Mick Garcia

The problem with the good old boy mayor form of city government is that Idaho code says that the mayor is the "chief administrative official" of the city and most elected mayors don't have the skill set to be the "chief administrative official" so the mayor has to hire a city administrator to do 80% or more of the work. The city administrator is paid almost as much as a city manager + the mayor's salary which can be considerable. And if the Mayor has a small brain and big ego he can cause a lot of trouble and rip the tax payer off.

This is another good example of how government planning harms your quality of life, your pocketbook, and your future.

Happy Birthday you old coot! You don't look a day over 60!! I'll be there to help celebrate your amazing talents!

I have only one item on my bucket list. 1. Download my brain into the internet cloud just before by body gives out thereby melding virtual reality with reality and achieving immortality of sorts. Then I would become a 10 foot tall blue Avatar, spending my days and nights consorting with 10 foot tall blue female Avatars.

Another Miracle Food or supplement fad has come to save your health but wait just a few months and there will be a new study out announcing that over consumption of sweet potatoes and yams are dangerous to your health. Common sense might tell you that adding salt and the wrong kind of grease to any health food will make it slightly poisonous.

I blame The Snake River Alliance and similar fear mongering special interest groups for this state of affairs. Nuclear energy has become so fraught with bureaucratic hoops and superstitious fears that only crooks and con men have the courage to run the gauntlet. Recently a 3rd generation nuclear power plant was completed in Japan by a Japanese and American consortium, coming in under budget in less than 5 years. France safely produces 80% of its electricity using nuclear power and is a net energy exporter which the U.S. would do well to emulate. There are dozens of ship at sea powered by safe and efficient nuclear mini reactors. Don't fall for the SRA bullshit that we need more layers of bureaucracy to save us all from nuclear disaster.

One of the many reasons I have little respect for the self righteous, right wing politicians running the show in Idaho and currently trying to get rid of Obama at the national level. Hypocrisy is their favorite vice and their red states are on federal welfare and their operational strategy is to protect the rich and punish the poor as always.

The CEO of Wikileaks and the low level intelligence official who downloaded and stole classified documents need to be taken down to Guantanamo, water boarded in their own urine and held indefinitely for awhile.

Sun Valley is producing some talented young skaters even though the fickle public eye is not focused on Ice Skating or Ice Dancing at present even though dancing with the stars seems to be all the rage. Congratulations for laboring unnoticed in the shadows.

I served as a volunteer during the days of the draft. Did 2 voluntary tours in Vietnam, and I much prefer today's volunteer military although they seem to be stretching the military much too thin these days. I'm not a big fan of getting into wars for the wrong reasons but neither am I a big fan of cutting and running before the job is accomplished. I'm not worried about the military starting wars because its always the civilians who decide to send the military to fight. There are a few Mercenaries who enjoy the thrill of war, but most ordinary G.I.s are not itching to go to war.

Commercial Speech is protected by the 1st Amendment. Ketchum doesn't need no stinking sign ordinance or no stinking sign police. Don't let them get away with squeezing and hassling and micro-managing you until you're forced to go out of business because a few aesthetic snobs don't like the looks of your sign. Go to the sign ordinance meetings and speak out against burdensome and unnecessary regulations.

I'd say Idaho County probably needs the trickle down economic effects of Highway 12 becoming an "Industrial Transit Corridor". 1 of 5 Idaho County residents are living below the poverty level. About 400 Idaho Country Residents are on Food Stamps and another 400 are eligible but haven't applied and Idaho County per capita income is about 64% of the national average.

The world and U.S. is one large asylum where the sane and insane are all locked up together and 9 times out of 10 the sane are victims of the whims of the insane, called by the winning side the "will" of the people. The U.S. Political system just squandered about 5 billions dollars on the midterm campaign, egged on by the media, throwing blather and bullshit over the airwaves, consisting mostly of outright lies. The money could have better been spent to pay down the national debt.

Switzerland is a good example of a small, scenic, mountain country or state with a high amount of heavy truck traffic. The Automated, wireless Swiss system of VMT tolling includes: 1.Payment of vehicle tax for traveling over entire Swiss road network. 2.Fee calculation based on total distance driven in Switzerland; The registered net weight of the truck; The vehicle's Euro-class (polluting class). 3. An additional fixed fee for travel on certain sensitive alpine roads. Idaho needs to learn from others,get a life, get moving, get technology and get our fair share of the benefits of commerce.

Butch "Don Quixote" Otter, leader of the Big Hat, Big Belt Buckle Tribe, defending your rights against the evil Federal Government so that state government can screw you over. In the John Wayne tradition, a real man throwing real bullshit. Actually, for every dollar paid to the federal government by Idahoans, the Feds send $1.20 back to Idaho. Idaho is on dole, Big Macho Cowboy.

