See ya Sept. 1

I'm off for a week to take my daughter to University of Portland, her new home away from home. I don't look forward to our parting Sunday. But it's time. She's ready to move onto the next phase of her life. And it'll be interesting to start a second life with my wife after 25 years of raising kids. Marvelous kids. I thank God for the two He gave me. And the one He took home in 1984. So, move over, Empty Nesters. You're about to get some company.

DFO

Peanut Gallery (Issues, not Vietnam)

I find the whole swift boat battle amusing. It seems to me that Kerry is helping keep this thing alive because of his terrible record in Congress. The guy doesn't have much to his credit. Instead he can slug out it out in the mud with the swifties who have an axe to grind with him. Too bad there isn't a discussion of the issues at hand. But that would be too much work for both sides. No wonder more than half of the registered voters stay away from the ballot box.

The Edge

DFO: Kerry asked for it by making his controversial Vietnam War service -- rather than his lackluster U.S. Senate service -- the centerpiece of his campaign. I agree with you that this is an amusing diversion. But there's a lot of people who are easily distracted. Neither of the major prez candidates can bring this country back together. Then, mebbe nobody can.

Peanut Gallery (Media bias)

Bush put a stop to political ads that he neither originated, created nor authorized, while no element of the press (except possibly the Washington Times) insisted that Candidate Kerry reject the foul and vicious slanders against the President that were uttered by the sewage-mouthed Whoopi Goldberg (shown after she lost her contract with Slim Fast) and many others of her ilk at a Democrat fund raising event. Quite to the contrary, Candidate Kerry openly applauded Goldberg, et al, for their performances expresssing the "heart and soul of America," making most of us aware for the very first time that The Crotch of Hollywood speaks for the heart and soul of America. And for this Candidate Kerry received no complaints or criticisms from the DNC/press axis. As I said, I would like to be able to say that I find this odd, but quite to the contrary, it is wholly normal and expected.

Leonard C. Johnson
Moscow

DFO: I couldn't say it better, Leonard. As a bonus, I'm rerunning a political 'toon by brilliant Eric Devericks of The Seattle Times that speaks to Kerry's caterwauling about his controversial Vietnam War service here.

Peanut Gallery (Swift Boaters/Kerry)

I don't understand... why is Kerry asking Bush to do away with the ads? The Bush, nor Republican party put out those Swift Boat ads. So why doesn't Kerry appeal to the Swift Boat gang? Guess that would be too direct? But in politic, it is like love.... alls fair in love and war...

Cis the Retired

DFO: I think Kerry's a crybaby. He derides Bush's National Guard service in one breath and then whines when the Swift Boaters (who aren't connected to Bush) fire back. Methinks Kerry deserves credit for going to Vietnam but he also embellished his war record to return home after 4 1/2 months, never was in Cambodia at Christmas 1968 and then betrayed the troops still fighting in Vietnam by lying about the atrocities he'd allegedly seen and committed. Now, those lies are coming back to haunt him. Check out the Wall Street Journal link in the first item of today's "Headline" feature. I can't say it better.

Peanut Gallery (GOP prayer)

I think it's great that Republicans pray at those meetings. If we could only get them to listen to what God is saying. That would be something.

The Edge

DFO: Agreed. Then, the world would be a better place if any of us listened to God regularly.

Headlines @ 11:55 a.m.

*Kerry accuses Bush of 'fear and smear' tactics (CNN.com): Whatta whiner. Kerry and his allies (Michael Moore, Richard Clarke, Planet Hollyweird and the mainstream media) have slimed Dubya for the last six months, calling him everything from a draft dodger to an illegitimate president. Now that Dubya has bloodied "war hero" Kerry's patrician nose, the blue-blood can't take it. Wah! Wah!. The media, of course, are scrambling to protect their golden boy. Kerry reminds me of that other thin-skinned loser, Michael Dukakis -- only with medals. In a superb editorial, the Wall Street Journal explained why Flipflop's "war crimes" libel has come back to haunt him here.

*Kerry '71 testimony caused POW 'flashback': Officer recalls accusations aired over PA at 'Hanoi Hilton' prison (WorldNetDaily): Can you be a hero on both sides of the same war? You be the judge.

*N.Y. Times: Cable TV made us cover swiftboat vets: Editors grapple with how to handle controversy over Kerry's war record (Editor & Publisher): How does it feel to be no longer the only show in town?

*Christian stripped of workplace signs: State agency sued after officials remove Bible verses, bumper sticker (WorldNetDaily): Intolerance thy name is diversity.

*Reporter smuggles fake bomb on British plane: Stunt prompts officials to launch urgent investigation (USA Today): I feel safer, don't you? Sheesh.

Best of the Northwest

I heard a rumor that a local human rights type asked the Republican Pachyderm Club, which meets Friday mornings at IHOP, to quit praying "in Jesus' name." Seems the tolerant fellow thought the ending suggested in Scripture was, sniff, exclusive. Well, I have this to say to the fella. If you want inclusiveness in prayer, you should look to the D's. They tolerate everything but traditional Christianity. It's nice to see one political party still praying in Jesus' name.

1. Cartoonist Milt Priggee eyes that latest social sensation -- Costco selling caskets at its Chicago stores -- here.

2. According to The Seattle Times, "Some 1,200 nurses, medical assistants and others at Group Health Cooperative entered the second day of their five-day strike today as the Seattle-based co-op carried on with patient care using nonunion employees, temporary workers and more than 500 union members who crossed picket lines." For the full report, click here.

3. David Bond begins his latest Wallace Street Journal column: "Here we go again. No sooner did silver start scratching at the door of $7.00 than the humdiddlers this Friday (West Coast time) morning breathlessly warned long-side "speculators" through a Reuters megaphone that they were marching like lemmings toward the proverbial cliff." Now, I don't know much about silver. But I do know something about good writing. And David's columns are that. Click here.

4. Kimiko Hirai Soldati, a diver whose father was born in an Idaho concentration camp for Japanese, will go for the gold in the 3-meter springboard competition here.

5. Sgt. Jason Cook, 25, a brave Marine from Okanogan, Wash., serving his second tour of duty, was one of four Marines to fall in fighting Saturday in Iraq. He's the second troop from northcentral Washington to die in the last week here.

6. Another beautiful photo from Chris Jordan of The Daily Interlake of Kalispell, Mont. -- a creative shot of the Northwest Montana Fair. When I was editor of the Interlake (1977-82), Publisher Pat King once wanted me to fire a photographer who snapped creative art rather than kids with bunnies and Aunt Betty and her giant zucchini. I kid you not. Click here.

7. A moment of silence, puh-LEEZ, for the fluoride measure that failed to make the Spokane ballot when supporters failed to gain enough signatures here.

8. The Ralph Nader campaign is confident it will file enough signatures by closing time this afternoon to qualify for the presidential ballot in Oregon here.

*Writing for Next Generation of The Seattle Times, April Seipp, a sophmore at American University in Washington, D.C., sez a hipper version of Christianity is drawing young folks to church here.

*According to Blaine Newnham of The Seattle Times, USA's softball team is in the same league as the men's basketball "Dream Team" here.

*Columnist Bill Virgin of the P-I explains why you should care about that Group Health strike here.

*Writing for the Seattle Times, U-Dub prof emeritus Brewster C. Denney sez the U.S. must get smarter with intelligence in its fight against terrorism here.

Tuesday Quick Fix 6 (Aug. 24)

Saw a bumpersnicker motoring thru the 'hood the other day: "No one died when Clinton lied." And thought: Oh? While Clinton was being serviced by an intern and distracted by the impeachment flap that followed, terrorists were bombing targets with impunity and plotting the 9/11 surprise. On the other hand, you gotta give the devil his due. Combined with a Republican Congress, he reformed welfare and brought the deficit under control. (I must be getting soft. In the past few days, I've been thinking warmly about the Big Lug.) I wished there was someone out there who could bring this country back together. Neither Bush or Kerry can fill that bill. Woe is us.

1. Paul Nowak and Wayne Stayskal provide your Political 'Toon Fix here and here. And you can find an inspirational "Your Angels Speak" from Guy Gilchrist here.

2. Letterman: "Do we have a lot of out-of-towners here tonight? You’re here at a great time. We have the protesters, closed streets, the high alerts, the bomb threats – where you going next week? Najaf?!" My Way Fix: This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. Top of the News Fix: Kerry reaches out to opposing Swift Boat vets here, Earthquake rattles Olympics here, '70s extremists plan GOP havoc here, Kerry to try to make Bush "goat" of 9/11 here, and "Elvis has left the building" announcer dies here.

4. A new national poll proves that wording can make a difference when questioners are asked about school vouchers. How much? 22 percent. Wirthlin Worldwide, a leading research firm, found 63 percent of America supports school vouchers. But a Phi Delta Kappa poll due out probably will come up with a percentage far less than that. Here's your Poll Fix.

5. Writing for Christianity Today, David P. Gushee details how marriage has been weakened by ongoing social revolutions over the last 40 years and tells how gay marriage advocates moved into position to launch a frontal assault. Here's your Our Institutions Are Crumbling Fix.

6. Opinion Fix: Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (Kerry's bait-and-switch), Phyllis Schlafly (Title IX holds us back), Jeff Jacoby (Kerry's media shills), Michael Novak (Swift Boat vets), and David Limbaugh (In defense of internment).

--30-- (Monday, Aug. 23)

Gotta blast from the past today when I received an e-mail from Cody Smith, who used to cut my hair at the Clipper Shop on Hazel back in my Gridley High (northern California) days (class of 1967). Cody received my column about the Traveling Vietnam Wall Memorial from an aunt who lives in the Spokane Valley. And he e-mailed to give his approval that I'm no longer an "irresponsible student" activist. Writes Cody: "I might not have recognized the photo attached to the column, seeing a few changes have occurred. But, then, since I have reached age 66, have lost my left foot and my beard and hair are completely white, I shouldn't expect others to remain indelibly swarthy!" Cody's e-mail brought back memories of lazy summer days spent listening to the Beach Boys music at Mel's Drive-in on Highway 99. In his honor, I'm running a photo of me that he might recognize from those days gone by.

Extra! Extra!

if you haven't already heard, the director of the Post Falls Chamber gave her notice today. It's been a year since they ran off Ray Murphy, and Connemara Reisinger was hired in March of this year, making her tenure a sweet six months. That's a new record I believe. :) Murphy lasted 18 mos., Kerry Thoresen was there almost 6 years and the gal before her, Susan Manthey, lasted less than a year. The Hayden Chamber may be facing bankruptcy over the air show debacle, but the Post Falls Chamber board is going to really have a struggle with image when explaining why someone with Connemara's credentials is bailing so abruptly. Keep your day job, organizational management is tough duty.

In The Know

DFO: I'll definitely keep my day job.

Peanut Gallery (Thumbs Up)

I must admit that when my wife told me that she bought season tickets to the summer theater I was less than thrilled but I didnt say anything to her because she was real excited about it. I just figured I would go and at least it would be a way to get out of the heat for a couple of hours. I have to say that I was so wrong to think that way. The talent was incredible and I enjoyed them very much. I cant wait until next years plays!

Eagle Eye

DFO: I've seen 7 of the 8 plays over the past two summers, including "Chicago" and "Smokey Joe's Cafe," my two favorites. The Summer Theatre troupe is uniformly talented with "a deep bench," as they say in baseball. The second stringers are so strong that there's no drop off in talent when a play calls for a large group of stage, such as "Cats." They're pretty good people off stage, too.

Mayor Miller Responds ...

...to lead item in today's Huckleberries here.

Mr. Oliveria,

How like you to run one side of a story and not bother checking the facts. As I tried to tell Ms. Gannon, there is no policy to boycott anyone in Sandpoint. Case in point, we are currently spending $10,875.60 with Pucci Construction who is on "the list". We have placed an order with Dan Hall (also on the list) for $285. Of course it might be too much to expect that someone who bills herself as a political reporter would understand fundamental Idaho law. A public entity that has to purchase through the bidding process would have an impossible time boycotting anyone.

The mental health comment came as a response to" Sandpoint doesn't need a bypass, I as Mayor had the authority to order trucks to use highway 41 and not allow them in the City." Once again a little knowledge of Idaho law would be a tremendous help.

I know this will never make it to the public view, but as a former teacher, I must point out ignorance when I see it.

Your friend,
Ray Miller
Sandpoint mayor

DFO: So, Ray, why didn't you respond to Trish Gannon's thrice-asked question?

Alas, Poor Sandpoint

It's time to play taps for our little neighbor to the north. Sandpoint's getting too much recognition. According to an article by Laura Bly in USA Today Thursday, "Sunset magazine recently voted Sandpoint 'best small town in the West,' the August issue of Outside crowned it one of 20 'dream towns,' and September's National Geographic Adventure includes it among 10 'great adventure towns.' Now, its 7,500 residents are bracing for changes that many fear will not be for the better." There goes paradise. You can read the entire USA Today article here.

Headlines @ 12:59 p.m.

*Bush denounces outside ads: Calls commercials attacking candidates 'bad for the system' (My Way): Better late than never, right? The Swift Boaters caused a lot of damage to Flipflop before Dubya weighed in. In politics, as in telling a good joke, timing is everything.

*Janet Jackson: Bush White House used my boob to distract from Iraq (The Drudge Report): It was a very small distraction.

*Kerry stands by '71 atrocities claim: Campaign official insists Democrat was right about war (WorldNetDaily): Whether or not Flipflop was lying when he testified about "atrocities" in 1971 is more of an issue for me than what he did or didn't do in Vietnam War combat.

*Reservist to plead guilty to some charges: Sergeant says he's accepting responsibility for his actions at Abu Ghraib (AP): Accepting responsibility? Or taking the fall?

*29 million work days lost to drink in United Kingdom (Mirror.co.uk): Long liz zah queen, hic.

Best of the Northwest

In my Huckleberries column today here, I published a comment from columnist Stephen H. Dunphy of The Seattle Times about the city of Spokane's economy. I learned in the WorldNetDaily report today that Dunphy has resigned after he admitted to bosses that he plagiarized the work of other journalistas here. "I took careless shortcuts that in the end constituted plagiarism," Dunphy told Executive Editor Michael Fancher on Friday. "I apologize to the Blethen family (owners of The Times), to Times readers and to my former colleagues for the betrayal of the trust placed in me." 'Tisn't a great foot to start the Best of the Northwest roundup this week. But it's news.

1. Eric Devericks' take on the D's who are complaining about the Swift Boat ads is a must-see for all red-meat conservatives here.

2. Gov. Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (pictured) dropped the ball in protecting Idahoans who were exposed to fallout from nuclear tests back when, sez columnist Dan Popkey of The Idaho Statesman here.

3. Extra! Extra! If you've gotten to this blog through the spokesmanreview.com site, you've seen the breaking news in Coeur d'Alene about a significant new building project. If you have this site bookmarked, as you should, then you can read about Miller Stauffer Architects' project here.

4. In Huckleberries Last, I cracked this funny here: "Wonder if that ambulance and firetruck pulling out of the Fairwinds Retirement home the other day was part of what the outside sign advertises as Five Star Fun." And that prompted humorless columnist Bob Paulos to demand an ap-hollow-gy in his Sunday column (which I'd link to except Paulos' link takes you to an open letter from the city street's superintendent). Old Bob needs to get a life.

