News you can use
News you can use
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The president has ordered our troops home from Iraq by year's end, but it was President George Bush who first announced this withdrawal date of Dec. 31, 2011. President Obama is enforcing that timetable despite the opposition from some. George W. Bush is the person who ordered us into the war in Iraq and now we need to consider the benefits and costs of that fateful decision. First, Americans remember that we were led to war by falsehoods. Again and again President Bush and his top officials, including Secretary of State Coli...
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have dropped the ball once again. The two parties are unable to make an agreement on how to reduce the national debt, unable to set aside their differences, their egos and their electoral agendas, and find a way to put our country first. It's politics first, country second. But it's a reason you should be proud to live in Montana. Here, we have found a way to work together, make compromises and put citizens first. Last December, I sat down for dinner with Jim Peterson (the Republican...
Like many people, I think Thanksgiving is the best holiday we have going for us, but for me it falls just a smidge short of being the absolute perfect holiday because I balk at being bossed around. Here we have this holiday the sole intent of which (in all its awesomeness) is to bring together family, friends and strays hungry for loads of food and an overabundance of togetherness — then people go and start telling me I'm supposed to be thankful for all the good things that m...
While Occupy North Pole is threatening to disrupt Christmas, the citizens of Toyland are causing their own ruckus rising up against the current ruling faction in Arab Spring fashion. Traditionally, Toyland was ruled by Contrary Mary (though some historians say royal advisor Mother Goose was the real power behind the throne), but her reign ended in 1959 when the introduction of Barbara Millicent Roberts saw the dawning of the Barbie Doll Dynasty. Yes, The Barbie Doll. Now...
While Occupy North Pole is threatening to disrupt Christmas, the citizens of Toyland are causing their own ruckus rising up against the current ruling faction in Arab Spring fashion. Traditionally, Toyland was ruled by Contrary Mary (though some historians say royal advisor Mother Goose was the real power behind the throne), but her reign ended in 1959 when the introduction of Barbara Millicent Roberts saw the dawning of the Barbie Doll Dynasty. Yes, The Barbie Doll. Now...
As I walked into city hall for a Monday night council meeting, Richard, our public works director, said to me, "Did you know you are tied with Reece for first place in the football pool this week? Who wins depends on the final score of the Green Bay game tonight." This news excited me. Week after week, I had come close, tied for second place with two or three other people. Tied for second is meaningless. As Vince Lombardi said, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing."...
In November's elections, the national media gave extensive coverage to a proposed "personhood amendment" to Mississippi's state constitution. This extremist, anti-choice ballot initiative declared that a person's life begins not at birth, but at the very instant that a sperm meets the egg. Jim Hightower However, extending full personhood to two-cell zygotes was too far out even for many of Mississippi's anti-choice voters, so the proposition was voted down. Meanwhile, the national media paid no attention to another...
Montanans should all be gravely concerned by the most recent actions of Montana Congressman Denny Rehberg to undermine worker rights, job training and higher education in America. It is a well-known fact that America's working people have never been more under siege. Unemployment rates continue to be at historic highs. Wages and benefits have stagnated to a point that America's middle class is evaporating. Relative to their peers in the 1950s to the 1970s, today's middle class is almost unrecognizable. Relative wage earnings...
Modern, sleek, stylish, cordless telephones and cellphones are a huge disappointment. Not that I want to go back to the old wooden box mounted on the wall that you "dialed" by ringing up the operator who connected you to the party to whom you were calling. That wasn't very handy, besides those were all party lines and that's all I need is everybody in the neighborhood listening in on my juicy conversations, confirming their every suspicion that I am both dorky and vapid. Pam...
Last week, I cast a vote in the Senate that was praised by some and criticized by others. I voted against the American Jobs Act after considerable discussion, research and listening to many folks. I stand by my vote, and I want to share my reasons directly with you. First, we can't forget our own history. A few generations ago this nation made an incredible investment in infrastructure, and the jobs it created helped lead us out of the Great Depression. President Roosevelt's vision was to create a stronger and more productive...
Ten years ago I sponsored Senate Bill 510 in the Montana Senate, a bill which encouraged the vast amount of money from Otter Creek coal development in southeastern Montana to help pay for our K-12 and higher education schools. Yet not a piece of state-owned Otter Creek coal has been mined, and billions of dollars that will benefit Montana schools sit in the ground. Montana union leaders have supported lawsuits for more education funding and pension bailouts, but they turn silent when environmentalists obstruct school revenue...
To meet the challenges of reducing budget deficits, paying off debt, and getting our citizens back to work, all responsible solutions should be considered. As our state works hard to boost economic recovery and prosperity, we would be wise to utilize all resources available to us. One such resource is national service. Corporation for National and Community Service programs — AmeriCorps and Volunteers in Service to America — help our communities address some of our most pressing challenges like teacher and nursing sho...
