- Joe Cocker: Joe Cocker died, and from lung cancer. He was 70, and I’m willing to bet his earlier smoking played a role in that. Chet Huntley was a famous person from Montana – started Big Sky Resort – and he also died from that. Lots of Montanans do, and we should think about that. Here are 10 Great Joe Cocker songs for you to consider.
- New York Mayor: I don’t like that the mayor is telling people they should stay home and not protest whatever it is they want to protest. In fact, I think that police forces across the country should stop treating their neighbors like enemies and I think they should disarm. Yes, I don’t want a single armored vehicle on a single American street, and I won’t apologize for that.
- Oil Prices: Looks like Bullock is saying that we’ll be fine and that we can weather the coming budget storm that low commodity prices bring. Maybe he should talk with some of those 1980s governors that were hit hard by the same thing. Oh, and we cut a lot of business taxes back then too – didn’t do too much to help you and your struggling family back then, won’t do a damn thing this go-round either.
- 7-Year-Old Dies: This was a story that caught my eye in the Missoulian earlier today, a 7-year-old drowning in a hotel swimming pool in Coeur d'Alene. What a tragedy. I think about this a lot when I think about my own son and how close we are to Christmas. Imagine that happening to you. All those problems you thought you had would seem pretty silly, huh? It really puts things into perspective.
- Helena: Not in the news so much, but I’ll go ahead and mention it – and that’s my trip to Helena tomorrow. I hope the weather is good. I’d wanted to go on Wednesday, but I hear there’s a storm coming in. I remember the last time I went to Helena, for Thanksgiving, and we really got a lot of it, as you can see in this photo:
- Marijuana: Lots in the news today on the tribes getting the chance to sell pot. Many are figuring out if they want to do it, and many others are saying they won’t. I dunno, when they smell that money they’ll change their tune. And really, are some tribes going to put themselves at a competitive disadvantage? And yes, when you have millions of dollars less a year than other tribes, you are at a disadvantage, and that causes resentment. We can see this here in Montana with the Salish-Kootenai tribe, which is affluent, and all the others, which aren’t.
- Colorado Funds Research: Stepping in to fund something the federal government should have done a long time ago is Colorado today. Yep, they’re researching pot, to the tune of $8 million. Good job! I heard that little girl’s story on 60 Minutes, but there are still idiots out there that say if they don’t like something, that means no one can do it. I dunno, have you ever heard anyone or anything be successful at putting their foot in the door of modernity?
- Rob Kailey’s PMS: I think Rob Kailey is having a PMS day or something, or at least a vomit attack on Montana Cowgirl. He seems to have taken over the commenting stream on the Dirk Adams blog post. Huh, maybe those Week 16 picks didn’t go so well, huh?
- North Korean Power Grid: Am I the only one that thinks doing a cyber attack on North Korea is a joke? We’ve all seen the images of lights in the north and lights in the south, and it shows this country is about as backward as hell. Really, what are you going to do? And really, why did we decide that killing heads of state would be illegal? Do you think that’s illegal for Putin? I dunno…you can tell this silly-sop situation is only going to get worse.
- Cuba: Did you see the image of Elian Gonzalaz yesterday or the day before or whatever? Boy, he grew up good, didn’t he? Oh…you don’t remember little Elian, the one you shouted for to stay in Miami back in 2000? I was a senior in high school, and boy, what a fucking joke that was (both my being a senior and the custody mess). But it worked out, and it proved to me that Americans really don’t care about anything for longer than the talking heads allow them to. In other words, I could care less about Cuba, but I do know I have more in common with those wretched Cubans than many of those representing me here in the States.