In the news, Saturday, January 29, 2005

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JAN 28      INDEX      JAN 30

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from The Spokesman-Review

Canal head gate reminder of agricultural past
On the south side of Post Falls is Falls Park with its ponds, green lawns and paved walkways. There also is the 100-year-old head gate of a canal system that turned the once arid Spokane Valley into an agricultural paradise, once noted for its apple orchards so extensive that they inspired the naming of a road, “Apple Way.”

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In the news, Friday, October 25, 2019

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OCT 24      INDEX      OCT 26

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from Conciliar Post

WHY EVERYONE SHOULD STUDY CHURCH HISTORY
Christians, and especially church leaders, should possess a historical mind. History provides the only data of human experience and therefore should be the “library” consulted by those tasked with solving contemporary problems. Not only should church leaders be well acquainted with history, but all people, within and without the church, should be versed in church history. Stated more concisely, everyone should study history; moreover, everyone should study church history.  Without knowledge of church history, we cannot be good citizens because we will not fully grasp the rationale, origin, and significance of the institutions and political ideals we hold dear and are charged to preserve; those upon which our entire way of life depends.

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from HumanProgress.org  Education Website

Stuff of Progress, Pt. 2: Iron
Iron is a lustrous gray metal and the fourth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. While exceedingly rare in pure metallic form, iron is prodigiously abundant as an ore called Magnetite (Fe3O4). The exploration and mining of iron ore, and the manufacture of iron-based products, such as high-strength steel, are crucial to countries undergoing industrialization. The metal, quite literally, forms the skeleton of modern infrastructure. The word iron lent its name to the “Iron Age” and while it is true that today humanity mines more sophisticated metals, such as titanium, tungsten and aluminum, we are still, in many important ways, living in the age of iron.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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In the news, Thursday, October 24, 2019

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OCT 23      INDEX      OCT 25

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from BBC News (UK)

Leonardo da Vinci five centuries on: Louvre in Paris opens long-awaited exhibition
It took more than a decade to prepare and was almost thwarted by a diplomatic row. Now, one of the world's most expensive art exhibitions - to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death - is finally opening to the public. The Louvre museum in Paris, home to Leonardo's Mona Lisa, opens its doors on Thursday to a display of more than 160 Renaissance-era paintings and drawings, some of which are on loan from Queen Elizabeth II and Bill and Melinda Gates.

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from The Heritage Foundation
RIGHT BIAS,  MIXED  American conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Woke Math Aims to Teach Seattle Kids That ‘Western’ Math Is Racist
It’s no secret that American history is under attack. The ethos of leftist historian Howard Zinn has made inroads into classrooms across the country, as I explain in my book “The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America’s Past.” But, lest you think you can escape the social justice dogmatism infecting the liberal arts, a story out of Seattle shows how social justice warriors will leave no stone unturned in their effort to fundamentally transform America. Seattle Public Schools recently proposed adding ethnic studies into K-12 math curriculum. That’s right—we’ve gone straight past “new math” and right to “woke math.” The framework for this new curriculum exposes just how absurd woke math will be. Among other things, it states that “Western” mathematics as “the only legitimate expression of mathematical identity and intelligence,” whatever that means, has been used to “disenfranchise people and communities of color.”

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from HumanProgress.org  Education Website

After 35 Years, the End of HIV Is Now in Sight
After 35 years, a deadly virus has been tamed. Soon it could be history. In 1995, AIDS was the top killer of Americans between the ages of 25 and 44, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. By 2016, HIV-related illnesses no longer cracked the top 10 causes.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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In the news, Wednesday, October 23, 2019

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OCT 22      INDEX      OCT 24

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from Asia Times

LEAST BIASED, HIGH;  News & Media Website based in Hong Kong

How Mexico became a failed state
Author of Asia Times’s wildly popular series “Demolition of Mexico’s economy and democracy” says it’s even worse now: Country has pretty much gone to hell in a hand basket under leftist, primitivist president.

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from Conciliar Post

RECLAIMING PASCAL’S WAGER

Choosing belief simply to cover one’s bases and ensure maximum utility runs counter to Christ’s example and is antithetical to His call. But expecting an unbeliever to grasp this in an unrepentant state seems unrealistic. Appealing to self-interest doesn’t strike me as any worse a starting point than an appeal to nature’s beauty, the cosmos’s orderliness, or our idea of deity. None of these necessarily draw the nonbeliever’s heart to the Lord, but each has long served as a portico through which a believer first begins a wrestling match with the Holy Spirit. Further, the Wager has been useful in my own life in moments of doubt and despair; I do not rest on the Wager for sustaining my faith long-term, but it does help me cling to Jesus in seasons where I do not sense the Lord’s presence and peace.

