One reporter making it O.K. for other reporters to print false information.  If it would have been a Bible that had been mis-treated, then I can bet you there would have been a firestorm of activity surrounding the action.  And if we "hated" Muslims like they hate us.  The same thing would have happened on our soil. 

Quote

Media: Irresponsible, stupid, or calculating? - Profiler's Perspective - MSNBC.com

I find it very hard to believe that Newsweek has been allowed to murder 17 people by falsely reporting that U.S. interrogators at Guantánamo prison had placed the Qur'an on toilet seats and even flushed one. "This is what the U.S. is doing," exclaimed Khan, "desecrating the Qur'an.

Are we as a nation going to set back and allow this sort of thing to happen?

Sadly, yes

To some it seems a Blog should be short and to the point.  For others, the need to clairify demands length.

A Blog my friends, is a Web Log.  Make it as short or as long as you see fit.

After all, freedom of speech has no limitations.

Or does it.... 

Well, the birds are back, and the days are growing longer.  It’s time to get the ole camper ready for another fun season with the family, in the mountains of North Idaho.

My family loves to go camping.  My first daughter had been camping something like 16 times by the time she was 18 months old.  We moved from the tent world, into the Pop-up world, to the full on 30 ft Travel Trailer world in the matter of 3 kids.  Camping with 3 kids, 2 dogs, and enough gear to stay forever tends to get a little busy.  We spend almost every weekend on either the Coeur D' Alene River, or on the St. Joe, but only above Gold Creek.

My wife and I are devoted to Catch and Release.  Something that, we see as a way to teach our children the importance of maintaining our environment.  When we first met, we discovered that we both had a love for fishing.  Something about the peacefulness of the river, the wonder in that it continues to flow, whether watched or not.  The thrill of the hunt, because fly-fishing can be at times, more hunting than fishing. 

We are teaching our children a love for the outdoors, a respect for things that can remain unchanged, for many centuries, without the influence of man or man made things.  My 3 year old daughter already understands that some things in the world are better left to themselves, while others welcome her intervention.  The curiosity of our children, while walking outdoors amazes me at times.  The questions that they ask, the things that they see, that I personally have looked at many times and never saw.  The wonder that they bring to me, as they explore and discover all that is the outdoors.

I really think that every parent has a responsibility, to take their children out into the world, to explore and discover.  To learn about life, outside the city.  Kids can learn many things about life from watching it.  I am not talking about watching it on TV, or watching it from inside the glass.  I mean getting out there, getting in it.  I do realize that not all parents are “outdoorsy” types.  But that time you spent reading that new murder mystery, or that new romance novel, could have been spent reading a little about the outdoors and then taking your kids out and showing them, teaching them, what you have learned.

Back in the day, to coin a phrase, families went camping, together.  Maybe once a summer, maybe every weekend, but they stopped their busy lives and took the family to the mountains, or the lake.  They cooked on an open fire; they washed in the streams or the lakes.  They read stories around the campfire.  They were family, doing family things.  It seems now that we are so busy going to social events that we have forgotten about family time.  How very important it is to spend time together.  A child should learn from their parents, not the daycare provider or the nanny.  Not that those people aren’t looking out for our children, and teaching them.  But for better or worse, my child will learn who I am, and with any luck at all, take some of that along with them in their journey.

In a previous blog, I spoke of my wife.  Someone who gave up one career, to begin another.  She began a fulltime, career of raising our children.  Now, we could be driving brand new expensive cars and living in a much bigger, fancier home.  But the few sacrifices that we make for our children, seem so small, so un-needed.  I watch my children learn from their mother, and it makes me think of the creatures of the forest.  How the mother teaches its babies, the things that she has learned in her life, the things that will be taught to the next generation and the next. 

It seems that life is an adventure, not knowing what will come our way next, or who will try to eat us.  Only knowing, that with what we have been taught, we will survive, and we will teach again.

This guy wants to do this, that guy wants to do that, how come I am not hearing anyone from here that wants to do things for this area?  All I have read and all I have heard is about other people who want to change this area to fit what they think it should be.

What they think it should be? 

Coeur D’ Alene is a beautiful part of the world.  It is home to many things that can not be found anywhere else on the planet.  Its people are friendly, its streets are inviting.  The lakes are perfect and pristine, the summers are warm and the winters are cold, and up to a few months ago we even had rain.

We have people in office, who are paid, to keep our area prosperous, keep us moving in the right direction.  Paid to find business’s that want to move into our area, to bring jobs, to continue growth in all the right directions.  To grow our area in the way that we see fit.  A government, by the people, for the people.  So why is it that all I am hearing is what others want to do for us? 

Now, I am sure that we need multi-million dollar resort properties, with homes in the two million plus range, which we will probably never be able to afford.  And more hangers, to store aircraft out of the weather, that we will never be able to fly in.  Larger roadways to accommodate all the out of state plates that I have been noticing, and Wal-Marts that will close business’s that have survived for 40 years.  All of these things we did fine without for many, many years. 

I have to give you this.  In an area of the country that is as pretty and friendly as this area is, people will surely want to move here.  They like the way we do things, they like the small town feel of the place.  Not unlike Orange County, California only 20 years ago.  Many small communities, farm land, nice people.  Now for the most part, gangs, crime, unemployment, and more and more empty houses everyday.  What was once a very beautiful, unique area has become San Angeles, what I think will become of southern California as San Diego and Los Angeles continue to grow together.

I really want to hear from the people who are supposed to be looking out for us.  The people in office, those that we pay to keep us as still or as mobile as we want to be.  What are you doing for us?  What will you do in the future to insure that we can enjoy our home?  How many jobs are you bringing to the area this year? Next year?  What are you doing to assure that we will not be run out of our homes and our farms to make way for “all those that are coming”?

I can be sure, that we wont hear a thing, they will bury their heads in the sand of Coeur D’ Alene beach, take their families to Montana to vacation because our campgrounds are full.  Spend the weekend in Seattle to get a look at where we are heading.  I can be sure that not a single one of our trusted leaders will poke their heads out long enough to change it, fix it or even take a stand.  Besides, no one is sure who will be in our local government next year. So we don’t want to make any waves, who are we to know what is best... 

Well, the man just backed up almost everything I have said.  Did you know that we can all afford a $250,000 home in Liberty Lake.  Good for every single one of us, I didnt know we had it in us.  I think the problem is this man has no clue what Middle Class is.  He thinks we can all afford homes in the $250,000 to $300,000 dollar range.  Someone help me bring him back down to earth. 

The homes he speaks of in L.L. are on 2500 sq ft lots.  Thats not even a 1/4 of an acre.  And the lots start out at $175,000.  I am very pleased to hear Marshall, that I am also part of the new rich here in North Idaho. 

Listen to what you are being told by the citizens Marshall.  We are middle income people.  We do not make $200,000 a year.  The average person in this area is lucky to make $50,000 a year.  We can not afford $250,000 1200 sqaure foot homes.  Go back to Denver...