[Vision2020] Finding refuge

[Moscow Cares]

Courtesy of today's (December 4, 2015) Lewiston Tribune.

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Finding refuge
CHEERS ... to Idaho state Rep. Hy Kloc, D-Boise. Contrast his thoughtful and heartfelt prose with how state Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, used the refugee crisis to pivot into a vicious tirade against what she called an "Islamic agenda of domination and takeover."
"I was born in a displaced persons camp in Essen, Germany, at the end of World War II," Kloc wrote in a op-ed this week. "My father Sam, my mother Libby and my brother Jack were Holocaust survivors."
Most of Kloc's family was murdered during the war and he spent three years in a refugee camp before his family was allowed entry into the United States.
"My parents never forgot being on the deck of the ship that brought us to America and seeing the Statue of Liberty for the first time," Kloc wrote. "Nor did they ever forget their feelings of gratitude to this country that had offered them a home when they had none."
It's a perspective missing among those stirring up anti-refugee hysteria.
"Every day online, over the airwaves and in the press, we are confronted with the plight of the Syrian refugees," Kloc said. "When I see these images, I am reminded of my family and the other families on board that ship that sailed into New York Harbor on a cold winter day more than six decades ago under the watchful eye of the Statue of Liberty."
JEERS ... to conservative commentator Tucker Carlson. As editor-in-chief of the online Daily Caller, he's responsible for disseminating the notion that the Pullman Islamic Center is one of 80 radical or extremist mosques scattered across the country.
Published under the alarmist headline "Caution! You may live in the radical mosque zone," the article draws upon information provided by the Clarion Project, which cites as its mission exposing "the dangers of Islamic extremism while providing a platform for the voices of moderation."
But what's extreme about an Islamic center catering to the needs of a minority living, studying and working in rural Washington and Idaho? The home of Washington State University and University of Idaho has a long tradition of welcoming people from different nations, faiths and creeds.
As the Tribune's Elizabeth Rudd reported Sunday, most of the people attending the center are international students seeking a break from the pressures of school and work.
"Most of what we do here is make lonely people here feel welcome," said Sahal Al-Din, secretary for the Islamic center's board of trustees.
Labels have the power to incite. This is how scapegoating starts.
When was the last time Carlson or the author of this piece, Ethan Barton, ever set foot on the Palouse or the Pullman Islamic Center?
CHEERS ... to Washington state Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. Ever wonder who gets all those corporate tax goodies? Do these so-called "incentives" actually provide jobs and economic expansion? Does that justify shifting more of the tax burden on small businesses and wage earners?
Now you can judge.
Even as Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago and expanded manufacturing beyond Puget Sound, it continued to press Olympia for concessions. One of the latest examples was a break in the sales tax Boeing pays.
Because it was confidential, you had to guess how much it might cost.
Until now.
Two years ago, Carlyle, chairman of the House Finance Committee, promoted a tax transparency provision. Due to that law - and a public records request filed by the Seattle Times - the public now knows Boeing claimed about $20 million.
"It's the beginning of a new era in opening the books," he said.
JEERS ... to Idaho Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll, R-Cottonwood, and Reps. Shannon McMillan, R-Silverton, Paul Shepherd, R-Riggins, and Caroline Troy, R-Genesee. They're among the co-sponsors of a bill that targeted rural women for substandard medical care and just might put more of your tax dollars into the pockets of attorneys representing Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood is suing to block their bill - as well as a feature Rep. John Rusche, D-Lewiston, was forced to accept as part of his telemedicine package - that bars doctors from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs remotely - such as by using a computer or telephone connection.
This isn't about protecting women's health. The medical community didn't seek this provision. It was sought by Idaho Chooses Life founder David Ripley, and the list of co-sponsors is a who's who of anti-abortion rights adherents.
This was about interfering with a woman's constitutional right to abortion services under the guise of promoting women's health. If women can't access medical care by long-distance, they may wait to travel to Planned Parenthood's clinics in Twin Falls and Ada counties. Delay means more medical risk and greater expense.
Don't be surprised if the courts rule this is another undue burden on a woman's right to choose. This is becoming an old story in Idaho. Republican lawmakers ignore logic and legal precedent because they fear being labeled pro-abortion.
When the laws they pass get overturned, you get to pay for it. So far, the state's Constitutional Defense Fund has shelled out $920,000 to attorneys who successfully blocked Idaho's earlier unconstitutional parental consent and fetal pain statutes.
Any ideas how much this case will cost?
CHEERS ... to Idaho Republican Lt. Gov. Brad Little. He's telling his fellow ranchers the days of Idaho's open range are numbered.
As the Idaho Statesman's Bill Dentzer reported, the 19th century code of the West still applies on Idaho's highways. If you're unlucky enough to hit a steer, you're not only liable for your damages and injuries - but the value of the livestock as well.
Dentzer ran into the usual posturing: Anti-ranching interests such as the Western Watershed Project denounce the law while the Idaho Farm Bureau defends it.
But Little can see change coming. So he's urging ranchers to take a more reasoned approach.
"I tell my cattlemen friends," Little said, "you have a school bus hit a bull, you're not going to like the way the open range laws in Idaho are changed." - M.T.

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Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares" (the most fun you can have with your pants on)
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"There's room at the top they are telling you still.
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill,
If you want to be like the folks on the hill."

- John Lennon
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