News you can use
News you can use
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President Dwight Eisenhower famously warned citizens about the growth of a military-industrial complex before he left office. Zach White More than 50 years later, with multiple trillions of dollars pumped unquestioningly into bloated war efforts over the past few years, much of it going to defense contractors, who "coincidentally" have contributed billions in lobbying funds in that same time frame, it's hard to imagine what that crazy old coot was talking about. It's not like anyone questions the patriotism of an individual...
Our founders gave us the most incredible political system ever invented, one grounded by the rule of law, majority rule and protection of minority opinions and dissent. They could not agree to renounce the slave trade, they did not extend political participation to women and non-property owners, and they dispossessed America's First Nations from their land and resource base. But they gave us a system that would enable us to be better people, collectively, than they were. Indeed, they expected it. They invented the American...
This week opened with news that Montana's Attorney General filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to revisit the 2010 Citizens United decision and give Montana's restrictive campaign finance laws a pass. With all due respect, I think our AG is either stuck in a time warp or doesn't understand the basics of a marketplace and especially a marketplace of influence or ideas. Carl Graham Montana's campaign finance laws date back to when copper barons outright owned much of our state's legislature and most of its media...
My friends, Cheryl and her husband Dave, are touring Spain and Portugal this summer. They will stay the nights in monasteries, fortresses and castles. In one stronghold, many of the bedrooms were, once upon a time, occupied by the master's harem. Cheryl said, "I certainly am not going to sleep in one of those rooms. I want no part of a harem." Personally, give me the harem room. I've seen the movies. I could stand to be waited on hand and foot. I can see myself lounging...
As a retired engineer with the federal government, I am privileged to get telephone calls and messages about Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation tribal affairs from relations and other tribal members. We talk about the glory days of the Joe DeMontiney era and about sitting tribal council ineptness and rudderless leadership. It appears the sitting tribal leaders are more interested in advancing themselves, and they draw and maintain a salary of $90,000 a year. I have no insight into what our chairman's daily operations are. Bruce...
This week opened with news that Montana's Attorney General filed briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court asking it to revisit the 2010 Citizens United decision and give Montana's restrictive campaign finance laws a pass. With all due respect, I think our AG is either stuck in a time warp or doesn't understand the basics of a marketplace and especially a marketplace of influence or ideas. Montana's campaign finance laws date back to when copper barons outright owned much of our state's legislature and most of its media outlets....
Pamville News reporters have been scouring the news wire to bring you, the discerning public, the latest in the most important issues. And speaking of public — the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas is bucking Texas redneck traditions with a Texas-sized red face. Seems the guests at their commencement ceremony this year were handed programs with a missing L, making it the School of Pubic Affairs. School officials did their best to correct t...
I think it's high time we quit bad-mouthing air traffic controllers. A few weeks ago, investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration corroborated allegations by a former ATC, a Mr. Evan Seeley (pronounced "stoolie"), that some of his colleagues were low-life scum. Seems when flight traffic thinned out at a certain, gruff New York airport, ATCs watched movies on laptops, gambled online, threw stilettos at helpless rats, sharpened pencils with their teeth, and ate cucumber sandwiches laced with dill seed. The reports,...
I was half listening to my radio. The woman's voice said something like this: "I'm retired. Retirement isn't the end. Retirement is another phase. I worked hard all my life. Now I can live." "Whoa," I responded. "I've worked hard all my life too, but it would be a crying shame if I had to wait for retirement before I could live. What's that supposed to mean?" Sondra Ashton The past few days, every time I turn around, a reminder to live fully has popped up smack in my face. I...
Everybody has had this experience. You fill the washer with soap and water and stuff in a load of dirty clothes. The washer chugs, agitates and spins, rinses and spins again, finishes the load of wash. You pull the clean damp clothing from the washer, give each article a brisk shake and throw them one by one into the dryer. You turn on the dryer and go sit with a cup of coffee while it tosses the clothing around through the heated air like bingo balls in a cage. When the dryer...
He may look like the stuffy academic type, but James Lipton, host of Bravo channel's "Inside the Actors Studio," knows how to play nice with the politicos. After a cartoon in The New York Times suggested that presidential candidate Mitt Romney should take acting lessons from Lipton to "learn how to appear more relatable," Lipton played along by submitting a blog post of suggestions to New York Magazine. In his blog op-ed "How to Act Human," Lipton suggests, among other things,...
One of the primary reasons many outdoors-minded people have chosen to live in Montana is the love of the landscape and the unlimited outdoor opportunities this great state has to offer. Montana is a sought-after destination by many who want to experience the beauty and rich wildlife resources available to all. In this new technological age, and with the greater ability to commute elsewhere, Montana is becoming a popular home base for many. However, many Montanans may take for granted what we have today and may not realize...
