Howdy, I'm a long time Christian Republican farmer in the Rainbow Valley of Southern Idaho and am writing on Idaho blogs and newspaper forums of both the right and the left so as to harken all the fine citizens of this frontier-rural pre-urban state to sit the hell up and sound the bellweather of alarm for what's about to destroy the agri-way of life of not only the pristine and heavily fertilized Rainbow Valley but damn near the rest of my home state. Yes, I'm a native to Idaho and am startled at the failure to act as the scourge of Argentina is now gaining a roothold in the volcanic soils of Idaho: Andean Pampas Grass!  read more »

leprechaun despairs
grouchy anus collapsing
cataclysmic dick

Crossposted on Daily Kos

Has it really been since August of 2008 since the passionate and persistent Bryan Fischer critic Binky Boy has blogged here on 43rd State Blues?

See his posts regarding "The Village Idiot" (Fischer)

Reading the article below made the title of this entry pop in my head.

"Where's Binky?" I thought to myself.

Imagine a team up between Binky and Mittens!

Joanna Brooks, writing in Religion Dispatches said:

"Earlier this week, I predicted that Romney would not confront notoriously bigoted AFA radio host Bryan Fischer this morning when the two shared a stage at the Values Voter Summit."

Brooks continued, "I was wrong. And I'm glad."

Rather than taking a characteristically pragmatic and passive response to Fischer's anti-Mormon (and anti-everyone-else) rants, Romney said:

Almost all Americans live for a purpose greater than ourselves. Our heritage of religious faith and tolerance has importantly shaped who we have become as a people. We must continue to welcome faith into the public square and allow it to flourish. Our government should respect religious values, not silence them. We will always pledge our allegiance to a nation under God.

Our values ennoble the citizen, and strengthen the nation. We should remember that decency and civility are values too. One of the speakers who will follow me today, has crossed that line. Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind. The blessings of faith carry the responsibility of civil and respectful debate. The task before us is to focus on the conservative beliefs and the values that unite us – let no agenda, narrow our vision or drive us apart.

And I'm most inspired by the response of Pocatello's Tamara Code:

"What I can't figure out is why either issue is an issue. Who cares about color and you can be whatever religion you want. Who cares!!!!!!"

if i was a 'publican
i'd probably drown myself
if i was a 'publican
i'd probably drown myself

i know that i'm evil and
i embrace all the injustice

lord, if i was a 'publican
take me off this mortal coil
lord, if i was a 'publican
take me off this mortal coil

send me to the devil
for whom i have so toiled

if i was a 'publican
i'd probably eat my shotgun
oh, if i was a 'publican
lord, i'd eat my damn gun

taste the hot metal and powder
go down like the setting sun

From gooserock on Daily Kos:

The American economy has been bubbles, panics and depressions for our entire history except for the 50 years when we had 70-90% top marginal rates.

• The Panic of 1819
• Panic and Depression 1832
• Panic and Depression 1836
• Six Year Depression 1837-1843
• The Panic of 1857
• Panic and Depression 1869-1871
• The Panic of 1873
• The Panic of 1893
• The Panic of 1901
• Panic, Global Crash and Depression of 1929

And as soon as we cut the rates back under Reagan we got the S&L panic & crash, and now this.

Dave Frazier at the Boise Guardian broke the story on a law suit filed in state court seeking to form a class of individuals who have been harmed by alleged shoddy administration by a private for-profit entity under contract to manage misdemeanor probation matters for Ada County. Fraz has been getting an inordinate quantity of complaints since May. The sole Defendant in the court action is Ada County Misdemeanor Probation Services, Inc. which appears to be owned and operated by a former bail bondswoman Nancy Cladis. Fraz states that the lawsuit primarily addresses charging probationers in excess of the amounts authorized by state law but acknowledges other allegations he's received:

Complaints have persisted and dominated the GUARDIAN news blog for the past week or two. Some of the commenters offered stories of intimidation and alleged they were forced to take repeated urine tests and rent electronic devices when their crimes were not alcohol or drug related. One writer described having to fill out an “evaluation card” claiming he was satisfied with the services provided.

A common thread in all the blog discussion was a fear of going to jail if the probationer didn’t comply with their private probation officer’s demands.  read more »

Crossposted on Daily Kos

A preview story describing Portland Center Stage artistic director Chris Coleman's approach -- including casting African American actors -- to Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!" ran in The Oregonian and on OregonLive.com last month.

