Idaho
updated
9:08 a.m.
I’m sorry – this rings familiar…. Oil rig explodes 80 miles off Louisiana coast; 12 people reported overboard and one missing, the Coast Guard says. Oh wait – they’ve been rescued. More here. Filed under: General Tagged: BP, Louisiana coast, News, Oil rig explosion ...
Left Side of the Moon - 9:08 a.m.
Two days ago on my morning trip down to the coffee shop to get a little wisdom at the ORG (Old Retired Guys) Table, a driver blasted right through a stop sign and almost made it my last day on a bicycle. So what did I do? Two things. First, since I ended up about five feet from the driver's window, I did not yell or make obscene gestures, not even any dagger eyes, Instead, I waved and smiled a...
New West Boise - 6:40 a.m.
The Latter-day Saints have this idea that people will appreciate a ticket to paradise, even if it's posthumous. I'm kind of particular about my own beliefs, so having someone revise my preference after I'm not able to object has never attracted me very much, but what are you going to do? (Word is, the Mormons believe "departed souls can accept or reject" the offer. No offense intended.) The ...
Fort Boise - Wed 10:07 p.m.
One of two, according to Tom Friedman : "There is so much to hate about the Iraq war. The costs will never match the hoped-for outcome, but that outcome remains hugely important: the effort to build a decent, consensual government in Iraq is the most important democracy project in the world today. If Iraqi Sunnis, Kurds and Shiites can actually write a social contract for the first time in ...
Fort Boise - Wed 10:07 p.m.
Listeners at KBIO radio in Boise were asked to participate in a (self-selecting) online survey about President Barack Obama. Results on which they think describes the president best: A foreign born Muslim – 49% A foreign born Christian – 3% An American born Muslim – 7% An American born Christian – 22% A president with [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Wed 10:49 a.m. - 3 clicks 
Raise your hand if you've ever taken a creative writing class. Keep your hand raised if you ever wrote a poem while in class that ended up being published in the New Yorker. Everyone's hands should have gone down now except for that of one very talented University of Idaho MFA poetry student, Ciara Shuttleworth. Robert Wrigley recently asked his MFA poetry students to study sestinas, which...
New West Boise - Wed 9:05 a.m. - 4 clicks
8/21/10 Jill Feeler S. Horseshoe Pl. Boise, ID 83716 ISSUE: Concerned about the trees that the City of Boise and the neighborhood board have decided to take out because of safety concerns. Parks & Rec 8/23/10 Thorpe Orton Johns Landing Way Boise, ID 83703 ISSUE: This is the 4th time in the last few years [...] Related posts: Mayor Hotline August 14 to 20 Mayor Hotline August 1 to 6 ...
Boise Guardian - Tue 7:07 p.m. - 6 clicks
This is what standing on principle looks like. Not surprisingly it doesn't come from anyone in the Idaho congressional delegation, Republican nor Democrat, but it comes from the delegation of......
The MountainGoat Report - Tue 4:22 p.m. - 6 clicks
I don't know where I first heard that, but in my mind's ear, it's in my sister's voice, so maybe from her. I've said it on occasion, even though I've never seen, or been bitten by a bedbug, to my knowledge. News is , this scourge that might as well be a myth as far as my experience goes, is making a pretty serious comeback after being beat down with DDT, malathion, diazinon, lindane, chlord...
Fort Boise - Tue 4:21 p.m.
I see these press releases from the Idaho Republican Party, and I'm wondering who on earth is supposed to be the audience? Today's has Jonathan Parker quoting Norm Semanko complaining about Congressman Walt Minnick having "smuggled [House majority leader Steny] Hoyer in for secret meetings with fundraisers they would not identify and from which the media was barred, rais[ing] troubling characte...
Fort Boise - Tue 3:02 p.m.
Raul Labrador, the Republican nominee for Idaho’s 1st Congressional District, faces freshman Democrat Walt Minnick in a race that pits a solid conservative against a fiscal moderate. One can see a clear distinction when examining the voting record of both candidates. Since his election to the Idaho State Legislature in 2006, Raul Labrador has worked to keep taxes and spending low, and ...
DailyKos (Idaho) - Tue 10:28 a.m. - 10 clicks
This is the first in what we expect to be many discussions of three constitutional amendments before Idaho voters on November 2. The GUARDIAN will be crusading like an old time newspaper editor to preserve our voting rights, defending the Idaho constitution and the rights of citizens to hold the “power of the purse” when [...] Related posts: Amendment Seeks To Deny Voter Rights ...
