While it might be considered flattering to receive such scrutiny from our friends in the valley, what is the point of such a petty accusation? To get me to write more frequently on an ongoing basis?

If there is one thing SVI thrives on it is controversy. Their link feed on Facebook is riddled with condemning headlines delivered in an egregiously political tone. Some of my favorite SVI re-posts are the story about massage parlors getting busted in Boise, and tips on how to tell if your teen is a tagger.

All the sordid, sometimes silly details remind me of what we called the “CSO Blotter” in my college newspaper (CSO being short for Community Safety Officer). Bizarre tidbits about stolen shopping carts and freakish campus interlocutors sent a clear message to students: Don’t let this stuff include you!

SVI performs the same public service with unforgiving zeal. Through the lens of the Insider, an outsider might get the impression that the Inland Northwest is one big “I Am Legend” meth-induced zombie wasteland where people are left to fend for themselves in a vicious atmosphere of total chaos. Rapes, murders, pile-ups on the freeway, the message of this forum is that you’d better watch out or you’ll get what is coming to you.

It could be entertaining if it weren’t for the blatant racism.

When are the politicians going to FINALLY stop with this muslim butt kissing contest and PROTECT our country? -SVI, 1/7/10

If the right to vote was so important to minority groups then they should use that right as motivation to stay out of prison! -SVI 1/5/10

This is exactly the kind of rhetoric we don’t need in the Inland Northwest. It is offensive and unacceptable. I only point it out here because people should be aware that racism is still a big problem in our community.

I can’t help but wonder what the opposite of SVI might read like. Called the Downtown Spokane Outsider, it might report on random acts of kindness, have some interesting conspiracy theory about Republican obstructionism to health care reform, and feature an animated banner of Glenn Beck eating off the heads of small animals. I don’t know, I can’t even pretend to think this way.