Boise, Idaho Blog

Recently Newsweek canducted a poll of the nations best high schools.  Many of Boise’s high schools did very well this year.  In the past, Boise High and Timberline have ranked well.  This year Borah is added to the list of top high schools in the nation.

The poll ranked the top 1,300 schools in the nationally and although all 3 were in the top results, Boise High ranked considerably well compared to the rest.  Being a “Boise Brave” myself I am proud to say Boise High ranked 396 while Borah ranked 1,291 and Timberline 1,232.  The past 4 years Boise High has made the top of the list when it comes to high schools in the nation.

Thanks to the wonderful teaches and administrators, as well as our community, that make Boise one of the best places for our kids to get a good education.  Lets give those teacher, not only a thank-you, but a big fat raise!

Had an interesting day today… Met Congressman Simpson and I guess I hoped for something positive but I am very disappointed. Sure he supports much of the agriculture and the interests of many US farmers but what about everything else? Actually, it isnt’ all his fault but he freely admits that Congress is reacting to issues instead of being proactive. Why is it that the government is always reacting to a crisis instead of planning and preventing crisis? Currently we are faced with environmental issues, energy issues, health care issues, social security, foreclosure and bank issues, for the most part our economy is crashing and you know what he said? “Nobody wants to discuss them.” Interesting how we have all these crisis’ on the table and no one wants to discuss them. Mainly because it is an election year! Interesting!

The American people really need to take an active approach here. What are we waiting for, an outbreak of some weird disease like Aid, bird flu, or West Nile to dwindle off the population so we can get a hold of the social security issue? Maybe all these crisis situations will cure themselves. Hey atleast the democrats and the republicans have their agendas… maybe someday the American people will get the attention rather than which party has control of the government.

To be honest I don’t know much about politics but it is frustrating when we are faced with crisis after crisis and nothing more than a short term baind aid is applied to the situation.  I am not lashing out at the Congressman himself just the system.

Minding my own business publishing my next edition of In My Opinion, which happens to be Home Maintenance Tips for Late Summer, I find myself in the middle of what appears to be an awesome amount of smoke.  What is going on you might ask…  Well it appears that there is a significant brush fire up near Columbia Villiage, if my ears aren’t mistaken it also sounds as if some homes are being evacuated near the hill.  With the wind blowing the way it is I can imagine the most anyone can do is stay out of the way. 

JUST heard several loud “BANGS”  a lot of ash is starting to fall… I hope it didn’t get some of the homes over on the ridge. 

Okay… I guess it is a good thing the fair only comes once a year. I definitely better blog about it so I am better informed next year. Even though the entertainment is getting better over the years I had forgotten just how expensive it is. The $7 to get in I can handle but then the $2 for an ear of corn is just bearable but I about lost it when my little girl wanted to go on a pony ride and it cost $5. After waiting in line for a short 15 minutes I thought how in that time they had made about $90, that’s $360 an hour. But hey, it is for my little girl!

So then it was time to get the toys, stuffed animals, for the kid so we walked through the games and what not. She decided she wanted to pull the duckies out of the water and win a stuffed animal. So I forked over another $5 to so she could win a very small stuffed animal. The attendant was kind enough to filter through the ducks to find the 1 that would get her a large stuffed animal but I must say, inflation is sure on the rise.

Besides the cost of things I still enjoyed the animals, the antique tractors, the petting zoo, and of course getting out with my little girl and spending a wonderful day. Here she is giving me the pouty face because she doesn’t like the tractors… Poor Kid!

Ever since I can remember the Western Idaho Fair comes to town and is held at the fairgrounds in Garden City. What the fair lacks in exciting rides it makes up for in good, wholesome, fried food. It is easy to want to go from food vendor to food vendor sampling what is on the menu. I can smell it now! As for other entertainment they have bands that are pretty good, at least were pretty good in my day such as Chicago. Now I am dating myself! For the older generation there are the Temptations this year. As for the younger crowd Corbin Bleu will be performing, never heard of him…

For the most part the fair has something for everyone but it seems to lose its allure after awhile. There are the same old fair games; win a gold fish, darts and balloons, bb gun, and the like. Do I really want to spend $50 at the fair when I could go to Walmart and buy a stuffed animal for $5? I don’t know, maybe I will sit this one out and give my feet a rest.

