The Idaho Statesman is reporting that Governor Otter has nominated Kootenai Medical Center executive Don Soltman to replace Sue Thilo on the state Board of Education. The nomination must be confirmed by the Idaho Senate.
March 31, 2009
Nominee to State Board of Education
Let the Sunshine In!
Way back in 1974, before I lived in Idaho, the people here gathered signatures and brought an initiative to the vote of the citizens. It was called the “Sunshine Law”, which was designed to open up disclosures in campaign financing and it successfully passed with a big majority. Now there is a move to add personal financial disclosures to the law. Here’s what Besty Russel, of the Eye on Boise blog, reports: (more…)
March 30, 2009
Tax Day Tea Party!
This morning’s Press reports a Tax Day Tea Party is planned here in Coeur d’Alene, down at Independence Point in City Park, April 15th at 3:00pm.
This national movement is spreading like fire, attracting attention from citizens in every corner of our country. People are worried. (more…)
March 29, 2009
GhostNet Report
The March 28, 2009, New York Times has a headline which reads Vast Spy System Loots Computers in 103 Countries. The article, written by John Markoff, describes how a Canadian research group uncovered a China-based electronic spying operation created to steal information from hundreds of government computers.
Here is a link to the just-released 53-page report titled Tracking GhostNet: Investigating a Cyber Espionage Network.
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March 27, 2009
Exemplary Citizens of Our Community
Please recognize and thank three exemplary citizens from our community: Sharon Culbreth, Kathy Sims, and Dan Gookin. On March 18, 2009, all three testified in Boise before the House Revenue & Taxation Committee to express their individual opinions on House Bill 244 sponsored by Representative Phil Hart. The significance of their action is not just in their willingness to testify but in their commitment to our community to travel to Boise on their own time and their own dime. (more…)
March 26, 2009
Needed Legislative Reforms
Mary Souza’s persuasive and compelling op-ed piece in the March 26, 2009, Idaho Statesman newspaper is aptly titled Changes are needed in Idaho’s urban renewal law. Idaho’s urban renewal laws need to be updated to preserve their value while reducing the opportunities for abuse.
The abuses emphasizing the need for urban renewal law reform have also brought to light the need to ensure Idaho’s ethics in government laws specifically apply to those abuses.
British Truth
Have you seen this incredible speech by a British official, regarding the country’s “ship of state”? The description he gives could well apply to our new administration also—specifically our government’s absurd efforts to spend their way out of this mess. Give it a quick listen, it’s quite well done.
March 25, 2009
Open Session, Wednesday
4,800 Calories! The West Michigan Whitecaps baseball team, will offer an enormous hamburger on their menu this year. “The 4-pound, $20 burger features five beef patties, five slices of cheese, nearly a cup of chili and liberal doses of salsa and corn chips, all on an 8-inch sesame-seed bun.”
You can read about it here: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9755V800&show_article=1
Any comments, questions or ideas on this or other topics?
March 24, 2009
Local Only Teacher’s Union
A reader sent an interesting email about some teachers, in various parts of the country, who have been establishing their own local-only unions and rejecting the NEA and their State Associations. One group is next door in Eastern Washington. I thought it was a very interesting movement. Here’s the info that was sent to me: (more…)
March 23, 2009
Lying Weasel Award
In its March 20, 2009, EDITORIAL: Dodd Lied About AIG Bonuses, the ever-discreet New Haven Register commented that its own Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd “…is a lying weasel.”
If I were a weasel, I’d be offended. But it seems appropriate that Dodd should get the first Lying Weasel Award. Nominations are now closed.