5. A five-day strike against Group Health has begun in Western Washington here.

6. Wendy Huckins, of Bigfork, Mont., the 2004 Miss Pro Rodeo Northwest Montana queen, skipped rodeo pageantry Saturday because she'd traded her crown for Army fatigues and Reserve duty in North Dakota. You can read about this young patriot here.

7. U-of-I grad Angela Whyte from Canada has qualified for tonight's 100-meter hurdles here.

8. Idahoans are going deeper and deeper into debt here.

*Columnist Paul Anderson of The Seattle Times sez the anti-industry Luddites have affected us more than you think here.

*Ron Judd doesn't apologize for cheering incredible women marathoners to victory, including American Deena Kastor who toughed it out for the bronze, here.

*Art Thiel of the P-I columnizes on that 8-man rowing team, which includes four men from the Seattle area, which smoked its Olympic field here.

*The P-I's Joel Connelly looks at a bonafide political race for the 8th congressional district seat that U.S. Rep Jennifer Dunn abandoned to become a bride here.

Monday Quick Fix 6 (8/23/04)

I hate to admit I was wrong about something. But ... I was wrong about the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre's production of "Cats." I went back a second time Saturday (closing night) because I was so unimpressed with my intro to "Cats." It wasn't the troupe's fault. Even with a briefing about the thin story line from Amy Dearest, I couldn't figure it out. Now, I do. The troupe was superb closing night (as it was in all four productions this summer). The full house loved it. I still don't like cats, the animal; but I now have a fondest for "Cats," the play. But enough of my poor attempt at stage review. Here's your fixes:

1. Political 'Toon Fix: Chuck Asay expresses my sentiments exactly on the coverage of the Iraqi war here, and Chip Bok eyeballs J. Flipflop Kerry's unimpressive U.S. Senate record here.

2. Kobe Bryant (pictured), the Los Angeles Lakers star who couldn't find a basketball court big enough for Shaq and him and who's facing a rape charge on the side, celebrates his 26th birthday today. For the rest of your My Way Fix, you can find Today's Birthdays here, This Day in History here and This Day in Music here.

3. Top of the News Fix: Dole: Kerry should apologize for anti-war testimony here, Buchanan: No conservative party left in Washington here, 46,000 New Yorkers also registered in Florida here, Athens Olympics ratings top Sydney's here, and U.S. softballers finally give up a run but not the gold here.

4. Eddie Murphy made "The Nutty Professor" famous back when. But Malcolm A. Kline came across a whole squadron of nutty professors who aren't very funny, like the University of Kansas sex-ed prof who gets his kicks showing his class porn films featuring dwarfs. Here's your Off to College Fix.

5. Seems Google is fine with gay porno sights but not with religious conservative sites that condemn the gay porno sights. In other words, sez religionjournal.com, "I'm OK, you're OK -- unless you're a Christian." Here's your Christophobic Bias Fix.

6. Opinion Fix: W. Thomas Smith Jr. (Time not on al-Sadr's side), Rep. John Boehner (Charter schools threaten teachers' union), John Fund (Why we're refighting Vietnam?), John O'Neill & Jerome Corsi (Kerry's tall tale), and Don Feder (New French anti-Semitism).

--30-- (Friday, Aug. 20)

I found a remarkable piece of commentary about the media battle going on between the Swift Boat vets and John Kerry's camp on a blog called "Dean's World." Dunno who Dean is. Or much about his world. But he expresses my sentiments on how the blogosphere is marginalizing the mainstream media:

What's been most stunning about the Vets' story, however, is not their allegations, but the fact that this group has been able to completely bypass the mainstream media. Even more stunning, when Kerry-friendly newspapers have launched attacks on them, they have been able to attack back, answering charges, pointing out where they feel they've been misquoted or misrepresented, and answering their accusers point-by-point--and they have not had to rely on sympathetic reporters and editors to get their message out. Just a web page, and a host of citizen journalists (i.e. "webloggers") to point their message out.

You can real the whole Dean World's commentary here.

DFO

P.S. Thanks for another great week and all the links you send me.

Larry Checks In

I talked to Mike Tracy and Sid Smith of U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's office recently about providing direct links to their news releases. Usually, the releases have good material but they end up in waste baskets because newsrooms view them as propaganda pieces for the office holder. I plan to publish pertinent ones in toto on this blog. I've also asked Butch Otter's office to provide direct links, too. You can find the first of a two-part series about Larry's observations about the current session here.

Googling North Idaho

My Google net caught some North Idaho stories:

*Marc Stewart of the Journal of Business has been busy this week, penning stories about a Coeur d'Alene biz that provides computer-based training programs for the gendarmes here, and the big news that Fred's Appliance of Spokane plans to move into the old Rosauer's store at the corner of U.S. Highway 95 and Appleway here.

*SFGate.com reports that the Sun Belt Conference will be as glad to get rid of Idaho, Utah State and New Mexico State in 2005-06 as the three universities will be to join the Western Athletic Conference here.

Q & A

Did you see that Lynn Berk of the Coeur d'Alene Press wrote a mostly nice review of Jerry Jaeger's latest book? I bet she was ordered to write a "glowing review" or else...Now that's the infinite justice of Hagadone.

The Edge

DFO: Dunno whether or not it was a glowing review because I had a hard time following it. I noted that Berk didn't mention that HHospitality partner Jaeger, writing under a pseudonym, was the author. What's that all about? I can't imagine a legit newspaper reviewing a book by someone in its corporate hierarchy without disclosing that fact. I might have to get a copy of Jaeger's book to provide a legitimate review.

Ambush Journalism

Like many of you, I once was a fan of Chris Mathews' "Hard Ball" program, particularly during the race to Baghdad last year. But it has become evident that old Chris is marching to the tune of the National Democratic Party. After a recent nasty close encounter in which Tip O'Neill's former spear carrier belittled her youth," conservative columnist Michelle Malkin wrote:

What I take away from all this is that the Democrat Party waterboys in the media are in full desperation mode. I have now witnessed firsthand and up close (Matthews' spittle nearly hit me in the face) how the pressure from alternative media sources--the blogosphere, conservative Internet forums, talk radio, Regnery Publishing, FOX News, etc. --is driving these people absolutely batty.

Share The Truth and NRMET@aol.com brought this matter to our attention. You can find the complete text of Michelle's comments in her blog today at this link here.

Headlines @ 11:37 a.m.

*Kerry: Vets' book should be withdrawn: 'Unfit for Command' publisher distributing 'falsehoods,' 'smear' (WorldNetDaily): Gee, I didn't hear Flipflop whining when fat slob Michael Moore, his propagandameister, was doing a number on Dubya. Can you imagine the uproar from the Left if Dubya called for the other side to censor one of its books?

*Phelps wins fourth gold medal in butterfly duel with fellow American (ESPN.com): Take that, Thorpedo.

*Kerry ex-lover's site back up: But woman takes down 'controversial' photos of John (WorldNetDaily): You can't keep a conniving woman down.

*Ministry cited movie 'ratings creep' years ago: Christian organization not surprised by recent findings of Harvard study (WorldNetDaily): A PG-13 rating ain't what she used to be.

*US Senator Kennedy Complains About Being on Anti-Terror 'No Fly' List (Voice of America): Nice to see the airlines finally profiling the right people.

Best of the Northwest

It doesn't bother me much to encounter cigarette smoke in a public area, such as a park or Coeur d'Alene's City Beach. I figure the wind blows it away before it does damage (if casual driveby smoke in such setting does damage at all). However, I support the lifeguards' call for a smoking ban on the beach because, frankly, many smokers are slobs. They put their cigarettes out in the sand and leave them there. The beach has become a giant ash tray. Time to ban smokers from another area. You can find the story here.

1. Eric Devericks looks at that monkey of J. Flipflop Kerry's back here.

2. Idahoans Jarred Rome and Ian Waltz (pictured during his days at WSU) are representing America tomorrow when the discus competition kicks off at the Summer Olympics. Both now live in Boy-C. But Waltz graduated from nearby Post Falls High. You can find The Idaho Statesman story here.

3. Meanwhile, Idaho triathlete Barb Lindquist believes she'll be safe from sharks in the Mediterranean during the swim portion of her competition here.

4. Omak native Chad Kellogg, 32, broke his own record by climbing Mount Rainier and back -- a hike that usually takes two days -- in under five hours. The P-I tells you about the exploits of this mountaineer/guide here.

5. A hot real estate market, like Whitefish, Mont., puts pressure on seniors living on fixed incomes here.

6. G. George Ostrom, who once almost sold me his Kalispell News weekly, tells Whitefish Pilot readers about rescuing a damsel in distress on a climb with his Over The Hill Gang up Mount Oberlin in Glacier National Park here.

7. Greyhound bus service made residents of tiny Drummond, Mont., feel connected to the outer world. Now, they're not. The Missoulian was on the scene Tuesday when the last bus to Drummond pulled out here.

8. State wildlife officials suspect poaching after a rotting black bear carcass was found in a remote part of the WSU campus here.

*Joel Connelly of the Seattle P-I examines why media "Bigfeet" are wrong so much of the time here.

*Susan Byrnes of The Seattle Times looks at the misguided trend of delaying kindergarten here.

*Ron Judd of The Seattle Times opines on that Carly Patterson gold medal that finally lit a fire under the Summer Olympics crowd here.

*Yeah, yeah, I know Marty Fortier of the Coeur d'Alene Press was trying to be sarcastic with his column today opining on the need to rid the Olympics of most female sports. But he misfired. Don't believe me? Read Fortier's column for yourself here.

TGIF Quick Fix 6 (8/20/04)

Moqtada al-Sadr (pictured), the junior sheik with the really bad teeth, has surrendered control of the Imam Ali Mosque to his betters, meaning he really didn't mean it when he said he'd fight to his last drop of blood. Mebbe he meant to the last drop of his militia's blood. Anyway, Moqtada has left the building to lead another insurgency on another day. But hundreds of his followers didn't. You can find the story here.

1. Your Political 'Toon Fix: Chuck Asay (Al Sadr here, Paul Nowak (Summer Olympics) here, and Guy Gilchrist (Your Angel Speaks/inspirational) here.

2. Today's Birthdays include TV journalist Connie Chung and ex-Lead Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant among others here. For the rest of your Wake Up & Read It Fix, you can find This Day in History here and This Day in Music here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Kerry campaign is calling for publisher to ban "Unfit for Command" here, Swift Boat vets launch another ad here, CBS Poll: Kerry support collapsing among Catholics, vets here, Poll: Americans link Iraq with WMD here, and Scoring questioned in Paul Hamm all-around win here.

4. In the third of a three-part series for The Washington Times, John E. O'Neill and Jerome L. Corsi dispute accounts of 25-year-old Lt. John Kerry's rescue of a man from a Vietnam river. Here's your Other Side of the Story Fix. Also, you can find the first two parts of the series here and here.

5. Odds are that Dubya will lose Oregon again. But there's some interesting dynamics coming to a head that could result in an upset. For example, conservative Oregonians beyond the liberal population centers of Portland and Eugene have had it up to here with Far Left kooks that run the state's politics. That backlash is growing, sez Chris Suellentrop of Slate. Here's your Political Landscape Fix.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Sue Diaz (A Son Comes Home from Iraq), Charles Krauthammer (Moving troops), Paul Greenberg (defending the electoral college), Jerry Falwell (Enduring power of the Gospel), and Susan Estrich (women vs. Costco).

--30-- (Thursday, Aug. 19)

A loyal reader e-mailed the text of a much-forwarded prayer in which Pastor Joe Wright used an invocation before Kansas legislators to lambaste the sins of this country. Example: "We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice." Attached to the prayer was a note from the reader: "This pastor has guts." Indeed, he does. And did. The prayer was read to the Kansas House of Representatives -- in January 1996. More than eight years ago. And it's still making the rounds as though it just happened. Beware of Urban Legends. You can find the Snopes.com story about the prayer and its text -- which is still pertinent today -- here.

DFO

Still Flipflop's No. 1 Fan

I liked this AP library photo of ours so much that I decided to run it again. As you may recall, Hanoi Jane Fonda is going to New York to promote "Vaginas Vote," a get-out-the-vote effort for feministas. In the photo, of course, she was promoting the enemy war effort in Vietnam. Also on the Demo feminista front, Lee Roystone Whitnum, a former Kerry galpal, has given up the attempt to cash in on Flipflop's candidacy. She's pulled her Web site offline. I provided a link to the site yesterday, which will get you nowhere today. You can read all about Whitnum's 15 minutes of fame here.

Foreign Leaders Band

What do you get when you mix Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band with foreign leaders who support John Kerry's prez candidacy? You get "Lt. Kerry's Foreign Leaders Fan Club Band." A clever Cyber magician put the two together. And Share The Truth found it on line. Ya just gotta look at a photo of "Lt. Kerry's Foreign Leaders Fan Club Band" here. And be sure to share it with friends.

Peanut Gallery (Blood for Oil)

The oil theory doesn't hold much anymore today than it did in Sr. Bush day.... because if it were true fact.... then you tell me why we are paying almost $2 a gallon...It didn't go down after the first time and it didn't this time..10 cent is not enough decrease to say war for oil. At least not to me.

Cis The Retired

DFO: Bingo.

'Ode for the National Lentil Festival

I praise thee small lentil
I often consume,
thou toothsome and tasty,
most noble legume.

The Bard of Sherman Avenue

DFO: The festival is happening Friday and Saturday in Pullman, Wash. You can find a list of events here. Don't miss Captain Leroy and the Zydeco Locals tomorrow night. Can't believe it isn't a local holiday.

Peanut Gallery (Iraq)

Very thoughtful piece on your personal touching of the Viet Nam War, Dave

My view is that history will reveal that the total and deadly military execution of the Iraq War had nothing to do with terrorism at all. It had one purpose: to protect and secure oil for the future of our economy and our country.

I believe that the administration and the legislative branches, from leadership of both sides of the Democratic and Republican aisles understood this reason and found an opportunity to gain a foothold in this oil region once and for all. I believe that they used the threat of WMDs and this murderer Iraqi leader as the reason for our military involvement in Iraq. I do not hold either party responsible. I hold each party and each elected official responsible for this decision. We could not get the oil by containment. We needed to sacrifice our young men and women to get the oil.

When the dark corners of the room have been lighted where all these plans were made, I believe that oil will have been the reason. Everything else was the means to get the oil.

Steve Badraun

DFO: I disagree with Steve's point of view re: oil and the war. But he argues his position well.

Headlines @ 11:59

*Kerry's 'fraudulent' report basis for military record: Officer at scene of Bronze Star event insists they didn't receive 'enemy fire' (WorldNetDaily): The national media's trying to make this group of decorated anti-Kerry Swift Boat captains out to be jealous oafs. Betcha the networks would be hanging from their every word if they were criticizing the president. I've never seen such slanted coverage of a prez election.

*Planned Parenthood charged with racism: L.A. employees say white women created hostile environment (WorldNetDaily): What goes around, comes around.

*Peirsol reclaims Olympic gold after initial DQ in 200 backstroke (BBC Sport): I know. I know. I've ruined it for you. Now, you'll know all about the controversy and its outcome before you watch Bob Costas tonight. Sorry.

