Remembering a Soldier
I once came across my Dad's high school yearbook – his senior year. I scoured the pages for a look at my Dad at the same age I was – 18 and a senior at Lewis & Clark. I couldn't find him.Finally on the last…
Community Comment
TUESDAY, NOV. 11, 2008
The Mortgage Crisis...where to turn?
Good morning, Netizens...I have really mixed-up emotions about real estate foreclosures in our present economy. At first glance, it seems pretty much straightforward that defaulting on a mortgage, even a poorly-conceived and perhaps even fraudulently-written mortgage leads to foreclosures that push down all house prices.…
MONDAY, NOV. 10, 2008
Quote of the Day November 10, 2008
There art two cardinal sins from which all others spring: Impatience and Laziness. Franz Kafka (1883 - 1924)
Miriam Makeba dead at 76...
Good morning, Netizens...In this Nov. 16, 2006 AP file photo South African singer Miriam Makeba performs on stage at the Avo Session in Basel, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Keystone/Georgios Kefalas)Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who wooed the world with her sultry voice but was banned from…
SUNDAY, NOV. 9, 2008
The Folk Festival 2008 at the close...
Good evening, Netizens...There comes a time in every joy-filled event when it is over, and at last you must drift back toward your home, still vibrating with the sounds and the memories of the faces of everyone you have seen. In my final picture of…
The jams in the hallways...
Good morning, Netizens...Since wandering through the Spokane Fall Folk Festival nearly always means you will encounter musicians from various disciplines of music “jamming”. What is jamming, some may ask? It is 'an expression used by musicians to describe performing together without a set purpose or…
The Fall Folk Festival...
Good morning, Netizens...Please allow me, before we begin our brief tour yesterday of the Fall Folk Festival, to introduce my intrepid assistant, Miss Lilly, my granddaughter, who at age 9 has attended three Fall Folk Festivals with her grandparents in her exciting walk through life.…
Who Inspires You
I am contemplating the various people who have come and gone through my life, leaving and taking little qualities that make me who I am. It starts with my Dad – whom I have written a lot about, but he still tops the list. He…
SATURDAY, NOV. 8, 2008
Quote of the Day November 8, 2008
I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. Charles De Gaulle (1890 - 1970)
South Dakota returning to normalcy...
Good morning, Netizens...The road report from South Dakota this morning is better than yesterday, when Interstate 90 was closed from the Wyoming State border nearly the entire way across the state of South Dakota. An early-spring blizzard packing winds of upwards of 60 MPH accompanied…
FRIDAY, NOV. 7, 2008
Oprah to quit her show...
Good afternoon Netizens...V titan Oprah Winfrey is to quit her hit daily show when her contract ends in five years - so she can concentrate on putting child predators behind bars. She told CNN's Larry King that she plans to dedicate her time to heroic…
Quote of the Day November 7, 2008
The young have aspirations that never come to pass, the old have reminiscences of what never happened. Saki (1870 - 1916)
How much is that doggy in the window?
Good morning, Netizens...No morning news program this morning would be complete without a full discussion of the White Dog dog, Barney and his cameo appearance yesterday when he Barney bit a Reuters reporter . Of course, all the major news media outlets seized on this…
THURSDAY, NOV. 6, 2008
Spitzer Won't Be Charged
Feds won't charge Spitzer in call-girl scandalU.S. attorney says probe shows former governor didn't misuse public fundsNEW YORK - Federal prosecutors said Thursday that they will not bring criminal charges against Eliot Spitzer for his role in a prostitution scandal, removing a legal cloud that…
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 5, 2008
AT&T including Blackberries DEAD in Spokane...
BREAKING NEWS...Good morning, Netizens...AT&T Wireless telephones, including the highly-touted Blackberry, have been out of service since before 5:00 AM PST this morning, and according to AT&T there is no time given as to when this will be resolved.This comes hard on the heels of a…
A Place to Begin...
Good evening, Netizens...At 8:00 PM PST this evening, Barak Obama became the President-Elect of the United States of America. A moving concession speech by John McCain followed shortly thereafter, thus bringing to a close a long, contentious and racially-charged election campaign. In Barak Obama's speech…
TUESDAY, NOV. 4, 2008
Quote of the Day November 4, 2008
The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time. Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)
The Most-entertaining Campaign EVER!
Good morning, Netizens...David Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer brings yet another Presidential Campaign to a close, and just before the curtain falls, nearly all the cast stumble out for one last curtain call. Yes, here we are at the fulcrum, the pivotal point in time…
MONDAY, NOV. 3, 2008
Tuskegee revisited...
Good morning, Netizens...Do you remember these men who became heroes eventually? These are the first Black aviators who fought in World War II for our country. Known as The Tuskegee Airmen, the all-Black 332nd Fighter Group consisted originally of four fighter squadrons, the 99th, the…
Quote of the Day November 3, 2008
I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let…
The Politics of Hope must endure...
Good morning, Netizens...One more day to go and the citizens elect a new President of the United States. While this is a somber note on which to begin the new week, there are a host of other cheerless bits of news that bear careful introspection,…
SATURDAY, NOV. 1, 2008
Saturday 11/01/2008 Wild Card
Good afternoon, Netizens...Although I just spoke of the changing of the seasons, perhaps this excellent David Horsey cartoon from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer online is yet another season that will change, perhaps in ways we have yet begun to discover. What better time than this to…
Quote of the Day November 1, 2008
What the mass media offers is not popular art, but entertainment which is intended to be consumed like food, forgotten, and replaced by a new dish. W. H. Auden (1907 - 1973), The Dyer's Hand, 1962
FRIDAY, OCT. 31, 2008
Happy Halloween
In this photo released by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a Surinam horned frog is seated on top of a pumpkin at the Bronx Zoo's 'World of Reptiles' exhibit in New York, Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. Besides being a Halloween icon, pumpkins are given to zoo...
Early one morning...
Good morning, Netizens...O Lord have mercy! Here, from the Saginaw News we have a brief and illuminating view of reading the morning paper. I cannot swear it ever happened, but it certainly was worth a good laugh.Given the malcontent and disparaging comments lately about political…
Spokesman-Review readers blog about news and issues in Spokane written by Dave Laird.