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Step up for our homeless children
One million.
Neighbors make a difference
A tip of Santa's hat to the good people who live in the Highlands neighborhood in Post Falls. For several years they've held a golf cart parade for the holidays and in 2009 added a food drive to the activity. In th…
Consuming fruitcake
"Just try it," Grandma Mackenzie giggles as she offers me a bite of her 10-week, alcohol-drenched fruitcake. I accept a small slice of the dark, dense, rum-soaked bread, take a whimsical sniff and wonder out-loud i…
Watch as Obama's web of lies falls apart
"Unanswered Prayers" was the title of a hit song by Garth Brooks in 1990. The lyrics of this song expressed the idea that heartbreak and sadness of a failed relationship may lead to something even better than what …
Good news by the numbers
How about a little good news?
It looks like we're now in a 'La Nada'
As of early December, sea-surface temperatures near the West Coast of South America are averaging relatively close to normal levels, indicating that we are in a La Nada, the in-between warmer El Nino and cooler La …
It's what we do at St. Vincent de Paul
The Friday before Thanksgiving I received a call from a local small business owner. He told me that he had an employee who was in the hospital, and was expected to be there through Thanksgiving, his wife and 3-mont…
Corporate America has broken our political system
Words themselves can be far more telling than the person telling them to us. For example, the words republican, democratic, and capitalistic are commonly used adjectives to describe our country, but they are often …
Poland imparts lessonon education to U.S.
Poland's gains in mathematics and science on the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has made big news in the United States. The impressive achievements by 15-year-old Polish students contrast …
Rights more universal over time
When you think about the times - just after World War II with communications among people and nations exponentially rarer and more difficult than today - calling anything "universal" was rather bold. Culture, langu…
Why food is delicious
While having dinner with friends this week, the discussion of food and consumption coming from the source becomes contentious. "Green chili stew is most delicious when eaten in Santa Fe," a member of the party offe…
Big red trucks, Santa and candy canes
When budget cuts at Kootenai County Fire and Rescue caused the elimination of the volunteer firefighter program it was thought that may have ended the decades-long tradition of the Christmas time Candy Cane Run in …
What's in a name? Fame
Yes, even everyday words have their claims to fame. Language is a fascinating, living creature. Should we care to preserve it (doubtful in this age of devil-may-care tweets and texts), linguists must become the wri…
What's causing the 'strange doings' on the sun?
Scientists tell us that current solar activity is "stranger than at any time in more than a century." Recent weird weather on a global scale may have been caused by the 'fickle' sun.
Thankful for Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Americans' celebrations and commemorations of the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's magisterial "Gettysburg Address," arguably the greatest speech in America's history, may not have found widespread expression…