http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Clarence-Thomas-Justice-for-All-50577732.html

This is an interesting (to me) article about Justice Clarence Thomas for those few of you who may be interested in this. I have followed him since his confirmation hearings and also read his book mentioned in this article. As you may or may not know, I have an ongoing interest in all things legal, particularly legal biographies dating back to Louis Nizer, Clarence Darrow and others you youngins' may not have heard of but who made legal history.

Love,
G-ma/Sheila/Mother



Love,
G-ma/Mother/Sheila

"Women Who Shape the City"

Note from Sheila:

The following is from the Post Register published December 17, 2008, part of a front page story title "Women of Influence." I'm well acquainted with each of the women mentioned in this article, having worked with them on various community endeavors through the years. They published our pictures with the article but I can't figure out how to add it to this posting. Probably if you cut and pasted the address below.

http://www.postregister.com/Tools/print.php?accnum=1017-12172008&today=2008-12-17

Wednesday December 17, 2008
Women of Influence
OTHERS who shape the city

JoAn Wood

Sheila Olsen

Laurel Sayer

Ida Hardcastle
------

JoAn Wood

State representative from Rigby

Wood chairs the House Transportation Committee, which puts her at the center of the debate on how to address Idaho's estimated annual $240 million backlog in road repairs and maintenance.

If the governor can't get Wood on board with his plan to raise money for roads and bridges through increases in the gas tax or vehicle registration fees, it's doubtful he'll get what he's looking for.

Wood also championed and fought for a state-funded mental health and substance abuse treatment center in Bonneville County. The idea is to treat these diseases instead of piling people into the prison system, which drains money from Idaho's colleges and public schools.

This pilot project will first be tried in eastern Idaho. Legislators hope to build similar treatment centers in every corner of the state.

And that means the longest-serving legislator in Idaho history may be around a while.

"I can't leave until I get that propped up and running and replicable," Wood said.

------------

Sheila Olsen
http://www.postregister.com/e-news/12172008/full/A4-1017-2002.jpg

Community and political activist

Olsen, 70, often tries to glide under the radar by describing herself as the widow of prominent lawyer Dennis Olsen, a longtime Idaho GOP chairman. But just three years after Dennis' 1985 death, Sheila was recruited to George H.W. Bush's campaign steering committee and cast one of Idaho's votes as a member of the Electoral College. Historian Randy Stapilus put her on his list of 100 influential Idahoans because candidates hire her to help run their campaigns and captains of industry such as Melaleuca CEO Frank VanderSloot pay for her advice.

A social networking scientist would marvel at her connections: longtime leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints public affairs committee, surprise supporter of former Idaho Falls Mayor Linda Milam (a suspected Democrat in a nonpartisan race), Multiple Sclerosis Mother of the Year, and 10-year leader, with the late A.J. Lewis, of the city's Cultural Awareness Committee. She also serves on the board of Development Workshop, on the Governor's Human Rights Commission and she is state legislative chairwoman of the Idaho Federation of Republican Women.

---

Laurel Sayer

Congressman Mike Simpson's resources and INL director

Simpson's eyes and ears in eastern Idaho, Sayer helped write, rewrite and investigate her boss' signature legislation, the ever-evolving and perpetually ongoing Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act, a bill that would designate the Boulder-White Clouds as wilderness.

As past chairwoman of the Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce, Sayer emphasizes the importance of giving to the community, especially the arts. She has served as a commissioner of the Idaho Commission on the Arts since 2000 and has long supported local projects. Sayer also supports wildlife and Idaho National Laboratory efforts on behalf of Simpson.

"We're very fortunate to have Laurel," Simpson said. "She's a wonderful and diverse partner."

Politicians and members of the community have an obligation to serve, Sayer said.

"Contributing to your community breaks down walls," she said.

---

Ida Hardcastle

Idaho Falls City Council president

It's been 45 years since Hardcastle moved here from Salt Lake City and began her "quality of life" mantra. A stay-at-home mom for some time, she has always volunteered in order to stay active and remain inspired. These days, she serves as Mayor Jared Fuhriman's right-hand woman and is one of the driving forces in developing the city's $171 million budget.

