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John Livingston

Idaho Loves Our Military

On Saturday, March 16th the fifth ship carrying the name USS Idaho will be commissioned at Electric Boat in Groton Connecticut. The newest member of the Virginia Class of fast attack subs is SSN 799 USS Idaho. Former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne will lead the Commissioning Committee made up of distinguished Idaho citizens, several who […]

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John Livingston

Always Life First

I believe the progressive wings of the Democratic and Republican parties are going to make women’s rights and specifically access to abortion, a central part of their campaign this year. The issue is not complicated but has become nuanced and conflated with issues of claimed human rights, not necessarily individual rights and responsibilities. G. K. […]

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John Livingston

Facility Parking and Mission Creep

It is becoming more complicated for me to understand what certain people in elite organizations actually do. The mission creep that has occurred in academia with the titles President of University or Provost is making the matter even more difficult. In the military there are charts showing the Chain of Command” which can always be […]

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John Livingston

Healthcare through the eyes of a Physician turned Patient

I am convalescing at home this evening after having undergone my second and hopefully my last total hip surgery. I related in an article 2 months ago how grateful I was to the entire OR crew at St. Luke’s in an article in The Gem State Patriot. My surgeon and friend Dr. Ron Kristenson led […]

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John Livingston

We are all Americans

We are now in Black History Month. How is a white person who was raised in a time of social and cultural segregation—in both the north and the south, and who has now raised a family and has grandchildren, supposed to feel and talk about our great American Sin—slavery? Lance Morro in The Wall Street […]

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John Livingston

Idaho’s Romper Room

Down at the capital this morning I heard a new term to describe the more progressive branch of the Republican Party in Idaho—formerly referred to as RINOs. The term was “Romper Room Republicans” I am sure the term was used in a pejorative fashion, but there were some very positive things about the TV show […]

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John Livingston

Do We Know Who We Are?

I watched the Tucker Carlson—Vladimir Putin interview twice last night. Before I give my impressions of the interview, I want to note that there has been very little notice given to it by any in the mainstream media—including Breitbart and Fox. Could you imagine the “noise” if Bret Baier or Rachel Maddow had been able […]

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John Livingston

Priority Inversion and Thrashing

Today’s article was inspired by my Pastor who knows far more about computers and IT than I could ever hope to learn. He told a story in a sermon about the algorithms that were deployed on The Mars Rover in 1997 that resulted in the delayed execution of a priority task that resulted in a […]

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John Livingston

Idaho’s War on Fentanyl — Let’s Try Again on HB 406

All one has to do to see the devastation that has been brought by drug use and its impact on the potential of human capital is to go to Pioneer Square in Seattle or go two blocks from Temple Square in Salt Lake City or go to Portland or any of our major cities. The […]

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John Livingston

Can We All Agree on at Least One Thing?

Several years ago, I was honored to have lunch with one of the “Grand Dames” of Idaho Republican politics. She and her husband had built several businesses and raised a wonderful family. Her children had built their own businesses, and one became a lawyer. The lunch occurred during one of the many debates in the […]

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John Livingston

Where Does Woke Come From?

The central preoccupation and conversation in our society today, in politics, in economics, and in religion and culture is centering around the idea of “Wokeness”. Many disciplines are claiming responsibility for introducing “woke” concepts into the worlds of law, business, academia, and our everyday social interactions. This idea did not just spring up “de novo” […]

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John Livingston

The Concentration of Power

Before I begin my discussion about the ever-increasing concentration of power into government bureaucracies at all levels, let me say that I have tremendous admiration and respect for people who put themselves and their families on the line to run for public office, and if elected serve, many times sitting at endless meetings and briefings […]

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