Boise Guardian - Tue 6:42 a.m. - 5 clicks
Following the link from the New York Times account of Glenn Beck's church picnic on Saturday to the video excerpt on MSNBC (and after muting and ignoring the 30 second ad that preceeds the rather brief selection (not quite 3 minutes), I was struck by how pedestrian his writing and speaking is. The mixed metaphors (will we be crushed by our scars?) thud and distract from a remarkably bland...
Fort Boise - Mon 9:26 a.m.
God, Seed: Poetry & Art About the Natural World By Rebecca Foust and Lorna Stevens Tebot Bach Press, 85 pages, $20.00 God, Seed sings the delights of nature, from lovers in "the cricket-sung, grass-sweet dark" to "sunlight/churned by the bees," and eating fruit, "where sun/has lain, juicy/with rain." Rebecca Foust's language is sensual and sound-rich--t...
New West Boise - Mon 8:43 a.m. - 9 clicks
I intended to put the presentation I gave about Stephen Jay Gould's book, Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History and several of the responses to it shortly after I'd given it in December 2008, but I didn't get around to it for some reason. One of the email lists I inhabit has been busy of late with discussion about evolution and creation, and when cladistics came up...
Fort Boise - Mon 8:43 a.m.
In 2003, on the eve of the invasion of Iraq, I sat in an East Coast hotel room watching the Academy Awards telecast. As the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences presented Michael Moore with an Oscar for Bowling for Columbine , he took the stage and delivered the most impassioned speech against the invasion I had heard up until that point. The next morning as I continued my tour of this...
Political Game - Mon 2:22 a.m.
Barry Blitt's cartoon accompanying today's column by Frank Rich, The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party sums it up with a quarter million pixels (most of them white, appropriately enough). "Only the fat cats change—not their methods and not their pet bugaboos (taxes, corporate regulation, organized labor, and government 'handouts' to the poor, unemployed, ill and elderly)." ...
Fort Boise - Sun 5:05 p.m.
It's summer in Montana (as it seems to be in most of the U.S.), so we go outside. I spend the winter huddled in front of the TV, watching NFL and Jeopardy. Then when the snow melts I take all that bottled up aggression and trivial knowledge into the Great Outdoors and get right with Old Man Mother Nature....
New West Boise - Sun 4:08 p.m. - 2 clicks
It's hard not to be charmed and fascinated by geckoes the first time you experience them. Taking the next step, here are some mechanical engineers applying the biology of the little green climbers to make Stickybots , climbing robots. I happened to take a class from Mark Cutkosky (mentioned, but not featured in the news story, in favor of his grad students) when I was at Stanford, but the ...
Fort Boise - Sun 1:05 p.m.
Refurbed my seldom-updated (these days) Patent Watch, and added a current item: Paul Allen's Interval Licensing LLC is suing a long list of internet/technology corps for (allegedly) infringing 4 key patents (out of a portfolio of several hundreds) by "making and using websites." And stuff. ...
Fort Boise - Sat 9:09 p.m.
Written by Bill Loftus SeAnne Safaii-Fabiano hopes the global blockbuster "Avatar" will help her quest to teach young people better diabetes management in a virtual world. ...
DailyKos (Idaho) - Sat 3:08 p.m. - 5 clicks
The George W. Bush-tipped Supreme Court is primed for another Ten Commandments case to bubble up and to decide 5-4 in favor this time that yeah, sure, Thou Shalt Not Worship Any Graven Images. And when you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt. And stuff. "...Foundations of American Law and Government displays...
Fort Boise - Sat 9:46 a.m.
It’s worth noting once again, just because so much anti-federal wind comes from Idaho, especially in this campaign season. One of the biggest and best single pieces of economic development in Idaho in the last few years has been a massive wind power project that stands to take advantage of the often fierce winds blowing [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Fri 4:21 p.m. - 11 clicks
Now I know what I've been missing every time I sped through Loma, Montana, on my way to somewhere else. This sleepy little ranching and farming community, located 55 miles north of Great Falls on U.S. Highway 87, is a gateway to some fast-action fishing like you probably have never experienced--catching a variety of warm-water species on a free-flowing section of the Mighty Mo. To call it "...
