more working day

I was thankful Bill brought me back to reality before I wrote something silly about the statehood celebrations by real New Mexicans. It was a hard time back then, more so than most of us can even realize. Jan. 6, 1912 was, for most of the citizens of New Mexico, just one more working day. The way to celebrate the anniversary correctly is by going to work early and working late.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

It has been quite a year. America started 2011 in severe financial crisis with far too much governmental spending. We end the year without any real effort by our government to deal with the crisis. Most politicians refuse to even admit there is a crisis.

Europeans are several years ahead in their financial crisis. They are even more intentionally ignorant of the financial calamity. We could watch them and learn from their mistakes, but we do not.

Americans are awash in data. In seconds we can have huge amounts of information. Yet America is a nation of people totally unaware of the coming financial catastrophe.

America is operating the government for the fourth year in a row on a huge amount of money it does not have. For every dollar our government spends, about forty cents is outside this country’s revenue stream. The government borrows some of this shortfall and “quantitatively conjures” the rest. That means our government just acts like it has money even though it does not. The government says it has money without explaining where and how that money came into being. It is extreme fraud. If a private citizen did so he or she would serve time.

America spent over 200 years getting $8 trillion in debt. That amount doubled in less than four years. Additionally, more than half of all wage earners pay no federal tax, which means the other half pays it all. But that is not enough for people who ride on the backs of others. There is the notion America is not a “fair” society because some people have more than others. Politicians work the redistributing wealth angle because that is where the votes are.

Politicians promise to make every day a holiday for those who vote profligate spenders into office. And voters have done so. Last week it was considered a victory for Democrats that the money intended for Social Security was lessened for 60 days. The Social Security fund has nothing saved in it. The current receipts pay for current expenditures, but do not cover all of the entitled citizens who were to be paid this year. So the nation borrows more money to pay for this political victory.

Someone in the future will pay

The core issue in this political crisis is the government holding interest rates to almost zero to be able to borrow at very low rates. Not that it matters, since much of what America spends now is conjured by politicians out of thin air. It matters because the financial health of Americans is reduced by the interest rate being effectively zero. Americans are not building wealth with their savings.

Two issues: what is really happening financially in our country, and secondly, that the politicians and the media are not being truthful. There will be a time in the future when these extremely bad actions will have to be redeemed by the next generation’s taxpayers. They will pay for political influence entirely consumed by this generation. At best they will be sullen, at worse, mutinous.

If I am still alive when the financial collapse comes some citizens may ask how I let this happen. The best I can do is show them all of the columns I have written over the years in which I protested these irresponsible actions. That might be a bright side.

But after you are through looking at the bright side of a disaster, you are still left with the disaster. Several generations of Americans will live lesser lives because the people of 2011 were not responsible.

The TEA party was inspired by this realization that the financial actions of our government were not sustainable. But then most of those elected in the 2010 sweep into Congress got weak knees and have not fought with vigor for the future of our country.

At the least, I hope the next generation removes the names of this generation’s politicians put on buildings as an honor. We will not otherwise punish this generation of leaders. They will be gone. This generation does not have the will to do the right sustainable actions. Someone in the future will pay for this generation’s fraudulent behavior. It is not if, just when. Perhaps 2012.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

“They were American boys who by mere chance of fate had wound up with guns in their hands, sneaking up a death-laden street in a strange and shattered city in a faraway country in a driving rain. They were afraid but it was beyond their power to quit. They had no choice. They were good boys… And even though they weren’t warriors born to kill, they won their battles. That’s the point.” – Ernie Pyle, 1944

The above could have described our forces in Iraq, though it was written in 1944 by Ernie Pyle. Were soldiers in France different than our forces today? I think not. The technology of war changed, but not the tactics. The difference is all at home.

My friend Charlie sent me this: “America is not at war, the military is at war. America is at the mall and Congress is out to lunch.” Nailed it. In 1944, one person in eight served in the military. From a nation of 132 million, 16 million served directly while millions more worked in the defense industries.

