The Star - News, views and advertising of the Grand Coulee Dam Area

For centuries people struggled to determine whether citizens would be governed by the Catholic Church or by civil governments, whether they would be ruled by hereditary monarchies or by elected governments, whether enslaved by... — Updated 11/24/2021

United States armed forces have superior morale, leadership, training, and weapons systems. After the Vietnam era, the U.S. military resolved to never again become engaged in that type of quagmire. Efforts were made to develop... — Updated 9/29/2021

The video portraying an American Air Force plane moving on a runway with a mob of Afghani citizens running beside the aircraft and some on the outside of the aircraft presented an embarrassing image of America’s withdrawal from Afg... — Updated 8/25/2021

I offer, here, a few words of history that were overlooked when you were in school. Diseases have been master killers throughout human history. There was no defense against the misery, death, and sorrow until modern medical... — Updated 7/28/2021

Americans paid a high price to obtain and maintain our freedom and independence. Americans have also paid a high price to help other countries maintain their independence. Those achievements required teamwork. In the wake of WW... — Updated 6/30/2021

President “only I” committed political suicide during the final days of his term. Unfortunately, the pirate captain took the Republican ship down with him. His hour long, January 2nd, phone rant to Georgia Secretary of State Raf... — Updated 1/13/2021

During the long history of human existence, we have relied on belief. It was the only system that existed for most people. There was no repository of reliable information. Belief is embedded in our heritage. Belief gives us psychol... — Updated 12/30/2020

America needs a Republican Party that represents ordinary people and solves extraordinary problems. That would be a political party whose policies command a clear majority of votes cast in a national election. The Republican Party... — Updated 9/23/2020

What makes good government? Many of us would probably contend that we have taken a recess from good government. Sometimes we learn more during recess than we do in the classroom. Polls indicate that our confidence in the way our... — Updated 1/29/2020

We have two kinds of water problems: too much and not enough. The oceans cover 70 percent of our planet, and they contain 97 percent of the water on Earth. Samuel Coleridge in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner: “Water, water every w... — Updated 7/31/2019

Few things are more important to people than good health. Healthy citizens are a vital foundation for a prosperous society. The need for healthcare is universal. The need starts even before we are born. Prenatal care is vital... — Updated 4/24/2019

There are biblical references to false statements and rumors. It is not a new issue, but currently the problem is amplified by an electronic twist. The printed word on paper has been a mainstay of the American experience since... — Updated 5/30/2018

Some politicians, pundits, and lobbyists launched vile attacks on the student survivors of the mass murder at a school in Parkland, Florida. That seems counterintuitive, since we usually exhibit sympathy toward innocent victims.... — Updated 5/2/2018

John W. Schoen, CNBC, wrote in a June 2016 article that “the National Shooting Sports Foundation estimates there are roughly 5 million to 10 million AR-15 rifles [privately] owned in the United States. . . .” The U.S. Gov... — Updated 3/28/2018

Science has given us the ability to know things. Before the era of science, that being most of human history, people could only believe or not believe many things. Still true. But some things can be proved. For example, water... — Updated 1/10/2018

In the 1700s, when weapons of war were still primitive, the Founders of our constitution were wise enough to know that war could ruin nations, and they gave the congress the sole authority to declare war. Congress last declared... — Updated 12/6/2017

We do not want the Russians — or anyone else — to influence the outcome of our elections. But interfering in elections is an everyday occurrence. According to historian Alfred W. McCoy, citing research at Carnegie Mellon Uni... — Updated 11/22/2017

At the close of World War II, the winners (the Allies) divided Germany into east and west Germany, Korea into north and south Korea, and Vietnam into north and south Vietnam. The division of Germany produced a threat of military co... — Updated 9/20/2017

The world is changing at a fast pace, making it difficult to keep up and even more difficult to know what it all means for us and our children and grandchildren. Only a generation ago, 60 percent of college students in American col... — Updated 5/24/2017 Full story

We say that we live in the information age. The available quantity of information is immense. The reliability of that flood of information is uncertain. That situation is not entitely new; there have always been rumors. But... — Updated 1/4/2017 Full story

For many months, day after day, the first thing that appeared on much of the national news media in bold black letters was the word Trump, often accompanied by a photograph of Mr. Trump. By early March 2016, some of the political... — Updated 3/30/2016 Full story

Recently, national news pundits have been making a case that some of us are angry, disenchanted with the political “establishment” that governs America, and that we are willing to vote for an “outsider.” Why would anyone be dise... — Updated 3/9/2016 Full story

Deliver us from Chicken Little. The tale of Chicken Little is about unwarranted fear. This campaign season our country has been disgraced by politicians and pundits fear-mongering for political gain. Leaders do not promote fear.... — Updated 12/9/2015 Full story

We have endured a long siege of political rogue rage. Political candidates have resorted to outrageous statements to gain publicity. We citizens are naturally fascinated by unusual things; routine bores us. The national media... — Updated 9/9/2015 Full story

Some of our national news media and some politicians have sensationalized Ebola. Is that reasonable? We cannot know the future. Ebola may eventually become the Halloween trick of the century, but right now it is not. We are... — Updated 10/29/2014 Full story