New West Boise - Fri 2:29 p.m. - 2 clicks
An off duty Ada county sheriff’s deputy has proven that even after 21 years on the force coppers still do stupid things. He got caught packing heat–two pistolas–while riding the mechanical bull at a Boise saloon in July. It came to light this last week. Bartenders spotted guns on their buckin patron and called the [...] Related posts: Another Copper Funeral In Tacoma Ada Sherif...
Boise Guardian - Fri 12:29 p.m. - 9 clicks
Glenn Beck has planned his "I have a scheme" rally (thank you, Jon Stewart) for tomorrow, coinciding, through "divine providence" of course, with the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King,......
The MountainGoat Report - Fri 9:01 a.m. - 3 clicks
A question. This comes out of news today that Conoco-Phillips, which has sought and gotten permits to run mega-sized trucks down the narrow and winding Highway 12 between Lewiston and Missoula, is appealing a decision by 2nd District Judge John Bradbury which blocks those trips, at least for now. The appeal, of course, goes to [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Thu 6:06 p.m. - 11 clicks
From "Young, All-American, Illegal" at High Country News: "Immigration reform" returns cyclically to the national conversation, much the way unemployment, health care, energy policy and presidential elections do. We are......
The MountainGoat Report - Thu 9:20 a.m. - 2 clicks
Remember the last time you heard somebody say a federal agency did a great job? Not recently, eh? I, too, confess to not saying it often, but I'm saying it today. Three years ago (click here). I wrote about an innovative new shuttle system getting underway in Glacier National Park. In my first line, I asked, "If we built it, will they come?" The results are in, and the answer is yes....
New West Boise - Thu 9:20 a.m. - 2 clicks
The University of Idaho announced that they received a $1 million grant from the Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation, to help start a U of I Law School in Boise. In the near future, the third year can be taken in Boise at classes held in the Idaho Water Center, but apparently they want to work toward a full three year program here. The plan is to eventually be housed in a remodeled Ada County Co...
IdaBlue - Aug 26 - 12 clicks
This has a feel of significance to it: Two months ago, in an effort to boost the candidacy of its 1st U.S. House district nominee Raul Labrador, the Idaho Republican Party said it was hiring two staffers that would be assigned directly to help in that race. (Here’s the release about one of them.) It [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 25 - 13 clicks
From a story in the Statesman today about a large wind turbine project being built in south central Idaho. First, note what Otter said of the project: Otter said the development of the wind industry is the newest chapter in Idaho's long history of creating its own power using renewable sources, starting with the Swan Falls Dam on the Snake River, Idaho Power's first hydroelectric dam. "The re...
IdaBlue - Aug 25 - 6 clicks
Whether or not you care about the recovery of grizzly bears, we face a serious challenge today of how to protect the safety of people who live and recreate in grizzly country, as whitebark pine, the driver of the health of the population for Yellowstone grizzly bear population, continues to suffer from a climate-driven beetle epidemic. At this critical juncture, it has been confusing and unconstru...
New West Boise - Aug 25 - 2 clicks
Illegal immigration is a crucial issue. Idahoans care deeply about it ... Americans are very troubled. The Arizona law has forced the illegal immigration problem onto center stage. First – let’s talk about the building national crisis. The Arizona state government took decisive action to protect its state and people from an onslaught of violence. It is also facing a crisis bec...
DailyKos (Idaho) - Aug 25 - 4 clicks
Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colo. is gearing up to sponsor a number of literary events this fall. First is the intriguingly titled writers' workshop, "Back to the Loincloth: Hunting & Gathering Sustenance Through the Art of Story," to be held on Saturday, September 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Craig Childs and Amy Irvine will lead the workshop, and as anyone who has seen the...
New West Boise - Aug 25
When it comes to fires “threatening structures or lives,” firefighters pull out all the stops and use available resources to protect the assets at risk. Such was the case Tuesday afternoon when a grass and brush fire broke out off South Cole Road. Boise FD, Kuna FD and the BLM battled a 200 acre fire [...] Related posts: Boise Fire Beyond The Limits Boise Fire Union Favors Bist...
Boise Guardian - Aug 24
8/14/10 Anonymous ISSUE: He doesn’t think the Mayor and City Council have the right to go against a court order if two different courts and the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that Boise needs to pay court services. Mayor & Council 8/18/10 Daniel Foster N. 19th St. Boise, ID 83702 ISSUE: Irritated that the Mayor’s Hotline [...] Related posts: Mayor Hotline August 7 to 13 Mayor Hotline Augus...