To Go Or Not To Go… That Is The Question.

I tend to try and stay out of controversy as much as I can, life is interesting enough without adding more, but every now and then I come across something that really gets to me. This time it has to do with the California courts taking on gay medical rights. We are not talking about withholding medical treatment for a life threatening disease or even a simple case of the flu, we are talking about artificial insemination. Two doctors refused to do it because it violated their religious beliefs. The doctors met their medical obligation and helped the woman find another doctor that would perform the service.

Since then the gay woman has had 3 children and these doctors religious beliefs are under fire. I get so sick of hearing about gay rights when really there has been no harm done. Obviously the woman got what she wanted she simply needed to get it from someone else. Why is it that only gay rights seem to get the attention while the rights of these doctors are put into question? Again why do Christian beliefs and values have to always be under fire? It is the doctors here that are being discriminated against because of their beliefs, not the gay woman.

Gay rights are always in the news, wanting this and that but what about the fact that gays are largely responsible for the HIV and AIDS epidemic in this country, approximately 59%, with 40,000 new cases a year. Over 1.2 million Americans have some stage of HIV/AIDS and 25% don’t even know it. Over 500,000 people have died from the disease and every day unsuspecting people are being infected with this deadly disease because of gay-like behavior. Federal funding for HIV/AIDS is over $23 billion. So not only do Americans need to live in fear due to such diseases but we also have to pay our hard earned money to help clean up the mess.

I just don’t understand why everyone is fighting for special rights for these individuals while attacking people for their beliefs when there are bigger issues on the table. Honestly, I don’t have anything against the gay community. I don’t believe their behavior to be what God intended but I know I am far from perfect and who am I to judge.

In My Opinion has justed released the 8/15 edition which is a great resource for first-time homebuyers looking to avoid making the same mistakes millions of others have made recently which have lead to the subprime fallout and a record numbers of foreclosures throughout the US. Read more on the Worst Mortgage Mistakes and How to Avoid Them at BoiseRealEstateInfo.net.

Reading through “Best Life” Magazine the above headline caught my attention. Being a single father I am faced with not only providing for my child but trying to figure out what a 3 year old girl requires while providing her a safe environment to thrive. So looking at the best cities to raise a family, “where does Boise fit in?”

Believe it Boise rates #20 on the list…

Would you like to know the #1 city??? Honolulu, Hawaii. Apparently they spend almost $9,000 per pupil and the unemployment rate is half that of the national average. All this plus you get to live in paradise.

I have been working in the sugar industry for the past 4-years and I have seen sugar take quite a beating.  In competition with artificial sweeteners and high-fructose corn syrup sugar sometimes gets a bad wrap.  However, things appear to be looking better for sugar even though this coming year may bring a shortage but many of the facts about sugar have started to catch on…  One of which is sugar is 100% natural and may not be as fattening as people once thought.

Recent studies have shown that artificial sweeteners and diet soda may play a big role in weight gain.  Why does it always seem we constantly contradict ourselves?  Any idiot knows that if you eat a poor diet made up of carbs and sugars you will probably get fat yet we are constantly “creating” artificial additives for what?, so we can eat more of the crap we shouldn’t?  Personally, I love a good piece of chocolate, cookies, etc.. but I know when to say “no” and if I over doit I can get some exercise.  Doesn’t anyone have any common sense anymore or are we going to keep looking for the easy, or should I say lazy, way out.

Moral: Eat sugar but eat it responsibly…

Minutes from downtown Boise and next to the freeway the Boise Airport serves over 3 million travelers a year.