Syria "red line" What Do We Do?

Everyone has become a "5-minute General" with what to do in Syria. I know this is not the usual concerns put up on this blog but I heard one of the best descriptions of what to do and wanted to share it:

The "red line" has nothing to do with what we do or not what we do. The real decision time comes "when the cost of doing nothing is exceeded by doing something".  With the bad vibe of two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan hanging in the memory as well as the $2Trillion cost of these wars moving forward with due caution is a really tough thing to deal with as President.

Weapons of "mass destruction" was the war cry for Iraq and now we have the "red line" and the call for action by Mr. Obama.  I am old enough to remember the Hungarian uprising that happened in the 1950's and we did nothing but watch the slaughter of a lot of those people who got no help from us at their moment of need. 

Syria is a real bag of worms no matter how you perceive what is going on.
It is predicted to be a failed state in a matter of months.  The people doing most of the fighting are the very people we really do not want to see in power if the rebels win.  What a mess and they have some nasty stuff we may have to deal with one way or another.

How big is Syria?  Syria , officially Syrian Arab Republic, republic (2005 est. pop. 18,449,000), 71,467 sq mi (185,100 sq km), W Asia.  Idaho by comparison is 83,500 square miles with less than 2 million people.

Small Claims Court Now Held At Nampa Annex

As of April 1, 2013 all small claims actions will be held at the Nampa Annex.  You can still get the forms at the Caldwell Courthouse but you will have to file them in Nampa.

Business has been pretty slow for items of interest lately and this is all I have to offer until more comes my way.

Paul

Idaho Senator's Wife Draws Ire of U.S. Judge

Idaho Senator’s Wife Draws Ire of U.S. Judge

In an order issued Monday, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill suggested Renee McKenzie, wife of lawyer and Idaho Senator Curt McKenzie, may have violated Idaho Code by practicing law without a license.

The judge characterized Renee McKenzie’s dealing with a prison inmate as a “side show” for the court, a “serious security risk for the prison,” and “not a professional relationship.”

While not an attorney, she presented herself to prison guards as, “Renee McKenzie of McKenzie Law Offices” and was granted “unfettered access” with convicted murderer, kidnapper, and rapist Lance Wood. Wood is being housed at the Idaho Department of Corrections facility south of Boise and represents himself with no attorney in a civil case against a DOC worker before Winmill. He is a Utah inmate, serving his time in Idaho which is common when security issues arise.

Judge Winmill denied four motions from Wood for protective orders and a contempt hearing.

However, the interesting reading is how Renee McKenzie talked her way into the prison and had multiple unmonitored visits with Wood as well as 91 hours of phone calls. Prison officials allowed the visits at first, but eventually became suspicious and launched an internal investigation. That’s when Winmill rescinded the attorney-client arrangement on February 14. The McKenzie law firm does not represent inmate Wood according to court records.

Winmill went on to explain in his order,”Even more troubling, the prison learned that Ms. McKenzie attempted to circumvent the monitoring of her calls from Wood by having the calls routed from the telephone line at McKenzie Law Offices – a non-monitored line because it is associated with a law firm – to her cell phone.

The prison also learned that Ms. McKenzie set up a P.O. Box to receive “legal mail” from Wood, but Mr. McKenzie indicated that the P.O. Box was not associated with his firm.

This was the P.O. Box Wood used to send the returned personal letter sent to Ms. McKenzie. This underscores the attempt by Wood and Ms. McKenzie to have unmonitored communication under the guise of legal communication. Under these circumstances, prison officials determined that, at the very least, there was a strong infatuation between Wood and Ms. McKenzie, and that it would be dangerous for them to meet in isolation as they had been mistakenly allowed to do previously.”

In conclusion the court said, “Under these circumstances, the Court finds that IDOC has simply followed reasonable security measures by separating Wood and Ms. McKenzie. Accordingly, Wood has not demonstrated good cause for the Court to issue a protective order.”

Here's a link to Mr. Wood's murder and please be aware it is really graphic in what happened to the victim  http://www.trendsinhate.com/hatedates/NovemberHateDates/November21.html

What You May Not Know About the Canyon County Fair Moving Out of Caldwell

THE GUARDIAN read with interest the recent articles in the local paper on the move of the Canyon County Fair out of the current site the new site on Hwy. 20-26.  THE GUARDIAN had a nice long chat with one of the Fair Board members and here's the situation:

First, the Fair does not own any of the property the current fair uses except Gabiola Field and the metal building (and not the ground the building sits on) at the current site in Caldwell.  The title to all of the ground is held by the City of Caldwell.  The Fair can't build on property they don't own.

There are meeting minutes from many years ago where the grounds were ceded to the Fair but for whatever reason the deeds were not recorded and the City still holds title to the land and has shown no inclination to do anything to keep the Fair in Caldwell.  The City of Caldwell has been disinclined to meet the Fair needs at any level of reasonable accommodation.

Second, there were many concerned citizens back in the day who saw a need for fair expansion and they all put $1,000.00 or more towards the purchase property from 21st to Linden that was not already owned by the City.  They took the initiative to buy this for the City for the sole purpose of Fair expansion.  The City ignored the Fair and built baseball fields on all of the property much to the chagrin of those who thought they had made a contribution to Fair expansion in Caldwell.

Third, the College of Idaho football program is going to take over the use of Simplot Stadium and will not allow the Fair to use the Stadium property due to turf rehabilitation costs and need to keep the field in good condition for their football program.  The costs for the renewal and care are put at around $1MM if you buy into the talk around town.


Fourth,  Caldwell Mayor and City Council have all but ignored the needs of the Fair by not deeding property to the Fair Board and paving the way for needed expansion deemed necessary by the Fair to remain a viable event.  Talks with Mayor Nancolas pretty much were; they had a good meeting but the needs of the Fair Board were ignored. 

The Fair did the only reasonable thing they could do and that was try to figure out what the best site would be moving forward.  The site out on 20/26 was bought from a bank that had repossessed the property from a bankrupt developer at market price based on the appraisal made at the time of purchase.  They did not remove farm ground from ag production; it had already been bought for development and was destined to be used for housing.

Fifth,  the Fair Board approached the Mayor Tom Dale of Nampa and the City Council of Nampa about locating the Fair at the Idaho Center to no avail.  The City of Nampa wanted the Fair Board to buy up property east of the Idaho Center for the carnival portion and outside exhibit areas of the Fair and then let the City of Nampa use it rent free the rest of the year.  Cost of the property next to the Idaho Center was in excess of $300,000 per acre.  The math on the cost of the property would not work for the Fair Board.

In summary,  the City of Caldwell has once again unwittingly worked long and hard to get the Fair to move out of town and have done little to nothing in order to keep this event in Caldwell.