The United Nations estimated in January 2011 that two billion people were using the Internet. About 300 million have since joined them. With about one-third of the world's population accessing a global communications network, exchanging thoughts and ideas, it will soon be hard to imagine how we built functioning democracies without it. Zach White A recent video from advertising firm Leo Burnett Worldwide describes a campaign to save a library in Troy, Mich., their Detroit office worked on. According to the video, the local...
Sometimes the only reasonable solution to life's problems is too much pizza. Sure, I have it from good sources that, in times of need, prayer and meditation are highly beneficial, but — and I don't mean to be hyper-critical — they seem overly complicated and seriously flawed. If I go the prayer route, there's that whole dilemma of whom to pray to and in what language, format or respectful posture (and honestly the thought of tackling that makes my head feel like one major ane...
This past week, I joined hundreds of fellow afterschool program directors, as well as afterschool students (including my daughter Emily) and other advocates from across the country spending two days in Washington, D.C., for the 11th annual Afterschool for All Challenge, sponsored by the Afterschool Alliance. I was there to learn from and share with colleagues and also to bring a message to members of Congress about the importance of making sure our children get the support they need in the out-of-school-time hours. Tim...
Recently Hi-Line voters had the rare opportunity to voice their opinions on how Havre and north-central Montana legislative districts should look for the next 10 years when the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission held a public hearing here last week. Since that time, a lot has been said around town and in the paper regarding which proposal has the most merit and best represents all of our interests and accusations are beginning to fly about movements to cut Havre's representation and sever the rural voice....
My friend Kathy invited me to be her guest at her swank condo on the beach in Mexico. I would even fly on her companion ticket. The whole trip would hardly cost anything. I said the only thing I could say — YES! Yet, as the day to leave approached, I felt strangely ambivalent. I wanted to go and I wanted to stay. I could imagine how the breeze wafting off the ocean would smell as I climbed down the ramp off the airplane onto the tarmac. Hugs from Carmen and Ana would await o...
Learning a new language can be useful for business, a foreign vacation or as a fun hobby, while learning about a different culture and our own language in the process. But if you're not an enrolled student, in high school or college, the best options you usually have are phrasebooks or Berlitz tapes. Zach White The computer program Rosetta Stone has dominated the independent language-learning world in recent years, but their software packages cost hundreds of dollars — cheaper than a college course or tutor but still a r...
This July 4, thousands of Montanans hit the roads to visit family, watch fireworks, get out of town and relax. That special day reminded us of the precious freedoms our forefathers fought so hard for; so many freedoms, in fact, that we could not begin to list them all. The freedom to go where we choose, the freedom to say what we want to say, and the freedom to gather and celebrate are just a few. All you have to do is turn on the nightly news to see that so many of the freedoms we enjoy are not shared across the globe. We...
The role of the press in our country is quite unique. They are called to be the most inquisitive amongst us. Their importance and power is specifically enumerated in the First Amendment to our U.S. Constitution: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press … ." In the words of Socrates (470 BC - 399 BC) the press should be counted on to "follow the story wherever it leads." Rick Dow I would like to thank t...
Sometimes the only reasonable solution to life's problems is too much pizza. Sure, I have it from good sources that, in times of need, prayer and meditation are highly beneficial, but — and I don't mean to be hyper-critical — they seem overly complicated and seriously flawed. If I go the prayer route, there's that whole dilemma of whom to pray to and in what language, format or respectful posture (and honestly the thought of tackling that makes my head feel like one major ane...
Take a good, long look at your latest electricity bill, because there's a very good chance it could be skyrocketing in the near future. The culprit is a new EPA regulation called the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (UMACT) rule. On paper it's supposed to control mercury and a host of other emissions from coal-based power plants. In reality it sets a standard that many plants can't possibly meet by the 2015 deadline, forcing them to shut down and forcing your electricity bills to go up. Sen. Ed Walker Why would...
So the world's first privately funded rocket, the SpaceX Dragon, docked with the International Space Station and splashed down on June 1 without a hitch. While most people won't be taking futuristic transportation into orbit too soon, those in some parts of the country may soon get a taste of futuristic trips around town. Amid all that excitement last month, not too many people heard about the first license in the country being granted for a driverless car in Nevada. Zach White Ubiquitous tech giant Google got a license in...
A recent 24/7 Wall St. website article, "The most, and least, safe states in America," looks at statistics from the nonprofit Institute for Economics and Peace to compile lists of the top 10 least and most safe states. Montana didn't make either list. The report, at http://economicsandpeace.org, says we're the 18th most peaceful state in the union. Not shabby, not awesome. Montana hasn't made other top 10 state statistics lists either: The Center for Public Integrity's least...
As a Montana newspaper editorial succinctly put it: "The greatest living issue confronting us today is whether the corporations shall control the people or the people shall control the corporations." Jim Hightower That might sound like it was written in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling. But it was actually in 1906, back when Montanans were rising up against out-of-state mining corporations known as the "copper kings." Those corporate powers were exploiting Montana's workforce, extracting its public...
