Our American way today of being Americans

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D. Talk show host Dennis Prager was asked to name the biggest threat to our country a few years ago, “We have not passed on (to the next generation) what it means to be an American.” 

      He is correct, but it is much worse than that. Many Americans today only think of themselves and their needs. And our politicians feed this insanity to the point our country may not recover.
     America was not founded on what you get. It was founded on an ideal of having a chance to get what you want by earning it. There was never a thought back in 1776 that as soon as America was rid of England then the treasury would be thrust open for everyone to have all the money they want.
     The American treasury then, much like today, was firmly in the red. We are lucky foreign governments still take our non-backed paper because we are no longer a rich nation. We have not been food independent since 1992, have not been energy independent even longer and we no longer have military dominance.
     We are acting rich as a country but the time of consequences is near. Today, with heads firmly in the sand, despite our treasury being empty, free is the political way of life. Even the media dares not tell Americans that the bank is empty and even Fort Knox has no gold. Yes, some Americans know but no one is listening.
     Americans put themselves before country and feel no obligations. President John Kennedy in his 1961 inaugural speech implored, And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
     He would be voted out of office today. Many Americans wait patiently and not so patiently for a government check from our treasury.Read full commentary

Our American way today of being Americans

United Airlines shifting jobs to EP to cut costs

From The El Paso Times - United Airlines is outsourcing more than 600 jobs at 12 airports around the country, including at El Paso International Airport, to cut costs while adding jobs at other airports.
      The airline said Monday that it notified employees of the decision, which had been expected since May. They include ticket and gate agents and baggage handlers at airports served mostly by smaller United Express flights.

     The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said that it negotiated seniority protection for many of the workers if they relocate, and that job losses will be limited. United will hire other companies to handle the work at airports in Albuquerque, New Mexico and other airports. More

United Airlines shifting jobs to EP to cut costs

Barela says New Mexico still in running for Tesla

From KOAT-TV.com - ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela says New Mexico is still in the running for a Tesla Motors battery plant.
     Barela told lawmakers during a hearing Wednesday that Gov. Susana Martinez's administration is working very aggressively to try to lure the plant to New Mexico.
     He says those efforts are being kept quiet at Tesla's request, but he assured the legislature's Economic and Rural Development Committee that "we are still very much in the game."
     New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Nevada and California are competing for Tesla Motors' planned battery plant, which will represent a $5 billion investment from the California-based car company and its partners. More

Barela says New Mexico still in running for Tesla

NM VA waiting list has shortened significantly

From KOB-TV.com - By: Nikki Ibarra, KOB Eyewitness News 4 - The number of New Mexico veterans who are still waiting to get a doctor’s appointment has gone down dramatically. Last month an audit revealed more than 1,000 veterans in our state were on a waiting list. Now that number is 482.
      The Veteran's Affairs Department audit found more than 1,040 New Mexico veterans still waiting more than 90 days to get their very first appointment at the VA hospital in Albuquerque back in June. One month later, the latest audit shows that more than half of those patients have now gotten that appointment. 482 are still waiting.
      A spokesperson for the New Mexico VA health care system says that big drop is due to the new nationwide "accelerating care initiative".
     This all stems from an investigation that started in May that looked at VA hospitals, including the one here in Albuquerque. On claims the hospitals kept a secret waiting list and lied about wait times for veterans who need care.
     The initiative's goal, helping those on the wait list, making them appointments, and making sure it's done in a timely manner. While this may show progress for the VA, there are still veterans waiting for that first appointment. More

NM VA waiting list has shortened significantly

Marita Noon: More taxpayer dollars for green energy?

Commentary by Marita Noon - There is an intentional tension in Washington. Our founding fathers planned that opposing views would balance each other out—a push-pull takes place. Spend. Don’t spend.
      This tug-of-war is seen, perhaps most obviously, in the so-called renewable energy field. After Solyndra, and the more than fiftyother stimulus-funded green energy projects that have failed or are circling the drain, the public has grown weary, and wary, of any more spending on green energy. The money isn’t there to spend and the motive behind the 2009 rush to push billions of taxpayer dollars out through the Department of Energy has been tainted by corruption and illegal activity.
     
The green-energy emphasis was sold as a job creator for unemployed Americans, as a cure for global warming, and a way to slow a perceived energy shortage. It sounded so positive in the many speeches President Obama gave as a sales pitch to the American public.
      Today, Americans know better. They knew about Solyndra—which took millions and then folded. Thanks, in large part to myexposé, many now know about Abengoa and the Solana solar project—which took billions of tax-payer dollars and is now functioning and producing electricity but does so by breaking immigration and labor laws, giving foreigners hiring preference, and stiffing American suppliers.
      Watching multiple predictions fail and proponents get rich, Americans instinctively know that the whole global warming agenda doesn’t add up—as evidenced by this week’s International Conference on Climate Change where more than 600 “skeptics” from around the world gather to discuss real science and policy. Read full column

Marita Noon: More taxpayer dollars for green energy?

