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    Articles by Robert Whale
    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@soundpublishing.com.
    Wacky weather conspiracy theorists strike again | Whale’s...
    By Robert Whale • July 11, 2025 1:30 am

    The initial news was grim enough on its own: flash flooding in Central Texas had taken dozens of lives, with…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@soundpublishing.com.
    First Amendment thoughts ahead of weekend protests |...
    By Robert Whale • June 13, 2025 1:30 am

    For all their flaws, the founders of the United States were brilliant.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    The concept of ‘habeas corpus’ deserves a closer...
    By Robert Whale • June 7, 2025 1:30 am

    Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently defined habeas corpus before a congressional hearing as “the right that the…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Sometimes a politician’s instincts just stink | Whale’s...
    By Robert Whale • May 31, 2025 1:30 am

    Among the fascinating relatives of the noun “instinct” is the German term “Fingerspitzengefühl.”

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Still proud to be a word nerd after...
    By Robert Whale • May 24, 2025 7:00 am

    My brothers and sisters tell me they have also been called to account for using “big words.”

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Tapping into the power of mental flexibility |...
    By Robert Whale • May 16, 2025 5:30 pm

    At this moment, many of our distracted countrymen glare at each other over a rigid barrier of hardened suspicion and…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    A look at the fool’s potential radius of...
    By Robert Whale • May 3, 2025 11:30 am

    Ever since it invented the skid steer loader in 1960, the Bobcat Company claims on its website, it has “helped…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Looking through the rear-view mirror in my mind...
    By Robert Whale • April 26, 2025 1:30 am

    Road trips through the heart of Eastern Washington’s one-horse towns are among the most treasured memories of my childhood.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    A serious bone to pick with the powers...
    By Robert Whale • April 19, 2025 1:30 am

    Questioning methods, as I see it, has nothing to do with politics or personal animosities.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Pondering life and death on this side of...
    By Robert Whale • April 11, 2025 1:30 am

    I no longer fear death itself, but I could do without dying.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Fighting for a word whose meaning has taken...
    By Robert Whale • April 5, 2025 1:30 am

    As readers of this column may know by now, I am a word person.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    The road to my heart is filled with...
    By Robert Whale • March 29, 2025 7:00 am

    We got her from a friend of Ann’s, as one of the two remaining pups from a litter of nine.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Have lunch with someone who disagrees with you...
    By Robert Whale • March 14, 2025 1:30 am

    On March 8, I met a reader and sometime critic of this column for lunch.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Still finding ways to stand in the sunshine...
    By Robert Whale • March 8, 2025 11:30 am

    As readers of this column may know by now, I am a terminal cancer patient.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Confessions of a klutz: Was I cursed from...
    By Robert Whale • January 12, 2025 1:30 am

    For most of my life, that’s how I felt about myself.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    A few thoughts on those ‘cultural elites’ |...
    By Robert Whale • January 4, 2025 9:30 am

    It stuns me how often we are guilty of doing the very thing we complain about and despise in others when they do it, but excuse it in ourselves.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Sometimes the goofy stuff is good enough |...
    By Robert Whale • December 26, 2024 4:00 pm

    The authors of “Un novo guia conversação em portuguez e inglez” (“A new guide for conversation in Portugese and English”) meant it to be a serious work.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    History has always been about human beings |...
    By Robert Whale • December 20, 2024 1:30 am

    Years ago, the late journalist Harry Reasoner said this on a CBS historical documentary: “The past is like a foreign…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    It’s tough being a pint-sized, bony geek among...
    By Robert Whale • December 15, 2024 11:30 am

    When I was a kid, a dude two or three years older and bigger than I was might as well…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Strange tales from life at University of Washington...
    By Robert Whale • December 8, 2024 11:30 am

    I have many treasured memories from my four years at the University of Washington, and to this day, they bring…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@soundpublishing.com.
    Let’s leave bridge building to the bridge builders...
    By Robert Whale • November 22, 2024 1:30 am

    I have been thinking a lot about an alarming trend in this nation that appears to elevate ignorance.

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    Let’s dive into a timeless treasure trove of...
    By Robert Whale • November 16, 2024 11:30 am

    Watching the 8mm Whale family films my dad shot when we were kids on the old Kodak takes me back…

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    Robert Whale can be reached at robert.whale@auburn-reporter.com.
    The long-lasting impact of a parent’s words |...
    By Robert Whale • October 25, 2024 1:30 am

    Why, oh why, do parents do this to the children they profess to love?

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