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Before our leaders say one more thing about how to improve education, they need to spend a couple of weeks in a public school watching and learning. Then we can talk. It is tragic that they not only don’t know, but that all they think they know is not so. Continue Reading
Each malady of poverty is tied to government actions that all too often are for the purpose of political need. When will we as a society take an honest look at political human suffering? Continue Reading
Warning: I have been in towns where the business community was hammered too vigorously and smacked financially too often, and it resulted in the residents discovering way too late and to their dismay that the engine of prosperity can be silenced. Continue Reading
Earlier this week I was rude to Governor Richardson in a column. In a past generation I could not have written that and not found myself at the same luncheon as Richardson standing nose to nose for my words at his expense. Continue Reading
The message sent loud and clear is that Gov. Bill Richardson and the people around him do not have to act as the citizens are required to act. With a bellicose thrust of his ego, he asserts that he and the people around him are above the law. Continue Reading
The mainstream, national media ignore some important American core issues because the thoughts do not fit the political outcomes they desire. Some previously trusted media now take political sides and exclude “unpopular” debates. Continue Reading
Why not create a “Clever School” to teach drivers how to text and drive safely? They will do it anyway. Continue Reading
To change the dropout numbers, educational leaders must see the world from the eyes of those who do not read well. Continue Reading
Most Americans in these town-hall meetings are, metaphorically, just waxing deck chairs on the Titanic. They argue health-care tactics while ignoring the profound change in health-care strategy. Continue Reading
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. This is an odd August Congressional Recess. Usually members of Congress bask in the calm and quiet at home while escaping the heat and humidity of Washington. But this recess from the Washington heat is nothing compared to the local constituent heat. That Congressional deer-in-the-headlights look says it all: “You little people are supposed to adore us who serve you in Congress, not shout at us.” Citizens are worked up. Some vent their frustrations by shouting. Continue Reading
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. In the last month I have been occasionally blue thinking of my father, who passed away in 1993. Many of his formative years were spent fighting for freedom. First he fought World War II on the frontlines in person, and then, I have come to realize, he fought parts of that war again for the rest of his life in his head. I went walking the other day thinking of how in just one year America changed. I thought, “And the thanks he gets for all of those days on the frontlines protecting our country is that after his death America lurches toward a socialist agenda as bad as any he fought against in the service of his country. Continue Reading
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. It was a case of them holding up a red flag to get a charging bull to stop. I cannot resist commenting on today’s news that the graduation rate from the free education in New Mexico public schools is putrid. By graduation time, the free public education is being discarded by almost half of the students. To make things worse, putrid politicians are barging around trying to make political hay. Every politician who chortles and grabs for power because of this misfortune needs a swift kick in the keister. Continue Reading
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. A political phrase being used often these days is “bait and switch.” It refers to political promises to create attractive government programs that then are switched to the detriment of the citizens. The health-care debate smells of bait and switch, just like past government betrayals. An example is income tax. Our current income tax came from the 16th amendment in 1913. That first year the federal income tax was paid by less than 1 percent of the population. Continue Reading
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. “Safety is something that happens between your ears, not something you hold in your hands.” – Marine Lt. Colonel Jeff Cooper While the legendary shooting instructor Jeff Cooper was talking about large-caliber pistols and his beloved Scout Rifle in the above quote, the issue of safety is the same for things that could distract you and others to death. Your safety is in your mind, not your hands. No one can make you any safer than you wish to make yourself. My favorite Jeff Cooper quote is, “One of the notable aspects of the democratic process is that one need not know anything about a subject in order to pass laws about it.” An example is municipalities that have banned holding cell phones while driving with no regard to the research about how cell phones potentially make drivers unsafe. According to the research, it is not physically holding a cell phone that is potentially dangerous as much as it is two other factors: first the visual distraction, which is the same for navigation screens, computer screens and texting; and second the effect of emotional conversation on eye refresh rate. Continue Reading
© 2009 by Michael Swickard, Ph.D. The New Mexico 2010 election is here. The “Guess-what-bad-things-the-(fill in the blank)-have-been-doing” gotcha ads are out. This Monday I got an e-mail from Lt. Gov. Diane Denish: “Dear Michael, It started as a pretty standard Sunday night around the Denish household. I was getting a little laundry done. But the Republicans had other plans for this weekend, namely, starting the earliest and most negative TV campaign in New Mexico history…” Would I rather do laundry or be attacked politically? Continue Reading