Jim

Ecologist actually

You might check out the movie "Bowling for Columbine" by Michael Moore. There some very interesting insights on fearful Americans compared to other countries. And there's an entertaining interview with Chuck Heston.

Major Washington was a breath of fresh air, fair, and spoke his mind. Enigma - Nice troll, but all over the map. US Corps of Engineers enforces Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, they generally require 1:1 mitigation:fill for wetlands. There are no such protections for riparian habitat. There are many provisions for excluding man-made wetlands from the CWA. If you're up to it check out the regulatory document the 1987 Wetland Manual and the several techical guidance letters put out by the Corps district offices. Really, this o' extreme environmental nontruth is a bit dusty.

Since my profession is ecology I like to throw in my 2 cents (I too have fire expert friends!). The main reason we have dense forests is because of poor past forest practices and supression of fire. It's probably not a bad thing to do some thinning around residental areas that have crept into the fringe of the forest where there are existing roads. There is some ongoing work in Colorado where the USFS and the environmental community have actually hashed out a good plan. The problem is that given this administration's slimy moves on many environmental issues is that they will use thinning as a pretense for conducting logging that has little value in protecting communities from fire or going into roadless areas. Another corporate handout of public land. From their past record it would be hard to argue not to be skeptical.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Pull up the nose up buddy - the lack-of-logic light is flashing.

I think your calculations are off. If you fall on a tight belay (fall 3 feet with 30 ft of rope) your fall factor is 1.1. The greatest fall factor in most climbing situations is 2, unless you happen to be unlucky enough to climb above your belayer, don't put in a piece, and then fly past him. This would be a factor 2+ fall

Here's the auto reply I got back from my complaint to WSDOT about their new salting policy. The apparantly received many replys. Take this with a grain of, well, you know. Several people have recently contacted us to ask why the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) is conducting a pilot project to re-look at using salt to help keep snow and ice off roads. Many recall that in the 1980’s, rock salt was phased out for several reasons, including salts corrosive effects on cars, trucks, bridges and potential environmental impacts. So why a new pilot project in 2002? There are several good reasons. Dozens of states, Canadian provinces, and countries around the world still relying on salt have dramatically modernized its use. Older methods relied on waiting until the snow fell, plowing as much of it off as possible, then applying dry rock salt on top to evaporate the remaining snow or ice. The new approach is to apply a liquid salt brine to the road before the snow or frost to keep it from sticking. This approach uses much less salt and yields better results. Automakers have also changed the way they make cars and trucks. Six to ten year corrosion warranties are now standard as composition materials and painting/finishing procedures have reduced susceptibility to rust. The National Association of Corrosion Engineers has conducted evaluations to identify the presence of rust perforation. In 1970 models, 90% of six-year-old automobiles were found to have rust. In 1984 cars, 61% were rusting. In 1989 models, the number was down to 3% of cars with some rust. Regarding rust on highway bridges, corrosion-resistant coatings and sealants are now applied to all rebar and concrete used in bridge construction. From an environmental standpoint, WSDOT has monitored creeks, streams and rivers for several years to determine the amount of salt that is entering the water from our snow and ice control activities. Two examples are the Wenatchee River and Peshastin Creek, streams directly adjacent to highways with active anti-icing programs. We found that minimal salt levels were present – less than 10 parts per million (ppm), far less than the Environmental Protection Agency water quality guideline of 230 ppm. Other research has demonstrated that 2,000 to 8,000 ppm causes toxic effects on small aquatic organisms that comprise the diet of larger fish. When exposed to sodium chloride for several days, toxic effects show up in fish at levels between 10,000 and 12,000 ppm. With the levels we’ve found – 10 ppm - it indicates that modern road salting methods minimize environmental impacts. In fact, the water quality impacts are so low that state environmental regulatory agencies didn’t require any environmental permits to conduct the pilot project. The majority of problems with salt have resulted from poor handling such as stormwater runoff from uncovered stockpiles of salt. WSDOT has eliminated this concern by locating all stockpiles of rock salt inside enclosed storage units. Reduced cost is an important factor as well. The current cost for rock salt is half the price of the equivalent anti-icing chemicals. Part of our pilot project evaluates different ways to manufacture salt brine. We think we can save five to ten times the current cost of other de-icing chemicals. It is critical to remember, this is a test. We will use the findings to answer questions like “Will the new ways of using salt work better than the old? Will the project show better or worse corrosion performance? Will intensive testing of roadsides and streams as part of the pilot show that new ways of using salt can fit into acceptable environmental limits?” We think the idea is worth a look. By next year we’ll have results from which to draw conclusions for the longer term. Meanwhile, we appreciate hearing the concerns of people who care about how we operate highways during the winter season. We care too, and we are carefully noting their views.

