Recent stories by Gary

• Smart Bombs: Education under the gun

  May 19, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 In the wake of the schoolhouse massacre in Newtown, Conn., Idaho’s lawmakers rallied to ensure that the state’s gun owners remained safe from government intruders. They passed four minor bills, … 12

• Smart Bombs: The price just isn’t right

  May 12, 2013 in Opinion on Page B10 Come on down! You’re the next contestant on the “The Price Is What?” The first item is major joint replacement. The price for this procedure in Inland Northwest hospitals is: … 11

• Smart Bombs: Dim message on bulbs

  May 5, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 How many people does it take to persuade some Americans to change from incandescent bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps? One. To understand the punch line, you first need to know … 20

• Smart Bombs: Spokane’s Mike Fagan wrestles with alter ego

  April 28, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 Spokane City Councilman Mike Fagan was sporting a “Let Voters Decide” T-shirt in a photo that ran in Thursday’s edition of this newspaper. Did he decide to be consistent and … 14

• Smart Bombs: Sharp shooters are safer

  April 21, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 Before last week, I had never fired a handgun. However, I did attend military school in seventh grade, where I had to handle an M1 Garand, the semi-automatic rifle that … 129

• Smart Bombs: Arrest zealous prosecutions

  April 14, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 Heartless. Immoral. Thief. There’s a lot of names you could call Jeramie Davis, but murderer isn’t one of them. The Spokane man was sent to prison in the 2007 porn … 7

• Smart Bombs: Pot paranoia is preposterous

  April 7, 2013 in Opinion on Page B10 Alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana. If we could do it all over again, which of them would a rational society place off-limits? Each year, Alcohol kills about 75,000 Americans. The massacre of … 42

• Smart Bombs: Fear snuffs out wise policies

  March 31, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 Fear can be a rational emotion that saves your life, or an irrational demon that ruins it. The strong reaction to the fatal shooting of alleged car thief Brendon Kaluza-Graham … 6

• Cost of war marches on

  March 24, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 The 10-year anniversary of the Iraq War is a reminder of the almost cavalier attitude our leaders have about the costs of war. Not just the price of waging combat, … 26

• Smart Bombs: Hidden health costs scary

  March 17, 2013 in Opinion on Page B10 Steven Brill’s in-depth article for Time magazine about why health care prices are so high – particularly for people who are uninsured or underinsured – is like a horror movie. … 9

• Smart Bombs: Ruling won’t unleash legislators

  March 3, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 Robed barbarians have thwarted the will of the people ! Taxmageddon is upon us! Relax. Just because the state Supreme Court tossed the supermajority requirement for tax increases, it doesn’t … 13

• Smart Bombs: A dose of health skepticism

  February 24, 2013 in Opinion on Page B10 At a Thursday public presentation on overtreatment in medicine, Dr. Richard Deyo displayed a New Yorker cartoon with a doctor saying to a patient, “You may believe you’ve been overcharged, … 61

• Smart Bombs: Prop. 2 fails its own test

  February 17, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 It looks like Proposition 2 will squeak past by about 900 votes when the final count is completed. About 40,000 people will end up deciding whether the Spokane City Council … 15

• Fix fly-by-night policy

  February 10, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 I can’t help but get the feeling that the U.S. policy on drones goes something like this: “It sure is hard to figure out who the bad guys are and … 7

• Smart Bombs: Resolution: No more, please

  February 3, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 You say you want a resolution, Well, you know. 26

• Smart Bombs: Critics fire before aiming

  January 27, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 Would it kill the people who are mortified by presidential executive orders and their alleged assault on the Constitution to at least read the founding document? “Executive power” is in … 16

• Smart Bombs: Dear Abby: Miss you already

  January 20, 2013 in Opinion on Page B8 (Pauline Phillips, better known as “Dear Abby,” died last week at the age of 94. The following is in her honor.) 9

• Smart Bombs: Our quick-draw culture

  January 13, 2013 in Opinion on Page B10 The Connecticut mass shooting has sprouted a robust discussion on root causes. We have a lot of guns in this country, an estimated 280 million. But as the slogan goes, … 14

• Smart Bombs: States should restore sanity

  December 23, 2012 in Opinion on Page B8 Since the slaughter of little children in Newtown, Conn., the debate has raged over what the president and Congress should do about mass shootings and easy access to guns. But … 10

• Smart Bombs: How many have to die?

  December 16, 2012 in Opinion on Page B8 When I heard Friday’s news of the elementary school massacre, I thought of my kids. When I dropped them off at their schools, we didn’t know about it. I tried … 44

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