Idaho Conversation League

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/nations_grandfathers_to?utm_source=slate_rss_1

http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/Dead_Souls:_The_Pentagon_Plan_to_Create_Remorseless_%22Warfighters%22/ "But is it moral to weaken memories of horrendous acts a person has committed? Some would say that there is no difference between offering injured soldiers penicillin to prevent an infection and giving a drug that prevents them from suffering from a posttraumatic stress injury for the rest of their lives. Others, like Leon Kass, former chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, object to propranolol's use on the grounds that it medicates away one's conscience ...Barry Romo, a national coordinator for Vietnam Veterans Against the War, is even more blunt. "That's the devil pill," he says. "That's the monster pill, the anti-morality pill. That's the pill that can make men and women do anything and think they can get away with it. Even if it doesn't work, what's scary is that a young soldier could believe it will....

http://www.magicvalley.com/articles/2008/01/21/ap/us/d8ua803o0.txt

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=938#more-938

A circus foreman was making the rounds inspecting the big top when a scrawny little man entered the tent and walked up to him. "Are you the foreman around here?" he asked timidly. "I'd like to join your circus; I have what I think is a pretty good act." The foreman nodded assent, whereupon the little man hurried over to the main pole and rapidly climbed up to the very tip-top of the big top. Drawing a deep breath, he hurled himself off into the air and began flapping his arms furiously. Amazingly, rather than plummeting to his death the little man began to fly all around the poles, lines, trapezes and other obstacles, performing astounding feats of aerobatics which ended in a long power dive from the top of the tent, pulling up into a gentle feet-first landing beside the foreman, who had been nonchalantly watching the whole time. "Well," puffed the little man. "What do you think?" "That's all you do?" answered the foreman sc...

A "critic" is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased -- he hates all creative people equally.

I know that we truckers have been asked to not scavenge, anymore up at the transfer station, but nowadays there is a special bundle of joy, which is causing each of us to weigh in a little longer than usual. Mainly, it’s a ten-week old baby girl, belonging to a young woman, who weighs all the trucks before and after they dump their loads. It appears as though the County has gone out of their way to accommodate this young woman, allowing a crib and everything else a newborn might require, inside the tiny weigh station office. Most truckers are treating this young woman and her newborn with the utmost respect, and seeing the baby makes their day. If you inspect the drivers, as they slowly wind back down the icy Ohio Gulch road, some appear themselves to have gained refreshing newborn smiles. It could be that the young woman does not desire any more publicity, than the open secret, which hundreds of truckers already know about. If this is the case, we certainly can respect that. However, ...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/08/DDD9U9GHI.DTL "Redroom.com, which premiered Dec. 21, is one of the more ambitious online communities for writers to date and perhaps the most timely, aiming to capitalize on the current potential for profitability of social-networking sites. It features 150 authors (with 400 more to come), ranging from Amy Tan and Salman Rushdie to Edinburgh Castle Pub owner Alan Black; Graham Leggatt, executive director of the San Francisco Film Society, who moonlights as a sci-fi writer; and local mystery writer Cara Black."

http://www.mtexpress.com/2003/03-02-12/03-02-12willy.htm

Tonight while driving down Broadford road, I gained a writing prompt idea for a future Conversation League session. Simply, “What identifies you as an Idahoan” Or better “What specific things have you accomplished that help identify you as a true Idahoan?” What got me onto this kick was someone calling himself or herself, “Slow Elk Poacher.” In response to a post I made about the need for lifesaving cell towers in the SNRA, they challenged my credibility, stating, “ You sure are overly dramatic Jbanholzer. I also question if you really ever have been far back in the Sawtooths, Boulders, or White Clouds. I've been in places in California and Colorado where cell phone usage can be achieved in the backcountry, and it's a bit weird when you are at base camp, and people are yapping with others far away back in the cities. It doesn't make it a better experience, and I will silently loathe when cell phone usage is possible in the boulders, white clouds, and sawtooths.” I had figur...

http://tronlaser.blogspot.com/2007/10/universe-as-hologram-by-michael-talbot.html

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=604#more-604