Hardcastle has long been involved in developing the city's recreational opportunities, such as Tautphaus Park's equal-access playground, the zoo and city golf courses.

"Some people think it's fluff, but it's the fluff that holds the city together," Hardcastle said.

Though she never planned for a life in politics, and even balked early on at the politician label, Hardcastle has spent a decade and a half in city government. Her visions for the city include a community recreation center and continued support of community growth.

Death of a Friend

Comment from Sheila:

I have the feeling I should attend Alexandre Solzhenitsyn' s funeral, much as one would feel about the loss of a good friend.

I discovered Solzhenitsyn in the 70's when I picked up his book The Gulag Archipelago to read at Aspen Grove one year. From there, I went on to read (and own) every one of his published works, including his biography. Tim and Cynthia gave me a beautiful hard-bound book about him. I became known locally as somewhat of an expert on Solzhenitsyn, being asked to speak several times on the subject. It was during that time that I was also asked to participate in Education Week, with the subject "Self-Fulfillment Through a Life-Time of Learning." Some of my all-time favorite quotations come from his writings and Dennis picked up on some of his quotations which I read to him to motivate others through his speeches on the importance of freedom.

Anyway, I am sharing the following news article with you, much as I would tell you of the death of a friend who was important to me that I wanted you to know about .

Love, Sheila/Mother/G-ma

Russians mourn dissident hero Solzhenitsyn

Mon Aug 4, 2008 11:02am EDT

By Maria Golovnina

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russians on Monday mourned Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the author and dissident whose criticism of the tyranny of Soviet rule made him one of the bravest figures of the 20th century.

Solzhenitsyn, a Nobel literature laureate, died of heart failure late on Sunday in his Moscow home. He was 89.

On Monday, a chorus of voices across the world expressed grief at the death of a man whose struggle exposed the horror of Josef Stalin's camps and made him the conscience of Russia.

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, described Solzhenitsyn as a "man of unique destiny whose name will remain in Russia's history."

"He was one of the first people who spoke up about the inhumanity of Stalin's regime with a full voice, and about the people whose lived through this but were not broken," Gorbachev, told Interfax news agency.

A funeral service will take place at the medieval Donskoi monastery in Moscow on Wednesday and Solzhenitsyn will be buried there later that day in accordance with his will, said a Russian Orthodox church spokesman.

President Dmitry Medvedev and top Russian officials as well as global leaders including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. President George W. Bush sent their condolences.

"The death of Alexander Isayevich Solzhenitsyn is a heavy loss for the whole of Russia," said a telegram from Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, a former agent with the KGB security service that led the persecution campaign against Solzhenitsyn.

Long banned from publication, Solzhenitsyn owed his initial fame to Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, who allowed the publication in 1962 of his "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", which described the horrifying routine of labor camp life.

He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970 for his work, including "Gulag Archipelago", a chronicle of his own and thousands of other prison camp experiences.

In his books, he shook consciences by unveiling the dark secrets of the Gulag, the network of prison camps where millions of Russians died during Stalin's purges. Some read and distributed his books underground, fearing state persecution.

In 1974, he was stripped of his citizenship and put on a plane to West Germany for refusing to keep silent about his country's past. He became an icon of resistance to the totalitarian system from his American home in Vermont.

TRIBUTE IN FLOWERS

In Troitse-Lykovo in the outskirts of Moscow where Solzhenitsyn spent his final years, passers-by paid tribute by tucking flowers into the blue-painted gate of his house.

"It's a great loss for our family. It's also a loss for the country," his son Stepan told Reuters. "He was always really happy he returned. This is his home."

Solzhenitsyn refused to return to Russia until after the Soviet Union collapsed, marking his comeback in a long train journey from Vladivostok on the Pacific coast to Moscow in 1994.

After his return, the post-Soviet leadership paid him great respect. But he became increasingly critical of the state of modern day Russia, denouncing corruption and Western influences in a society that had emerged from 80 years of Soviet rule.

He lived in seclusion outside Moscow, playing no discernible role in Russian political life and rarely appearing in public.

In a bookstore in central Moscow, a selection of his most famous books was put on display beneath a large black-and-white portrait of the author.

