Political Correctness Gone Extreme

Political correctness, long fostered by the main stream media, has reached a point of no return, apparently. The list of rearranged social and political standards is a long one, but today I just want to talk about one area.

As we all know, a tragedy struck a few days ago, when an army major,a Moslem, shot and killed thirteen people and injured thirty-one more. H did this while screaming Allahu Akbar. A a term much used by Islamic Terrorists. Yet, the media, with the exception of Cal Thomas, is afraid to tell it like it is. Everyone from Army Generals, down to beat reporters, sail gently around the subject of this, a terrorist act, as if it would condemn all of the Moslems in service as well. The above term in Arabic means, "God Is Great." Talk about misusing terminology.

We are now hearing reports of and from colleges in the medical world that this thug regularly spouted anti-American and pro Islamic slogans. None of his superiors were brave enough to risk the thought police by either disciplining him, or even throwing him out of the Army.

To quote an old saying, "it is time to call a spade a shovel." It is also time to bring sense into law enforcement. Profiling is now against the rules. Now I'm not talking about the arresting of a black person on the charge of "driving while black, or yellow, or pink or any other extreme use of that tool. What I am saying, is we better start watching those members of a religion that proposes the violent overthrow oof the United states. While certainly, not all people that worship as Islamic are not terrorists, it is reasonable to suspect that most will come from that group.

I start to worry, when general officers are so afraid of offending a minority, that they will excuse clues to what eventually transpired at Fort Hood, and will certainly happen again and again unless an effort is made to sort through the ranks and get rid of people that can't even pass a routine security Clearance. Now the Army, still embarrassed, rather than calling this a terrorist act, is going to prosecute the perpetrator as a simple murder. What a gutsy call.

The Tragedy Of The Saddle-up Cafe

photo by Kathy Plonka, Spokesman-Review

It was a crisp winter night in Athol. The Saddle Up Grill had closed for the night. Owner Howard White was in a hurry to get home to Post Falls. It was his and wife Suz’s 13th wedding anniversary. Normally, with the couple working 16-hour days, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, they stayed in a motor home behind the restaurant. Due to sewage disposal problems, they had to quit doing that for a while. Howard would sleep in the Saddle Up Grill, so that he would have an early start at prepping for breakfast.

Howard closed, locked the doors and headed home for a date with his bride. It was Dec. 17, 2008, just a little short of two years in operation. About 4 a.m., a fire broke out in the dining room, probably caused by a space heater too close to upholstery. Timberlake Fire District, just a few blocks down the street, answered the call quickly and limited damage to the dining areas, saving the kitchen, except for severe smoke damage.

At the opening in March 2007, a lifelong dream was realized as Howie and Suz cranked out the first of many succulent smoked prime rib sandwiches, slathered with Suz’s secret barbecue sauce, along with what Howie called the world’s biggest and best burger. Twelve ounces of choice ground beef surrounded by all the fixings. Out back is a 500-gallon smoker, where they turn out their food from scratch along with their made-from-scratch barbecue ranch-style beans.

There is little doubt that had Howard White stayed that night in the restaurant, as he normally did, he would have been overcome by smoke and killed. The date with his wife probably saved his life.

Armed with an insurance policy, the couple figured a few months to rebuild, then back at it. This is when things started to come unwound. They bought this historic building, first used to house recruits headed for Farragut Naval training base. When a train with recruits came in late in the evening, they were put up in the bunkhouse. Many years later, it became the Saddle Up Inn. It was an owner contract, with title still residing with the previous owner. When the insurance company paid off, it paid the loan off. That left the Whites with a small amount of cash and a paid-in-full deed to a commercial lot and a half-burned building.

Today the Whites are without an income, or a restaurant without a loan to rebuild. Howard White’s one thought was, “Why, with the billions of dollars the federal government has thrown at the banks to stimulate the economy, don’t the banks then use the money for that purpose, instead of socking it away to protect themselves from bad loans?”

