The end of The Columbian?

My home for 24 years (The Columbian of Vancouver, WA) has announced that it is losing its new building and will have to move back to its old headquarters.

And if it can't refinance its massive debt, it will declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy. You can read my thoughts at www.whapwhap.com.

The Bergen, Hackensack, oh heck, Liberal Record

I'm not entirely sure what the Record is calling itself these days, but I do know its editor is on the warpath against "liberal bias."

That's such a vague term, so I've composed a guide for journalists to avoid the pitfalls of "Liberal bias."

It's here at www.whapwhap.com.

The real 'Ax Men'

You think you know Melvin Lardy and the other Ax Men on the History Channel?

You probably don't.

Here's another look, from krisandken.com.

And the health care system isn't broken?

Apologists for the American health-care system long argued that we have the best quality of care in the world. That notion has largely been debunked, so the apologists cite the bureaucratic nightmare national health care would create. Hmmm. Let me tell you about bureaucratic nightmares ...

Last week, we received a refund for an overpayment we made to a hospital. An overpayment we made in 2006.

This week, we received a letter from a collection agency for services rendered in January 2008. Services the hospital has acknowledged, on several occasions, that we don't even owe. After hours of frustrating calls, both the hospital and the collection agency have agreed to send us letters acknowledging their error. Anyone want to bet we don't get one or both of those letters? Anyone want to bet we've heard the last from these folks?

In summary. When a hospital owes a patient a debt it doesn't dispute, it takes two years to pay it (without interest). When a patient is wrongly billed, that bill makes it to a collection agency in four months (plus 15 percent interest).

And government health-care would be a bureaucratic nightmare?

Anyone have experience with corneal ulcers?

Our beloved cat, Lizzie, had an ulcer surgically removed about 13 months ago, and has a residual scar. If you have experienced this, please let me know at My Kitty's Eyes. Same goes for cataracts. It's about the only feline eye disorder we haven't experienced first-hand.

Charles Klaveness

You have no idea who Charles Klaveness is, but almost everyone who has written headlines for newspapers does. He's an editor at the New York Times now, but when I knew him he was at Newsday. He was a legend. I was an intern.

But Charles spent an enormous amount of time mentoring me, and he and his lovely wife (and accomplished author), Janet, hosted me on a couple of return trips to New York over the years.

Among other things, Charles has won numerous national awards for his headlines, and an editor at the Times calls him perhaps the greatest headline writer ever. He is.

Anyway, I just read a story from the Times on Charles' retirement.

Here's the kicker: Charles was the greatest headline writer ever at Newsday. But I twice beat him for headline of the month. The awards were announced after I left the paper, and I never would have known I had won ... except that Charles made sure I found out.

Charles is a giant. He's not famous to you, but he is to me.

The Sashabaw Project

For decades, the remains of a famous Michigan Indian chief were kept in my grandparents' garage near Pontiac because no one wanted them. I still can't find anyone who wants them.

In fact, some experts now say they might not be Chief Sashabaw's remains at all, because the Sashabaw legend might have been fabricated by white people to sugar-coat our treatment of Native Americans. Conventional wisdom holds that Sashabaw befriended Oakland County settler Oliver Williams. Others believe "Sashabaw" might really have been Sassaba, an Ojibwe who despised Americans.

Either way, this is an injustice. If you have any information, please visit The Sashabaw Project at www.thesashabawproject.com.