*Oscar-Winning Composer Elmer Bernstein Dead at 82 (Reuters): And he died (Genesis 5).

*Army Report on Iraqi Prisoner Abuse Faults Military Interrogators, But Clears High-Ranking Pentagon Officials
(Voice of America): What? Dubya wasn't directly involved? Michael Moore will never believe it.

Best of the Northwest

Did you know that one-sixth of the Australian Olympic basketball team once played in Gonzaga's kennel -- back before the marvelous postseason runs began? Yup. Center Paul Rogers and guard John Rillie (as Zag in December 1994 photo at right) are Zags of mid-1990s vintage. Dave Boling, a former S-R columnist who now works for the Tacoma News-Tribune, writes argues that this is a Gonzaga world and we just live in it here.

1. Eric Devericks of The Seattle Times nails the Gov. McGreevey scandal here.

2. Ralph Bartholdt, the St. Maries Gazette-Record's man in Iraq, provides another in an ongoing series about the men and women of Camp Taqaddum and their Iraqi associates here.

3. Oopsies. The new Dex phone book for the Tri-Cities failed to include the 41 Franklin County office numbers -- and got the human resources number incorrectly. Before you say, D'oh! click here.

4. The Defense of Marriage Act survives a challenge in a Tacoma court here.

5. A former Vandal wins a bronze here.

6. Don't look now, Idaho Vandals, but Boy-C State has a freshman class of lineman who average 311 pounds. The biggest one is 6-foot-5, 325-pound Ryan Clady of Rialto, Calif. Age 17! Click here.

7. I just realized that I forgot to give you My Padre Steve Massey's words to live by from the Saturday church page. This week, he sez: "Good works are for naught if not for genuine faith." You can find the rest of the story here.

8. Group Health and its hired hands aren't talking, making a labor strike more likely here.

*Publisher Dan Hammes of the St. Maries Gazette-Record has North Idaho D's hopping mad with this week's editorial re: the planned visit by singer Carole King here.

*When considering polling data, columnist Joni Balter of The Seattle Times sez, voters should beware here.

*While everyone has fixated on the rich Sad Sacks of the USA men's "Dream Team," women softballers and basketballers are in a league of their own at the Olympics, sez Ron Judd of The Seattle Times here.

*Art Thiel, sports columnist extraordinaire for the P-I, sez bulking arms have given the Summer Olympics a lift here.

Thursday Quick Fix 6 (8/19/04)

The natives must be getting restless. I've had three women in the last two days call to rant about abortion and my support of the Iraqi war effort. Unpleasant women who give credence to the fact that all women are not ladies. I won't repeat what the last one said. But her husband shouldn't let her open her mouth in public -- that is, unless he's afraid of her. I guess listening to emotional femmes fume about pet issues goes with the territory. It certainly gets me in the right frame of mind to prepare your morning fixes.

1. Your Political 'Toon Fix: Kevin Tuma here and Jim Huber here.

2. On this day in 1946, Slick Willie (pictured with unknown femme fan) burst forth from his Mommy's tummy hell-bent on becoming the 42nd president of the United States and bedding down as many big-hair trailer girls as he could in the process. For your Wake Up & Read It Fix, you can find the rest of Today's Birthdays here, This Day in History here, and This Day in Music here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Gore gets speeding ticket while traveling in Oregon here, Doping casts shadow over the Olympics again here, Aborted baby's head left inside woman here, Poll: National security most important here, and Nader denounces Kerry's gunslingers here.

4. In the second of a three-part series, the Washington Times investigates the "war hero" personna John Kerry created in his diaries and home movies in Vietnam with the recollections of those who served with him here. For the rest of your War Hero? Fix, Media Reality Check points out that the three major networks aired 75 stories last winter about the charge that Bush went AWOL during his National Guard service but only nine re: Swift Boat captains complaints about Kerry here.

5. In a news release, the World Congress of Families called the planned distribution of 130,000 free condoms to athletes at the Olympic Games in Greece “a pathetic publicity ploy that contradicts the spirit of the Games,” and chided Olympic officials for accepting the prophylactics. Here's your This Ain't Your Fathers Olympics Fix.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Ann Coulter (Ballad of the French berets), Larry Elder (Bush haters and the rest of us), Walid Phares (Why Najaf matters), Collin Levey (charter schools), and Erick Stakelbeck & Ali Babingyi (poisonous al-Jazeera).

--30-- (Hump Day, 8/18/04)

Share the Truth passes along an interesting link from The Drudge Report -- a new site started by a former lover of John Kerry. She's still a fan of his. But I think he's nervous. Here's an example of Lee Roystone's prose:

I loved listening to his speeches. He writes his own speeches on yellow legal pads. He used to always say "idear". Honey - it's idea. "I know," he said. "I always say that." Recently on CNN I heard him say "idea" but then the next
month he said "Idear". It made me smile. It's a New England thing. John, you can say it any way you want. Just win. ;)

I kid you not. Wonder if Flipflop broomed her because she didn't have enough money? Anyway, you can check out this sophomoric drivel for yourself here.

Peanut Gallery (Empty Nest II)

Dave:

Dunno what advice I can give about your empty nest, other than my mom was pretty happy to get me out of the house! This probably stems from the fact that I'm a Republican and she's a Demo... and that and she had me around for 18 years and is enjoying the peace and quiet...

Henry Johnston
University of Idaho

DFO: I betcha Mother Dearest misses you more than you think, Junior.

Peanut Gallery (Empty Nest)

Empty nest.... is worse for the mom's than the dad's. Moms are the ones who are there when the kids go off to school and come home. Mom is the one who makes sure they get to all the social events. Dad's are important, but his job takes a good share of his time. So it will be the dinner table that will be the hardest. The empty chair. The other thing is Amy Dearest has been busy with her last year of high school and other things she has had to attend. You diving back and forth in the mist of it, but mostly it is her going here and there. So Amy Dearest already had stepped to the side from your life. You probably seen more of her in the past month or so then you have in the past year. So you have a degree of separation. For the most part, you will still go to work, come home, do the things you normally do every day. Don't know if Brenda works or not, but it will be her who will feel it the most.

Cis The Retired

DFO: I think Cis has nailed the situation.

Peanut Gallery (Jonathan Cohen)

HI DAVE-O!

"Meet Patty who's lived most everywhere, from Zanzibar to Berkeley Square- but Cathy's only seen the sights a gal can see from Brooklyn Heights- what a crazy pair!" Yep, I was a Patty Duke fan, too. It's also good to know that I'm not the only one who has her record (actually a CD). Frankly, she wasn't much of a singer, but Patty's few recordings were palatable '60s girlie-pop. I also didn't know she lived in your neck of the woods.

Jonathan Cohen
Brookline, Mass.

DFO: "Don't just stand there, tell me what, what, what, what's on your mind." Yeah, girlie-pop. But I liked it. And Patty was a fox back then. And still easy on the eyes today. Glad to have my old blog pardner from the East Coast check in as he fixates on the Olympics.

Peanut Gallery (Blog Misfire)

Hi Dave,

I enjoy reading “No Holds Barred” – I live in Spokane, and just recently found your blog, so I though I’d let you know I think it’s a good read. I have to confess, though, that I am baffled as to why you link to many of the political cartoons that you do. The Horsey one from the 8/18 section is a good example: I am a conservative Christian, raised in a Lutheran household. Why would this cartoon be “food for thought” for me? In it, Horsey wages class warfare, implies that the latest tax cuts only benefit the rich, and paints a portrait of Bush supporters as dumb, bigoted yahoos who are afraid of gays getting married. I’m shocked he didn’t get in a “Bush lied” reference, or plug Moore’s latest crock of … fiction. There’s nothing there to think about though, not even for those who agree with him. Despite my bafflement at your cartoon selections, I still enjoy your web site. Keep it up, and I’ll keep visiting…

Scott Burrington
Spokane

DFO: Excellent observation. I was blogging at warp speed today. And didn't think through the comment. In my "Quick Fix Six" morning starter, the 'toons are conservative, as are most of the items. In the "Best of the Northwest," I'm limited to four cartoonists (Horsey, Devericks, Priggee and Ohman) for the first item, three of whom are liberal. This feature is more neutral politically. Just want to let you folks know what's happening out there. However, I'll try to point out when I fervently disagree with a toon comment, as I did with Horsey's today. I'm honored to have Scott aboard as a new blog reader.

More from Iraq the Model

Mohammed, one of the bloggers on Iraq the Model, continues to tell the real story about winning the peace and the hearts of the Iraqi people on his blog (second item behind a note about the Olympic soccer team) here.

Headlines @ 12:26 p.m.

*Jane Fonda Takes 'Vaginas Vote' Campaign to New York (NewsMax): "Hanoi Jane" wants femmes to win one for the Flipper. (File caption for accompanying AP photo: "American actress and activist Jane Fonda is surrounded by soldiers and reporters as she sings an anti-war song near Hanoi during the Vietnam War in July 1972. Fonda, seated on an anti-aircraft gun, is here to "encourage" North Vietnamese soldiers fighting against "American Imperialist airraiders." She is wearing a helmet and Vietnamese-made ao-dai pantaloon and blouse.")

*Falwell Starts Own Law School to Fight for Conservative Causes (NewsMax): All together now ... "onward Christians soldiers marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before."

*Florida Parental Notification Proposal Wins First Legal Challenge (LifeNews.com): All the ACLU's horses and all Planned Parenthood's girlie men couldn't deny American citizens the right to vote again.

*Pew Poll: Two in Three Americans Say U.S. Less Respected in the World (Pew Research Center): So?

*Kerry contradicts self in his own war diary? At least 9 days after Purple Heart,
wrote he had not 'been shot at yet' (WorldNetDaily): He was flipflopping back then, too?
--

Best of the Northwest (8/18/04)

I have Patty Duke on the mind this morning -- thanks to her nephew. What a wonderful entertainer. You probably know, of course, that she played identical twins back when for "The Patty Duke Show." But did you know that she had a hit record? It was called "Don't Just Stand There." I have the album, signed by Patty (or, Anna Pearce, as she prefers to be called). She has brought joy to so many for so many years. I'm glad she's one of ours. BTW, the accompanying photo shows Patty with her two sons: Sean and MacKenzie Astin.

1. David Horsey of the P-I provides food for thought for religious conservatives here.

2. David Bond begins another superb on-line column about mining this way: "Prestige jeweler Tiffany & Co. [TIF] moved mountains to stop a small underground silver-copper mine in western Montana. Yet it remains willing to rearrange a whole lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories just to grab trinket-grade diamonds." You can read the rest of D.P.'s story here.

3. How about another in the series of Ralph Bartholdt's stories from the war front and Camp Taqaddum? The St. Maries Gazette-Record news editor introduces us to Wayne George of Farmington, N.M., a religious program specialist who overcame his own rough beginning, here.

4. Gov. Dirk Kempthorne urges Inland Northwesterners to speak up if nuclear testing in the '50s and '60s made them sick here.

5. Brandon Titus, 20, a Borah High grad who extended his Army enlistment so he could go to Iraq, is the latest Inland Northwesterner killed trying to bring peace to that troubled land. The Idaho Statesman looks at his life and death here.

6. A Missoula woman celebrated her 95th birthday Harley-style here.

7. Montana Grizzly Jon Talmage, a 6-foot-4 wide receiver with an enhanced upper body, is living proof that, unfortunately, the mullet is not dead here.

8. Both friends and foes are hailing a Seattle measure that made enforcement of marijuana laws a low priority here.

*Writing for The Seattle Times, Libertarian mag editor R.W. Bradford of Port Townsend, Wash., wonders why the Demos chose a prez standard bearer who is more pro-war than the incumbent here.

*Columnist Danny Westneat of the Times wonders when U-Dub medical school will get over its denial in the recent medical-billing scandal here.

*Robert L. Jamieson of the P-I looks at the play, "Another Day in Baghdad," here.

*S-R sports columnist Art Thiel looks on as the Greeks throw their first pitch in Olympic baseball history here.

Hump Day Quick Fix 6 (8/18/04)

Mike Kennedy writes from Hollywood to say that his aunt, Patty Duke, finally received her star on the Walk of Fame. Her children, Sean (Samwise Gamgee) and MacKenzie Astin were there to see their mother honored. Patty, of course, is one of our own -- a Coeur d'Alene area resident. Writes Mike: "It was a tremendous day with hundreds of fans, tons of paparazzi, and many showfolk in attendance, but more importantly many family members to celebrate this well-earned, and long overdue event for Idaho's favorite daughter (I'm biased)." You can find the ABC-7.com story about Patty's big day by clicking here.

1. Your Political 'Toon Fix: Paul Nowak here and Daryl Cagle & Co. here.

2. On this day in 1774 U.S. explorer, Meriwether Lewis, was born. He was the leader of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. For the rest of your My Way roundup, you can find This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Conservative calls for Springsteen boycott here, Poll: Kids prefer Flipflop to Dubya here, Flipflop contradicts himself in diary here, SWIFT boat captains ad against Flipflop taking toll here, and Flipflop ad accuses Dubya of draft dodging here.

4. Since the mainstream media are doing their darndest to ignore questions raised by Swifties about Flipflop's Purple Hearts, No Holds Barred feels an obligation to pass along the first in a three-part series by the Washington Times about them. Here's your Purple Heart Fix, Part I.

5. Jan LaRue, chief counsel of Concerned Women of America, provides a blistering assessment of important U.S. Supreme Court rulings, from the flag salute to Internet pornography (pdf format) for your Blind Justice Fix.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Michelle Malkin (war on the FBI), Shannen Coffin (Defense of Marriage Act), Bryon York (Kerry's gunner mate), Bill Whalen (Colorado electoral votes), and Nat Hentoff (Iraq's beheaders).

--30-- (Tuesday, Aug. 17)

We're halfway through August and that means I'm that much closer to becoming an empty-nester. I'm not looking forward to dropping Amy Dearest off at school. Then, I'm not dreading it either. After 25 years of raising kids, I'm looking forward to the time when I no longer have to be a parent all the time. I know I'll always worry about Amy because I still worry about my son, Seth, who's doing well for himself in Denver with his new bride, Stephanie. But it'll be nice to change my focus to the coming Golden Years with the bride of my youth. We're now at 29 years and counting. She hasn't thrown me out although she's probably been tempted. Any advice on how I should handle the coming crisis of Empty Nestism?

Peanut Gallery ('The Wall' Column)

Poignant column Saturday. As you cheerlead the war in Iraq, give some thought to the thousands and thousands of human beings who are gone forever from the face of the earth as a direct result of President Bush's decisions. They all had family and friends whose lives will never be the same without them. As you look out upon another spectacular day, hard not to think about all those who will never see anything like it again. The "cost of freedom" when bestowing honors on fallen war dead in many of this nations conflicts is merely rationalizaton. Your classmate was heroic in dying in concieved, ill fated war lead by very flawed civilian leaders, as are all those who have died in Iraq, on both sides.

Jim Spurr

DFO: I believe the war in Iraq is an integral part in the war on terror, whether or not Hussein had WMDs. The bad guys have one less country to hide in. And a bunch of bad guys have been killed or captured, disrupting their ability to strike big again. Why doesn't any anti-Bushite give him credit for preventing a followup strike against this country? To this day, I thank God that Al Gore wasn't president when those planes hit. Bush has defeated two countries in the heart of the Arab world and freed tens of millions. But you'd never know it from the political rhetoric coming from The Left.