Lawsuits seek to stop work at mines in 3 states

From KRQE-TV.com - BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) – Coal industry representatives say lawsuits against mines in three Western states could have consequences across the U.S. as environmentalists seek changes in how mining is approved on federally owned reserves.
     In civil cases unfolding in Colorado, New Mexico and Montana, the group WildEarth Guardians asserts coal companies benefited from lax oversight by federal regulators.
     The group says the U.S. Department of Interior approved mining plans without enough public involvement, and gave little heed to the pollution caused by digging, shipping and burning coal. The group asked the courts to stop mining until the plans are re-done.
      The cases involve the San Juan coal mine in New Mexico, the Colowyo and Trapper mines in Colorado, and the Spring Creek mine in Montana. Combined, they employed about 1,200 workers and produced 27 million tons of coal last year, according to federal records.
     Attorneys for the federal government denied the environmentalists’ claims and have asked the courts to dismiss the cases. New Mexico-based WildEarth Guardians has a lengthy record of litigation against the coal industry. Just in the past five years its attorneys have filed dozens of lawsuits and legal petitions against agencies that regulate mining on federal lands.
      “If WildEarth’s request for relief is granted … the result would be devastating economic harm to coal miners, operators and the entire industry that services coal production,” mining association attorney Stephen Bell wrote in a recent court brief. More

Lawsuits seek to stop work at mines in 3 states

Swickard: Once arrested never innocent in the media

© 2014 Michael Swickard, Ph.D.
The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses. Malcolm X

     Several times a week there is something in the media that makes me queasy. Someone will have been arrested so the media gives all the details of the crime in such a way that for most people there is no other conclusion than the person is guilty. Every detail is on the front page for all to see, even those details that the police plant in the press to move the case forward.
      The presumption of innocence is one of the founding principles of our country. But over the years citizens have lost that presumption. In the Old West often the low-down dirty varmint was hung and then given a trial. Example: at Boot Hill in Tombstone, Arizona is this marker: 

Here lies George Johnson hanged by mistake 1882
He was right, we was wrong,
But we strung him up, and now he's gone.
      Several times a month I protest the way the media frames the story such that guilt can be the only conclusion. I protest to the media that they only carried the prosecution’s message. They are usually huffy about any criticism since everyone knows that when someone is arrested they are guilty.
      They answer the defendant will get his or her day in court. But that is not the issue. The jury pool is contaminated by the media framing the story from the prosecution’s point of view. The media often is intimidated by the police and if they do not play ball, so to speak, they are frozen out of the information loop.
      Further, as some of us remember there have been several seemingly iron-clad cases against citizens that subsequently turned out to be incorrect. What is remembered is that the person was handcuffed and perp-walked into the jail on nighttime television. It is rarely remembered that the person was really innocent. Read full column

Swickard: Once arrested never innocent in the media

News New Mexico live Wednesday, Michael better

Thanks for all of the concerns and messages of support from my time Monday in the Emergency Room at Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces. They were great and got me going so I have made it back to a reasonable place and will be in the broadcast chair Wednesday with Bob Endlich co-host, Dr. Jim Murphy, New Mexico State University Department of Astronomy and Rob Nikolewski, New Mexico WatchDog.org.

News New Mexico live Wednesday, Michael better

Best of Show Tuesday - Michael under the weather

So sorry - News New Mexico Statewide host Michael Swickard became ill Monday afternoon but was not kept overnight at the hospital.
     He is home and says he will be in studio Wednesday, full of stories about going to the Emergency Room at Memorial Medical Center. He says they did very well, but there were quite a few stories to pick up. See you Wednesday.

Best of Show Tuesday - Michael under the weather

5.2 quake strikes New Mexico

No, this is Japan, New Mexico was fine

From KOAT-TV.com - A 5.2-magnitude earthquake rocked parts of New Mexico on Saturday night. Officials said the quake struck about 10:59 p.m. Saturday
     The KOAT-TV newsroom was flooded with phone calls from people who felt the earthquake.
     Residents in Silver City, Truth or Consequences, Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas, said they felt the tremor.
     The epicenter was located about 31 miles northwest of Lordsburg.
     Officials said there were no reports of injuries or serious damage.

5.2 quake strikes New Mexico