Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1070 - 1094 of 3750
The Southern Poverty Law Center has designated itself an organization hostile to women and people of color. It fired its co-founder Morris Dees for unexplained reasons and removed his bio from its website at the same time it pledged to train its management in "racial equity, inclusion and results." Simultaneous with the cashiering of Dees after nearly 50 years at the SPLC, roughly two dozen employees wrote a letter warning "allegations of mistreatment, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, and racism threaten the moral authority of this...
After two and a half years and forty million dollars there are no indictments for any collusion of any kind, yet the Democratic Party persists in their attack on the president, who has stated all along that their was no collusion. The Special Counsel decides what information, if any, should be disclosed. It is written in the constitution. It is the law. The Senate Democrats do not dictate what information should be disclosed by the Attorney General. Democrats should read the Constitution once in awhile. It is an manual for procedure and how to...
Before our country, in haste, dives totally into renewable energy, we must carefully evaluate its impacts. By just focusing on eliminating natural gas, liquid fuels (gasoline and diesel) and coal to combat climate change, we ignore the effects of other forms of pollution generated by processes in which renewable energy components are made. Under the Green New Deal, the United States would become 100 percent reliant on renewable energy in a decade and eliminate CO2 producing fuels. It would cost...
I was tired of shoveling snow the other day and needed some comic relief, so I decided to read the most recent newsletters sent out by my state representative. Finding out what is happening at our state capitol is challenging. I usually start with the newsletters, then Google for more details. If you don’t get these newsletters, you should. Your representative’s office will gladly add you to their email list. Then you, too, will have something to break up the monotony of late winter. As our Governor has been reborn as the climate change can...
There was a time when a total of 50 different license plates adorned cars in America. That was one for each of the 50 states. Many a family trip was saved by the kids in the back seat trying to find as many different ones as they could on long road trips. Generally, these state plates were distinctive. It was always cause for celebration when an Alaskan plate was seen. In one’s own state, the plates were ingrained in memory. In cases of emergency or trying to identify an irresponsible driver, all that was needed was an effort to remember the p...
Pet Peeves Be kind about where people park. Not all disabilities are visible. Okeydokes The nice man who washed my car for me at Jim’s Service Center on Friday....
Donald Trump definitely is not introspective. If he thought about it, he'd probably decide that such self-reflection is navel-gazing and a total waste of time. But, of course, since he's not introspective, he's never thought about it. Whatever bubbles up from the Trump sump of his mind dumps out of his mouth, with no regard for what it fouls in the process. His millions of minions love it. They roared in gusty approval at the Conservative Political Action Conference as the Trumpster let fly with a two-hour toxic stream of consciousness. It...
We interrupt the talk of the president "manufacturing" a crisis at the border with this hair-raising report about the crisis at the border. Alarming new numbers about border apprehensions from U.S. Customs and Border Protection should puncture the lazy conventional wisdom about the border being under control, except in the lurid imagination of President Donald Trump. More than 76,000 migrants were apprehended crossing the southern border last month, the highest February in more than 10 years and the highest month of the Trump administration. Th...
Measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, you name it – vaccines are safe, despite what social media would have you believe. But don’t believe me; believe some people who know. In an extraordinary, if not unprecedented event, the three presidents of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released a joint statement on March 8 supporting vaccination. If you don’t know, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was created in 1863 during the Civil War. It established the National Research Council in 1916 at the request of President Wil...
Across the pond, London-based BP and Netherlands-headquartered Shell are looking to invest in innovative electric technology which is very good news. The two international oil giants, both of which have oil refineries in northwest Washington, recognize the growth in battery storage capacity. Their investments should bring down costs for consumers and bring ground-breaking technology to market quicker. Making electric cars and new batteries for homes and power grids is a major step toward...
Homelessness has been cussed and discussed with no solution in sight. With no viable plan most officials wring their hands and hope the problem will go away. The latest suggestion is to pay them a living wage. Thus the unfortunate street people could afford the requisite training to find jobs. I guess this is possible. The evening news interviewed an ex-homeless lady who received money from a private charity and was eventually able to open a coffee shop, thus, becoming a local success story. We sometimes forget that other countries can have...
A scam affecting some elite universities has revealed how far the rich will go to get their children in prestigious schools. Apparently, those with money have been working with a so-called charity to phoney up student admission applications. It is pretty basic. Parents can hire a company to get their kids in the school of their choice. This company has jimmied test scores, had surrogates take admissions tests, paid test proctors and bribed coaches. The super wealthy, of course, do not need such scams. they can simply buy the school a building...
Pet Peeves Winter and snow!!! Okeydokes The commissioners for placing a six month moratorium on marijuana....