Peanut Gallery (Vietnam Protest)

Why do you feel protesting the Vietnam war, as you said, "was irresponsible student activism against the war about which I am still ambivalent."? The war in Vietnam was wrong for so many reasons (historically, morally, politically, etc.,etc) and protesting the war and trying to stop it I think was patriotic. I have some guilt about some of my personal overly self indulgent behavior in the 60's ("youthful indescretions" as I think George Bush called his behavior), but I have no guilt about protesting the war in Vietnam. To me it's like feeling guilty about protesting racism in the South in the 60's or protesting the Aryans now....nothing to feel guilty about.

Tom Hearn
Coeur d'Alene

DFO: I'm ambivalent about my student activism and Vietnam because our politicians and generals fed my generation into the meat grinder while trying to contain the North Vietnamese -- not defeat them. This country betrayed those that were wounded and died by not doing all it could to win. And then we betrayed our South Vietnamese allies by pulling out without providing the weapons and ammo to fight on. In the face of our crazy war policy, an argument could be made for peaceful protest. And Tom makes a good argument.

Headlines @ 12:05 p.m.

*Phelps medal tally at 5 after wins in butterfly, relay (AP): Three for 5 so far ain't bad. And half the countries, civilized and otherwise, would kill to have either of his two bronze medals.

*N.J. Democrats begin to push McGreevey out early (PoliticsNJ.com): So much for party loyalty when there's blood in the water.

*Consumer prices fall, housing rebounds: Offers hope economy has escaped summer 'soft patch' (AP): More bad news for national Donkeys.

*Convention Protest Leader Won't Renounce Violence (NewsMax): And watch these creeps cry when NYPD Blue starts busting heads.

*Cease-Fire Halts Afghan Infighting: U.S.-Brokered Cease-Fire, Show of Force, Halts Latest Burst of Factional Fighting in Afghanistan (AP): Funny how a few warplanes can send a louder message to thugs than all the talking in the world by sob sisters, such as former prez Jimmy Carter.

Best of the Northwest (8/17/04)

I enjoy Lake Coeur d'Alene for swimming purposes. But others enjoy it for fishing purposes. An economic impact study ranked Lake Coeur d'Alene as the top fishing destination in Idaho. Hey, 92,000 fishermen can't be wrong. You can read all about our viewtiful lake and part of the country in an article by colleague James Hagengruber from today's S-R here.

1. David Horsey of the P-I hammers home close to the truth with his 'toon take on the prez race here.

2. Extra! Extra! A helicopter pilot was killed today in a crash near the Kaiser Mead smelter off Hawthorn Road here.

3. In Boy-C, the owner of Viking Drive-In is fighting back against bad-check writers -- by putting their names on a big sign that advertises his place. Sorta reminds me of a Seinfeld episode involving and fighting rooster, Little Jerry. The Idaho Statesman reports the story here.

4. The pull of Montana proved too much for Broadway actress Betsi Morrison, who returned to her native state to found Alpine Theatre Project in Whitefish here.

5. This one's for my sister-in-law, Lisa, a University of Montana alum and diehard Grizzly fan. The football Griz begin the season ranked No. 3 nationally among I-AA schools. The Missoulian tells you about it here.

6. Landscape photographer Larry Burton, 65, of Missoula died Saturday. His stunning shots of Glacier and Yellowstone national parks graced many scenic calendars. The Missoulian provides his feature obituary and a spectacular photo of Mount Wilbur in Glacier Park here.

7. Friends and family say goodbye to heroic Marine from northwest Montana here.

8. Finally, Demos, Repubs, Libertarians and the rest of the political zoo have found a cause for common agreement. In Washington, no one seems to like an initiative that would imposed Louisiana's "top two" primary system on the state here.

*You can find my editorial about the need for a Sandpoint bypass from this morning's S-R here.

*Ron Judd of The Seattle Times looks at the race between American Michael Phelps and Australia's Thorpedo here.

*Jim Moore, the P-I's Go2Guy, sees a 6-5 season for WSU's Cougs this season here.

*Columnist Hsiao Ching-Chou of the P-I remembers Julia Child's connections to the Northwest here.

Tuesday Quick Fix 6 (8/17/04)

To open your Quick Fix 6 today, I have a coupla quizzes that both Repubs and Demos will enjoy (courtesy of Daniel Kurtzman's Political Humor site). Take your pick. You can find your George Bush Loyalty Test here, and your John Kerry Loyalty Test here.

1. For your Political Toon Fix main course today, my Silver Valley buddy David Bond suggests that I introduce you to cartoonist Chip Bok here. And I'll throw in a pinch of Chuck Asay for seasoning here.

2. On this day in 1877, unlucky F.P. Cahill became the first person to be killed by Billy The Kid. For the rest of your My Way Fix, you can find This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Flipflop flies hair stylist cross country to Portland for trim here, Canadian exhibitionist finds flaws in Olympic security here, Google labels Christian ad 'hate' content here, Poll: New Jersey realizes more to McGreevey's resignation than sexual orientation here, and America suffers new Olympic setback here.

4. Four Christian pastors -- Phil Busbee, Tony Campolo, Cheryl Sanders and John Yates -- discuss the pressures and opportunities of the current same-sex marriage controversy in an article for Leadership Journal's summer edition. Here's your Christianity Today Fix.

5. Michael Moore's is worse than an offensive, loud-mouthed propagandist. He's an individual who, for the sake of political gain for his Far Left politics, will do anything, including undermining morale of troops in harm's way. His propaganda film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," apparently is having a devastating effect on troops. Betcha this creep'll tell you he supports the troops but not the war. Here's your Michael Moore Is Worse Than A Big Fat Idiot Fix.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Debra Saunders (Gov. McGreevey's wife), Mark Steyn (Europe's defense welfare), John Leno (stem cells), David Limbaugh (Press AWOL on Kerry war record), and Cal Thomas (playing the gay card).

--30-- (Monday, Aug. 16)

*I've said this often -- if you really want to find out what's happening in Iraq, you have to turn to the blogs. And today's no different. As the American media glamorize Moqtada al Sadr, Iraqi bloggers dis him as nothing more than a "za-toot" (ignorant kid) and his followers as thieves and junkies. You can read all about it in the indispensible blog, "Iraq the Model" here.

*Also, Hugh Hewitt's blog is a must-read if you're trying to sort out fact from fiction in John Kerry's medals and Christmas in Cambodia tales here.

*For those hungering for good news from the Bad News Media, Aussie Chrenkoff is another must-read here.

*Finally, The Belmont Club blog is probably the best site for analyzing what's going on behind the scenes in Iraq here.

DFO

They're Talkin' Bout Us

*College Sports TV ranked Matt Potter's first women's soccer recruiting class 12th in the West, including ex-Lake City High stars Brooke and Brynn Bemis (pictured during basketball season) to make an impact. Sez Potter: "This group of players gives us the platform to move forward. They will complement the returning players and immediately look to compete for a position and playing time. "I am excited at the direction our program is heading. Competition will be tough, but it is that competitive environment that will help us reach new heights in our development as a program." You can find the rest of the story here.

*An emphasis patrol on the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River by Shoshone County marine deputies over the weekend netted 37 arrests here.

*Now, The Seattle Times has published that AP story about the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes bike path that runs from Plummer through Harrison to Mullen here.

Peanut Gallery (Biased S-R)

I wanted to write to express my disdain for the article that ran today on page A-3 of the Spokesman, titled Fed rate hike: .25%; Bush reaction: priceless here. This was nothing more than an op-ed piece by Mr. Crutsinger, and based on his previous articles, I'd say this isn't a one time occurrence. I just thought you and your blog readers might like to check it out and see how blatantly the left has infiltrated our media, including our own hometown newspaper.

Henry Johnston
University of Idaho

DFO: No comment.

Peanut Gallery (Bob Paulos' column)

Here is the latest Pulitzer Prize winning journalistic work by Bob Paulos writing his silly little column: "Latest cell phone spottings: Man talking on his cell phone while walking his dog in the city golf course area." And for this bit of earth shattering wisdom, we allow him to use printers ink to pollute the rivers and lands of North Idaho. It's like giving a little kid a gun instead of a box of crackerjacks.

Steve Badraun
Seaside, N.J.

DFO: On the other hand, some would say that many trees have given their life in vain so I could scribble all these years for The Spokesman-Review.

Peanut Gallery (Bush 'Landslide')

Dave, You write: "Don't look now, but an AOL poll indicates that Dubya's gonna win the prez sweepstakes in a landslide here. Of some 34,000 who responded to the poll, 58 percent picked Dubya, 40 percent, Flipflop. If the election was based on the poll, Dubya would win 48 states -- a landslide of Nixonian proportions. I can't see that happening. But this poll tracks with my gut better than the ones that show this thing so tight."

I'm always amused to encounter people like you who have clearly never in their lives taken a stats course, and are unafraid to advertise that fact by making incredibly innumerate statements like this. Had you ever learned anything about statistics, you would understand that any poll which, like the AOL poll, is based on a self-selected sample, is statistically meaningless--it's results are worthless for making predictions, because the sample is not representative of the population. In this case, the problem is amplfied by the facts that 1) AOL users are not, even if every one of them were to respond to the poll, a representative sample of the population, and 2) many online polls do not have adequate safeguards against multiple voting. All these reasons are wny the worldnetdaily article you linked to labelled the AOL poll "unscientific." I guess you were so busy listening to your "gut" that you missed that point.

Mark Wylie
econ201mark@comcast.net

DFO: And Mark missed the line: "I can't see that happening." My gut tells me Bush is going to win easier than expected. America has never turned out a prez during a war. Then, half of America doesn't realize that we're still fighting a war on terror. Mebbe my gut reaction really is little more than indigestion.

Peanut Gallery (Bush '

'I'll Drink to That'

For poor Vandal fans
it’s easy to think
that they’ll have a need
for very strong drink.

The Bard of Sherman Avenue

DFO: The Bard is playing off that news story last week in which the Idaho Board of Education voted to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages at Boise State and Idaho football games.

Headlines @ 2:16 p.m.

(The blog's been giving me fits today. Two crashes in 6 hours. I'll keep my fingers crossed and proceed with your "Headlines" feature.)

*Thorpe ends Phelps' dream with 200 free win: Aussie star claims gold with Olympic record run (AP): That "run" lasted exactly one event and cost another American Olympian a chance for a bronze in a relay event. Dunno who predicted the 8 golds for Phelps. But I wouldn't consult him before a sports bet.

*Will Republican convention be a Chicago '68 madhouse?
Activist Tom Hayden pledges disruptions 'bigger by a thousand fold' for GOP event (WorldNetDaily): Sometimes, you wonder when Hayden's going to grow up. Even Hanoi Jane Fonda decided he was a loser in the end.

*Sorry, Germany: Bush realigns troops (NewsMax): Couldn't happen to a better bunch of back-stabbers.

*John the Baptist's cave found? Archaeologists discover 28 steps leading to underground pool (AP): "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powrful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire," Matthew 4:11.

*Brown Blasts U.S. Team After Loss to Puerto Rico (New York Times): Yeah, I know they're "our guys," but I find myself rooting for the other guys.

Best of the Northwest

On Saturday, I wrote about my trip to the traveling Vietnam Wall and a friend of mine who was killed in Vietnam on Aug. 31, 1968: Larry Patterson. I remain angry about Vietnam -- not because we fought to preserve a people from Communism. But because the politicians wouldn't allow us to win a very winnable war. It's one thing to die for a worthy cause. It's another to die because politicians were happy with a stalemate that they referred to back then as "containment." There is a time for war. But when you go to war, you fight to win -- and damn the politicians. End of speech. You can find my column here.

1. Milt Priggee hit one on the nose with this view on that Iraqi soccer win here.

2. My Monday Huckleberries here.

3. Kerry outdraws Bush in Portland here.

4. New NCAA recruitment rules aimed at indiscretions at the University of Colorado could level the playing field for the Boise State's and Idaho's out there. Click here.

5. Kristin Armstrong of Boy-C became the fifth American woman, and first since 1992, to finish in the top eight in an Olympic cycling road race here.

6. The family of a Marine from Kalispell, Mont., who was killed in action in Iraq last week, want to know what happened to their fallen loved one here.

7. Buyer beware: Washington telemarketers trying to sell suckers free sexual predator lists here.

8. Young volunteers on both sides of Oregon's gay marriage divide are canvassing, calling and collecting money as they try to win Measure 36 for their side here.

*With his support of a Boulder-White Clouds wilderness area, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, is showing the same statesmanship that bolstered ex-Idaho gov. Cecil Andrus' career, sez Dan Popkey of the Idaho Statesman here.

*The Idaho Statesman sez: "The 2005 Legislature needs to fill a multimillion-dollar loophole before it costs rural schools and taxpayers even more money. It's the least lawmakers can do for creating the problem in the first place." Click here.

*With the permitting of a nearby hotel development, Terrence Carroll and Charles V. "Tom" Gibbs tells Seattle Times readers that the magnificent views from Safeco Field are going, going ... gone here.

*John Kerry wowwed them in Hood River, Ore., when he took an unscripted jaunt through the town after being thwarted by lack of wind from wind-surfing here.

Monday Quick Fix 6 (8/16/04)

It must be Monday. The sink was leaking at home. The blogware was down when I got to work this morning. And I had a coupla crank e-mails waiting for me. Cranks don't bother me much. Sometimes, there's constructive criticism hidden in their rants. And if there's not? I relish the fact that I've gotten under some reader's thin skin. I used to keep crank mail -- for amusement. Now, I only keep the good ones. Whenever I start getting a big head, I read them. It keeps things in perspective. But I digress. Here's your belated fixes:

1. Your Political Toon Fix: Chuck Asay takes on Flipflop’s Swift Boat problem here, and Daryl Cagle & Co. provide a different view of the Olympics here.

2. Leno (on Friday): “Yesterday Vice President Dick Cheney attacked John Kerry. He said that John Kerry "lacks deeply held convictions". Today Kerry shot back, he said, "That's not completely true." And the rest of your Wake Up & Read It Fix: This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today’s Birthdays here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Activist Tom Hayden (pictured) vows to disrupt GOP convention here, AMA: Edwards lawyering created North Carolina medical crisis here, Iranian refuses to fight Israeli at Olympians here, Shiite militia sets fire to oil well here, and Bush announces plans to cut troops in Europe, Asia here.

4. FrontPageMag looks at one possibility of where the WMDs went here.

5. Six months after its release, Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" is still making news. In an article, Christianity Today provides a number of links to stories about "The Passion" as well as updates on what's happening with a planned remake of C.S. Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" here.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Peter King (Media ignore 9/11 Bushies), Robert Pollack (Kerry’s Christmas tale), John Leo (What war on terror), William F. Buckley (McGreevey), and Mitt Romney ("We Are All Americans").

