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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Community Comment

MONDAY, MARCH 30, 2009

David Horsey,davidhorsey.com,seattlepi.com (The Spokesman-Review)

Superman to the Rescue?

Good morning, Netizens...I keep asking this same question, over and over again, and each time when I peer into my bowl of fortune-telling oatmeal, all I see are oats. What are we going to do to save our newspapers?Leave it to David Horsey's cartoon this…

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SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2009

The Eiffel Tower is shown just after the 20,000 bulbs illuminating the tower went out for five minutes. The City of Lights went dim when thousands of Parisians joined in an hour "lights-out" campaign aimed at showing citizens concern over climate change. (AP Photo/ Thibault Camus) (March 28, 2009) (The Spokesman-Review)

What is your priority? 

Good evening, Netizens... Yesterday, the Eiffel Tower is shown just after the 20,000 bulbs illuminating the tower went out for five minutes. The City of Lights went dim when thousands of Parisians joined in an hour "lights-out" campaign aimed at showing citizens concern over climate…

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Photo Credit: Bretwood Higman / groundtruthtrekking.org via AVO
Mount Redoubt in Alaska blows its top again late last night, creating a fierce lightning storm.  (The Spokesman-Review)

Redoubt blows its top...

Good morning, Netizens...This is a spectacular nighttime picture of Mount Redoubt blowing its stack late last night near Anchorage, Alaska, which certainly brings back old memories of Mount St. Helens, doesn't it? Yes, for the sake of those who fortunate enough to be a safe…

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Quote of the Day -- March 29, 2009

Good morning, Netizens... This morning's somewhat-acerbic quote should certainly get the blood pulsing through your veins. Experts say you should never hit your children in anger. When is a good time? When you're feeling festive? Attributed to Roseanne Barr Okay, so when it is acceptable…

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Should Jurors be forbidden from the Internet? 

Good morning, Netizens... As our own Jeanie of Spokane has learned, subsequent to serving on a jury panel recently, there are a lot of rules placed on potential jurors in Spokane County. In the story, which appears on the Spokesman-Review website here http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009/mar/29/jurors-may-be-barred-from-using-electronics/ judges in…

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SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2009

FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009

Wrestling at the Child Care... 15 

Good afternoon, Netizens... YAY! It's Friday! [SPOKANE VALLEY] A large child care center in Spokane Valley was shut down by the state on Thursday after the owner and a parent allegedly got into a fight, which was witnessed by a child, state records show. The…

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David Horsey,davidhorsey.com,seattlepi.com  (The Spokesman-Review)

David Horsey goes to the birds... 

Good morning, Netizens... In case you were trying to read the Spokesman this morning online, it has been notably offline since about 8:45 AM or thereabouts, but has recently returned to the forefront. FreeBSD-Python can do that to you, as several in my little community…

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Quote of the Day -- March 27, 2009

Good morning, Netizens... Our quote of the day, which comes to us from television icon and sometimes-funny man, David Letterman, bespeaks how bad the air in Los Angeles is. Fall is my favorite season in Los Angeles, watching the birds change color and fall from…

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Picture Source: seattlepi.com (The Spokesman-Review)

Charles Simonyi goes to outer space again...

Good morning, Netizens... Recognize this guy in the mug shot? But about eight hours ago, the billionaire who led the team that developed Microsoft Word did just that -- and then some. With the successful launch of a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft from Kazakhstan, Charles Simonyi became…

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Will Sgt. Pete Bunch skate again? 

Good morning, Netizens... SPOKANE - Disciplinary records for a Spokane County Sheriff's sergeant arrested in February show that Pete Bunch has a long history of misusing his authority and even cheating taxpayers on his time sheet. In 2003, former Sheriff Mark Sterk wanted to fire…

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Strike three, you're out!

SHEBOYGAN, Wisc. -- A Spokane woman visiting Wisconsin last year was arrested for drunken driving three times in three days, according to court records released Wednesday. Jo A. Trilling, of Spokane, Wash., who was sentenced on the final two cases last week, was arrested in…

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THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2009

David Horsey,davidhorsey.com,Seattle-PI.com (The Spokesman-Review)

A True Democracy?

