Serving Roseau County for over 100 Years - The Official Roseau County Newspaper
Serving Roseau County for over 100 Years - The Official Roseau County Newspaper
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Some people are saying… they believe our nation is quickly degrading into a lawless society. Most certainly… in light of the very recent upsurge in violent crime in our major cities… the murderous animosity towards police officers… the increased number of road rage incidents… people are beginning to take matters into their own hands. In fact… to be honest… the upsurge in the sales of firearms is partially due to a sense our established societal protection and judicial systems are failing to ke...
On numerous occasions during my life time... I have found myself standing accused of a variety of criminal... societal... moral misdeeds. Then... in all honesty... I would suspect some of you reading this column also have been accused of allegedly committing some dastardly deeds... actually did commit some dastardly deeds and got caught... or managed to slip and slide out from under. However... because of my rather particular case history... I would never run for any political offense... even...
It is quite understandable most of our fellow Americans seem to be extremely upset... even disgusted with how our central government has been operating. So... I have been giving this issue some thought... musing over possible causes for this citizen discontent with the political establishment. One cause... I have given this very serious consideration --- is the distinct possibility all our political leaders on all levels of government get so repulsive because their very innards are rotting with...
Once again... the performances of both Presidential candidates in their second debate was highly predictable. Basically... both candidates engaged themselves in the usual political posturing... jockeying to appear like the Alpha contestant in the eyes of their voting bases... while keeping an eye on persuading undecided and independent voters to join one side or the other. In short... the debate was very reminding of the old “Rock’em Sock’em Robots” toy. Despite the fact both combatants got a f...
The first debate between Miss Hillary and Mr. Donald is over and done with. So now I assume you guys are expecting for me to follow suit with the legions of commentators... jabberwockies leaping to support one or the other candidate. Sorry to disappoint you... but that just isn’t going to happen at this point in time. It very likely will never happen. In fact... all I really have to say about the actual debate is absolutely nothing was said or seen that was unexpected by me. Both Hillary and D...
It is extremely apt to assume most pro-gun folks who consider the 2nd Amendment totally sacred and inviolable believe the progressive liberal left anti-gun activists to be their worst enemies. But what if a guy told you... these activists are not your worst enemies. In fact... our worst enemies might just be ourselves. After all... it should be taken for granted just like all societal issues... both competing sides have fanatic elements. Obviously... there are rabid anti-gun ownership and there...
Just a couple or so weeks ago... I lambasted everyone in general for making scurrilous unproven statements about Miss Hillary’s personal life and relationships. Well... just so y’all know... I am about to go off again. Now... before getting into this column... I would like to state again... I have no great affection or partiality towards either Mrs. Clinton or Mr. Trump. In fac... the purpose of this column is only to restate my dislike for so-called political elitists making statements bas...
It would appear... the actual mechanics of our political system are a total bewilderment to many of us. Of course... they are. After all... the system seems to be set up to intentionally keep us off balance... dazed... confused... malleable. The only way our system and the players within the system can perpetuate power and influence is to create the impression our political system is to the uninitiated a mystery wrapped up in a puzzle permanently encased in an impregnable enigma. The system is...
Before launching into reading this column... please be advised the column in no way reflects a partiality for Mrs. Clinton. Be further advised... the purpose of the column is to express embarrassment as a gentleman for people having the audacity to seemingly disparage Miss Hillary with scurrilous unproven personal statements. Ever since some meathead TV doctor... with a name proving to be elusive at this time... made the totally unsolicited proclamation Mrs. Clinton was suffering from severe...
Believe it or not... back in the day... from elementary school to the end of junior high school... I was an altar boy. I served the early morning Mass each day at seven and the afternoon Mass at four. Back in those days... the Mass was conducted in Latin so we had to be proficient in saying the Mass in that long dead language. Being an altar boy was actually fun... we got fed well by the nuns at breakfast and after the evening mass. Besides... there were other perks like not having to be on time...
A few days ago... Mama read to me from the Star Tribune that Pope Francis was contemplating allowing women to become deacons in the Catholic Church. To my way of thinking... a lady deacon would not quite be a priest but would indeed be more than a nun... which after 2016 years could be seen as a for sure improvement in the equality versus inequality status of women within the Holy Roman Church. Of course... a lot of people will be saying it is about time women began moving towards full equality...
Having found myself with some unexpected down time... I got to wondering about... pondering over the ramifications of foreign aid. In all honesty... I must advise...I came up with the following opinion without doing any real research... it is based on my own gut feelings. As some of you will recall this concept of foreign aid goes back to post-WWII’s “Marshall Plan”... which was designed to rebuild societies ravished by the war. The plan also included food and medical aid to the impacted popul...
