I’m going to take a few days off to clear my head of the campaign and election fog and to enjoy my kids. I’ll officially turn the controls of HBO Central over to CindyH on Monday. I’ve warned her not to check out the cooler by herself (especially after Joker’s detailed description re: what’s in there). However, she has my go-ahead to toss anyone in there that gives her too much guff. Or if she simply wants to feel the adrenalin rush that comes with doing so. So be careful. I don’t think Cindy will go power mad. But you never know. Now, I’ll play the Wild Card and prepare to go into vacation mode …

Two bad trends have supplanted the good old days. The radical right, the tea baggers its new manifestation, is purging the Republican Party of moderate officeholders and candidates, and turning once-sensible office seekers into pander bears. Locally, an iron triangle of left interest groups (e.g. NARAL) liberal media (The Stranger, PubliCola) and the labor left (SEIU) seek to impose ideological requirements while slamming any Democrat who hints at moderation. The local press hasn’t noticed, but Rep. Dave Reichert, R-Wash., endured sustained abuse from national conservative media and local property rights wackos when he dared to vote for climate change legislation. The national and state Republican Party were brushed aside by the likes of Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh in New York’s 23rd District/Joel Connelly, Seattle P-I. More here.

Question: Will the Republican right save or destroy the party of Lincoln?

Tricia Jo Webster/Fabulocity writes: “I found this “Life is Crap” cup during my inaugural visit to Halpin’s, one of the Valley’s hidden treasures. OK, really – sitting prominently on the corner of Bowdish and Sprague with a sign that can be seen from space without a telescope – it’s not all that hidden … I’d simply never before taken the time to stop in. I’d heard the place mentioned in conversation. I’d driven past it at least 1,037 times. But last week I stopped a lady to ask her where she’d gotten her purse – a strappy black bag weaved from seat belts, very cool – and she said “Halpin’s.” That did it. It was time for a visit.” More here.

Question: What’s your favorite slogan on a coffee mug that you own?

While preparing for my conferences I started to think about what I would like parents to know about teachers. Here are a few of them:

• We love your kids. We want what’s best for them just like you do.
• We work hard.
  
• We have tons of unmatched coffee mugs and Christmas ornaments that say “World’s Best Teacher” and candles. If you’re going to give a teacher a gift, be creative. (And if you can’t be creative, we love gift cards.)
• We like parent support. If my parents spend time reading to their children or practicing flashcards, it encourages me to do more, too.
• We love being teachers. It’s a job that you can’t do if you don’t love it. We don’t love every minute of every day, but we love teaching.
•  More from A Butterfly Moment here.
  

Question: Anyone have a good word for one of your kid’s teachers?

Idaho and Fresno State mirror each other in many ways. Fresno State has the No. 3 offense in the WAC, averaging 36.5 points a game, while Idaho is the No. 4 offense in the conference, averaging 33 points a game. The Bulldogs have scored 23 touchdowns while the Vandals have scored 22. The Vandals have the slight edge in total offense, putting up 445 yards a game, while Fresno State averages 444. Offensively, the difference is on the ground. Idaho is sixth in the WAC on the ground, putting up 172 yards a game, but between Princeton McCarty, De’Maundray Woolridge and Deonte Jackson, the Vandals can rack up yards on the ground in the blink of they eye. The Bulldogs have the best rusher in the nation in Mathews, who averages 191 yards a game. The Bulldogs also can throw the rock. Fresno State quarterback Ryan Colburn averages just over 160 yards a game, hitting Seyi Ajirotutu for nearly 100 yards a game. The game should come down to whose defense steps up/Sandra Kelly, Moscow Pullman Daily News. Full story below.

Question: OK, prognosticators, let’s try again. Who’s going to win and by what score?

Continue reading Fresno State Invades Kibbie Dome »

What too many people fail to recall, and in many cases I consider this willful amnesia, is that Obama’s sales pitch for the first stimulus package included a promise that, if passed, unemployment would rise no higher than 8 percent. Without the stimulus package, Obama’s economic team (which includes Romer), predicted that unemployment might rise as high as 9 percent. For reference, the official unemployment rate is now 10.2 percent.. And that’s an underestimate. When one considers the underemployed and those who have given up trying to find a job, the real unemployment rate is actually about 16 percent or 17 percent. The “recovery act is working exactly as intended.”Obama promised that he would create or save 3.5 million jobs. But recently the Obama administration boasted that it had “created or saved” a somewhat more modest 650,000 jobs, a number repeated uncritically over and over last weekend by the Obama-approved real news organization, CNN/Michael Costello, Lewiston Tribune. Full column below.

Question: Should Obama try to boost the economy by trying to pass another massive stimulus package?

While I sit here watching “Law & Order,” I’m thinking about the movie that we saw earlier this evening - the curiously named “The Men Who Stare at Goats.” Based on the trailer, i was expecting a comedy. And a comedy is what I got. What I needed, though, was an ending. The conceit of the film, which is based on a nonfiction book by British writer Jon Ronson, is that an American journalist named Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles onto the story of his life.  He meets Lyn Cassidy (George Clooney), a retired “psychic spy” who prefers the title of Jedi warrior. Seems Cassidy was once part of a U.S. Army team that tried to harness powers of the human brain to create a new kind of soldier/Dan Webster, Movies & More. More here.

Question: Which is the next movie you expect to see on the big screen?

