The outrageous mass murder in Arizona has the political crisis cockroaches (and their media enablers) crawling out of the woodwork. But as Robert Barnes, staff writer for the Washington Post wrote, “There is, at this point, no evidence that the suspect in Saturday’s shootings that left six dead and [Congresswoman Gabrielle] Giffords and 12 others […]

One of my favorite types of cuisine is from Thailand, a country rich in regional food traditions and fresh flavor combinations. With the popularity of Asian food growing throughout the United States, ingredients once very difficult to find are readily available at most local supermarkets. Of all the dishes that I have tried, there is […]

When Sen. Jon Tester was president of the Montana State Senate, he had a reputation as a nonpartisan workhorse. After four years of hard work as a U.S. senator that reputation has stuck, and Tester’s work on forest policy is perhaps the best example. During his very first term in office, he introduced the Forest […]

The latest issue of Delta Air Lines’ Sky magazine features Montana prominently and calls our state “a leader the rest of the nation should listen and learn from” that “continues to attract businesses from all over the world.” That’s quite the compliment, but forgive me if I don’t share the writer’s enthusiasm. Because while the […]

Christine Owens of the National Employment Law Project suggests that Montana’s Jan. 1 minimum wage increase will “directly benefit workers and state economies” (Jan. 5 Beacon: “Seven States Raise Minimum Wage”). Ms. Owens may wish that were the case, but the evidence shows otherwise. New research from the United States Military Academy at West Point […]

The comments of these former park superintendants (Jan. 2 Beacon: “Former Park Superintendents Call for Increased Protection of Glacier, Waterton Parks”) were bitterly amusing to me as a transplanted Canadian, who has not only hunted, fished and backpacked in this area for the last 45 years, but also worked as a national park employee. I’ve […]

This photo wasn’t taken in Chernobyl or in some abandoned Montana ghost town. It’s in downtown Detroit, a few blocks from shining skyscrapers. Credit: Rick Harris Everyone in the US should look at photos like the one above and imagine what this place once was. The meltdown of the US economy has many looks. Have […]

Montana’s Constitution assures the Legislature can’t spend more on services or tax breaks than the state collects in revenues. This simple declaration by the people keeps our books balanced. And balanced they have been, making Montana one of just two states in the nation to remain in the black. Nationally, the debt situation is bleak. […]

On Nov. 2, 2010, Montanans overwhelmingly spoke out against the out-of-touch Obama agenda. A rollback of these overreaching policies is necessary and conservatives will use a common sense approach to address endless government growth. For the first time since 2003, Republicans have majorities in both the state House and Senate. As leadership of the 62nd […]

The Legislature convened this week and while it’s easy to pan our citizen lawmakers as amateurs, I think that’s one of their best attributes. Just look at how the pros fared in Washington, D.C. over the last year. Still, I would like to offer some unsolicited advice to those arriving at the Helena capitol for […]

The 98-year experiment of having a quasi-governmental, private banking cartel run our nation’s monetary system has been a near complete debacle. Since the Fed was given control of our monetary system through the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, our dollar has lost up to 96 percent of its value. The United States Constitution calls for […]

On Dec. 20, 150 years ago, South Carolina left the union, soon followed by other Southern states, to form a confederacy. They did so in reaction to the election of Abraham Lincoln as president and his views against the expansion of slavery. The North went to war to restore the union. Conflict between the North […]

Jeffrey Gitomer sums up a lot of important stuff when he says “People don’t like to be sold but they love to buy.” Do you make it easy for them to buy? Are the things you sell displayed to make it easy for your customers to buy? After the untimely and tragic death of our […]

So Governor Schweitzer thinks our Legislature boozes it up too much? Well, on the 28th of December, the Legislative Fiscal Division (LFD) released its Legislative Services Division 2013 Biennium Budget Overview. Our state legislators will rely on this document as they fight out Montana’s budget for the next two years – if you had to […]

A recent article in the Beacon had some wolf depredation figures straight out of fantasyland (Dec. 22 Beacon: “Questions as Livestock Losses Skyrocket”). John Steuber, the federal director of Wildlife Services for Montana, claims that between 2006 and 2010 calf losses to wolves went from 51 to 454, while sheep losses rose from 22 to […]