Good morning, Netizens... In one of David Horsey's pointed cartoons this morning, we have an Iraqi official warbling on and on about Democracy like a jaybird with its balls in an electric fence out behind the Virtual Ballroom. Meanwhile the American diplomat tells the Iraqi…

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Photo Credit: http://www.satchelpaige.com (The Spokesman-Review)

A Little Zing for my day...

Good morning, Netizens...I carefully slid back into my favorite bar stool at the Virtual Espresso Bar very early this morning, noting with some degree of interest, that the Virtual Ballroom has its usual collection of ghosts, spirits and various other dignitaries floating around the ballroom…

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Quote of the Day -- March 26, 2009 

Good morning, Netizens... First, we delve into some essential truths about ourselves through the quote of the day: A diplomat... is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip. Caskie Stinnett…

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TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009

David Horsey,davidhorsey.com,Seattle-PI.com (The Spokesman-Review)

Who you gonna trust? 

Good morning, Netizens... Yeah, tell me about it! It sounded so nice, so respectable, so dependable when they signed us up for our 401k's, didn't it? However, now that we have wandered down David Horsey's Carnival Midway where the real wheeling and dealing takes place,…

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Imogen Cunningham (Imogen Cunningham / The Spokesman-Review)

Quote of the Day -- March 24, 2009

Good morning, Netizens... We have a picture of Maugham, the author of our quote of the day, and what he wrote: Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman round the corner. W. Somerset Maugham (1874 - 1965), 'Of Human Bondage', 1915 Perhaps if…

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MONDAY, MARCH 23, 2009

David Horsey,davidhorsey.com,seattle-pi.com (The Spokesman-Review)

The Depilatory Wasteland... 16 

Good morning, Netizens... The New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling recently attempted to pass a law which would prohibit Brazilian Waxing after several women filed complaints of infections caused by this hair removal procedure. Consumer Affairs informed them they could not go along with…

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SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2009

We're Off! 

Good morning, Netizens...Coming off a hard two-day plague of work and being forced by my spouse to leave for most of an afternoon I hereby declare this to be a free fly day, so if you have topics you'd rather discuss, whip them out and…

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Photo Credit: Ali Yussef/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Tourism in Iraq? Bridgett Jones, 77, a British tourist, bought wine and beer in Baghdad on Friday.  (The Spokesman-Review)

The shorter trip... 

Good evening, Netizens... It is obvious Spring is drawing close upon us. If not the obscenely-raucous hordes of robins in my front yard, then it has to be the appearance of what I term utterly illiterate Comcast outsourced sales people needing a shave and a…

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Photo Credit: Spokesman-Review (The Spokesman-Review)

Change is inevitable... 

Good morning, Netizens... There are some days when it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. I believe this is one of them. From Dave Oliveria at Huckleberries Online we learn: Earlier this morning, the SR newsroom learned that three respected, veteran reporters have…

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FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2009

Time Magazine (The Spokesman-Review)

Quote of the Day -- March 20, 2009 

Good morning, Netizens... Our randomly-chosen quote of the day today: “The average, healthy, well-adjusted adult gets up at seven-thirty in the morning feeling just plain terrible.” This bit of truth comes to us from Jean Kerr (1922-2003) Writer and playright, who once wrote, "It's pretty…

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Photo Credit: unknown  (The Spokesman-Review)

Who's to blame? 25 

Good morning, Netizens... After some considerable research and introspection of the case of the Citizenry of Spokane versus City Hall, and upon hearing of the woman in Arlington, Washington who stole $73,575.18 from the church where she was the administrative assistant, (http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20090319/NEWS01/703199921/0/FRONTPAGE) and blamed it…

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THURSDAY, MARCH 19, 2009

David Horsey,davidhorsey.com,seattlepi.com (The Spokesman-Review)

Aye, Mateys! 15 

Good morning, Netizens... While we're busily flagellating the leadership of our local law enforcement for perceived errors if not bad intentions, today's David Horsey cartoon gives us yet another target for our angst: AIG. The inner machinations of credit default swaps, derivatives and other exotic…

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Quote of the Day -- March 19, 2009

Good morning, Netizens...Rather than simply post the quote of the day, after over a year of quoting some of the great thinkers, poets and raving mad of our times, I have decided to make the quote of the day part of my morning ritual by…

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Spokesman-Review readers blog about news and issues in Spokane written by Dave Laird.