Jim

Good job guys! It's getting cold up there at night. Our unplanned bivy was in the summer!

.....about 10 minutes after the "incident".

How about bought and paid for as an excuse: Among the 61 recipients of these joint contributions are 11 senators who sit on the 23-member Senate Finance Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). Baucus ranked as the third highest recipients of such contributions, accepting about $201,000 from 109 lobbyists representing 11 health-related organizations, plus an additional $252,750 from the lobbying clients' employees or PACs. Four other Democratic senators on the Finance committee also received such contributions: Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Deborah Stabenow (D-Mich.). These lawmakers combined received roughly one-sixth of Baucus' haul -- averaging about $19,800 in contributions per person from these clients and their external lobbyists during the two-and-a-half year period studied. On the other side of the aisle, 60 percent of the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee were found to have accepted campaign contributions from these major health-related organizations and their outside lobbyists. Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) received the most in such contributions, with $130,620 from these lobbyists and their clients, followed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who received $78,450. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) round out the list of GOP recipients.

So true. What's the saying? I don't belong to any organized political group - I'm a Democrat.

Yea, I don't understand why the adults can't fix things in 8 months when it took them 8 years of sophomoric (soph-moronic?)fiscal policy to screw up things so badly! Jeesh.

It's going to be sluggy for a while, especially with the other shoe about to drop on the remainder of write-offs of toxic assests coming. I was watching the Ken Burns park segment the other night that highlighted the WPA. I've been thinking for years that this is what the parks need. There's a skill base of folks in timber towns that know how to work in the forest - roads, trails, facilities - and the parks and forests have a huge backlog of work. In addition, the lagging maintenance of infrastructure in the US could use help as well. Friggin' A, getting tired of watching billions flushed down the Pentagon rathole when we could be spending those funds much more productively than the latest weapons system. And the politics are going to get a bit grim - likely more stimulus will be needed (pls, not another cash for clunkers) but there will be no political will and the talking heads and right wing turds will be screaming socialism all the way. Thanks - guess who got us in this money pit.

independent/public media are a "gaggle of leftists"? why do you keep thinking your rhetorical fallacies will go unnoticed? hmm, nope. You'll find that an informed public being essential to democracy is a widely shared concept and definitely not an obsolete, moth-eaten vision despite your irrational hatred of what the 60's brought to western democracies. For all your attempts at appearing as a tolerant, freedom loving type, the vision that emerges from your rhetoric is very bleak. I'm not the one histrionically lamenting the inadequacy of the American public's media preferences here, kemosabe. Listening to you expound on the significance of TV in the internet age is like reading an anarchist manifesto concerning the political implications of the phonograph in the radio age. "Step 1: Seize the phonograph factory and distribute wax cylinders bearing the manifesto to...." The vision that you've been articulating is neither necessary nor sufficient for an informed public. Most of the items passing for news on the itnernet is opinion, talking heads, blogs reguritating wire service stories, and "analysis". There is very little investigative journalism that orginates from these sources. Rather that is still the domain of newspapers, NY Times, Washington Post, LA Times, etc.; and some broadcast news - 60 minutes comes to mind. While the information is now more widely dispersed via the internet - it's pulling content from the traditional news sources. And more variations on the same content, rehashed over and over, is not adding any information but spin. Maybe this will change as the medium matures - but my guess is that we'll just get more dancing midgets on things like youtube and an endless succession of 15-minute-moments that continue to find a vast audience of dolts.

Socialist land grabbers promoted by socialist media: http://www.pbs.org/nationalparks/

And you advocate the same thing, but have a different message (that few care to listen to). Bugger off. indeed - and who the hell gets their tv through the public airwaves these days anyhow? Hey - I resemble that remark! The only benefit of the converter box is that channel that shows the bicycle races. The downside - 6 Christian channels and limited reception when it's windy.

I agree - I'm not advocating the biggest-wallet-wins, which is the current situation. And when a substantial portion of the population believes in creation vs. evolution, they might vote in the need for more of Oprah and Montel. The alternate is having the government decide what is good for the massess, but I'm open to suggestions.

While I don't like the current situation, limiting the public square to those the majority prefers is not what the first amendment is about either.

Because the media have no respect for rape victims, and because Polanski ran away from justice he gets to get off scott-free for being rapist scum. Don't see how you read that into it.