Summer Theatre Awards

*I said I'd give you my picks for the best of the best in this year's Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre productions. So, here goes: Best Actor: Todd Hermanson as Director Julian Marsh in "42nd Street." Best Actress: Meghan Maddox as Audrey in "Little Shop of Horrors." Best Play: "Little Shop of Horrors." Best All-Around Male Actor: Steve Booth (Rum Tum Tugger and voice of Audrey II). Best All-Around Actress: Kelly Kunkel (Milly in "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" and Bombalurina in "Cats.") Best Cameo: Christopher Moll as Orin the Dentist in "Little Shop of Horrors." Best Kiss: Todd Hermanson and Stuart Cabe in "42nd Street" (you had to be there). Best Song: "Suddenly Seymour" from "Little Shop of Horrors.) Most Likely to Play Broadway: Steve Booth. Thanks for another great summer, kids.

Peanut Gallery (P-I Fashion Story)

I thought that article was a bit funny, but it seems a bit slanted. Of course the fashions that introduce the navel to the outside world and "butt-cleavage" are going away. Guess what time of year it is? FALL! What this means is back-to-school shopping where people begin purchasing various clothes that will keep them warm. I've seen this "butt-cleavage" ONCE and it was in Spokane, and even as young adult I was shocked, but I doubt that it will go away – it just means the warmth is soon going to go away. I know for a fact what I will see once I get back to UI in the next week will not be lacking navels or short skirts. It's still summer until September 22, and it may still be warm out then.

Sam Taylor
U-of-I student, working at St. Maries Gazette-Record

DFO: For a brief and shiny moment, the nation's plumbers were fashionable. Alas.

Headlines @

*Iraq, Al-Sadr aides negotiate Najaf truce: Radical cleric leader reportedly injured by shrapnel in fighting (AP): Now that he's sampled our weaponry, Junior Sheik doesn't appear that excited about shedding every drop of his blood.

*China pays to stop aborting baby girls: Females exempted from school fees, receive insurance, housing perks (HindustanTimes.com): Seems pro-choice Red China was getting tired of those long, cold winter nights.

*New Jersey GOP demands governor quit immediately (USA Today): After that Jack Ryan fiasco in Illinois, it's nice to see the party of, ahem, family values express outrage over a sex scandal. You can tell I'm being sarcastic here, right?

*Washington Post Remorsefully Washes its Hands on Iraq (ProgressiveTrail.org): I'd be more impressed if one of the Lib-Left national media admitted its aiding the enemy with its lousy coverage of the war and unabashedly pro-Flipflop.

* Politics Hit Athens Games: Terror fears combine with worries about anti-U.S. sentiment (Fox News): Let 'em boo the red, white and blue. Most of 'em would sell their first born to swap places with a native-born American.

Peanut Gallery (Hammond's run)

If Jim Hammond gets elected to the NIC Board, that would make two former Idaho State Board of Education members serving the NIC community as trustees (Judy Meyer being the other). I don't know who else is running, but I think Hammond joining Meyer would make them probably the most well-connected and experienced higher education board members this community could elect. I think that in both cases the overall state's loss is very much North Idaho's gain.

Mike Kennedy

PS - Tell Jim I hope I didn't just sink his ship by endorsing him…

DFO: High praise indeed coming from the state chairman of the John Kerry for prez campaign.

Peanut Gallery (Israeli poll)

So you wonder if their American Jewish brethren who vote overwhelmingly Democratic are paying attention? As one of their American Jewish brethren, I'm wondering if you think about this stuff before you blog it. Israel is a country of 7 million people. 500 were polled and you call this "overwhelming"? If 500 people in America were polled and said they approved of gay marriage, would you call that "overwhelming approval"? But thanks for being who you are, even if you aren't all that bright. I get a big kick out of your blog. Don't change a thing.

Juicy Lucy
Spokane

DFO: Shhh. Don't let Opinion Page Editor Doug Floyd know that I'm not bright. I've fooled him for the past 11-plus years. And I need the job. Kudos to J-Lu for giving me another chance to publish a story about that poll here.

Best of the Northwest

Don't look now, but the extended Oliveria clan in the viewtiful Coeur d'Alene area has added one more member -- sister Charlotte's stepchild, Kasey, has come to live with her husband and her. That makes 11 of us total up here. And counting. My mother-in-law will be moving her soon. Ditto for my sister-in-law's family from Big Sur, Calif. It isn't easy to find a family that voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger and against Richard Butler in the same year. Soon, we'll have the critical mass to control elections in Kootenai County. And then ... watch out.

1. Jack Ohman of the Oregonian picks up the Best of the Northwest 'toon slack while others are on vacation with his views of the Porter Goss nomination here.

2. Dubya's working Washington as though it was a swing state here.

3. Group Health nurses, medical assistants and other union workers will go on strike for five days, beginning Aug. 23. But those in Spokane and Coeur d'Alene won't. Click here.

4. Susan Phinney of the P-I sez good riddance to bare midriffs and butt cleavage as she announces the new fashions here.

5. Boise cyclist Kristin Armstrong has a bad day at the Olympics here.

6. Another day, another small Northwest community sez goodbye to a brave young man killed in fighting in Iraqi. This time, it was Stevensville, Mont., saying goodbye to Marine Cpl. Dean Paul Pratt here.

7. UI's debt for University Place took a $5.5 million dip thanks to the state Board of Education signing off on a land sale here.

8. Dubya's comment on tribal sovereignty has raised eyebrows in Indian country and has Demos smacking their lips here.

9. A 22-year-old rifleman who survived a tour of duty in Iraq only to face financial distress and the loss of his wife couldn't take it any more here.

*Maggie Williams tells readers of The Idaho Statesman why they should force a vote on Boy-C's decision to remove a 10 Commandments monument from Julia Davis Park here.

*Joel Connelly of the P-I looks at the energy policies of Dubya and Flipflop here.

*Art Thiel of the P-I looks at the marching orders given U.S. Olympians here.

TGIF Quick Fix 6 (8/13/04)

So, that's "Cats"? Hmm. No offense to the talented Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre troupe, but I can leave it. The story line didn't work that well. If you take away Rum Tum Tugger, the "Memories" cat and a coupla others, the play wouldn't work either. Then, I don't like real cats all that much. It's probably just me. Overall, the troupe deserves a standing O for another great season. Sometime today, I'll probably hand out my award for outstanding performances. Now, for your TGIFixes:

1. For your Political 'Toon TGIFix, Chuck Asay provides his view of the Summer Games here, and Daryl Cagle & Co. provide a spectrum of pertinent 'toons here.

2. You can find some inspiration from Guy Gilchrist to launch your Wake Up & Read It Fix here. And you know the rest of the drill: This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Julia Childs dies at 91 here, Keyes sweaty napkin gets own Web site here, Kerry camp admits no Xmas in Cambodia here, Iranians caught fighting for al-Sadr here, and Poll: Dubya's only strength is war on terror here.

4. Ralph Peters writes: "The losses are catastrophic. Over fourteen times more Americans dead than we lost on 9/11, and almost fifty times as many as have died in Iraq since Saddam Hussein’s statue fell. In 2003, 42,643 people died on America’s highways." In other words, this former American soldier puts our losses in Iraq into perspective for today's Reality Check Fix.

5. Jacob Laksin of FrontPageMag looks at the litany of lies against the Bush administration promulgated by T. Chappaquiddick Kennedy, Michael Moore and the rest of the pouting Lib-Lefty bunch here.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Washington Times (Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia lie), James J. Carafano (Porter Goss), Florence King (Faye Wray), Bartle Breese Bull (Najaf: the battle for Shiites soul), and Arnaud de Borchgrave (prospering al Qaida).

--30-- (Thurs, Aug. 12)

Gotta run because I have a hot date to see the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre version of "Cats." My two girls have already seen it. Two thumbs up. In fact, they have given each production two thumbs up. At this point, I'd say the best play so far is "Little Shop of Horrors," featuring Steve Booth's voice as "Audrey II," Frank Jewett as Seymour and Meghan Maddox as Audrey. But I was blown away by Todd Hermanson's performance as Director Julian Marsh in "42nd Street." I'm not much of a "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" fan. But the lead singing by Kelly Kunkel (Milly) and Noel Barbuto (Adam), plus the dancing ensemble saved the day. I've never seen "Cats" before. But Amy Dearest has filled me in on the story line. Can't wait.

Headlines @

*Calif. Supreme Court Voids S.F. Same-Sex Marriages (My Way): Sanity in the California court system? What will they think of next?

*Rates on 30-year mortgages fall (AP): Happy Days are here again ... the skies are bright and clear again ...

*Top evangelical Christians awaiting invitation to Republican Convention (My Way): The Repub party would broom Evangelicals in a heart beat if it didn't need them to get elected. But they do. Hence, the R's need to extend an invite.

*Israelis: Bush better for us than Kerry: Poll: 49% in Jewish state want Republican to win, 18% supporting Democrat (Agence France-Presse): Wonder if their American Jewish brethren who vote overwhelmingly Democratic are paying attention?

*University of North Carolina won't recognize Christian group (NewsMax): Diversity is OK on college campus along as the Radical Left defines the meaning of diversity.

*U.S. troops storm cleric al-Sadr's home in Najaf (Fox News): As they say in the video game "Mortal Combat," we need to "finish him" this time.

Best of the Northwest

I began bloggin' in February as a means to tell you about the rest of the story -- the stuff that the national media ignores. But I've seen a far greater purpose to this activity, including introducing you to quality fellow journalists and cartoonists in the region and nation. I introduced you to Sandpoint columnist Maryanne Love yesterday. And I've already blogged columns and editorials by Publisher Dan Hammes and News Editor Ralph Bartholdt, the quality duo at the St. Maries Gazette-Record. You'll appreciate these journalistic comrades in arms as much as I do when you read their good work.

1. Eric Devericks of the Seattle Times and Milt Priggee (pictured) doodle about Moqtada al-Sadr and Slick Willie here and here.

2. The St. Maries Gazette-Record provides one last reminder that this is the final day to visit the Vietnam Traveling Wall exhibit at the Coeur d'Alene Bingo Casino near Worley. If you're wavering about going, I'd encourage you to do so. I did earlier this week -- to see the names of two classmates. And I'm glad I did. You can find the Gazette-Record report here.

3. I told you about Ralph Bartholdt, the news editor of the St. Maries Gazette-Record who took a month leave to report on the Iraq war first hand. Now, the Gazette-Record features all his columns on his experience here, including the latest ones on "Top Brass" here and "Tear sheets, tires and toilet paper" here.

4. Ray McConville, manager of the Torch Lounge in Boise (a bikini bar which also has a lounge in Coeur d'Alene), was killed early Wednesday by a hit-and-run driver while standing outside the bikini bar here.

5. The small town of Wapato, Wash., grieves for Yadir Reynoso, 27, a Marine sergeant who fell during the intense fighting at Najaf, Iraq, the 23rd Washington troop to die in the war. Read the Seattle Times report here.

6. You can find another great photo from Karen Nichols of The Daily Interlake (Kalispell, Mont.) here.

7. You serious mountain climbers should know about The Wedge in the Humbug Spires Primitive Area, 26 miles south of Butte, Mont., here.

8. The Eagle (Idaho) all-stars came up one game short of Williamsport, Pa., as they fell 6-3 in San Bernardino, Calif., to a team from Washington here.

*Publisher Dan Hammes of the St. Maries Gazette-Record opines on those discriminating, reintroduced wolves who are wiping out sheep herds here.

*Last week, S-R columnist Doug Clark wrote about dare-devil Evel Knievel; now, Jim Moore of the P-I pens a like-father-like-son column about Kaptain Robbie Knievel here.

*Art Thiel of the P-I columnizes on that new Olympic sport, women's wrestling, here.

*Columnist Larry Stone looks at catcher Dan Wilson, the last link to the Mariners early glory days, here.

Thursday Quick Fix 6 (8/12/04)

Don't look now, but an AOL poll indicates that Dubya's gonna win the prez sweepstakes in a landslide here. Of some 34,000 who responded to the poll, 58 percent picked Dubya, 40 percent, Flipflop. If the election was based on the poll, Dubya would win 48 states -- a landslide of Nixonian proportions. I can't see that happening. But this poll tracks with my gut better than the ones that show this thing so tight. I still think: It's the War on Terror, Stupid. One crank wrote in: "He is treasonous, traitorous, too cowardly to even go to his cushy stateside assignment during Vietnam, and is the single most evil and incompetent, hateful president ever. Impeachment alone is too easy a sentence, he needs life in prison and should be charged with 928 counts of murder on U.S. soldiers." Bush Haters never let up.

1. Your Political 'Toon Fix is brought to you today by Paul Nowak here and Wayne Stayskal here.

2. Leno: "Of course the Summer Olympics begin on Friday. This was in the paper today - Greek officials have announced that many Olympic security problems have been solved. "Many". That makes you feel good huh? When you're talking about security, I think a simple majority is all you need." Your Wake Up & Read It Fix: This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. Your Top of the News Fix: Marines seize center of Najaf here, GOPers run anti-Kerry ads on black stations here, Brute China collars 100 Evangelical pastors here, Activist Florida lawyer pushing ahead with same-sex marriage crusade here, and Cheney slams Kerry's call for 'sensitive' war on terrorism here.

4. Izzit just me, or has the mainstream media studiously ignored charges leveled by fellow Swift Boat captains that Flipflop has made up stories about his service to country. They say, for example, he couldn't have been in Cambodia on Christmas 1968, as he claims. And that two of his three Purple Hearts are suspect. Why does it matter? If those who served with him are right, then Flipflop's a monumental liar about his war activities to this day. Then, there's the question of why the media is ignoring the Swifties when they obsessed on Dubya's National Guard record. Here's your Back to the Future Fix.

5. Dr. Warren Throckmorton of Grove City College (Pa.) focuses on Planned Parenthood's "I Had An Abortion T-shirt" and wonders if the country is ready for abortion pride. After all, pro-choice really means pro-abortion, whether Planned Parenthood disciples admit it or not. Here's your Pro-Life Fix.

6. Your Opinion Fix: Ann Coulter (Kerry's band of brothers), Dan LeRoy (conservative black bloggers), Jeff Jacoby (skin-deep diversity), Janet Albrechtsen ("My Foetus"), and Dick Morris (our partisan peril).

--30-- (Wednesday, Aug. 11)

*Cis The Retired speaks for a lot of us when she sez this about the two major prez wannabes: "I want to hear what each is going to do about education, money for the elderly to get good insurance, hell good insurance for everyone. AND HOW EACH PLANS ON DOING IT. Don't tell me what you are going to do... tell me how you are going to get it done. What happen 30 years ago, I could care less. As far as I am concern both were rich kids who did little. The real heroes are buried, some of them wish they were buried and some are struggling to live... where is their benefits that they want to cut? Cut the crap and give us answers."

*I finally have a link to columns by Marianne Love, the former high school journalism teacher of the respected Cedar Post and current columnist for The River Journal. In the future, I'll be blogging Marianne in the Best of the Northwest roundup. Love her folksy style. And she knows where the best public restroom in downtown Sandpoint. Click here.

*And you can find buddy David Bond's latest rant about life in general and silver in particular here.

*Got this note today from Post Falls City Administrator Jim Hammond: "Just wanted you to know... Don't know if I am an idiot or a public servant but I have turned in my petition for election to the NIC Board of Trustees. Let me know what you think."

DFO: For for it. I've been disappointed with the current board since it made that goofy decision to drop baseball and track so the men's basketball team could continue to finish fifth or sixth in the prestigious SWAC.

