Jim

Oh, she would say she gets compensated adequately, she knew what she was going into. Given the hours I have a different view. I'm not sure about the math-science thing vs. English-History, those teachers are working just as hard. Parent conferences, team meetings on at-risk kids, grading, planning, dealing with the parents who think their average kid is a genius -- I certainly couldn't do it. A COA now and then would be appreciated, but if asked, I think most of the teachers at her school would like to see WA fully fund education not for pay increases but to reduce class size, hire support staff (councilers, aids, teacher mentors) and upgrade some old equipment.

Oh - chiming in on the teacher pay thing, I can't imagine, by any stretch of the imagination, someone thinking that teachers are over-paid. I work in the private sector and have had 5 years with the feds - but that's now over 25 years in the private sector. My spouse with an MS in a science field left the private and went into teaching 18 years ago. While she doesn't regret it she says she doubled her hours and halved her pay going to teach. With an MS in her field and 18 years teaching she makes decent pay - but particularly if you figure it out on a per hour basis - even including the six week summer break - it's modest. Younger teachers, particularly with families are in a bit more of a pinch. The gravy train argument is a nice conservative fairy tale.

Oh. So I see, you don't object to other EOs (up to 1.5 million affected) but rather to the degree of this case. So, say, if it affected 50% of the current EO it would be ok, how about 75%? What exactly IS the criteria here?

Yea, the man's action is such a fluke: Pres. Dwight Eisenhower: 1956 By executive order, circumvented immigration quotas to allow 900 orphans to join their adoptive families in the U.S. 1956-1958 By executive order, allowed 31,000 Hungarian anti-Soviet insurgents to emigrate. 1959-72 By executive order, allowed 600,000 Cubans fleeing Castro to emigrate. [PDF] Pres. Gerald Ford: 1975 By executive order, allowed 360,000 refugees, mostly from from Vietnam, to emigrate. 1976 By executive order, allowed 14,000 Lebanese nationals to emigrate. Pres. Ronald Reagan: 1981 By executive order, allowed 7,000 Polish anti-Communists to emigrate. 1982 Allowed 15,000-plus Ethiopians to emigrate. 1987 By executive order, rescinded deportation of 200,000 Nicaraguans. 1987 By executive order, deferred deportation of undocumented children of 100,000 families. [JSTOR] George H.W. Bush: 1989 By executive order, deferred deportations of Chinese students. 1989 By executive order, reversed visa denials of 7,000 Soviets, Indochinese. 1990 By executive order, deferred deporations of previously amnestied citizens’ 1.5 million spouses and children. 1991 By executive order, deferred deportation of 2,000 Gulf War evacuees. 1992 By executive order, deferred deportations of 190,000 El Salvadorans. George W. Bush: 2002 By executive order, expedited naturalization for green-card holders who joined military. 2005 By executive order, deferred deportation of students affected by Hurricane Katrina. 2006 By executive order, enabled 1,500 Cuban physicians to seek asylum at US embassies. 2007 By executive order, deferred deportation of 3,600 Liberians.

Well, then. I'd just plain old disagree on the relative scale of it. How say, did Bush I, Reagan, or Clinton knock down a hornet's nest that is comparable to the Idiot? Over 4k US service men and women dead, over 32,000 wounded. A major hit to the Treasury, and a rise in terrorist coalitions to a new level, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, --- a mess. Iran handed new influence. Simply marvelous. Really? The three prior Presidents had similar miscalculations? I don't think so. "they all do it" is not a serious argument.

Ah yes, a convenient distraction. Instead of focusing on what is wrong now with our foreign policy and what risks and threats exist, look to the past to blame the "other". It must make you feel good, a favorite past time. Yea, that's the United States of Amnesia sure enough. Never ask how the hell did we get here in the first place. We'll be picking up the broken pottery for a long time on this one.

I've been thinking about the Bushie, Rice, Powell, Cheney, Rumsfeld cabal. Back then, I think I referred to the Iraq escapade as the significant foreign policy blunder of the past 50 years. Hmmm, how time flies. The easily predicted unstable Iraq has given rise to ISIS, instead of the domino effect of democracy throughout the Middle East as predicted by Cheney and Rummey we have, what could be easily called chaos and multi-headed terrorist groups with increasing influence, a humanitarian crisis from the flood of refugees, and generally - a pretty good shit storm. Bravo I say, bravo! I wonder if Bushie is water-coloring any of this in retirement.

Very good example of just keep plugging along. And yes, better, but not perfect is good advice. I have a lot of respect for folks who know they want to get back at it and then put in the foundation to do so. Cheers and good job

I believe that Pat, a guide with Alpine Ascents, had a femur resurfacing a few years back and that guy still guides and climbs like one strong dude. And he's mid to late-50ish

Self-aggrandizing part aside - I could see some field work applications of that tiny bird - have to admit the technology is pretty cool

Been using them for work now and then - remote sensing, wildlife surveys, etc. Very efficient for landscape-scale surveys. Programed one to capture video and LiDAR for a run up the river and return to base. Holy cow - saved us at least $8k over a flight and two weeks in schedule. But, as in most technology, there will be some a-holes at the controls. Was on the Priest in Moab when one buzzed by - do we really need another form of chest-thumping from weekend warriors. Mixed feelings on the recreation use end of it.