Always interesting that the righties want the gv-ment out of our lives except regarding morality. I like the seperation of church and state idea, maybe we should try it.

I feel safe and reassured now.

This guy has a strong extened family, they're there for him, and it's a big stretch for them. I just doesn't seem fair that people on the bottom like this are ignored while the elites are getting more and more tax breaks. I would argue that the government used to do more in the past. There was more of a balance in society between the wealthy and the middle and lower classes. And with the greater disproportions come concentrations of political power and more of a selfish attitude. Now government is more under the thumb of the elites of corportaions and wealth. I don't think anyone would argue that the first line of defense for catostrophic events is the family. But I think you're ignoring some of the social and political changes that have occured in the past 25 years that have been redistributing wealth up, with inverse consequences at bottom.

Sometimes bad things happen to good, hard-working people. They get seriously hurt, have a mental illness, get sick. They loose their job. It could happen to you or your family. What then? Tough luck? The supports to help some people are being tossed aside in favor of increasing supports to the upper class. I personally know a logger who had his back crushed by a bad tree felling. His family is struggling, medical bills, physical therapy, drugs. He's the least person to expect a handout. I would argue we need to give him a helping hand, and let him live a dignified life with proper medical treatment. And guess what? His social security disability and medicare doesn't cut it. When I see him over the holiday I'll convey your message of "Don't like where you are - change it".

IMO Greg's opinion " I'm the only sample size I'm interested in." is what is at the crux of a societial shift, I don't know, in the past 15 years or so. We are becoming an increasingly selfish, greedy, and cruel society, and ignoring a social contract to take care of some of those of society that cannot take care of themselves. My opinion. I expect the usual pull yourself up by the bootstrap flames.

If your wages have gone up from compared to average wages for you position in the '70s, in relation to the cost of living and inflation then congratulate yourself. You're one of the rare few. And ah yes, the tpical knee jerk reaction - get a lawyer. Unfortunately most working class folks can't afford to get a lawyer, or hang around until the case winds it's way through the court system and comes up on docket in two years. And doesn't this cause the overuse of the courts that the right wingers are always crying about. With a union there is a standard grivence process, with rules that were negoiated by the union and employeer. Heaven forbid that you complain that there is unsafe conditions at your job. You could lose it without a union - I've seen it done firsthand. Yes there are some lameos in unions, but there's just as many if not more in management. Hey, what happened to the Islam topic?

Interesting though how worker productivity has been steadily increasing for the past 20 years while worker pay (AFI) has been flat, or negative. Someone is seeing the benefit. It's always interesting to hear the business view that abuses happened in the past but no, no they are not occurring now. If you get fired for an arbitrary reason and you're a working stiff, you're union is you're only recourse. Unions may not be appropriate for small businesses, but larger firms often lose their compassion and sense of fairness. I'm not talking about professional ranks, mostly lower skill or more manual labor professions. Having worked in union shops and non-union shops when I was younger I can see the pickle of both sides, but generally favor allowing democratic organizaiton to negoiate wages, etc.

From the Juneau Empire: The three tenets of rock climbing are teamwork, safety, and belaying. These are especially important on a mountain as difficult as Devil's Thumb, where weather, isolation, and terrain mean help can be days away, even with the instant communication offered by a cell phone. Yet Marc, 30, left his team behind and climbed solo because he wanted "to improve reception on his cell phone." Fifty feet up from the base camp at 7000 feet, Mark had his cell phone in his hand when he disturbed a rock, started a landslide, and was buried under 1500 feet of gravel and boulders. When his companions were told that it was impossible to retrieve his body, they agreed that it was a fitting burial place for the avid climber who died doing what he loved. It was not clear whether they referred to mountain climbing, or speaking on the cell phone.

I think (as Yaya stated way back) that there should be a distinction drawn between some people's interpretation of a religion and what the religious text actually says. I don't think any of the Christian-Judeo religions advise violence, but they have all been used as a pretext. It's interesting why violent people use religion as a rallying cry when the theology has nothing to do with this. It's also intresting why buddasim has avoided this.

Call or write WSDOT to let them know how you feel

You do manage a gem now and then Cavey.

