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Christmas is one of those times balanced between memory and expectation. For most of us, the days and weeks prior point toward that day and then, once it is passed, we look toward the new, leaving the past behind until it is resurrected next December. It is unfortunate that we pile so much expectation onto the special days. Almost invariably, the day cannot fully live up to the idealized memory. Children live in such expectation, which they learn from adults, that they are overwhelmed emotionall...
Op-Ed: The Office of Public Instruction currently collects nearly 200 points of information for school accreditation, funding, and assessing the quality of programming and student well-being. This data, which includes student data, is protected by federal and state privacy laws and our state constitution. During the 2023 legislative session HB 949, Generally revise education laws related to data governance, by Representative Dave Bedey, was passed. This bill proposed to create “a strong and transparent education and workforce data governing b...
Op-Ed: Some bad ideas, despite centuries of consistently negative consequences, come back to haunt the human race over and over again. The economic warfare of “protective” tariffs is one such bad idea that belongs in the dustbin of history, yet incoming president Donald Trump has given it a veneer of patriotic polish, while trotting out all the tired pro-tariff cliches that have been proven so wrong for so long. When a bad idea appears to have eternal life, you can bet its life support is coming from two major factors: (1) widely accepted myt...
Remember the “scenery tax”? We used to joke that it was the tax we paid in the form of low incomes for living in a place as remote and beautiful as Montana. Well, now we are paying higher property tax because our scenery has become a marketable commodity for the people who have been buying up our state. Scenery is a real factor in the increase in home values and property taxes. But how do you value something like location? The market is a pretty good way to do that. Buyers value scenery and are willing to bid up the price of a parcel of lan...
The harvest is gathered in, the feast of thanksgiving is past. It is a time to hunker down as cold and dark replaces heat and light. There’s something about the growing darkness, the growing cold, that can lower our spirits. By the 21st of December, the darkness has reached the deepest into our days. But then, ever so slowly, we begin to gain a bit more light. By the 25th, we’re certain, the sun is returning and with relief we know the darkness will pass and joy replaces dread. There are twe...
While we’re in the relatively calm time before the partisan conflicts begin again, in earnest, in January, we can contemplate politics on a macro scale. As individuals, we tend to make decisions based on fairly narrow self-interest. If we are relatively happy we tend to support the status quo. If we aren’t, we look around for someone to blame and try to find someone who will fix whatever is causing our dissatisfaction. The collective will of the majority benefits those who control the lev...
I regularly try to remember to be grateful but it’s easy to forget sometimes. Sometimes it feels like things aren’t good and don’t look like they’re going to get better anytime soon. At times optimism requires us to intentionally summon it forth but, regardless of how we feel about our personal circumstances and whatever external problems are giving us anxiety, Thanksgiving is our annual reminder to be grateful. This issue of the Courier arrives in the midst of Thanksgiving. If you pick it up o...
Cascade Public Schools has long offered an after-school program (formerly known as the XCELL program) to provide students with a safe, engaging space to learn and socialize until their guardians pick them up. This program has served the community for years in various forms, becoming a valued resource for both students and parents. However, the program now faces an uncertain future due to funding challenges. Historically, the program was supported by Montana’s Office of Public Instruction (OPI) through the STEM 21st Century Grant. This f...
We've come through a tumultuous time and there's more tumult ahead. Some folks I care about are happy with the election returns and some are unhappy. Seems to me, what we all need now is the answer to how we organize and nurture our interior world as we negotiate the days to come. The first thing that comes to mind is Macbeth's soliloquy. Shakespeare had Macbeth declare, "Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And a...
By the time this is published the election will be over. I pray this election is sufficiently lopsided that there aren’t any arguments about who won. History does give me some hope. We’ve had incredibly nasty elections in the past, worse in ways than this one was. Sometimes we haven’t elected the best candidate, and yet we survive. Democracy is messy but it is superior to all other forms of government. There may be violence, but I hope not. Violence is never a rational answer to confl...
If you were alive in 1970, more than one in four birds in the U.S. and Canada has disappeared within your lifetime. According to research published in *Science*, wild bird populations in the continental U.S. and Canada have declined by almost 30% since 1970. Bird numbers naturally fluctuate, which explains changes from month to month, but many bird populations have been declining gradually and consistently for years. In a comprehensive 2019 study led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, researchers examined 529 bird species in the U.S. and...
I like art galleries. I can’t even draw decently but I really appreciate artists who can, those creative people who can paint, sculpt, or create pottery. I generally prefer more realistic work rather than abstract but a well done piece which employs symbolism or a different way of looking at life can be worth contemplating. There’s also a thing called “conceptual art” in which the concept of the artist is more important than the art object itself. I have never seen a piece of conceptual art tha...
