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Talk to teens about making smart choices

This summer, it’s a good time to talk with our teenagers about making smart choices, including how to deal with peer pressure to drink underage. We can have a big impact on our children’s decisions about drinking. In fact, studies show parents are still the No. 1 influence on their teenagers’ decisions about alcohol. It all starts with conversations and building relationships of trust.

To help start — or continue — these important conversations, Flathead Beverage Co. would like to remind parents about the Family Talk About Drinking program, a free parent guide designed to encourage open and honest communication between parents and their children. Programs like this one, paired with education and effective law enforcement, are essential to preventing underage drinking.

Below is a list of all of the Family Talk About Drinking online resources you can find on your channel of choice:

www.FamilyTalkAboutDrinking.com

https://www.facebook.com/ABFamilyTalk/

https://twitter.com/ABFamilyTalk

Remember, it’s our collective responsibility to help prevent underage drinking and parents have one of the most important roles of all. —Jeff Carter, Kalispell, Flathead Beverage Co. general manager

Don’t blindly follow reckless president

“If ever there was a time when we needed a serious, mature president of the United States, with a depth of knowledge and a foundation of personal character — a grownup in the White House — this is that time. But seldom a week goes by without Donald Trump demonstrating, yet again, that he is painfully lacking in all these prerequisites. Instead of offering coherent plans for dealing with the nation’s problems, Trump skips that and boasts of the great things he will achieve. Those who dare to question are answered with cheap put-downs, often at a gutter level. A man in his 60s, who is still acting like a spoiled adolescent, is not going to grow up in the next four years. And, as president, he would have the lives of us all, and our loved ones, in his hands, as well as the fate of this great nation at a fateful time.”

These are not the words of a partisan liberal; they appeared in the Inter Lake on April 5, 2016, under the weekly byline of Thomas Sowell, a darling of conservative Republicans. In order to deal with international terrorist organizations and other threats, Sowell also wrote: “... we are going to need the cooperation of many other nations around the world. These nations, knowing that cooperating with the United States will make them targets for terrorists, must first have confidence in the words and deeds of whoever is president of the United States. They cannot have that confidence in someone who is constantly spouting off with irresponsible rhetoric — some of which has to be walked back by his apologists — or someone whose snap judgments about complex and weighty issues betray a superficial knowledge, if not sheer ignorance.”

Although written over a year ago, these words are even more relevant today. Those who for years admired and parroted Sowell’s conservative ideology must now question Trump and his sycophants. Unfortunately, many of those who depended on Sowell’s perspective are now among the Trump apologists he warned about. Is it too late to heed his words when Sowell wrote, “There are signs that some people are belatedly waking up to the dangers that Donald Trump represents”?

In his column of Aug. 16, 2016, Sowell wrote: “There are few things worse than being deprived of our basic constitutional rights, on which our freedom ultimately depends. But one of those few things is being deprived of life itself by the reckless decisions of a volatile, ill-informed, immature and self-absorbed president in a nuclear age.” These are the words of someone who was relied upon for many years to defend the conservative ideology. Not long after, Sowell retired from writing his column.

Apologists for Trump continue the lie that only Democrats and the “liberal media” are critical of Trump. They conveniently ignore the fact that more and more conservative Republicans are criticizing Trump’s reckless behavior and are calling for investigations into his conduct. How long will the apologists sacrifice the fate of this great nation out of blind loyalty to a “volatile, ill-informed, immature and self-absorbed President”? —Steve Gniadek, Columbia Falls

Woody Weekend was big success

Thank You, Whitefish, for helping to make Whitefish Woody Weekend VI a huge success. It was a great show with 39 beautiful classic boats from all over the Pacific Northwest. On behalf of all of the boat captains, thank you to the 1,400 dock-walkers who came out and supported the event. It means a lot to the boat owners to see the tremendous turnout in spite of the rainy weather.

Over 500 people cast a vote for the “People’s Choice Award” on Saturday. It was a very tight race with all boats receiving votes. People’s Choice was awarded to Nemo, a one-of-a-kind 1928 Schillo Runabout, owned by Jim and Holly Winslow of McCall, Idaho. The Captain’s Choice Award, voted on by the boat owners, went to Seabiscuit, a 1937 Chris Craft Triple Cockpit Runabout, owned by Jim McGrath of Walpole Massachusetts. The Commodore’s Award was given to Jim Valeo of Missoula, Montana, with his 1990 Hacker Craft Runabout “Obsession.”

We would also like to thank those who volunteered their time and docks for card stops on the poker run. It is great to see all the smiling faces so early on a Sunday morning. The poker run best-time award went to “Placid Punch” owned by Wally and LaDonna Bell of Helena, Montana, and the best hand was held by Dan and Laurie Averill of Bigfork, Montana, aboard the “Laurie Jo.”

Finally, we would like to thank The Lodge at Whitefish Lake and their wonderful staff for being great hosts of the event. The Lodge treated the boat owners to that great Whitefish hospitality and once again demonstrated their commitment to community events.

Hope to see you all again at next year’s event on June 22-24, 2018. —Tim Salt, Whitefish

Women’s rights don’t mix with Muslim ideology

Dear Inter Lake readers, wahoo! They say opposites attract. Can you believe “rights for women” and “Muslim rights” on the same page!

Nigeria, 230 teenage girls taken from school. Herded into the jungles. Please don’t even imagine what they went through. This is barely the tip of an iceberg of what is happening in Nigeria. In Saudi Arabia, our friend as world governments go, women’s rights are very few, and gay rights are nonexistent. Mohammed, at age over 40, took his good friend’s under-10-year-old daughter to be his wife. Do you want your life to be governed by surreal law, which that old goat dreamed up?

When Muslim moderates are 30 to 40 percent, they will achieve this goal. I have put my money where my mouth is in Tanzania, supporting education for girls to give them a boost. —Larry Passmore, Kalispell