Political assertion has limit

If you think the potential race between incumbent Mike Kennedy and challenger Jim Brannon is your typical City Council race, think again. Linda Cook has been busy soliciting $49 contributions from Repubs for Brannon, to keep them $1 below the spending limit for public disclosure. Meanwhile, leading state Demos, like Congressman Walt Minnick and Boise Mayor Dave Bieter, were part of a Boise fundraiser for Kennedy. In an e-mail intercepted at Huckleberries Online, Cook announced that she was seeking doughnations to “stop the ambitious Mr. Kennedy before his plans for higher office make him too expensive to stop.” After mentioning that Brannon will bring “accountability and transparency” to City Hall, Cook continues: “$49 will keep you from having to be named on the Sunshine Report (I know it’s a small town and sometimes discretions is best).” Kennedy, on the other hand, made no ap-hollow-gies for the Aug. 20 fundraiser hosted by ex-congressional wannabe Dan Williams. Kennedy commented at Huckleberries Online that he wants to be sure he has the money to respond “swiftly and totally” to the smear campaign he expects this fall. Let the games begin.

And they’re off

If you’re curious re: what the beginning of the swim leg of Ironman Coeur d’Alene is like, Wyoming triathlete Wendy Lloyd provides the answer at xtri.com: Panic. Quoth Wendy: “I’ve never been IN a washing machine, but I imagine that this is what it might feel like.” Wendy reports that she couldn’t catch her breath. And that every time she opened her mouth, she swallowed water – enough to keep her hydrated for the remainder of the race. She continues: “Arms and legs and bodies were everywhere around me, behind me, on top of me and the waves, created by the mass of swimming humanity and urged on by the strong winds facing us, seemed insurmountable. I was flailing and gasping for air and everywhere I turned was only worse.” Then, she panicked. Stopped. And thought about quitting. As she tread water, she noticed others were in panic mode, too. She tread water for a few moments, thought of the people she’d disappoint if she quit, and began again. You can read how the rest of the swim went by Googling her xtri.com story, “How My Ironman Dream Began (and almost ended) with the Starting Gun.”

Huckleberries

Quotable Quote: “To us, the wolf hunt in Idaho and Montana seems indecent. Hunters want to kill wolves because wolves kill elk – and the human hunters want the elk. A second reason is a love of killing things. A third is an implacable, and unjustified, hostility to the wolf” – New York Times. P’haps the Eastern snobs are willing to take a few wolves off our hands? … Sightem: On Valley Street/Dalton Gardens, a “caution” sign on private property warns: “Old Fisherman Xing” … Poll: Seventy-eight percent of my Huckleberries Online crowd oppose the commissioners’ decision to raise property taxes 3 percent … If flags around the country were lowered to half staff in memory of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, how will Larry Craig be honored when he passes? Berry Picker quipped: “Toilet paper rolls in all public restrooms will be lowered half way to the floor.”

Parting shot

Phil Corless, blogmeister for A Family Runs Through It, tells of a recent experiment that his son conducted involving household items. Seems Junior swabbed various objects – doorknobs, light switches, the refrigerator door handle, etc. – and transferred the residue to petri dishes, to see what would grow. Papa Phil dubbed as “scary” the germs unmasked by the experiment. Paper money, of course, was worst. Surprisingly, the object rivaling paper money for grossest germs was – (drum roll, puh-lease) children’s library books. They were, posts Phil, “absolutely covered with fecal matter.” Not to be confused with Japanese author Minna Unchi’s children’s book, “Everyone Poops.” Which keeps coverage of fecal matter inside the book covers.