Once an aspiring actress, Geimer has said she long ago got over what Polanski did to her. She sued him, and a settlement was reached out of court. But the media, prosecutors and the courts in Los Angeles, California, continue to torment her, she has said. Watch what Geimer said in a HBO documentary » Every time the case resurfaces her wounds reopen. She most recently spoke in January, as attempts to resolve the case once again failed. She filed court papers asking a Los Angeles judge to dismiss the charges against the Oscar-winning director. Negotiations ended when the judge insisted that Polanski come to court for a hearing. Prosecutors said he would be subject to arrest on the fugitive warrant the minute he stepped off the plane. He stayed away. Watch how Polanski might face extradition » "Every time this case is brought to the attention of the court, great focus is made of me, my family, my mother and others," Geimer wrote in her affidavit to the court. "That attention is not pleasant to experience and is not worth maintaining over some irrelevant legal nicety, the continuation of the case."

The counterpoint would be the book "Manufacturing Consent" by Chomsky and Herman. I agree that trying to decide who's speech is in the public interest is a slippery slope and one that should be avoided. But corporations have enourmous power in getting out their message these days. I would at least prefer that they pay market rates for the use of the public airways while trying to convince us we're dorks unless we purchase the latest trinket du jour. And I prefer the former practice of requiring stations to provide limited air time to community groups or individuals rather than the current facade of public service by making appereances at the last walk for the (fill in the blank for terminal illness of choice).

The U.S. actually had a leg up on the fledgling solar industry when Carter gave them some decent subsidies to get started and tax incentives. That all cratered when Regean came in and axed that program. The industry then went overseas to China, Germany, and Japan where the government saw the larger picture, the need for alternative energy, and the benefits of expanding manufacturing into new arenas. What a concept.

It was an iteresting talk. You're certainly not going to see a world class athelete in some other area (biking, football, whatever) give a talk for free with an audience of 50. He seems like a decent guy, willing to chit-chat with us mortals. BTW jondavidjr, keep it in spray.

One of the other challenges of public schools is they have to take everyone, as it should be. My wife's classes of 32 (up from last year)has "mainstreamed" Aesberger Syndrome kids, kids with some language challenges, and a range from kids who excell to kids who really struggle. I help tutor these kids and there is no way they can get the attention they need without volunteer help. Private schools pay crap and can say "no thanks" to the problem kids or those with special needs.

Here's some quotes from the charmer. Guy will say anything for ratings, laughing all the way to the bank. It is amazing though that corporate America seems to still love him. Same motivation. 1. I mean, let’s face it, we didn’t have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I’m not saying we should bring it back; I’m just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets were safer after dark. 2. You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed. 3. Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson? 4. Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing. 5. Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it. 6. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies. 7. They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares? 8. Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller). 9. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve. 10. Limbaugh attacks on Obama. Limbaugh has called Obama a ‘halfrican American’ has said that Obama was not black but Arab because Kenya is an Arab region, even though Arabs are less than one percent of Kenya. Since mainstream America has become more accepting of African-Americans, Limbaugh has decided to play against its new racial fears, Arabs and Muslims. Despite the fact Obama graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law school, Limbaugh has called him an ‘affirmative action candidate.’ Limbaugh even has repeatedly played a song on his radio show ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ using an antiquated Jim Crow era term for black a man who many Americans are supporting for president. Way to go Rush.

So after a climb me and my partner are sitting on moraine outside Camp Bridwell watching the scenery after dinner. We notice a woman down at the lake throwing rocks at an iceberg that has floated down near the stream outlet and is stuck. After 15 minutes we had to find out the scoop and go down. We ask what she is doing. Well - she has a 15 yr old bottle of single malt back and the tent and needs ice!

Definately prefer the black flag role.

Just kinda cracks me up, speaking of going hungry and wanting, just kinda as practice, then kicking it back at the condo. And who goes and pays for this pop-physco stuff anyway. Jeeesh. Everyone has to find a way to make money I suppose.

You don't have enough tatoos and lack a fixie. You're a pseudo-hipster.

99% of coders must be smoking crack - at least that's how it seems from the shit I've seen over the years. I'd have to do it to put up with such a mind-numbing job.

How profound. Some well-to-do hipster speaking to the same.

The rangers are pretty paranoid about scammers, rightly so. What I would suggest is typing out a note saying they are your buddies, scanning this with your drivers license at the bottom, make a pdf and sent it to your friend. Seems that would be reasonable proof.