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Gary Crooks

This individual is no longer an employee with The Spokesman-Review.

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Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Smart Bombs: A Tony for baloney

Now that the Oscars have been handed out, let’s turn our attention to the political theater surrounding the federal stimulus package. Several Republican governors are solid candidates for Tony Awards for acting like they didn’t want any part of what U.S. Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, called a “giant fraud.” In Congress, only three Republican senators voted for the package; no GOP House members voted for it. Their opposition was based on the fear the bill would usher in an era of disastrous socialism. I think that’s overwrought, but I can respect a principled stand. So, naturally, states run by Republicans would reject the money to help protect America from ruin, right?
Opinion

Smart Bombs

When I became old enough to drive, I could get pulled over by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the police departments in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson. Later, those Nevada law enforcement agencies merged. I’ve often wondered why more municipalities don’t merge government functions to gain efficiencies. Last week, Spokane County CEO Marshall Farnell looked up from a drooping bottom line and uttered the word “consolidation.” Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard said, “If not the entire nugget, we should at least talk about a metropolitan police force.”
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Smart Bombs: First, check your ego

If you are about to undergo surgery, here are two simple tips that could save your life. State your name and ask the physicians if they have been introduced to everyone who will be in the room. These two items are part of a 19-item checklist that reduced the death rate by 40 percent and medical complications by one-third, according to a recently published study of eight hospitals worldwide led by Dr. Atul A. Gawande of the Harvard School of Public Health. Stating your name prompts the surgical team members to confirm they have the right patient. Short introductions embolden junior team members to speak up. Other cost-free items on the checklist include confirming that instruments have been sterilized, all necessary equipment is present and enough blood is on hand. Another suggestion is to count the number of instruments before and after to make sure nothing was left inside the patient.
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Smart Bombs: Waging war on wages

Snipers are picking off wages and benefits in this country, and their ammunition is comparative analyses. Some of this is friendly fire, and the recession has hastened the number of casualties. In any comparison between two compensation packages, the lower number is the correct one. That is a given. Why? Don’t ask. Just train your sights on the larger number and squeeze the trigger. For instance, if government employees have a health care plan that is better than that of private workers, it’s time to paint the bull’s-eye on the civil servants. It’s: “Why should they have a better plan than taxpayers?” It’s not: “How did our package sink so low?”
Opinion >  Syndicated columns

Smart Bombs: A-Rod’s wild pitch

To recap, when Alex Rodriguez was in Seattle, he’d never even heard of players using steroids. But when he got to Texas, he was immediately embroiled in a “loosey-goosey era.” Wow, that has to be the quickest entrance for any era in history. One day, he’s completely clueless, the next he’s caught up in a culture where seemingly everyone is getting an unmarked stimulus package. Tough break. If only Seattle had media outlets back then, so Rodriguez could keep up with the latest news.
Opinion

Smart bombs

The e-mail conversation among a group of editorial writers across the country has increasingly turned to the depressing state of “dead-tree” journalism. One of them keeps a Peanuts cartoon affixed to his computer. It’s an exchange between Charlie Brown and Lucy: Charlie: “A SPIDER! A SPIDER!