*Shhh. A little birdie told me that Coeur d'Alene taxes are going to go up 3%. Expenses, purchases and decisions made by prior administrations are fueling the increase. It'll be interesting to see if Her Sandyness & Co. can get a handle on the situation. Stay tuned.

DFO

Peanut Gallery (Penn & Teller)

Want a good laugh? The Aug.5 article in the NYTimes quotes Penn Jilette (big guy in photo) as criticizing my substitute swear word "SANTA VACA!", as being offensive to Hindus. He states that I only care that swear words are offensive to my Christian beliefs.....WHAT??? The 7 words you can't say on TV have nothing to do with religion. Entertainers say God, Jesus, and Christ with impunity and total disregard for offending any Christian. What warped logic brought him to such a stupid conclusion? Matt 5 says, Blessed (happy) are you when idiots (my translation) revile you and persecute you for my sake. I'm dying laughing!!!

Ginny Foster
owner, WWW.HUSH-UP.COM

DFO: Ginny is featured in Penn & Teller's "BS" Showtime Channel show at 10 p.m. Thursday.

Peanut Gallery (Political graffiti)

Dave, with all due respect, every once in awhile I almost start thinking that maybe you are a fair-minded person and a serious, objective journalist. But then you always come up with something that reminds me you're not. Why is it funny that some knuckle-dragging neanderthal vandalizes a Democratic billboard? How does that respect the constitutional rights of all of us. Would you have thought it funny if it were a Republican sign? Is there a partisan right and wrong? It kind of pokes holes in your claim of being a Christian, doesn't it.

Steve Gigliotti
Davenport, Wa.

DFO: Fair-minded? moi? Sure, I'd think it was funny if a vandal spray-painted a Repub political sign with a creative message ... and chuckle as he was being led off in handcuffs. (Steve's talking about a Chuckleberry re: someone who spray-painted "for higher taxes" below a "Kootenai County Democrats" sign.

Headlines @ 11:34 a.m.

*Flipflop & Teresa: Separate Hotel Rooms after Shouting Match (The Drudge Report): Thar she blows.

*Author of 'Unfit' called bigot by Kerry camp: Corsi says anti-Catholic, Muslim comments meant to be jokes (Yahoo!News): When you can't attack the charges, attack the attacker.

*Wedding guests allegedly eat relative: Cops say detainees killed man, roasted body, served to others (Associated Press): Do you suppose that black sheep of the family tested like one?

*Pro-America film festival takes on Hollywood: September event to screen conservative movies, documentaries (WorldNetDaily): For some reason, I don't think this is one that the conservatives are going to win.

*Kids expelled for 'rejecting' each other? District considers rule punishing students for making others 'feel left out' (WorldNetDaily): And you wonder why the home-school movement is growing leaps and bounds?

Peanut Gallery (The Wall)

You don't have to have an attachment to the wall to go see it and feel it... talking about emotional feel...Sandpoint had it about 3 years ago... I took my grandson, who was 10 at the time, there to see too. He asked me if all of those names were dead. I said yes, and this is only 1/4 of the wall that was in Washington D.C. We stood there in silence, stepping from time to time down the wall reading the names. I felt I had to read each and every single one of them. It was the least I could do. After all they gave up their future for all of us. The feeling? Like some one had ripped out my heart. And no matter how I tried, I could not stop the tears from going down slowly across my face. Everyone should go, be they have attachment or not. It is the least you can do.

Cis the Retired

DFO: Indeed, it is the least you can do.

Best of the Northwest

I'm a pushover for sci-fi adventure/fantasy/special effects fair -- from "Mars Attacks" to "Lord of the Rings." Mention "Pirates of the Caribbean" to me and I'll grab a bag of popcorn and take a seat in the living room. My wife left the house in a vain search for "Hidalgo" last evening and came back with "Hellboy." As an Evangelical, that made me nervous until HB fought his first monster. I believe Hellboy's "father" raised him Catholic. Next time, my wife said as the credits began to roll, you have to sit all the way through a chickflick." Sure, I responded, but can we see "Hellboy" again first?

1. Free-lancer Milt Priggee has been on a roll with his 'toons, poking fun at congressional foot-dragging on terrorism here. And Eric Devericks of The Seattle Times checks in with his take on stem-cell research here.

2. Don't forget to visit the American Veterans Traveling Tribute at the Coeur d'Alene Bingo Casino near Worley today or tomorrow. The replica Wall is a compelling tribute to the 58,000 men and women who lost their lives in Vietnam so long ago. You can read all about the here. And colleague Kevin Taylor's compelling story about The Wall here.

3. The Demos embraced the late Ronald Reagan's son, Ron, at their convention last month. Now, the Repubs are preparing to return the favor by welcoming as a delegate Doug Gardner, son of two-term Washington Demo guv Booth Gardner, to their convention here.

4. Dubya's making hay in Washington's West Side here.

5. Danger, danger, Will Robinson! In this feature by Matt Furber of the Idaho Mountain Express, experts warn rock climbers not to downplay injuries here. And you can find some tips for mountain climbing here.

6. Whaddaya get when you mix fermented fruit, a biz dispute and a grizzly? A mess, sez Jim Mann of The Daily Interlake (Kalispell, Mont.) here.

7. Perhaps, Boy-C State and U-of-I footballers weren't paying attention two years ago when Wazzu fans rioted after that overtime loss to U-Dub. They want the Board of Education OK the sale of beer and wine at designated areas for games. Bad idea, particularly if the Vandals become competitive again. Click here. (Speaking of Boy-C State, the Broncos ticket sales are soaring -- what with a great home schedule and three games to be televised on ESPN or ESPN2 -- here.)

8. The Little League All-Star team from Eagle, Idaho, is a win away from a regional title and a trip to the World Series in Williamsport, Pa., here.

*The Idaho Mountain Express of Sun Valley, Idaho, is demanding that the Legislature require Realtors to provide sales tax info so property taxes can be assessed fairly here.

*According to Joel Connelly of the P-I, smugglers of humans and drugs are eschewing urban settings for new routes in parks and wilderness areas here.

*Idaho Senate Pro Tem Bob Geddes is taking heat for wanting to change the traditional Senate committee meeting schedule, writes Dan Popkey here.

*Susan Paynter of the P-I received a mixed reaction from a recent column that painted child molester Mary K. Letourneau as a, well, child molester here.

Hump Day Quick Fix 6 (8/11/04)

I had some fun at Congressman Butch Otter's expense when he visited the office yesterday. He was comparing his time in the National Guard circa the Vietnam War with the service men and women from Idaho who are training at Fort Bliss, Texas. Rather than face heat and jiggers, he said, he practiced wading through wetlands. "Wetlands?" I countered. "You didn't try to dam them or change their flow, did you?" Most Idahoans know that Butch got crossways of the regulators when he cleaned up a swamp on his southern Idaho property, sans the proper permits. Butch caught the joke and was laughing when I added: "Where's the corps of engineers when you need them?"

1. To launch our Hump Day QF6 Political 'Toon Fix, how about a roundup from brilliant Daryl Cagle & Co. here?

2. Letterman: "The Republican National Convention is coming to New York. President Bush is excited because he's certain he'll have no problem finding weapons of mass destruction here." For your Wake Up & Read It Fix, you can find This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. For your Top of the News Fix, No Holds Barred has: Bin Laden hints at political assassination here, 'Disorderly' Mike Wallace arrested here, eBay yanks Keyes' sweaty napkin here, NBC to supersize Olympic coverage here, and U.S. forces close to major assault on Najaf -- or nothere.

4. In her un-PC book, "In Defense of Internment, The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terrorism," Filipino-American Michelle Malkin courageously goes against the grain. She even caught me off guard. But she strengthens her case for the Doubting Toms and Tomasinas with this excerpt from her book involving a downed Japanese pilot and frightened Islanders. Here's your un-PC Fix. (And you can find Michelle's latest column on the internment flap here.)

5. Writing for FrontPageMag, author Lawrence Auster explains why American "liberals" (read neo-socialists) don't blink when you catch them being hypocritical or using a double standards. Here's your Political Reality Fix.

6. For your Opinion Fix, here's Bryan York (Kerry's 'Christmas in Cambodia'), Catherine Seipp (Queer Eye for married guy), Jonah Goldberg (Keyes wrong for Illinois), William F. Buckley (Kerry endorses the war), and Linda Sanchez (church-going voters).

--30-- (Tuesday, Aug. 10)

*As she feared, Ginny Foster, the Spokane Valley woman who is fighting public profanity, will get skewered in Penn & Teller's half-hour "Showtime" series, "BS." In a New York Times article last week, Penn Jillette described Ginny as a "hypocritical prig" on a "silly power trip." And it gets worse. You can read all about the TV bully's assessment of Ginny and her cause here.

*From Paris, Lynne Hutton, my favorite Lefty and former owner of the Gateway Gardens, writes that the French "are very content and beautiful people" (because they don't have to get their hands dirty fighting the Islamofacist hordes). And that she'll continue to pray for Bush.

*Big John Rook writes to draw attention to three worthies who'll be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame: Larry Lujack, Dick Purtan and Walter Winchell. Winchell originated the three-dot journalism style that I use in my Huckleberries column. You can read about the three and the latest news in the field of radio on John's Web site here.

*I've just reached another magic number in my short history as a blogger -- No. 900. The "Best of the Northwest" roundup today was the 900th item I've blogged since I began No Holds Barred in mid-February. That's about 150 items per month. Or 40 per week. Sometimes, it's hard to keep that pace. But it's usually fun trying.

DFO

Headlines @ 2:29 p.m.

I've been running behind all day after having morning coffee with Mike Tracy, U.S. Sen. Larry Craig's righthand man from Boise, and his assistant Sid Smith, 1996 Coeur d'Alene High grad and all around good guy. I enjoyed our time together so much that I couldn't tear myself away. Then, Congressman Butch Otter stopped by. So, I'm about two hours behind on blogging. But a chance to hobnob with the state's political movers and shakers isn't easy to pass up.

1. Ridge to agents: Fight terrorists with 'a smile': Threatens to fire border officers who are rude to foreign visitors (WorldNetDaily): Political correctness strikes again.

2. Bush crows over Kerry admission: Cites flip-flop from anti-war stance to agreeing on use of force (Reuters): Dubya should crow while the crowings good. Next week, Flipflop'll be against the war again.

3. Fed raises interest rates 1/4 point: 2nd such increase this year by policy-setting committee (My Way): Oh, the joy of a locked-in mortgage rate.

4. Stocks up on Fed statement: Dow Jones surges 130, Nasdaq advances 34 (Blomberg.com): What goes up always seems to go down, down, down.

5. Trump casinos to file for bankruptcy: Why pay bills when you can file for bankruptcy? (NewsMax): You're fired! And you should go to jail!

Best of the Northwest

My wife and I visited the traveling Vietnam War Memorial wall on the Coeur d'Alene rez last night. I wanted to see two names on the wall: Larry Patterson and Danny Prock, high school classmates who died months apart in 1968. My wife went to see her cousin Jerry Janeway's name. After all these years to see their names among so many, I felt a sense of closure and deep respect for what these three did and gave for a war the politicians wouldn't let them win. I still have a lump in my throat from the visit. And I'd recommend anyone with an attachment to Vietnam visit the wall. Its creator was a genius.

1. No one does commemorative political 'toons better than Milt Priggee. He doodles a salute for the passing of Fay Wray of "King Kong" fame here.

2. Colleague Kevin Taylor wrote about the Vietnam War Memorial replica wall that was set up for four days in the parking lot of the Coeur d'Alene Bingo Casino here.

3. Marine Sgt. Yadir Reynoso remembered to call his mother on her birthday, Aug. 1, but, sadly, four days later he was cut down by small-arms fire as part of the urban warfare surrounding the troubled city of Najaf, Iraq, here.

4. Mr. Mariner, Edgar Martinez, announces his retirement, and The Seattle Times here, Seattle P-I here and John Blanchette of the S-R here tell you all about it.

5. UI cyclist Kristin Armstrong is the latest Idaho Olympian to be profiled by The Idaho Statesman here.

6. Smokey the Bear, with nary a gray hair on his head, celebrated his 60th birthday Monday in Missoula here.

7. Sgt. Robert Evans of the Montana National Guard, a 2000 Flathead High grad, is among the band of brothers (and sisters) who are participating in Mission Toy Drop, a small movement within the military deployed in Iraq that provides candy and toys to the Iraqi children, showing them that Americans aren't monsters here.

8. The smoke-free environment may make nonsmokers happy, but it's already causing a drop in cuss-tomers at some Idaho restaurants here.

*The Idaho Statesman gets on U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo for backing Dubya's "ill-conceived" roadless plan here.

*Who better to write a profile about legendary Evel Knievel than my old buddy Doug Clark here?

*Baseball writer Larry Stone of the Times opines that a Hall of Fame berth is no certainty for retiring Edgar Martinez here.

*Nicole Brodeur writes about that Rock the Music tour by Bruce Springsteen, The Dixie Chicks and other Bush Haters here.

Tuesday Quick Fix 6 (8/10/04)

I saw an amusing bumpersnicker on a Plymouth Voyager this morning when I stopped at Burger King for my once-a-week breakfast burrito fix: "I wish I was barbie; that brat gets everything she wants." I wouldn't want to be Barbie -- what with the sex change, plastic and all. Nor would I want to get everything I want because you can never get enough. Right? The greatest gift anyone can have is contentment. In American society, where we're pounded from all directions with materialism, it isn't easy being content. But it's worth striving for.

1. Chuck Asay and Kevin Tuma get the morning off to a roaring start with your Political 'Toon Fix here and here (must see).

2. Leno: "I'm ready for fall. I'm getting sick of these summer TV shows. It's all reality shows. Makeover shows...dating shows...quiz shows...do you realize the only thing on TV all summer with a plot is al Qaeda?" For the rest of your Wake Up & Read It Fix, you can find This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. For your Top of the News Fix, No Holds Barred offers: Flipflop supports Iraq war with or without WMDs here, Keyes: Obama holds 'slaveholder' views here, Flipflop's 'self-inflicted' purple heart here, NRA endorsement of Dubya not certain here, and Al Qaida plots to influence U.S. election here.

4. Columnist Joel Mowbray looks at the cuh-razy decision by the U.S. State Dept. to invite the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to observe this fall's prez election. Sez Joel: "Any organization comprised of member nations such as France and Germany who saw no evil in Saddam’s tyranny and continue turning a blind eye to Arafat’s iron fist clearly lacks the moral compass to pass judgment on any nation, let alone the United States." Here's your Dubya's Gone Soft in the Head Fix.

5. For 10 years, lead singer Scott Stapp and Creed were one of the hottest rock bands on the planet. Although their songs occasionally included a message of faith, Stapp was glad that no one ever asked if he was a Christian. Until now. In an article for Christianmusictoday.com, Stapp discusses his journey of faith. Here's your Christianity Today Fix.

6. For your Opinion Fix, No Holds Barred offers: David Limbaugh (Unfit for command, unfit for comment?), William F. Buckley (Missourians reject gay marriage amendment), Cal Thomas (why truth matters), New York Daily News (time to crush al-Sadr), and Washington Times ('Christmas in Cambodia').

