My wife just retired, and I have turned 65, which makes us likely marks for professional scammers. Twice this year we have gone to presentations by people who offered to make our lives wealthier, happier and more rewarding. We’re still waiting. The first was a phone call inviting us to a sales pitch for new and improved attic fans and insulation. This drew my interest because the temperature in my attic office soars on summer afternoons and doesn’t cool off until long after the sun goes down. Continue Reading →
Opinion
Recent Posts
Montana Viewpoint: Memories of Jessie O’Callaghan
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Jessie O’Callaghan looked rougher than a cob when I first met her in 1976. It was at her house on Swamp Creek, near Trout Creek, Mont. She was about 70 years old, short and very heavy with unkempt grey hair, and dressed in what could have once passed as a flower print dress. She was sitting in her kitchen shelling peas. Her eyes were small and blue, encased in folds of skin, and their expression seemed to alternate between skepticism and joy. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Jack London, Jessie O’Callaghan, White Pine
Opinion: Counting down the Senate’s days of shame
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Tick, tick, tick. Today we are counting down on the Republican Senate’s days of shame. The GOP-led U.S. Senate is on a summer break. Count them: For 54 days, from July 14 to Sept. 6, both the House and Senate are on the longest summer break since those breaks were first established in the 1960s. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Louis Brandeis, Merrick Garland, President Obama, U.S. Senate
Cow doctor finds Marxists just about everywhere
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It isn’t easy to criticize the punditry of Laurel veterinarian and former state legislator Krayton Kerns. But let’s do it anyway. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Jim Crow, Krayton Kerns, Moynihan Report
Opinion: Wyoming’s ‘clean coal’ plans stir false hopes
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It’s no secret that the U.S. coal industry’s hopes of revival by exporting its product to Asia via West Coast ports—what Platts has called an “export or die” strategy—have been dashed by the structural decline in global coal markets.
That’s why Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead’s recent announcement that a new “clean coal” technology partnership between his state and a Japanese consortium could open up plans for exports of Powder River Basin coal only stirs up false hopes. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, 'clean coal', IEEFA, Matt Mead, Peabody Energy, University of Wyoming
Stubborn but adaptable, Texas faces many challenges
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After spending the Republican National Convention in Texas, I can’t shake the feeling that the whole thing happened there. That is, of course, ridiculous. The convention was in Cleveland, Ohio, not Cleveland, Texas. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Texas
Montana Viewpoint: Again and again, advantage Trump
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Over the past months there have been numerous opinions by those in the know about why Donald Trump will be not successful in the primaries and, then, not successful in the presidential race. If the track record of these pundits is anything to go by, Trump has an excellent shot at winning the presidency. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Melania Trump
Perhaps we should expect less sobriety in judges
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Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice known to her fans as the Notorious RBG, has apologized to Donald Trump. He apologizes to no one. According to news reports, Ginsburg, 83, called Trump a “faker” and admonished him for failing to release his tax returns. She also said this to the New York Times: “I can’t imagine what this place would be—I can’t imagine what the country would be—with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it could be four years. Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, Antonin Scalia, Donald Trump, Gonzalo Curiel, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Samuel Alito
Montana Viewpoint: Putting the nation over politics
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America’s elected legislators could get a lot done if the political parties just got out of the way. Over the past few decades certain politicians, political parties and independent political groups have planted and nurtured the trees of ideological hatred, and the American public harvests that bitter fruit. This is not doing anyone any good and it is time for it to stop. (more…) Continue Reading →
Filed under: Opinion, John Cobb, Montana Legislature, Montana Legislature. U.S. Congress, Ronald Reagan
Opinion: Red Lodge citizens left out in mayor selection
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Tuesday night, our democratic principles took a blow in Red Lodge. In an overflowing City Council meeting, the vacant mayoral position and future direction of our city was decided by five city councilmen despite the requests of our citizens to hold a special election allowing us to decide who will serve us as mayor. (more…) Continue Reading →