In this economy...

Doug Clark from the Spokesman had a humorous column in the Sunday paper about how he and other journalists have had to slim down their every day habits, which basically went off like "THEN: Eating food at Denny's and NOW: fighting Spokies for food on street corners" and that got me thinking about how the economy has affected us all.

THEN: Brandon spends $200 on a tattoo of David Ortiz.
NOW: The Mendoza line would be an achievement for Ortiz, so Brandon buys a $2 magic marker to cover up the tattoo.

THEN: Casey loves squirrels and writes about them in the school newspaper.
NOW: Casey eats squirrels to survive.

THEN: Instead of going home and changing after a night of drinking, Brandon would buy a new t-shirt at the school store and go to class.
NOW: Brandon now looks through the lost-and-found for clothes he can wear.

THEN: Red Lobster was the place to eat.
NOW: Skippers seems kind of pricey.

THEN: Casey uses a cellphone to call his fiancee.
NOW: Casey uses a paper cup with string on it to pretend call his fiancee.

THEN: Brandon spends 80 dollars on a Spokane Indians game-worn jersey.
NOW: Brandon is now playing for the Spokane Indians because they can't afford real players.

THEN: Casey rides the STA bus to class in Spokane.
NOW: Casey now panhandles on the STA bus while riding to a pawn shop.

THEN: Brandon didn't shower.
NOW: Brandon doesn't shower.

Well somethings never change!

Spokesman-Review cuts down its size

So the Spokesman-Review cut down it's width again, by 1.5 inches, calling it a move to "a new, reader-friendly page size that has become the standard of the American newspaper industry."

Actually the standard of the American newspaper industry would be non-existent, but lets not celebrate the death of journalism just quite yet. The paper also said they were doing it to cut costs, add features and change some things around. At least they were honest with themselves.

I must say that the new size and format does look snazzy and actually works quite well in my hands. However, I can't help this nagging feeling that newspapers are just trying to survive instead of innovate and flourish. I mean how long before the Spokesman-Review cuts down more column space? Will it be reader-friendly when people are holding a newsletter?

Instead of just cutting down the size and adding sidebars, the newspaper industry needs a quick kick in the butt. If you really look at this redesign, fundamentally the Spokesman-Review has done nothing new. They haven't changed the paradigm. They're still not doing well financially. This might buy them some time but it wont change things.

Oh, and nevermind Mark Cuban basically solved the newspaper industry crisis weeks ago. Here's the link to his suggestion.

But newspapers would be much more inclined to lay people off and cut down paper size before they actually innovate their product. What a sad situation it is...

Epic Photo: Hang Five

The Spokane Shock's John Booker surfs after he scores a touchdown in last Saturday's 49-30 victory over the Iowa Barnstormers. (Photo by the Spokesman-Review).

Four men arrested for eagle poaching in Washington

Spokane made the national news again. This time four men were arrested by federal officers for poaching and selling bald eagles, golden eagles and other protected birds. The OutdoorNews article said:

Arrested were Ricky Sam Wahchumwah, of Granger, Wash.; Alfred L. Hawk Jr., of White Swan, Wash.; William Wahsise, of White Swan, Wash.; and Reginald Dale Akeen, also known as J.J. Lonelodge, of Anadarko, Okla. All were arrested for investigation of violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and the Lacey Act.

A complaint filed in federal court in Eastern Washington alleges that Hawk sold undercover agents a bald eagle tail, two golden eagle tails, one set of golden eagle wings, four red-shafted northern flicker tails, four rough-legged hawk tails, and two northern harrier tails, all for $3,000.

Last week I talked about a man that was poaching sea otters. And just like that case it's aweful that someone is killing these beautiful creatures, but just as bad is the people who buy this stuff.

I was at the Reptile Gardens in Rapid City, South Dakota and there they have a one winged Bald Eagle. It had been shot by a hunter with a shotgun in Kearney, Nebraska. The poor thing obviously couldn't fly, but the sad part was that it didn't know that. It tried to flap it's wing and get off the ground. It knew what it was like to rule the skys. Diving down, catching fish, and being watched by all. Until some douchebag shot her.

Pardon my language, but what was she hurting? Nothing.

The cases will be prosecuted by the U.S. attorneys’ offices of the Eastern District of Washington and the District of Oregon, and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section. The charges carry prison terms of up to two years and fines of $250,000 per offense.

Only two years? I'm thinking an eye for an eye thing should be put in here. Maybe that is harsh, but seriously, poaching is a serious problem and if you don't make examples of these men, then others will come. Fine them a million dollars and put them in jail for 15 years. Let's put a stop to the unnecessary killing of these animals.

I love going on kayak trips in the Nisqually Delta. There are lots of bald eagles along this area catching fish in the water. It is a beautiful site to see them perched on the snags and trees so proud and calm. They are a majestic animal.

Protected animals are protected for a reason. If you want to hunt something, buy a tag and go get a non protected animal. Remember what happened to the North American bison. They used to roam everywhere. Now there are NO unaccounted for bison. They are all counted and known. That is so sad to me.

What are your thoughts on poaching?

Spokane woman finds cat in used couch

Why do the best stories always seem to happen in Spokane? For a smaller city it sure seems to make the "Wall of Weird" a lot.

Take this story I came across today in the Spokesman-Review.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The mysterious mewing in Vickie Mendenhall's home started about the time she bought a used couch for $27. After days of searching for the source of the noise, she found a very hungry calico cat living in her sofa.

Her boyfriend, Chris Lund, was watching TV on Tuesday night and felt something move inside the couch. He pulled it away from the wall, lifted it up and there was the cat, which apparently crawled through a small hole on the underside.

Mendenhall contacted Value Village, where she bought the couch, but the store had no information on who donated it. So she took the cat to SpokAnimal CARE, the animal shelter where she works, so it could recover, and contacted media outlets in hopes of finding the owner.

Sure enough, Bob Killion of Spokane showed up to claim the cat on Thursday after an acquaintance alerted him to a TV story about it. Killion had donated a couch on Feb. 19, and his 9-year-old cat, Callie, disappeared at about the same time.

So it was that last line that really got me to chuckle. That he donated his couch and about that time the cat disappeared. Here's how I think the whole thing went down.

Wife: "Honey, get rid of this couch!"
Man: "But that's my favorite sitting spot. And the cat loves that couch too."
Wife: "I don't care. I want it gone by this evening. Donate it or burn it. I don't care."
Man: "Fine fine."
(Returning to house after donating it)
Man: "Well, the couch is gone. Now where am I supposed to sit."
Wife: "Funny you should mention that. Tomorrow we're going shopping."
Man: "Great."
Wife: "By the way, have you seen the cat?"
Man: "No, it's probably sad cause it's favorite couch is gone. As am I."
Wife: "I bet you let her out while you were moving the couch! I'm gonna slug you!"

A few days later and still no cat, the man is watching the news while sitting on the new couch his wife bought.

Man: "Stupid new couch. I had the perfect butt imprint in that good ol' couch."
Wife: "What was that honey?"
Man: "I was just saying how much I loved this couch."
Wife: "Quiet, the news is on."

Watching the news.

Man: "Hey Ma! The cat's on TV!"
Wife: "It is! That's our cat. They found her in that stupid old couch of yours. You know it's all your fault."
Man: "My fault?"
Wife: "Well, if you wouldn't have had such an ugly couch, I wouldn't of had to give it away. And the cat wouldn't have gotten lost. It's all your fault."
Man: "But I ju....."
Wife: "Enough! Go get the cat."