--30-- (Monday, Aug. 9)

I'll leave you with this rumor from the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre: After watching "Little Shop of Horrors" the other night at North Idaho College, movie star John Travolta asked to meet ex-Lake City High grad Steve Booth back stage and made this prediction: "You're going to make it big." Travolta was blown away by Steve's rendition as the voice of "Audrey II." Steve also sent the audience "wild" over the weekend with his portrayal of "Rum Tum Tugger" (the Elvis cat) in "Cats" (according to S-R colleague Jim Kershner). For those of you keeping score at home, Sandi Seaton, Steve's former drama teacher at LCHS, also predicted that he'd see his name in lights someday. Stay tuned.

Unfairenheit 9/11

Milt Nelson of Rathdrum passes along the perfect description of Michael Moore's loopy propaganda film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," penned in June by maverick Christopher Hitchens:

"To describe this film as dishonest and demagogic would almost be to promote those terms to the level of respectability. To describe this film as a piece of crap would be to run the risk of a discourse that would never again rise above the excremental. To describe it as an exercise in facile crowd-pleasing would be too obvious. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of 'dissenting' bravery.

Peanut Gallery (Al Hassell)

re: that free senior discount I got from KFC Sunday without asking (see this morning's Quick Fix Six):

I have been getting that (free senior discount without asking) in some places, and yet others challenge my Sr status. It really depends, not on your age, but on the age of the cashier. To a Teen or 20 something, we all look alike . Someone at middle age is more discerning and will ask. At 60, I usually am not asked if I want the Senior Discount. My wife is never asked, which means that she looks younger than I do. Bummer..... You should have fun with that for the next 5 years or so. Happy almost birthday.

City Councilman Al Hassell

DFO: Hey, don't say, Happy Birthday, yet; I have to become an Empty Nester first -- at the end of this month.

Peanut Gallery (Cis The Retired)

Did you read Drudge connect to CNN source about our election being monitored....by the UN? Heard it on the radio this morning, so looked it up. Surely they jest? Will they send Jimmy Carter to Florida? You know this is why I love Idaho.... we are low on the food chain of politics and everything else for that matter. So won't even know where to find us to monitor us.

Cis the Retired

DFO: At times, Bush amazes me with his ability to completely cave in on a controversial issue when he has no need to do so. Remember amnesty for illegal aliens. He has no right to compromise our sovereignty with this ploy, which makes us look like a Third World country and gives credence to the Demos paranoia re: Florida '00. He won't win any votes with this move on the liberal side. And he could lose many on the conservative side. Dunno who's advising him on this. But that person should be fired.

Mailbag

By & large, I got good feedback from my anti-gay marriage rant in the newspaper Saturday. A coupla negatives. But mostly positives. Here's some examples:

*A huge THANK YOU to Dave Oliveria for his editorial about marriage. We conservative Christian folks who deeply believe in traditional marriage seem to be afraid to speak up - afraid we might 'offend' someone, as opposed to the extremely vocal ultra liberal group that doesn't seem to care who it squashes. So thank you thank you thank you for putting into clear concise intelligent and STRONG words how a vast majority of us feel -- thomascsjn@juno.com.

*Dave, I really enjoyed reading your pieces in the Spokesman. I wish your column had a more visible presence in the printed paper than it seems to now. Your blog is enjoyable and I appreciate both your humor and your thoughtful ideas from a Christian perspective. I wish the media had more voices like yours to speak for us -- Mike Ingram

---

*Dave, Your article on marriage was refreshing. I'm a new resident to Spokane (I fled L.A. last year), and am unfamiliar with WA. initiative laws. Is there a movement to put a Marriage Amendment on the ballot in Nov.? Or is this not possible? Please pass along any info on this issue -- Art Carrano

---

*Yestiddy's pc on gay marriage was you at your brilliant best. That I actually caught myself agreeing with you is a tad disturbing, however -- deepee@usmedia.tv.

Edgar Calling It Quits

Extra! Extra! Edgar Martinez of the M's will call it quits, effective immediately, at a press conference in less than an hour here.

Headlines @ 12:46 p.m.

*Conference shows journalists' love for Kerry: Reporters cheered, whistled for Democrat, not thrilled by Bush speech (Editor & Publisher): Don't look now but some liberals in the media (who outnumber conservatives 5-to-1) have dropped all pretense of neutrality.

*Alan Keyes' sweat on sale at eBay: Perspiration-soaked napkin auctioned by zealous fan (WorldNetDaily): What's next? Slick Willie's, ahem, DNA sample from Monica's blue dress? Don't bet against it.

*Terry Nichols gets 161 life sentences: In statement, prays 'for everyone to acknowledge God' (AP): I'd prefer he received one death sentence instead.

*Radical Iraqi cleric al-Sadr vows fight to the death with U.S. forces (Voice of America): It's time to oblige him.

*Fay Wray, Object of Ape's Desire in `King Kong,' Dies at 96 (Bloomberg.com): She outlived her big gorilla by 71 years.

Best of the Northwest

My wife and I were among the thousands who trooped to the Lilac Bowl at Riverfront Park Saturday night to be blown away by Michael W. Smith (pictured) and MercyMe, a contemporary Christian band. Yeah, we were there when Smith interrupted his introduction to a song to stun the audience by calling a surprise visitor onto the stage: actor Jim "The Passion of the Christ" Caviezel. No one, this side of Mel Gibson, has done more to call attention to Christ's suffering and death on the cross than Caviezel. That standing O was well deserved. And a great time was had by all, including this calloused journalist.

1. Milt Priggee launches the first Best of the Northwest roundup of the week with his two-dimensional views on Dubya and the assault weapons ban (do I need to stick a note in here that I disagree with Milt on this one, or can you figure it out?) here.

2. On Thursday, the Spokesman-Review Editorial Board took a position in favor of gay marriage, over my many objections here. On Saturday, I returned fire here. Say what you will about the paper-endorsed opinion, I give Opinion Editor Doug Floyd and Big Boss Steve Smith points for allowing me to express my opinions on this controversial subject.

3. You can find my Monday Huckleberries column here.

4. You know your order is going to be slow when you find a dead man with a bullet through his head near the drive-up window of Jack in the Pine Box here.

5. If only 25 people show up to hear a prez wannabe in Spokane, does he make a sound? Green Party prez wannabe David Cobb had a tree-falling-in-the-forest experience when he dropped by Coeur d'Alene Park in the Browne's edition over the weekend here.

6. After 34 years, Air Force Lt. Col. Randall A. Perry was laid to rest over the weekend in a cemetery in Troy, Mont. (near Libby). He was 35 and navigator of one of the six B-52s shot down over Hanoi just before Christmas 1972. The Daily Inter Lake of Kalispell, Mont., tells you about the services here.

7. As visitors watched at West Glacier, near the entrance to Glacier National Park, a "wildlife conflict specialist" shot a troublesome bear with a tranquilizer dart and prepared it for shipment elsewhere here.

8. Boisean Bill Baugh and 500 other smokers have found a way around the new Idaho law banning smoking in restaurants by joining a private club in downtown Boy-C here.

*Susan Paynter doesn't want us to forget that ex-con Mary K. Letourneau is a predator here.

*Edward Alexander, a U-Dub English prof, tells Seattle Times readers that Demos have an anti-Semiticism problem here.

*In Washington, Joel Connelly of the P-I looks at poll number that show everything's coming up roses for Demo AG Christine Gregoire here.

*Columnist Dan Popkey of The Idaho Statesman writes: "Housing developers have a new property tax break that reduces school revenues by millions and hikes taxes for homeowners and businesses" here.

Monday Quick Fix 6 (8/9/04)

On Sunday, I officially became a Seasoned Citizen -- at least in the eyes of the femme clerk who worked the counter at Hayden's KFC. As I paid for chicken dinners for my family, I noticed the clerk had given me the "senior discount" and deducted 40 cents from my meal -- without asking. Sure, I'm on the brink of turning the double-nickle, but I didn't think I looked "senior." I felt better when she told me that KFC gives discounts to us oldies beginning at age 50. Still. For 40 cents, I've lost my classification as one of those less than seniors. I coulda given the 40 cents back, but the damage was done.

1. For you first Political 'Toon Fix this week, we have Chuck Asay revealing how government stays out of the bedroom here, and Paul Nowak showing how Jesse Jackson is an equal opportunist -- when it comes to Repubs -- here.

2. On this day in history, in 1936, Jesse Owens won his fourth gold medal with der Fuhrer looking on, becoming the first American to win four golds at an Olympics. For your Wake Up & Read It Fix, you can find the rest of This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. For your Top of the News Fix, No Holds Barred offers: International team to monitor presidential election here, Swifties: Kerry lied about spending Christmas in Cambodia here, CDC gave Saddam West Nile samples here, Capitol, lawmakers targetted here, and Iraqi Christians slow to return to the pews here.

4. How low will The Left go in its attempt to elect Flipflop? Consider Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. These Lefty bullies are monitoring Sunday services to make sure that pastors don't merge politics and Christianity by urging voters to vote for Dubya. Of course, when liberals take to the pulpits to do just the same, AUSCS looks the other way. Here's your Lefty Censorship Fix.

5. Catholic clerical leaders in Atlanta, Charlotte and Charleston have taken a stand for the unborn -- by denying communion to politicians who support abortion on demand. The brave clergy in those three places say correctly that such politicians, like Flipflop, are cooperating with evil. Here's your Pro-Life Fix.

6. For your Opinion Fix, NHB has: Shannen W. Coffin (Bar Association takes on religion), Chris McAvoy (Bruce Springsteen's crusade), Mark Steyn (Flipflop's war record), John Kerry (Plan is to bring the troops home), and Jeff Jacoby (Vietnam today).

--30-- (for Friday, Aug. 6, 2004)

*Sorry, I didn't have much time to blog today. Had to finish an edit and write Huckleberries. And I wrote a full-length column criticizing that goofy Washington court decision yesterday in favor of gay marriage. So, Lefty Heckel & Jeckels will be scuh-reaming to my Opinion Page Editor about my, ahem, "homophobia" at the break of dawn Monday. Goes with the territory.

*Ginny Foster, the Spokane Valley woman who's crusading against foul language in public, writes that she's going to be on TV next week: "Although I wasn't notified, I found out that the Profanity episode of Penn and Teller's BS will air Aug 12 (Thursday) and a few days after. Check local listings." BTW, Ginny now has a blog here to go with her catalogue of civil products.

*What's the difference between Wal-Mart and Costco, when it comes to politics? Wal-Mart supports Repubs, Costco Dems. You can read all about it at the link that Don Morgan sent here.

*I'm rerunning a link to that "build your own Bush" feature, sent in by Big John Rook this morning, because I initially forgot to provide one. And you may have missed it. It's funny as all get out. Click here.

*Cis Gors passes along an interesting link from the Urban Legends and Folklore site that suggests the Vietnam War vets' beef with Flipflop may be a little over the top. Click here.

*I'm trying to figure out why this blog set a personal record Wednesday by attracting more than 2,000 pageviews. (I'll have the exact figure Monday.) Did you guys have too much time or your hands. Or was there something of particular interest. Let me know. I'll run it again. And thanks for your faithful readership of both my on-line and hard-copy stuff.

DFO

Headlines @ 12:20 p.m.

*Boston Globe 'reporter' Kranish paid to write campaign book foreward -- while covering Kerry campaign (The Drudge Report): Nah -- wink, wink -- there's no liberal media bias.

*Madonna opens her own religious school: Parents must already be Kabbalists and pass probing family interview (Asian News International): Wonder if the Material Girl's soft-porno book, "Sex," will be part of the curriculum?

*Hypocrite Kerry 'Couldn't Think' for 40 minutes on 9/11 (NewsMax): So, Flipflop was sitting there dumbfounded 33 minutes after Dubya had quit reading to the kids and had sprung into action. You might want to tell this to whiny Lefties (read: Juicy Lucy) next time they make an issue of Dubya's 7 minutes.

*Road to Al Qaeda runs through Pakistan:Computer files show web of terrorist contacts reaches from Pakistan to US and Britain (The Christian Science Monitor): While we've been distracted by the Demo nonconvention and Flipflop's nonbounce, a full-scale operation against terrorists has yielded many dividends, particularly in Pakistan, aka Terror Central.

*Abu Ghraib was hell, U.S. soldier tells abuse hearing (Reuters): No Holds Barred dedicates this '80s song by Cyndi Lauper to Pfc. Lynndie England and her former sisters in arms at Abu Ghraib: "Girls Just Want to Have Fu-un."

Best of the Northwest (8/6/04)

If you thought Cis Gors' "test" at the top of today's Quick Fix Six was funny (and it was), you'll get a kick out of a Web site provided by Big John Rook -- even Demos will. Called "Build Your Own Bush," the site provided by Big John allows you to select the style of Dubya's hair, shape of his eyes and expression on his lips. (Try "combover," "drunk" and "missing some teeth.") Gotta kick out of it -- even though I'm voting for the guy. Click here.

1. Dang! I'm 0-for-2 for Dubya today. You can find my old buddy Milt Priggee having some fun with Dubya, too, here.

2. Hattie Johnson of Athol, Idaho, a 10-meter air rifle specialist, is one of two North Idaho residents and eight Idahoans overall who will be participating in the Greek Summer Olympics. The Idaho Statesman profiles her and hurdler Angela Whyte of Moscow in another of its ongoing series of features about Gem State Olympians here.

3. Meanwhile, columnist John Blanchette of the S-R profiled discus thrower Ian Waltz, (pictured during his WSU days) from nearby Post Falls, Idaho, yesterday here.

4. Michelle Malkin, the young, fire-breathing columnist and fellow blogger, is visiting her native Seattle to promote her controversial book, "In Defense of Internment: The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terror." Malkin, a second-generation Filipino-American, sez the U.S. had good reason to intern Japanese-Americans. But the Seattle Times found plenty of Japanese-Americans who disagree here.

5. Smell that "stench from the bench"? Meet William Downing, the loopy King County Superior Court judge who conjured a constitutional right for gay marriage out of whole cloth earlier this week here.

6. In Missoula, a small group of war veterans have incorporated to make sure that military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan receive the proper "welcome home" that Vietnam War veterans never received here.

7. Five days before his 23rd birthday and five weeks before he was to end his second tour of duty in Iraq, Cpl. Dean Pratt of Stevensville, Mont., was killed in a bomb blast near the hot spot of Fallujah. The Missoulian tells you the sad story about this brave young man here.

8. A Boise group fighting to restore the Ten Commandments to Julia Davis Park is planning to sue the city of Boise to put the matter on the ballot if it collects enough signatures to force the issue here.

9. Construction on UI's controversial Idaho Water Center is expected to wrapup Tuesday, but the state Board of Education is still seeking answers on how the university is going to pay its annual bond debt of $3 million here.

*Joel Connelly, the superb semi-Lefty columnist from the P-I, wonders what happened to Dubya's promised about our nation's parks here.

*The Seattle Times tells the city of Wenatchee that it's time to pay up for withholding pertinent information in that old sex scandal witch hunt here.

*John Levesque of the P-I sez new U-Dub AD is striking the right balance here.

TGIF Quick Fix 6 (8/6/04)

Cis Gors found a test on line that'll determine whether you're a Democrat, a Republican or a southern Republican. Word of caution for Demos. The test was conjured by ChronWatchForum, which describes itself as "a gathering place for conservative minds." So you might feel slighted by the results. For conservatives, middle-of-the-roaders and Demos who are able to laugh at themselves, it's a hoot. Click here.

