Jim

Idaho Sand: http://www.idahoparks.org/parks/bruneaudunes.html I had resort to going to, well, a resort. Went to Sun Peaks last week. Good base and well groomed but they need some freshies. Crusin' fast but kinda boring without some fresh stuff off the runs.

Possibilities: old shoes & weight overuse injury from trying to go your old mileage too soon metatarsal irritation cause from above or from getting old. It was quite revealing to see how much my bones in my feet have spread out over 30 years of running, and that was noticable while I was in HS. There are some ways to tape or put padding under your toes to change the foot pressure. But the book I use is out of print Runners First Aid. Also as you get older and your feet change folks sometimes need orthotics to help imbalances. Go the cheap route first. Ice, Vitamin I, don't run every day, newer shoes, and very gradually increase milage.

Yep - same test, other coast. And same lame excuse.

There was a great article on Frontline a few weeks ago where they showed winners of the Columbia Jounalism School Awards. One of them was from some TV reporter in the L.A. area. They had some low-level radioactive material put in a lead suitcase and put into some furniture from Malaysia. It was shipped in a container to Singapore, then to L.A. No one ever check more than the manifest, which just said furniture, and the seals on the shipping container were never broken. The container was put on a truck bed and driven into L.A. The best part was that once the DHS was notified they made idiots out of themselves by claiming they knew the material was there, but that it was not of any concern. Huh? And then they raided the houses of a reporter, cameraman, and a nuclear expert used to consult on the project. Most of the DHS is a bunch of arm-waving.

Somewhere at home I have an artilce from Coulir magazine that was about the trans-Sierra traverse. Always wanted to do that tour and this year it will likely be great. If you're intrested I could dig out the article from the dusty closet.

thats awesome, its this sort of thing that people who jump all over global warming forget about instead its always someones SUV blah blah blah, when someones says "I think everyone who bought a season pass should send their recipt to GW and demand a refund. " what you gonna do stop building, its little things like this that add up to make a big problem not just one thing. good points Ricardo You must have just fallen off the turnip truck. Note the at the top of my post....hello My serious oppinion is more or less what Jim just said. It's getting harder to tell the sprayers from the serious post. Someone get this halibut-sized hook outta my mouth.

DIRECTOR MONGOLIA PROGRAM Wildlife Conservation Society Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society The Wildlife Conservation Society, a U.S. based international organization, seeks candidates to direct a wildlife conservation program in Mongolia. The Country Director will be responsible for: planning and implementing conservation projects; managing and overseeing staff and program finances; fundraising and grant oversight; coordination with governmental and non-governmental partners; and providing vision and leadership. Candidates should hold a PhD or Masters degree and equivalent experience in a field related to conservation, have at least five years experience working in field conservation in Asia, and have proficiency in English and Mongolian. To see a more detailed description, please visit: http://wcs.org/getinvolved/careers/58127 To learn more about the Mongolia Program, please visit: http://wcs.org/sw-around_the_globe/Asia/mongolia For more info, contact: Andrea Heydlauff Program Officer, Asia Program Wildlife Conservation Society 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY 10460 email: aheydlauff@wcs.org

wasn't '98 the year of the record breaking snowpack? how does this jive with warm temps and el nino? this annoys me. a global average temp report does not mean shit to the average joe. "it's 1.5 degrees warmer than 50 years ago??? BFD!" it's the regional climate changes (like pnw is 7 degrees warmer and north plains are 6 degrees colder) that joe is going to appreciate more. if you're going to report stats, do it in a way that people will truly understand. didn't el nino used to run on a ~7 year cycle? i remember hearing that somewhere, but i've only been here for 10 years; not long enough to 'feel' the cycle can you say asphalt? subdivisions? exponential population growth? "weak" el nino???? this is the worst snowpack for the region in over 25 years...how is this weak? It always cracks me up when sophisticated meterological modeling and reviews by groups such as the National Academy of Science gets simplistic critical comments. Hey, what's a degree or two? If it's not on the level of a reality TV show - then forget about it. No wonder the Bushies are able to tout their version of misinformation with such willing swallowers.

Could ask that about voting too, eh?

[quoteThe remark was extrapolated well beyond the "applauding audience". It was applied to ALL CONSERVATIVES in the US by the left-wing spin-meisters. I don't think this was true. Folks just thought Lott should have lost his job for such an idiotic statement. While I'm sure there's many statements by private right wingers that are used to represent all conservatives - this was a poor analogy. Especially because in Lott's case he was a high ranking public official in a public forum. Stewart was just as, if not more stupid but she is a private citizen. In either case they found the consequences of their actions surprising.

Politics is Hollywood for ugly people.

Agreed on one point anyway.

But that's the point!!! The budget is not getting smaller - it's getting larger. And rather than tax according to what you're spending he's borrowing huge amounts. WTF - you just wave your hands and make believe that the proposed tax cuts, Social Security de-form, and the war in Iraq and Afganistan will cost nothing so you can ignore the costs?? The Bush budget is a proposed 8% INCREASE over last year - without considering the above big ticket items. I call it irresponsible to be spending and borrowing so much. Even Reagan, the rights shining example of deficit spending, got some common sense advice from his budget director Stockman and raised taxes in his second term to cover some of his earlier wild spending and borrowing. No such inspiration seems to be forthcoming here.