Nick Anderson/Houston Chronicle

Sandpoint advanced to the state semifinals for the first times since 2005 by shutting down a potent Middleton ground attack. The Vikings, which utilize the double-wing, entered Friday’s game with a six-game winning streak and averaging nearly 270 yards per game rushing. Sandpoint (8-2) held Middleton (7-3) to just one first down and 14 yards in the first half. “They are coming off a six-game winning streak, and I think our kids made them look like they were not a team on a six-game winning streak,” said Sandpoint coach Mike Mitchell, whose team allowed the Vikings a total of 32 yards on the ground. “That’s what it looked like tonight”/William Love, Sportslink. More here.

The Vikings, losers of two straight to conclude the regular season, redeemed themselves with a 38-14 win over Lake City in a State 5A playoff opener Friday before an estimated crowd of 3,000 at LC. Coeur d’Alene (7-3) will play host to third-ranked Eagle (9-1) in a semifinal next Friday at 7 p.m. Eagle handled Rocky Mountain 35-17. In the other openers, No. 1-ranked Capital (10-0) downed Mountain View 38-13 and defending state champ Highland (8-2) stopped Idaho Falls 34-26. The Vikings, who had to survive a three-team Kansas Tiebreaker on Monday, quieted the naysayers with three second-half touchdowns from junior running back Zach Keiser and a 34-yard field goal from Connor Williams as CdA blew open what had been a tightly contested game in the first half/Greg Lee, Sportslink. More here.

• Sandpoint 30, Middleton 0
  

Sometimes, when I hear other wives talking about their flaky pie crust or their super secret all-day lasagna recipe, I feel a little bad for Paul.  All across this great land, men are trudging home from work, tired and hungry, only to be revived at the door of their warm, well-lit homes by the savory aroma of a lovingly prepared meat-and-potatoes dinner with a buttery homemade roll on the side. Paul, on the other hand, often has to rustle up his own grub, as do I, in a process we jokingly call “grazing”, as in: “Do you want to go out for dinner tonight, or just graze?”  Grazing can mean sandwiches, or chips and salsa, or even cold cereal.  I imagine it’s how most bachelors eat before they find that loving woman who promises to put their days of Ramen noodles and peanut butter firmly behind them.  And it must bother me, at least a little bit, because I keep bringing it up/Katrina, Notes On A Napkin. More here.

Question: Are you a good cook?

A tear runs down the face of Col. William Salter during a vigil at Fort Hood, Texas on Friday. Authorities said Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas on Thursday. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

CindyH will sub for me next week as I take some R-n-R to catch a breath after the elections and to enjoy Dr. Oliveria & my wonderful daughter-in-law, who will be visiting between interviews for medical residency at University of Washington and OHSU/Portland and sundry other places. I may give CindyH the keys to the cooler. No one else has ever thrown someone into the cooler since I launched Huckleberries Online almost 6 years ago. She had a devilish look in her eyes when she mentioned how cool it would be to throw someone in there. Just because it’s there. Be very careful next Monday through Friday. BTW, I’ve never been in the cooler myself. Can someone describe what it looks like in there? Now, for your Wild Card …

I saw the photo of the major smiling and holding a donut, just hours before he held out his gun and devastated the lives of thousands of soldiers and their families. In one instant, an entire community of soldiers and their families faced a new dynamic of total uncertainty in their lives: the place they considered the safest turned into a setting for a horrific nightmare. We never know what the next moment will bring on any given day or how those moments will evolve into whole new twists and turns of our existence or lack thereof. Life is definitely an ongoing crapshoot, and we’re reminded every day of how powerless we are in writing its script/Marianne Love, Slight Detour. More here. 

Question: Do you view life as a crapshoot? Or do you think there’s a divine purpose to everything?

Volunteer Chantilly Burtis, left talks with Lookout Ski Patrol member Ron Lichti during set up of this years 11 annual Winter Swap at Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Coeur d’Alene on Friday. The sale opens Saturday , November 7 from 9:00-3:00 with thousands of new and used winter sports items available. The “Swap” is the primary source of funding for the Lookout Pass and Silver Mountain volunteer ski patrols. (Kathy Plonka/SR)

• Naples man who jumped from train died from head injuries/Bonner County Bee
• KEA comments of Spokane River cleanup plan/KEA Blog
  
• Stensgar, Coeur d’Alene Tribe denounces simulated sweat lodge ceremonies/Coeur d’Alene Press
• Complaint: Fired director was ‘excellent manager’ w/’exceptional ability’/Betsy Russell, Eye On Boice.
• New Horizon plane to unveil Boise State colors/KTVB
• Prominent activist Blake Hall pleads guilty to stalking/Associated Press
• Coeur d’Alene charter chooses cemetery for annual project/Coeur d’Alene Today
• POST Academy North 809 graduates/Coeur d’Alene Today
• Panhandle Health to provide vaccinations for all target groups/Coeur d’Alene Today
• Ex-Seahawk Yarno to speak at NIC Booster Club/Press Club
• Works by Morse Clary featured in NIC exhibit/Press Club

Gabriel Harpe ,8, of Port Orchard, Wash. plays peek-a-boo with a squirrel at Evergreen-Rotary Park in Bremerton, Wash on Tuesday. You write the cutline. (AP Photo/Kitsap Sun, Larry Steagall)

Top Cutlines:

• 1. Rocky, The Flying Squirrel, is temporarily grounded for not filing a flight plan. — Charlie.
• 2. Honest Rocky!!!! I promise to help you find Bullwinkle! — Soaf.
• 3. New law goes into effect. Children must wear helmets while playing outside. area police will be making spot checks on all children chasing rodents in area parks — Lewis.