Category Archives: Galen Larson

There seems to be a lot of concern in this county about government overreach, too many taxes, and infringement on freedoms. Nobody likes the government, it seems. Yet all these anti-government folks are walking around on tax-funded sidewalks in Cortez, … Continue reading →

You hear a lot of talk about rights today. Our elected officials are always voicing their concerns about our individual rights. It sounds great to be in favor of private property rights. Hooray! Who wouldn’t be for those? The problem … Continue reading →

There must be some good in the Affordable Care Act, as I read recently in the Cortez Journal that the corporation managing our Southwest Memorial Hospital is looking forward to its implementation to help pay off their $4.6 million debt … Continue reading →

For centuries we have portrayed the wolf as a horrific beast, writing fables about its cunning, viciousness and dangerousness. Yet there are very few examples of it ever attacking humans. All the while we ignore the fact that the most … Continue reading →

In my short lifetime, I have seen the results of six of our longest wars. One of my uncles came back from World War I, “The War to End All Wars,” with mental issues and no sense of taste or … Continue reading →

This is an open letter to everyone living in this area who gets their drinking water from the Dolores River – and who doesn’t? Not many. There is a small group that seems not to care if our water source … Continue reading →

Less hate and greed Is what we need And more of service true; More men to love The flag above And keep it first in view. Less boast and brag About the flag, More faith in what it means; More … Continue reading →

Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil. One doesn’t have any more fears if you are dead. I have no fear of dying as there is nothing I can do about it. I … Continue reading →

Water, water, everywhere, but there is not as much as one would think – particularly in consideration of our ever-burgeoning population. When it comes to arable soil, there is a finite limit as well, but with modern methods and (ugh) … Continue reading →

The Second Amendment is railed about by people on both sides who have no idea as to what was in the mind of the forefathers. Its words do not give a clear meaning, but one can jigger up numerous reasons … Continue reading →

Question: Why does New Jersey have so many waste dumps and Washington, D.C., so many politicians? The answer will be revealed later in this article. OK, let’s start the New Year properly. I think it would be a great idea … Continue reading →

The Republicans have lost their party – the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and I’ll even give them Nixon, who had environmentalist leanings. They lost it to the Tea Party, Karl Rove, and the Koch brothers, whose father was one … Continue reading →

Growing up in Minnesota, I didn’t have much experience with mass media. Now, many years later, I have to admit that all these different forms of mass communication continue to puzzle me. Take television. Watching TV is quite an experience. … Continue reading →

It may seem strange that a Democrat feels compassion for grassroots Republicans, but I do. Their party is being stolen from them; it is no longer the party of great people such as Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. The GOP (now … Continue reading →

Montezuma County’s elected officials today are all Republicans and mostly conservatives. I know that none of the appointed have signed the pledge that our Congressman Scott Tipton signed to shrink our nation and government to the size Grover Norquist proclaims … Continue reading →

With all the talk about taxes, one-percenters, 99-percenters, and so on, not much has been said about how we got into this mess. Our memory is short, but let me try to refresh it. Two unnecessary unfunded wars, financed on … Continue reading →

It wasn’t too long ago that the American middle class was fresh from fighting a worldwide war that kept not only Americans, but people everywhere, free to live their lives without the jack-booted thugs of tyranny – the warlords of … Continue reading →

Yes; quaint and curious war is! You shoot a fellow down You’d treat, if met where any bar is, Or help to half a crown. — Thomas Hardy How little things change. Throughout the ages, deadly conflicts have accomplished naught. Today, we here in … Continue reading →

Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, which made corporations into people, we the voters have lost the power to pick our leaders. The candidates will, through the influx of foreign and domestic money contributed by anonymous super-PACs, … Continue reading →

I admire the tenacity of the educated few in Montezuma County working to improve education in the area. There are many people here that do not want to be educated, nor do they want their young to further themselves through … Continue reading →

  The last installment of a series of Denver Post articles about water and water rights should send cold chills down the spine of everyone on the Western Slope who has water rights – pioneers and newcomers, city-dwellers and agricultural irrigators alike. While … Continue reading →

Barnum and Bailey Circus has lost some clowns. These aren’t the clowns that climb out of a small car and honk horns and wear big shoes. No, these are trying to get into a space too big for them. The … Continue reading →

A horrendous crime has been committed in Montezuma County. Right under the noses of law enforcement, county commissioners and those that had the most to lose, the businesses. A crime so huge, it may take years to overcome it. Yet … Continue reading →

Who is Grover Norquist? He is a hero to some, but when you delve into what he proposes to do, you may revise your opinion. Norquist proposes to shrink the greatest government in the history of mankind to the size … Continue reading →

How can a person taking an oath to protect his country oppose regulations that stop the contamination of our lifeblood? I refer, of course, to water, the umbilical cord that sustains life on this planet. There are people who have … Continue reading →

Sixteen months till the next election. I’m already receiving letters and brochures from incumbent candidates and new persons who would like my time and money to help them get on the elite welfare rolls. One even suggests I’m a “like-minded” … Continue reading →

Politics is a system of welfare devised by the people that need it the least on the premise that if elected they will do something for those that need it the most. Contact me, write me, I would like to … Continue reading →

1. What have you done to bring jobs to your constituents, as you promised? 2. In hindsight, was killing thousands of Iraqi civilians during our futile hunt for non-existent weapons of mass destruction morally right, since you supported the war … Continue reading →

“Take back our country” is the mantra of the Tea Party folks. But what does that mean, exactly? The people’s country was lost when the Mayflower first hit the rock – if you refer to the original inhabitants of this … Continue reading →

This past month there has been a very big and important brouhaha in Wisconsin over the right of labor to do any collective bargaining. Having been on both sides of union bargaining as well as a member of several different … Continue reading →

I’m 81 years old and have walked and ridden horseback many a mile in our national forests. I have walked Stoner Canyon from the top to the highway several times. I have traversed the Glade and enjoyed several strolls in … Continue reading →

I was under the impression that I lived in the United States of America – united we stand, divided we fall. Instead I find we are selfish, inconsiderate, mean-spirited and hypocritical – certainly not united. There are people out there … Continue reading →

In case you missed it, the new DA in the 22nd Judicial District has made a really foolish move. As I get it from reading the Cortez Journal, our DA-elect, Russell Wasley, came to a DUI trial on Nov. 16 to … Continue reading →

What happened to Christmas? – now the “holiday season.” A time that has lost its original reason. No more holy night, peace on earth, goodwill toward men As we keep sending troops to Afghanistan.What is that sound? Is that sleigh … Continue reading →

Much has been said about what we will leave our children. We can leave them money and material things; we can leave them homes, farms and jobs. But the greatest gift of all is an education. Everything else can be … Continue reading →

I think — therefore I am dangerous. I don’t think — therefore I am extremely dangerous. Elections – a time every two years when a political system of welfare, devised by people that need it the least, get elected on … Continue reading →

Water, water all around and not a drop to drink. The more houses we build, the more runs down the sink. We here on the beautiful Western Slope do not have much in the form of industry. But we have … Continue reading →

There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT. . .” — Ned Beatty’s character in “Network” I don’t know why people are so afraid of “big government” when they aren’t terrified by a much greater threat … Continue reading →

Man is an interesting animal. He is unlike other creatures in that he seems to be repelled by color. How else to explain the fear we have of people of different races? Here in Montezuma County this fear seems to … Continue reading →

I have a copy of a poem that I refer to often, quoted below. I can’t say that I live up to all its standards, but I can lay claim to some. But how are the rest of us doing? … Continue reading →