Boise Guardian - Aug 24
( Editor's Note: My new setup with a single, weekly post will be scheduled to appear on Mondays whenever possible from this point forward. ) Update 8/27 : The Washington Nationals are saying that Stephen Strasburg will need Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow. Traditionally, Tommy John surgery takes 12-18 months to recover and for a hard thrower like Strasburg, will...
Political Game - Aug 23
As a graphic designer, I make my living using a computer (and a coffee pot). I try to keep up with the technology and styles of communication, try to stay abreast of the cyber-zeitgeist on the internet. But nothing makes me feel more like a dinosaur with one foot in the tar pits than some of the text-message inspired acronyms flying around out there in the ether. (For you young folks, ether was ...
New West Boise - Aug 23
As Boiseans clean up downed trees following the weekend windstorm, the cleanup of a single tree in Holland has gathered worldwide attention…and like most world events, there is a Boise angle. The giant chestnut tree that gave comfort to Anne Frank while she was in hiding from the Nazis was toppled by wind and heavy [...] Related posts: French Grow Suspicious Pine Trees ...
Boise Guardian - Aug 23 - 3 clicks
Here is the second self-serving press release from a government agency, but we have to give them the space. ACHD joins Ada County and has not taken the 3% budget bump allowed by law while Boise City has taken the max. PRESS RELEASE FROM ACHD ACHD Commissioners are expected to adopt a hold-the-line budget for [...] Related posts: Ada Commishes Hold Line On Spending Boise Joins Growthophobe ...
Boise Guardian - Aug 23 - 3 clicks
Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? by Carmela LaVigna Coyle Rising Moon, 32 pages, $15.95, ages 4-8 The Cowgirl Way: Hats Off to America's Women of the West by Holly George-Warren Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 128 pages, $18, ages 9-12 If there's a little girl in your life, perhaps you've noticed: the world has become infested with princesses. According to Newsweek, Disney crea...
New West Boise - Aug 23
Boise firefighters responded in force Saturday night to a fire fanned by high winds along the railroad at Kootenai and Federal Way. At least 12 fire aparatus were on the scene with 35-50 firefighters. Police cordoned off the area which drew a host of onlookers as the flames and smoke lit up the nighttime sky. [...] Related posts: Rural Fire Costs $$$ Thanks To Growth Tumble Highlights Need...
Boise Guardian - Aug 21 - 3 clicks
Commenting on the conflict between Ada County and cities regarding payment for magistrate court services, Ada commish candidate Larry Rincover sent the following statement to the GUARDIAN. The cities were mandated by the Idaho Supreme Court to provide the services which resulted in an agreement between the cities and Ada County. It seems that the [...] Related posts: City Tells Residents How a...
Boise Guardian - Aug 20 - 2 clicks
Of course it is a self-serving press release, but the facts from the Ada Commishes sure paint a different picture from the 3% maximum budget increase in Boise City and subsequent levy hike. PRESS RELEASE FROM ADA COMMISHES: On Tuesday, August 17th, the Board of Ada County Commissioners officially adopted the County’s Fiscal Year 2010-11 [...] Related posts: ACHD Joins County In Spending Hold ...
Boise Guardian - Aug 20 - 3 clicks
There are supposed to be four debates in the Idaho gubernatorial campaign upcoming, and if the first – in Idaho Falls, Thursday – is a reasonable guide, the next three ought to be entertaining at least. And something of a marker of the real differences between Republican Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter and Democratic candidate Keith [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 20 - 4 clicks
The matter of the giant trucks that want to use Idaho’s slice of Highway 12 – a thin, twisting road that tests even drivers of compact cars – might yet turn into a genuine political issue. The point was laid out neatly in a comment on an Idaho Statesman story today about a lawsuit filed [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 17 - 2 clicks
Bryan Fischer, now spreading his special brand of lies and hatred on a national stage. Update : More on Fischer's wackiness here . ...
IdaBlue - Aug 14
When I was a kid, my next door neighbors were all boys. There were four boys next door and they were all Atlanta Braves fans. I may have been a Giants fan early on, in the pre-Bonds age when Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell headlined the Giants' roster, but as a kid I just wanted to be one of the boys and being one of the boys meant being a Braves fan. That was twenty-some years ago and as I write th...