A new government investigation has uncovered a deadly bureaucratic turf war between Border Patrol and federal land managers that has been delaying and even denying critical access to the border along federal lands. In one case, Border Patrol had to pay millions of dollars for access to federal lands managed by the National Park Service. That's right. Border Patrol had to expend taxpayer dollars to compensate a federal agency in order to get access to federal land. That's not only bad fiscal policy — it's downright d...
A new government investigation has uncovered a deadly bureaucratic turf war between Border Patrol and federal land managers that has been delaying and even denying critical access to the border along federal lands. In one case, Border Patrol had to pay millions of dollars for access to federal lands managed by the National Park Service. That's right. Border Patrol had to expend taxpayer dollars to compensate a federal agency in order to get access to federal land. That's not only bad fiscal policy — it's downright d...
Imagine if they cancelled Independence Day. What if the federal government declared that the Fourth of July was no longer a holiday? We would be told to report for work, cancel fireworks displays and picnics and go about our business the same as any other day. Imagine the outrage. Americans would be angered by the suggestion that we shouldn't celebrate freedom. Not recognize Independence Day? Why, that would be un-American. And yet we do the same thing every Dec. 15, the birthday of our Bill of Rights. In guaranteeing these...
One night last week I risked the icy streets and walked downtown for the Harlem Christmas Stroll. The Harlem Civic Association sponsors this delightful annual event enjoyed by the entire community. It was a perfect night, neither too cold nor too windy. Harlem streets, stores and homes were festive with decorations. Chestnuts roasted over an open fire. A gentleman from out Chinook way had brought in a matched team of horses and a hay wagon and treated the children to rides...
Editor: Anyone who witnessed a hit and run accident in Gary & Leo's Fresh Foods parking lot involving a large white pickup truck and a small white station wagon on Dec. 9 between 1:30 and 2 p.m. is asked to call 390-5374. Ethel Birdwell Havre...
As per the terms of my employment, I am required to read the news for a large part of my weekday mornings. The gods of fate must get a good laugh out of that. I've always been more of a headlines-only kind of news-o-file. First of all, a good headline lets me know if I want to spend time reading an article. If I see this headline: "Dow drops amid rate hike rumors," I know right away to avoid this article. It sounds too fact-filled and depressing. I see: "Woman tasers self...
As a warden for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, my dad had to live trap at least one nuisance bear every summer. Due to the nature of the issue, the traps had to be set where humans congregate, and this revealed another problem: Humans can be just as big a nuisance as the animals. FWP's bear live-trap was mounted on a trailer for easy hauling and made from an 8-foot length of 4-foot culvert with heavy-gauge grates covering each end. One grate was a trap door that was slid...
"It is most logical," I said out loud to myself while snipping the recipe for Kentucky jam cake from the Havre Daily News. You have to understand that I never clip recipes from newspapers or magazines. I have a few treasured cookbooks; some of which I seldom open, some with pages so spattered with batter or stained with vanilla that one can hardly read the directions. No matter, I hardly ever follow the directions anyway. I regard a recipe as a guide. The genius of the dish is...
BOZEMAN — It is often lamented that 20-somethings and 30-somethings — people who are the future of our communities and state — are some of the least engaged. To whatever degree the statement is accurate, encouraging more thoughtful discussion and involvement from young Montanans undoubtedly would help generate good ideas and move our state forward. The problem, of course, is that reaching a younger audience can be challenging. Perhaps some of us feel disempowered or have not yet realized the extent to which our lives are s...
The year was 1980. I was recently divorced. I had been through a few rough years. I sold everything I owned and moved myself and my children from Chicago back to Harlem to make a fresh start. Ben was 2, Esther 4 and Dee 13. I rented a tiny house in town, furnished it with items scoured from friends' basements, attics and barns. A one-pound Folgers can propped one corner of the broad-armed mohair sofa. Dee and I each slept on lumpy rollaway beds. The babies had bunks. A friend...
Is it just me or do people in the "Occupy" movement seem mostly interested in occupying their time? They'd be better off trying to occupy that vast empty space between their ears; but why bother when someone will give you a slogan and armband for free. The whole thing is starting to look like an amateurish knockoff of European austerity protests. Now those people know how to riot. Carl Graham In the beginning it included Ron Paul conservatives with "End the Fed" signs and a lot of ordinary people with legitimate gripes about...
Veterans Day is this week, a time when we reflect on the greatness of our nation and the freedoms we all enjoy. As active and retired federal employees, we thank those in the military for the sacrifices they've made. We, too, are proud of our nation and of our service to it. Each day in communities across Montana and the nation, federal employees go to work serving the public, making sure mail is delivered, food is safe to eat and planes travel safely through our skies. We also work to stop the spread of deadly diseases,...
When you're young and really old people, like your parents, tell you "It's the simple things in life that bring you the most joy," you are positive they're full of something you'd get your mouth washed out for saying. Because everything is complicated when you're a kid. Even tying your shoes. Then one day you begin to suspect that the simple thing they're talking about is you, and it makes you a little resentful even though you're too young to spell the word, but still, you sw...
