| January 14, 2010
Editorial
Curl up with the real thing
By Jim Blow
Editor
I read somewhere that this is supposed to be the year of the electronic book.
It was probably a seed planted by Amazon.com, which just happens to sell a nifty electronic tablet — the Kindle — that stores innumerable books electronically.
 Jim Blow
And it only costs $489, plus shipping. I’m told most newly released “books” cost just $9.99 to download, too.
Personally, I can’t see it finding its way into all that many households, not just yet anyway.
If you travel a lot, I suppose it might be useful. If you need to store a lot of reference material and take it with you, that gadget might be a godsend.
But, I just don’t think many Americans are going to give up their precious books and newspapers quite so fast. Internet be darned, it’s tough to curl up with a book on the couch without that tactile, warm and curmudgeonly book that forces you to flip every delicate, inked page by hand, one at a time.
I may be joined at the hip with my laptop computer, but I readily admit that I’m a book lover. I’m quite unabashed about it, actually.
There is an innate pleasure, sometimes joyous rapture that can pour over you as you hold a good book or newspaper in your hand. Whether it is settling in for some quiet time on the weekend on the couch or spreading out the Sunday paper on your bed and reading through your favorite sections, it’s not hard to understand that physical connection we lovers of reading are clearly addicted to.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I do a lot of reading on my computer. But the electronic version of writing lacks that personal connection to a vessel of paper and ink that fulfills some deep three-dimensional need that resides somewhere near our soul. It’s a need that yearns to be fulfilled by something laptops can’t imitate.
Reading a book is not only a basic skill we must master to become successful in life, it provides a unique form of adventure we can take anywhere and anytime we wish. To me, a book is the best part of an airline flight. I so very much enjoy reading that I often smile when I’m told my flight is delayed, quite satisfied to dive back into another chapter that whisks me off to some other, more interesting locale.
Reading can be a passion and I hope that love of reading and communication and adventure was passed on to you early in life. If not, it’s never too late to start.
It’s also not very costly. We’re fortunate to have some very nice libraries in the Mission Valley that charge either nothing or very nominal fees for some of their services. You can browse their selections in the comfort of their warm and quiet spaces, or even utilize one of their computers to surf the Net.
But don’t be surprised if you find yourself spending more time sliding books into your hands and sliding your fingers down the edges of pages.
These libraries need and deserve our continued support. They’ll have to be efficient like all the rest of us, but it will be a sad day when local libraries are traded off for Internet links that serve as portals for Kindles and the like.
Contribute to the library whenever you can, but also do your part in bringing others, both young and old, into the fold. Show them what a wonderful adventure and passionate day they, too, can have in a room filled with shelf upon shelf filled with wonderful books.
I don’t believe a “page-down” key or LCD screen will make us any less literate, but a it’s hard to imagine cuddling up with it in front of a toasty fire on a cold, wintry day.
Nor can I imagine willing my library to my grandsons via a handheld device that requires batteries.
Letters to the editor
Join representatives for property tax discussion
By Janna Taylor, HD 11
On Tuesday, Jan. 19, there will be a Lake County town hall meeting for anyone interested in solutions to our property tax problems. Several of the legislators from our area that are working on solutions will join me in the second floor conference room of the Lake County Courthouse in Polson.
Because we will start of 6:30 p.m., we will have to enter through the sheriff’s door on the west side of the building. That door has a buzzer to allow entry.
Senator Verdell Jackson, Representatives Scott Reichner, John Fleming and I will be joined by Lake County Commissioner Bill Barron. Knowledgeable citizen Kyle Karstens will be there, and Senator John Brueggeman and Representative Blasdel hope to attend.
The Department of Revenue, Director Dan Bucks and Scott Williams from the Kalispell office, are not able to be there, but have offered to help in a pre-meeting conference call. Governor Schweitzer has also been invited.
Others have been invited, but property owners that would like to help us work on solutions are the most important attendees. We have many plans and ideas that we wish to share.
We have heard many of the problems. Now let’s work on answers.
The large conference room holds about 115 people. If we can’t get everyone in, we will hold another town hall meeting. See you on Jan. 19.
On a different subject, have you heard that our Governor has asked agencies for a 5 percent budget reduction? His budget director has even said that it might be 10 percent by the time the next session starts.
More about this budget train wreck next month.
Contact me at 849-6096, write Rep. Janna Taylor, PO Box 233, Dayton, MT 59914, or e-mail me, now that my computer is up and running, at jannataylor@montana.com
Muslims and Arabs do not despise us
Editor,
Recently, in a White House briefing to the press corp. on the intelligence screw-up that almost downed an airliner on Christmas Day, Helen Thomas, the 89-year-old Veteran correspondent and the only one in the room with real courage, asked counter-intelligence guru, John Brennan this question, “Why do they want to do us harm? What is the motivation? We never hear what you find out about. Why?”
Mr. Brennan sputtered some rather flaccid explanations about how terrorist simply want to hurt everyone. After his first attempt at deflecting Helen’s question, she asked it again.
“Why to they hate us? You never say why?” Again, Mr. Brennan skirted the subject with the usual comments on how terrorists are only concerned with harming others. And Helen ends her questioning with, “But, why?”