Political Game - Aug 13
Wer’ll be getting into looks at the legislative situation, but for the moment an overview from Governing magazine, where veteran Louis Jacobson has taken a look at prospects in all 50 states. No reason here to quarrel with the assessment, which ranks Idaho “safe Republican” and Washington and Oregon “likely Democratic.” A fair number of [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 12 - 2 clicks
Can NONE of these people get and hold a regular job!? Do they ALWAYS have to suck at the government’s tits all the while lambasting it – intent on its destruction. Isn’t that treasonous? Dude must’ve slept through the last two administrations, eh? Drug cartels in Mexico?! Who knew the president of the United States [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Aug 11
We get e-mail by the hundreds every day. We get e-mail we don’t want. We also get a lot of e-mail from places where we sought it out, from governmental offices, corporations, sundry organizations. Some of it is useful stuff, and we’re glad to get it. (We also, may as well note it, use e-mail [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 10
It was the banner that caught my eye – ‘Worst Governor Ever.’ How many folks could that possibly refer? Butch? Jan Brewer? Rick Perry? Haley Barbour? Ah, geez…the list is sooo long. But here – here, it is – and then we’ll discuss and bitch. The woman holding up the sign is Kathleen Gustafson of [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Aug 9
At the end of July, the president signed the Tribal Law & Order Act. The ceremony is indeed quite touching, especially the opening and introduction given by Lisa Marie Iyotte – member of the White Clay People (Rosebud Sioux, Lakota Ospaya). One primary reason for such legislation was the violence Native American women suffer at [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Aug 9
Why does Maureen Dowd still have a job writing? I cannot believe this was even an issue, such as it is, like no one has moved beyond 3rd grade. Seriously? Some of the women anchoring news shows on MSNBC debated whether the first lady was being “mean” to her husband by deserting him on his [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Aug 7 - 2 clicks
While Idaho’s politicians debate about transportation costs, they might pause for a few minutes to look over this video – part of which comes from a keenly innovative business at Sagle, near Sandpoint – describing what the next generation of roads across the nation ought to look like. Their case goes beyond compelling; this is [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 5 - 2 clicks
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the creation of this blog and the beginning of a new era in its administration. In 1895, Lord John Dalberg -Acton wrote in The Study of History , that one should "[l]earn as much by writing as by reading." The practice of writing in a public forum has been as useful and knowledge-yielding for me as my avid reading habits. The list of things I have learned in...
Political Game - Aug 4
Walt Minnick (center) gets the associated contractors endorsement on Wednesday/Minnick campaign Walt Minnick, Idaho’s 1st district Democratic representative, must be living right. Four months ago, this space had no serious doubts that he was unlikely to win re-election. Today (and really for the last month or two), he looks to have a clear path to [...]...
Ridenbaugh Press (Idaho) - Aug 4
Nah, not even close, I suspect, but we've exceeded the wingnut capacity that I was expecting. Republicans are now seriously talking about repealing another constitutional amendment. First they took aim at the 17th Amendment (direct election of Senators) and now they want to repeal the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment provides important due process protections and requires states to abide by them...
IdaBlue - Aug 4
Editor's Note: The following article was submitted to the Idaho State Journal for publication by a former colleague of mine in Pocatello. It was rejected. I hope to further elaborate on the points he has made here that I couldn't possibly agree more with. However, with a two-day trip back to Pocatello at the end of the week and my blogiversary tomorrow, I may not get to it right away. This co...
Political Game - Aug 3 - 2 clicks
Some time ago a commenter – Larry Good (lw.good.24@gmail.com) – became so obsessed with proving me right or wrong, can’t remember which, that he became a goddamned nuisance. I don’t have time for such things nor am I willing to spend any time going around and around and around and around. Sooo – those who [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Aug 1
So you’ve been embarrassed throughout the media for being a sociopath, a scumbag, and an all-a-round asshole – now, what’s the best thing to do? Dig in your heels and DEFLECT. As difficult as it probably was for her, it’s been difficult for me as well, especially to hear her hurl an accusation of racism [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Jul 31
Doonesbury – today: And overwrought patriotism – from BagNewsNotes: Filed under: Politics, Redneck Patriotism, Sarah Palin Tagged: Empty-headedness, Selling Patriotism ...