Perfect Timing. Its hunting season and Halloween!

Yeah, right, Don. I'm especially impressed with the Ayatollahs' use of "soft power" against their own people.

Still tilting at federal windmills like Don Quixote just to prove that even if he's a geezer, he's a rootin, tootin, straight shootin, super macho Idaho Cowboy to the idiots that are fooled by his act.

Hailey was part of your family for more than half the time you will be together as a family. Its good that you kept such a vivid record for future decades when memory starts to fade. My condolences.

A small town doesn't need sign police or idling police unless it intends to become a mini totalitarian bureaucracy. Whats next? Sex police? Religious police?

Hang the Planners and the City Council. This is just another Obnoxious example of Government arrogating powers to itself in the pursuit of a politically correct, idiot slogan like "pedestrian friendly" and making itself a nuisance and a burden on small businesses that are barely scraping by. Business have a right to attempt to draw customers into their store. Protest this lunacy to your favorite council dink.

Clint always did the right thing so he never was in the minority party. Good Job Clint.

Truman ordered the integration of the U.S. Military over 50 years ago and we have a better military because of it. Hopefully Obama will follow Truman's example regarding gay service members after the midterms.

Real Rhythm, Real Melody, Original Jazz, made in the U.S.A. originally. If it aint got that swing, it don't mean a thing.

However, wasting as little energy as possible or peak energy efficiency with the least pollution regardless of the energy source is always a good thing. Its just the CO2 is not a pollutant. Life on Earth is based on Carbon and CO2.

Plenty of game, harder to find because they are being sent to college taught by Wolves.

If you count water vapor molecules in the air 390ppm CO2 means that there is 1 CO2 molecule to about 2500-2700 atmospheric molecules. 1. There is no law of physics that permits one molecule of C02 to the determine the temperature of 2500 molecules of mostly Nitrogen, Oxygen and Water Vapor. 2. The increase in CO2 during the last 50 years has increased plant growth world wide by about 15-25%. 3. C02 levels in crowded indoor gathering places regularly reaches 1000ppm with no ill effect. 4. CO2 becomes toxic to air breathing animals at about 6000ppm. 5. Most plants couldn't exist without CO2 and animal life is dependent on plant life. 5. Increasing CO2 is more effective at stimulating plant growth in greenhouses than increasing either water or heat. 6. Anthropogenic carbon added to the atmosphere annually equals only about 1% of the Natural Carbon already in the atmosphere. 7. During the last million years 6 almost identical ice age/interglacial warming cycles have come and gone, each time the oceans evaporating away to be stored in glacial ice and then the glaciers melting away to restore sea level. Average sea level change each cycle about 400ft. 8. Anthropogenic global warming caused by anthropogenic CO2 is anthropogenic nonsense.

According to Repulsicans, the poor and the hungry need more punishment because they are lazy and worthless and the wealthy need more rewards so that they will trickle down more on the poor.

I remember a few decades ago when I lived and worked in the Lolo country long before Wolves were reintroduced, the Forest Service was burning regularly to provide more elk browse. Remember reading that Lewis and Clarke couldn't find big game in the Lolo country when they came through. Its probably not a Wolf problem.

One of the major things that makes housing unaffordable is local government, P&Z building restrictions. Adds 25% to !00% to the cost of building.

Original Jazz!

"cavemen thinking they are cowboys" I like that. A good description of Human Males in general.

This is what happens when Idiots with big egos play with organizational charts above their pay grade and con a few retards into supporting them. First mistake: Railroad Carol Waller. Second Mistake: Follow Willich, Ribi, Youngman and Hall over the cliff into an expensive debacle for taxpayers.

Its Amusing that environmental extremists are claiming on the one hand that massive beetle kill is cyclic and natural and humans should stay out of the woods and not interfere. And on the other hand they're claiming that Global Warming is Anthropogenic and humans should reduce their CO2 output, which makes one realize that they know next to nothing about beetles or CO2.

Bacteria don't discriminate between local unhygienic conditions and distant unhygienic conditions nor between food labeled organic and other food.

Well a lot of constituents in Minnick's district are at least slightly bigoted, so he's got to appeal to them. If Labrador is dumb enough to belong to a party that doesn't really care for Hispanics very much, he deserves what he gets.

Bon Appetit upscale gourmets!

F-Bleep the Polls. Its time for a change.

Worse than Cockroaches, worse than Wharf Rats, worse than Maggots, Hounds from Hell have been unleashed to once again victimize poor Idaho Ranchers and Cowboys just trying to make a living.

