Opinion

The Editor of the Messenger has inserted himself into politics and apparently leans toward the Democrat Party. After criticizing the Republican reply to the President's State of the Union Address, he failed to point out that all the President's promises about Hope and Change have been a failure. President Obama was touted as the "Uniter," but the country is more polarized than ever due to his "Politics of Envy."

We are all aware that the state requires auto insurance and that if you didn't have proof when stopped by authorities, you were in trouble. When last I bought my license tabs I was not required to show proof of insurance. Evidently the state would just rather collect the fees. I assume this partiulcar law was prone to violation.

People sometimes express frustration about the concept of "good time" in criminal sentences. They want to know, "how can it be that someone who behaved badly enough to commit a crime is rewarded with good time?" As with most aspects of sentencing, good time is mandated by state law. The sentencing judge cannot disallow it.

The early morning sky was just starting to turn pink when the first bird appeared to see what was on the breakfast menu. It was a single junco that landed on a big spruce that sits on the north side of the house near the bird feeders. There is a thistle feeder, a sunflower feeder, two mixed bird seed feeders and four suet feeders. Situated right in front of my large office window I can watch the birds' coming and going.

I found a new place to ice fish recently quite by accident when I kept seeing the same truck parked in the same place day after day. I knew we were close to the St. Croix River and some nice backwaters so I decided to explore things to see if my theory was right. I know how good backwaters can be.

My desk looks like a tornado hit it. This morning I had one ceramic coffee cup, two travel mugs and a water bottle on my desk, along with a candle holder (just for the scent, no burning) a half eaten bag of Hersey Kisses and a whole lot of paper. Last week is a blur. We just completed the Winter 2012 Zest for Living. This quarterly edition with a former staffer, Jan Haralson, stepping up to the helm to help us produce this product, which we hope will appeal to "zesty" people. There is always room for improvement but we think there are some interesting and informative stories and features included. We are reaching out to our readers, in all the areas we serve, to please let us hear what sorts of information you would like to see included in Zest for Living. You can email your thoughts and suggestions to zestforlivingpub@gmail.com .

It sounded like whale calls coming from the ocean until you heard the unmistaken crack of the ice. January is ice forming season on area lakes and the sounds you hear seem to be from something that's almost alive.

An aspiring inventor and reality television star once built and launched a homemade weather balloon into the air while claiming to local authorities and news outlets that his son had climbed inside and was now floating high over the city where he could fall to his death at any moment. When the balloon finally landed and turned up empty, the boy climbed down from the family's attic - just where his father had left him.  While being questioned and charged by police over the incident, the man claimed he developed the hoax to get publicity and, more importantly, money to construct a bunker so that his family would be safe when the world ends in 2012. His lawyer told him to plead insanity.

It's about the river. At the St. Croix River Association (SCRA), this is our mantra.

It there is any doubt that money influences policy in Washington, citizens need not look further than the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). Since the beginning of the 2010 election cycle, the 32 sponsors of the bill have received approximately four times as much in campaign contributions from the entertainment industry backing the bill as they have received from the technology industry, which believes the language in the bill has gone too far.

This is in reference to J. Calhoun's letter to the editor. You may have done some research, but you really should look farther than the Heritage Foundation for your information. They only tell you part of the story. I learned about the Great Depression in history class. Yes, the tax rate was low, but the reason for the growth was not job growth or manufacturing. People were encouraged to buy stock and they did in big numbers, whether or not they had the money to do so. People borrowed money to play the stock market and had ticker tape machines so they could follow it in their homes. This made the stock market rise dramatically. The time period in the 1920s is called the roaring 20s for this reason; everything in excess. However, you ignore the long term consequences of investing and living on borrowed money. You failed to mention that this lead to the biggest depression in U.S. history, Black Thursday, Oct. 29, 1929.

Through my years in the newspaper business, I have instigated, created or perpetuated any number of Christmas promotions to stimulate readership, promote local shopping, and let's face it, sell advertising. We have to do that, you know? Sell advertising, because we need to pay rent, pay the printer, pay the staff, pay the taxes, pay the insurance, pay the post office and on and on and on.

It's not often that a local weekly newspaper gets the opportunity to embed with a National Guard unit thousands of miles away, so I was excited to hear that Mike Gainor, editor of the Pine City Pioneer, one of our sister papers, was heading to Iraq to tag along with the Minnesota National Guard unit based in Pine City.

One hundred and thirty-one: That is the number of people killed last year on Minnesota roads due to alcohol. Many of these were innocent bystanders. There were also 30,000 motorists arrested for DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) last year. As we are coming to the holiday season, I would like to encourage everyone to keep it safe. Although 131 deaths is way too high, it is 21 percent lower than it was five years ago.

It was a huge deer and, somehow, he had come in quiet and unseen behind me. High up in a deer stand, the big deer had spotted me before I saw him. Before I raised the rifle, the big bruiser was already showing me a big white flag as it bounded away through the thick aspen regrowth. All I could do was hope he would stop long enough for me to put a bead on his boiler-room, but he didn't.

When the Pilgrims invited the Native Americans for dinner all those years ago, I am sure they could not have dreamed what they started. Parades, football, deer hunting, shopping, great food, time spent with family and friends all are part of our collective Thanksgiving celebrations. As Americans, we have many things to be thankful for, like turkey.

There may not be snow on the ground yet, but the Christmas shopping season is already in full swing. In a direct reversal of years past, I made it a goal to get my Christmas shopping out of the way early this year. No more last minute runs to Home Depot or waiting by the door for the UPS man on Dec. 24 hoping UPS pulls a Kris Kringle and delivers my last-minute online order.

They had been pushed too far. Government was unresponsive and ignoring even basic elements of fairness and justice. They described how they had suffered under a long train of abuses which seemed designed to reduce them to living under absolute despotism. They could stand it no more and so they assembled, in the heat of the summer, to do something about it. Is this Occupy Wall Street or The Tea Party? It is neither, it is the summer of 1776 and it is the American colonists assembling in Philadelphia.

To all appearances, the November woods looks dead. The green leaves are gone and the best fall colors have dropped to the ground. On a cold gray day, the November woods look like a desolate place with their barren branches, but appearances can be deceiving. The November woods are alive with sound.