Television channels and radio stations ran constant solemn reports on his life but some younger Russians confessed they knew little about his work.

"He is very famous. I'm just starting his works," said Viktoria Danilova, a 17-year-old in central Moscow. "Unfortunately I haven't read very much yet."

©

Obama the Great

From The Times
July 25, 2008

He ventured forth to bring light to the world
The anointed one's pilgrimage to the Holy Land is a miracle in action - and a blessing to all his faithful followers

Gerard Baker

And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the wilderness.

The Child was blessed in looks and intellect. Scion of a simple family, offspring of a miraculous union, grandson of a typical white person and an African peasant. And yea, as he grew, the Child walked in the path of righteousness, with only the occasional detour into the odd weed and a little blow.

When he was twelve years old, they found him in the temple in the City of Chicago, arguing the finer points of community organisation with the Prophet Jeremiah and the Elders. And the Elders were astonished at what they heard and said among themselves: “Verily, who is this Child that he opens our hearts and minds to the audacity of hope?”

In the great Battles of Caucus and Primary he smote the conniving Hillary, wife of the deposed King Bill the Priapic and their barbarian hordes of Working Class Whites.

And so it was, in the fullness of time, before the harvest month of the appointed year, the Child ventured forth - for the first time - to bring the light unto all the world.

He travelled fleet of foot and light of camel, with a small retinue that consisted only of his loyal disciples from the tribe of the Media. He ventured first to the land of the Hindu Kush, where the

Taleban had harboured the viper of al-Qaeda in their bosom, raining terror on all the world.

And the Child spake and the tribes of Nato immediately loosed the Caveats that had previously bound them. And in the great battle that ensued the forces of the light were triumphant. For as long as the Child stood with his arms raised aloft, the enemy suffered great blows and the threat of terror was no more.

From there he went forth to Mesopotamia where he was received by the great ruler al-Maliki, and al-Maliki spake unto him and blessed his Sixteen Month Troop Withdrawal Plan even as the imperial warrior Petraeus tried to destroy it.

And lo, in Mesopotamia, a miracle occurred. Even though the Great Surge of Armour that the evil Bush had ordered had been a terrible mistake, a waste of vital military resources and doomed to end in disaster, the Child's very presence suddenly brought forth a great victory for the forces of the light.

And the Persians, who saw all this and were greatly fearful, longed to speak with the Child and saw that the Child was the bringer of peace. At the mention of his name they quickly laid aside their intrigues and beat their uranium swords into civil nuclear energy ploughshares.

From there the Child went up to the city of Jerusalem, and entered through the gate seated on an ass. The crowds of network anchors who had followed him from afar cheered “Hosanna” and waved great palm fronds and strewed them at his feet.

In Jerusalem and in surrounding Palestine, the Child spake to the Hebrews and the Arabs, as the Scripture had foretold. And in an instant, the lion lay down with the lamb, and the Israelites and Ishmaelites ended their long enmity and lived for ever after in peace.

As word spread throughout the land about the Child's wondrous works, peoples from all over flocked to hear him; Hittites and Abbasids; Obamacons and McCainiacs; Cameroonians and Blairites.

And they told of strange and wondrous things that greeted the news of the Child's journey. Around the world, global temperatures began to decline, and the ocean levels fell and the great warming was over.

The Great Prophet Algore of Nobel and Oscar, who many had believed was the anointed one, smiled and told his followers that the Child was the one generations had been waiting for.

And there were other wonderful signs. In the city of the Street at the Wall, spreads on interbank interest rates dropped like manna from Heaven and rates on credit default swaps fell to the ground as dead birds from the almond tree, and the people who had lived in foreclosure were able to borrow again.

Black gold gushed from the ground at prices well below $140 per barrel. In hospitals across the land the sick were cured even though they were uninsured. And all because the Child had pronounced it.

And this is the testimony of one who speaks the truth and bears witness to the truth so that you might believe. And he knows it is the truth for he saw it all on CNN and the BBC and in the pages of The New York Times.