Several online commenters charged the production with racist discrimination against white performers.

Several online commenters charged the production with racist discrimination against white performers. "If a casting call went out for white actors only, all negroes including Al Sharpton would be marching up and down NE MLK," wrote a commenter using the name "kedsokedso." "That's For Sure" wrote: "the black community should be up in arms." Others took it as politically correct, politically motivated or gimmick.

Coleman responded:

Was this simply an overt expression of the covert racism that plays out daily in the corners of progressive Portland's psyche? After all, though Oregon opted not to become a slave state when we joined the Union, we also made it illegal for African Americans to live here (a law that stayed on the books until 1926). And while communities back East were forced to have difficult, sometimes violent, conversations about how to develop a more equitable society in the 1960s and '70s, Oregon was able to delay that conversation a lot longer, largely because of our more homogeneous makeup (our African American population today is still only 6.4 percent of the whole).

The director continues:

Was it the idea of this very traditionally "American" (re: white) musical being handed over to a different population that felt so offensive?" he continues. "You couldn't really argue that it was somehow "unfair" to cast African Americans in roles traditionally offered to whites. After all, there are about 100 productions of "Oklahoma!" mounted in a given year, with ensembles ranging from 18 to 30, which means that about 150,000 white actors have had a shot at the roles since 1950 (subtracting the first seven years of the play's life just as a handicap). But something clearly bugged this commenter.

Others noted how there have been all-white productions of The Wiz and Dream Girls for years. So what's the big deal? Why not just enjoy the theater?

And that pesky little thing called historical fact also pops up. Coleman cites that, of the 1.4 million residents of the Oklahoma Territory the year before it became a state (1906, the year the story is set), 137,000 were African American. William Loren Katz's book Black People Who Made the Old West speaks of how there were 50 all-black towns. A third of cowboys were black. There was a move to make Oklahoma an all-black state and Tulsa boasted the highest concentration of African American wealth in the country.

And if you dont think that black couple in the White House is bad enough:

CNN reports that though Daniel Craig is about to embark on his third adventure as 007, speculation already abounds as to who will replace him. One name that has been the subject of intrigue is Idris Elba, the English actor best known for his role as intellectually fierce drug king Stringer Bell in HBO's landmark series "The Wire." That would make him the non-white James Bond -- an idea which Craig himself first suggested after Barack Obama was elected president back in 2008 -- and something Elba endorsed, if mildly, in an interview.

"I got what it takes to do it. I can run around, flirt with ladies and drink. Plus I'm English," he said.

We Have Tails!
22 Chromosomes
You Will Know Us By Our Trail of Otter Pop Wrappers and Clumps of Hair
Heads Like Chives
My Two Left Feet
When Jethro Met Hattie

Chris Christie’s political advisers are working to determine whether they could move fast enough to set up effective political operations in Iowa and New Hampshire in the wake of a relentless courtship aimed at persuading Mr. Christie, the governor of New Jersey, to plunge into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to operatives briefed on the preparations, the New York Times reports.

In the wake of the spectacular implosion of Rick Perry's campaign, GOP elites have been searching far and wide for a new "savior of the moment."

Those pushing Christie to run include the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, Nancy Reagan and the conservative columnist William Kristol.

Silly Rabbit on Daily Kos reminds us that:

Herman Cain, having convinced 996 Floridians to pay $175 to vote for him in a straw poll, thought that he might be "The One"—especially after receiving the coveted Donald Trump dinner invitation.

But Cain's ascent has done nothing to stop people from literally begging Chris Christie to suit up and run.

Should he choose to enter the race, there's no guarantee that Christie won't flounder like Perry has.

How will the party's far-right base handle the fasct that Christie is pro civil unions and pro gun control?

With such problems in mind, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin have been drawing up contingency plans.

But one blogger states that this is all:

...actually a sanity test ...

I am more and more convinced that the whole Republican presidential contest is actually just a sanity test -- anyone who thinks that any of the people running are qualified to be president of the United States is certifiably nuts!

The latest jobs report from the labor department was dismal for a lot of reasons, but perhaps most striking was the picture it painted of racial inequality in the job market.

