Spud State Blog Rundown 7/24/07

If a liberal sees a starving child, they want to give them some food. If a conservative sees a starving child, they want to give them a Bible. And if a libertarian sees a starving child, they want to build a privacy fence so they don't have to look at that shit anymore.

• The Unequivocal Notion: Press-Tribune weighs in on the library debate
  In a desperate bid to inject some rational thought and common sense into the debate regarding keeping the Nampa Public Library open on Sundays; the Idaho Press-Tribune speaks up.

• The Political Game: Smorgasbord Saturday
  It has been nearly a month (two days short of a month) since my last Smorgasbord Saturday post.

• NewWest Boise: Don’t Spray Me
  I just sent off my personal skeeter abatement plan that I have implemented at my new home.

• Fort Boise: Idaho is Burning
  In one of my long-ago college chemistry courses, it was observed that if the atmosphere had just a slightly higher percentage of oxygen, fires would start spontaneously even in wet wood.

• Ridenbaugh Press: Where the fires are
  Driving around the Northwest week before last, we were struck by the amount of smoke in the air.

• Arbitrary and Capricious: Prisonville 96130
  From Sentencing Law and Policy, word of this upcoming installment of PBS' POV series, "Prison Town, USA":

• Eye on Boise: It's official - it's a disaster
  If the ugly brownish-grey gloom hanging over Boise wasn’t hint enough, Gov. Butch Otter has now declared disaster emergencies in five Idaho counties due to wildfires.

• F-Words: Simply Recipes
  My favorite food blog lately has been Simply Recipes. The photos are wonderful, and it seems like the author's cooking sensibility is a lot like mine - an emphasis on cooking simple favorites very well, and inspired variations on the basics.

• Morialekafa: The basic question
  I was just watching the Democratic "debates." I don't know why they are called debates as nothing is really debated.

• IdaBlue: Farm Payola
  "My country tis of thee,
  sweet land of subsidy."*

• The MountainGoat Report: The Trough
  Trying to make sense of the 2007 Farm Bill is enough to drive a person mad—or at least to stiff drink.

• Rob's Idaho Perspective: Letter to Senator Craig
  I received a letter from Senator Craig today:

• United Action for Idaho: How we can divest in Sudan Genocide
  If you are in Southwest Idaho or the Wood River Valley, please plan attend a workshop or reception sponsored by Trillium Asset Management on how we can change social and environmental policies by organizing how our money is invested.