Bloglander

Around Town

Short sighted — The Spokesman-Review outlines how a new interpretation of the regulation from the Washington Board of Optometry is preventing the Union Gospel Mission from giving used eyeglasses to people who need them. (SR)

Still a mining town — Despite the accidents and the tragedies, Silver Valley still claims to be supportive of the Lucky Friday Mine. (KXLY)

The long anticipated city center? — Spokane Valley gets the Walmart they asked for for Christmas. (KREM)

Out There

Dangers of truthtelling — Another journalist was shot and killed in Russia last night. He ran a muckraking newspaper that purported to expose police corruption and Islamic extremism. (Meanwhile, Russia just joined the World Trade Organization.) (NYT)

Unhitched — Christopher Hitchens, the eloquent, acidic, brilliant and contrarian writer for Slate and Vanity Fair — a modern-day H.L. Mencken — has died of pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer. You could comfort yourself with saying, “He’s in heaven right now,” but, if Hitchens were alive, he would mock you unceasingly for doing so. (Slate)

Committee for Future 404 Errors — The House of Representatives debated the Stop Online Piracy Act yesterday, a measure that would regulate the Internet — the one you’re on right now. Critics say it won’t stop piracy, and could destroy the free Internet. (Washington Post)