Then the Child ventured forth from Israel and Palestine and stepped onto the shores of the Old Continent. In the land of Queen Angela of Merkel, vast multitudes gathered to hear his voice, and he preached to them at length.

But when he had finished speaking his disciples told him the crowd was hungry, for they had had nothing to eat all the hours they had waited for him.

And so the Child told his disciples to fetch some food but all they had was five loaves and a couple of frankfurters. So he took the bread and the frankfurters and blessed them and told his disciples to feed the multitudes. And when all had eaten their fill, the scraps filled twelve baskets.

Thence he travelled west to Mount Sarkozy. Even the beauteous Princess Carla of the tribe of the Bruni was struck by awe and she was great in love with the Child, but he was tempted not.

On the Seventh Day he walked across the Channel of the Angles to the ancient land of the hooligans. There he was welcomed with open arms by the once great prophet Blair and his successor, Gordon the Leper, and his successor, David the Golden One.

And suddenly, with the men appeared the archangel Gabriel and the whole host of the heavenly choir, ranks of cherubim and seraphim, all praising God and singing: “Yes, We Can.”

The Excellent Summer Opinion of the Chief of the Attorney General's Civil Litigation Division (known to us as Steve Olsen)

[Note from Sheila: this is from today's Post Register. I'm also cutting and pasting the Post Register on-line blog. Looks like one of Steve's "excellent summer adventures" is being in the arena!] The Post Register Thursday July 17, 2008

AG's office backs Hill The Tax Commission was not wrong in cutting income tax deals with out-of-state corporations. By COREY TAULE ctaule@postregister.com Hill Otter Rexburg Republican Brent Hill said last month the Idaho Tax Commission obeyed the rules when it cut deals with out-of-state corporations over income tax liability. On Wednesday, Hill received his seal of approval. The Idaho attorney general's office issued a letter that jibes with what Hill found after investigating auditor Stan Howland's claim that the commission gave sweet- heart deals to multi-state corporations. The commission, the AG's office wrote Wednesday, has the authority to settle disputed tax cases. "It's what I've been saying all along," Hill said. "I just didn't have the clout behind it." Hill, who chairs the Senate Tax Committee, and Sen. Kate Kelly, D-Boise, each asked the AG's office to investigate Howland's claims. On May 27, Howland, a corporate auditor with 28 years experience, wrote a 17-page report detailing a process he said allows corporations to regularly receive breaks on their income tax bills. Howland wrote that corporations purposely file incorrect tax returns; that Tax Commission staff dispute the returns and the commissioners settle the bill following negotiations with companies. All this is done in secrecy, Howland said. Hill and Kelly asked specifically about whether the Tax Commission broke the law. "We conclude that they have not," the AG's office wrote Wednesday. But that doesn't mean there aren't questions that still need answering, Kelly said; nor will the investigation of Howland's claims end with Wednesday's letter. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter appointed retired accountant P. LaVern Gentry to examine the Tax Commission's practices, a review that will continue, said Mark Warbis, Otter's communications director. Also, the state audits agencies every three years. The Tax Commission is up this year. Finally, Kelly said she has asked the Legislative Services office to examine how other states handle corporate tax liabilities and to define the commission's authority. Kelly said she took that step because Howland's complaint and subsequent replies from the Tax Commission and AG's office left her wondering if the commission's authority is overly broad and whether the public should have greater access to disputed claims. Also, Kelly said she is interested in looking at the Tax Commission's budgetary history. The author of Wednesday's letter, Steven L. Olsen, chief of the attorney general's civil litigation division, wrote that the Tax Commission is limited by its budget. Essentially, it cannot challenge every disputed tax bill in court because it would be too expensive. Keeping spending down, Olsen wrote, requires "trade-offs" and can mean "that some violations go unnoticed." "By analogy, this is not unlike other common enforcement activities -- police cannot catch every speeder; prosecutors cannot bring to trial every criminal charge," Olsen wrote. Kelly said she expects a report from Legislative Services next month. The results of the state audit probably won't be known until early next year, she said. All this, Kelly said, will likely mean some changes. Whether that means an overhaul of the commission and its statutory duties has yet to be determined, she said. Hill said he would consider hosting interim committee meetings on the issue later this year, depending on what Gentry finds. "I see it as a constructive building process from here," Hill said. Reporter Phil Davidson contributed to this story. Senior reporter Corey Taule can be reached at 542-6754. AG says Idaho Tax Commission did nothing illegal Associated Press BOISE -- The Idaho attorney general has concluded that state tax commissioners broke no laws by settling tax protests with large, often out-of-state corporations. Steven Olsen, chief of the attorney general's civil litigation division, reviewed a complaint lodged in late May by veteran Tax Commission auditor Stan Howland. Howland alleged that Idaho's four tax commissioners had violated state law by reaching compromises with companies over their annual tax bills, then using the state's disclosure laws to keep the agreements secret. Howland immediately panned Olsen's 12-page opinion, released Wednesday, saying it was inaccurate and doesn't reflect standards required of an independent investigation. Olsen wrote that the commission is entitled to weigh contested tax issues against a variety of factors when deciding to settle a protest, including legal ambiguities and the risk of costly litigation. He also said commissioners are bound by statute to withhold information about such settlements from the public to protect taxpayer confidentiality. "Auditors play an important role in evaluating whether tax liability exists," Olsen wrote. "However, it is the tax commissioners who have ultimate responsibility, which is imposed by statute, for evaluating the facts, applying the law and making reasoned judgments concerning whether tax liabilities should be settled or should be tried in court." Olsen said commissioners must carefully decide when to litigate. "This discretion rests with the commissioners — not their staff," he said.

