During the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Re:Invent conference‘s “fireside chat” with Jeff Bezos, he told a story about during a professional development session where he (like all senior Amazon management) spent two days on the Amazon customer service call center staff. Stop for just a minute. If your business is small – you likely spend […]

The Montana Legislature ventured into its third week of policymaking with public overtures of cooperation and collaboration. That’s a welcome change from the last legislative session, which was dominated by socially derisive bills. The Legislature traditionally convenes biannually for a maximum of 90 days. In some sessions work gets done; other Legislatures do little but […]

We’ve all heard the story of the unfortunate frog slowly boiled in a pot of water. It forgot to jump out. I guess you have to be French to enjoy that. Whenever principles are compromised, there can never be an end to its progressive elimination. In other words, few of us are for carrying semi-automatic […]

I was waiting to hear the National Rifle Association’s response following the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School before commenting. To no surprise it was the same old hardline rhetoric. So it was with great interest to me when I read Bob Brown’s recent column on the NRA. Bob’s concern was the direction the NRA […]

The first debate between Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and his Republican challenger Congressman Denny Rehberg was in June of last year in Big Sky at the Montana Newspaper Association’s annual conference. There, the two men disagreed on just about everything. But one exchange that stood out was Tester’s and Rehberg’s differing opinions on the U.S. […]

By John Fuller In the hyper-partisan atmosphere of our nation’s capital, Democrats have repeatedly called Republican opposition to their agenda “extremists.” Labeling Republicans as “extremist” and attempting to portray them as “out of the mainstream” is the methodology Democrats use to convince low-information voters to ignore Republican resistance. But Republican “extremism” is as old as […]

A number of articles have appeared statewide in recent days announcing Montana Fish, Wildlife and Park’s (FWP) decision to oppose threatened status for Montana’s wolverine. Some of these articles have argued that the threats to wolverine populations have nothing to do with trapping, implying that the trapping should therefore continue. This argument flies in the […]

When you talk to your customers about their business, do they ever respond “Wow, I didn’t know that” or “Really?” Does your sales and marketing process provoke your prospects with questions they have to think about? Or does it simply say “Look at us! Look at us!” Far fewer spend their energy and money educating […]

With politicians and journalists jitterbugging in blood, a giant sucking sound heard at gun shows and gun shops all across America, and now word that President Barack Obama may ban guns through executive order – is new gun control likely in the wake of the Newtown slayings? One certainty: The political fight over Evil Black […]

By John Fuller Since the atrocity at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Democrats have resurrected the gun control issue in their never-ending attempt to expand government power. Claiming that guns are the problem, they see an opportunity to continue their long-time efforts to disarm American citizens and convert them from free citizens into subjects. Regardless of […]

The decision of Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to institute a closure to the wolf hunting season in areas surrounding Yellowstone National Park was a welcome intervention to what has gained international attention as a tragedy in the making. We applaud their moderate decision as not only the right thing to do, but as a […]

Crazy people have been doing horrible things since the dawn of time and will continue to do so regardless of what anti-gun laws you or lawmakers decide to impose on citizens. More guns do NOT create more murders. Nearly every home in Switzerland has a gun and yet they have one of the world’s lowest […]

Stocks surged the day after Democrats and Republicans in Congress reached a compromise to avoid sending the country over the fiscal cliff, but fewer people invest in stocks anymore, so fewer people cared. According to a recent Gallup poll, 54 percent of Americans say they hold stocks, the lowest level since the polling firm began […]

With the new session of Congress just beginning, the U.S. Senate has an opportunity to reform its filibuster rule, an arcane parliamentary device which has paralyzed the proceedings of the entire legislative branch of our government and crippled our nation’s ability to meaningfully address the issues of our time. Long before cable television, 24-7 news […]

In the last five minutes of this clip from a speaker panel at St. Petersburg College called “Cosmic Quandaries”, noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about the one percent difference in DNA between chimpanzees and people. Of particular interest is his discussion tying the scope of that tiny one percent difference to each species’ capabilities. […]