Even the 9/11 Commission, in a most carefully worded paragraph in their report, said this: “American policy choices have consequences, right or wrong, it is simply a fact that American policy regarding Israeli-Palestinian conflict and American policy regarding Iraq are dominant staples of popular commentary across the Arab and Muslim world.”
“Dominant staples of popular commentary across the Arab and Muslim world.” What kind of language is that? The Arab and Muslim worlds are furious, furious, furious with America’s full support of Israel, our disastrous invasion of Iraq, our present Afghanistan fiasco, and generally our military presence and arms deals all over the Middle East. And, according to many Middle East experts who really understand the Arab and Muslim minds, they have every right to be fearful, angry and feel deeply affected.
So, what does this lead to? What do the terrorists have to build upon to recruit and train people in building and maintaining their organizations? They surely don’t have to look far to find fuel for their diabolical fire-schemes.
Arabs and Muslims do not hate us, the average American. Many of them have relatives and friends living peacefully over here among us. They hate our nations policies of influence peddling with huge amounts of money, military might, arms dealings, aggressive occupations, and painting the broad brush of hatred against an entire culture because of radicals and extremists within that culture who dare create havoc upon American soil.
Long live Helen Thomas, the grand dame of correspondents.
Bob McClellan
Polson
Truths to benefit from
Editor,
As the New Year begins, I’m once again following my practice of reading through various books of the Bible; as well as other books written by biblical scholars. One of my favorite authors is Dr. J. Sidlow Baxter, a Scottish preacher who is now enjoying his eternal rewards.
Baxter writes in his book, “Awake My Heart,” “Have you noticed that in each of the nine letters which the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church, he expresses identical invocations?”
‘Grace to you, and peace, from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 1:7).
Baxter writes that there are three wonderful and extremely needful truths in Paul’s earnest prayer for those people, namely, the Fatherhood of God, the Lordship of Christ, and the true blessing of all Christians. We may also benefit from these truths as we begin 2010. Folks in Lake County and our nation desperately need these three truths as we face the perplexing months ahead with unprecedented unemployment, political animosity and hostility, rampaging cost of living, spiritual degeneration and unparalleled fear of the future, etc.
Will all of these circumstances force us as a people to acknowledge the sovereignty God and to seek his favor? Surely, God the Father cares for his children. God, our ever loving, ever present, compassionately interested in our concerns Father, will accomplish his divine purposes for our ultimate good.
The second truth is the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Regardless of what people may think about Jesus, God the Father has identified him as both Son of God and the son of man. Baxter writes, “May we never cease to marvel that our Savior and Lord is the eternal Son of God, in whom there is the perfect union of human sympathy and divine power.”
How often we think that if we only had more money, authority, greater ability, or different circumstances, we would be better off. No, our real need for these troubling times is grace and peace; that’s the third truth. Jesus promises this and more to each of us as we begin a New Year.
Harvey A. Town
Polson
Ronan firefighters responded quickly
Editor,
I want to thank all the firemen and emergency personnel that helped put out the fire at my house.
I greatly appreciate the quick response time and their efficiency at getting the fire out quickly. They saved many things and memories that I could never replace.
Again, thank you. You are all a huge asset to the community.
Vern Reum
Pablo
Congressman should listen to constituents
Editor,
Dear Mr. Rehberg,
I am writing to you in care of the editor since the only response I receive when I write to you is another form letter which seems a waste of my taxpayer dollars on postage to send. Your marketing materials I receive in response to my emails to you seem like just more junk mail trying to sell me something I’m not buying, no matter how slick and glossy the card with your Marlboro Man photos or how quality the heavy bond you use to send your canned reply. I want a real answer.
I want an explanation. If Congress has the power to declare war, and we are at war with “terror,” and you are my Congress person, I expect you to fulfill your responsibility to me and the rest of your constituents. You represent us, you answer to us, and the very least we deserve is an explanation.
Explain to me, please, how killing 11-year-old children in Afghanistan makes us in any way safer.
Explain to me how there is any justification for our operations which resulted in the killing of 30 civilian Afghanistan people in the last two weeks (I’ll not get into here the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, nor the Pakistan bystanders or innocent people in Yemen we’ve shot, burned, blown up, widowed and orphaned in the recent past).
Do not condescend and imply I can’t understand or don’t deserve a clear and honest, logical explanation. I am an educated, informed citizen who pays your salary and I demand an answer from you. Do you think you don’t need to have our approval for what you are allowing in our name and paying for with our tax dollars?
To me, sir, it is only logical to realize for every innocent civilian we kill, or kidnap-torture-cage without due process of law, for each of those people there are many many more who are related to them or care about them or come to know of them who will justifiably hate us and wish our destruction. Why is this concept so incomprehensible? Since when did humanity become un-American?
Cheryl M. Wolfe
Polson
Homesteading quilt material needed
Editor,
The Sew and So Club of the Round Butte area is celebrating the 100th year of homesteading in our area by making a quilt to be raffled in December of this year and will benefit two local charities.
We are asking for brands of that era and also early pictures that can be reproduced on this quilt.
If you have either and are interested, please contact us as soon as possible — or as our head quilter, Clara Miller says “yesterday.”
Call Clara at 676-2047 or Sandy Baertsch at 676-2064. Please leave a message and we get back to you.
Thank you for your continued support of our yearly quilt raffle and this should be especially meaningful this year.
Sandy Baertsch
Sew and So Club member
Ronan |
.jpg)