While high unemployment is affecting all sectors of the population in this tough economy, African-Americans are by far the hardest-hit demographic, the Star Ledger reports. Nationally, black unemployment reached 16.7 percent last month — the highest level since 1984 — even as the jobless rate for whites fell to 8 percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department.

 read more »

Crossposted on Daily Kos

Or is there a chance for a win in here somewhere?

Let me begin by stating that I have been treated well by the Nampa Police Department over the last four years, very well.

In addition, the dreaded words "racial profiling" have yet to come from my mouth in Canyon County, nor is there any buzz of that particular evil. As an ethnic minority, that stuff matters to me.

But we have other problems:

The Idaho Statesman is reporting that three longtime Nampa police officers and one officer's wife filed a federal lawsuit against the police department and the city Thursday afternoon.

The lawsuit was filed by NPD investigator Leonard Claunts, Lt. Joe Huff and Sgt. Curtis Shankel, who all worked in the department's Internal Affairs division and say they reported various wrongdoing and policy violations by officers and supervisors to top police administrators to no avail. Frustrated by the lack of response, they ultimately conveyed their concerns to the mayor, City Council and human resources director, according to the lawsuit.

The fourth plaintiff is Leonard Claunts' wife, Ginger, who reportedly emailed Human Resources Director Ed Simmerman last November, alleging various issues of public safety and misuse of public funds. About the same time, Shankel sent an anonymous letter to Mayor Dale and the City Council about the same general issues, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit (Read the complaint here) claims Augsburger threatened to sue two of the officers for slander, reassigned Lt. Huff and took various retaliatory actions against all three, ranging from a negative performance review to downgrading their police vehicles and office space. One month ago, according to the lawsuit, all three officers were served with "personnel notices" from Augsburger and told that the Canyon County Sheriff's Office would conduct an internal affairs investigation against them.

Win-win scenarios are sought after, by successful people, when there is conflict. But here's what puts this case dangerously close to the lose-lose zone.

If the plaintiffs, who are internal affairs officers, win, what does that say about the administration? If the administration debunks their claims, what does that say about -- of all units -- internal affiars, the police integrity arm?

The lawsuit was filed by investigator Leonard Claunts, Lt. Joe Huff and Sgt. Curtis Shankel, who say they reported various wrongdoings and policy violations to top police administrators, which resulted in little or no discipline.

According to the lawsuit, the misconduct they reported included:

• One officer’s use of excessive force against a suspect.

• Another officer disconnecting the GPS system on his patrol car and spending shift time at home.

• An officer running his personal business during department shifts and using department equipment.

• An officer repeatedly showing up for work under the influence of alcohol.

• Salaried lieutenants taking more time off than they had earned.

• Top administrators golfing during work hours.

The plaintiffs were shunned by command staff and other officers who became afraid to be seen with them, according to the lawsuit.

“Members of the department, including the command staff, have also begun to refer to the plaintiffs and a few other officers who have stepped forward in support as ‘the Satan Six,’ ” the complaint states.

Can a win still occur in this rock-and-a-hard-place scenario?

Perhaps, as has happened in the past with other police problems, the complexities of this case will be analyzed and studied; and solutions will be intergrated into both law enforcement training and in municipal government human resources practices.

I hope they arrive at an agreement that cleans up this mess, for the sake of the citizens of Nampa.

Barack Obama's meteoric rise from little-known state senator from Illinois to the first African-American president of the United States is one of the most amazing success stories in history. From his childhood in Hawaii all the way to the White House, this title includes revised and updated information through the historic inauguration of the 44th president.

In Barack Obama: "We Are One People" (African-American Biographies (Enslow)) [Library Binding], Michael A. Schuman delivers a straightforward biography of our president that is a cut above most nonfiction series books.

An excellent resource, this will be welcome by those who are too young to read Obama's two memoirs, for school reports as well as casual reading. The book is filled with biographical information about Obama's life. It is moving and readable title for middle school collections. For high schoolers, the uncomplicated prose may have special appeal to report writers who are also reluctant readers.

Below are some suggested prompts for teachers to give students, for writing assignments about this book:

Tell about the influences in Obama's early life that developed his personality and character. What were his talents? What were some experiences that might have foreshadowed that the young Obama would become president of the United States?

If you could meet Obama today, what two important questions would you ask him? How do you think he would answer?

Write a persuasive paragraph answering the following question: Would you recommend Barack Obama: "We Are One People" to a friend? Give specific reasons to support your position.

