Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Sorted by date Results 1574 - 1598 of 3750
To listen to the Democrats, the American middle class will be lucky to survive the Republican tax bill. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi calls the bill "monumental, brazen theft from the American middle class," and that's one of her more restrained comments. Per Pelosi, the bill is an affront to the Founding Fathers, veterans, children and all that's good and true in America. She constantly charges that the bill "raises taxes on 86 million middle-class households," and "hands a breathtaking 83 percent of its benefits to the wealthiest 1...
11 is the Year of the Dog. That is, if you're Asian and follow the Chinese zodiac. It rotates between the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. And as I mentioned, 2018 is a Dog year. That's a good thing, particularly when us Westerners remember Harry Truman's bromide: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog." But I was surprised to find out Donald Trump's birthdate also had the Dog as its sign, considering my affection for puppies. Obviously, he was so mistreated that he turned dangerously f...
Tensions are high. 2017 has left an indelible mark on us. The world is in turmoil what with irresponsible statements and threats, childish posturing and claims that defy reality. Like children who live in violent homes and are in turn violent as adults, the world is learning from its leaders, and the lessons are not good. There is more to the tension than just global problems. Individuals are not immune from the atmosphere. A recent news broadcast showed Americans behaving badly in restaurants. A wild woman jumped on a counter and threw food...
The media frenzy surrounding accusations of sexual misconduct continues to gather momentum. Many of the allegations are true, and those who have abused their power should be held accountable. Many charges, however, make no sense unless sexual misconduct has been redefined beyond the realm of logic. The snow ball effect has taken on a lynch mob mentality to the point that the abuser and victim are no longer clearly defined. The Associated Press recently published an article exposing an Idaho State Representative who made a woman “uncomfortable...
While the investigation continues into the deadly AMTRAK derailment near Dupont, the clock continues to tick on the implementation of Positive Track Control (PTC). The deadline is Dec. 31, 2018. PTC integrates new satellite tracking (GPS) and trackside technology for passenger, freight and commuter rail service. It is designed to instantly feed mountains of detailed and complex information to control centers and moving locomotives to automatically stop speeding trains from going off the track and colliding. Neither the track on new Point...
Republicans have tried, on and off, to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling since the 1980s. The effort has always engendered intense opposition and always been abandoned. A provision for drilling in ANWR is included in the Republican tax bill almost as an afterthought. Republicans took a constitutional fight against Obamacare's individual mandate to the Supreme Court in 2012, and lost. They targeted it in their Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill earlier this year, and lost. They tried again with a last-ditch "skinny...
Why would we try solving society's most ancient problems with worn-out solutions? Sexual harassment and assault are as old as any issue can get. What do you think would have happened if the Garden of Eden had an HR department? Actually, nothing, just like today. These days, however, Eve would have decided that in the process of starting the human species, Adam acted inappropriately when he took a bite from the apple. Adam would be fired, and Genesis would have removed his blog. The point is that nature requires that in the name of propagation,...
The year was 1863. The American Civil War had been going for two years and would last two more before its end. The man was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Two years earlier he had lost his wife of 18 years in a tragic fire, leaving him a widower with six children. His eldest son had left home to join the army and recently returned after being shot and narrowly escaping paralysis. The country is torn by war. Things did not look promising for Longfellow or his country. On Christmas day he penned the poem ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’ whi...
I am getting to the age where young folks ask me about my best and most memorable Christmas. They are not the same. My most memorable one wasn’t my best, but it is the one I think of most often. I had completed Air Force Flight Training and was assigned to an air refueling crew at Fairchild Air Force Base. After a few short months, our crew was notified that we would depart in mid-December for a short tour in Southeast Asia as part of the Vietnam conflict. We were excited and anticipating a great adventure. We hadn’t yet discovered that war...
Christmas is an especially difficult time for anyone grieving for lost loved ones. It is especially painful for America’s military families whose son, daughter, spouse or parent was killed while serving in uniform. Normally, the fallen are remembered on Memorial Day, but thanks to a Maine family and over hundreds of thousand donors and volunteers, more than 1.5 million wreaths were laid on the tombstones of our fallen soldiers, sailors and airmen on December 16. The panoramic view of Arlington National Cemetery’s rolling hills with its whi...
Colfax Christmas present? Our Grinch-O-Claus president says he’s bringing us a big present for Christmas. He’s putting all this on our credit card, though, over a trillion dollars’ worth. And while you will get maybe an orange or a candy cane in your tax stocking (maybe even a lump of coal), the rich kids will be getting the yachts and jets and Ivanka jewelry. Call your senator or representative in Congress, 202-224-3121, and tell them to just vote no. Steve Swoope, Topics of Interest Over the past two years the Whitman County Library syste...
It's a wonder that President Donald Trump devotes so much time to discrediting the press, when the press does so much to discredit itself. The media's errors in recent weeks haven't been marginal or coincidental, but involved blockbuster reports on one of the most dominating stories of the past year, Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. They all slanted one way -- namely, toward lurid conclusions about the Trump campaign's alleged collusion with the Russians. Every media outlet makes mistakes. It's easier than ever to run with fragmentary or...