The Whites are hard-working people who enjoyed working 16-hour days to make what was once a dream come true. Now, it has turned into a nightmare. They are looking for help.

Help either in the form of donations, which can be sent to P.O. Box 16, Athol, Idaho 83801. Or the best solution, White hopes, is for a lender to step up with an SBA loan putting him and his wife back to serving smoked prime rib dinners.

Reprinted from my story in Sunday's spokesman-Review.

Profiling, A great Tool

Much social mush has been printed about racial and ethic profiling. It is with great trepidation that I re-examine this ridiculous phenomenon. What has happened here, goes way beyond the driving while black or Hispanic or what ever.

This social miscue has spread to law enforcement and even our Customs and Immigration officials. Well, if middle east madmen are attacking us, don't you think it would be wise to try to identify or at least limit the list of suspects to those that resemble middle eastern types? Or perhaps it would be better to pick out anglo-saxon grandmothers, forcing them to go through the same examination process as those flying in from the middle east.

As long as we regale the progressive and kill off the efforts of our law enforcement organizations, we are not going to win. We are simply giving in to the terrorists.

Close Races

Wow! If anyone still believes that their vote doesn't matter, check out the Coeur d'Alene city council races. Kennedy wins by 5 votes. That is just about as close as you can get. Considering the low voter turnout, it could have been much different if more registered voters had turned out. Goodlander only won by 29 votes. The mayors of Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls glided to easy victories, as it appears voters are happy with their leadership.

The Kootenai county Bond Issue and Sales tax bump both sent down to defeat. In the case of the sales tax, the yes vote cleared 50% but was unable to reach the super majority required for spending issues.

Timberlake Fire District voted in two new commissioners. Rudy Rudebaugh and Monty Fish handily won their election over a Sagle Firefighter and wife of one. With fire safety codes the burning issue, the new commission will have to face either granting waivers for updating fire suppression hoods or close down all but one restaurant in the Bayview/Athol area, and even some at Silverwood. At least five do not comply, primarily because they predate the newer codes.

Much controversy has occurred somewhat unnecessarily about a proposed levy. Essentially, the fire rating people have done their annual inspection of the fire district and the score came up short for retaining current homeowners and fire insurance rates. This will be appealed, but several factors enter into the problem. First, Timberlake has several satellite stations that are unmanned, but have at least one engine in it. This allows people that have businesses or homes within a five mile radius a cheaper rate. One such station has been temporarily abandoned due to an old 1972 engine having to be retired. That station is the one at the traffic circle at the entrance to Farragut, on Perimeter Road.

What is at stake, is that without bringing the fire district up to snuff rquipment and personnel wise, the average homeowner is going to be paying over $150 per year more for insurance. The alternative, is passing a permanent levy for the purpose of modernizing, which would cost around $100 per year more in taxes.Either way, you'll pay more. Detailed information is available at Timberlakefire.com.

Work is proceeding quickly on the James Darling project in Bayview. Unfortunately, Fanny Mae and FHA have recently severely tightened loan occupancy requirements, forcing Darling to ask the county for relief in the form of a zoning change. It's a rock and a hard spot for Darling, who has bent over backward to cooperate with townspeople.

Wider Territory

I have started this blog, because I wanted to enlarge the area that I cover. Bayviews, started as a community information center, and still is. But having said that, it limits me to local issues. Two things that I wanted to do,one, to cover news and opinion for all of North Idaho, and two, to commercialize my blogs.

In the past four years, during which I have wrote over 98,000 page views, I have written this blog for entertainment. Since the Spokesman-Review has cut back severely, I have lost over $600 per month in income. I believe that I can deliver enough readers to this new area wide blog, to make up for the loss in the Bayviews blog. All of those ads that are currently shown on Bayviews, will appear also on Kootenai Country. The hope is that we as a team can give a new news source to North Idaho, as well as it being self supporting. Please wish us well, and if you have an ad you wish to have on this blog, they will be inexpensive, but effective.