Columns
Explore Daily Inter Lake Columns featuring local sports commentary, outdoor adventure stories, lifestyle tips, and community perspectives from Northwest Montana.
Giving Together: Supporting those who care for others
For many caregivers in the Flathead Valley, caring for a loved one with dementia can become an around-the-clock ro…
Teaching is not for the faint of heart
I’ve been thinking a lot about teachers lately because they seem to be caught in the crosshairs of so much debate, both at the national and local levels.
It's the 'AP world,' but not everyone is buying their vision
Matt Gouras of the Associated Press is apparently concerned that Montana is becoming a “laughingstock” because of conservative bills proposed by newly elected “Tea Party” legislators.
No-frills health care: wool socks and salve
I was reading a column in my Minnesota hometown newspaper the other day about health care in the days of yore (actually the 1950s and ‘60s) and had to laugh because the writer’s recollections of her mother’s home r…
Anderson Cooper and the 'Big Bad Birthers'
CNN’s Anderson Cooper may actually think he is a fair-minded journalist. But probably someone in a mental institution somewhere thinks he is Anderson Cooper. Which just goes to prove that thinking something, doesn’…
Democracy or chaos? From Egypt to Wisconsin
Following the momentous political eruption in Egypt, President Obama told the world, “I am confident that the people of Egypt can find the answers, and do so peacefully, constructively, and in the pursuit of unity …
Valentine gift ideas border on the bizarre
I can always tell when Valentine’s Day is drawing near. My e-mail inbox fills up with all kinds of gift ideas. Some are rather intriguing.
A sinking ship and a rising tide of red ink
It’s hard to be a hero.
The 'rational' exuberance of spending other people's money
To sink or swim? That is the $15 trillion question.
'Tiger mother' spurs parenting debate
If you’ve tapped into the national news at all lately, you’ve no doubt heard about the controversy that’s swelled up over Amy Chua’s book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” in which she explains with a huge dose o…
In praise of a forgotten hero
The premise of John F. Kennedy’s book “Profiles in Courage” was that true political courage is found when politicians take a principled stand that turns their assumed friends into sworn enemies.
What's so scary about Sarah?
Some people don’t like Sarah Palin.
'Crazy' Finns and their spirit of competition
Let me just say there’s nothing like a good old ethnic feud to get people revved up.
White-hot free speech is nothing new
A popular myth that has arisen in recent years — and been intensified by the rhetoric over the recent shooting in Tucson — is that somehow politics is more polarized or more heated these days than it was in times p…
'Liberty ... is not safe': A continuing struggle
H.L. Mencken, a famous writer of the first half of the 20th century, is often credited with having said: “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
Swedes and Norwegians: Friends or foes?
My co-worker and I were extolling the deliciousness of pickled herring the other day (because who doesn’t do that during the course of a work day?) when it came to my attention that her ancestral heritage is mostly…