Huckleberries Banned

While it is no longer a secret that Kootenai County computers have locked out the Spokesman-Review blogs, and more specifically, "Huckleberries on line", Bay Views has a solution.

For you frustrated county employees. Just comment on Bay Views. HBO will pick up the comments and anonymously repeat them. If I'm blocked, check the blogroll, and just rotate through them. At some point, they'll get tired of looking ridiculous.

Kootenai County Repels Juvenile Losers

While elections seldom cause the losers to celebrate, there is usually a period where by the losers become adjusted to the fact that they have been fired. Unfortunately,here, in Kootenai County, Idaho, that's not the case.

Two out of the three incumbent County Commissioners that were up for re-election were defeated last Tuesday. Rather than gracefully exit,(they have seven more months to pout), they have shut out all public communications from the County Administration building. Open government has come to a halt, while the exiting Commissioners lick their wounds.

I'm ashamed to admit that I voted for both of them the previous election. Had I only known that they were children, that couldn't accept disappointment, I would have saved us the trouble, by not electing them to start with. Apparently, all contact with the press, or at least the press that isn't in bed with them, has been prohibited.

What we have now, is a county without a government that cares.
Folks, don't expect either of these defeated commissioners to be elected Dog Catcher in the future. They blew it.

This could get interesting, with commissioners that just want to get back at their detractors.

"Voters Won"

"Voters won", is a quote I shamelessly stole from a statement Larry Spencer, of Athol,Idaho made, after receiving election results that brought all his horses in first.

What struck me, was that in that statement, made at the pinnacle of victory, the meaning goes much further. Even the voters, who's candidate lost is still a winner. Why? Because every time we vote, we re-establish democracy.

The only losers yesterday, were the people that were eligible to vote, and didn't. They, of course, will be the ones we will have to listen to for the next two years or so, about how our government has gone straight to hell.

Bayview Survives

As dusk lowers over Bayview, this Sunday night, not a sound is heard. Perhaps the ripple of a fish rising in the bay. A dog barks. Someone kicks the dog. A robin sings it's evening song. All is quiet.

The Annuals have left. Bleary eyed, and shaken, the Annuals, a group of men that have been coming to Bayview for 23 years, or more, showed up with three generations of revelers This week end. It was fun. These guys come from all walks of life. From heavy equipment operators, to doctors, lawyers and such.

They congregated at the Wheel, where the lawn party began, Friday night. By Saturday night, I'm sure some were wishing they were back home, where sleep was normal, and the garden needed weeding. But, no, this group of stalwart fellows, are fearless.

When I left the festivities, I can only say this. Wives and sweethearts can breath freely. These guys were way too plowed to get into trouble. Hopefully, they all got home safely. We look forward to the Annuals invasion next year.

Male Bonding

Much has been said about ladies getting together for quilting bees, and such. Here in Bayview, we have another phenomenon. Actually, we have several, but this week-end, we play host to the "Annuals".

These annuals are not of the flower garden variety. Back about 23 years ago, the Peck brothers, made a trek to Bayview to party one week-end. The next year, they invited friends. From there, it kind of got out of hand.

Twenty -three years later, these 25 or so friends, congregate in Bayview, to sample a few beverages, spend a week-end male bonding, and generally having a great time.

We have no information on what the wives and significant others are doing to mirror this tradition, but then, I'm not their reporter. To this date, we are informed, none of the above mentioned friends have ended up in jail. This is either due to immaculate behavior, or they have paid off the cops.

Let the party begin. Reporting from the Captain's Wheel, this is Bayview Herb

Breaking News

Bill & Lisa McCrory were seen yesterday in Bayview. It seems they were checking out the salad bar at the Captain's Wheel Restaurant. Braving the twists and turns of our famous "Goat Trail", otherwise known as US 95, they risked life and limb to catch a glimpse of Herb's Salad Bar Groupies, but alas, they were missing.

It is not known whether the McCrorys survived this trip. The drive, certainly not the gourmet meal they experienced. Nevertheless, these brave people deserve the admiration of us all, as they took huge chances, hoping that Bayview Herb's salad bar was all it was advertised to be.

That none other of our loyal readers dared to be great, (sorry, borrowed that from some other scam)to be the first to experience the modest greatness of Chef Herb, is to be expected, after all, we all know that Bill was trained to throw his body in front of a bullet, if his president was threatened. This act, coming to Bayview, of course, held similar risks.

We await further developments, breathlessly.

Unintended consequences

Last night, during a comment session in the "Huckleberries" on line Spokesman-Review, the subject of older trailers came up. One anonymous commenter called them "Slum Trailers". While I'm certain that many trailers are of slum quality, we here, in Northern Idaho have thousands of people living in pre-1979 mobile homes.