Left Side of the Moon - Jul 31
We can all blame this need to talk baseball on Marc Johnson of the Johnson Post. He was at Nationals Park this week to catch Stephen Strasburg , who was scratched from the lineup less than an hour before the Nats took the field with the division-leading Braves in town, and his post sparked my own baseball musings. ( Note to Marc : Consensus is the Braves didn't actually show up to play. In ...
Political Game - Jul 30
Some would say, just free-market principles at work. "I'm shocked," says Lohman, breaking into tears as she learns how the Alliance Account works. "It's a betrayal. It saddens me as......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 29
The entire circus surrounding Shirley Sherrod is just shameful. From the self-enthralled scumbag Andrew Breitbart posting a doctored video online of Ms Sherrod’s speech on racial reconciliation (redemption) to the embarrassing response by the Dept. of Agriculture – not to mention jumping the sharp by the NAACP. All for false equivalency. Media Matters posted a [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Jul 28
According to Agri-Pulse Communications, last week Idaho Representatives Mike Simpson and Walt Minnick were signatories on a letter from 75 members of the U.S. House of Representatives to Agricultural Secretary......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 28 - 3 clicks
The Statesman has a front page story today quoting BSU President Bob Kustra as saying that he doesn't care is BSU football ever plays U of I football again, because "it's a culture that's nasty [and] inebriated." Ouch. I'm sure that UI fans are feeling kind of bruised about their rivalry with BSU these days. For many years, it was the leading university in the state. Many of the best programs...
IdaBlue - Jul 28
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Unfortunately, I didn't get a post up to commemorate this historic anniversary, so I wanted to make sure the following links were available for those of you interested: TDIH: ADA (President George H.W. Bush, from 2009) " Idaho celebrates 20 years of rights for the disabled " ( Idaho Statesman ) " Oba...
Political Game - Jul 27 - 7 clicks
Hell couldn’t be much hotter or muggier than today here. We don’t do humidity well here. It’s usually somewhere in the range of 8-12% during the heat of the day, increasing at night contributing to the coolness. It’ll have to storm to get rid of this godforsaken humidity! The granddaughter went to the river with [...] ...
Left Side of the Moon - Jul 27 - 3 clicks
Recent headlines and news from around Idaho: When it isn't enough: Idaho leads national increase in food stamp use Idaho No. 1 in nation in state government job cuts Idaho......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 27 - 3 clicks
The poor economy is taking a toll on Idahoans in many ways. From the Idaho Press-Tribune, [emphasis added]: Reported suicides in Idaho shot up by 22 percent from 2008 to......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 25 - 2 clicks
In Paul Dickson's Hidden Language of Baseball , Ban Johnson is noted for his 1912 complaint that games were running too long. The American League president said that too many games in the 1912 season were lasting longer than two hours. Two hours. Dickson's book couldn't possibly have anticipated that in the 2010 season, umpire Joe West would complain, nearly a century after Ban Johnson's comp...
Political Game - Jul 25
No thanks to Idaho's entire congressional delegation, soon unemployment benefits will be restored to those whose were exhausted over the last seven weeks, as President Obama signed legislation on Thursday......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 24 - 2 clicks
Here's a rundown of some things happening in the world of baseball, politics and current events that I've read and liked or simply had my eye on this week. Enjoy! Politics/Current Events The shame of right-wing "journalism" /Salon.com, Joan Walsh Obama, Crypto -Lefty? / The Nation , Chris Hayes Nampa Democratic candidate calls for creation of state-owned bank / Idaho Statesman An Earlie...
Political Game - Jul 24
There must be other progressive bloggers who receive email from organizations like Open Left and find themselves 100% on the same page as those that the email was intended for. As the following snippet suggests, there are plenty of us who are indeed "sick of conservative, milquetoast Democrats" who should be ashamed to call themselves Democrats: It seems that there are a dozen or so members ...
Political Game - Jul 23
So, I've been on a military conference this week in the Peppermill Hotel in Reno. Pretty decent place, hotel, bars, casino, the whole deal. Here are some random impressions. First, below is one of the prints hanging on the wall in my room. They're going for a "Tuscany" feel, or something. Frankly, French whorehouse comes to my mind. There are about 30 of these in the hallway, and two in ea...
IdaBlue - Jul 22
Here's Darius Rucker (I still can't seem to get past calling him 'Hootie') with his new single "Come Back Song" released on iTunes this past Tuesday. ...