Elder Decker's excellent summer adventure.

[The following is an extract from a recent e-mail letter received from Elder Karl Decker, currently serving an LDS mission in Estacada, California. Note, to reply to Karl, use Linda's e-mail address and she will forward things on to him.]

I have an interesting story to relate. It's about the childrens.

Elder Lym and I live in a set of apartment complexes in the north end of the town of Estacada. Living in the complex with us are several Mexican-American families with small children between the ages of 4 and 12. During the summer months this group of about 8-10 children has solidified into a pack that roams the area in small groups looking for "fun". In the past, we've provided them with water balloons, sage advice (don't take candy from strangers), and once a big old bag of candy (they didn't listen to our advice). This may have been a mistake.

"Hey Mormons!" the cry comes, often as we park our mission-owned Toyota Corolla to enter the apartment. The little kid speaking, usually a preteen named George (pronounced hor-hey), leads his brother and friends up to us.

We've told him our names several times now, but based on the evidence he doesn't seem to remember. "Hey Mormons, where's our candy?"

"We don't have any," Elder Lym answers.

"I want a big lollipop. HUGE," George tells us for the thirtieth time, gesturing widely with his chunky arms. Meanwhile, unnoticed in the moment, birds gobble up a few of the cherries from the tree next to our parking space.

"We wanna get wet. Let us borrow your water guns," George's stout little twin, Hermando, demands.

By this time I've backed away about fifteen feet, past the cherry tree standing next to the car, all the way to the steps leading to our apartment door, and I'm waving at Elder Lym to get him to retreat with me.

Nevertheless, his conversation with the neighborhood scourge conversation continues a few moments longer. Meanwhile, the birds in the cherry tree, acting on the natural impulses of their God-given digestive systems, relieve their bowels on our car.

Eventually, the children leave, unsatisfied with our explanations of poverty and lack of stuff to give them. We wave goodbye with Christian smiles.

"I'll get them wet, the little potlickers." My companion usually mutters something to this effect. "Buggin' me every time I try to leave the apartment."

"Don't worry, Elder Lym," I respond. "One of these days they'll steal our car."

"They can do what they like, if they'll wash the bird crap off of it," he grumbles. "I don't care."

It's okay though. Every time a bird poops on us, our future wives become more beautiful. And every time we deal mercifully with a little child instead of strangling him, it is counted to us for righteousness. After all, when in His mortal ministry Jesus suffered the children to come unto him, they can't all have been sweet, good-tempered, well-washed little darlings.

We love all God's children, we give them no more candy, and we pray that they do not actually hot wire our mission vehicle.

Have fun everybody!

Written with love,

Elder Decker