Had to pass this along from my GIS guy Today is officially GIS Day, a grassroots event that began in 1987 as an attempt to introduce the public to GIS technology. You can find out more at http://www.gisday.com/ Ironically, the principal sponsor of GIS Day - the National Geographic Society - today released the results of its international geographic knowledge survey. The results are based on face-to-face interviews with at least 300 men and women aged 18 to 24 in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Britain and the United States. Here are a few of the more interesting results: Among 18- to 24-year-old Americans given maps: 87% cannot find Iraq 83% cannot find Afghanistan 76% cannot find Saudi Arabia 70% cannot find New Jersey 49% cannot find New York 11% cannot find the United States If you can't do any better, then make plans to curl up with a big fat atlas tonight.

tele-sking Glacier Peak leading Kor-Ingalls and North Chimmney on Castleton Tower getting up 5.10c first time out after a 4 month layoff due to an injury. trail run and summit up Mt. Forgotten getting paid again to spend months in the outdoors (the worst field day is better than the best office day).

Left, right, center. Let's not let logic enter the discussion.

The GAO also says the previously cited numbers are fuzzy. But that's ok, as long as their used to make a point. There's a great book "Through the Looking Glass" that talks about how the media and talk show folks use statistics. Very enlightening GAO: Page 22 GAO-01-914 Publicly Funded Voucher Programs The Cleveland voucher program is funded from the Cleveland public school district’s share of state Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid, based on an annual appropriation determined by the Ohio legislature. For the 1999– 2000 school year, the legislature appropriated $11.2 million for the Cleveland voucher program. Based on this appropriation, the Cleveland school district’s $80.5 million in Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid was reduced by $11.2 million to $69.3 million. School district officials stated that the district has not obtained additional property tax levies for the purpose of recovering state revenue deductions from the district’s Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid funds. According to these officials, the last major schoollevy for funding school operations was passed in 1996 and provided $67 million to the district annually over a period of 5 years. The state of Wisconsin funds the Milwaukee voucher program from a separate general-purpose revenue appropriation. The state deducts the amount of the appropriation from general school aid payments to all 426 school districts statewide. Once the state determines the total amount needed to fund the voucher program for the year, it reduces the aid payable to the Milwaukee public school district by half that amount. The other half of program funding is drawn from aid authorized for the remaining 425 school districts in proportion to the total state aid to which each district is entitled. The school districts have the option of increasing property tax levies to offset reductions in general state aid related to the voucher program. According to a Milwaukee school district official, the district has generally levied taxes to the maximum extent possible under state school revenue limits. For the 1999–2000 school year, the Milwaukee school district absorbed half of the voucher program’s $38.9 million cost.

Well, here's the results of the Cleveland and Milwaukee experiment. Hardly a success. In Milwaukee, fewer than one-fourth of voucher students in 1998 had come from a public school the previous year. (In Cleveland, only a third of the voucher students came from the public schools.) While the Milwaukee program drained tens of millions of dollars from the city's schools budget, each public school lost an average of only nine students - hardly enough for any school to save money by cutting maintenance or laying off teachers. A state audit showed that the Cleveland voucher program spun out of control in its first year (1996-97), exceeding its budget by 41 percent. The audit found $2 million in "questionable" expenses, including taxis to transport children to private schools. All the voucher funds are subtracted from state aid to disadvantaged children. In fact, in 1998 Ohio spent more per-pupil tax money on each of its 3,000 voucher students than it spent for the 1.6 million children who attend public schools in the state. That's inexcusable. Did performance improve? For five years, a state-appointed researcher in Milwaukee studied voucher students' test scores but could not see any appreciable academic gains. Meanwhile, four of the city's 18 voucher schools collapsed under charges of mismanagement by 1996. As for Cleveland, the Plain Dealer reported in 1999 that controls on the program were so lax that five voucher schools had operated for years without charters, in decrepit and dangerous buildings. One of the schools kept a convicted killer on its faculty. "It's gone on too long," a state education official said of the abuses, "and we need to put a stop to this."

The beat goes on. Anthony G. Laos, president and chief executive of ProdiGene, Inc. was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD). Mr.Laos will serve a four-year term, expiring on July 28, 2005. BIFAD, which consists of seven members all appointed by thePresident, provides advice to the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on international food issues such as agriculture and food security. BIFAD also assists and advises the U.S. Government Inter-Agency Working Group on Food Security in carrying out commitments made in the U.S. Country Paper for the November 1996 World Food Summit and on the Plan of Action agreed to at the summit. ProdiGene, headquartered in College Station, TX, is a privatebiotechnology company that is developing and manufacturing industrial and pharmaceutical proteins from a transgenic plant system.