This book should be read by anyone who wonders who is this president, where does he stand, and what is in his past and present." –Children's Literature

With writing that is clear and well researched, and information is very accessible, Barack Obama: "We Are One People" is a very good resource for upper elementary and older readers in need of high interest material.

Crossposted on Daily Kos

Also republished by Street Prophets.

***

In my ongoing dialogue with conservative Idaho State Journal columnist Richard Larsen, some interesting assertions arise in his views on evolution, stated in a recent column.

Larsen writes:

To apply the valid tenets of evolution and then make Kierkegaardian "leaps of faith" to make assertions that are not supported by the science is what Darwinism does. Such assumptions include, but are not limited to, trans-genus, trans-class, or trans-species evolution. There is no paleontological evidence of gradual and progressive evolution of bugs to mice, or frogs to birds, etc. And to make the presumption that this all started from a big bang which itself is causally inexplicable to scientists is another such leap of faith.

Larsen cites Stephen Gould, Professor of Geology and Peleontology at Harvard, who although an evolutionist, has admitted that the absence of fossil evidence for intermediary stages between major transitions in organic design ... "indeed our inability, even in our imagination, to construct functional intermediates in many cases, has been a persistent and nagging problem for gradualistic accounts of evolution." Gould continues, “All paleontologists know that the fossil record contains precious little [actually, nothing] in the way of intermediate forms; transitions between the major groups are characteristically abrupt.”  read more »

Oh honey bunny what a super perfect question!

You see, Democrats came from heaven where they are borne by the greatest of the angels, the angels of peace, love, justice, and equity. These mighty angels, glowing with a purity of purpose and hope so bright the demons in hell dug like hyper-thyroidal voles into deeper and deeper caverns and catacombs, shrieking and howling as the angel light leakage from a million miles away in the Heavenosphere burned smoking craters and canyons into their foul, leathery devil skin.

As the beautiful and powerful angels of love landed gently on our world, which was very new at the time, and with a gracefulness unspeakable and unimaginable, set the baby Democrats onto the soft, warm, and fecund earthsoil under beautiful date palm trees and a sky so sapphire the sparkling of the angel contrails appeared as diamonds floating on a sea of melted sapphires. The baby Democrats were cared for by earth mother angels who suckled them with breasts full of the sweet milk of kindness and perfection, and raised them into the corporeal manifestation of God's perfect angels.  read more »

You have the body of an Atlas and the mind of an Ayn Rand and when you shrug this time it isn't going to be because your Hanes white briefs are riding too high because mom still buys them small like you are a little boy not a 47 year old full grown man living in her basement in the room next to the laundry. Not this damn time, you!

You will melt the frigidity of your wife of 32 years tonight and she will attack you on your lodge-pole pine log bed you made yourself with those awesome lodge-pole pines you illegally chainsawed out of a state park and your woman, Beatrice, will know what it is to make love to a timber pirate. Yarrr! See my Husqvarna!

You are good enough, you are smart enough, you are handsome enough, you are caring enough, you are fact-based enough to be a Democrat. Hey! Who wrote THIS effing affirmation? TUBOB YOU ARE SO TOAST LEAVE MY HOT SISTER WOMAN ALONE AND COME OUT HERE FOR YOUR BEATING, MAN!

You love the taste of a strange man's johnson in an airport restroom while grubbing on your knees and you are special to him because he smells the lightly scented yumminess of your peppermint chewing gum and knows you care.

You laugh at the recession because you are loaded and don't care and you adore the Jethros and Buelahs of the Tea Party for all their craziness keeping you undercommitted to state revenue collection demands.

Republicans keep ticks as pets.
Republicans have fear of falling dreams too, falling off polo ponies or the lap of a huge leather daddy while he has a too firm grip on their ball gag.
Republicans pick up dead things from highways and mush them around on their chests because they like how death smells.
Republicans love God and Jesus and a secret demon they don't want you to know about.
Republicans eat potato chips and dip made from onions, sour cream, pickles and fertilizer run off.
Republicans make slow sweet love to cacti while shooting their guns at illegal alien silhouette targets.  read more »

Just wait until Obama the Anti-Christ unleashes his armies of howling Mastodon-headed demon warriors riding flame breathing unicorns! The fundies will shit bricks the size and density of Old Testaments!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/26/opinion/why-the-antichrist-matters-in-politics.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss