Stephan Helgesen News
Do progressives dream?
By Stephan Helgesen | Jul 19, 2023
We all basically want the same things like a happy life, a comfortable home in a safe neighborhood, a good education for our children, adequate health care, enough money to take the occasional vacation and a rewarding job.
Christ and the little green men
By Stephan Helgesen | Jun 19, 2023
I thought that faith was on the way out, but along comes government with a report on 'unexplained aerial phenomena' or UAPs (aka 'unidentified flying objects'). Why the name change? Maybe our officials don’t want us to think of extraterrestrials when we see something strange in the sky… or it could be some 'brander' thought it time to update the 1940s appellation for things that hover above us.
Peeling back the 'diversity' onion
By Stephan Helgesen | Feb 27, 2023
It's time we talked about e pluribus unum and what it really means for our country, especially in light of all the propaganda that's being injected into our collective bloodstream by the 'woke' Left.
The end of hope?
By Stephan Helgesen | Dec 29, 2022
Tis the season to be hopeful. Christ's birthday gives believers hope as does the beginning of a new year. For those who've lost someone to illness or accident, hope is pretty much all that's left when we can’t fathom why it happened to them...or us.
Reparation nation?
By Stephan Helgesen | Dec 15, 2022
Everyone knows Lord Acton's quote about absolute power corrupting absolutely, but the same is true about guilt. While a little guilt goes a long way, embracing systemic guilt is destructive and inhibits our progress as a nation.
What is a newspaper anyway?
By Stephan Helgesen | Nov 25, 2022
The Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper recently ran an article about the emergence of the New Mexico Sun.
Countering 'election deniers'
By Stephan Helgesen | Nov 15, 2022
In the movie "The Untouchables," Sean Connery is confronted by a would-be assassin. Connery surprises him by brandishing a sawed-off shotgun (the assassin has a switchblade).
Canceling without conversation - the new NPR model
By Stephan Helgesen | Oct 31, 2022
I recently joined the ranks of the canceled after six years of my participation in a political talk show on a Santa Fe NPR affiliate.
Homelessness is collateral damage from a throwaway society
By Stephan Helgesen | Oct 20, 2022
The debate over what to do about America's homeless population is reaching the breaking point as tent cities pop up like spring dandelions in communities all across this fruited plain.
The not so great American U-turn
By Stephan Helgesen | Sep 7, 2022
There was a time when the millions of huddled masses yearning to breathe free were grateful for the opportunity to make the long ocean voyage to the shores of the New World.
New Mexico's anger deficit
By Stephan Helgesen | Aug 18, 2022
It's time to rise up from your easy chair and stop shouting at the TV every time you hear words like gender equity, CRT, election deniers, climate change and extremist ultra MAGAns.
Diversity is not strength
By Stephan Helgesen | Jul 20, 2022
A few centuries ago people from many ethnic backgrounds flocked to America to find a safe place where they could practice their religion and live among people who believed in a peaceful and tolerant approach to community living.
Does the truth really matter?
By Stephan Helgesen | May 26, 2022
How's that for a provocative question?
A wakeful state
By Stephan Helgesen | Apr 22, 2022
Many of us (including yours truly) have walked through our lives in an occasional state of denial.
Back to the future for energy?
By Stephan Helgesen | Mar 18, 2022
The greatest generation will remember, "Is your trip really necessary?" and the call by the FDR Administration to conserve energy for the war effort.
Sunshine and chili just aren't enough
By Stephan Helgesen | Feb 9, 2022
At some point, even the most devoted among us have doubts, and that goes for those of us transplants to New Mexico who are wondering if it's really worth staying in the "Land of Enchantment."
Propagandizing Jan. 6
By Stephan Helgesen | Jan 6, 2022
The subject of protecting democracy was front and center this morning as the President and Vice-President of the United States took to the podium in Statuary Hall to lay down some political markers using the events of the mass trespass of January 6, 2021.
It's all about life and death
By Stephan Helgesen | Dec 16, 2021
The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the Mississippi abortion law that placed a limit of 15 weeks on terminations of pregnancies. The U.S. Solicitor General (SG) Elizabeth Prelogar argued against it and Mississippi SG Scott Stewart argued to uphold it.
One swallow does not a summer make
By Stephan Helgesen | Nov 5, 2021
Political pundits and analysts are willing navel gazers and are constantly talking about the 'long game' in politics.
Op-ed: The marijuana lament
By Stephan Helgesen | Oct 4, 2021
We've legalized 'recreational marijuana' use in New Mexico, and it's a sad day for those of us who fail to see how adding yet one more problem to our already burgeoning list of statewide challenges is a net positive.