Reform is inevitably a difficult process, and not just for the reformees. It's particularly painful for the reformers, no matter how meritorious their cause. Who would admit opposing fundamental changes to a health care system in this country that is glaringly overpriced and significantly underperforms? Who would resist efforts to rescue the planet from boiling away? As the reformers are learning, once they stop preaching to their own choirs and face off against those who benefit and prosper from the current setups -- like the insurance compani...
The race for 2020 is taking shape, although there are still significant unknowns, including whether Donald Trump will get a serious primary challenge. His fiercest Republican critics say, "Yes -- please, please, yes." They are probably wrong, and it's certainly nothing to root for. Trump's dominance of the party begins with his lockdown support of the right, forcing any primary challenger to the left. This isn't fertile territory. Self-identified moderates and liberals are only a fraction of the party, and it is grass-roots conservative...
Historically, international trade issues have galvanized our state’s congressional delegation. Many wondered if that would still be the case today. Fortunately, it seems to be. While Democrats and Republicans are at one another’s throats on most issues these days, it is gratifying when it comes to promoting our state’s products internationally, they coalesce. Boeing is our state’s largest exporter and has strong congressional backing when it comes to leveling the playing field with Europe...
I didn’t think it was quite time for political season, but it seems to have started. I was just sitting down to dinner when my phone rang. If it had been thirty seconds later, I would have let the answering machine take it even though I was expecting a call from my agent. The caller asked for my wife, and being well trained, I asked if I could tell her who was calling. I guess talking to my wife wasn’t the caller’s highest priority because he went right into his spiel. He started by thanking me for past contributions I have either forgo...
I should lighten up and tell a joke. The definition of insanity is doing something over and over, while expecting different results. Every year since 1915, we have tried drug prohibition; year after year, over and over, while expecting a drug free America. As of March 15, 2019, we will have tried it one hundred four times. But the problem has grown, and only the parasites have liked the outcomes. On March 15, 2019, we’re going to try drug prohibition for the 105th time! Even though we know that it will produce the same world of addictions a...
Gordon Forgey, in your editorial (“Free Speech?”, March 7, 2019,) you lament the poor reception of conservative ideas on campus. Could it be that, given the parameters of logic and reason, contemporary conservative theory has little to offer to the young, inquisitive mind? --Mark Olson, Seattle...
So the new Columbia County Sheriff is not going to enforce Initiative 1639 that 60 percent of Washington voters supported. Did he not take an oath to uphold the laws of the State of Washington when he was sworn in as sheriff? How does Sheriff Joe Helm get to pick and choose which laws he will enforce? Are he and other sheriffs in the state being intimidated by groups (i.e. the National Rifle Association and the Second Amendment Foundation) that opposed Initiative 1639? Until and if the federal court finds the law unconstitutional, he should...
President Donald Trump has vowed he will soon release an executive order on free speech. Ostensively, the mandate would, among other things, deny federal funding to institutions deemed in violation of it. It has not yet been released, but reportedly the administration has been working on it for months. Free speech is the bulwark of American democracy. There are limitations. The classic and simplest is not to yell “fire” in a crowded theater. They go on from there. It is said that the reason for the order is to stop harassment of con...
Pet Peeves Misplaced priorities: Colfax School District more concerned with construction dates than student safety. Other schools closed. Okeydokes Those who clear snow from their sidewalks and those who clear their neighbor’s walks....
Let's be fair to Donald Trump. No, seriously. That's not a joke. When it comes time to judge the presidential candidates, we should remember what they say about geese and ganders, and apply the same standards to all members of this growing gaggle. Both males and females of this species should get equal treatment, in other words. That's where the fairness to the biggest goose of all comes in. A presidential campaign by anyone should be a brutal trial by fire. We hear nonstop from those who want Trump out of the White House that anything goes,...
Robert Kraft's name will now long be associated with one of the most despicable scourges of modern life, and rightly so. The New England Patriots owner is charged with soliciting prostitution at a Florida massage parlor busted as part of a sex-trafficking ring. Kraft denies it, although the police in Jupiter, Florida, say they have video evidence. The charges against him, and two other high-flying men from the financial world, represent an important front in the fight against sex trafficking. Authorities should be doing everything they can to...
November’s Camp Wildfire was California’s deadliest, killing 86 people and destroying 14,000 homes along with more than 500 businesses. The financial fallout is forcing PG&E, northern California’s electric utility, to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It is a catastrophe we all hope to avoid. The fire’s probable cause was overhead power lines coming into contact with nearby trees which is an ongoing problem for power lines attached to poles and metal towers. While we have located the ign...
