My Page: Joan Opyr
Damn HJR2 and Damn My Scruples!
I’ll Never Be Mrs. Idaho AmericaA few days ago, I received an invitation from Amanda Feely (call her Mandi!) to enter the Mrs. Idaho America beauty pageant. The rules are simple: fill out and sign the application form, send them a photograph and fifty bucks, and find myself a couple of suckers . . . I mean sponsors. Then, I might, just might, qualify as an entrant. What's the hold up? Well first, although I've been happily married for 14 years, I am not legally married. Under current Idaho law, same-sex couples cannot wed. Second, entrants are required to have been born female. As far as I know, I was born female, but without a genetic test, who can say? Not you, not me, and not the damned fools running this beauty contest. [more]
Debating Torture
A Moral Compass Spinning Out of ControlIf, as President George W. Bush says, we're involved in a multi-year battle against Islamo-fascism, we've already lost. Mr. Bush has admitted that we, the American people, have been operating secret CIA prisons around the world. He's admitted that we've sent prisoners to third world countries for extraordinary rendition. He says that we have the right to hold suspected terrorists in extra-judicial locations and prisons, and that we can and should torture them using techniques like water-boarding. Who the hell is this man, and what has he done with the United States? [more]
Competition at the County Fair
Mental Illness in a Mason JarMy mother-in-law, Rose, hasn's slept for three weeks. She's been up all night testing recipes for the Latah County Fair. She wants to win the Master Baker ribbon. Our house reeks of burned cookies, crumbled cakes, and failed experiments in pie crusts and fillings. Our flock of chickens are happy; they'll eat anything. Me? I'm trying to think of ways to have her involuntarily committed, at least until the fair is over. [more]
First Mourn, Then Organize
How I Remember September 11, 2001Tomorrow is a sad anniversary. What can we learn from it? And what can we do? [more]
Don't Like Bigots? Got Some Extra Money? Then Donate to Idaho Votes No
Idaho Votes No Launches Major Fund Drive: $15,000 in 15 DaysI am not the original author of this post. I am merely a link in the chain of messengers. I received the following announcement today from the Idaho Votes No campaign, and I've decided to pass it along to New West's readers. The State of Idaho can ill afford another black eye, and that, I believe, is what passage of HJR2 will give us.
For those of you who are not familiar with HJR2, where have you been? HJR2 is the proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and anything that approximates it. There is much that you can do to help defeat this civil rights menace, beginning with writing a check for whatever you can afford and sending it to the good folks at Idaho Votes No.
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The End of Summer on the Palouse
Smoky Skies and Bitter RegretsThe tail end of summer, from harvest to the first hard frost, is a bitter and miserable time on the Palouse. There is something about harvest that inevitably disappoints. First there's the dust, then the field fires, and, at last, the ugly, bare, cut brown fields. I love the rolling green acres of spring and the golden promise of late July and early August, but it all leads to this, choking smoke and blowing dirt. Not even the odd dust devil can pick up my spirits. I know that when the fall rains begin, my home will float in a sea of mud. My children, my dogs, and my carpets will be filthy. Is this any way to live? [more]
The Dayton fire, which encompasses 23 square miles, has already prompted emergency evacuations in Southeastern Washington, and if today's smoke is anything to go by, I fear the fire has spread. It's been windy this week, and the humidity is low: bad news for the more than 300 firefighters battling the blaze.
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Up to my Eyeballs in Internet Scams
Madame Bogamil Doudou and her Nigerian Friends Let Me Down AgainCalm down, American Express. Relax Visa, MasterCard, and Wells Fargo. The check from Nigeria is in the mail . . . [more]
Determining Acceptable Risk
What Homeland Security Needs: A Beavis and Butthead Brain TrustDo our post-911, post-London airport precautions really make us safer, or is this a case of closing the barn door after the horses are out? Why are we still taking off our smelly shoes for airport security to examine years after one bozo tried, and failed, to set fire to a fuse in the toe of his loafer? We need to be anticipating new, creative, and perhaps more simple attacks. Are the suits at the FBI, the CIA, and Britain's MI5 and MI6 really up to this task, or are they too pedestrian (read: grown-up) to imagine the explosive potential of ordinary household chemicals and cheap over the counter cosmetics?
What we need is a Beavis and Butthead Brain Trust. Want to know how to wreak havoc quickly easily, and on the cheap? Then ask a group of ordinary teenaged boys who lick nine volt batteries for fun, make things like rotten eggs go boom, and create tons of thick, black, oily smoke by mixing bleach with brake fluid. Teenaged boys are creative and proactive. Homeland Security? A bunch of old political hacks.
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Idaho Gas Prices Rising, Rising
Who Knew Alaska’s North Slope Was So Steep?A friend up in North Pole, Alaska warned me some weeks ago of BP's imminent closure of the North Slope oil pipeline. He said to watch out at the pump, as this shutdown would cause pain for Idaho's drivers. Little did I know how immediate that pain would be. I'm certainly feeling the pinch. Are large bruises and broken bones to follow? [more]