I chose the year 1979, because that's the year the federal government passed a building code, requiring copper wiring, 40" snow roofs, etc. The reason I titled this post as unintended consequences, is that while the county is merrily taxing us at a ficticious value, the state is refusing permission to move any of these older homes. That essentially, brings the value down to zero.

While many folks think like the commenter last night, that we that live in these homes are, trailer trash, blights on the neighborhood, well, you get the picture.

As property values have increased, more and more trailer parks are throwing these homes out into the streets, of which they are forbidden to use. Without either the right to move them, or compensation from the park owners, we, who live in these homes are living on borrowed time. Soon we will be homeless. Many of us are seniors, living on limited incomes.

We have no protection from eviction, or from the state who tells us we can't relocate them. It's a classic case of condemnation and confiscation. Recently, here in Bayview, Idaho, Waterford Park Homes is and has already evicted home owners that have had homes here for decades. Many are being torn down as I speak...More will follow, since they bought out the main trailer park here in town.

If lawmakers want the respect and support of their citizens, then they had better legislate a solution. Otherwise most of the trailer trash will continue to not believe their government is here to represent and help them, and injustice will continue to triumph.

Currently, the only due process we get is, "don't let the door hit you in the ass."

Mother's Day

My mother is long passed away. However, there are two ladies that were my wives, and bore me children. I would like to honor them today. They, in way different ways, affected my life in a very positive manner, and of course, brought me children.

Dolores, my first wife, and mother of my first three children, and April, the mother of my fourth. Both fine people, and great mom's.

I salute you today, as well as my daughters, which are also moms, and very successful ones. Bless you all on this special day.

Posse Comitatus

In the news, currently, is exploration into the idea of using U.S, troops to guard our international borders. It seems that both the defense department, and governors of the border states are looking for authority and funding for such a venture.

The Posse Comitatus act of 1878 has been mentioned as a possible barrier to such a plan. After reading the act itself, then the mission of our armed forces, it seems obvious to anyone that doesn't have his or her head buried in the sand, that this is constitutionally the primary function of our military.

Our Army, etc. is commissioned for the purpose of protecting us from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Perhaps the most basic of this principle is the protection of our borders from invasion. Invasion doesn't have to be battalions or divisions, it can be 20 or 30 people walking across the border at night. Some to find work, others, I'm sure for more serious purposes.

If an uneducated peasant from Mexico can successfully infiltrate our borders, it should go without saying that terrorists can do even better.

This blogger believes that not only is using the military legal, but vital to our security.

Salad Chef

Just a quick note...I have been hired, along with my other job, as Salad Chef at the Captain's Wheel Restaurant, in Bayview. I only work Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so if you want a salad bar, where everything is made from scratch, mouth watering home made potato salad, and many other favorites, I'm back after several years doing other things.

Stop by in mid-week to a great dinner, topped off with the best salad bar in town. Don't forget to say hello when you come down.

Bayview Herb

Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts

Just when a hint of sanity occurs, something new crops up. It seems that the State of Idaho, which participates in "Lotto", recently put out bids for a new vendor. Apparently, the State doesn't have the knowledge necessary to do this themselves.

Just down the street, we have the "Coeur d' Alene Tribe", clearly experts at gambling enterprises that we could have recruited, but no...

The two bidders, were a company in Rhode Island, and the Greek firm, Intralot. The Greeks won the bidding by allegedly promising better service...From Greece? We can't do powerball by ourselves, but by crossing the Atlantic, and the Aegean Sea, we will get better service...

O.K., now I get it. In a flurry of righteousness, the State of Idaho, rather than banning gambling, has hired the Greeks, in a subtle attempt to hint that gambling is almost the same as bending over and...

Wait a minute! I promised myself I wouldn't get into ethnic stereotypes, and here I go. Anyway, I don't like it, but then I'm a buy local guy, myself.

When I have to fly somewhere, I make sure the plane was built by Boeing.


Why, with all of the expertise we have in this Country, can't we manage our own ports, own our own beer companies, and run our state owned gambling dens. We are selling off our Country like a corporate raider. Let's stop being fair, and start supporting our domestic businesses.

Mexican Take Back

Recently much has been written about Mexicans taking back the Southwest. It ain't gonna happen. First if the Mexicans wanted to be a part of their backward country, they would stay there, not immigrate to the United States, legally or otherwise.

Let's start with Texas. When Santa Ana attacked at the Alamo, 50 or so of the Mexicans fighting that day, were behind the walls, defending the Alamo with their fellow Texans. What is overlooked, is that the vast majority of the Texans fighting for liberty were Mexicans.