In all but the first months of America’s involvement in Iraq, our country has not paid the slightest attention – except, when Bush was president, there were protesters who lost their voices when Obama was elected. The Civil War song, When Johnny Comes Marching Home, celebrated the men coming home. There will be no anthem from Iraq. America will still be at the mall and Congress will still be out to lunch.

Spending time at the front

We always knew that America’s involvement would end. There was no strategy to “win in Iraq.” In WWII the strategy was to subdue the military and dislodge the leadership of the three Axis countries. In Iraq we engaged until finally a politician called the troops home.

Ernie Pyle never made it home in WWII; he was killed by an enemy machine gun while covering the last battle of the war. His memory is confined to those who still read his writing, an Albuquerque Elementary School and some historians.

To his generation he was very important, since he brought the voice of the men overseas home to America. Pyle’s front-line columns often had the names and addresses of men Pyle met at the front. Several hundred newspapers took his columns. It was no surprise that he won the Pulitzer Prize. When the men he mentioned came home, there were many in their hometowns who had saved those columns.

New Mexico-born Bill Mauldin also spent most of his time at the front. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for his cartoons, which were originally just in the G.I. run Stars and Stripes but were later carried in several hundred newspapers in America. Up Front was the title of his 1944 book of war cartoons.

Mauldin wrote Back Home in 1947, in which he told of the problems that warriors had coming home to America. Since we talk so much about the “Greatest Generation,” it is important to read Mauldin to understand that coming home was bittersweet for many who successfully won the war and survived. There were shortages of jobs and a general distain for the military by an ungrateful society. Without Mauldin, we would not know.

Thank you

What shall be of the troops who fought in Iraq? They will be almost as anonymous back home as they were in the war zone. The greatest loss to the American public is that there were no Mauldins and Pyles covering the war this time. The closest was Evan Wright’s “Generation Kill: Devil Dogs, Iceman, Captain American and the new face of American War.” But Wright was only there a couple of months in the very beginning and was on to new challenges that did not include a military fighting a war while America was at the mall and Congress was out to lunch.

For many years I have stopped those in uniform to say thank you for their service to our country. To those military men and women who have come home from Iraq to an indifferent population, I say thank you for your service. I am sorry your fellow Americans are at the mall and Congress is still out to lunch.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

Two hot-button issues in New Mexico are related to one core question: What precision is necessary for the state government to “know” the identities of people? We must address the “certainty” question before exploring “how to” issues such as: with a photo. The precision necessary could range from allowing the government to take a person’s word as to their identity or might require a much more rigorous approach.

The two areas of contention in New Mexico where political advantages mute identity certainty are voting and driving. In all other areas New Mexico has no trouble imposing adequate requirements for identity.

When I was in college in the late 1960s a guy showed up at the Methodist Student Center where I spent my time. “The name is Arnold Ziffel, and don’t make fun of it,” he said it with a stern look. At the time a television comedy, Green Acres, featured Mr. Ziffel, who had a pig named Arnold. Behind our Arnold’s back we laughed at his name.

That next week I was in a large class when the roll was being taken. I realized that the new guy, Arnold, was also in the class. I smirked to myself that when “Arnold Ziffel,” was called we would all snicker. Instead Arnold Ziffel answered to the name Robert Spiers. After class he laughed and said he loved that joke.

The possibility of concealment

Currently in New Mexico, Robert could walk up, declare a name and vote with no other check to his true identity, if the name he said happened to be on the rolls. Likewise, people who are not U.S. citizens can easily get New Mexico driver’s licenses that other states would not issue. They can then take the New Mexico licenses to other states and trade them in for much-harder-to-get licenses.

In no other endeavor are people able to conceal their true identities and intentions with the exception perhaps of the dating scene. Consider that in the coffee shops where I spend my time it is not uncommon to not know someone’s name at the table. Their identity is not necessary to sit and tell stories over coffee.

