Gary Conklin: How to prevent an AI race to recklessness
About the writer: Gary Conkling started writing stories as a child and publishing them on his own hand-cranked printing press. Little did he know digital technology would make it possible to repeat the ...
Jeb Bladine: A worthy holiday delays newspaper delivery
We newspaper folks keep track of many, many things: Deadlines, for example; election dates; court schedules; names and numbers of local officials who return phone calls, and those who commit themselves ...
Investigating the Bible: A very good father
Erma Bombeck was a syndicated humorist, writing thousands of columns from 1965-1996. Here’s one from 1973: “When the good Lord was creating fathers, he started with a tall frame. A female angel ...
Jonah Goldberg: Let's hear it for Team Capitalism
I am not a huge fan of Elon Musk as a political activist or commentator.
Quirk of the Week: Pulling for a ‘Sweet Song’
Or, altar-native takes at the county Clerk’s Office When Quirk of the Week’s “The Gone Show” left off last week, it mentioned the old-but-new voting instructions in portable voting ...
What in the Yamhill: Faulconer and Chapman
This week we return to the city of Sheridan in the West Valley. The town was laid out by Absolom Bainbridge Faulconer in 1865. His plat included land from four different claims, the Faulconer ...
Randy Stapilus: Looking at late Oregon Sen. Bob Packwood beyond the scandal
After Robert Packwood, the long-time U.S. senator from Oregon, died last weekend, news stories about him flowed around the country. Most had a common theme.
Investigating the Bible: Humble fruit
John Barletta worked as a Secret Service agent for Ronald Reagan at his Santa Barbara ranch. Very skilled on horseback, he became the president’s riding companion. Reagan’s code name was Rawhide. ...
Jeb Bladine: A good time for the occasional sports column
This is a sports column. I’m a long-time basketball fan. My earliest years of home TV coincided with Boston Celtic NBA championships in 1957-59-60-61-62-63. Celtic star Bob Cousy inspired those ...
Leland Thoburn: An open letter from a goose
“Taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to procure the largest quantity of feathers with the least possible amount of squealing.” Or so said Jean-Baptiste Colbert, finance minister to Louis XIV.
Jonah Goldberg: America was more of a mess 50 years ago than today
About the writer: Conservative D.C.-based commentator Jonah Goldberg serves as editor-in-chief of The Dispatch, hosts The Remnant podcast, authors a weekly Los Angeles Times column, holds a chair with ...
Mel Gurtov: There’s a method to Netanyahu’s madness
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election chances election hinge on carrying his war Hezbollah and keeping the fires burning with Iran. At the same time, he must assuage Donald Trump, who has called Netanyahu “crazy” for undermining US-Iran peace talks by continuing military action in Lebanon and trading fire with Iran.
Quirk of the Week: The gone show
School’s nearly out, summer solstice nears, it’s professional baseball/basketball overlap time ... This is a season of transition. With that, a new selection of “Gone, returned, revisited ...
From the Conversation: As Colorado River shrivels, states angle for advantage
The Colorado River is in trouble. Simply put, not as much water flows into the river as people are entitled to take out.
