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On to more important things...
I wouldn't trade this beautiful piece of land for anything, but one of the downsides of having the ancestral homestead be across the border in South Dakota is that I have to apply as a nonresident for...
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Decker coal mine in Montana laying off workers -- meanwhile, Bakken jobs are...
While this may not be directly related to the war on coal that the Obama administration has waged, it certainly couldn't have helped: the Decker coal mine in southeastern Montana is laying off 75...
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Steve Daines has it right on spending cuts
Do the hard things first -- good advice for almost any job, but certainly for those who would presume to balance budgets at the federal level.Montana's newly elected Congressman had some thoughts that...
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Thanksgiving reflections
So it is late on the Friday after Thanksgiving when I finally sit down to write my Friday "cultural" piece. It has been a rich week. My oldest son arrived from California, accompanied by a lovely young...
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Reuters on the Montana Bakken
Better late than never, but it is still worth it to mention this column that John Kemp wrote for Reuters about the Montana portion of the Bakken. The article notes what is well-known -- namely that...
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Redistricting Montana's legislature
It seems that the legislative redistricting wrangling isn't quite done. The process has been relatively quiet, and as I understand, the heavy lifting (the House districts) has already been completed,...
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Lester and Earl
While my father grew up singing and playing old-timey music on his guitar -- and listening to it on the radio in the 1920s and 30s, by the time I came along in the 1960s he had sadly (I now realize)...
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Eliminating the Montana oil tax holiday -- a bad idea whose time hasn't come
As has been discussed in these pages before, one of the things that the state of Montana is doing right when it comes to developing our oil and gas resources is the 18 month "tax holiday" that Montana...
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Recount in Montana OPI race should go forward
It is good to see that Sandy Welch has decided to go for a recount. She has chosen an interesting approach, however:Welch could have automatically forced a recount Monday by making a formal request to...
View ArticleDave Brubeck, RIP -- and some musings on odd time signatures
The world of music was saddened by the loss of Dave Brubeck this week. He is best known for "Take Five," which has the honor of still being highest charting jazz piece ever to hit the pop charts. It is...
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New Great Falls projects may pull workers from the Bakken
According to a recent AP article, new projects are coming into the Great Falls area, intending to provide service to the oil sands of southern Canada. The Great Falls area has the benefit of being...
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Redistricting the Montana legislature -- surprise... Democrats get much of...
There are some mixed messages in Mike Dennison's recent article on legislative redistricting. The headline reads that the GOP is "looking hard to beat." Yet that hardly describes the reality as...
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A conservative case for unions (private sector, that is)
Way back when, I expressed an opinion at odds with much of modern Republicanism, opposing the Montana GOP's stance in favor of "right to work" laws. The argument isn't a new one, and is based on the...
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Shortages of steel-toed boots in Helena? Yes, it's the Bakken, yet again
The article is too long and too jam-packed with information to summarize, so just go read Jan Falstad's article for Lee Newspapers entitled "Booming Bakken: Oil flurry spreads across Eastern Montana"...
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Senator Tester wrong on filibuster rules -- Senator Baucus looks out for...
It is no great secret that our Democratic Senator Max Baucus, for all of his other shortcomings, has a great sensitivity to rural state interests, whereas his junior counterpart, Senator Tester, has a...
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Blog review
Back in the early days of Montana Headlines, I posted nearly every day -- sometimes more than once a day. In that atmosphere, I found myself frequently commenting on content found in other blogs --...
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Back in the saddle for now -- and agreeing with Sen Tester?
Well, it has been a bit since I've posted. Funny how easily one can get used to not writing something three times a week. It was a full Christmas season, jam-packed with family, church, music, and...
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My recent piece in The American Conservative
I have mentioned before that The American Conservative is worth reading because it contains elements of an old-fashioned conservatism that one doesn't find anymore in the "mainstream" conservative...
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My review of Peace, They Say in Touchstone
As I mentioned when I reviewed Jay Nordlinger's fine book Peace, They Sayhere on Montana Headlines, that review was essentially half of the original draft of my review. I pared that draft down for...
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About the state: Big Sky Big Grass Festival
Sunday update:I was up too late Sunday night to post and too busy until now, so I'll hit the highlights. My suspicions about the acoustic/sound problems in the ballroom on Saturday night were confirmed...
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My piece in The American Spectator about bison, national monuments, and Montana
This morning, The American Spectator published a web article with my musings on last fall's sale of the Etchart Ranch to an environmentalist group, a subject I wrote about here at Montana Headlines at...
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More in The American Spectator: this time my thoughts on an aspect of Obamacare
This morning, The American Spectator is publishing my web article about the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). I specifically touch on that body's findings last year about prostate cancer...
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My article on Hilton Kramer in Touchstone Magazine
I haven't had time to blog here at Montana Headlines for a long time due to a sudden and dramatic increase in workload in my day job, but I haven't been completely idle on the writing front. Last year,...
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My piece in The American Spectator on the Montana Senate race
I was asked by my editor at TAS to share my thoughts on the Montana Senate race, especially in light of former Governor Brian Schweitzer's announcement not to run. For those who have been following...
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A nice link to my Hilton Kramer piece.
I was happy to see this link from Ed Driscoll at PJ Media about my recent Touchstonearticle about Hilton Kramer.
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