Being on talk radio three hours a day, five days a week, I am comfortable with my anonymous status most of the other time I am in public. In the late 1980s I lived in California for a couple of years. It was interesting how, when celebrities wanted to be noticed, they had strategies to get noticed. Otherwise, they were just one more person in line. As I lived in Ventura, all but the most recognizable stars fit right in.

Most people just want to go about their day without hassles. Border patrol stations 100 miles inside the United States in New Mexico, along with DWI, seatbelt, insurance and valid license checkpoints, are a hassle. Still, as a society, we must balance our privacy issues with the need of the society to maintain order.

Do we citizens of New Mexico have to carry our identifying documents with us at all times? While driving, of course, but when just walking down a street must we carry identification? It is a problem for law enforcement when citizens do not carry documents. “Sorry officer, not carrying any documents.” That probably gets the citizen “detained.”

Certainty is critical

Government in New Mexico must be clear as to the certainty of identification required in each situation, including if we must always have identification with us. That is the core issue our leaders must solve first. Any dialog about photo ID is wasted without understanding the certainty requirements for identification.

We need to know what certainty of identification will be applied when we vote or get a driver’s license. State leaders must arbitrate the degree of certainty before they talk about how to apply the standard.

I am Michael Swickard. However, there are two Michael Swickards in my town. The other is a very distant cousin who researches chile. Is it is important to know which one of us wrote this column? No, but the certainty of identify is critical when it’s about who is voting and driving, especially since his name is the same as mine.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

There are concerns that bullies may be getting worse in our society, especially in public schools, than they were in years gone by. The topic of bullies is on the “radar” of many people.

Despite my size now, I was smaller than most children because of my late August birthday which made me the youngest and smallest every year.

Question: How do we distinguish between “normal” adolescent male behavior and the behavior of bullies? There are some “Boys will be boys” types of interactions that no rules or punishments will change, and then there is going too far. What is the difference between picking on someone and being a bully?

When I was first in junior high, the ninth graders picked on us seventh graders mercilessly. Like waitresses at a busy restaurant, the teachers at the school tried hard to not watch too closely while walking down the hallways lest they have to do extra paperwork. Despite appearing to know about bullies, the school personnel were just as ineffective at protecting us as they were at educating us. They were always looking the other way.

Also, there were some teachers who were busy with their own emotional battery, such as, “People, this problem is not that hard. Michael, did you bring your brain with you today?” I blushed and was struck dumb by the question.

Later, while pounding on me, a ninth grade bully taunted me with the same question. How did this happen? I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. But it followed many years of aggression by the bigger boys and was just a part of school life for the smaller and less-aggressive students.

Standing up to Big Eddie

Then one ninth-grade bully, Big Eddie, decided that to be personally fulfilled he had to slug 50 seventh graders each and every day. There was an academic component because he had to learn to count to 50, which he did rather quickly. Us seventh graders no longer got pounded once in a while; instead, it was every day in every way that we were pounded, pounded and pounded.

Again, a few times a day was taken in stride but this was over the top. Realizing we were on our own, five of us seventh graders formed an alliance. At first, this alliance was just a way to blow off steam. We decided on the alliance after Big Eddie walked up and gleefully whacked each of us right under the nose of a teacher. Since the teacher was smaller than Big Eddie, no attention was paid to what happened. Big Eddie simply smirked as he continued searching for other poundees.

The alliance sat in the back of the class during the next period and passed notes about our plans. Meanwhile, the English teacher droned on about the joys of writing. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the principal’s office for the offense of writing notes. The principal told us to shape up and sent us back to class.

At lunch the next day, we formalized the alliance with a spit pact that if any of us were attacked we would all jump in. Five minutes later we had a chance to test the pact when Big Eddie came running toward us because he only had 47 poundees that day and needed three more to make his target of 50. We told him that we were not going to take it anymore. He tried to hit one of us so we all jumped on him. Since we had him down he promised to quit the pounding.

The next day Big Eddie found two of us by ourselves. He immediately started beating on me. The other boy did jump in to help. Though it was nip and tuck, we managed to stop him. For the rest of the year our alliance stopped Big Eddie most of the time.

