Category: Opinion

Opinion

A North Idaho pandemic: Then & Now

By Lyndsie Kiebert
Reader Staff

For everyone alive in North Idaho today, the novel coronavirus outbreak is uncharted territory.

Across the world, leadership is suspending gatherings, closing schools and encouraging …

A few thoughts…

By Sandy Compton
Reader Columnist

Darn! It’s already March. November is coming up fast, and I declared my 2020 candidacy for president back when the Trump got elected, but then …

Taking a shot — Part 1

By Marjolein Groot Nibbelink
Reader Contributor

More than 97 guns are owned per 100 people in the United States. Serbia is second, with 58 per 100, and Yemen third with …

Happy [bleep] year

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

I received a breaking news alert on my phone on Feb. 2, 2020, announcing the fact that the day’s palindromic date (02/02/2020) is the only …

I want my America back

By James Richard Johnson
Special to the Reader

I want my America back! I grew up in the Midwest in the 1950s and want back the America that stood for …

Love is a Dog From Hell

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The headline of this article comes from a book by poet and author Charles Bukowski, who lived a bitter, drunken existence periodically punctuated by moments …

Letters

  • Sandpoint’s resolve… Dear Editor, Last Wednesday I asked the council to withdraw the Resolution Affirming the City of Sandpoint’s Commitment to Human Rights and Non-Discrimination. I had proposed the resolution because I felt it was important for the City to take a symbolic stance affirming our compassion for those fleeing extreme violence and ...
  • Disappointed… Dear Editor, I was dismayed to hear that Mayor Rognstad buckled under pressure and took his proposal to welcome the Syrian refugees off of the table. “Welcome Back to the White Homeland!” I hear the voices of the dissenters in my head: “We hate everyone who is not like us. If you look different, ...
  • How would you like the world to be? Dear Editor, I dreamed about us. All of us. Under the stars, silent, deeply troubled people sat around a small fire on a very long night. Then the fire became the burning heart of Earth and around it the firelit face of every human soul. The world’s pain upon us, the ...
  • The Harm in Fear… Dear Editor, Recently, concerned parents shut down a Virginia school when a teacher tried to introduce students to Islam. Similarly, Linda Dunn, in her editorial, does not want Islam “even talked about” in our schools. Muslims inhabit twenty-two percent of earth. If we let fear rule, and refuse to know and understand ...
  • Blanket Statement… Dear Editor, In response to a letter from last week, some Christians may wish to reconsider their blanket statements condemning “these people”, presumably Muslim refugees. Most U.S. terrorist attacks have been perpetrated by Christians: Wade Michael Page murdered six; Jim David Adkisson shot nine, killing two; Eric Rudolph used guns and ...
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