Of course, I have no way of knowing how many of my fellow citizens attempted to sit through the long hours and days watching the Republican Convention or the Democrat Convention. Actually, I really don’t care! However, I must confess to making a bold effort to do so and possibly may have succeeded if I had managed not to fall asleep or run from the house screaming because of the absolute boredom. Yes, I do realize --- at some point of maturity --- a guy has to start taking things more s...
As you most likely already know... I am in the habit of referring to our local ALTRU/LIFECARE medical system as ClubMed. Obviously... in my weird mind set... I like to consider staying in our local facility a vacation. After all... I get fed really well and don’t have to do any chores. I am like a dog... feed me and I am your buddy forever. But it is actually because I believe we are fortunate to have a medical system comprised of really great doctors... nurses... support staff who treat us real...
Right from the get go ... please be advised I mentally wrote this column while flat on my back in the ER. Thus ... to an extent this column might ... Not appear to be based on any cognizant thought process ... And ... if it appears I am shamelessly mistreating anyone’s established opinions or feelings ... rest assured such abuse is not intentional. However ... I would opine ... since to a lesser or greater degree we are all observers of human nature ... y’all might have some curiosity of the...
Fortunately for us... geography and climate have historically created a fairly secure and serene environment here in Roseau County. A guy has to argue we live in a small sparsely populated region of basically idyllic small towns which are to a great extent isolated... divorced from the full impact of the major disruptions plaguing the “real world” turmoil of more densely populated... more urbanized regions. That isn’t to say we... being a microcosm of the larger society and culture we don’t...
The concept raising us above the other beasts is the simple fact being human means we have a higher intellect. Translated… we might not have the largest brain of any other creatures, but we have the only brain capable of acquiring… storing… absorbing… creating… new knowledge. Aye… tis true… the bulbous… mushy… gray matter inside our skulls is amazingly fertile. In fact… had our brains not been as fertile as they are mankind would never have developed even the most basic technologies. Witho...
Once upon a time... the coinage minted by our country meant something... had some tangible value a guy could see and feel the solid weight of. Quite assuredly... most of you can remember when a pocket full of coins had some noticeable heft to it. A guy could jiggle them in his pocket with a reassuring ring...drop them with a satisfyingly pleasant heavy thud. They had some value... a nickel would buy a Coke... a quarter would get you into the movie theatre and buy goodies. Fifteen cents bought a...
I was going to begin this column by saying... I find big entertainment in reading the letters to the editor which appear in the variety of newspapers I read. However... after some self-inspection... it dawned on me that I have more profound motivations. Deeper motivations like... enlightenment... keeping my finger on the pulse of what the average Joe and Jane think. But... I can't tell a lie and deny sometimes letters to the various newspapers are comical and even confusing. On the other hand......
It is probably safe to assume--- most of y’all in my peer age group--- know who James Whitmore was. For those who are drawing a blank here--- Mr. Whitmore was a popular movie and TV actor way back in the olden times of the forties, fifties and acted all the way up until close to his death in 2009. I do believe--- Mr. Whitmore might be best known for his starring role in the classic sci/fi--- giant man-eating ant movie--- “Them”. He also starred in such films as “Tora! Tora! Tora!”--- “The Shaw...
When I started writing this column about the mass shooting in Orlando, Florida... it struck me there always has been a definite disconnect between our current administration and reality. And... I am not just talking about the Progressive attitude towards this shooting. In all things important to us as a nation and as individuals... this current regime has governed according to what they fantasize should be instead of what really is. You see... this is where the disconnect between their fairy...
Okay... look! An apology is immediately needed for this tidbit of a column... mainly because it is just totally insanely whack. I cannot offer any explanation but I figure most of you have by now figured out from time to time me poor little thought process gets to roaming amok across the landscape. In any event... a couple of weeks back... I was up all night with a touch of bronchitis. With nothing better to do than choose between writing another column for this publication or watch TV ... it...
For some reason... Miss Hillary has seemed to be an extremely intelligent but flawed individual. What my father would have described as a very smart cookie... Now before y'all get to thinking smart cookie is a complimentary term... allow me to clarify the definition. Basically... a smart cookie can be an individual of any gender who is intelligent and at the same time is scheming... conniving... deceptive... narcissistic... a chronic liar... untrustworthy. In different geographical areas......
With your permission I would like to throw some crap into the “bathroom” debate revolving around people being allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they perceive themselves to really be. Of course--- I realize Jeff recently wrote a good column about this debate and I am certainly not trying to steal his thunder or “pimp” off of his column. However--- while common sense should have been enough to resolve this issue--- for some motive unknown to me--- politicians including the Preside...
Allow me to start off this discussion by saying...this column may tick many of you off to the max. Tick you off because this column might be interpreted as sexist and degrading to women. I assure you...this is not my intent. In fact...my intent is to point out my personal opinion is...women are individuals with their own individual opinions...political belief structures and intelligently decide political issues based on what is best for themselves...their families. You see...it is my...