As usual, the environmentalists are attempting to marshal their forces to stop a mine based on the magnitude of the proposal and exaggerating the risk of a catastrophic event. And they're also whining that the 1872 mining law hasn't been changed so that it easier to obstruct mining based on fear mongering. Not likely if the Tea Brainers and Repulsicans take over the government.
What both the environmentalists and the mining companies ignore, however during the fight to get permission to mine is the economic end game. Who pays and for how long? Thompson Creek has been up an running for decades without any catastrophic events but the long term costs may be questionable. You've got to know something about the details of the mineral extraction process to be concern about the end game. Basically, the ore bearing rock is ground to a fine powder and treated with liquid chemicals which float and collect the desired minerals leaving a slurry which is pumped to a tailings impoundment area to consolidate and solidify into a chemical laden solid clay like material which will weather right along with the natural soil and rock surroundings in perpetuity. In the case of Thompson Creek, a nearby hanging valley or drainage is being filled with these tailings . A pumpback station at the base of the tailings impoundment pumps any water that drains out of the tailings impoundment, back to the top of the drainage preventing any contamination from reaching the Salmon river a few miles below the mine. Long after the mine has closed the pumpback station will have to be continually operated and maintained... read more prevent natural erosion by snow, rain and spring water on the tailings from entering the Salmon river. Perpetuity is a long time and at some point the pumpback station's operation and maintainence will more than equal the lifetime profit of the mine.

Western Wolves wear bigger hats, bigger belt buckles, and fancier boots than Eastern Wolves.

Don't believe everything you read about including anthropogenic climate change.

Oops!

Not if the CAVE BANANA NIMBYs (Citizens Against Virtually Everything-Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody-Never In My Back Yard) have anything to say about it.

The Bats are going batty.

Quintessentially stupid and hypocritical as teenagers who demand an allowance from their parents and then curse their parents for giving it to them. Rebels without honor, pandering to the retarded.

Hamas should hire you as their spokesman, Liebich, since you seem to be able to read their minds and justify their methods. The message that they send to most civilized people is that like most terrorists, they're brutal thugs.

Carol's done an award winning, wonderful job lo all these many years. Her departure was engineered by a cabal elite Sun Valley Jack Asses who threw up a bunch of phony graphs and charts purporting to show that Carol's marketing efforts were ineffectual. They've commandeered the tax payer's money and are in Hot Pursuit of a web based Marketing and Rebranding Messiah. A web based marketing guru working under Carol would have been a lot less costly and much more effective. The next time the local option tax comes up for renewal the small businesses that were shut out of this process should take a serious look at working against renewal.

It smelled like it was right next door.

Salmon Rusdie isn't controversial. He's a hero in my book because some Idiot Ayatollah put a death Fatwa on him.

Don't the Japanese "research hunt" Whales in the Southern Oceans"? Be that as it may, Wyoming should stop reveling in its idiosyncratic stubbornness and follow Minnesota's model of managing wolfs differently in different parts of the state. Shooting on sight is not management by a long shot.

Maybe a little slow and non innovative but still progress.

There is a 50/50 chance of a double dip recession or a long, slow, agonizing recovery that never returns the U.S. to less than 5% unemployment and about 9% unemployment will be the new normal. What's your guess?

Just another violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution using religious beliefs as an excuse for bigotry.

Suddenly, with a flourish of fancy but misleading charts and graphs it was decided that Carol and the SVKCVB weren't effective Marketers. Now Laural and Hardy (Waynee & Randy) have set off on a new adventure in Toy Land searching for a Web based Marketing Messiah to be lured with a bundle of purloined taxpayer cash. Stay tuned. Its a retro serial T.V. comedy adventure from the 50s.

Punish the poor and call them lazy bums. Reward the Rich and call them entrepreneurs on the road to nowhere.

By God! Idaho potato farmers and Idaho vodka distillers can't let that statement stand unchallenged! And what do Tree Huggers know about vodka and potatoes anyway?

The blame for Relisting belongs to the Wyoming Legislature which is too stubborn and retarded to come up with a reasonable Wolf Management Plan.

Although Blaine County is somewhat of a self centered, self righteous politically correct place, and even though the property tax is the most hated tax, not many residents are ready to tell poor old white folks on medicaid to drop dead, especially since many of the voters will soon be in that same predicament.

Great name for a baby boomer group, although a lot of baby boomers need a brain replacement.

Let's run right over to China and get them to invest some of their reserves in some affordable housing for low income Americans. We can promise them an expanding market for affordable electric cars which Detroit and Japan are unable to produce.

Repulsicans and Tea Brainers disapprove because it helps at risk families instead of punishing them for being at risk.

Political debate about any controversial subject is seldom rational. Human primates, like their chimpanzee cousins, are driven by emotions not rationality. Politics is war by other means and visa versa. War, squabbling, bickering, bitching, tribalism, irrationality is built into the human genome.

Eventually peace and a two state solution will come. But the human primates involved have not yet tired of killing, snarling, fighting, threatening and vying for victim status enough to make peace.