But if you're not a fan of big government why would you be supportive of the run-away spending Congress and Bush? Is it ok to borrow and spend for the military but if you spend on social programs using a balanced budget approach (remember that budget surplus?) it's not? The permanant tax cuts (which benefits the upper 1% primarily), the Medicade drug benefit (mainly to the drug companies), Iraq, and the proposed Social Security de-form (trillions over 30 years) are killing our ability to do anything proactive. My perspective: Instead of being policeman of the world I'd take a look around and say, ya know, China and India are going to be the big economic players on the block in the next 50 years. What are we going to do to prepare for this? It seems like we should be investing in our kids future, not pushing the limit on their joint credit card. Invest in education, revitalize cities, promote high tech business, promote fuel conservation and alternative fuel research, save a few more great last open spaces, limit corporate welfare just as we have limited individual welfare. Just a few silly thoughts.

I'm nowhere near the top 1%, and I benefit greatly from the tax cuts. 1) 1 % cut in marginal rate 2) $1000 per child tax credit (I have 3 kids, do the math) 3) sales tax deduction And, in thinking of retirement benefits, I've seen maximum Roth IRA contributions go from $2000 per taxpayer per year to $3000, and soon to be $4000 and $5000. It's post-tax now, but tax free to withdraw on retirement. So to all you demagogues harping on some "raw deal" on tax relief for the middle class - KMA! If you're not above $250k (married filing jointly) then you do not see the benefit of that 1% marginal cut dude. If you're more middle class say $100k joint - then you're benefit is more like $500. The schedule for increasing the 401 limits was already in place, by Congress, before Bush was in office. Using the Publication 600 Sales Tax table a couple earning $100k was able to deduct around $1,000. This may be a good thing as states with income tax do the same. My main point is that the budget deficit continues to grow and all we have money to fund is military and homeland security. But we have good slogans like "No Child Left Behind".

Another good laugh, if it weren't so sad. The military gets a 5% boost after huge increases the past few years, everything else gets the ax. The only bright light I see is that farm subsidies are getting hacked - but that is after the huge Bushy increases of two years ago. Oh yea- the best is that the proposed permanant tax cut to the rich, the proposed Social Security change, and the ongoing costs of Afganistan and Iraq are - oops! Off-budget items? Talk about fuzzy math. Nothing like living in a military empire eh?

That is THE question. There has not been success in unity in that region and the western nations drawing lines in the sand to make nations out of a mix of tribal, ethnic, and religious fractions has deep-seated problems. Alas, they will continue to surface.

Gotta love a multi-million dollar system that can be deflected by "...a garbage can lid".

Only cynics would not be impressed with the turnout and general lack of violence on voting day. Everyone wants our guys outta there asap. The big problem is the Sunnis, who did not come out to vote. When Iraqis can feel safe in their neighborhoods, when they have electricity in Baghdad for more than 3 hours a day, and when there is a FUNCTIONING government - then that will be improvement. Never-the-less, the lies and the distortions that the Bushies used are not some how wiped clean because of one vote. I'm less than confident that this will all end anywhere near what had been planned.

Kill your TV

Only with confidence. Otherwise they smell fear and shred windshirts.

As much as I was against this action in the first place, we stirred up the hornets and should not pull out until things are reasonably stable - whatever that means. Ultimately it will likely come down to some combination of the public's weariness, Karl Rove's political calculations, and growing resentment in Iraq.

Here's a hint. You're tactics are what got you in trouble in the first place. Rather than react, treat sprayers like a unknown dog. Be wary, don't look at them directly, make no noise, and watch them from the corner of your eye as you glide past.

Hike off the Yakima canyon and saw bighorns, mulies, bald and golden eagles, Cooper's hawk, horned larks, sage sparrows (early!), and one porcupine sleeping 30 ft up a cottonwood. Took our own nap atop one of the ridges in the sun. Yaked it up at the Rosyln Brewery with the locals. Sunday pulled plastic, 25 mi ride, and woodworking. Whew!

Here's why we are there: Billions of dollars in additional defense spending are but the first step in the group's long-term plan to transform the U.S. military into a global army enforcing a terroristic and bloody Pax Americana around the world. A neo-conservative Washington-based organization known as the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), funded by three foundations closely tied to Persian Gulf oil and weapons and defense industries, drafted the war plan for U.S. global domination through military power. One of the organization's documents clearly shows that Bush and his most senior cabinet members had already planned an attack on Iraq before he took power in January 2001. The PNAC was founded in the spring of 1997 by the well-known Zionist neo-conservatives Robert Kagan and William Kristol of The Weekly Standard. The PNAC is part of the New Citizenship Project, whose chairman is also William Kristol, and is described as "a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership." Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Jeb Bush, and Paul Wolfowitz signed a Statement of Principles of the PNAC on June 3, 1997, along with many of the other current members of Bush's "war cabinet." Wolfowitz was one of the directors of PNAC until he joined the Bush administration. The group's essential demand was for hefty increases in defense spending. "We need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future," the statement's first principle reads. The increase in defense spending is to bring about two of the other principles: "to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values" and "to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles." A subsequent PNAC plan entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century," reveals that the current members of Bush's cabinet had already planned, before the 2000 presidential election, to take military control of the Gulf region whether Saddam Hussein is in power or not. The 90-page PNAC document from September 2000 says: "The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." "Even should Saddam pass from the scene," the plan says U.S. military bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain, despite domestic opposition in the Gulf states to the permanent stationing of U.S. troops. Iran, it says, "may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests as Iraq has." A "core mission" for the transformed U.S. military is to "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars," according to the PNAC. The strategic "transformation" of the U.S. military into an imperialistic force of global domination would require a huge increase in defense spending to "a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually," the PNAC plan said. "The process of transformation," the plan said, "is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event-like a new Pearl Harbor." 9-11 proved useful indeed.