The Californians were mostly Mexicans as well. True, the influx of Anglos were apparent, and of course, the gold rush that came later provided more emigrants from the States. The facts, however, were that Mexico ruled California from afar, with appointed Governors that didn't represent the people. Mexico City was a huge distance from the Californios, who suffered under the tyranny of the Mexican dictators.

California was given to the United States by the people that lived there. The streets of Los Angeles are, for the most part, named after influential Mexicans such as Alvarado, and many other wealthy Mexican merchants and landholders.

Communities such as Irvine, and others are still owned by the descendants of the Grandees that held Spanish land grants. Land grants that were honored by our government when California petitioned for entrance to the U.S.

The Gadsden Purchase was worked out amicably between governments, so as to connect the Texans to the Californians, adding southern Arizona and Southern New Mexico, which was under Apache control, not Mexico's. We paid 15 Million for it.

No, we won't loose it back for the same reasons that we got it in the first place. The residents chose to be in this country. Other so called historians have altered the facts for political purposes. Most legal citizens and residents of Mexican descent don't want uncontrolled immigration either.

Screaming Egos vs Civil Discourse

Probably the biggest hit that blogging takes, is over the bad behavior of many bloggers and those who don't blog, but are permitted to comment. "Blurkers." Recently, I dropped out of a local "Chat Room", for those reasons. When the inmates take over the asylum and name calling, sarcasm and vitriol take over, egos win, the well behaved leave.

The reason I am writing about this today, is that I saw a letter to the editor which, on an unrelated subject, said, "Don't patronize me. That proposal is insulting and condescending, and clearly reflects their pompous mentality."

When I saw that, I clearly realized why I became so upset at the blurkers that didn't feel it was necessary to behave, or the moderator that became condescending.

When I criticized the poor behavior, I was attacked as being old, and out of date with reality. I was being patronized. It was the acts of marginalization that was the more upsetting.

That one could be attacked for trying to uphold standards of good behavior and civil discourse, in favor of those that were the worst malefactors, then essentially told, don't let the door hit you in the ass.

The door didn't, and I am Bayview Herb. Old, out-of-date with reality, and firmly satisfied with the position I have taken.

My World Travels

1956...What a year. I graduated from Renton High School, in Washington State. Entered the US Air Force in Mid-June of that year. After basic training at a no longer existing Air Base, Parks AFB in the Bay Area, and completing technical training in Texas, I was transferred to Casablanca, Morocco...

I spent two weeks in New York City. I and a friend, wandered around the city rubbernecking. We happened onto a television network studio. I don't remember which one. In those days, videotape didn't exist. All network programs were live. A rehearsal was in progress for the Andy Williams Show. He had a popular female singer there, I think Patti Page, and the star attraction, Jackie Robinson, retired from the Brooklyn Dodgers. I collected his autograph while we were there.

Casablanca...What a place...What a culture shock for a country boy. Beaches with topless beauties, (the French influence) and an international experience that probably can't be topped anywhere else.

Dating back to the early 1900's, Tangier, was a free port, meaning that you didn't have to have a passport to enter, or to establish residency. Later, Tangier became part of Morocco.

The huge melting pot of Europeans and North Africans was amazing. We had many White Russians, fleeing the Bolsheviks after the revolution in Russia, Italians, Spaniards, a large Hebrew community, perhaps the only friendly place in the Arab world for Jewish people to live. Also, some of the restaurants and bars were owned by expatriate Americans, that had accepted their discharge from the occupying U.S. Army, after WW11.

While stationed there, I had the opportunity to visit Spain several times, including a visit with Tony Culebras, an exchange student at Renton High School. Also Germany, mostly around Frankfurt-an-main, known to us all during the Berlin Airlift as Rhein-Main AFB.

I also got to England, where I visited London, and also a trip to Mildenhall AFB near Cambridge, of great renown as an educational center. A side trip to Lisbon, Portugal was also enjoyed during that time. Ireland, France, and Labrador finished off the places I visited. I just wish now that I had taken more time to see what was really important in these places, but alas, I was only 19 or 20.

I could,however, give you a lecture on German Beer, the Fischerstube, and other great tourist joints in Frankfurt...

My Travels

create your own personalized map of the USA

Recently, I came across an interesting site, "World 66." You can create a map showing the States you have visited. I decided to try that. I was amazed that, over the many years, I had visited so many. Maybe I'll make it a point to visit the rest, after all, I didn't miss many.

I first visited Oregon, then California as a teen, during Summer vacation back in 1953. For a Seattle kid, the constant sun was a glorious experience. Palm trees lined the streets and everyone lived mostly outdoors.

I went back there to live for a while, after I left the Air Force in 1960. During my Air Force days, I visited California, Texas, Oklahoma, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho and back to Washington, where I was raised, in the little town of Renton.

More on another occasion.