LONDON -- "Come in. We love Americans." It was a restauranteur hustling customers outside his establishment here in London. My wife and I are here for our anniversary. I was ready with my retort: "I must say I admire how you can keep a straight face while claiming to love Americans." "Don't worry," he replied. "It'll get better." Obviously, he's not a Donald Trump fan. He assumed I wasn't either. Safe assumption, although he didn't know that when it comes to U.S. politics, I'm not an anybody fan. I was too polite to utter that one-word...
YYYY The little group that does the “Memorial Tree” at the hospital yearly. The Stirling’s Christmas lights. Outstanding! #!*! Careless and non-thinking drivers. Turn on your headlights at all times so you can be seen and possibly save your life and someone else’s too. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun, asking about Santa Claus. Her friends had been telling her that Santa Claus was not real. The response, written by Francis Pharcellus Church, was printed as an editorial Sept. 21, 1897. It has since become famous and a Christmas classic. DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus? VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They ha...
I have a good friend who works for a Washington State agency. Recently, everyone in her office had to attend sensitivity training. The instructor began by stating that the course objective was to make everyone feel comfortable in the workplace. Thus, men should keep their hands to themselves and romantic liaisons should not be part of the work day. All terms should be gender neutral. Everyone was cautioned to avoid language that might inadvertently insult any given faith. This included not being allowed to decorate workstations for traditional...
During the holidays, our thoughts naturally turn to giving — not just giving gifts, but donating our time and money to charities, disasters and community programs. We’re reminded that, with all our frailties, we, Americans are a pretty generous lot. According to the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, 88 percent of our households donate to charity. In 2015, our total was more than $375 billion in cash to non-profit organizations. Cash contributions are only part of the story. Many businesses and those they employ, have jumped in with...
The president of the United States wakes up some mornings seemingly determined to convince as many people as possible that he's unsuited to high office. Fortunately for him, he has a Twitter account allowing him to act on this impulse immediately and without any filter. Trump recently retweeted three videos from an apparatchik of an extremist party in Britain purporting to show acts of violence by Muslims. One of them is reportedly a fake. He followed up with a tweet calling for the firing of "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough on the basis of...
My wife spends a lot of time rolling her eyes. She knows, for instance, that when we meet at the end of the day and she asks, "How was your day?" as she always does, I'll have a Dickens of a response: "It was the best of days, it was the worst of days." It's not often that I have all that much in common with Donald Trump, although I bet Melania rolls her eyes a lot, too. However, the first of December certainly was a "best-worst" kind of day for the president. Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Trump's "Tale of Two Cities" --...
YYYY Thanks to everyone who entered the Festival of Trees at the Center at Colfax Library. The trees are creative and help light up our town beautifully. #!*! People who drive way too fast on Fairview. Animals getting killed due to speeding cars. Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
It is a changing world. First take the rigid, closed British royal family. Prince Harry is engaged to an American woman. She is bi-racial, divorced and older than he is. She is also an actress. She is a very unlikely addition to the royal family. This engagement is heralded as very special. In fact, this soon-to-be union has been claimed by some to ensure the survival of the monarchy. Even more rigid and closed is the Saudi royal family. In Saudi Arabia, the new prince has started a campaign of modernizing the country. He has arrested hundreds...
Tough GOP choice To pass or not to pass tax cuts/reform? A tough choice for Republicans who have to choose between looking unable to govern or looking incompetent to govern by passing a really, really bad bill. Which will most hurt their chances in 2018? And which will most hurt the country and their constituents? Frankly the country needs every dime we are currently collecting since we have had unbelievable natural disasters which will require zillions of dollars in federal aid to rebuild. The proposals so far under consideration clearly benef...
There are sexual harassers, and then there is John Conyers, the Democrat from Detroit who made his congressional office an adjunct of his libido. The evidence suggests that Conyers believed that as a 27-term congressman, he was entitled to the Washington, D.C., equivalent of the Ottoman imperial harem. He routinely hit on his female staffers, and his office was a den of sexual intrigue -- allegedly featuring a jealous wife and a vindictive mistress -- that properly belongs in a Bravo reality show if the network ever extends its franchise to...
Still another Thanksgiving has passed, and I have done what I always do: nothing. I didn't overeat, and certainly didn't travel. Getting together with family and friends can wait for a non holiday. There is no way in the world I'm going to endure airports, long Transportation Security Administration lines and flights that are even more tortuous than normal. Ditto for jammed and dangerous highways to take us crawling over the hills and through the woods. Did I mention that I also avoid going out on New Year's Eve, when the streets are filled...
#!*! Whitman County Public Works -- if you pay, they will stay. Wolves in sheep’s clothing!!! Send your pet peeves and okeydokes to Whitman County Gazette P.O Box 770, Colfax, WA 99111 or drop them off at the Gazette office...
