opinion

Back in the '50s there was a rather bad joke going around about an American and a Hispanic discussing their respective cultures. The American asked the Hispanic, "What's your country's favorite sport?" The Hispanic proudly replied, "Bullfighting." "Isn't that revolting?" asked the...

Since 1886, immigrants coming to the United States have been greeted by Lady Liberty in New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty is a promise of the American dream envisioned by our founders as they penned in the Declaration of Independence. They proclaimed that we are endowed with...

I want to thank A. Martin for the recent letter. Of course, I have no idea the party affiliation he has. Certainly not Republican and certainly not a conservative. Perhaps he is a Democrat, a Socialist or a Communist. One thing for certain is in his most recent rambling letter he...

"Small steps can take you far." Any guesses where I got that quote? No, it wasn't a fortune cookie; nor was it my weekly horoscope. It didn't even come from the internet. I got that quote from a coloring book - an adult coloring book, that is. Yes, those do exist, and they're more...

Last week my hunting friends and I took our first trek to our deer stands in the deep woods. I've hunted these woods since 1975, when my wife's dad and her siblings invited me along. There have been changes in this piece of Minnesota northwoods, but some things never change. That's...

The other day while sitting in my daughter's apartment I noticed a plaque on the wall quoting a psalm that reminds us that there is always hope if we keep our eyes upon our Lord God, Jesus. As I considered the psalmist's words I had hope that my daughter in the midst of her life would...

Most of you in the Northland probably don't know Tim Walz. The only reason that I do a little bit is that, as a longtime partisan hack or activist (or if you want to speak flattery, "elder statesman") back in the summer of 2000 or 2004, I happened to sit next to Walz during a several...

In the latest musings (here we go again) by Pineandlakes Echo Journal conservative columnist Pete Abler, "As I See It: Inspiration," Mr. Abler states he wants "to find the well-intentioned buffoon who came up with 500-year" prediction of catastrophic floods related to hurricane aftermaths,...

A recent letter-writer ("Government cannot tell adults what to do," Sept. 16 pineandlakes.com) proposed an argument against raising the tobacco sales age to 21. As someone who grew up in the Brainerd lakes area and comes back every summer, I must respectfully disagree. First, the...

Many people are now saying that Putin's Russia is close to releasing blackmail material they have on Mr. Trump. They say Putin helped get Trump into office in exchange for Trump relieving congressional sanctions on Russia over Ukraine. But Congress passed a resolution, almost unanimously,...