‘Guest column’ Archives
Slices of Life-The awkward hug
By: Jill Pertler Some people are natural-born huggers. I learned this about Mike right from the start – he was a hugging friend. Always glad to run into you and willing to prove his point with a spontaneous and heartfelt embrace. Everyone has a friend like Mike. If you don’t, you should. I can’t say he and I were the closest of friends. He just made me feel that way. That’s how Mike was. So, earlier this year when he showed up on the bleachers in the row in front ... Full Story
Udall Continues Fight for Bark-Beetle Mitigation
By Senator Mark Udall If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound? How about an entire forest? Every spring and summer, the bark beetle epidemic in Colorado’s forests takes on added dimensions. Rather than the green and gold we’ve used as backdrops to family portraits and souvenir postcards, receding snows reveal new swaths of rust-red forest that have succumbed to bark beetles. Colorado is ground zero for the bark beetle epidemic, which has left millions of acres of dead and dying ... Full Story
ACE-Loveland: What do all the announcements mean?
By Brian Willms President, Loveland Chamber of Commerce This past Tuesday brought a new level of excitement to the city of Loveland, and for good reason! After a three month process where the city of Loveland worked with the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology (CAMT) to consider the Agilent Campus for the Aerospace Clean Energy (ACE) project, it was confirmed that the Agilent Campus has been chosen as the sole existing space left in the running along with two ... Full Story
Why Gaddafi is an Imminent Threat to America
By: Anonymous Feb17 Contributor Editors' note: Feb 17 is the online publication of the Libyan Youth Movement: Link to article and comments Nearly 25 years ago, then President Ronald Reagan sent 45 planes to drop 300 bombs and shoot 48 missiles at seven locations throughout Libya in order to take out Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who he labeled the “mad dog of the Middle East.” Reagan’s actions were not ordered as a result of a bogus report on weapons of mass destruction. They were not ... Full Story
Slices of Life, Doggone good advice from the Cat
By: Jill Pertler Meow. It’s me again, the Cat. You may remember my discourse from a previous occasion. Today I’ve brought my vast cat intelligence to fill your ordinary day with a dose of feline insight. Lucky you. I’ll let you in on a little secret: I have the universe at my whiskertips and I’m not afraid to say so. Cats rule the world. Oh sure, humans pay the rent, but we control the house – and all the contents therein. Including the dog. Take my dog (and I mean that in the literal ... Full Story
Imperfect Justice in Snyder v. Phelps
By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson On March 2, the Supreme Court issued a decision in the case Snyder v. Phelps that illustrates the difficulty of balancing competing claims to rights and justice in our judicial system. The court overturned a lower court’s $5 million tort judgment against Pastor Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, for invasion of privacy and inflicting emotional distress on the Albert Snyder family. In case you haven’t heard, Phelps and his little band ... Full Story
Killing Civilians in Afghanistan is Terrorism
By Pat Kennelly Afghans expect Americans to see the terrorism they bring to this poor country in the name of fighting terrorism. In Kabul, on the same day that Der Spiegel released photos documenting American soldiers posing with the bodies of civilians they murdered, the Transitional Justice Coordinating Group (TJCG, the umbrella organization for NGOs in Afghanistan that are pursuing transitional justice), gathered Afghan, Australian, American, and German peacemakers to discuss methods to ... Full Story
Slices of Life, A message to my favorite child
By: Jill Pertler Every mother has a favorite – or so the saying goes. Before becoming a mother myself, I wondered if this were true. A mother’s love is complete and unconditional, but not perfect. How can a mother love all her children equally? The answer is simple: she can’t. I am here today to come clean with each of my children. Ahem. Pause. Here goes. My dearest first-born child: I have something important to tell you. You suffered through rookie parents who ... Full Story
7th grade student suspended for oregano
Zero Tolerance Alert: School Officials Suspend 7th Grade Honor Student Over Innocuous Possession of Italian Herb, Oregano CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Pointing to yet another instance of zero tolerance policies being misapplied, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have criticized school officials at Hickory Middle School for grossly overreacting when they suspended a seventh grade honors student over allegations that he was in possession of the Italian herb oregano. Insisting that Adam Grass, a ... Full Story
Slices of Life: A love story
Bickering: a love story By: Jill Pertler We were busy bickering – like couples can bicker after two or 12 or 20 years of marriage. He made breakfast five mornings in a row. I folded eight loads of laundry. He fed the dog and took out the garbage. I fed the fish and cleaned the toilets. I made meatloaf. He shoveled the driveway. I helped with homework. He served as field trip chaperone. I packed bagged lunches. He drove the kids to school. Finally, it was Friday and we were both ... Full Story