Political Game - Jul 16
There's something obscene about money in politics. Or maybe it's absurd. Or perhaps both. Whatever you call it, it can definitely be cruel. Yesterday, Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick's campaign wrapped......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 16 - 2 clicks
First and foremost, it's about damn time! No, it isn't about time for a year of phenomenal pitching, though I suppose pitchers are due, but it is about damn time the National League won the midsummer classic. Yes, after a drought going back to 1996 when a National League catcher by the name of Mike Piazza (maybe you've heard of him, he was selected to 12 All-Star Games and holds the record for mos...
Political Game - Jul 14
A much more effective way of concealing your identity than the Lone Ranger masks. Couldn't you have done us a favor and covered up Simpson's mug too? ...
IdaBlue - Jul 13
The Statesman has a story suggesting that Otter is out of touch with Idaho's current economy, favoring extraction industries over high tech and new technology companies. In China, Otter repeated the economic vision he has held for Idaho for decades. "You've got to dig it out of the ground, you've got to grow it or you've got to cut it out of the forest," Otter said But the most interesting ...
IdaBlue - Jul 11
Without meaning to treat this smorgasbord as a "taking out the trash" day, since March when I took a break from blogging I've been compiling a great deal of links and whatnot in my inbox that need to clear out. Here's some interesting reads that are worthy of both mentioning and actually taking the time to read: Baseball Cox, Like Baseball, Evolved Yet Unchanged /Atlanta Journal-Constitution ...
Political Game - Jul 10
On his campaign website today, Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick is touting media reports of his "impressive" preliminary 2nd quarter fundraising numbers. Only problem is: one of the articles he's touting......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 9 - 4 clicks
Seen alongside a rural road in Canyon County June 22, 2010 Will money buy Idaho Congressman Walt Minnick one more term or will Idaho voters ignore conventional wisdom, leaving both......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 8 - 2 clicks
Editor's Note: It has been a week since Senator Byrd passed away and in that week I have struggled to find the words to express my sincere adoration for the longest serving member of the United States Senate. My apologies for the delay. It had been fifty years since a member of the United States Senate last lay in repose in the Senate chamber. In 1959, Senator Robert C. Byrd's first full year ...
Political Game - Jul 6
Last Thursday, as the U.S. House of Representatives worked to wrap up business before the two-week Independence Day break, 19 roll call votes were held on a variety of issues......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 4
Editor's Note: With the 4th of July just hours away, the Constitution weighing on my mind, Glenn Beck irking me immensely, and with my Byrd post slow in the coming, here is a guest post that I'd forgotten to post. THE CONSECRATION OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION by Leonard Hitchcock In the opinion pages of this newspaper, and in the right-wing media, it is now common to hear the U.S. Constitution...
Political Game - Jul 3
With unanimous opposition from the Idaho delegation, yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend unemployment benefits for Americans struggling to find work in a hostile job market. Twenty-nine......
The MountainGoat Report - Jul 2 - 2 clicks
Idaho Rep. Party Chair Norm Semanko has a "Reader's View" in the Statesman today (can't find it to link to it). The hilarious title? "The party of ideas wants to topple Obama's ivory tower." Norm sprinkles various trite phrases and key words in his article, but doesn't mention a single idea his party came up with. He is just trying to take some shots at Dems but doesn't really say anything. Fi...
IdaBlue - Jul 2 - 2 clicks
In lieu of the Byrd post I have yet to finish, click on the above image to find the complete schedule for Byrd's memorial service, funeral and burial. ...
Political Game - Jul 1
It's time to end the debacle in Afghanistan. There are real American (and other country's) sons and daughters dying in Afghanistan, and it's become clear that continuing is pointless. We can't "win" in Afghanistan simply by military action alone. The military, at best, can create a security climate in which an Afghan government can take firm hold. Unfortunately, President Karzai is showing little...
IdaBlue - Jun 30
I heard a news report this morning about folks in the Louisiana, fishermen primarily, who are worried about getting compensation for their losses. They can't fish because of the spill, and want to make a claim against BP for their lost income. Their problem is that they've been operating in a "cash economy." That is, they get paid for their catch in cash, and they don't declare the income. They d...
IdaBlue - Jun 29
Because I haven't found the words for a post on the passing of Senator Byrd, I thought I'd let you all see the finished desk project : Pretty cool, huh? The $12.99 desk turned out pretty well. Now if I could just manage to put all my desk stuff in it... ...
Political Game - Jun 28