1. For your Political 'Toon Fix, Daryl Cagle & Co. provide a range of cartoons here and Paul Nowak gets in his licks re: feminism here.

2. Kilborn: A group of 80’s rock stars are getting together for a concert to support John Kerry. It’s not going well though – Kerry and Edwards are already three points down to Hall and Oates. For your Wake Up & Read It Fix, you can find This Day in History here, This Day in Music here, and Today's Birthdays here.

3. For you Top of the News Fix, No Holds Barred has: Demo lawyers seek to muzzle Swift boat vets' ad (including link to actual commerical) here, Book: Kerry took no enemy fire for medal here, Poll: Michael Moore's (pictured) preaching to the choir here, Bomp, bomp, bomp, another 300 bad guys bite the dust here, and 'Schindler's List' star to play wicked warlock Voldemort in next Potter movie here.

4. Don't look now, Christian, but T. Chappaquiddick Kennedy has successfully pushed a bill through the U.S. Senate that sets the stage for your religious beliefs to be judged as bigotry someday. Christianity Today provides a link to Kennedy's insidious legislation along with a historical review of an abbot from the 12th Century who fought something similar. Here's your Religious History Fix.

5. Before you fall for the Dims' rhetoric about tax cuts being just for the rich, you'd better look at how those tax cuts for wealthy trickle down and spur the economy. The Tax Foundation provides your Reality Check Fix.

6. For your Opinion Fix, No Holds Barred has: Thomas Sowell (The Left's vocabulary), Charles Krauthammer (muffing the bounce), Terry Eastland (Are D's religion friendly?), Debra Saunders (Who's afraid of bin Laden?), and Michael P. Tremoglie (the Barack myth).

--30--

The Washington State Human Rights Commission has become more popular than ever since Hagadone Directories, Insight and QwestDex listed it in their North Idaho and eastern Washington phone books. In fact, the Olympia office is fielding 50 to 100 phone calls per day from its toll-free listing. Seems the directories refer callers to a second number that dials up a sex hotline that solicits $2.99 per minute for a chat with "real working girls, housewives, students and fantasy girls." Apparently, the hotline picked up the commission's old number. That should explain the heavy breathing on the other end of the line.

Peanut Gallery (The Edge)

President Bush offered up a new entry for his catalog of "Bushisms" on Thursday, declaring that his administration will "never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people." Bush misspoke as he delivered a speech at the signing ceremony for a $417 billion defense spending bill. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and
neither do we."

The Edge

DFO: I prefer Dubya's rhetorical gaffes to Flipflop's haughty elocution. I hope you haven't forgotten this Kerryism: "[My mother] taught me to see trees as the cathedrals of nature." My mother taught me to see the forest.

'Joan' Good, 'Everwood' Bad

The Parents' Television Council has released its readings of best and worst shows for 2003-04, and those of you who've been duped into thinking that "Evergood's" wholesome family fare aren't going to like it. Click here (By the way, I plead guilty to being a "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" fan ... No. 5 on the bad list).

Mohammed Knows Best

Another example of why I turn to Mohammed, Ali, Omar & the boys at Iraq the Model when I want the skinny on the situation on the ground in Iraq. Here, they're talking about Moqtada al Sadr's latest insurgency:

"These militant groups have betrayed Iraq by their collaboration with other countries to destabilize the situation in Iraq while the true sons of Iraq are working to build their country. We need discipline and order now more than ever and I believe that who commits a simple traffic violation on purpose is really harming Iraq at this stage, let alone those who carry arms to fight us. Those should not be left free to do more damage."

DFO: Long live the free voice of the Iraqi people. Al Jazeera and the American media should be so accurate.

'Sanders Beach'

The grains of sand upon this beach
in total must four trillion reach,
and every single grain you see
belongs exclusively to me.

The Bard of Sherman Avenue

Headlines @ 11:31 a.m.

*Among Veterans: Bush 58% Kerry 35%: 48% Have Family or Friends in Iraq or Afghanistan (Rasmussen Reports) -- What do the vets know that the general public doesn't?

*Springsteen Gets Political with Attack on Bush (Reuters): What do vets know that clueless rock stars don't?

*Kerry's Viet comrades call him a liar in TV ad: Blistering commercial features 13 vets questioning honesty, medals, character (WorldNetDaily): What do those who served with him know that Demo image polishers don't?

*Man nabbed for plot to attack courthouse: Authorities say Chicagoan planned to use fertilizer truck bomb (Chicago Sun-Times): When is this administration going to get credit for keeping America safe so far despite the political correctness that keeps one of its hands tied behind its back?

*Teacher's lover at 12 still loves her at 21 (My Way): Hey, they're in love. Anyone who's in love has the right to marry, right? Underaged. Overaged. Males. Females. Male and many females. Who's to say anything's wrong any more?

Best of the Northwest (8/5/04)

I almost made the news last night, around 7 p.m. Yep, I was in one of the vehicles traveling I-90 near Northwest Boulevard when that cloudburst broke. I haven't seen anything like it this side of a rainstorm or two on I-84 along the Columbia Gorge. Fortunately, I was able to pull over to the side and wait it out. Others weren't so lucky. Their insurance premiums will be going up. As one fellow traveler said on the news last night, the storm hit so quickly that no one was prepared -- within seconds. Good thing a truck didn't barrel through the mess. Or I might not be here blogging today.

1. Eric Devericks of the Seattle Times has a coupla 'toons about Donkeys and Flipflop that I couldn't resist here and here.

2. Mary K. Letourneau appeared briefly at the King County Courthouse yesterday to register as a sex offender a short time after her former underaged lover petitioned the court to waive its noncontact order with her here.

3. For those keeping score at home, I was the lone dissenting voice in the Editorial Board discussion that led to The Spokesman-Review's endorsement of gay marriage this morning here. Once I overcome the shock of our position, I may columnize on the need for a national Defense of Marriage Act amendment.

4. Corey Wilson, a brave, 31-year-old Nampan, lost her life yesterday when she was hit by another motorist while trying to render aid to a victim of a rollover on Interstate 84 here.

5. According to the Hungry Horse News, Karin Colby of Northwest Montana has one word for anyone thinking about raising a wolf hybrid: Don't. You can find the rest of the story here.

6. For you hard-core kayakers, John Sawyer, manager of the Flathead Lake State Park system, offers quite a challenge -- a 120-mile "trail" of access points, stopovers and camping sites around Flathead Lake that'll take paddlers a week to complete. Interested? You can find the Missoulian story here.

7. Jim Moore, the P-I's Go2Guy and a ha-huge WSU Cougar fan, came up with his list of the top Northwest flops over the last 25 years, and, you guessed it, ex-Coug QB Ryan Leaf headed the list here.

8. According to the Tri-City Herald, the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Indian Reservation lost its battle in court over the remains of 9300-year-old "Kennewick Man," but it hasn't given up the fight entirely. Click here.

*Editorial columnist Collin Levey of the Times writes about a band of Vietnam War vets who have a different view of Flipflop Kerry here.

*Publisher Dan Hammes of the St. Maries Gazette-Record opines that nature's way isn't always the best way here.

*Geoff Pampush, Idaho director of The Nature Conservancy, sez conservation easements protect wildlife, open space, ranching here.

*Columnist Nicole Brodeur of the Times explains why she's going gaga over Google here.

Thursday Quick Fix 6 (8/5/04)

On this day in history, 1979, a baby boy was born to my wife, Brenda, and me in Kalispell, Mont. We waited all night for his arrival. When he finally made his grand entrance, shortly after my wife questioned the competence of the attending doctor, I couldn't believe it. I held him for what seemed like an hour, just looking at him. And he looked back, not fussing or crying. Three months later, he would be at the University of Washington hospital fighting for his life against cancer. Then would come the chemotherapy. Twenty-five years later, he's halfway through medical school at the University of Colorado. Above all he's a good kid ... er, man. Happy Birthday, Seth-O.

1. For you Political 'Toon Fix, how about a coupla new guys? No Holds Barred introduces Gary Brookins of the Richmond Times Dispatch here and Florida's Ed Gamble here.

2. Leno: "Did you hear about this? It’s the first time since 1972 that a candidate didn’t get a bump from their convention. In fact not only didn’t Kerry get a bump but President Bush gained 4 percentage points. And today Bush asked Kerry if he would speak at the Republican Convention too." For the rest of your Wake Up Sleepy Head Fix, you can find This Day in History here, This Day in Music here and Today's Birthdays here.

3. For your Top of the News Fix, you can find: Vets: Kerry killed fleeing Vietnam teen for Silver Medal here, Will overseas military votes by uncounted again here? Gay activists target Missouri for supporting traditional marriage here, 2 New York Muslims charged in missile plot here, and Britain may have arrested al Qaida ace here.

4. James Dobson of Focus on the Family talks to The Weekly Standard about Dubya, Flipflop and how Christians can organize nonpartisan voter registration drives that won't attract the ire of the Internal Revenue Service. Here's your Wise As A Serpent Fix.

5. Planned Parenthood's "I Had An Abortion" T-shirt has sparked a firestorm of media coverage that has even some of the abortion provider's chapters crying uncle. Here's your Abortion Wars Fix.

6. For your Opinion Fix, No Holds Barred provides a Ladies Choice: Ann Coulter (Sandy Berger), Suzanne Fields (Flipflopping for the Jews), Sally Donnelly (Flight 327), Myrna Blyth (Ma & Pa Botox), and Linda Chavez (Flipflop's tour of duty).

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Remember that Forbes.com piece about Coeur d'Alene entrepreneur Luke Griffin by writer Scott Reeves? I featured it in my Huckleberries Monday here? Well, various sources have e-mailed to remind me that Steve "turned a Johnson" (prison slang for a year) at the Coeur d'Alene Press. Seems he was hired for beaucoup bucks to be the Press' writing coach and was put out to pasture when the troops didn't like "his honest and brutal style." And when the publisher found out he was making too much money (in other words, a living wage). The Powers That Be made life miserable for him by assigning him business stories to write almost exclusively. He had quite a resume before and after his Close Encounter with Hagadonia -- Anchorage Times (where he covered the Iditarod from a bush plane), Dow Jones, Barron's, Bridge News in NYC (where he covered the attack on the Twin Towers from across the street), AP and Forbes. Scott fell in love with this area, according to a source, "but not its internecine politics." I know exactly how he feels.

Peanut Gallery (Steve Badraun)

re: Journal of Business story about Harvard, Stanford biz deans from Spokane.

Those journalists need to dig a little deeper when they write a story................Don't forget Donald Kirk David, Dean of the Harvard Business School in the 1960's. David, a Moscow Idaho boy and the son of the famous David family who owned and operated David's Department Store was educated in Moscow schools, I believe, and did his undergrad work at the Universtiy of Idaho........Which goes to show us all that the Palouse grows them grand and tall in America....

Steve Badraun

DFO: Thanks for the rest of the story.

Self-huzzahs for Resort Course

The Coeur d'Alene Resort golf course received a gushy review Tuesday in the Columbia Basin Herald (Moses Lake, Wash., 130 miles west of here), which failed to mention that the course and the paper were owned by the same company, Hagadone Newspapers. Musta been an oversight. Oh well, click here.

Peanut Gallery (The Edge)

re: Sanders Beach "owner" Jerry Frank's latest tantrum:

It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how much money somebody has, or how sophisticated they claim to be, people are still capable of ugly behavior when their base emotions takeover. Mr. Frank has clearly lost all perspective on the situation, and is careening toward a tragedy that he would dearly regret once he calmed down. He’s also dealing with a few unsavory characters that cause trouble for everybody. What happens if he yanks on another kids’ arm and then a parent pulls out a knife, or a gun? Is a little bit of beach worth dying over? He’s not helping a difficult situation with his tantrums. It’s time for him to grow up, or sell his house and move back to La-La land, where you can fence off large chunks of public beach and get away with it.

The Edge

DFO: Frank definitely needs a time out.

Headlines @ 1:30 p.m.

*Missouri voters OK same-sex marriage ban: Decision closely watched by national groups on both sides (Associated Press): Seventy percent of Missouri supports traditional marriage and one liberal judge in Seattle doesn't. And it's a draw? The U.S. needs the Defense of Marriage Act, people -- to save us from the activist judiciary.

*Lesbian kiss nixed because Bush is president? Sharon Stone says country's puritanical climate prevented 'Catwoman' scene (WorldNetDaily): Still another reason to vote for Dubya.

*Laura Bush takes swipe at journalists: Says they're contributing to polarization of country (Associated Press): Bingo.

*The Boss takes on the boss (Springsteen to join Bush Hater music tour) -- Reuters: Monkey see, monkey sing.

*Ex-POWs: North Vietnamese Jailers Used Kerry's 'War Crimes' Speech (NewsMax): Now, Flipflop's torturing the rest of us with his condescending, boring speeches.

Best of the Northwest

Don't look now but another activist judge, from Washington, has found a constitutional right for gays to marry -- this time, King County Superior Court Judge William Downing did the dirty deed. Downing's ruling here today comes a day after Missouri residents overwhelmingly voted to amend the constitution to define marriage -- correctly -- as being between a man and a woman. God help America. The courts won't.

1. Political cartoonist Milt Priggee reacts to obesity being proclaimed an illness here.

2. Actor Dennis Franz of "NYPD Blue" has barely settled into his new digs on Lake Coeur d'Alene and already he's bellyaching about a proposed subdivision in the area here.

3. "Spokane is like a hidden gem,” Kim Clark told the Journal of Business. “I don’t think it’s on the national radar screen as a great place to do business, but it’s a great place to live.” Clark? He's a Ferris High grad and the dean of the Harvard Business School. He's one of two former Spokane high schoolers now leading business programs at major universities. You can read about it here.

4. Mary K. Letourneau, the infamous child molester who produced for her underaged victim, was released from a Washington prison today here. And the Times editorialized about it here.

5. The Daily Inter Lake (which is owned by the Hagadone Corp.) published a startling photo on line today of a motorist in a supermarket parking lot running down an 88-year-old man. Believe it or not, the photo wasn't staged. Click here.

6. According to the Missoulian, dry rot was the culprit in the collapse of a popular Polson casino and bar that injured 80 people here.

7. "Wenatchee must pay what may be the largest sanctions ever levied against a city in Washington for withholding key information from people who sued after they were acquitted in the now-discredited investigations into child sex abuse, the state Court of Appeals said yesterday," reports Mike Barber of the P-I here.

8. Idaho taxpayer supporter for political candidates has dropped to an all-time low, according to the Associated Press here.

*According to columnist Steven Dunphy of the Times, the Spokane economy is on the upswing here.

*Dan Popkey of The Idaho Statesman looks at a possible upset in an Ada County commissioner race here.

*Brian Griffiths, a disabled vet and handicapped sportsman, tells Idaho Statesman readers that people with handicaps need wilderness access, too, here.

*The childhood home of rock icon Jimi Hendrix has seen better days, according to Seattle Times columnist Danny Westneat here.

'Beware of Owner'

No Holds Barred has obtained a police report in which Sanders Beach "owner" Jerry Frank was cited for battery for allegedly grabbing 8-year-old Kelsey Weber by the arm Aug. 25, 2003. Charges were dropped after he wrote the following letter to the girl:

Dear Kelsey;