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from Hoover Institution

Nonprofit Organization in Stanford, California

Sextus Julius Frontinus, Stratagems (after 84 A.D.) & The Aqueducts of Rome (97–98 A.D.), Loeb Classical Library 174 (Mary B. McElwain, ed.; Charles E. Bennett, trans.)
The Roman Empire flourished in large measure because it built logistics infrastructure to support civil administration of conquered territories. Roman roads enabled commodities and other goods from interior estates to be transported to coastal ports for shipment to the capital, and also provided an efficient network for moving its legions among the growing roster of provincial seats. But those provincial cities, often in arid areas, could not have grown beyond the size of military garrisons without the water supplied by Roman aqueducts.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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from The Washington Examiner

News & Media Website in Washington, DC

Washington state banned racial discrimination 20 years ago; now it's back on the ballot
Discrimination exists in America in ways the purveyors of identity politics do not like to talk about. It is often disguised as the pursuit of diversity, showered with government support and doled out in the form of quotas and preferences. The upshot, however, is always the same: Americans are discriminated against on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, and other immutable characteristics. Two decades ago, the state of Washington banned this sordid practice. Today, the state legislature and powerful interest groups are aggressively trying to turn back progress.

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In the news, Tuesday, October 22, 2019

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OCT 21      INDEX      OCT 23

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from National Review  RIGHT BIAS

Universities Breed Anger, Ignorance, and Ingratitude
In turning out woke and broke graduates, they have a lot to answer for. What do widely diverse crises such as declining demography, increasing indebtedness, Generation Z’s indifference to religion and patriotism, static rates of home ownership, and a national epidemic of ignorance about American history and traditions all have in common? In a word, 21st-century higher education.

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from Patriotic Millionaires  blog

The Bare Minimum Series: Wage Compression

Raising the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour will lift millions of Americans out of working poverty – and it’s scaring a lot of special interests who profit from keeping people poor. In this series, we’re dismantling the myths, one by one, that Raise the Wage opponents use to try and stop 40 million workers from making the money they deserve. This week, we’re tackling wage compression.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

Dorothy Dean presents: Spaghetti pie is a pleasing, hearty and delicious meal

South Pole’s ozone hole shrinks to smallest since discovery
The ozone hole near the South Pole this year is the smallest since it was discovered, but it is more due to freakish Antarctic weather than efforts to cut down on pollution, NASA reported. This fall, the average hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer is 3.6 million square miles. That’s down from a peak of 10.3 million square miles in 2006. This year’s hole is even smaller than the one first discovered in 1985.

Fire destroys grain elevator in Whitman County; crews let it burn
A grain elevator caught fire and was destroyed in Whitman County Tuesday, KHQ reported. The Colfax Fire Department said crews were letting the large blaze near Winona, Washington, burn due to high winds as of about 6 p.m., according to KHQ. About 110,000 bushels of wheat were lost.

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from We the Governed

Seattle’s Decay

Seattle is decaying while we watch. Politicians deny this fact, but they are happy to squander billions of dollars on the Homeless Industrial Complex to fix nothing and watch the problem get worse.

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In the news, Monday, October 21, 2019

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OCT 20      INDEX      OCT 22

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from Foreign Policy

Magazine; part of Graham Holdings Company (formerly the Washington Post Company)

Why Mordor Failed
Sauron’s hegemonic collapse holds potent lessons for the Trump administration.
If the Trump administration wishes to regain its standing and truly forge a stronger U.S. foreign policy, it should look to the historical lessons from another struggling global hegemon: the Black Land of Mordor. Oct. 21 is, of course, the 65th anniversary of the U.S. publication of one of the classic examinations of Mordorian strategy. Mordor’s downfall can be traced to three primary failings, all of which the Trump administration is also currently facing. The administration would do well to study the Red Book of Westmarch (now in the public domain), The Notion Club Papers, and other ancient texts related to Mordor.

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

Then and Now: The Chemical Block
The Chemical Block at Sprague Avenue and Howard Street, was purchased by the Spokane and Eastern Bank in 1959, then torn down in 1960 to create a parking lot for the bank across Sprague to the north. The bank, a division of Seattle First National Bank, was replaced by a 20-story tower that opened in 1981 and a seven-story parking garage was built on the Chemical Block site.

Getting There: Northwest Spokane City Council candidates talk Monroe, Five Mile and other needed street repairs

Leonard Pitts Jr.: If we can’t be free within ourselves, then we cannot be free
“If you’re white, you’re all right. If you’re brown, stick around. If you’re black, get back.” – African American folk saying

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In the news, Sunday, October 20, 2019

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OCT 19      INDEX      OCT 21

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from BBC News (UK)

Wales' churches and chapels linked in religious trail
A pilgrimage trail will link 500 churches and chapels in Wales in a bid to bring back the flock. The National Churches Trust (NCT) joined forces with Visit Wales to plan the 440-mile (708km) route. Exploring Sacred Wales highlights holy sites which have been earmarked as forgotten or neglected. Their history, art and architecture will be showcased online in a bid to make visiting the buildings part of holidays and short breaks.

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from The National Interest  Magazine

Why the Guillotine May Be Less Cruel Than Execution by Slow Poisoning
Could using the guillotine be more humane than execution by lethal injection?

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

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In the news, Saturday, October 19, 2019

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OCT 18      INDEX      OCT 20

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from The Spokesman-Review

Newspaper in Spokane, Washington

Sue Lani Madsen: We don’t need affirmative action choking paths to success
Affirmative action programs are like the choke setting on a lawnmower. They’re necessary to enrich the mixture for getting started, but you can’t operate efficiently with the choke still on. What is sometimes a useful tool for jump-starting change can quickly begin to undermine the very people it presumes to help.

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