Oh Good Lord! Don't environmental groups have anything better to do? As long as the company is willing to compensate the State of Idaho for damage and inconvenience and is willing to build road improvements, commerce through Idaho to Canada is all to the good. Oil from the tar sands of Canada is better than buying oil from the middle east in any case.

Hurry up!

Too many directors (chiefs) and not enough Indians.

We be cool. We be hip. We be happening. We be Repulsicans.

Interesting, far right Repulsicans are coming up with a lot of retro Nazi ideas. History will repeat itself if a majority of the people were were dumb enough to permit it.

The power behind the throne in Idaho is still big agriculture despite the fact that the aggie economy is shrinking as a percentage of Gross state domestic product. Therefore politicians like Butch (Don Quixote) Otter will be inclined to kiss aggie ass for awhile longer.

The press, individuals and institutions are free to criticize whoever they please about whatever they please. The reader can choose to believe whoever he/she pleases. Usually people believe propaganda that agrees with their point of view, regardless of the evidence.

Waddaya mean we, white man? That classic, all American, Rags to Riches story of anybody can do it on honor and hard work doesn't work so much anymore. You can't keep blaming the country's problem on Lazy Socialist Bums on welfare. More and more people are realizing that this is bullshit.

The U.S. has spent 1 Trillion dollars during the last 40 years on the War on Drugs with nothing much to show for it except to create wealthy organized criminal gangs which threaten the very existence of Democratic governments world wide.

"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me." From F.Scott Fitzgerald's short story "The Rich Boy"

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer at Redfish. Aint it Wonderful?

Funny, how many decades it took for "multiple use, sustained yield" to trickle down to just about everything.

A little to Rich for my taste. Anyway I knew the real Miz Saigon when I lived and fought in Vietnam in the Sixties.

According to the "conservative" Repulsican theory of good governance, let them starve to punish them for being hungry and poor and lazy.

Low income and unemployed Americans take heart! Deals are being made in Sun Valley that will raise you out of suffering and poverty. Just get in touch with your inner entrepreneurial spirit, and you too can become a very important glamorous human primate stepping off your corporate jet in Hailey. Wow!

Actually, the U.S., Turkey, Iran and Israel have something in common. They all don't have unlimited love for Arabs. Additionally, Iran can help stabilize the Shiite majority in Iraq, and help stabilize Afghanistan. This will become more obvious as time wears on.

Whee! Here we go into a double dip recession thanks to Repulsican obstruction of counter cyclical stimulus attempts by the Democraps and Obama.

Despite superstitious anti nuke paranoia, its safe to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Its been studied to death.

As the latest Bee gossip goes, a virus from Asian honeybees made its way to the U.S. via Australia and has devastated Honey Bee populations. I was smelling the flowers the other day and watched a lot of bees gathering pollen from spring blossoms. None of the bees were honey bees but there were a lot bees at work never the less. Which may indicate that it not wise to rely on only one species of bee to do all of the commercial pollinating.

Is a minimum amount of rain and snow a water right? How about a minimum amount of evaporation and evapotranspiration?

Actually, Bergdahl may be better off if he's not in the news.

Shoot first and ask questions later.

The only thing worse than government run by the feds would be government run by Idaho's right wing wackos.

You been hoodwinked and Brainwashed by Weenie Waynee and his 3 pseudo marketing mavens into believing that the appointment of a whiz bang marketing czar will magically make wealthy Europeans and Asians visit Sun Valley in droves, when actually more money will be spent with less results and the hostile down sizing by Willich of the SVKCVB was the real intent.

Its sad but true that human primates were designed with a hell of a lot of defects, like the rest of the animal kingdom.

If you insist on chastising the well meaning, you won't have many friends left.

Well, Duh!, its the right thing to do. Butch (Don Quixote) Otter is wasting tax payer funds tilting at windmills and political posturing.

Cruel Idaho Rednecks win again!

Life is full of tough disputes but a 70 percent success rate aint too shabby.

Obviously the working stiff caused the recession so they have to suffer the most according to the Repulsicans. Take away their unemployment benefits! Really make em suffer! Its going to be Tea Brained deficit hysteria all the way to November!

The best way to prosperity is free trade on a level playing field without trade barriers.

Its Miz Ho Chi Minh City now a daze!

Potatoes are rich in nutrients and potassium and low in calories before adding oil. And most healthy people need a lot more potassium along with much less sodium in their diet.

A chicken in every pot! Fresh Eggs galore! Keep the fox out of the hen house! Birds are all that is left of the ancient dinosaur clan, still, providing sustenance to human primates who evolved only recently.

I always knew you were a lot smarter than the average geek. You obviously know more about health care than Butch (Don Quixote) Otter and have something a lot more constructive to offer.

If its doable there, it ought to be doable here if bureaucratic turf battles (tribal instinct) could be avoided. But they actually haven't done it there yet. Its still in the planning stages.