"A Republic, If You Can Keep It" ~ Benjamin Franklin, 1787 Adolf Hitler did not seize power in Germany... He was elected by the people. In 1924, Adolf Hitler was in Landsberg Prison, having been convicted of treason. In 1933, Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany. In 1934, Adolf Hitler merged the office of Chancellor and the office of President and became the absolute dictator of Germany. Hitler’s rise to power was enabled by the rich and powerful, especially the business leaders. They were convinced they could place Hitler in power and u...
I got email last week from Ancestry.com. They updated their analysis of where my ancestors came from. Ireland was decreased, Denmark and Norway disappeared but, as usual, England and northwest Europe, Germanic Europe, Scotland and Sweden came in strongly. Of course, it didn’t change anything, didn’t make me any different than I was before the update. It simply pointed out, once again, that virtually all of us are comprised of a mishmash of DNA soup so, even folks whose job it is to figure suc...
This Article is Paid Political Content Nearly thirty years ago, the Montana Power Company asked Montana legislators to engage in a public policy experiment called deregulation. The promoters of deregulation made a lot of promises. They said it would lower electricity costs, result in more competition, and make Montana a more business friendly place. In reality, none of these happened. Electric deregulation has been nothing more than a public policy disaster. Today, Montanans are being asked to...
I had a professor who delighted in using such complex language it frequently left me confused. Fortunately, I had a friend who was blessed with remarkable intellect. After class I would ask Gary, “What was he saying?” Gary would then explain, in simple terms, what had been said. I’ve always admired folks who could take complex or confusing concepts and explain them so clearly even I could grasp the meaning. Many philosophers and theologians suffer, either from ego or overwhelming intel...
As we enter the last days before the election, I find myself reflecting on the first Inaugural Address of Franklin Roosevelt in 1932. The Great Depression lay heavily on the nation and, I’m sure, lots of folks saw no way out. Roosevelt projected through the campaign an ebullient spirit, an optimism that many undoubtedly thought unreasonable. In his inaugural address though, Roosevelt took on more serious reflection. He acknowledged the difficulties but he reminded the nation that the ...
There are realities that are easy to ignore. We ignore somethings because it makes us uncomfortable in a “I just can’t deal with that” way. And yet, we get reminded every so often. Black holes are those unbelievable dense places in space which gobble up anything that falls within their range. When a black hole swallows material a fraction of material is ejected before the object falls in, which forms a jet on either side of the black hole. This process accelerates radiation and particles at clos...
It’s easy these days to focus on worries. The 24 hour news cycle constantly reminds us of troubles. In the old days of journalism there was a saying, “If it bleeds, it leads.” In other words, if it’s bad or dramatic news it gets priority. Sometimes in the deluge of negatives I find it useful to take note of things for which I can be grateful. I’m always grateful for family and friends. I’ve recently begun getting to know a new person, a new friend, which always gives me the feeling I’ve just s...
The following column was sent to two proofreaders plus one other. One totally objected and the other two thought revisions were necessary. To which I simply smiled and replied, “Nope.” A friend worries about getting older. I remind him I’m older which makes him smile. Another says, “I’m too old to do that anymore.” We older folk sometimes complain about aches and pains which result from just waking up in the morning. I would, however, like to offer some advantages of getting older. First of al...
I’d seen the “Bridge” installation in “Sculpture in the Wild”, in Lincoln, before but I hadn’t read the sign commenting on it. When I was there last Thursday though, I read one could either view the gap between each side with the suspended planks as either falling apart or coming together. I confess my immediate assumption was that it was falling apart. I’m not a pessimistic person but logic said pieces in midair must be falling. My poor logic bound brain went that direction but I certainly lik...
Some folks have been surprised that the Ukrainian army has, thus far, successfully not only invaded Russia but has managed to hold onto a chunk of territory since August 6th. The lack of coordinated response by the Russian military doesn’t, however, come as a big surprise to political scientists. Putin is a dictator, the leader of an authoritarian system. Leaders who create such a system usually don’t do very well when faced with change. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022 and fai...
There is a growing race around the world to develop advanced Artificial Intelligence. The United States has an early advantage but China is pouring resources into their efforts and other countries are working on their version. The Arab states with their vast oil derived financial resources are involved. A.I. is beginning to return value for the billions that have been invested. There are promising advances in medical and scientific field. It isn’t public knowledge but there is no doubt a huge p...
Since we’re in the midst of a presidential election, it’s time to remind ourselves that presidential campaigns are not general appeals to the whole electorate, but are instead the sometimes complex matter of assembling blocks of voters. Candidates talk about the ideal of all of us united as Americans. After all, our national motto has long been considered to be E Pluribus Unum, which means “Out of many, one”. In 1956, “In God We Trust” was formally adopted as the national motto, but the old one...
In our prior columns, we’ve written about your fundamental Right to Know and how it provides all Montanans with an important way to interact with our state and local governments: You have a Right to Know how your government makes decisions, spends money, and conducts its business, and you can get that information by simply asking the most relevant state or local agency (and we’d love to help you do so!). Much of the time, Montanans can make requests and receive information with no personal cost. But as hinted in our last column about the dan...