I do not know if the bullies are worse these days. Also, I never really thought about whether it was just boy behavior or the act of a bully. We banded together to stop whichever it was. Maybe that approach is what we should teach our children to do.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.

Michael Swickard

Many years ago in the former gold mining town of White Oaks, N.M., someone realized the power station that drove the mining equipment had enough extra capacity to send power 11 miles to nearby Carrizozo. At the time Carrizozo did not have any electrical power, which matched the fact that Carrizozo citizens had no electrical devices.

A line was strung and a light bulb at the barber shop would be turned on at noon one Saturday. For those who do not know, in the old days the barber shop was one of the unofficial meeting places in the town and, therefore, a central location sure to draw plenty of people. One cowboy was skeptical: “No way can electricity go 11 miles, even if it is downhill.”

At the time most people in Carrizozo could not see that much use for the electricity. The light was fine but the kerosene lantern worked fine. When I was young in the early 1950s there was no electricity at my grandfather’s ranch. It was just too far out of the way for any electric lines to find him.

So at the ranch wood was used for cooking and heating. Kerosene provided lighting. Washing clothes involved a tub and wash board. The car took us to town on dirt roads and used leaded gasoline. Our energy footprint was small.

Thankfully, I now live in an energy-rich state and, for the most part, do not even notice all of the millions of hours it took to put up the electric lines, put in the natural gas, pave the roads, and build energy-consuming houses.

The distribution system

What changed was not the energy resources themselves, but the distribution system. Electricity came to the ranch when the distribution system was created by the Otero County Electric Cooperative. This required a complete wiring of the ranch house, and then came another improvement: A propane tank was put in so we had a much nicer heating and cooking ability. The old Kalamazoo wood stove was moved out into a barn.

I went to college on foot because, just out of high school in 1968, I could have a car or go to college, but not both. While both cars and college were relatively cheap, my resources were limited to one. Being on foot limited many things including dating, since calling up a women and saying, “I will walk over to pick you up” was a deal breaker most of the time. Both during high school and in my first three years of college I was on foot. The bright side was no car payments or cost of operation.

In my fourth year I inherited a car and then could cheerfully complain about the awful parking situation. Walking may be good for your health, but I certainly enjoy driving.

Since I have lived on a small energy footprint, I am aware of how difficult life in our country and state would be without the energy resources being available. The light switch still is of interest to me because it means I do not have to clean kerosene lamps every Saturday morning. Natural gas is ever so much better than wood for heating and I appreciate having a vehicle instead of walking everywhere.

Still the issue

Where do we get those energy resources? We have them in New Mexico. Often our bounty of energy is at odds with people who would not wish us to use those resources. It seems New Mexico has had a love/hate relationship with the oil and gas industry dating back to the first oil and gas wells in the 1920s.

At first the industry did not make that much money for the state and most extractive revenues still were concentrated on coal, which had been a mainstay for many years. As pump jacks were assembled some people thought they ruined the pristine nature of New Mexico.

The complainers were few in number and the bounty of energy was embraced by most citizens. “Why, that is the smell of money” was a common saying. What changed for New Mexico was not the fact New Mexico had these extractive resources as much as it was building a way to market for them.

We still have those issues of getting product to market and the issue that there is a backlash against everything tied to traditional energy production. Some have a fascination with “alternative” or “green” energy as a replacement, but the reality is that green energy is a political solution, not an energy solution, and does not work in a traditional environment without government subsidies.

The extractive industries provide about a third of the money used by state government and maintain many jobs. Most importantly though, this industry provides the energy our state and country needs to survive. Just having the assets in the ground is of little importance since it is of no use in the ground. What is not realized by many critics of the industry is that it provides much of the money for the education system.

The oil and gas pioneer developers had to figure out how to drill for energy, produce the energy, and get it to market in a way that still allowed a profit. That is still the issue. I have lived energy-small and energy-large. Energy-large is better. I do not want to go back to energy-small or, even worse, no energy.

Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on a number of New Mexico radio stations and through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.