Tangential speech is a communication disorder in which the train of thought of the speaker wanders and shows a lack of focus, never returning to the initial topic of the conversation. It is less severe than Logorrhea and may be associated with the middle stage in dementia. It is, however, more severe than circumstantial speech in which the speaker wanders, but eventually returns to the topic. Some adults with right hemisphere brain damage may exhibit behavior that includes tangential speech. Those who exhibit these behaviors may also have related symptoms such as seemingly inappropriate or self-centered social responses, and a deterioration in pragmatic abilities (including appropriate eye contact as well as topic maintenance).

While I don't get here often there are still a few gems put out now and then. And, as the resident ego goes - what the board lacks in suspense he certainly doubles down with consistency. Who knows what fuels this run-away insecurity train. I did notice, however, that it is a quarter to midnight on the countdown to 20k posts. Not long now!!

Oh - correct. Scale needs the "s" modifier to indicate spouse is with you in this boondoggle! Thanks for report. Gotta be entertained somehow as there is no snow.

Very good-I'll pass on the epic scale someone noted to me after me and my partner also bivied atop Dragontail and had a shiverfest. According to Rob Kelman's Epic Rating Scale, you're at E4: E1. Delay in completing route resulting in being an hour late for dinner with your significant other. E2. Same as E1 except that climbing partner is of opposite sex. E3. Same as E1 except that bivouac is required. E4. Same as E2 except that bivouac is required. E5. Hung up on short route requiring rescue. E6. Same as E5 except injury is involved. E7. Same as E5 except route is isolated and elaborate rescue required. E8. Same as E7 except that injury is involved. E9. Some, but not all, members of the party are killed. E10. Same as E8 except a major, dangerous effort is needed to rescue the injured and recover bodies. E11. All members of the party are killed. E12. The entire party vanishes. Congratulations! Sounds like a great time.

While Ms. Armstrong didn't articulate it that way, somehow I think it's and underlying assumption.

Oh boy. Well, at risk of simplification, it's not new - there have been previous waves of fundamentalism. People feel alienated when basic changes in the society make the world a strange and unrecognizable place. They feel that they are battling against forces that threaten their most sacred values. It may be that the super speed of technology has accelerated a conflict with scientific rationalism - pushing some to attempt to turn the mythos of their faith into a logos. In a vague nutshell.

Of Scientists and Salamanders. Victor Twitty, 1966. This is an odd book of the arc of a scientist’s career studying salamanders, first in some very odd embryonic and systems development studies (besides graphing different blastosphere parts together they advanced to swamping limbs of embryos of different species) to his field studies on Taricha in California. Who knew that this little newt would climb ridges and travel several miles to get to its breeding stream. Very old skool but entertaining. Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do? Michael Sandel, 2014. A philosophical look at a number of political issues – Affirmative action, same-sex marriage, physician-assisted suicide, abortion, the moral of markets, etc. Very well written and engaging. The Battle for God, Karen Armstrong, 2001. A dense, but enlightening look at the reasons why fundamentalism is having resurgence in world religions in opposition to reason and technology. Armstrong is an amazing researcher with a varied background (former nun, rabbinical scholar, Muslim teacher). Tough read though – it’s pretty dense and I kept having to go back and re-read sections and decipher my page notes. The Disappearing Spoon – mentioned above, good read for anyone in the sciences or just curious. The Snow Leopard, 1973, Peter Matthiessen. – Given Matthiessen’s passing I picked this one back up. Dang, this guy is a great writer of nonfiction and fiction. Simple, sparse, and clean writing about his trip to the (then very remote) mountains of Nepal with biologist George Schaller. Mathiessen covers a lot of ground – the recent death of his wife, the Sherpas he travels with, and Buddhist understanding of reality, suffering, and beauty. Break, Blow, Burn; Camille Paglia 2006. I pick this one up occasionally and go through a couple chapters. Paglia analyzes 43 of what she considers the “World’s Best Poems” with a keen eye that opens up the context, setting, and (to me) what the heck are they talking about. Very well written.

Oh, don't sell yourself short. Using a random numbers generator anyone is guaranteed to come across the continuous monolog here. This is like the kid who burnt down his parents' house, killing them, and then pleads for mercy before the judge because he's an orphan.

I'm not sure what's worse. That you found this gem or that I watched the whole 2.5 minutes this early in the morning.

Good idea! He could send NCNP rangers there from Marblemount to manage the area. Nobody would get in. (Except guide services who paid a franchising fee, of course) Better yet would be those from MRNP, since they would never get the gate open.

Oh, I'm a fan of mild chest beating as the next guy. But Ho-le-crap. It's like sitting at a bar scarfing beer nuts and the guy next to says "...this reminds me of the time we were on the south face...blah, blah, blah". Next it's the TV commercial, or the beer foam, or the coaster (!!!???) that fires the apparently low threshold synapse to seize the opportunity to launch into another unrelated chance for soothing whatever-the-fuck insecurities are driving this train. After a while the repetition is quite tiresome. Even amongst the more restrained chest-beating of CLIMBERS.

I agree it's overdue. The embargo was mainly kept in place to satisfy the very vocal block in Florida - as evidenced by Mark Rubio's strong opposition. Hopefully the place doesn't get steamrolled by the new cash flow.

Somehow the topic always ends up on the same soliloquy - no matter how tangential. Same ol' Woody Allen said that masturbation was having sex with one of his favorite people.

I think it's just a matter of scale - and potential money that can be brought in by the US capital market - more hotels and a hella lot more people - with lots of cash. Some of the best remaining forests, wetlands, and reefs in the Caribbean are in Cuba. And a host of endemic critters. There is substantially less development pressure in Cuba thanks to the embargo - we'll see how it shakes out. Heritage Sites Endemics